The current abilities for the nomad are: Defensive Matrix which surrounds an area with "shell" that reduces damage that all units receive while inside it. EMP that emanates from the nomad, instead of being shot in missile form Heal that instantly heals a mechanical unit for a set amount of HP using "nanobots" Out of the 3 I think that the Defensive Matrix is the best ability as it will be useful in just about every situation, with the exception that you probably won't want to use it when there are a lot of melee units involved since it protects them too. I don't think that the heal ability is going to be balanced. I just see mass BCs and nomads being imbalanced due to the healing and the new plasma torpedo ability of the BC. I think that Irradiate should replace it as it was invaluable against the Zerg. I don't really think that EMP is very useful either since it isn't in missile form anymore. That's why I propose that the EMP be changed with an Electrical Storm ability. This ability would cause all units in the AOE to attack and move slower, basically like purge from WC3. All units whether they are organic or mechanical would be stunned as soon as they were hit and then they would slowly gain back their attack and movement speed over 3-4 seconds. This would also leave the Cobra as an attacking unit, which makes more sense than making it a support unit. For the animation I think that that nomad should shoot out some taser like prongs into the ground with a max range being about 4, and after the prongs are fired then the charge spreads out across the ground to immobilize all units caught by it. I think that this ability should only work on ground units to make the nomad vulnerable to air units. I think that these 3 abilities would make the nomad a must in all Terran games, kind of like how big of an asset the defiler is to the Zerg.
Actually EMP is still a Missile, there was confusion about that since the descrtiption on screenshots suggested the "melee-EMP" aproach. But Karune started the rumor that the Ghost might get a EMP ability in spirit of the Lockdown, so the Nomad might get something new there.
I always thought the idea of the EMP originating from the nomad was really dumb, you'd just end up shorting out your own units instead of your enemy, or else have to try and fly the nomad right into the middle of your enemy's fleet. Thanks for clarifying Unentschieden, that's a huge relief. I vote they ditch the heal thing and give it the re-arm ability. Hmm...which is more OP, giving your Battlecruiser 150 extra HP or giving it an extra shot from the Yamato cannon? Also, the whole "nanites" thing is a bit cheesy you know? Or they could give it something like lockdown, but not lockdown, because it needs a weapon that works against biological units. (Tranq darts! LOL)
i like the heal, i like the def matrix i like the EMP, i do miss the irradiate A LOT though, but i really dont want to see any of the 3 abilities above go, the only way is to maybe give one of them to some other units so that the Nomad can have Irradiate.
But do Terrans need Irradiate? To me, it would just be another AOE move. Don't they have like 6 ground AOE. Irradiate would be ground and Air. My idea would be that each Nomad has three science bays. Each bay can hold one type of equipment. That way, you can give the Nomad more abilities in all and let the player choose three to customize.
I prefer the EMP from SC1 over anything else. The new defensive matrix is very nice and will be invaluable against other Terran and still effective against Zerg and Protoss. The heal thing does sound quite powerful. It may not be OP if the nomads are weak enough that they can be dispatched quickly enough to prevent healing. Also, the heal could cost alot of energy or the amount healed reduced. There are alot of ways to balance it. I'll miss irradiate but the heal will probably be more useful.
Heal really doesn't feel Terranish to me. I don't really have an explanation for this feeling, but I think that 2 defensive spells on one unit just doesn't fit Terran. I would really like to see something more offensive. @ Shadown Templar, good point on all the AOE abilities the Terran already have. That kind of justifies the lack of Irradiate, but I still feel like there are some better abilities for the nomad than the ones currently on it.
A while back I suggested that lockdown be moved to the Nomad since the ghost is lower on the tech tree and already has enough abilities
The nomad should drop the heal ablitty and be givin the old star base ablity since it's not in the game currently. Nomads should restor energy.
I think having lockdown and EMP on the nomad isn't fair. It would have to be one or the other. On the other hand having the ability to transfer energy would be a lot better than instant healing.
Restoring energy would be really imbalanced. If Nomads/Star Bases could restore Energy, then you could get 2 Nomads or Star Bases to just constantly restore each others Energy. If they could restore Energy, then it would have to be like the Shield Battery from StarCraft1. It would have to transfer its Energy to another unit. However ability should only be implemented if it is the only function of the ship or building. Otherwise, either the other abilities would not be used because players would constantly transfer its energy to other units, or the transfer ability would not be used because the other abilities would be used over it. I preferred the idea of the Science Vessel, that was basically a huge laboratory that flew around casting experiments on enemy units, than the idea of the Nomad, which is basically just a flying repair station.
ItzaHexGor i see wat u mean but remember starbase is not in the game and at this time might not come back due to the fact it wont have a add-on(because add-ons dont move). But really the nomads should have a new effect, let me thorw my own idea on the table. Sonic Discharge: channles sonic waves to slow organic units around the Nomad and eats at enemy shiels and enery per second taking 3 enegy and/or shield every half a second.
I know that Star Bases are no in the game at the moment. I just included it as well because, as someone had said, it was originally their ability. I'm not particularly fond of your Sonic Discharge ability. I prefer the original EMP ability. Also, I prefer the idea of the EMP emanating from the Nomad, after all, it is an Electro-Magnetic Pulse, so it should originate from its source, and shouldn't be fired from a missile. Also, it I am assuming that the Terran will have developed and upgraded their spell-casters so that they have equipment that makes them immune to their own frequency of Electro-Magnetic Pulse. This would ensure that they do not remove all of the Energy from their spell-casters, but it would still effective against other Terran teams.
How about a temporal 'blind' spell around the nomad? Solar Blast will affect units in radius, Nova-like wouldn't need too much micro (unlike medic in SC1)
