Starcraft 2 news » Heart of the Swarm Preview: Leveling

Our next major patch of the Heart of the Swarm beta is coming very soon, and with this update, beta players are going to be able to join us in testing a new feature for StarCraft II. Leveling introduces a progression system to the game that offers rewards to players of all skill levels.

The basics

In the Heart of the Swarm leveling system, players earn experience while playing Blizzard matchmaking  modes and custom games on Blizzard maps. You’ll earn XP for the race you’re playing with each unit you build or destroy. Experience is awarded at the end of the match, and accumulates as you level up from 1 to a maximum level of 20 for each race.

Getting into the game and playing as much as possible will earn you XP and rewards. Build up powerful armies, wreak havoc on the map, fight to the bitter end, and you’ll be rewarded for your efforts! There will also be ways to earn bonus experience points for a match. We’re already working on concepts like “bonus XP for your first win of the day” and “extra XP when you play in a party with a Battletag or Real-ID friend”. We’re considering “bonus XP weekends” and other sorts of activities, which will be tested in the beta.

The rewards

The Leveling system is how you will earn most portraits and decals in Heart of the Swarm.  We’re creating a multitude of new images for players to collect and display. Your cumulative (Protoss+Terran+Zerg) level will also be displayed right next to your player portrait, so others will be able to easily see how far you’ve gone in mastering the races of StarCraft II.

Each level you earn awards either a decal or a portrait for the race that you’re playing. These rewards get more and more epic as you progress in a race. The rewards will be different for each race, so truly dedicated players can push themselves to great heights for each of the three races.

The Heart of the Swarm beta

After the next major beta patch, testers can try this system and start earning XP in the beta. We’re planning on making adjustments over time, so it’s likely that XP resets will happen during beta. We’re going to pay very close attention to the leveling curve and the fun factor of this system, so it’s important that we have a lot of playtest results to work with. We’ll give beta testers notice in advance of resetting the system so testers can help us try different methods of gaining XP.

 

So, what do you think? We’re very interested in your feedback, and we’re pushing to get as many players as possible into the beta to try out the new Leveling system. Join us in this discussion thread to talk about it.