SC2Forums.org Starcraft 2 Press Conference Report

The Lurker doesn't seem as useful for a couple of reasons:

1) It's at a higher tier for some reason.

2) It's attack is avoidable and hasn't gained any real buffs. Because of this it isn't exactly a desirable unit that players will be teching for. If you had to choose between a Lurker that does splash damage and an Ultralisk, I think you would go with the Ultralisk.

-----------------------------------------------------

As far as other units from SC that are less or more useful....

1) Lurker - less.

2) Marine - about the same, perhaps slightly less because of the Medivac Dropship change.

3) Zergling - less at this time.

4) Seige Tank - More.

5) Mutalisk - It's just as effective as it once was but there are more direct counters for the unit this time around (Thor, Ghost, Phoenix).

6) Hydralisk - Less because it's higher on the tech tree.

7) Queen - Much, much, much more useful, obviously.

8) Zealot - Much more useful. It's charge ability is absolutely devastating. It's the new crackling.

9) High Templar - Less. Because units move so quickly, this unit is very vulnerable on the Battlefield and Psi Storm has been dampened somewhat. It's still devastating, but not like it once was. The Colossus is much more devastating a unit and is overall a better choice on the tech tree.

10) Carrier - Less. This unit depends on being in large groups and from what I saw it is difficult to amass units at such a high tier. This unit also is in competition with the Mothership whether Blizzard likes it or not. Right now I would opt for the Mothership for the increased effectiveness per food ratio.

11) Archon - Much more useful. This unit is POWERFUL!!! It's probably a result of a lack of balance, but this unit tears through the enemy.

12) Battlecruiser - More useful. This unit is now very useful in groups of one or two rather than 12. It's more of an army support unit than it was before. It's Plasma Torpedoes are very useful against groups of ground units, especially Stalkers (if you can get them before they blink away), and its Yamato is great for knocking out Colossus and Ultralisks, and still retains its key ability of knocking out specific buildings and specialty units like detectors.

-------------------------------------------------------------

The Viking did bonus damage versus light armor.

------------------------------------------------------------


I didn't see nukes used at all, but because of the prolific use of the Ghost, I would assume it will become more common. Strategically, however, I think the Drop Pod might be a better use of your resources.

 

Can you give a rough estimation of the Immortal's cost?

From what I remember the Immortal cost around 175 minerals and 100 gas.

Did rushing end more, or less games than in SC1?

That depends on the timing of the rush. Because of increased unit speed, units are more effective against static defenses like Cannons, so mid-game rushes were much more effective. It was especially difficult to stop a 2 on 1 attack in 2v2 games. However, because of the ease of use of the auto mining, earlier rush attempts were usually ineffective because of equivalent numbers of units.

Was focusing on Pylons more effective than in SC1?

Yes, the Pylon HP was significantly reduced. Pylons are now an effective target for enemy players.

About the Battlecruisers abilities: Could you buy either upgrade immedietly, or did you also have to research them (like you researched Yamato in SC1) ?

You have to research each ability, but then once you churn out a BC, you can then select at any time in the future which ability that BC will have. However, once you choose you cannot revert. Also, it then becomes a different type of unit. If you double click your BC, only other BCs with the same ability will be included in that group.

Did it cost additional resources per BC when you picked one of them?

No.

What made the Siege Tank stronger? Does it have a longer range now?

Yes, it's range is significantly longer and it also seems to have a bit of a buff, especially against armored units. I have a feeling this is the one type of ground unit that can stop the Colossus.

There's currently some confusion about how the Infestor's Disease ability works. Tell us about it's effects.

It works very similar to plague from SC1 the original. I was not able to fully test the ability because of time restrains, but what I did see was that it reduces a unit's health to the red area, somewhere between 5-10% of its full health, and if it comes into contact with a non-infected unit outside the AoE of the original ability while the Disease is still "contagious," that unit will also become infected.

So in an army not being carefully quarantined there is technically the possibility that it could quickly spread through the ranks. The "spread" did not seem to jump from Unit to Building, but it would jump from Building to Unit.

Was the Infestor's tunneling capabilities balanced?

No. I think that both the Infestor and the Nydus Worm should have some sort of visible animation to the enemy player when it is moving underground because in its current state the Infestor was able to use its abilities while burrowed. Not fair at all.

A lot more Zerg units can burrow now. Did that change how you played as Zerg? Did you try to ambush more?

Hellz yeah!! The first time you burrow an Ultralisk and wait for the Terran army to pass in between 8 Ultras buried neck deep... you know this is the sequel to the greatest game ever played.

Did the Surveillance Station upgrade work the same as the Comsat addon?

It was actually a bit difficult for me to figure out, and I didn't get much playing time with the Terran, but I know it's a building ability rather than an "addon." I'm not sure how it works.

