So some stuff has been leaking out from Blizzcon on Twitter and it sounds like they're really shaking up SC2 with Legacy. Of course this is Blizzard which means all these changes could be long-gone next week, but here's where we're at right now:

• Standalone release, not expansion pack
• 5 new units - 2 for Zerg and Terran, 1 for Protoss; Protoss may get another one later on
• Lurker (Zerg) - Basically the same, outranges cannons, spikes are easy to dodge
• Ravager (Zerg) - Roach upgrade that has a siege fireball ability that takes 3 seconds to land and destroys forcefields
• Herc (Terran) - Rax melee unit; tanky, has a grappling hook that pulls it to units, can be upgraded for splash
• Cyclone (Terran) - Seems like this style of unit keeps coming back; agile Mech unit that can lock-on to do more damage and attack while moving
• Disruptor (Protoss) - Robo unit that is a gas hog; goes invulnerable for 4 seconds (still mobile) then does AOE damage
• Much bigger focus on micro overall
• Protoss warp-in takes 8 seconds and units take 200% damage during it
• Nexus cannon only shoots ground
• Battlecruisers get a blink ability like campaign that goes anywhere regardless of vision
• Medivacs can pick up tanks in siege
• Swarm Host no longer burrows and spawning is a manual trigger; flying locust upgrade
• Corruptors have a channeled ability that targets ground; the damage ramps and shreds buildings
• Tempest only attacks ground, is faster, and has a single-target dot that does 500 damage over 50 seconds
• Carriers are faster, can launch all interceptors at a targeted area, and the interceptors can keep fighting after the carrier dies
• Nydus worm is invincible while burrowing
• Infestor's neural link removed, now has an aoe buff +5 dmg for 30 seconds
• Banshee range increased and cloak comes default; upgrade boosts speed faster than any detector
• Oracle's revelation and envision combined into one ability; new stasis trap ability
• Thors get a self-repair activated ability
• Immortal's hardened shield passive swapped with new active that absorbs damage for a short period of time
• Warp Prism can pick up units from further away
• New 2v2 Archon Mode where both players share control of a single base, basically like team melee from BW

NUCLEAR LAUNCH DETECTED

• Players now start with 12 workers
• Base saturation at 16 workers
• Mineral patches reduced from 1500 to 1000 each

So it sounds like things are being shaken up like crazy in multiplayer. This is the kind of sweeping change that I've come to love Blizzard for and I can't wait to see how it all turns out. People are going to have to start expanding like it's going out of style and with the added workers in the early-game it seems like matches are going to be pushed towards skirmishes and aggression. So HYPE!

Damn, where did they say all this? That's a ton of changes. I like that they're looking at changing worker saturation and stuff to encourage expanding; that could be really cool. Are they doing a stage show where they talk about all this stuff? I think I'll need to see these new units in action to really understand them.

Wooow.. damn. Those are some crazy changes. Looks like they're trying to make the game much faster in some really interesting ways. Those worker changes are GROUNDBREAKING.

Can't wait to see it in action.

I can't imagine all of these will stay in but it's great to see such sweeping changes being looked at. I'm really ready to get back into SC2 for this.

This sounds like a good enough set of reasons to jump back into SCII.

They've put up youtube videos with the changes:

Zerg

Terran

Protoss

@chronologist: thanks updated OP with those videos

@chronologist: Awesome, thanks. These units look a lot better than the ones they originally announced for HoTS, where half of the changes didn't even make it to the final game. I expect all these units to change significantly but I'm pretty excited to see how they change the game when it finally comes out. Also, for anyone curious there is a panel tomorrow at 2:15pm. Not sure if you can watch it without a Blizzcon pass or whatever but hopefully they'll throw it up on Youtube afterwards like last year.

Archon mode sounds interesting but I'm so intimidated at trying to get into at it at this point.

@zirilius: Well I think that's kinda the point, if you're only good at macro then you can team up with a friend that's good at micro or vice-versa.

Nope cause that's exactly me!

I'm glad they posted videos because as soon as I heard the lurker I had lost all sensibility and was jumping around the room not hearing anything said. The zerg changes look very good. Both roaches and hydralisks desperately needed morph capabilities to help that composition. The ravager looks pretty sweet and it's ability to both destroy force fields and hit air units is a welcome change. I'm not sure if I'll play protoss or zerg this time around. WoL I played toss, and HotS I was zerg. Lurker is easily my favorite unit in the starcraft series, but the protoss single player and general lore is appealing enough for me to want to play them in multiplayer as well.

Release date?

Medivacs can pick up tanks in Siege = WHAT!? If you've seen good tank micro that's just totally insane; tanks are already good as drop and pick up, but in siege that's just nuts.

@hammondoftexas: Nah, that is and always has been like 90% of RTS players.

@bisonhero: I don't know about "always," there were hundreds of thousands of people playing Brood War and WC3; though admittedly more for the custom map scene which is basically the predecessor of indie games.

@fredchuckdave: Other than seeing tanks in Terran vs Terran and as part of the Terran mech composition vs Zerg, tank are rarely ever used. So making tanks more mobile is a plus since they 1. under-utilized 2. very immobile due to other units like the widow mines more viable in the mobile compositions like the bio composition.

Can almost think of the siege microability now kind of similar to reaver drops in SC:BW.

So many changes to the multiplayer to make it even more aggressive and discouraging the use of "deathball" armies.

Before Blizzcon started the commentators and players and others who are there to participate in WCS got to play around with the current build of LotV. There's an observer who was tweeting all this stuff out several hours ago.

So the one that is about Protoss only includes one new Protoss unit? Unfortunate, but should still be good. Maybe I'll jump back in, though more micro sounds like trouble to me since I was always a macro player

Eh, I am one of those people that mainly plays SC for the campaign. So the changes on the mp side of things don't really interest me. (I've tried the MP for a while when WoL came out, even participated in the GBEU tournament once, but it wasn't my thing in the long run). And even more focus on micro would have pushed me away even more, if i was in any way interested, so hopefully it's what those who are want.

But I got pretty hyped after the end of that trailer. Not as excited as during the first SC2 reveal obviously (when i was running around my room screaming like a girl for several minutes) but still. Also really like that the iconic carriers are getting some love.

@belegorm: There may be one more Protoss unit in the design according to the balance designer David Kim.

Pretty early for patch notes.

Looking forward to it. Starcraft 2 was a godsend when I was unemployed for 3 months in 2011.

And Legacy is a really cool shorthand name for it.

Terran seems to be getting a lot stronger, which is nice. I prefer buffs to nerfs. Shame Protoss got only 1 unit and some nerfs though...

@supermike6: I'm assuming during the SC2 Blizzcon stream on Twitch?

Holy moly, those worker changes!

I don't know if I like that.

@csl316: Legacy abbreviates to HotS, just saying.

Wow didn't see the Archon mode before. If it becomes competitive... imagine how epic the micro will be.

Does anyone have any links to the two showmatches that were on after the RO8? They were at 3am here and I can only find a Polish VOD on YouTube :/

EDIT: Found them.

I've been ruminating on Archon mode since I read about it, and it makes me want to play some co-op Halo Wars again. I'm hoping they include some co-op missions to rekindle the intensity HW had on Legendary.

Coming soon to PC, eh? Guess that'll be winter 2015 or so...

Exciting/Exciting is what I feel.