Korean-Chinese Build Summary

The stream of information continues. Fans who were lucky enough to visit the events held by Blizzard in the far east are still supplying us with new interesting tidbits about the game, which we will summarize here.

Note that the builds showcased in different locations have small changes and inconsistencies between them - the Roach, for example, was a melee unit in China, but a ranged one in Korea. In any case, make sure to read our previous posts covering the Zerg to get the full picture. Here’s the full list of changes and other noteworthy bits:

Zerg​

[img width=500 height=228]http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/8230/zergrush2eb0.jpg[/img]

* Nearly all of the Zerg’s units can evolve in StarCraft 2.

* Zerg evolution, or upgrades, only affect one unit. For example, the Zergling has 3 levels of evolution: Level one grants it more speed, level two provides +2 to damage and +1 to armor, and level three +1 to damage and +2 to armor. No word has been given about the favorite crack upgrade, which transformed Zerglings into insane machines of destruction in late games of StarCraft 1. The upgrades are researched at the unit’s building - in the Zergling’s case, the Spawning Pool.

* Roaches have alternated between functioning as melee units and ranged anti-ground units. They have clearly been designed for close range battles, as evident by their enormous blades.

[img width=150 height=155]http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/7159/roachrw3.gif[/img]

The Roach is a lower tier unit than the Hydralisk, which is now tier 2 - putting the Lurker at tier 3.

* The Infestor can use its “Dark Swarm†ability without needing further research. Infest and Disease, however, have to be researched.

* Infested Protoss buildings currently produce Infested Marines - a placeholder for Infested Zealots, perhaps?

* The Nydus Worm can currently carry twelve of any Zerg ground unit. It is an unfinished unit, though, so expect that to change.

* Hatcheries have two Rally Point options: Rally Point for normal units, and Worker Rally Point for drones - allowing the player to send freshly hatched drones straight to the resources.

Protoss​

[img width=500 height=215]http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/4347/tossbh0.jpg[/img]

* The Mothership currently has 4 abilities:

1)Void, a new name for the Black Hole, which now also affects ground units

2)Cloak, which cloaks units around the Mothership - much like the Arbiter of StarCraft 1, but with a larger radius

3) Planet Cracker, the ID4-esque heavy ground damage dealer

4)Time Bomb, which is cast on a specific location and protects friendly units by reducing damage

In addition, the Mothership can drain energy from friendly units and utilize it for its spells.

* Stalkers feel and play like fragile, but more agile, Dragoons. They also serve as excellent economy raiders.

* The Archon’s “Twilight†prefix has been dropped from its name. It now has a “Power Overwhelming†buff, which grants it an additional 20 points of damage. This buff is temporary, and lasts a short time after the Archon’s creation - a great way to effectively use wounded Dark Templars and energy-less High Templars in battle. (Rumor)

[img width=425 height=179]http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/6673/archon3ag0.jpg[/img]

Power ... Overwhelming!

* The Phoenix is now an air-to-air unit. It’s quite strong, but slow.

* Even a small group of Colossi can wipe out huge ground armies with ease. They now have a “Heavy Shield†upgrade, which increases their shields’ defense rating. The graphics used for their attack sequence will likely be enhanced soon.

* Gateways can transform to Warpgates and back for free - and it only takes 3 seconds of time. For a more detailed review of Warpgates, check out this post.

Terran​

[img width=500 height=197]http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/6248/terranto9.jpg[/img]

* The Marauder has 80 HP and does 6 points of damage + 4 to armored units. Its range is like that of a Marine. Since it is relatively expensive, it is not effective on its own - the Marauder is strictly a complement to the Marine. The Marauder’s slow effect actually stops the affected unit completely for a short duration, after which it returns to normal speed. Multiple shots from Marauders can almost completely stop an enemy’s advance.

* Jackals deal relatively low damage - around ten points - making them quite ineffective against single units.

* The Banshee no longer deals area-of-effect damage. It now fires more directed rockets at a single target. It is still somewhat structurally weak, with 150 HP. Since it attacks in an oblique line, it has trouble hitting targets directly beneath it.

* Reapers can no longer use the Stim Pack ability. A huge blow for this unit, which has “Raider†as its middle name. The Reaper seems a bit lost in the current build of StarCraft 2 - is it on the way out?

[img width=479 height=238]http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/1908/reapers2si4.jpg[/img]

Say no to drugs!

* The Nomad no longer looks like a giant, flying crane. It has received a complete overhaul, and now has a sharper design. No pictures are available yet. Its Auto-Turrets are quite strong and destructive, and currently no longer cost any energy - instead, they require Vespene Gas only.

* Differently upgraded Battlecrusiers, with either the Yamato Cannon or the Plasma Torpedo upgrade, are treated as different units - double clicking one version will only select Battlecruisers with the same ability.

* Ghosts have the EMP ability, but can no longer drop Drop Pods.

* Thors are no longer built by SCVs. They are now constructed at the Factory, like other Terran mechanized units. The built-by-SCV unit mechanic was an interesting one, and we hate to see it go.

