StarCraft II's Next Patch To Improve Zerg Race

StarCraft II is this year's biggest RTS, thanks to its immersive single-player campaign, but also to its addictive online multiplayer system, so its developer, Blizzard, has been really keen on patching and balancing the online component so that all players will have a chance against others.

We've already seen the first patch, 1.1, go live through the company's Battle.net online service, and also heard that the next patch may arrive before the end of the year, in order to fix more things about the game.

Now, Blizzard's Dustin Browder has revealed a few more details about the next StarCraft II update, and how it will directly affect the Zerg race, one of the title's three factions.

According to him, statistics from the U.S. Battle.net servers show that the Zerg is the least played faction in multiplayer matches, and that against the Protoss race, Zerg players, as well as those who opt for the Terrans, are always dominated.

Here are some of the changes that were already implemented in the upcoming patch, according to Browder.

- We're increasing roach range. This will allow roaches to be more effective in large groups, giving the Zerg more options in the mid to end game.

- Fungal Growth will now prevent Blink, which will give Zerg a way to stop endlessly Blinking stalkers which can be very challenging to deal with in large numbers.

- The Barracks are going to require a Supply Depot, which will impact a lot of early Terran reaper pushes.

- The reaper speed upgrade will require the Factory, which is meant to weaken a lot of the early Terran reaper attacks that dominate so many matches, especially in team games.

- We're making a number of increases to the health of Zerg buildings, which will make the very vulnerable zerg technology structures more resistant to raids. We don't expect these hit point changes to have a super significant impact on the game, but the current numbers felt way too low.

So it seems that Blizzard really wants to make players interested in playing with the Zerg, just like in the good old days with the original StarCraft.

What other balancing issues should the next StarCraft II address? Share your thoughts below.