StarCraft II Official! (Pictures)

[IskatuMesk]

It's not a freeze, it's actually a mind control.

[AA7Dragoon]

But they didn't seem controllable.  They just... sit there.

[IskatuMesk]

Notice that their once friendly units immediately turned hostile to them. It seems to be a mind control for sure. Perhaps it has a control period where it takes so and so long for them to become completelly controlled.

[Kaoru]

Corrupter is going to need some balance tweaking.  It's a double advantage  to freeze units dead and then the remainder auto-firing on those frozen units.  Talk about a micro nightmare.  Do the corrupted units "unfreeze?"  Or do they die after some point?

I don't think the Infestor's infestation abilities are going to last very long in this game.  How does this stack against the Protoss?  Infested Zealots?  Isn't that a lore breach?

I like the Queen concept.  I was wondering how they were going to give the Zerg a super unit.  It makes sense that the Queen becomes the intercessor for the Queen of Blades herself.  Now that there are no more cerebrates, it makes sense local control would go to a unit like the Queen.

The Ultralisk attacks are very groovy.

I think the Corruptor functions somewhat like a devourer, actually. Insomuch as you need to hit the enemy with more than one attack for it to really have an effect. I honestly can't imagine them being able to freeze a battlecruiser solid and infest it with just one, or two, or three attacks.
As for the Infestor, moreso than lore-breaches, I think the devs will axe the 'infest anything' idea because it basically adds a fourth race. Unit-wise, at least. I mean, if the Terrans have fourteen units, and the Protoss have fourteen units (Give or take one or two or three), then I can't imagine them leaving the Zerg with fourteen Zerg units plus nine or more Infested Terran units, to say nothing of any Infested Protoss units. On the other hand, though, the Protoss had something like that in Brood War, insomuch as they could take a single enemy worker and build an entire force from it. So it's possible.

But it'd be a modeling nightmare. This isn't just letting the Zerg build units from other forces, this is, actively, creating brand-new units that need to be statbalanced, modeled, and fit into tiers of their own, given their own weapons and abilities and voices. On the other hand, I am really freaking bummed that this will probably get the axe. Because the idea of breaking down some guy's door with infested marines, infested siege tanks, and infested wraiths tickles me in ways that it would be improper to describe in detail.

[Taeradun]

oh fuckit i might as well post this here, too

[RazorclawX]

What the bloody hell is that Infestor thing?  THAT is what they're replacing the Defiler with?


...


On the plus side, now I have a very good idea what my Starcraft campaign is going to involve.

[Xenon]

I hope it includes an angry rant from Xaax.

[Marine]

Over the past week since the Zerg announcement, we've had many requests for an EPIC battle screenshot, thus I'm happy to present our 'Psi Onslaught' to the community for this latest ScreenCraft batch.

Make sure to make your screenshot requests for our future ScreenCraft batches here:
http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.asp ... post628588

Also, we are always in need of good questions to guide the latest in StarCraft II discussions. Add your questions to our community questions request thread:
http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.asp ... post475993

Chat with Devs: After the Zerg release, I have been asking Dustin what types of changes are being made to the other factions during this process, and one of the most interesting ones that have been added has to do with the Terran Ghost. In order for the Terrans to counter the various new casters that have been introduced to all sides in StarCraft II, the Ghost can now detect units with energy in a 30 yard radius. This passive ability works similarly to the Sensor Tower, revealing their location even within the fog of war. This ability could also no doubt open up some interesting assassination type single player missions as well with the Ghost.

ScreenCraft: Psi Onslaught
http://www.starcraft2.com/screenshot.xml?s=76

As requested by the community, the Protoss have brought their heavy hitters in this psi onslaught upon a developing Zerg base. In retaliation, the Zerg counter with a ravaging pack of Ultralisks and Zerglings upon the advancing Templar army. While the epic battle begins, the Protoss player cleverly sneaks a group of Stalkers to raid the Zergs economy as well.

As always, feel free to give the Devs and I a w00t if you are enjoying the batches, especially the new sections like the ScreenCraft section we've added.

---StarCraft II Q&A Batch 33: ScreenCraft---

1. What upgrade type (assuming these are returning) is the Viking using? Vehicle or ship? (Or perhaps infantry?) (TheWarCenter.com)

The Viking is built from the Starport again and will use ship armor rather than vehicle armor.

2. What will Zerglings be able to do against new Jackal? (www.starcraftcz.com)

Attacking Jackals efficiently with Zerglings will take a bit of micromanagement, making sure that Zerglings are spread out or attacking from different directions. The Jackals hit points have also been reduced from 125 to 75 with a slight increase to their speed. This will make them more vulnerable to Zerglings if you can get them close to surround the Jackals.

3. If a unit is being produced at a Protoss building while it becomes unpowered, does it continue production or pause until re-powered? (Battle.net) Blazur

If a Protoss building becomes unpowered, all production including research at that building will pause until re-powered.

4. In lieu of the Nydus Worm, will the Zerg Overlord maintain its "Ventral Sacs" upgrade? Will the Ultralisk have any sort of unit carrying capacity? (starcraft.org)

Currently, the Overlord's original Ventral Sacs ability has been taken out. With the introduction of the Nydus Worm, the Zerg will have more than enough mobility to keep their enemies on their toes. On that note, the Ultralisk will not be able to carry units.

5. To what degree will StarCraft II allow for remapping - limited remapping a la Warcraft III, or complete remapping of key bindings?
- Excalibur_Z (teamliquid.net)

We are planning to support key-mapping for StarCraft II. The extent of the ability for remapping keys is still to be determined. Even in current experimentations, we have found that there are often many issues with conflicting key bindings as there are very few open unmapped keys to be swapped in and out.

---End of Transmission---

Karune - RTS Community Manager
Blizzard Entertainment

[IskatuMesk]

That's their idea of epic? Good grief...

[Marco]

I think you need another treatment.

[IskatuMesk]

That's like 30 supply of ultralisks and 40 supply of archons. That doesn't even constitute "Large".

[Thalraxal]

I have to sort of agree with Mesk on this one.  It's just the opening of the battle, we see the participants, but hardly any of the actual fighting (okay, some Zerglings died).  It's 15 seconds away from being "epic".

Although I do love how those High Templar float, and the desert terrain looks pretty spiffy.

[Taeradun]

yeah I'm with Mesk too, I'd expect something more like in that "We are the swarm" video with tons of zerg units rolling into that big protoss base in the jungle

[Taeradun]

see, this is epic

[Marco]

Now I understand.  Forgive me.