StarCraft II Official! (Pictures)

[AA7Dragoon]

Protoss Mothership Instant Win lol!

[Aekenon]

The power.  It's too much for one man to wield...!

[Maglok]

They added Char to the official site. Nice artwork. And that's a lot of zerg, right there.

[Aekenon]

[imgwh 640x480]http://www.starcraft2.com/images/screenshots/ss88.jpg[/imgwh]

The Marines really do look like Footmen.

[AA7Dragoon]

Big ugly zerg unt in the center of the picture?  Yeah, I don't know what the hell that is.

[IskatuMesk]

It's a building as already determined by Karune and co.

[Marine]

Recently StarCraft: Legacy partook in StarCraft's 10 Year Anniversary: "I <3 SC" Contest sponsored by Blizzard. Because we sucessfully acquired 50 unique submissions we were awarded an exclusive Q&A batch. From our 20 question submission 8 have been answered:



1) What is the current state of the Hydralisk? The current stats we have are tier 2-2.5, 100 minerals, 75 gas, 80-90 HP, and 8-10 dmg with no special abilities. Compared to the Roach, the Hydralisk appears inferior in every way, with it's only saving grace being GTA capability. However, because the Mutalisk is in the same tier, only slightly more expensive, and it can fly, the Hydralisk appears to be almost useless for such an iconic unit. (sclegacy.com)

Actually, the Hydralisk has since been boosted up quite a bit in terms of damage. They currently have 80 hit points and have a ground attack of 13 + 3 versus armored and an air attack of 12 + 5 versus armored. The Hydralisk also has a range of 6 and moves at a ‘fast’ speed, with no need to upgrade with the speed bonus anymore. Roaches on the other hand, only have an attack of 10, half the Hydralisk’s range, and is slower to move as well. The new damage the Hydralisk is able to put out now makes it very dangerous, as Zerg players will be able to take out buildings with a pack of Hydras, with only a few volleys (same goes to Battlecruisers!). Nonetheless, they are extremely weak at 80 hit points, and thus need to always be protected. The new cost for Hydralisks are also 100 minerals and 100 gas.

2) How does Anti-Gravity work on Zerg buildings since they're organs intrinsically a part of the creep? They are essentially part of the creep. Do they lose health? Also, how does it affect burrowed units? Will they go back to being burrowed or not? (sclegacy.com)

Zerg buildings will not take damage when they are lifted. Burrowed units lifted will become burrowed again when the ability finishes.

3) With the Thor back to having both anti-air and anti-ground attacks, will he be capable of discharging both weapons simultaneously at a Colossus? Or will only the stronger attack affect it? If it is only the stronger attack, is that dynamically chosen by the game? (sclegacy.com)

Any unit with both ground and air attacks will attack the Colossus with the stronger of the two attacks, but not with both.

4) With the Medivac being a late-game tech, are Terran infantry impaired against the other two races in early to mid-game? (sclegacy.com)

No, Terran is actually quite strong early game for a few different reasons. One, their tier 1 unit is ranged and is thus excellent at defending cliffs without being able to be countered without sight. Two, the new supply depots are excellent at building the perfect barricade in early game. Three, Marauders are very tough and are excellent at winning heavy micromanaged battles, preventing units from reaching your Marines.

5) Does the Ghost's EMP Grenade ability function any differently from the Science Vessel's EMP ability from StarCraft Vanilla? (sclegacy.com)

Nope, the EMP currently works the same as the EMP from the original StarCraft.

6) What special abilities, in the current build, can be cast from inside a bunker? Can a nuke be called down? (sclegacy.com)

In a bunker, units will be able to use Stim Pack, call down Nukes, Sniper, and use EMP.

7) Does the Jackal's attack damage friendly units and/or have AoE capabilities? (sclegacy.com)

The Jackal’s attack will only damage enemy units in its area of effect. Technically, it will target a set unit and all units in that line of fire will take damage.

The Zerg do not seem to have equal air power compared to the other two races. The Protoss have Carriers and Warp Rays; the Terrans have BCs. While the Mutalisk makes a great harassment unit, they simply cannot stand up to significant firepower. Corruptors and Swarm Guardians are strong in their respective fields, but they lack a single unit that can attack both air and ground well. This suggests that air units will be limited to defense and support for a primarily ground based army. The other two races seem more able to have a well-rounded primarily air-based army. Is this the case, and if so, will anything be done to give the Zerg stronger air options? (sclegacy.com)

Zerg currently has the most powerful anti air unit in terms of damage per second, which is the Hydralisk. Furthermore, while the Mutalisks are not the stronger aerial fighter, they do have flexibility, being able to morph into Swarm Guardians for that additional ground damage and range when needed. Corruptors, in mass groups are also one of the most powerful air to air units, especially considering every unit you kill, makes the battle turn even more into your favor. While we have experimented with other types of Zerg air units, there are no plans to introduce any of them to the multiplayer version of the game. 

[tipereth]

wow so every unit you kill turns the battle in your favor thats certainly an innovative mechanic

[Marco]

Hey guys, I just heard that StarCraft II is in development.

[IskatuMesk]

Man, SCL is a stupid site. Why are they even ASKING balance-related shit so fucking early into the game? Why not ask something, oh I don't know, USEFUL and that might have some relevance to when the game is finished!

[Marine]

SCLegacy is to stupid to ask those questions in the first place. Not like Blizzard would give any hint to when SC2 may come anyway.

[Marco]

Sounds like they are just gamers interested in getting input on things that concern them.  I think the entire balancing process is a fusion between community criticism as well as developer tinkering. 

[RazorclawX]

I didn't know the Thor was back in.

[IskatuMesk]

They are just wasting questions that could have given some more useful information, instead of regarding shit that's most certainly going to change before the game enters beta, let alone release.

As for the balancing, that's why they're having massive conventions in Korea.

[Marco]

I think you are just cranky today.  Go to sleep cranky head.  Tomorrow, wake up and ask your questions about game balance or whatever else tickles your fancy.