Joneagle_X's WWI StarCraft 2 Review

How vulnerable would you say Zerg are against cloaked units now?

Im glad to hear that Infested Marines once again comes from the infested buildings instead of Broodlings, how many Infested Marines were produced from it? and how long would you say they lived?

what units do you feel that needs the most balance / role changes? (besides the Thor and Queen)

did you see any new tactics compared to last time?

you said that the Devs. still thought that the Nydus Worm as a unit, do you think they will change their mind after a while?

do you think it would be a viable tactic to spread creep all over the map to make it easier to move your army with the Nydus Worm?

were there any critters? and did they explode? =P

were you able to try the Ghost as a caster killer? and how successful were they at it?

did the Overseer still have their expanding sight range? and did the size of the sight range change at all?

how would you solve the Roach VS Hydralisk debate(about where they are on the Tech Tree)?

you said that the BCs were overpowered, what would you say was the major cause of that?

how close does the Changeling have to be to the enemy before it shape shifts?

as of right now what is your fav. unit for each race? and can you explain why you preferred now compared to the last time?

 

Hardly at all.

Depends on the size of the building. Supply Depots provide very little, Command Centers quite a lot. They last about a minute.

1. Battlecruiser
2. Mothership
3. Hydralisk
4. Marauder (needs to be a little cheaper)
5. Marines (can build too many)
6. Mutalisk
7. Corruptor

We will continue to see new tactics every time we touch this game for the next ten years as we become more experienced with it. I can tell you that the potential is raw and untouched even after 30 hours of play. The basics are starting to form but nothing is decided.

They just didn't realize that it had been changed to a building because the change was so new, it had happened as little as two days before WWI. They'll figure it out even though its being a building is much less cool.

Sure.

Didn't see any.

Yeah. It was great against most small units. I used it mostly against Protoss for its EMP ability. I did snipe a couple High Templar though and it's very effective. One hit kill if you can get it in range. But don't forget that Psi Storm is a one hit kill on your ghost too. It's like a shootout. Draw!

Yes, if you hold still its sight range almost doubles. Not to mention the Overseers range is larger than the Overlord's to begin with.

Not sure about this one. I would suggest that the Roach be a mutation of the Hydralisk, sort of like the Lurker and become more specialized against ground units somehow.

Just a balance issue. Needs to be nerfed.

I don't know what Cavez was talking about. The Changeling will morph to your enemy's shape from anywhere on the map. You don't have to be near the enemy at all.

Tough to say, but I don't think my favorites have changed because of changes in the build.

Protoss = Colossus

Zerg = Queen

Terran = Banshee

I just like these units because they're unique.

 

very interesting, you answered half of my questions, then you proceeded to ask yourself the rest of the questions that i asked you. hmmm.



Jon is losing his mind!!!!! it is the end of these forums as we know it!!!!

 

Give me a break. I'm using a 14.4K connection.

 

Thank you for the great commentary so far.

When you fought those Battlecruisers did you try using Infestors against them since they have the option to use either plague or dswarm?


Did you feel the Banshee were out of place to be used?

How are the maps designed compared to popular ones on bnet like LT and python?

Did all maps revolve around chokepoints to your main or were they more varied by lacking such a natural terrain defense feature?

What were the common army makeups you've observed at 10 minutes of play vs 20?


How does the carrier work out in any of the matchups?

 

Didn't try infestors. I should have been able to overwhelm them without the use of a caster. But yes, it would increase your chances. But don't forget they have special abilities as well (Yamato).

No, I think the Banshee is a great unit. Low cost and effective.

Similarly. The only real difference that I see is some of the terrain styles and the new WC3 style Xel'Naga observation posts, which I think ultimately will be removed because they make scouting too easy.

On all the maps we played each player had their own plateau with a choke.

Ten minutes is almost tier 3. So the armies are pretty large.

It's very weak. Wasn't really effective against any units. It's also very expensive. Better to get a few Warp Rays.

 

Hey Jon, one question here,

How do the marine's stimpack work early game without a medic? Is it viable at all?

 

Yes. Marines are now much more expendable than they were previously because of the Reactor. I think even too much so. You just have to be more sparing with Stim Pack.

