Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness, first released in 1995, just received its first balance update in over two decades, nerfing units like Ogre Mages and buffing Archers and Axe Throwers.
Blizzard recently remastered Warcraft 2 (and its predecessor) as part of a new Warcraft Remastered Battle Chest in celebration of the franchise’s 30th anniversary. Far from simply updating the game’s visuals and adding some modern quality-of-life features, Blizzard is also taking a look at gameplay balance.
Most of the changes in the new Warcraft 2: Remastered patch 1.0.1 are related to resource costs and ability durations for various units. Archers and Axe Throwers have received some significant changes to their upgrades, which are now faster to research, deal more damage, and cost less gold and (in most cases) lumber to learn. Paladins have received some slight buffs, as have Death Knights.
One huge change players seem happy with is a nerf to the Ogre Mage’s Bloodlust ability, long regarded as overpowered for those playing as the Horde and an ability without a good Alliance alternative. The ability doubles the damage and piercing damage of a selected unit for a set duration, allowing Bloodlusted units to cut through even heavily armored foes with ease.
Post-patch 1.0.1, Bloodlust has had its duration decreased, its mana cost increased, and had its double-damage buff applied after armor reduction instead of before. The ability will still be extremely valuable, but it’s at least not quite as omnipotent as before.
These balance changes are the first major gameplay updates to the beloved RTS since the arrival of patch 2.02 for the 1999 Battle.net version of Warcraft 2. I wasn’t able to find an exact date for when 2.02 released, but given the Battle.net version of Warcraft 2’s October 1999 release, it likely came a few months later or sometime in 2000. That makes the Warcraft 2: Remastered balance changes the first for the RTS in roughly 24 or 25 years.
Outside of the balance changes, the update additionally re-adds the game’s classic Victory/Defeat screens and animations, adds an Alliance menu for online multiplayer, introduces countdowns to matches when waiting in a multiplayer lobby, and more.
Classic game storefront GOG recently announced Blizzard would be pulling the non-remastered versions of Warcraft 1 and 2 from sale on December 13. Despite the fact they will soon be delisted, GOG said it would continue to provide tech support for both games to ensure compatibility for future versions of Windows.