Official TBA StarCraft II Thread

[psi43]

i wonder if they're going to actually do unit reveals or just show the silhouettes again

no this time it will be a "match silhouettes to voice samples" game they set up at blizzcon.

[Sinitron]

surprise!!!! we deleted zerg and made them an infested terran reskin instead!!!! enjoy your balanced game!!!!

[cipher]

and here are a few more facts (from reddit and TL). Can't gaurentee the accuracy of any of them though

-No more Overseer.
-Hydra speed increased.
-Viper will permanently grant detection for energy. Lair tech. Grant detection is the cheapest spell.
-Burrowed banelings can MOVE. Possibly an upgrade. (I find this hard to believe)
-Swarm lord spits out broodling-looking things that have 16 attack damage and .87 attack speed.
-Carries and Motherships removed (???)
-Mass Recall is now a nexus ability

I think I'm just going to wait until someone files a full report of all the changes in the coming days

[Sinitron]

FUCK YOU KERRIGAN WHAT DID VALERIAN EVER DO DIRECTLY TO YOU

[Sinitron]

[BluPhoenix]

that's pretty cute

*explodes*

oh

[Sinitron]

oh yeah and the warhound, doing AOE air damage? sure sign they removed the thor

[Crabarms]

Thors are 600 minerals now and require a fusion core. Theyve got the aoe ability from single player.You can only have 1 thor at a time now,.a la mothership

pasted from TL.

Some changes I like but I hate losing units to just get something similar but less cool looking.

[cipher]

here we go

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Preview Trailer

[rtil]

the warhound looks EXACTLY like a hellbringer from mechwarrior.

in any case, i love the trailer and can't wait to see the new units in action besides the brief moments in the video

[cipher]

More madness!



Protoss

Upon analyzing data from their most recent battles, the protoss have identified a few areas of improvement that would help them maximize effectiveness against their enemies. Based on their findings, the protoss have augmented their arsenal with a second psionic unit, a new way to counter flocks of Mutalisks, and a new form of enemy harassment.

Tempest

Description: The tempest is a new capital ship that deals massive area-of-effect damage to air units. It also has a standard ground attack, but its chief role is to help gain air superiority.

Oracle

Description: The Oracle is a psionic warship, built from a Stargate, that uses several unique abilities to raid and harass the enemy. The first is Entomb, which can temporarily block mineral fields from being harvested. Another ability, Preordain, grants vision of a targeted enemy building, allowing the protoss to see which units or technologies are being researched. Rounding out its kit is Phase Shift, which phases a target building, preventing it from being attacked, using its abilities, or granting technology. Not only can structures like missile turrets be prevented from attacking, but using this ability on a zerg Spire would block the production of Mutalisks, Corruptors, and air upgrades.

Replicant

Description: Replicants have one ability: to transform itself into any non-massive unit. They're expensive, so cloning a Zergling would not be very cost effective, but transforming into a specialized unit like a Raven, Infestor, or Siege Tank could open up interesting strategic options for the protoss.

New Abilities

A new ability called Arc Shield has also been added to the nexus -- this ability will temporarily add additional shield and building armor, as well as a weapon very similar to a photon cannon. The weapon does the same amount of damage as a regular photon cannon but only damages light units. This ability will help the protoss buy time to defend in the case of an unexpected drop from an enemy. Another ability, Mass Recall, has also been added to the nexus, which allows protoss players to teleport armies from out in the field back to the nexus. The recalled units are stunned for a few seconds when recalled.

Retired Units

As we add units to the multiplayer game, sometimes it's necessary to remove units or alter others' abilities to maintain game balance and eliminate redundancy. In the current design of Heart of the Swarm, the protoss are not able to deploy Motherships and Carriers, though these and other units that don't exist in Heart of the Swarm multiplayer will still be available in Wings of Liberty multiplayer and the solo campaign.


Terran

The resourceful terrans have also been improving their technology to better survive their battles in the Koprulu sector.

Shredder

Description: The Shredder is a new unit built from the Factory that allows the terran player to control the battlefield. In its mobile form, the Shredder has no attack -- but when set to stationary mode, it channels area-effect damage to both the air and ground. If a friendly unit enters the range of the Shredder, the weapon shuts off.

Warhound

Description: The Warhound is a small, walking ground mech that wields an effective anti-air weapon with splash damage, much like the Thor from Wings of Liberty. The difference is that the Warhound is smaller and much more nimble, though it gives up some range on its anti-air missiles in exchange for this mobility. The Warhound also wields a small ground attack weapon that does additional damage to mechanical units, making it particularly well suited to taking out enemy Siege Tanks -- though it's not particularly effective against non-mechanical units.

Thor (Modified)

Description: While it was always quite effective against ground and air, one of the biggest problems with the Thor has been that it's too big and bulky to move around well... so the terrans decided to made it even bigger. In Heart of the Swarm multiplayer, terran players will be limited to having only one Thor at a time, but this new behemoth hits even harder with its regular ground weapons and can absorb a tremendous amount of damage. The terrans have also swapped out the Thor's anti-air weapons for a bombardment ability that does a huge amount of damage to a wide swath of ground. The Thor will need time to set up its bombardment cannons, as well as time to repack them after an attack, much like a Siege Tank. Of course, fielding such a powerful weapon requires a hefty investment in technology, so both an Armory and a Fusion Core will be required before a Thor can be built.

