14 DAY TRIAL // The Heart of the Swarm expansion might not yet have a launch date at the moment, but the development team at Blizzard working on it has proven that the game is going full steam ahead by detailing the changes that have been made to the unit rosters since players have seen the game at the Blizzcon during late 2011.
The Terran Shredder unit has been taken out of the game because players were not using it the way Blizzard intended it and because they built cheap tactics around it. At the same time the Warhound might also be eliminated or significantly tweaked before the expansion is launched.
The Replicant has been taken out of the Protoss line-up because players found it so effective that they dropped most other units from their game in order to use it while the flying Tempest is no longer dealing splash damage but acting as ranged siege weapon that can target both air and land.
On the Zerg side, the Viper no longer has an actual attack and it acts as a caster while the Overseer is due for a series of changes. Blizzard has some interesting ideas about how to use the Nydus worms.
David Browder, who is a game designer working on Starcraft II, says that the team is always looking for ways to enhance the game experience and will be introducing changes before launch date so as to see how the beta player base reacts to them.
The Heart of the Swarm expansion will put the Zerg and their Queen of Blades at the core of the single-player experience, introducing a new hub area for players to explore and a set of missions that will push the story of the series forward.
On the multiplayer side, Blizzard will make a number of changes to make the matches more spectacular while also keeping the modes easy for newcomers to enjoy.