Observer- needs more interactivity

that was sort of my idea jamaca, and dissasebmling itself would be pretty kool

 

I like that idea, it works well the the phasing in and ou mechanics they get in SC2, while also working with the cloaking powers of the Protoss at the same time.

 

[Slight bump] How about simply having an ability to increase its sight range but it has to deploy (open up) meaning it is stationary but its cloak will cease to function when in the mode.

Pro: Large sight range, cheaper then a cannon
Con: Obvious target, easy to kill (tho it might blend in with certain surroundings)
Result: BALANCED

 

But why take away the invisibility if its invulnerable? Both of those attributes will still keep it alive

 

Perhaps just take one since what good is a spy that can't survive

 

if you want to give the Observer more abilitys, dont give it a weapon. Give it more spying abilitys.

For example a ability to shoot a drone and implant it into the earth beneath the Observer monitering the area beneath it and if anyone comes in its radius it will beep.

 

Why do the Observer need any new abis? It was the perfect spy as already said, and protoss have lots of good spellcasters. And some of the ideas here seems both wierd and unbalanced. But its always good to come with ideas, but i dont like that naoyne should change my loved observer.

 

because this is a new game. everything old will change or should at that matter

 

Why should everything change? Marines are like they always were. Just bevause the zealots got a need "upgrade", do you then mean that every units should have that. I think it would be cool to have some of the old units(observer) to stay like they were.

 

so thats what my $50 will buy? why don't i just go back to SC 1

 

i did not say that nothing should change, but with those things you just have metntiond it sounded like you want to change the observer completly. And If you are so critical on the game, then play some games like http://www.uptoten.com/

 

So far this is the best idea so far. And actually it could be awesome. Only problem with it is the same problem with all the other ideas. The observer is perma-cloaked. It doesn't have a timed life like the Ghost or Wraith of old, it can behind lines literally forever, at least until encountering defenses. Another words giving it larger sight just because it can sit still would be broken. It could be possible if some balancing were used in it. Such as its shields would be depleted during the time making it a one shot kill for anything that happens to notice it. Or maybe something more drastic. Point is, good idea but needs drawbacks on a unit that is always invisible.

I will take each possible "upgrade" one by one.
Mini-Warp ray Idea
I like the concept. Only problem is, the only way it would work is if beam actually did enough damage to hurt something. For instance, 4 of them can kill a battlecruiser. Because seriously 2 minute cooldown better come with some kick, otherwise the reason to implement it would be for fluff because nobody is using that upgrade in a real match. This actually gives Toss a cheap effective way to deal with flying units, however it turns their only possible scout unit into an attacking unit that must be countered. So sensor sweeps and overlords are going to be everywhere nullifying the original use that the Observer was intended for.

Now lets take it from the opposite angle. Assume it takes 15 observers to take down one Battlecruiser. No one would ever get it unless they already knew they were going to win otherwise. Huge cost(as you said), long cooldown, shit damage, might as well call it the never-warp ray.

Parasite Detected-idea
Again, this is a perma-cloaked unit that is relatively fast and has a good sight range(with upgrades), using skills with the observer isn't quite as bad as the above idea but it does again nullify the reason to have the damn thing. Since people are always looking to kill Queens before they can plant a parasite you know the observer will start to be scouted for a countered.
=======================================================================
Observers need to observe more then anything, their ability to not do anything else makes them literally disappear from combat. Sometimes in large enough battles and good fights people won't even notice you have them on the field. Good placement of them means 4-10 extra seconds of reaction speed. It means no Dark templar rush(which is an anytime in the game type of rush), it means ghosts aren't nuking you and it means Wraiths aren't sneaking in. They are the perfect scout if they get changed at all it will have to do with slight modifications. Nothing big.

And p.s. to O.P. You bought Halo and are complaining about Starcraft 2 having to be different then Starcraft? If the changes in Halo 3 from Halo 1 were listed on this site I am almost completely positive I could list patch notes for Online Java games that have more changes in them. I mean seriously that game has gotten visual upgrades and like 2 new weapons and nothing more. But anyway, back on topic.