New Abilities

The Hellion has been upgraded to a transforming unit similar to the Viking. When transformed into its new battle mode, the Hellion will gain in hit points and get a stronger flame attack that covers a short arc in front of it. This makes the Hellion more effective in late-game fights against large clusters of light units such as Zealots. The Ghost's Cloak ability has also been modified -- it will no longer be a toggled effect. Instead, there will be a one-time energy cost to activate Cloak for a specific time duration. Energy regeneration will continue while cloaked, and Ghosts can re-cloak while nuking without interrupting the call-down. The Battlecruiser will gain a speed-boost ability called Redline Reactor, which is governed by a cooldown. And finally, the Reaper no longer has a special building attack, but instead has a passive health-regeneration that allows it to recharge hit points quickly when out of combat.


Zerg

The zerg continue to evolve and adapt to changing environments, particularly the dangers they face on the battlefield. New creatures will help the zerg stage more effective sieges and add unique enemy-manipulating abilities to their arsenal.

Viper

Description: The Viper is a new flying unit with three unique abilities. Blinding Cloud temporarily reduces the attack range of all ground units inside the cloud to melee range, and prevents energy-based abilities from being used. Abduct allows the Viper to physically pull a unit to the Viper's location. Finally, the Viper has a one-time ability called Ocular Parasite, which allows it to detach its eye stalk and meld it onto any friendly, non-massive unit, turning that unit into a detector.

Swarm Host

Description: The Swarm Host is a slow-moving ground unit that has no standard attack. When burrowed, the Swarm Host spawns a continuous stream of slow-moving melee units called Locusts that can be used to lay siege and pressure entrenched enemy positions.

New Abilities

The Corruptor's Corruption ability has been replaced by a new ability called Siphon that allows Corruptors to target buildings and slowly damage them. This damage is converted into resources for the zerg at the same time. Ultralisks have a new Burrow Charge skill that lets them dive underground and instantly surface at a target, allowing them to initiate the fight faster on a crowded battlefield. Finally, the Baneling has evolved tunneling claws similar to the Roach, which allows them to move while burrowed -- this new evolution will mean other races will need to be even more wary about hidden drops and making sure to have detectors with their army. Finally, the Hydralisk has a new upgrade that allows them to move faster while not on creep.

Retired Units

The Overseer has been cut; its detection ability has been replaced by the Viper and its Ocular Parasite.

[Gladius]

here we go

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Preview Trailer

Pretty badass

Getting this for sure

The Hellion has been upgraded to a transforming unit similar to the Viking.

KICKASS I thought this was just a fake

Can't wait to use it

And that thing that grabbed and pulled the colossus looked hilarious and fun too

[Crabarms]

Video playlist showing some bits of them in action and other info. http://www.you tube.com/watch?v=axVMWSJS3ho&list=PL4490E1CBF4940B35&feature=plpp

remove space between you. This is so you can see it and not just see one video.

[Sinitron]

warhounds are basically shitty goliaths and thors will never see the light of day anymore (just like the mothership) so in effect they pretty much removed it

[Sinitron]

most of this is just a bunch of old shit in new wrapping

viper = BW queen + overseer
swarm lord = BW lurker + brood lord
warhound = goliath with splash and less flexibility (i'd rather just have lockdown back)
battle hellion = firebat (which was built from the factory in the SC2 alpha anyway)
tempest = BW corsair/void ray with air splash
oracle = BW corsair/phoenix
replicant = sort of like a dark archon's mind control except slightly less infuriating (and probably just as niche)

i can't come up with something to compare the shredder to, it seems kinda stupid though, doing splash like a siege tank but doesn't work as part of an army

the tempest was the original name for the 'carrier' in WOL before they reskinned it into the current one, which would fire little shuriken things that came back instead of interceptors, which was honestly a more interesting concept

[psi43]

well
if you look at the new protoss and zerg units and compare them to the new terran units, it kinda feels like they concentrated more on making toss and zerg stronger. All of the new toss and zerg units, i can see doing huge amounts of damage. For the terran units, i can only see better players using most of them in a really efficient way.

but fucking hell, burrowed banelings that can MOVE!? fuck me, i'mma throw a party

[Sinitron]

not really, they just add more versatility, not strength

terran just gets a complete factory overhaul which wouldn't be so bad if warhounds didn't seem so shitty

tbh they might as well have added the viking to the factory and added a new air unit to make up for it (since everyone else is getting air)

so all transforming units (hellion, tank, viking + whatever else) would come straight from the factory (which would thematically make sense)

thors were fine except for the shitty special, motherships were useless but carriers were really iconic and the last of the old school protoss air units

[cipher]

I forsee the shredders being annoying as fuck though

[psi43]

I forsee the shredders being annoying as fuck though

I think it's the only siege "unit" that can also attack air. I wonder how much it will cost cause it seems that no matter what you throw against it (as long as it doesn't outrange the shredder), it will be more than cost efficient.

[rtil]

i think it's pretty goddamn stupid to be saying what units will and won't work in multiplayer when we have hardly even seen them in action. only time will tell if they serve an important role as they are introduced to the metagame. all this theorycrafting bullshit and whining is just a symptom of people spending too much time on the bnet forums. just be happy they are even adding new units to multiplayer.