Auto-Burrow/ Auto-UnBurrow

I think that all zerg units should have an auto-unborrow/burrow. First of all it we allow you to set up a defensive line without enemy scouts (excluding detectors) would walk right over your Zerg and kill off the enemies without you having to worry about checking your mini-map every other second to see if the enemy is coming. This would allow for a more micromanaging as well as an easier early game defensive line. I have more ideas on this but this is my basic explanation of what I mean.

It would have to be in the form of how they do auto-casting in wc3 where you can turn it off and on. I think it would make the burrow ability more useful, cause the only time I every see people use burrow in SC1 is when they are using lurkers.

 

i like the idea of the auto unburrow
that always bothered me in the original that you had to do it manually

 

I just think if you have a unit that depends solely on burrowing to attack, like the Lurker, whenever it stops moving it should burrow. It should also respond to the "attack" command, and when an enemy unit comes in range, or it is attacked, it would automatically burrow.

When you then click "move" somewhere else, it should automatically unburrow and move.

 

Yeah that bothered me about the lurkers to, i also didn't like how if you selected a group of zerg and you had some lurkers that were burrowed in the group it didn't allow you to attack move or do anything except burrowing your other units.

 

^^That was exactly the main part of my problem^^

 

For Lurker-type units - definitely.

But for the rest I don't like an auto-burrow. A skilled player is much better rewarded for being able to monitor his burrowed units and create ambushes. It is key for Zerg army micro.

 

It is? Since when?

It's only good for suprise attacks against inexperienced--or Terran--players.

It only helps when an opponent attacks spread out or w/o the attack movement, which hardly any players do.

I agree with it only working for units that only attack while burrowed, however, that is what I had in mind.

It would just make them easier to maneuver without harming the benefits of additional micro with the unit.

I.E. if you just let the Lurker do its thing it won't get maximum damage because it will always be at the extremes of its range, but at least it won't die because of crappy AI.

 

Yeah, I agree with you about the Lurker.

But I know a key part of my Zerg strategy was managing burrowed units. Ambushes, defensive positions, not letting the enemy know where and how many your army was, etc.

 

I'd only support auto-burrow for a lurker-type unit as well...I don't like immobilizing units without doing it myself...I think I /could/ lose track of things more if they autoburrowed, as opposed to specifically placing them somewhere myself.

 

When I say auto-burrow I mean it as in it would only take effect if you want it to, it would have a off on function so you wouldn't have to worry about losing them.

Of course for skilled zerg players burrowing is something that should be employed effectively and quickly, but isn't the point of micromanaging to be able to do more is a shorter amount of time? I am just saying that an auto-burrow would save time.

To solve the problem of possibly missing an attack on the mini-map I myself just burrow a zergling a bit ahead of the rest of the group to give me a lag time. Oh well it would definitely help with the lurker ai though.

 

I disagree with having it be an "auto-cast" function.

I think they should simply change the AI behavior of these types of units, change the way it's used. Whenever it comes in range of enemy units (you hit attack-move with it, either by itself or in a group of units) it would automatically burrow. Also, if it's burrowed and you hit attack-move, it will unburrow and move until in range of an enemy unit as well.

This wouldn't effect the benefits of micro because you wouldn't be able to use the unit offensively to the same effect that you could if you microed the unit to maximize its damage and range. It would simply make the unit a bit more self-sufficient than it is right now. Zerg is not about micro, and for some reason, this unit is.

 

There will be alot of units to micro so skilled players will anyway have something to do....

While Auto-cast on the borrow/unborrow will be really nice.... nothing is more annoying than when you just led a group of marines pass just because you where doing some makro in your base....

 

When I say "auto-cast" I mean it could be turned off and on, but yes a general upgrade to the AI would be nice as well.

 

See the thing is Blizzard is not going to put in something like an 'auto-cast' that could be turned off and on - it's too complicated for them. Also, in a multiplayer match, all players would have to agree whether to turn on the 'auto-cast' or not, which would throw an extra step in match-making. Alternatively, Blizzard would have to decide whether the on or the off would be in multiplayer - which would then make it silly to even have the option in the first place.

 

I disagree with the AI change Jon. Burrowing takes time. It would suck if you are micro moving a Lurker, but at one point of the trip, he reaches your desired location before you have given it the next command, forcing it to burrow and unburrow, which would consume precious time.

Same reason to why Siege Tanks should not auto-siege when in range.
It would be better if you just do it yourself.

btw, did you know that abilities are "floating" in SC2? Lets say that you got a squad of Marines+Siege Tanks. You do not have to specifically choose marines only to use stim anymore. Both the Siege ability and the Stim ability will be clickable at the same time without trouble.
This might be the case with Lurker burrow too. They might have their own burrow button, solving part of the problem.

 

siege tanks are different since they can attack unsieged

 

yea... and Auto-Burrow/ Auto-UnBurrow means like in auto-cast witch you can turn off if you have the time to micro the units or its just unappropriat...

 

So what? A true sc gamer knows that attacking is not the only thing a unit can do.

 

Yes, but the argument is that their inability to attack affects their movement (as well as the movement of other units) in a negative way.

The unit should be a crutch, not a hitch.

 

I see your point. Well, I guess that it annoys you to not fully use the Lurkers attack range.
I can agree that there should be a special stance for the Lurker, in which it burrows when the enemies are in range. But burrowing when standing still... I totally disagree. It might do more harm than good.
But don't you think that the floating abilities might help with one of the problems, when controlling
Lurkers + Lings n Hydras.