Possible Ability for the Hydralisk: Proof Inside

Hey all I stumbled upon this after looking at the interview and thought, "Hey I might wanna bring this tidbit of info up." I will quote from the book Shadow Hunters by Christie Golden.

The cobralike thing -- hydralisk, that was the name; somehow it was important to Howard to use the proper term for things, even now when the properly named hydralisk was about to kill her and the thought made hysteria bubble up inside her -- reared back and spat something on Ethan. It was a strange gooey substance, and as she watched, it spread, rapidly encasing him in some kind of webbing or cocoon.

Now, look at the bold part and furthermore lime green colored portion. Webbing or Cocoon? Hydralisk to my knowledge shoot Spines laced with Acid. So, does the Hydralisk get a new ability to hamper units? . Also on a note as to why I thought this important in the Interview it says that her book may hint at what will be in game. Seems the Zerg have been advancing through an age of evolution unprecedented by anything else. Interesting...

My thoughts on it so far. It would be awesome ability to add to the Hydralisk. I think that if it only works on infantry the Zerg would be powerful when against Zealots, Firebats (If they make it in.), DT's, ect, ect. If it works beyond the layout of the basic infantry and into that of Vehicles... wow just wow. And if it is like Ensnare in a way well then ya...

Discuss. 8)

Wow... I totally screwed the title. I feel dumb.

 

Re: Pssobile Ability for the Hydralisk: Proof Inside

if the hydralisks were given this ability, then they would have to be toned down, because its not about which unit you can get to pwn the most and seem the most awesome, its about all the units being balanced.

if it were an ability that was similar to Ensnare, then this means the hydralisk might have received a movement speed upgrade. That way they can catch up to even the fastest units when ensared.

however, i sincerely doubt that a hydralisk will be given this ability, as it would cause the hydralisk to be overpowered... unless it has been made more powerful, costly, and timely to build, thus disallowing yet another single unit mass used in the original profusely...

 

Re: Pssobile Ability for the Hydralisk: Proof Inside

I felt the same way, but if it is an endgame upgrade it wouldn't surprise me to see the Hydralisk get this ability. And by Ensnare I meant that it would either slow down a single unit or make a single unit stay in place. Not a widespread ability such as that of the Queen's ensnare.

 

Re: Pssobile Ability for the Hydralisk: Proof Inside

The last thing the hyralisk needs is a ability. It gets a speed and range increas pluse lurker form. why over power a do it all unit already. blizzard would not imbalence a unit like that. If u disagree name a unit that u can currently look at from what you have seen in the SC2 line up that currently looks more unfair then a hydralisk with an emobilzing ability???

 

Re: Pssobile Ability for the Hydralisk: Proof Inside

Wow! Good call! Hydralisks able to stop motion from enemies? Great! None can escape, or stop you from doing so! lol

I'm just concerned whether this overlaps with Cobras. And it is one step further to bringing the Queen into game without bringing it back. Or take some ability from it freeing room for others more interesting.


Btw, if you seen my Zerg tech-tree idea, it meshes perfectly: Hydras, lings and Mutas would be Hatchery level, and at Lair, you would get Scourges, Banelings, and Queen's goo to slow fleeing enemies and make them susceptible to bombers. Giving it to Hydralisk as an ability would fit perfectly. (specially as counter to zealots, as slowing ability is meant to counter melee units, mentioned in Cobra latest change);

 

Re: Pssobile Ability for the Hydralisk: Proof Inside

my proble, with this is that it renders zerglings and zealots useless

 

Re: Pssobile Ability for the Hydralisk: Proof Inside

Banelings already do that... And Cobras will be able to do it too. I don't think slowing them down would be a great asset, as Hydras can't fire while moving. It would still require a decent micro to effectively take advantage of this. We're talking about a possible Lair level upgrade...


Comparing the tech-level:

Cobras need: Barracks -> Factory -> Armory

Hydras with goo would require: Spawning pool -> Hydralisk Den -> Lair upgrade -> Goo upgrade

Fair, isn't it?

 

Re: Pssobile Ability for the Hydralisk: Proof Inside

Zealot got the charge ability, the dragoon replacements (Immortalsl) have the super shield, marines always had stim pack, blinking stalkers, Archon w/ ability, Zergling-> Baneling.
Abilities can be balanced on lower level units and even stronger units...
Creativity could keep the game interesting. Squelch it and you have Starcraft 3D.
----------------
Maybe a new morph for the Hydralisk
Note the mouths. Color, maybe?

http://www.starcraft2.com/art.xml?s=15
http://www.starcraft2.com/art.xml?s=42

and

http://www.starcraft2.com/art.xml?s=3
http://www.starcraft2.com/art.xml?s=4

Seen in Cinema as well....partiallyI think.

