Marine

needs a melee attack, that does maybe 7 or 8 damage. it worked in DoW

 

Jon, we're just suggesting a way to fill the Firebat gap. I'm not saying the marine NEEDS a change, just suggesting what some changes might work if it should help replace the FB.

 

we don't need to replace the firebat because it's sexy and it's gonna make a come back

 

The Reaper fills the niche much better.

 

Sorry for being a fun hating party pooper, but I'm against the grenade idea. The marine already has very high damage output. Of all the units that I compared here, the marine came in third out of all races on damage per cooldown per food. It really doesn't need anything else as far as firepower or damage options go. The only downfall was how incredibly flimsy it was. But with medics, and now more HP with the shield upgrade, that weakness has been patched up somewhat.

You also have to keep in mind that marines are ranged units, and ranged units have natural advantages associated with them. If they get grenades on top of insane stimpack firepower, it would be hell for units to close in on them. Imagine if you utilized the grenades with the swoop-in/focus-fire method. You'll be able to quickly take out groups of low tier units even before the fight begins. With enough marines around, you'll even be able to take out a few lurkers(please spare me the "omg you don't even know if lurkers are in the game!" comment). Marines will also be able to slaughter groups of workers even before they fire a single bullet. All in all, I don't think it's a very good idea.

Another thing I want to comment on is the bayonet. I personally don't find the marines' use of bayonets very plausible. This isn't some kind of space age combat knife, it's a piece of sharpened metal at the tip of a marine's rifle. If say zerglings got up so close that a marine can't even point the tip of his rifle at the zergling, how would he be any better off with a baynet that requires room for motion? Not to mention it sits at the same place that you would normally point at the zergling, so anytime you can stab with one you'll be able to just shoot with the much more powerful rifle anyway.

Even taking the power suit into consideration, I don't think a marine would really want to engage in close quarters combat against a zergling or zealot. The entire time the marine risks having his weapon clawed/knocked away from him by more powerful and vicious creatures. And even with the boost from the power suit, how would a marine go toe to toe with a zergling or zealot? One is the finest breed of genetically superior killing machine and the other a psionic warrior that even has a mild form of premonition. But just the overwhelming advantage in reflexes alone would lead me to think that a marine has little chance with a piece of metal swung/thrust by hand.

But do I actually care about lore? No, not really, as long as it isn't something absolutely ridiculous and absurd. But even for gameplay reasons, a melee attack would still be unnecessary. For exact reasons, read the first paragraph.

A couple of other minor things. The grenade shouldn't be in the game, but I think if it had bonus damage against anything, it would actually be vs infantry/biological/unarmored. Unless you guys are not talking about the same kind of explosive shrapnel-propelling kind of grenade that I'm thinking of. Another thing is that the firebat didn't do three time the damage of a marine, when you take cooldown into the picture. If damage per hit was the whole story, cracklings wouldn't reign supreme in damage per cooldown per food. Firebat's damage output is less than double of a marine. The real advantage comes from the splash, coupled with the higher per-shot damage. But take a guess how the firebat compares to the marine once damage penalty from its concussive attack kicks in.

 

if the rpg is weak enough the it wouldn't be imba, it would be just like allowing the marine to attack once in it's entire life with the power of a standard stalker attack, plus a little bit of splash.

the "grenade" would have bonus against armored otherwise it would be imba against small infantry. a reasonable power for the rpg is if 4 of them is required kill an zergling, and the splash would reduce 2-3 other zerglings in the proximity by half their hp. you might say this is too weak there is no point having it especially as you can only use it once. but personally i just want to see a single use rpg because for me i would be fun seeing marines launching "rpgs" or "plasma bombs" or whatever projectile bomb prior going into combat.

 

I agree with Remy, but I suppose I'm just too much of a wimp to stand up and put a logical post up about a topic like this.

I suppose I also agree with the removal of the Bayonet. I'm not at all pumped about it or anything, and I really don't think it's necessary as you cannot change the Marine's melee attack anyway....

 

look lets examine
marine+rpg coming out of rifle=amazing idea
marine+shield= pissed off gay looking marine
marine+shotgun=wait a minute this isnt halo , guys in power armor dont use shot guns to wipe out infestations of sorts... silly starcraft
return of firebat= amazing
heres what you would do
marines + firebats . ok so we have some zerglings and hydralisks approaching. it sucks doesnt it.. yea of course it does.. use ur marines rpg's to put a dent in the swarms health .. move in and mop up.

 

You examination is one of two things.  It's either flawed, or extremely biased with complete disregard for gameplay balance.

It would actually be more like this:

Marine + RPG = thin line between imba and useless
Marine + Shield = actually works fine and the most fitting upgrade considering gameplay
Marine + Shotgun = imba
Return of Firebat = that's really up to Blizzard and the voice of fans, but it needs tweaking to work in SC2
Marine + Firebat =  completely, utterly, hopelessly IMBA

 

i walk the line for my rockets.

 

i'm ok with it being useless, i just want to see the effect

 

A shotgun would be cool, like the original marine rifle but only with an aoe attack

 

no the shotgun would be lame in comparison to the rpg

 

and rpg wold be lame in comparison to equip all marines with laserswords and jetpacks

 

terrans dont have laser swords though . we have rockets though

 

and shotguns, anyway lets just keep the marine as it is

 

no rockets?

 

no rockets

 

electric pulse bomb or plasma shock bombs are cool

 

or in built tactical nukes