SC2Forums.org Starcraft 2 Press Conference Report

Please tell us all non-zerg unit stats that you recall. For instance, all Marauder stats and cost you remember
(How much did it slow down units BTW? 50 %?).

How much does an Immortal damage? The new Thor? Jackal? Etc...

 

Did you get to try previous stats and builds of units, e.g. the focused beam Colossus. If so or not, in your honest opinion which did you like better, and which worked better?

We only got to try the latest build, which had the Colossus' new attack. But I can tell you that this attack is MUCH more devastating than the old. Four or more Colossus together are unstoppable by any ground force that I tried. The Seige Tank might do the job, but I'm unsure of that.

Are Zerg very vulnrable early game if they get rushed with 9+ Zealots?

Yes. It is much more difficult to stop Zealots with Zerglings at this time than it was in SC1. Swarm Clutches definitely help in the same capacity that the Sunken used to, but again it's tough early game for the Zerg. Roaches are very effective against Zealots, however, because of their high regen rate. A single Zealot will do hardly any damage to a Roach 1 on 1.

Did you use the Thor, if so was it really that effective?

The Thor is VERY effective against air units. It is unimpressive against ground units. It also moves rather quickly for its size.

 

Haha well this is the first time ive had a chance to post here in god knows how long, so howdy to everyone i knew and everyone thats joined since then.


and @ jon, is the unit in the screenshots im posting the overseer?

Yes, that is an overseer, 100% certain. Where did you find that?

 

MBS is very interesting, but at this time I think it affects the 3 races drastically differently. I think it favors the Protoss very heavily because they are reliant on a number of Gateways to produce their units whereas before you had to individually click, now you can produce any number of units at once.

The Terran are quite different because they have the Reactor which doubles a building's production. So really the Terran have LESS production buildings than before and so the MBS isn't as much of an advantage.

In last place on the MBS front is the Zerg. They already had MBS in that they could select all their larvae at once. While its a bit easier now, it's just a different way of doing things.

Also, the unlimited unit selection is rather nice. Units move in a fluid way even when you select a bunch of different types of units. There's no real confusion, it's just different. I think it's a great characteristic of the game, but it does diminish the need for hotkeying your forces. However, in order to effectively use the different units in your army, you will still need to hotkey.

The Marauder slows enemy units to a stop every time it hits it. It's like you're hitting them with a shotgun. They stop for a moment, then proceed at normal speed. But when you spraying the enemy ranks with these shots, it will slow a large group of units very nicely.

The Immortals are very costly for the service they provide. They do around 20 damage if I'm not mistaken (I didn't specifically write all the damages of all the units out, and bonuses are very hard to track), which is the same as the Stalker. So its shields are its primary asset.

The Thor I am very unsure of, but I know it has 300 HP. It doesn't significant damage to air units, much in the same way a WWII flak cannon does damage. The attack is very effective against groups of Mutalisks and is much more damaging to them, specifically, than psi storm ever was. My group of mutas was absolutely demolished by two or three shots from one Thor.

The Jackal is very effective against large groups of units, but once against its attack isn't very strong. I believe it does 10 damage (again I'm not 100% on this number), so its not especially damaging to individual units. It has a bonus of +5 against armor as I remember.

The Banshee is another unit that has changed a lot. It no longer does AoE damage, but it is nevertheless extremely effective. I never used the unit as Terran so I'm unsure of the exact damage amount, but I would guess it does around 30 damage. It absolutely destroys ground units of all types and is very effective against buildings as well. I'm unsure how well they do against Cannons and base defenses, however. Stalkers are a good counter because they can blink under the Banshee and the Banshees seem to have trouble shooting units directly underneath them. Also, they have a relatively low HP of about 150 (This is an estimate again).

Please name other units you want to hear about.

 

thanks for the confirmation jon

i found the pictures of the overseer on the starcraft 2 official site. the picture on the left is from the screenshot with a bunch of lurkers and roaches vs. dark templar and colossi. its all the way on the left, half off of the screen.

the second picture is from a screenshot on a space platform tileset, with a bunch of mutas, zerglings, banelings, and hydras going after a terran cc. the unit is behind some smoke from a doodad building.

 

I'm going to include that in the news later... bonus major for the find!