 

We have the medivac so stim pack use won't be as limited as it was in non expansion SC

 

Jon!

you said : "The Terran have the longest way to go as far as finding their identity. Right now they’re relying on numbers rather than placement or strategic strength to get the job done. In fact, at times it seems that they are capable of outnumbering the Zerg and it is the Zerg who have to then resort to splash attacks to survive the onslaught. This should never occur. The Terran need an interesting twist in their strategic mechanic to keep them viable in StarCraft 2."

I completely 100% agree.

The protoss have their mother ship, zerg have the queen, but the Thor has yet to set itself a real place.

I thought it would be most excellent if the thor maintained its original idea (or so i think it was at least) to be a mobile bunker, scrap the heavy guns (or at least save them for an upgrade similar to the BC, where each one is upgraded individually), give it 500 HP, make it cost 350 minerals 50 gas, and stick 6 marines in it. it will be usable early game, but not completely mass en.

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Also, this may sound kinda whack, but....

Taking the way the BC upgrades, i thought it would be kind of cool if a terran player upgraded ALL units which were 2 supply or more (takes, bikes, vikings, banshees ect) individually but at a faster rate, 45 seconds or so... just a twist or individuality.

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I am most troubled about the mutalisk however. The worm "splash" damage it currently does is very cool and if mico'd well can quickly overwhelm a decent sized, be it smaller, group of dragoons.

What if the splash the Mutalisk did was area of affect? the worm it shoots continues to Jump from target to target within a set area for 2-3 seconds, causing 1 damage per hit taken within that area.

The defending player, even though he may have more powerful units, has an incentive to move command his unit out of the AOE, so as not to incur too much damage, because rather than just being hit for 1 hp instantly, it is hit for 1hp 3 times in 3 seconds. So, if you have 10 mutalisks, their splash damage would not just be 10 hp extra to 3 different units, it would be 30. slow down its current attack speed a tad and it just might be viable fix it.

sorry if that doesn't make too much sense i just thought that ability would give it a little more juice, so that a player must better controll his army when facing a mutalisk swarm, rather than just watch his units stand still and easily deal with the harass

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anyway great post jon, thanks alot!

 

I didn't see it anywhere previously, so here's my question:

Hatcheries have the option to build Creep Tumors anywhere within range, and Creep Tumors can create subsequent tumors within their range. Is this range a set range around the tumor, or is it the same range as the creep around the tumor? If it is the latter, does this mean that you could create a Creep Tumor across the map by making Overlords Excrete Creep all the way to that location?

Also, I'm starting to feel very confused about the damage system. Are they still using the Light/Armored/Building system, Small/Medium/Large, or some combination of the two? Do you (or Nikzad) know which units fall under what classification?

 

as far as I can remember, you can build as far as the existing creep has spread. as for the overlord tumor creep, i would think that you could do such a thing, but it would take a while, as the area they create creep on isn't huge

i really have no idea about the armor system, but i know there is light, medium, and heavy. not sure about buildings and stuff though

 

The damage system is great imo as it forces you to be at a constant deciding stage of wether to continue your basic tactics and die or be very versatile at how you play. The only thing Im concerned with is Im definitely gonna have to learn alot about decision making if ever I get my hands of those and play against a very annoying player lol.

 

Hey Jon! I have a question about the Zerg animations! Do we have a proper transition (morphing) between, say, a drone and the final building? From the videos I saw, there were only a blob that suddenly exploded into the final building, and I think it looked awful! Thx!

 

Great report, loved reading it as well as all the answers!
Exciting stuff.

About Larva:

Is it still 3 Larva per Hatchery, and they spawn every so often?

I think I like the Mutant Larva aspect the most - since Mutant Larva is completely free to pull off and just takes time than whenever you have spare larva you should just be mutanizing them, right? And, does the Mutant Larva count for the Larva count (or does the Hatchery continue to spawn Larva once you make Mutant Larvae?)

 

It is limited both by a radius (a little dotted line around the Tumor) and by Creep. It can't be built outside this ring and it can't be built where there is no Creep.

Nope. The animations have not been finished yet, so there are no morphing stages.

Yes, it's still three larvae per hatchery and they spawn intermittently.

It's completely free except that it takes up one population count. So yes, you can do that but you must keep in mind that it takes up population. And no, it does not count as a Larvae from your Hatchery. So you can produce many more units from your Hatchery than you could have before. You could potentially build 6-10 Mutalisks from just your initial Hatchery.

 

I can see my self using that strat, sneak 10 Mutant Larva into a mineral line and make ULTRALISKS.