Brood lord or swarm gaurdian

I personally cant seen why they changed it back to the old art of the guardian versus what they had with the swarm guardian so my question is do you want to see the unit put back with the same stats of the brood lord or have it stay the way it is?

Another idea is to implement both units because the art is so different.

Brood lord
We haven't seen this unit in actual play but what i can tell is when it attacks it spreads its wings somewhat.


Swarm guardian
This is the old art and one of my favorites and I don"t know why they changed it.
It has a cool wave motion when it moves and just seems more menacing.

 

Swarm guardian.

It looked better (eg different from the regular guardian due to the long tail) and, at fewer hit points but (probably) the same damage as the brood lord, it would have more offensive punch. My reservations would disappear if the damage increase at the same rate as the hit points.

The brood lord's attack looks much cooler; I'd like to see that on the swarm guardian.

 

I like the Swarm Guardian model, but I also like the Brood Lord's wings. Perhaps a merge is in order? Too many sacs on the side of the SG, imo.


-Psi

 

I think the warm guardian is too big. He'd obstruct my view of the little buggers on the ground. Then again I think the Brood Lord isn't quite imposing enough.

 

Swarm Guardian
He looks big and mean ^^

 

i havent decided yet. I like both. Maybe give the brood lord a fatter tail?

 

First and foremost, that image of the Brood Lord does not, by any means, do the model justice. When it was first shown, it simply looked pathetic, like a big old, plain and boring, undetailed Drone. However, the Brood Lord was shown quite extensively in the latest batch of screenshots we saw, and it's in those screenshots that you see the Brood Lord in its full glory.

Firstly, you can see that the model actually has a much longer body, including a tail, which cannot be seen in that image, which adds so much to the model it's hard to even describe. Basically, it's like viewing the Thor's cockpit window in comparison to viewing the whole thing. So no, this isn't the old art of the Guardian, it's merely another way of appropriating the original design, much in the same way that the Swarm Guardian did. Also, this style makes it look more visually like the Mutalisk, too. Not so much that they look similar, but enough to make sure that they don't look completely unrelated.

Secondly, you can see that the Brood Lord flies, or at least attacks, with the exact same wave motion as the previous Swarm Guardian, and with the new render, it looks to be much more awe-inspiring than that of the old Swarm Guardian. On top of this, and again, with the new render, the Brood Lord is able to achieve this exact same movement pattern, without obstructing too much of the view of units below, while still retaining it's grand stature. Seriously, this thing is like the size of about sixteen Mutalisks combined.

However, these two cannot really be compared so directly, in my opinion, for they each have extremely different factors working in their favour. Firstly, we have all seen the Swarm Guardian in motion and, really, that is the major appeal of the model. With the Brood Lord, we not only haven't seen it in motion, but most of us probably haven't even seen the rest of it, or even know that it flies in the exact same way as the Swarm Guardian. Secondly, they're of two extremely different qualities, and this could actually work in either model's favour. On the one hand, the Brood Lord is of much higher polish than the Swarm Guardian, so would look more appealing, however someone who prefers the design of the Swarm Guardian could easily imagine it being improved to the same level of quality as the Brood Lord, which, along with the design they prefer, would be an obvious winner.

In my opinion, the Brood Lord has a much, much stronger design and render than the Swarm Guardian, so, after seeing the more recent screenshots of them, is the obvious choice for me. I will say, however, that it is the name that is the problem with the Brood Lord, and was the problem with the Swarm Guardian as well. To put it simply, the Brood Lord simply needs to be renamed as the Guardian. The name is not the deciding factor of whether the unit is new to StarCraft2 or not, and seeing as it functions exactly as the Swarm Guardian did, it's not as though keeping the old name of 'Guardian' is inappropriate. Also, the prefix of 'Swarm' is completely unnecessary, and will inevitably be dropped, and, in fact, already has been by some. If people naturally shorten Zergling to 'ling, Hydralisks to Hydras, Mutalisks to Mutas, and so on and so forth, an unnecessary prefix will not get too far. Also, Brood Lord, apart from simply being cliché, does break down the natural hierarchy of the Zerg Swarm. Overall, Brood Lord is, in fact, an inappropriate name.

I'll finish by saying, no, both units should not be implemented into the game, as to do so would be nothing more than implementing two different renders, such as the renders of the old and new Infestors, or anything else that has ever been redesigned.

 

First WTF (@itzahexgor)
Second, I think I like the broodnlord beter then the swarm. It basicly keeps the feel of the old gardian but gains an even better attack.
Thirdly, could you give me the link to the screen shots? Plz

 

purely model wise i like the original guardian the best, so much more menacing than the swarm or brood lord imo, of course it wouldn't hurt to look more like a metamorphosis of the mutalisk, which the brood lord looks to be, but ihaven't seen enough of to judge.

 

I can't decide between the Brood Lord and the Swarm Guardian but I have to say that absolutely not both because they're so different. The Dark Templar models only had different weapons so Dark Templars can have two models.

The Brood Lord looks pretty good but it just isn't that special. It lacks something. Still could be that it looks much better on video.
The Swarm Guardian looks awesome. It's different from anything and I'd like it to stay in the game. It just looks too weak for the Guardian. Maybe they could try it for the Overseer.

 

I prefer the Brood Lord for the same reason I've enjoyed all of the recent Zerg model updates: the body of the creature is more substantial. The Swarm Guardian, for example, is nothing but carapace and balloons, which is far too fragile looking for such a robust unit. By contrast, the Brood Lord has a lot more meat on its bones, and definitely looks like it can take a beating. If they carry anything over from the Swarm Guardian, it should be the wavy movement pattern, which was perfect from the getgo.

 

I prefer the Brood Lord- model and name. It fits with the fact that it spawns Broodlings- the units' names and models look very similar, making the connection between the two more obvious.

 

only me who thinks that brood lord is looking like a guardian?

 

No, I think it does. But I like the looks of it better then the original gardian, plus this
Looks a little more close as the mutalisk witch is derives from.

 

brood load do looks like the old gardian in original starcraft.

 

We will see how the guardian acts in the beta but as of now i say swarm guardian.

 

Looking at the new video thats out (dont have a link but its on youtube) as well as the screenshot below, it appears the Brood Lord actually shoots a living creature. Kinda like it spawns its own living cruise missiles and they are fired or fly themselves at the enemy.

Have a look, Brood Lords are around the top
http://www.joystiq.com/photos/starcraft-ii-6-29-09-1/2101368/full

 

yes, now that ive seen the broodlord live...it looks smexy. i prefer the broodlord.

 

ya the style of the brood lord always looked menancing. same with the guardians in sc1. when you had a whole horde of 20+ guardians creeping slowly up to your base you know u were screwed unless u did something to take them out quick =o. same with brood lord, and nothere there even more menacing looking.

 

Even though the image of the broodlord provided by Blind looks much better than the first one posted...I still prefer the swarm guardian. I just love the flying worm look to the guy. It was the first zerg unit that really made me go "wow" when it was first spotted in a video.

I understand people not liking the gas sacs on the swarm guardian looking too frail. I'd like to see them retextured to look like muscle groups instead. That would hit home with some nostalgia of the original gaurdian...wtf is it that allows giant crabs to fly?

Go giant flying Earthworm! I love the animation.