Welcome to the first edition of Plugged In. The Arcade community consistently provides new content, and it’s our goal to share it with you in a one-stop shop. We intend to detail the level of dedication and investment by Arcade developers who continually evolve their craft.

General News

Reminder of Arcade Nights

The Reddit /r/StarCraft moderators are hosting their own Arcade Nights every Sunday: first at 19:00 CEST and then another at 20:00 EDT. They’re asking for votes on what to play from week-to-week.

If you’re interested in participating, check out their Reddit Arcade Nights thread and vote for your favorite game.

Rock the Cabinet

Rock the Cabinet is our ongoing Arcade contest where the top Arcade entries can win cash or even the chance to pick the brains of Blizzard developers. We’re thrilled to have over 20 participants so far. If you’re still thinking about submitting your game, you have until May 31, 2014. Check out the contest announcement page to ensure you’re following all the instructions about how to submit your game.

If you’re already hard at work on your game and you’re looking for assistance in getting it tested, we’re hosting multiple events for developers and gamers to connect. Our next one is scheduled for Wednesday, April 16.

Zealot Hockey

The newest edition of Arcade Highlight series came out this past week, featuring Zealot Hockey. The game has a great pace and is structured to make it easy to jump right in. It also brings you the graceful, never-before-seen Protoss on ice! If you haven’t yet, log in and take a few minutes to play some Zealot Hockey in the Starcraft II Arcade.

New Arcade Content

Rogue Star Alpha

User ‘greythepirate’ showed off a combat demo for an upcoming game that is reminiscent of older console RPGs. Check it out:

Patch Notes

One of the showcases we’re delighted to provide is our collection of patch notes from some of the games featured in the Starcraft II Arcade Highlight. Below is a list of updates that were added prior to April. The intention here is to keep you informed of all the features and changes these designers are making based on your feedback. Patch notes are taken from each game’s patch notes section.

ES Tactics (formerly Elite Agents)

Trevor has been hard at work on Elite Agents. You can see all changes here.

A few of the most recent changes:

• There are now plenty more terrain textures all over the map
• The flash grenade max range is now more clear
• Multiple AI players on the same team should now command at the same time
• AI cheats have been disabled
• Fixed some of the equip gun tooltips to display correctly
• Reduced the amount of turns it takes to score with the flag and hill
• AI controlled marines are now tougher
• Added useful info for equip gun tooltips
• Removed buff tooltips for guns
• During the drop pod landing some text is displayed in an attempt to clarify the objectives
• Moved the location of the helpful tips
• Plasma Fist ability now has a tooltip
• Rearranged the helpful tips so one in particular is showing sooner
• Changed a helpful tip
• Rearranged the UI related to turn information
• Fixed the problem where the shield bonus would not generate
• Changed the songs played on the tactical battlefield
• Changed the start of a new turn sound

Chu Chu Madness

• Increased Cooldowns in many Defender abilities
• Further rebalanced Defender abilities
• Train Max HP reduced
• Fixed a bug with G Man's cloak requiring research
• Fixed a bug with leavers causing defenders unable to pick their variants
• Rebalanced several defender abilities
• Slightly buffed Mad Cat

Card Shuffle

• Titan now has 80 health down from 90
• Greed now gives a draw point every 5 seconds instead of 2
• Death Bomb now deals 40 damage without &% of units health added
• Feeding Frenzy now lowers move/attack speed by 75% up from 25
• Auto Turret now has 25 health up from 20
• Mutant now spawns 3 broodlings up from 2
• Raise Shields now costs 20 down from 25
• Protoss terrain has gotten major improvements
• Reinforcements now have a cooldown of 10 seconds instead of 2
• Fixed a bug where Surge was able to target heroes
• Hero damage reverted to 4 at the start, 3 if it’s a 2v2. It no longer increases overtime
• Discarding cards, reverted back to gaining 3 draw points
• Bark Skin now reduces damage by 25% and heals 0.5 health per second
• Bark Skin has a new visual effect
• Creepie Crawlies movement passive increased
• Cursed of the Wretched has a new buff effect
• Devourers broodlings are now triggers with X mana cost summons
• Warp Out now costs 10 down from 20
• Power Draw now cost 25 down from 30
• Divine Knowledge now gives 2 energy crystals but costs 30
• If the game is 2v1, the single player gains bonus health and energy regeneration
• Titan no longer can target air units, now has 12 damage down from 18

