Lurker

Well, i guess this might be the end of the lurker. i won't forget it.
Also i hope they keep the name reaver... it just sounds so cool.

 

Lurkers are cool and i agree with zeratul11 point where he said that lurkers should move slow while burrow
and move ultra fast speed while on ground
Plus i think Blizzard should use upgrades for lurkers i.e. upgrade lurker's carapace, upgrade lurker's spike spine( increase lurker's range and attack power), increase lurker's movement while burrow or something like that

 

If you want the same unit but differnt attack possibilities make the lurker move underground but change the way it attacks. The new lurker should have an attack more like the sunken colony, like a couple big spikes come out and attack one unit at a time. Since he would be able to move underground while attacking he should be able to only attck one unit at a time. that way its even steven.

Since zerg units dont really have abilities like the other race they should get more upgrades seeing as how they evolve and all. An upgrade for the new lurker should be under ground movement and longer range.

 

The lurker definitely needs improvements.

1. Higher HP. One psionic storm can kill a lurker, even when it's burrowed. And when the enemy sends in a detector, the Lurker immediately seems not that powerful, because of its rather long cooldown. I suggest the lurker's HP to be increased from 120 to 150.

2. More accuracy with its attacks. You might not have realised, but when a unit is fast enough, it can actually dodge a lurker's subterrainean spines. I've seen a zealot speed by a lurker, the lurker attacks but the spines missed the fast moving zealot, I clicked on that zealot and it did not sustain any damage at all. Maybe this feature was put in on purpose for balance issues, but in SC2 this needs to be improved. A ranged attack should not "miss" a target it was aiming for.

3. Faster burrowing. I understand that Blizzard wanted the larger zerg units to burrow slower than small units, for obvious reasons. But given that the lurkers rely so heavily on burrowing, there needs to be an exception for them. They need to be able to burrow quickly when enemies approaches, or when charging into the enemy's base.

4. Faster cooldown in exchange for less powerful attacks. Actually, I don't really mind either way. I think the cooldown period for lurkers before and the 20 damage is good enough. Though in some circumstances, the lurker really needs a faster cooldown to protect themselves. So it can be done by having a weaker attack.

 

All of the above improvements basically make it a tank/dancer, BUT, I do agree that if they are implemented in SC2 they should give them more accuracy as reapers will just tear throught lurkers with just a little mirco.

 

Giving it fast burrow would make the lurker too imbalenced. The normal unit's burrow is extremely fast, and that would leave no time for the enemy to take a few shots and possibly kill a lurker, which was sort of a key weakness of the lurker.
The hp of a lurker is accually quite a lot. 125 is accually quite a lot for a zerg ground unit, but beefing it up would help. Also it has the 1 armor point which helps it quite a lot.

 

I think the zerg lurker was a fiar trade off compared to the siege tank. think about it.

Lurkers get splash damage in a line but have a shorter reach. Tanks get splash in one place but a longer range. Siege can attack while in tank and siege mode. Lurker can only attack while borrow but can not be attacked unless opponent has detection. Niether can move while in their siege modes.

anything im missing here?

 

I personally believe the lurker to be one of the most balanced units in SC1.

While I can imagine zerglings and hydralisks getting minor upgrades or simple abilities, I don't think the really lurker needs anything. I think giving lurker anything over what they had in SC2 is getting really close to breaking balance, it's not impossible but it's risky.

I think lurkers are close to being perfect, it is equally strong as it is weak. Lurker is one of the units that can move to SC2 unchanged. Very minor stat tweaks to fit in with the rest of the SC2 roster, but nothing much beyond that.

 

who said lurkers can attack while moving underground. thats imba. a moveing lurker below can't attack unless you command them and they will move right to their target. they will automatically move(SLOWLY) underground (CAN BE SEEN THROUGH TERRAIN UPLIFTING WITHOUT OBSERVER BUT NOT ATTACKABLE) and when their target is at range they stop and will unleash their spikes.

i dont like "the more accuracy with its attack" idea. kinda imba, its cool to see lurkers miss because of good micro movement of the enemy.

edit* how about this idea for the lurker. how bout lurker can now attack air unit underground. they will shoot spike underground at enemy air units above, the spikes (rock like) will then be smash or destroyed the moment it hit the enemy. i think it will look amazing when it hit protoss airship shields and terran air units like battlecruisers. 8)

 

If they remove lurkers from the zerg i really dont see how the zerg can stop massing of marines and marines? Honestly thats the only thing that was able to stop my marine medic army, and forced me to make other units.

