The third installment for Blizzard's real-time strategy game "Starcraft 2" will have a closed beta to be launched on March 31, Blizzard Entertainment announced on March 18. Players who will enter the closed beta will be able to see the changes to "Starcraft 2's" resource economy, retooled units, and the all-new Archon mode.
In a blog post about the upcoming release and the closed beta, Blizzard Entertainment lists the changes for the new game.
Resource-wise, the number of resources players can initially get has been significantly altered, increased by at least 750. The starting worker count has also been increased to 12, and the range for unit scans has definitely been improved.
In terms of units, the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg races are augmented with new ones.
The Protoss is improved with the Adept and Disruptor. A part of the ranged unit, Adepts deal damage to the other ground units by sending out a mirror image of itself. The Disruptor, meanwhile, is a unit that brings splash damage for the Protoss race.
The Terrans have the new Cyclone, locking onto targets and dealing high damages. Also, there are Battlecruisers that teleport anywhere on the map, and new Siege Tanks can now be picked up and dropped onto other locations even if they are still on Siege mode.
The Zergs have the new Ravager, also a ranged unit that deals area damage. The Lurker is available again, and old units such as the Corruptor, Swarm Host, and Viper get new upgrades and abilities.
For the closed beta, Blizzard Entertainment will send out invites to players. In the blog, the company said that the closed beta was announced much sooner than anticipated, and will run for a longer period of time than usual, to allow players enough time to test the game and send out feedbacks for game improvement.