SC Universe

• FEATURE: Players now have a small light attached to the position of their hero, making it a little easier to see yourself and other players in dark areas
• FEATURE: Enhancement cost reduced by additional 50%
• FEATURE: The required Combat-Weight of an ability is now also visible while its "Not Purchased"
• FIX: Fixed an issue that could make the casting bar act weird when ability haste changes while casting a spell
• FIX: Target cast bars should now always display the correct values
• FIX: High Templars will now play an animation when using the Evade ability
• FIX: Fixed an issue with the Ghost Nuke sound
• FIX: Fixed an issue that could cause Testament to face the wrong way before casting 'Aerial Dive'
• FIX: All blueprint components can now be purchased and stacked in groups of 100
• FIX: Titan Scarab should now have the appropriate immunities added to him
• FIX: Fixed an issue which could make the Motivate spell of the Marine stack up
• FIX: Fixed an issue which could the item storage to delete Minerals when depositing them
• FIX: The "Revenge" Ability cant jump to enemies which are out of sight any longer
• FIX: The "Final Testament" boss can no longer use Aerial Quake to exit the battleground
• FIX: The "Psi Zone" spell cant stack up any longer
• FIX: The "Fireteam" ability of the Marine should now work properly
• FIX: Special NPCs cant attack any longer
• FIX: Implant Bomb will now properly trigger its cooldown after getting toggled off because its target dies
• BUFF: Outfitting Points in Improved Stability will now grant -1% stun duration and -1% force effect strength per outfitting level
• BUFF: Marine 'Hollow Point Clip' ability now deals 20 damage per shot and properly applies the bleed effect to Biological units after cast
• BUFF: Hybrid Titan now has 3000 base shields guarding his life
• BUFF: Increased Archon's base Shields from 4750 to 5000
• BUFF: Preserver's Psionic Blast ability now stuns its target for 1 second
• BUFF: Ghosts may now 'Dominate' stronger enemy units
• BUFF: Ghost 'Nuclear Shell' impact damage increased from 1500 to 2500
• BUFF: Ghost 'Nuclear Shell' maximum range increased from 12 to 15
• BUFF: Ghost 'Nuclear Shell' now leaves an AoE DoT that deals 1500 additional damage over 10 seconds at the impact site
• BUFF: Ghost 'Nuclear Shell' impact now applies a 'Nuclear Radiation' debuff which reduces movement speed by 1 and damage by 75% to all effected targets
• NERF: Ghost 'Nuclear Shell' energy cost increased from 350 to 855
• NERF: Ghost 'Nuclear Shell' casting time increased from 5 to 8 seconds
• NERF: Ghost 'Nuclear Shell' cooldown increased from 30 seconds to 334 seconds
• NERF: Preserver can no longer apply Focal Reforce and Shield Siphon to its skill bar at the same time
• NERF: Stalker Weapon Damage Decreased from 108 to 98
• NERF: Stalker 'Focus Beam' Damage reduced from 500 to 460
• NERF: Stalker 'Focus Beam' slop range reduced from 10 to 9
• NERF: Hydralisk 'Concentrated Acid Needles' Damage Reduced from 100 to 85
• NERF: Hydralisk 'Concentrated Acid Needles' Range Reduced from 10 to 8
• NERF: Hybrid Titan's 'Leap' Damage reduced from 1500 to 1250
• NERF: Dry Ration membrane now costs 1000 minerals
• NERF: Ken's Proton shake now costs 500 minerals
• NERF: Crickle's crunchy crackers cost 25 minerals
• NERF: Tychus Findlay's cigar now costs 1000 minerals
• NERF: Dylan's Phoenix core now costs 1000 minerals

Warships

• Movement speed increased by 10%
• Stargates now cost double but apply double supply
• Observes now require 2 supply
• Stealth cooldown increased by 0.5 seconds
• Fixed a bug causing mines to deal only 25% of their damage
• Platform will no longer grant XP when attacked by enemy ships
• Engineering Core heal reduced by 10%
• Strafe Drive speed reduced by 12.5%
• Refit now restores 1000(+750) was 1500 (+750)
• Must be near a starbase to buy frigates
• Manufacturing no longer affects aircraft build speed
• Nuke damage is now more concentrated (radius remains the same)
• Cruise missile life reduced by 200 at all levels
• Total minerals available for mining reduced by 10%
• Respawn time changed: 60 sec -> 45 sec + 1 sec for each minuted passed
• Fixed a bug with Stargates
• Fixed an issue with the tutorial sandbox
• Diamondbacks now properly cost 100 minerals

That’s it for our first edition of Plugged In. Let us know if you’ve seen any awesome new games or anything else related to the StarCraft II Arcade. We’ll see you online.