How effective was the Planetary Fortress? Is it early tech, allowing it to stop rushes? What did it cost?

It's pretty effective early to mid-game, but it won't do anything at all to a Colossus. It's enough to stop a small raid.

 

You once said that it the Ghost changed visually but how did it change?

I believe his little antennae was removed, or his backpack entirely. I'm not sure but he seemed slimmer.

 

Updated more questions.

 

Just how useful was the siege tank's tank form? Useful enough to use on its own, or is it still less useful than the siege mode?

Btw, those translations should be done by tonight.

 

Awesome. Thanks on the translations.

Also, the assault mode on the tank was... meh... decent as long as there aren't too many units. It's still way less useful than its traditional seige mode.

In fact, Seige Mode seems to rock heavily!!

 

It could infest while burrowed?! I moving underground wasn't enough


I wish probe's portrait was just a placeholder, but it doesn't seems so

 

Infest while burrowed sounds to OP. Your enemy will never see it coming before it's too late.

 

Indeed, that's just ridiculous. However, I do not think that the moving while burrowed should be visible without detection, the casting of abilities should be removed instead. I have another good question by the way: is it possible for Nydus Worms and Infestors to tunnel past lowered Supply Depots?

 

I think by visible Jon meant like how you can see cloaked units without detector, but you can't target them until you bring an observer/overlord/etc

 

Hmmm.... Zerg units seem a bit overpowered just up to now. But as nothing of it is final yet I have confidence in Blizzards genius. ;D
I hope that they don't cancel the Colossus as it is my favorite unit of all three races: it has style and it is very expansive but effective against ground units.
Was the music you could hear while playing the old SC II sounds or did they add new themes yet?

 

They used music from starcraft 1 there

 

The Queen
Can her claws reach air units? (Blizzard mentioned she is your only early game air defense; were they referring to swarm clutch?)

No, she cannot melee air units. Her Swarm Clutch building hits air or ground units.

Swarm Clutch
Structure that hatches multiple low HP (50-70) units that defends the base? Does so permanently, how so: similar to a Carrier that makes interceptors, Hatcheries that constantly spawn larvae, Nomad's Mine 'Turret': creates a set number of mines?

She can spawn as many Clutches as you would like so long as you can pay for them.

What exactly hatches? Can these creatures attack air? Air and ground? Variable units: GtA, GtG, AtA, AtG, all around?

They can attack air and ground units with the same damage. They're little eggs that throw creatures at the enemy. They do not have a limited number of rounds.

Swarm Clutch can be destroyed, as well as units spawned from it?

No, in order to stop its firing you must kill the Clutch. You cannot kill the creature fired from it.

Units only hatch when the base is under attack? Are the spawned units on a timer, like Spawn Broodlings were?

They're not units, just an attack, similar to the Spore Colony.

(in other words, can you describe what happens: from the time the structure is laid, to the time when the 'eggs' hatch?)


It's just build, small build time, and then it can fire at any unit within range. The Shriekers greatly extend this range.

Creep Tumor
Leaves a visible structure that can be destroyed?

Yes, the structure is visible.

Toxic Creep
Effects only the continuous creep that the Queen stands on? Meaning, if an Overlord were to extend the Main Bases creep, that would also become 'Toxic' for they are 'one continuous Creep'. Passive or Ability? If ability, does it have a decent duration?

It's an ability, and its an AoE spell. So wherever she casts it that small area becomes infected. Yes, she can cast it on areas that Overlords are spawning. It lasts about 15 seconds.

The Nydus Worm
Nydus worms have 2 forms?
Worms load units, burrow and transport underground, upon command, they burst forth and spew their units, that were loaded during the worm state?
Canals are the second form of worms? (requires any other upgrades?) Canals are exits to Nydus Warrens? How do you ensure that units that enter a Nydus Warren exit from the specific Nydus Canal you want? Is a Nydus Canal simply the name of a Nydus Worm that has becomes stationary/deployed (whether before or after the worm has unloaded)?
(again can you give a stepwise procedure on how you use it?)

There is only one type of Nydus Worm. When you want it to create a passage, you give it the command and it will shoot out of the earth. It takes about five seconds before you can send units through it. You can load up to 8 units (I think) in the Nydus Worm that will pop out almost instantaneously. You load any further units through the Nydus Warren, which is NOT another transport option. That Nydus Warren will go to the currently open Nydus Worm.


The Swarm Guardian
Broodlings, is it a energy ability (like SC1 Queen), or an after effect of attacking?
If an after effect, is it after the units death, (organic only?), or after any attack connects (organic only?) Could they still outrange static defenses?

