Give the Thor a more defined role, bring back Drop Pods and the ability to customize BCs and they're basically set, IMO.
Oh, and of course don't make the Colossus such a wimp.
Here are some questions & answers from the same thread:
Comments: siege Lurkers seem awesome, a nice role change from Brood War. The fungal thingy ability also seems very interesting, it has a striking ressemblance to Corpse Explosion which was one of my favorite Diablo 2 skills.With the queen you can build up larva. Say you don't have a tech building up yet but you want a ton of that units, you build up larva (you can see 15 in that screen shot--that's 5 hatcheries!), then when tech finishes, you get a ton of that high level unit.
Also, mutant larva hatch faster.
/answered
These are no longer 'mutant larva' so they will not hatch faster, but everything else is correct
Q u o t e:
Is there anything that would prevent you from offensively dropping mules in the thick of battle? (For example it *might* be useful to drop near units that would then cause things like siege tanks to attack them and while ultimately leading to a very short lifespan for the mule, could lead to splashing a player's own units with damage)
This is theoretically possible, but the animation of the drop pod that hits the ground is a bit long (roughly 5-10 seconds), so it isn't like an instant drop.
Q u o t e:
/misses mutant larva...here's hoping they come back in beta!
Also, Karune, does that then mean that these larva do not cost supply? If that is the case then another advantage over a hatchery is if you mess up and forget to build enough ovies (or you just had a bunch of ovies get sniped), then instead of having to wait for more ovies, you can build mutant larva and not lose unit making time in the end.
They do not cost supply, they are just normal larva. The concept of Mutant Larva with timed life seemed more tedious and much harder to grasp in gameplay than the current reincarnation, which has definitely sat much better with the team and testers.
Q u o t e:
1) Was the new infestor art looking so much like a Reaver done on purpose? Maybe a joke to all the guys asking to put the reaver back?
The Infestor has a completely new model different than the Reaver, but does coincidentally have the same shape as a Reaver. Don't forget, Reavers will still be seen in single player as well as the map editor.
Q u o t e:
2) Terran and protoss now have abilities to both increase they're income temporarily (mules + dark pylon) as well as abilities to increase they're offensive production (reactor + warp gates). Zergs only have a production ability (mutate larvae). Are zergs getting something to fill the temporary income role? Or is the mutate larvae supposed to just pump drones to make up for that?
Being able to spawn additional larva can potentially help Zerg production quite a bit actually. Prior, when a Zerg player hatched offensive units, they were always sacrificing the creation of more drones. This ability allows more bandwidth to create even more offensive units for a big push, build more balanced with more drones and additional units, or double up on the teching effort with all drones. There are a lot of options to play with that will surely inspire many new strategies.
Q u o t e:
1) How far in tech is the dark pylon cloak?
All 3 abilities are available right when the Dark Pylon is created.
Q u o t e:
2) Can dark pylons be used as a warp-in end that gives energy to your HT's?
Sneaking a cloacked probe and placing a pylon in the back of the enemy base for warp-ins and hidden cannons sounds like fun ^^
Yup, everything a Pylon can do, a Dark Pylon can do better but of course at a cost.
Q u o t e:
Are queens still unique? What about motherships?
What tier are the lurkers? Are they still late-game units?
Are hydralisks still better anti-air than anti-ground? What are their damage stats?
Have a nice day, by the way Thanks for the huge attention you've been giving us today!
1) Neither are unique.
2) Lurkers are tier 3. The Lurker Den requires a Hive. Banelings are much better for earlier AoE, and Lurkers are a good siege type unit in addition to its previous uses. They have a range of 9 which outranges Protoss cannons and have an attack of 15 + 15 to armored (including buildings).
3) Hydralisks are still slightly better against air, with ground to air attack stats of 10 + 6 armored and ground to ground attack stats of 10, both with range 6.
Q u o t e:
A few questions:
- How does one construct a dark pylon? Is it a separate, more expensive replacement for the original pylons or an upgrade?
The Dark Pylon currently costs 150 minerals (50 more than normal Pylon) and has the Gateway as the prerequisite building. This of course is all subject to change while more balance testing is occuring.
Q u o t e:
- I assume the orbital command is now a replacement of the surveillance center? Does that mean people who opt to upgrade their CC's to a planetary fortress are no longer able to beneft from these new features, even without the use of salvage?
Yes the Orbital Command is what the Surveillance Center used to be. If you build a Planetary Fortress you will not be able to use these new features, but your command center will be upgraded to Armor 3 and have a Ibiks Laser that does 40 splash damage with a 6 range. These stats are of course all subject to change through balance testing.
Q u o t e:
I don't suppose Proton Charge would stack, hm?
Nope they don't stack, but if casted again, it will renew the duration of the ability.
Q u o t e:
Some more questions:
1. The new infestor (pure awesomeness BTW), resembles the reaver in shape and looks rather slow. Is it super slow? Can you tell us anything about its speed?
The Infestor will still be relatively slow, though they have been sped up a bit from when you guys last saw it.
Q u o t e:
2. In 1 screen shot there are 15 eggs hatching. We know the hatchery can make 3, then the queen can make the hatchery add 4 more. So in this shot, did the the Queen use her ability multiple times in quick succession or would she have to wait until the firs 7 hatch before she can use it again? I guess what I am asking is if the hatchery can only spit out 4 extra larva at a time or if you can tell it to do it 4 times and have it spit out 16 larva?
After the original 3 larva, each Hatchery can only be spawning 4 larva at a time. The ability cannot be used again on that Hatchery until those 4 larva have spawned.
Q u o t e:
3. The mules help the terrans by essentially being SCV's that mine fast right? Do they help the other SCV's mine faster as well? Can they build things? Do they cost supply since they are only there for a while? When they "run out of battery" do they shut down until you "recharge" them or do they explode and disappear forever?
Mules will not help other SCVs mine faster. They will also not be able to build anything, but will be able to repair buildings and units. Furthermore, they will not cost supply. Multiple Mules can be dropped at any given time as long as you have sufficient energy available. When the Mules run out of battery, they will not be able to be recharged, and new Mules will need to be dropped.
Q u o t e:
4. Is the fungal infestation a long range attack (like parasite and spawn broodling were) or does he have to be rather close?
It will be a ranged ability. This is one of my favorite abilities, it really wrecks mass Marines which are quite a force to be reckoned with at the moment with Medivac support.
Q u o t e:
A few more questions:
- Can the mule defend itself?
Yes. It currently has the same attack value as a SCV.
Q u o t e:
- Can the drop pod be placed anywhere with line-of-sight, leading to the mule being used as a scout?
Yes, this can be quite helpful in some circumstances. Originally, each drop ship spawned 3 Mules, but it became a bit too advantageous in scouting 3 places at once.
Q u o t e:
- Does razor swarm damage both ground and air? What about friendlies?
It does currently damage both ground and air, but not friendly units.
Q u o t e:
- Can null shield be cast on non-Protoss allies?
Currently, yes.
Yes, this also means cloaked Siege Tanks are possible...
Nonetheless, remember all things are still subject to balance.
Q u o t e:
The Dark Pylon and Queen are tier 1 tech. IIRC the Surveillance Station required the Shadow Ops to be built (making it tier 2), is this still true of the Orbital Command?
The Orbital Command requires a Barracks first to be built. The Planetary Fortress requires an Engineering Bay first to be built.
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