I know there are some other threads talking and discussing about the Colossus and especially the fact that this unit had 2 types of attack : 2 continuous rays which became alternative attacks. The Colossus possesses 2 powerful thermal lances which "are used to pinpoint the continuous damage output of the thermal lances for optimal efficiency." I don't know what you think about this first attack from the Colossus. Personally I liked it more than the second one. That's why I come with a suggestion : Why not to keep both attacks for the Colossus FOR DIFFERENT STRATEGIES? The original continuous rays and the new attack (which is, according to the poll in this forum, less popular than the original continuous rays). Blizzard said they chose to give the Colossus this last attack for a question of balance. All right ! In this picture the original attack. It could be used against infantry, small units, marines and zerglings. In this picture the latest unpopular attack. This one could be used against heavy units like tanks, thors, immortals, ultralisks. You notice in what I just wrote here that I figure the option to choose the attack tactic for the Colossus. Indeed I suggest something revolutionary for the Protoss : choose the tactic and the attack for one single unit. As the Crucio Tank can transform from assault mode into siege mode, and the Viking which can morphe from a ground unit into an air unit, I suggest the same for the Colossus. Of course Protoss and Terran are different races so I know Blizzard decided not to give them similar strategies like transforming units and structures. But here the unit is not transformed. It just changes the configuration of the rays, so that they make different attacks according to the enemies The original attack of this unit is the continuous rays which gives more damages to little units with a large range and you press an icon in the task bar (the right and below zone of the screen) to change the tactic of attack into the second attack which will be efficient against ground armored units but with a short range of attack. Imagine a battle where there are 10 marines and 5 tanks in siege mode which are attacking the Colossus. You can order this unit to attack the tanks first and ignore the marines. But if you have activated the continuous rays you will die quick. Already now the Colossus is weak so if you micro this unit very well you can be rewarded. Start attacking the marines with the continuous rays and continue with the tanks with the second attack.
you know a long time ago when they announced they had changed the units attack i thought of this, IDK why they didnt try it.
If you want both types, then you might as well make one of them an ability. The concentrated beam could be activated against armoured units, and the regular spread fire under normal circumstances. When attacking small units, for example. Colossi are meant to attacks groups of small units, so it's logical to have the spread fire as the standard attack. Further, the biggest problem with the old attack was how it did it's damage. Not a single unit in Starcraft or its sequal does continues damage, ever. So it was hard to see exactly when the old Colossus was doing damage, since the beam looked as if it did continues damage. The single shot spread fire makes it much more clear what's happening. Lastly, I'm having a hard time understanding how the original beam did damage in the original preview of the unit. The beam switched targets while it was still on, which is weird, since Starcraft units can't do damage when they aren't hitting anything.
As long as the Reaver model is finished and in the editor, I don't care. I absolutely despised those pesky machines dropping out of Shuttles. But on the other hand, they let me keep my Lurker drop. ^^
I remember a post way back when (I think it was Joneagle_X) explaining how the Void Ray and Colossus served as two halves of a replacement for the Reaver. Specifically, the Void Ray would be used for taking out tough units and defensive structures, just like A Reaver would do against, say, an Ultralisk, or a fully loaded Bunker. The Colossus on the other hand would be used to kill many units via splash damage, in the same way a Reaver would attack a cluster of Marines or Hydralisks. Considering this, your suggestion would make the Void Ray obsolete (as the Colossus' mobility is only a small step below air units), however you're suggesting the lower damage splash attack to be used with armored units and the higher damage single-target attack on infantry, which is a big step backward in effectiveness.
