Balance Changes

• Terran
  • Banshee
    • Cloak: This ability no longer requires Fusion Core to research.
  • Barracks
    • The build time for this building has decreased from 65 to 60.
  • Factory
    • The build time for this building has decreased from 65 to 60.
  • Reactor
    • The build time for this building has decreased from 40 to 25.
  • Reaper
    • The build time for this unit has increased from 30 to 40.
    • Nitro Boost: The build time for this upgrade has increased from 90 to 100.
  • Starport
    • The build time for this building has decreased from 55 to 50.
  • Tech Lab
    • The build time for this building has decreased from 30 to 25.
• Protoss
  • Mothership
    • The build time for this unit has increased from 120 to 160.
    • The food cost of this unit has increased from 6 to 8.
    • The number of shots fired by this unit has decreased from 8 to 6.
    • The shield of this unit has decreased from 400 to 350.
    • The health of this unit has decreased from 400 to 350.
    • The acceleration of this unit has decreased from 1.3125 to 0.3125.
    • The deceleration of this unit has increased from 0 to
  
  
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One of our staff members personally received a Beta Key today at 3:21 PM, thus confirming that the second wave of Beta Keys are being sent out. It should be noted that this person did not attend any Blizzcon events.

We have uploaded a few Starcraft 2 Beta replays, if you wish to view them you can follow these steps:

Download these files:
Starcraft Beta Client
Part 1: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JPK08K5M (1.05 GB)
Part 2: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VCTPUSE5 (712 MB)

Patch
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=N9ZK4LRN
Guest Mode Enabler
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=94YC6DDF

Step 1: Place the Battle.net.gfx file from the "Guest Mode Enabler" into "C:Program Files (x86)StarCraft II BetaBattle.net"                  

Step 2: From the "patch" file copy the contents of "3" into "My DocumentsStarCraft II Beta"

Step 3:    
For Windows Vista or 7 Copy the contents of "2" into C:Users/Your_Username/AppDataLocalBlizzard EntertainmentBattle.netCache
For Windows XP copy the contents of "2" into C:Documents and Settings/USERNAME/Local Settings/Application/ DataBlizzard

Avarius has confirmed that this was the first batch of beta keys and the second batch will be released within 2 weeks.

"I wanted to provide an update for players that attended BlizzCon and redeemed their codes, but have yet to receive a beta key invite email. The first wave of invites have already been sent out and a majority of the invites were sent out to BlizzCon attendees. Unfortunately, due to the sheer number of BlizzCon attendees, we could not get everyone in with the first wave. Rest assured that if you did not get into the first wave, you will be included in a future wave, possibly within the next two weeks.

The timing of the next wave will be dependent upon the amount of players that are playing and the load capacity of the servers. Thank you for your understanding and patience through this process".

[1]

PC Minimum Requirements:
• Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1/Windows 7
• 2.2 Ghz Pentium IV or equivalent AMD Athlon processor
• 1 GB system RAM/1.5 GB for Vista and Windows 7
• 128 MB NVidia GeForce 6600 GT/ATI Radeon 9800 PRO video card
• 1024x768 minimum display resolution
• 4 GB free hard space (Beta)
• Broadband connection

*Note* the final requirements for Starcraft II have not yet been determined. Due to ongoing development the minimum requirements listed above are subject to change at any time. During this phase a Mac version will NOT be available, please check back. [1]

The long awaited Starcraft 2 Beta has finally begun and Blizzard has created a small beta website.

If you have any questions about the Starcraft 2 beta visit blizzard's StarCraft II Beta FAQ

Currently it appears that the majority of gamers who received beta keys went to the Blizzcon events, with only a few from regular beta opt-in. Once we get our beta keys, we will upload as much content as we can to share with you.

Meanwhile you can go to the G4 Gaming community website and view some of their great interviews with the Starcraft 2 developers.

Welcome to StarcraftPros.com.  We are a group of serious Starcraft players who will be dedicated to bringing you the highest quailty Replays, Audios, Live Streams, and Strategy Guides.

As the Starcraft II beta has finally been announced, we will soon begin to share some beta replay footage with the gaming community. We encourage you to stay tuned with Starcraft Pros while we establish our community.  Meanwhile take a look around and share your thoughts on Starcraft, our website, or whatever you’d like.

Thanks,
SCP

During a conference call on February 10th Mike Morhaime revealed the closed beta for StarCraft II would launch towards the end of February.  Avarius further confirmed that Blizzard is "targeting a global release for the start of the beta."  Starcraft's official twitter has also been updated with "beta will be released later this month".

Starcraft 2 is still on track for a mid-2010 release.  In addition to normal gameplay testing the beta will also help test and optimize the new Battle.net service.