Campaign Creations

Doctor Doack wrote: Can't say I'm impressed by the Ultralisk

Meta wrote: I used to think the same about the Ultra - a badly balanced cannon-fodder unit - until I saw some progamer matches involving them. Those psychotic Zerg players with 6+ expansions easily make the Ultralisk one of the most feared units in the game. An army of 3/5 Ultralisks escorted by Adrenal Zerglings and Defilers is a force to be reckoned with.

Taeradun wrote:

Doctor Doack wrote: Can't say I'm impressed by the Ultralisk

WHAT A SURPRISE

At the end of the day, Warcraft alone is such a huge setting and such a big universe that there's no way any one person could manage all those characters and places and things.

There's all sorts of little nooks and crannies like that, that Northrend really brings full circle, that the Wrath of the Lich King expansion really brings full circle. So, it's been really fun for me to be able to help steer the setting.

Karune wrote: StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 31

Gameplay blog:
This past week while playing a Terran versus Terran mirror game, I discovered a new unit option from the Factory. This new unit is known as the Jackal, which is a fast vehicle like the Vulture, but instead wields a rail gun, which does an area of effect damage in a straight line at ground units.

My opponent built the standard Marines & Medics (M&Ms) composition while I bunkered my choke point and teched straight to a Factory with a Reactor add on, which allows me to build two Jackals at one time from a single Factory.

After I built a group of 6 Jackals, I rolled onto the field with my Jackals broken up in two groups with 3 Jackals each. I engaged his M&Ms with my first group, having the Marines line up around my Jackals as they naturally do while firing. Quickly, I brought in my second group of Jackals along the side to flank the M&Ms and the line attack did the rest, killing up to 2-3 units with a single focus fire command. With a little micromanagement, I was able to decimate his whole group of 15 or so units, while only losing two Jackals. That battle gave me a significant military advantage, which eventual led to a relatively quick win.

StarCraft II Q&A Batch 31

How will Marines mount into a pod? Is this done via the barracks, or an entirely unannounced building, or Dropship-like airship yet to be revealed?

Terran infantry currently load into the Shadow Ops building (prerequisite for the Ghost). A Ghost can then launch drop pods, which originate from that building.

Can a player order a Ghost in a Bunker to call Nukes and Drop Pods?

Yes, Terran infantry currently have all abilities except the SCV repair ability available for use while inside a bunker, including the use of Nukes and Drop Pods.

What spells are specifically affected by the Nullifiers ability? Will physical spells like the Marines Stim Pack, the Ghosts Nuke, or Reaper Mines be disabled? Also, will spells cast before entering the area (I.E. Ghosts cloak) be disabled upon entering the area?

Only abilities which require energy usage will need be unable to be cast while in the Null Voids area of effect. Additionally, the Null Void ability will disengage cloak by units such as the Ghost. It also currently reveals burrowed Zerg units, but this is still being debated in terms of balance.

Last we heard, Veterancy was active for the Terran but we havent heard anything about it since and are quite curious is it still in the game?

Veterancy will likely be seen in the single player campaign, but will not be in the multiplayer game.

In StarCraft, some units had instant attack animations (Corsiar, Mutalisk, Vulture). This allowed people with good micro to make these units move and shoot. In contrast there were units that had an attack animation which required the unit to stop and shoot. This allowed people with good micro to dance (move, shoot, move shoot, maximizing the distance travelled without the unit losing any shooting time). In Warcraft III, units tended to have attack animations which took as long as the cooldown for the attack, making micro actions such as these non-existent.

Will units in StarCraft II have attack animations that last as long as the cooldown for their attack, similar to Warcraft III? or will players be able to dance (moving in between shooting) like in StarCraft? Also, will there be any units with instant attack animations that can be micromanaged to move and shoot like in StarCraft?

Balance will be the first priority when determining the animation duration for units. With that said, there will be certain units that players will be able to dance with, and there will be other units which will force the unit to stop and fire. Some units in StarCraft II will not only need to stop and fire, but will do additional damage to a target while it focuses. All of these characteristics which determine how a unit will be used in competitive play will be chosen based on balance.

When a unit is cloaked or burrowed, can the sensor tower still see the unit in the fog of war?

Yes, the Sensor Tower will reveal all units in the fog of war, including cloaked and burrowed units. Sensor Towers are currently a staple to any Terran defense or offensive.

AA7Dragoon wrote: A definite improvement, graphic wise, although SC1 still seems somewhat more realistic to me in terms of graphics.  Haven't they been able to evolve from there instead of the WCIII cartoon?

What is that new Protoss unit that looks like a mini-Arbiter but is shooting a skinny blue laser at those bunkers?

Kaoru wrote:

AA7Dragoon wrote: A definite improvement, graphic wise, although SC1 still seems somewhat more realistic to me in terms of graphics.  Haven't they been able to evolve from there instead of the WCIII cartoon?

What is that new Protoss unit that looks like a mini-Arbiter but is shooting a skinny blue laser at those bunkers?

That's the Nullifier. Or the current model of it, anyhow. Reminds me of RCX's scorpion-tanks from Vision 4.

Lavarinth wrote: Those new units that replace the Firebat are freakin' huge.