Other issues:​

* In StarCraft 1, units “checked†for new orders every half a second, making for a somewhat unresponsive reaction time. In StarCraft 2, this reaction time has been dramatically reduced, and all units now feel much more responsive.

* Before starting a match, players can communicate with each other using VoIP.

* The match summary screen now contains informative graphs as well as the old number statistics.

* The game requires a Pixel Shader 2.0 capable computer, and at least a GeForce 5200 (or equivalent) graphics card. StarCraft2 should be at least playable on just about every computer that’s been made in the last 5 years.

* The Blizzard 40-strong development team is divided into three equal thirds: programmers, artists and designers. Members are from Korea, China, America and Europe, and two are ex-ProGamers.

Link: http://www.sc2blog.com/2008/03/16/starcraft-2-korean-and-chinese-build-summary/

Enjoy,
-Seradin

 

The Archon's Power Overwhelming buff was confirmed as false.

 

this is about different builds. power overwhelming was false at irvine, not korea or china.

nice post seradin! very informative owerup:

 

thanks, this answered alot of questoins i had

 

What in the world is Blizzard doing to the beloved Terrans !!!

First, they mess around with the Thors making them a souped up Goliath which IMO is totally stupid.
And now, they axe the Drop-pods?

My god, Drop-pods was one of the coolest ability in SC2 and was very unique to the Terrans. Blizzard is really screwing up Terrans big time if they decided to implement these new changes.

Hopefully, these new changes are only temporary.

 

Blizzard seems like they are going crazy exploring all sorts of options while dropping others even on a day-to-day basis. I'm sure though that this is a winning strategy and that we'll see an amazing game when it is finished. I am sad to see certain things go, but I'd bet that the best mechanics will return in at least some form!

 

Please submit this as a news post, Seradin. Good work!

 

Making the thor built from the factory instead of the scv is completely stupid. Building them from scvs is what made them unique. I agree with Ych9 on this, why not just rename them to Goliath?

 

I'm not sure what Pixel Shader and graphics card I have, but this sounds like my comp can run it since it was made only a year ago. I've actually been more worried about the requirements than the actual gameplay since I don't have money to upgrade my computer.

 

@ninerman

I hope you are right. Because from the looks of it, Blizzard is trying out new/cool mechanics. When they find that it isn't working, they just scrap it and bring back the ordinarily things that we all have seen from SC1 . Even if they do scrap the idea, at least come up with something unique. This is SC2 we are talking about, not SC1.

 

@Eon:

If your graphics card was made a year ago it's definitely enough to play the game. Unless you have a bad CPU or RAM you shouldn't have problems.

 

I know what you mean, at this point the only reason they are still in the game is because they look so cool. I think the best thing they could do with the thor is just give it back those long range cannons on its back. Having something as huge as the thor be used as an anti air unit seems realy stupid to me.

 

If Blizzard actually decides to axe the Thor, they better have a unit with a model that looks as kick ass as the Thor to replace it. Otherwise, I wouldn't be too happy with the Terrans. They would be a huge huge disappointment.

 

Indeed. I really don't think they're going to axe the Thor, after all the time and effort spent on it. I think it should go back to its Blizzcon form, which to me was the most useful.

 

Speaking of terran, don't forget that reapers are one leg in trash bin as well

I know that Blizzard is trying new things, but lately it seems like they're replacing lots of new and unique mechanics for old, well-known ones

 

Arrrgh, this hurts me a lot, me being a Terran player.

The Reaper MUST stay. They just need to come up with something to make it more useful.

Drop Pods shouldn't be scrapped either, what's wrong with it??

And the Thor... Man... It's been abused from the start. It doesn't seem to fit.

 

I'm not sure I like the direction the terrans are going in. I thought they were almost perfect when first unveiled. Now lots of units are being gimped IMO. The drop pods, Thor being built outside, banshee splash damage, etc. were great and should come back.

 

Let me see...

1. Im dissapointed that the Banshee lost its AoE and is so weak. I loved the way it could cut down armies...

2. Surpise surpise Im happy the drop pods are gone. Yes, really. I didnt find it to be very strong or cool. It didnt really fit.

3. Cut the Thor, it hurts my eyes.

In conclusion, all I can say is that Terrans are the new cannon-fodder weak race, as zerg were in sc

 

I actually don't mind about the Banshee change as Blizzard stated that they were infact, a lot weaker when they were doing splash damage. Because all the enemy has to do is spread out their units a bit and the Banshees won't do full damage to them. Not to mention, Blizzard mentioned that they were very weak against single units. (All of this coming from Jon during his interview with the developers).

 

Terrans seemed such win like a month or two ago.

Reapers definitly need to stay. Whether their attack gets changed or ability. I really want them to stay.
The Reaper on a whole supports the Terran in every way:
-Cheap fast production can be doubled with the Reactor add-on, meaning they can be massed quickly for devestating raids.
-Jumps over cliffs meaning the turtling Terrans who are getting rushed by Zealots can mount a counter attack.

I don't really care about the Banshee, the newest change is fine by me.

I am really dissapointed with the new Colossus.

Thor seemed so perfect when it was built from an SCV with 900hp. All they had to do is change the cannons on it's back, make its attack stronger, make it slightly more expensive for the higher damage.