Terran Cerberus - Replacement for Firebat and possibly Cobra

with all the arguments about firebats/flamethrowing reapers and all the complaining about the cobra i tried to see if i can think of something that could replace the both of them. here's what i came up with:

Terran Cerberus

HP: 100
Cost: 75min 125gas 2supply
Reauirements: Factory
Ground Weapon: V-Type Perdition Flamethrowers (x 3)
- damage: 3 + 6 vs small
- range: 3
- splash: large
- cool down: 30
Anti-Air Weapon: scorpio rail gun
- damage: 6 + 6 vs armor
- range: 6
- cool down: 22
armor: 1
speed: unupgraded vulture

the cerberus looks like a sleek armored light hover tank, it is armed with three v-type perdition flamethrowers, representing the cerberus's 3 heads. the v-type is an enhanced version of the original perdition flamethrowers, providing 1 more range and damage (firebat did 2 + 6 vs small per flamethrower) the increase in range also means greater splash area, which makes the cerberus a deadly weapon against masses of infantry (9x3=27 damage) however it is still weak against armor, dealing only 3x3=9 damage, and that's assuming the target has 0 armor, which is rare for an armored unit.

reserach: scorpio rail gun
cost: 75min/75gas
requirement: armory
this research mounts an anti-air rail gun at the back of the cerberus, which represents the snake tail. the rail gun provides medium anti-air support and can be fired while moving.

reasearch: neolite engines
cost: 125min/125gas
requirements: armory, scorpio rail gun
the extra power that the neolite engine provides allows the cerberus to use its two separate weapon systems simultaneously, allowing it to attack a ground target and a aerial target at the same time (thanks to kuvasz for suggesting this)

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i think the cerberus would replace both the firebat and the cobra nicely. its ground attack has roughly the same power as two firebats due to its greater range and more splash. also because of it's higher hp, it's more effective vs mass ragned units such as marines and hydras because it could survive the ranged fire better and dish out some damage before it dies, the firebat simply couldn't survive long enough to reach its target.

it also provides good air support with the shoot while move mechanic, and unlike firebats, the air attack makes the cerberus useful throughout the game.

the cerberus forms a good combo with the siege tank, zerglings+hydra or zealots+stalker will stand no chance against this combo, small to medium air attacks can also be handled by the cerberus's rail gun. the counter for this combo would be warp rays or carrier for the protoss and mutas (since muta is unarmored) or guardian for the zerg. (terrans could use the same combo or bc's)

the cerberus obviously replaces the firebat, but it could also replaces the cobra, the terrans already have the siege tank and the thor, making the cobra's anti-armor specialty rather redundant. what terran need is a anti-infantry unit, the cerberus does that job perfectly. it also has the cobra's air attack, albeit much weaker.

what do you think?

 

Wasn't Cerberus an elite team of scientist (trying to stop the erg advance when they was discovered)
in the starcraft demo?

and i don't like the idea of a tank (?) with flamethrowers

 

the original cerberus is the hound of hell with 3 heads and a snake tail

 

ofc i know that

but i was more thinking that the name was already taken

 

it wasn't a unit so it's ok.

 

actually it was many units, for example Cerberus firebat.. Cerberus Goliath and so on

 

well Cerberus firebat is not the same as Terran Cerberus

 

I like how the abilities mimic the name. Would it be able to attack air and ground at the same time? If it has 2 passangers, why not. How would this look like though? Hummer type vehicle or light like the Vulture?

 

thanks for the suggestion kuvasz, i've updated the first post which answers your questions.

 

Nice idea...i like it, i could imagine this unit

 

Armored and light at the same time? ;D Like the idea though, early light vehicle like the Vulture that can get upgrades to make it useful even in long games. Fits in nicely with Blizzard's idea of early units.

ps I've stopped the bleeding, Reaker.

 

nice, the "blood" is gone. i think armored is heavy like tanks and thors, light is small like marines and muta. there isn't too much info on the armor type system yet.

 

Sorta like that tank from command and conquer...1?

The bug shaped flamethrowing tank from the NOD, it was freaking sweet.

I like the idea, you can survive early on to actually get that unit so you can counter zealots later on when they are massed as well as zerglings.

Good idea imo. Better than the current cobra, terran doesnt really need a anti tank unit we have the siege tank + thor for that, we need a anti infantry though.

Again, good job.

 

c&c1... that came out like in 1993 right? i seem to remember there was such a flamer tank, it pwned infantry so bad.

 

When i read this i instantly thought of the Chimera. But anyways the one worry i can think of is it might take to long to get this thing out before you get overan by infantry if your Zerg/Protoss oponent is really focusing on infrantry. Also just out of curiousity with those requirements wouldnt it take as long to build one of these as it would take to build a siege tank?

 

you mean chimera from wc3?

terrans can get siege tanks pretty fast, in around 4 minutes or so, the cerberus would be around the same. with a bit micro, one cerberus would be able hold off a good deal of zerglings (i would say 20-30) and quite a few zealots. (the way to do it is use its 3 range to fire out of reach, splash 4-5 zeglings, retreat, fire again, the bunch of zerglings near the front are dead while the cerberus only takes a little damage, rinse and repeat) 5-6 of cerberus would pwn any number of zerglings and a lot of zealots, because they can't get to melee range before dying.

i would say the cerberus will come early enough to nullify any early infantry threat as long as the enemy doesn't go for an all or nothing rush, but if he does then he's also taking a risk. so it balances out

 

Greek mythology here is a quote from wikipedia describing the chimera:

 

I'd like to see it only require the Factory, and the rail-gun upgrade require the Armory... but other than that - I like it

oh, and I'd like to see it's HP go down slightly... it's a powerful unit, especially when you think about how it complements the mechanized ground the Terrans already get - I think it could stand being a tad weaker

 

I'm glad we have creative people on this forum, and it's an excellent suggestion, I'd like to see a slight increase in range though


P.S. i'd give a power up but idk really understand how to

 

@ nate: ok i've updated the requirements, as for hp, i think 110 is not too much considering it costs 125 gas (more than original siege tank)

@ watcher: you need 40 posts before you can change other people's power levels, you'll find the buttons under the person's avatar. press the blue arrow pointing up to power up and the red arrow pointing down to power down