IT is an after effect of attacking. It seemed to work on most all units. I didn't differentiate between any specifically mechanic units and biological units that it worked on. Yes, it still outranges static defense.

Overlord/Overseer
Slime creates a destructible 'barrier-esque' formation over mineral patches, (Xel'Naga Observeration T's)?
Overseer is available after Lair Upgrade. Is Overseer Evolution an upgrade from the Lair itself (like antennae were)? Individual Overlord evolution costs resources? How much? A long time? (saying a little or a lot would be fine)

Yes, slime can block access to minerals and can also disable enemy detectors. Also, Overseers are available as soon as you tech to the lair. It does not require additional tech. The morph time to Overseer is about the same length as it is to build an Overlord initially.

Overseer Sight, starts off at a fixed range. As the Overseer is stationary, the sight range increases slowly, or does it jump to a specified size? Is there a limit to the range at which an Overseer can see, if it doesn't move?
Does their amount of Supply produced actually increase?

It seemed to add an additional four supply. Yes, it's range extends the longer it sits still. It's sight range was pretty considerable after about a minute. It could see an entire expansion base with ease. Five or six spread out would just about cover the map.

Xel'Naga Observeration Towers
Reveal a large area, with the Tower at the radius' centered? Overlords can Neutralize them? (meaning the slime makes the inaccesible?) How do you 'obtain' it, Workers?

I do not know if the Overseer's slime will disable the Xel'Naga towers. You "obtain" them by placing one of your units at its base. This creates a great mechanic early game as players end up fighting small groups of units to maintain possession of these towers. They reveal a decently large area, but not too large. Probably an area equivalent to the range of the Seige Tank in the original SC.


Infestation
Produces X units over X amount of time; is X static for all buildings infested, or do some produce more/less? (pylon, nexus, command center, assimilator?)Can infested buildings be lifted off? Might queens Deep Tunnel to infested buildings (doubt anyone tested that )? Does infest require energy? Supply? Minerals?

I only got the chance to infest production buildings and those put out a significant number of units. I think the Infestation ability has changed since we played it, and I certainly didn't fully understand its functionality at the time.

Infestor must be above ground to cast, or is it similar to ghost casting cloak=burrowed?(if rumor, please squash now)

Yeah, it was able to cast while burrowed in our build, but I'm pretty sure that will change in the future. It was very overpowered.

Corruptors
Attacks deal damage, and upon finishing blow, enemy becomes a derelict turret? Corrupted retain some health? Full, Half, % Static Amount? Supply? Are they on timers?

I believe the unit must be in the red health range to become infected, but again, I'm not exactly sure how this mechanic works. However, it dealt full damage of the infected unit. No, it did not seem to be on a timer, the unit just died after a while. I think it's health continues to lower.

Thanks
Hopefully these are detailed enough to aid in your responses.

 

So from what I've heard from other sites too is that:

-Colossus is overpowered.
Yes, but none of these units are really "Overpowered" they're just unbalanced.

-Zergling is overpowered. (its first upgrade makes it too dangerous I heard)

Nope. Zerglings were more ineffective than they were in SC1. The speed upgrade didn't do much, certainly not as much as the Zealots' Charge does.

-Infestor is overpowered. Yes, but only because it can burrow while casting

-Queen is underpowered early game.

Yes, but she helps with defense which makes her valuable, also if she were stronger, you could use her offensively which is not what you want.

-Thor is underpowered.

Yes, but again, he's excellent anti-air. He's strong enough for his purpose right now. I think his role was fine if they leave him where he is, he's just not an assault mech anymore. Also, he is NOT a Goliath. The Goliath hit single targets. You don't need a massed bunch of Thors, you only need a couple and you're completely safe from massive air attacks.

-Reaper is underpowered, since no one tended to use them in combat. Yes, he is currently weakened because of the Medivac Dropship.

-Hydralisk and Lurker tech is too high meaning many things would have to change because of this, thus ruining many balance aspects. Y

Yes, I think they're too high.

-Marine will be under-used due to the loss of the original Medics.

No, the Dropship is effective at healing them and they are excellent to load in the Dropship and transport to battle. It's like having a 2-for-1 medic. The new Dropship cuts out the usefulness of the REAPER, not the Marine.

-Many units would have to get nerfs and buffs just to match units like the new Colossus. Yes

-Protoss have no early and mid-game AtG fighters with the Phoenix currently being AtA.
Yes, except for the WarpRay, which is still mid-game.

-Viking's air role not very useful since Phoenix would beat it hands down, along with fast firing/moving Mutalisk. Yes, at this time.

-The Queens defensive abilities don't seem very creative IMO.
I think they're very unique and creative, especially with the changes they will force in gameplay with the Zerg. I don't know if you understand just how difficult they were to use effectively and what potential they could have. They deal MUCH higher damage than the Photon cannon, and because you can cluster them, they are deadly to incoming units. But they're also susceptible to splash fire.