 

hmm... not sure we should give it another upgrade... it's already pretty cheap and has upgraded sight and speed. Maybe it can have a mini-scanner sweep, but while doing that it is completely visible.

 

I think the observer's fine as it is. It's an observer. It observes. If it does its job, then it's all good.

 

I like the idea of deploying and getting a substantial increase to sight range thou i think lack of movement would be more than enough to balance this

 

Perhaps a way to balance the increased sight range is to make it where detectors can detect the scanning beeam so if it crosses a detector unit the player being scanned sees the beam sweeping. It will be faint and not very noticeable but a vigilant player will see the scanning line and send some units to kill the source

 

Hmm the observer is a unit that fits its purpose perfectly.. it spies on the enemy with a permaneny cloak ability and pretty good sight range (considering you upgraded it).
I really can't think of adding anything else to that, without making it a little bit too imba, considering the incredibly cheap cost it has and its already enormous spying potential.
So Observers are like.. I dunno.. drones: they do the job right, so don't give them anything else.

 

The idea with getting an increased sight range was tied in with the Observer's normal sight range upgrade. The idea would be that the range increase would not work as the unit is moving, as it does in SC1, but only when the unit is deployed. If the range bonus is the same as it was in SC1, making it work when only deployed would actually make the Observer more difficult to use overall. To balance it, Blizzard might increase the standard sight range OR increase the upgraded sight range. The transition time between modes could also be manipulated to increase or decrease the utility of the ability.

Remember that the utility of the Observer is not only in its invisibility, detector status, cost, and sight range, but in the fact that it can move. Movement allows it to follow moving targets, explore different parts of a map or base, dodge in and out of danger zones without dying, and stay out of the line of sight of other mobile detectors. Locking the unit in place in a "deployed" mode is a tradeoff between the benefit of mobility and the benefit of increased sight range. While a deployed Observer outside an enemy base would be hard to notice, if it is noticed, it is as good as dead if it can't regain its mobility fast enough.

Ideally, there would be many cases where it is better deploy the unit but just as many cases where it is better to leave it undeployed. The way to prevent unit imbalance is to make every benefit have a cost that is exactly equal to the benefit in the long run, but in such a way that the player can skillfully chose to use the benefit when the benefit exceeds the cost in the short run, and not to use it when the cost exceeds the benefit in the short run.

 

Neon I understand your points but if I were to think about the observer and had to change it(which I don't) I would reduce the sight range by about .8 or maybe .7 multiple of the original then make a deployable mode where it had 1.5x sight radius.

I think it might add to the unit a little. Most players that do use the observer aren't necessarily good and they tend to take the observer on tours around using the almost crazy amounts of stealth it has. This would reduce the free map hack usability and make it into what it should be, base-finder, early-warning system, and a decent scout in general.

Let me rephrase that last part, I don't think the observer is used as effectively as it should, and it instead of Blizzard-made tutorials on how to use them instead maybe rework slightly the way the observer is used. At the very least to encourage the above rather then just right-click it somewhere and expect it to do everything under the sun. Seriously on Battle-net I don't know how many people just spam the observer and run it into my photon cannons, smaller sight radius with a deploy option might encourage people not to want to just run into bases, or maybe a slightly higher cost.

 

How about a defense ability. Lets call it something simple, Protect. Change it because its a lame name. But anyways,

Let us say your observer is exploring with your zealots and stalkers. Then some Hydralisk and lurkers come and your observer watches the battle. Your opponent brings in an overlord and your opponent spots your observer and attacks it.

Then you use "Protect." Which Increases shield regen greatly for about 3 (or more, or less) seconds. But in doing so, your observer loses speed. However, this gives you enough time for your observer to either escape to unreachable terrain or give you enough time to either kill off some hydras attacking your observer or scare away their overlord, if you have enough stalkers. The observer would be able to move further away from the front lines and not die by a few hits since they have low life.

Now this skill won't work if your observer is just exploring. Because of its speed reduction, isolated observers wouldn't have anything to protect them.

Just a thought.