 

How effective is it to tech up to build a mothersip as the protoss at this stage? For example: is the cloak usefull, and has the planet cracker the strength to do decent damage, or is it still weak? Also, what is that ability or channeling thing that the Queen has in the newest zerg trailer? Or is that just a unit stance?

The Mothership is very powerful, but I have yet to confirm whether you can build one per player, or multiple Motherships. I saw one player build 3-4 during one game, but its possible that those were other players' Motherships. When I built one, it grayed out once I had one, so I'm unsure.

The Mothership has very strong abilities, including Void, which is basically its old Black Hole ability. It is casted, and then 5 seconds later begins to destroy everything within range, air or ground.

The Cloak is a rather expensive upgrade and I did not opt to use it because I felt it was too expensive. However, I tested it later and it has a nice large area of effect. It cloaks a much larger area than the Arbiter used to.

The Planet Cracker wasn't too bad... but neither was it amazing. It certainly does damage but it doesn't look like they've increased its strength significantly.

 

Thank you for the unit insight Jon! Estimates are a lot better than nothing, and I can understand that you were busy playing.

OK, more questions:

The Zerg unit and building regeneration (secluding the Roach), was it the same as in SC1?

I didn't really sufficiently explore this part of the Zerg as it was tough to determine. However the regeneration rate does not stand out in my mind, so I would assume the rate is about the same as it was in SC1.

Please estimate the Marauder's stats, and it's slowing attack. Is it capable of replacing the Medic as the second M in M&M?

Well, obviously, it doesn't heal. I believe it had around 100 HP, or the same as the Ghost. It costs around 75/25 (not 100% on this) and has 80 HP (THIS IS CONFIRMED AT 80 HP). It does 6 dmg (same as Marine) and does +4 bonus versus armored units. It also has a range of 6 (same as Marine). However, when combined with Marines this unit is absolutely deadly effective. Solo it isn't as destructive because of its relatively high cost.

How useful/devastating can a BC be, considering it's late game and all? Is it as unusual to see one on the field of battle as it was in SC1? Plasma torpedoes, effective?

The plasma torpedoes are VERY effective against groups of units if they don't move, but it is possible to avoid it. I did not try using Yamato. However, the BC is now useful in ones and twos rather than just large groups. One or two Battlecruisers can change a battle whereas in SC1 they were only really effective in large groups.

Did you use warp in?

Yes. While units warp in somewhat quickly, I still thought it was a bit slow for it to be practical in use for surprise attacks. I attempted to warp in Dark Templar into an enemy base, and my attempt failed. It was just a bit too slow. Also, the cooldown time at your WarpGate is VERY LONG so unless you're really good at maximizing your build time, it's not entirely worth it.

However, the Phase Prism is very useful. I found it very effective to transform my cannons into plasma form and move them up into offensive positions. This tactic was extremely useful in supporting offensive operations.

Any fun scenarios you remember.

Ummm.... I used a large group of about 12 stalkers, 15-20 Zealots, 2 WarpRays and 5 or so Nullifiers to entirely wipe out a Terran army. They were walled in behind supply depots and bunkers. So I anti-gravitied a supply depot and three bunkers, rushed in, killed the tanks and other units, then killed the supply depots and bunkers as they returned to earth. Deadly effective.

In another scenario a teammate in a 3v3 (versus Karune) used 12 or so Banshees to effectively fend off a 3 player combined army. We were 2v3 because we lost a partner early and it was basically a matter of time. But he did rather well and finished off one opponent. I also managed to severely cripple the other Terran player with my DTs sneaking in to his mineral line, but Karune was built up enough, and we were significantly weakened. So Karune ended up taking the field.

 

do roaches melee or range?

in most pics of them, theres been a cloud of green spit between them and whatever they're after, but then in several pictures it looks like they're slashing at them with their blades.

The Roaches definitely have a ranged attack, but Hydralisks are superior in strength.

ill post screenshots of what i mean if you need.

EDIT: what are the blue orbs by the roaches in this screenshot? (circled in red)

I believe those are Zealots in close combat with the Roaches and that is their shield illuminating as they take a hit. However, it could be something else but I'm unsure what and that seems the likeliest explanation.

 

Do Stalkers practically measure up to the Dragoon but in a slightly less 'in your face' manor?

Yes, the Stalkers are worthy replacements of the Dragoon.

