StarCraft II 5.0.16 Hotfix Patch Notes (30th June 2026)
Blizzard fine-tunes the meta with geyser nerfs, unit timing shifts, and a major Protoss force field rework.
Blizzard dropped 5.0.16 as a hotfix response to last week's feedback and player data, making targeted adjustments across all three races without reshaping the entire meta.
The economy takes a hit: default geysers now yield 2,000 vespene instead of 2,500, which tightens mid-game tech timings for everyone. On the unit side, Terran's Widow Mine loses 0.22 seconds of lock-on time, making it snappier in engagements, while Reapers build 2 seconds slower to compensate. Zerg gets a larva production bump that should ease early expansion pressure. Protoss sees the biggest shake-up: Bile no longer instantly deletes force fields but instead eats 50% of their duration, which changes how Protoss defends against Zerg aggression and keeps the matchup from feeling completely one-sided.
The patch also crushed a pile of bugs, Queen spawning direction, tooltip fixes across multiple languages, and a revert on the Queen inject shuffle that apparently didn't land right. Check the full notes for everything from Mothership shield adjustments to Warp Prism load range fixes.
Full Patch Notes
▲ Buff▼ Nerf✓ Fix◆ TweakWe have made some adjustment based on feedback and player data over the last week. We will continue to monitor the patch and make further changes if necessary.
Economy
- Default Geyser reduced from 2,500 vespene gas to 2,000.
Zerg
- Larva Rate increased from 9.5 to 9.9.
Terran
- Widow Mine Lock on time reduced from 1.07 seconds to 0.85 seconds.
- Reaper build time increased from 30 to 32 seconds.
Protoss
- Bile no longer instantly destroys force fields, instead it destroys 50% of its duration.
- Adept Pre-warpgate buildtime increased from 30 to 33 seconds.
- High Templar & Dark Templar Pre-warpgate Build time decreased from 43 to 40 seconds.
- Mothership shields reduced from 350 to 200.
- Mothership health increased from 350 to 400.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where the Infestor's weapon used the incorrect base and +3 weapon attack icon.
- Fixed an issue where new Archon sounds were initialized incorrectly and would play too loudly.
- Fixed an issue where Queen, Hatchery, Lair, and Hive produce and kill score experience was calculated incorrectly.
- Fixed an issue where structure ownership in team games could be adjusted by the loss of the builder.
- Fixed an issue where Stasis Wards had a selection priority equivalent to units.
- Fixed an issue where pylons still displayed a warp conduit indicator.
- Fixed an issue where mule repair autocast mechanism was briefly unintentionally visible.
- Fixed an issue where Swarmhost range radius actors would appear at unintended times.
- Fixed an issue where acquire behaviour on interceptors under the effect of neural parasite behaved unintentionally.
- Fixed an issue where an opaque variation of a mineral field unit held an outdated number of minerals.
- Fixed issues with how range was calculated for Warp Prism 'Load Nearby'.
- Fixed an issue where 'Load Nearby' did not have a default hotkey set.
- Reverted Queen inject shuffle adjustment.
- Archon merge completion assets are now disabled if the player is using the low 'effects' graphics option.
- Fixed issues with Steady Targeting tooltip descriptions in various languages.
- Fixed issues with Storm tooltip descriptions in various languages.
- Fixed issues with Microbial Shroud tooltip descriptions in various languages.
- Fixed issues with Load Nearby tooltip descriptions in various languages.
- Queens will now spawn facing their origin hatchery.
- Units produced out of gateways have been given a visual spawn indicator.
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Written by
Nathan LeesGaming journalist and founder of XP Gained. Covering patch notes, breaking news, and updates across 160+ games.
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