Normally a terran would beat a zerg with marines medics, with tanks and science vessels only to fight off the lurkers.

On a side note, i never did understand how the lurker attacked, i think its somewhat strange and even though its a sci-fi game some sort of realism should be there...

Also, the lurker's attack is not really ranged. Its more melee, it uses its actual spine...Which i guess is how it does it, i always imagined it streches its entire body on the line of its attack.

Faster burrowing = imba
More hp = imba
Moving underground = imba
not missing its attacks = imba

You can get lurkers very fast fyi, and they do A LOT of damage with their splash attacks, and its normal damage too...and it upgrades its attack to +2... We cant have OP in SC2, we just cant

 

Actually M+M could be stopped with sunkens, as long as the Zerg player can micro well enough. But in a general sense, and for Zerg not to be too defensive as to lose map dominance, lurker would be required.

I agree with you on these:

And the lurker's attack is in fact melee, even though it's a huge ass melee that covers all of 6 matrices in a straight line.

 

yah its imba. but the concept and mechanics of moving underground and attacking air units is COOL! if they do implement this, i know they will figure something to balance things back.

 

With the nydus worm, you don't need to tunnel. And if you need to move just unburrow. I think some of these ideas are cool and would make sense if this were in real life but totaly imballanced. Stealthily moving undetected and having splash damage is definatly you know what.

 

no no my idea is, when lurkers move underground you can see them(through terrain uplifting or something) even without oberserver but you can't attack them. you can only attack them even they are moving underground when you have observers. plus the lurkers movement underground will be twice as slower as the normal movespeed of lurkers above ground.

so whats the use of moving underground for lurkers?
here. you can move(tho slowly) underground safely if there are no enemy detector. (ofcourse enemy will still see you moving undeground (cracks etc.) but they cant hurt you)). adds up more strategy in playing them (lurkers).

its imba?
no, because you can see them moving underground plus they move slow(almost like reavers) so you can escape before they set their attacks on you.

i think imba is not the issue here. they can be balance. my purposed is taht it will be cool to add this mechanic in starcraft 2 with the new and awesome visuals they have now. ^^

 

I don't know about the lurkers moving underground, but I do remember from SC being very pissed every time I launched an attack and accidentally selected a lurker who was above ground, and now EVERY UNIT goes into "move" mode instead of "attack."

Perhaps the lurker should have an above ground attack, similar to the weaker seige tank's attack when unseiged. That would end the problem of the "attack" function......

 

Lol I like all these neat ideas. Does anyone making Starcraft II read this? They should lol. Maybe they are right now... When you buy it you're going to be all like. "Wat is with all the cracking ground going around my base...?"

 

yah above ground attack for the lurkers would be cool.
and i like to see lurkers from below shoots spikes on air units too. ^^

someone said that blizzard will not bother going to other related starcraft 2 sites like this except on bnet forums, blizzcon (and other officials sites) etc. :upset:

anyway i hope some of them come and visit us here. these forum is filled with AWESOME COOl ideas. 8)

 

Well, if they can dig through ground, they can mess up a siege tank I suppose...but lurkers wouldn't last very long above ground. If they got an attack, they would probably have less armor or hp. After all, the zerg shouldn't have a siege tank. They already have numbers.

 

I'm not saying the above ground attack has to be anything great... it could even be a melee attack. Just something so that the "attack" button is still active for that unit.

BTW, I do believe Blizzard pays attention to the online opinions... they got rid of the Soul Reaper when everyone hated it....

 

i think you mean soul hunter.

i also like some of these ideas, although they need polishing. what i'd like to see is actually a new unit that replaces the lurker. I think this unit could have an above ground attack, but primarily i'd like a new more centipede looking united, maybe with 6 legs.

anyway, as far as the moving concept, to give it balance you could remove health during movement; like1 1hp for every second of movement etc.