Did you get to raid a base by 'cliff jumping' with the Stalker, how did this work out?

Yes, I did use blink to raid a couple mineral lines. It is very, very effective. The response time of the enemy is drastically reduced and often by the time they react their miners are already dead.

Did players use a lot of raiding tactics with the new 'cliff jump'' mechanic, how did it feel to be raided like this, vice versa?

Actually, for the most part, mostly because we were unfamiliar with the game, most opted to use traditional tactics.

Are drops commonly used, and does Zerg have an air transporter? (e.g. Siege Tank drop)

The Zerg currently do NOT have an air transporter, just the Nydus Worm, but that is very potent.

Did players tend to target the Queen? Would it be a viable tactic to directly use warp-in so units can engage a Queen and kill her quickly using units like Colossus?

Yes, the Queen was targeted, but she isn't strong enough to warrant a special all-out attack just to kill her specifically.

 

so are they planning or experimenting to add or change the current static base defenses like the toss phase canons. like new AOE static defenses. POWERFUL single static base defense? floating static base defenses? please say yes. ^^

and the energy balls from the phase canon looks gay imo. it needs to look impressive, better yet make the attack to look completely different. static base defense is what is lacking in sc2, i mean its simialr to sc1 (cept for the planetary fortress and now moving phase canons), it needs some firepower too..and yes some like to play defense than offense. also stronger static base defenses would force your opponent to create higher tier units making them not useless etc. lorewise static base defenses usually do splash and are very powerful without even needing to mass them. just look how ridiculous it looks when you mass cannons.

there are many innovative mechanics and features that can be added for base defenses like some i pointed above or maybe a level 2 upgrade?...a hardened shield static base defense like the immortals have. ^^

 

As far as I can tell they are not planning any more base defense mechanisms. The Zerg's base defenses are the only ones that are clearly subject to change because they are so radically different.

The attack animation of the Phase Cannon is weak. I agree with that statement. I had trouble telling which units they were shooting much of the time because it travels very fast and is rather light, so its difficult to see in a confusing battle.

However, I think SC2 is steering away from effective static defenses in this game. Cannons weren't nearly as effective at stopping rushes as they have been in the past. Two cannons will NOT stop a concerted effort from your foes in 2v2.

 

"I believe those are Zealots in close combat with the Roaches and that is their shield illuminating as they take a hit. However, it could be something else but I'm unsure what and that seems the likeliest explanation."

no i believe those are the immortals shots that the infestor/ultralisk are taking.

 

I'm pretty sure those aren't the attack animations from the Immortal. I'm REALLY sure that those are just Zealots in front of them and their shields are turning blue as they're hit. I know they did that but its just weird that there's 3 of them at once.

As far as I remember the Immortals did not have a blue projectile attack animation.

Also, someone asked about the Marauder's ability earlier. It doesn't slow units by a % or anything. When it hits a unit, that unit stops for a second and then proceeds. It's like being hit with a shotgun. It's knocked back but then keeps going. But since it fires quickly the Marauder can REALLY slow down a group of units. It also does not have a lasting effect. It's just instant, then the unit starts moving.

 

A shotgun won't knock you back, thats just in the movies/in games. Though you would probably stumble back.

The marauder will be a kick ass combo with tanks.

 

hey thats easy guys this "blue" isnt Prottoess zealot!
its Warp Rays impact effect, just a little fade cause its target moved away or something

chect the missile turret
[img width=333 height=247]http://www.starcraft2.com/features/protoss/images/warpray-thumb4.jpg[/img]

more:
http://www.starcraft2.com/features/protoss/warpray.xml

 

Good call, Johnny. It's quite possible that's what that is. Though why the hell they're targeting Roaches with that is beyond me.

Target the ultra, WarpRays cut through those things like butter.

 

well its just a screenshot...A.I finds that Roaches are More deadly than Ultralisk and with its heal resistan Warp Ray will make Good use of his Attack ability to do More damage every second it passes

thats why Roaches are more efficiant target for warp ray than Ultralisk

 

I very much doubt that. From what I saw in the game you definitely want to focus on high HP units rather than regen.

The Roaches don't regenerate THAT quickly.

Also, another thing I just realized is I didn't notice Protoss shields regenerating exceptionally fast outside of combat...

 

There seems to be quite a few units with large ammounts of HP, especially compared to original SC