-I heard the Ghost's call down; Drop pods was cut in the current build.
Drop Pods were in the build we played.

-Zerg don't seem to be very expandable since in the accounts of some Teamliquid guys; Zerg players tended to only opt for Roach and Zergling combos.
In our build, the Roaches were very powerful because they hit air. But I woudln't trust TL's opinion solely on the race. They were simply dealing with OP units. The Mutalisk and Ultralisk are also extremely useful. Don't dismiss the Zerg on the account of two players who just lack imagination. (Also, on a side note, I was the player who "lasted the longest" and was "undefeated" before playing them. I think you guys can see the lack of courtesy shown to the other fansites by TL since they didn't even remember who I was.)

Correct me if I'm wrong on anything, Jon.

 

Really some of those OP/ not OP, is very hard to predict, and such sites as sc2armory etc. does not have the information/playtime to predict anything.

 

I don't use sc2armory for speculations. That was gathered from various accounts from the Blizzard trip and new videos.

 

Yes yes, but that was just an example.
Those that have traveled to BLizzard/looked at the information

 

Man, I'm so tired of hearing the words Overpowered and Underpowered. -_- Blizzard will balance the game eventually, they've clearly stated they have a long way to go. OP and UP is just an opening for people to complain at Blizzard's ears about that one thing they like that isn't in accord to the mainstream opinion, imo. You shouldn't give it more space Zargalicious. I just know this would eventually bring those official complainer people to annoy us at forums. I beg of you: please don't bring it up! lol

On Anansi's questions, I thought of a few things:

I'm thinking the Creep Tumor will be like the creep colony: just a cheap structure to enlarge the creep. I take it that a larger creep would prevent offensive towering and in combination with toxic creep kill off undetected Ghosts that stand on it to nuke a more valuable structure.

Well, in SC1 the creep of 2 zerg player could even be used by the other, and they can connect if they're close enough. Also, if the TC is omnipresent, to balance it they would make it less damaging. If it works like I'm thinking, TC could be a huge AoE spell that only works at the creep but one that could, in theory, kill off Ghosts even cloaked in time to prevent a nuke from falling.

To do that, a TC would have to be as strong a Psy-storm and therefore have a smaller radius to make it up for its hazard. However, in order for it to function as an emergency tool for killing off Ghosts when you're eventually out of detection, it should have a radius larger than the distance a Ghost can target a nuke. Or at least nearly its size. This way the Creep Tumors would act together with the TC and Overseers in order to safe-keep the base from Nukes, as they would be too cheap to be destroyed with a nuke, and would hold the creep under a sneaking Ghost's feet.

In regards to the Overlord, I surely hope it can extend the creep before it is toxic too, because it would be a nice defensive maneuver.

From the videos and some things I've read, it seems as the Nydus is always cloaked and gathers units by sucking them from under the ground, only becoming visible when dropping off units.

The Nydus warren seems like a building-nydus-canal. I first wondered what would they do if one side of the canal is destroyed like the Nydus were, destroying the main source. But since you mentioned this, I wonder if they're going to make it able to switch targets, and connect to other Nydus warrens or Nydus worms at will, by clicking on a button at the building and selecting one of them (the worm or the other warren). I think that this way a Nydus worm could be too overpowered, as it wouldn't need to load units anymore, so I would prefer the Nydus warrens to be linked to other nydus warrens, and to be able to rebuild their exits again upon the destruction of it.

How would I want it to work
A Nydus warren would be like a regular building, but just like the Nydus canal, be able to spawn their other half in anywhere visible where there is creep. If the exit is destroyed, the entrance remains open and functioning like tech-opener. If the entrance is destroyed, the exit remains open and becomes the new entrance. Of course, this would cost almost like the original building to redo the other half, but wouldn't require drones and would be too hard to extinguish as both parts of it could sit in opposite locations of the map.

As a key-building, having one always alive would facilitate and speed up the teching process in case your Hive was destroyed: just upgrade one of your hatcheries into Lair and immediately after start the Hive upgrade. This wouldn't be so powerful, as Queens would still be limited to one, and even if you had two permanently linked bases it would cost you to rebuild it, Protoss can already warp-in and terrans can already salvage. Why not?

 

Without feedback like that Blizzard would never know if a current units stats and position are good or bad. Resulting in a shit game.
They use community feedback, so if you're tired of hearing overpowered and underpowered what is your purpose of discussion?
Mine is to give positive feedback, adding to the community opinion which in the end helps make the game.

 

Yeah, it isnt just about balance, but how we want the balance to be. Like instead of making 10 units stronger to fit the new colossus attack, the community wants the new attack removed!