 

Re: Pssobile Ability for the Hydralisk: Proof Inside

The Hydralisk as a unit in its original state will not have any "abilities". The most it would gain would be a passive attribute that effected its attack, but its not going to gain an aggressive ability that the player can use simply because its an "infantry" unit and the backbone of any Zerg army. In contrast, it is entirely possible that a new mutation of the Hydralisk could be introduced with this type of ability.

And don't worry about your title. I can fix that for you. Never ph33r, the mods are here!

 

With zerglings as meat shields and I believe they are the fastest unit in the game the zerg really don;t need a slowing ability. Besides the hydras are low level combat units not high level casters so we don't need to pile abilities on them

 

It would make sense that they might have a slowing ability if they actually shot a goo, but they are supposed to shoot out spines, and if not, pointy implements. The slowing ability should be left for one of the Zerg casters (the Hydralisk should not be a Zerg caster!).
@ Anansi_Tragoudia. The Immortal is not the Dragoon's replacement. Storyline-wise the original Dragoons have been upgraded to Immortals so it is fair to say that they are Dragoons, but the Immortal is not the Dragoon's replacement. Gameplay-wise the Stalker will replace the Dragoon, because it has the same attack to counter both ground and air units plus an additional Blink ability. The Immortal cannot attack air, and is used for leading the charge against an enemies base, because they will absorb most of the incoming damage. Dragoons were not used as Immortals will be, but Stalkers, despite having its Blink ability, will be used in much the same way.

 

I don't think it would be imbalanced. I see it as a, how to say it, stopping ability (like wolf rider's ensnare from WC3) and not as a slowing ability, since a slowing ability would be a bit over the top. If it's a middle-tier upgrade then it's certainly not imba. The only problem could be if it was an early upgrade since you could kite zealots with no harm done, but I doubt that it will be. As I see it, the two uses it would have would be
a) to delay the enemy's melee units charge on you, getting some free hits
b) to get more kills when the enemy is running away from you
It would also make hit-and-run attacks on the zerg a bit more risky and add some more character. Of course, it would have to work only on infantry and middle-sized units, since it would be stupid if you could ensnare a battlecruiser.

 

With the looks of the Ghost this idea isn't too OP anymore. In fact with the Ghost as it is I expect this ability. Ya....

 

Wow, that's actually a really neat idea. I don't necessarily think that it's imbalanced, but if people feel that one unit is getting too many abilities then it can just have a mutation where it gains a slow ability added to it's attack (taken from the Cobra, but I feel it doesn't fit too well on it) in return for losing some damage and possibly some range. That way it's not a good idea to turn all your Hydras into these guys, but only a few to still give you that bonus.

Then again the Zerg might be getting too many mutation add-ons... What if the Lurker becomes it's own unit and not one evolved from the Hydra?

 

i dont think hydras will have any special abilities that would be soooo unfiar because hydras are a unit based on massing... no special attacks

 

Obviously if the Hydralisks were given this ability then they would lose their ability to be massed in huge numbers. They could still be massed, but would never get to the same numbers as before.
What I would like to know is this. If every unit in StarCraft2 has a strength and a weakness, then what will be the Hydralisks strengths and weaknesses? They were a well rounded unit in StarCraft1, being able to cover ground quickly, having good range and the ability to attack both ground and air, so how will they be specialized? Making them have a slowing or snaring attack would be one way to do it, but it still wouldn't give them a defined strength and weakness.

 

I don't want it to just be slowing, that would be like the Cobra. Also, I don't think that this ability will be used by every hydra, my guess is that this is Lurker #2 (not a Lurker tho ). It would look like a beefed up hydra, bigger, stronger, and more pissed off. An idea i have is that its attack has medium splash, and every unit caught in the splash turns really slow. Something like that.

 

it will be asome if the hydras can incase units in cocoons but i think that it wont take energy but can be only used one time and it only last for like 4 secs this wya if you do it on big units they have a chance of escaping

 

I can't help observing that the title of this thread reads like a tabloid....and the content is equally factual.

 

Why not just give it an acid ability where it damages armor of units and buildings (this would need to be an upgrade of course,)