Terran's mobility VS Mobility of other races

With the recent changes to Starcraft 2, the three races we have come to love are becoming more mobile than ever. However, Terran for one, has almost lost this race. I have noticed that both the Zerg and Protoss have upgrades and key mechanics (pylons) that allow them to quickly deploy units at any given time. Zergs have unparalleled speed on Creep (30% boost!) in addition to speed upgrades eg for Zerglings. Protoss have pylons that can 'summon' units and mobile pylons that allow for rapid base expansions. With the recent introduction of the Medivac dropship, there will be increased reliance for dropships, however, it is still not sufficient given the upgrades that the other two races receive. I am also aware that the new Dropships are faster inorder to catch up to Reapers, though it is the only method to transport units around the battle field. Again, terran buildings can lift off, but the speed is painstakingly slow, and doesn't allow it's defensive buildings (bunkers, missle turrets) to 'lift-off'. This will eventually impact on the Terran economy, the slower response in both ferrying units and base expansion. During defense against incursions, terran players may find difficultly in repelling enemy units that are inside the base, or even reinforce units to the frontline (Eg Protoss building a pylon next to main army to contiunally replenish army) Thus, it is evident that there are still balancing issues at this stage. I hope Blizzard is able to identify this issue. Do you think Terrans have limited mobility versus other races?

 

Vikings can morph.

Marauders slow units down.

Thats two things!

 

I agree with your first comment. The VIking is a great unit for mobility, though Marauder's concussion grenade is somewhat useless as it is offsetted by the speed upgrades (charge/zery speed boost) in later games.

 

Not to mention they can build buildings anywhere on the map + most buildings can lift and fly to other places.

 

Erm, most people would call that balance between tiers, and Zealots with Charge are designed to take out Marauders. It is called a counter. This already has been discussed to death in so many other threads... Anyway, I will comment on the mobility topic later on.

 

Yeah I agree. If we do the math with for example zerglings/marauders):

Low tier: 10 m/s slowed: 5 m/s

High tier: 15 m/s slowed: 10 m/s

I would like them to be slowed in both cases. I know that at low tier its 50% and high tier its only 33% , but thats still huge.

All numbers are up to change.

 

I agree that with the loss of drop pods, Terrans don't have the same map mobility as the other races with warp-in, phase prism and the nydus networks; but, I don't want the game to go to a place where each race has all the same abilities with different models and names. The idea of balance shouldn't be micro-balance: "Race X has this ability, how do we give it to race Race Y." It should be that players of equal skill of differing races should have roughly equal outcomes. For example, IIRC there is not SC2 Zerg unit which does over 30 damage, while the Terrans have two Tier 2 units doing 50 plus with splash. Do the Zerg need Tank/Thor equivalents or is some more subtle balance given that the Zerg have the Nydus network? As long as the end result is macro balanced, I'd prefer the races be as different as possible in combat ability, style, mobility, and economy.

 

I believe this is a distinctive characteristic for the Terrans.

If Terran have the mobility of the Protoss and Zerg, then the races would be too similar.

In order to compensate the mobility of the Protoss and Zergs, Terrans got a HUGE defensive boost. Bunkers now have 400 HP (350 in SC1). Supply depots can submerge which makes walling-Up much easier. If that isn't enough, Planetary Fortress gives +2 armor as well as 40 splash damage. With SCVs repairing it, it's gonna be very tough to take down a Planetary Fortress.

Since Terran infantry is much stronger in SC2, players will most likely build a lot of Medivac to support them. The increased number of Medivac in every game compared to SC1's dropship will mean a lot of doom drops.

Reactors is also another unique advantage that the Terran has. It allows you to produce 2 units at once for the Rax, Factory, and Starport (only for the basic units). Jon told me that during his playtest at Blizzcon, massing Marines with Reactors is extremely deadly and can overwhelm a player early on if caught off-guard. Mix in with a few Medivac and you got yourself a constant non-stop Marine army with the potential of doom-dropping anywhere on the battlefield.

Terran doesn't need the mobility of the Protoss and Zerg to be effective. They have other strengths that I mentioned above to compensate them which also retains the 3 distinctive and unique race.

 

@ Ych, I totally agree with you on this, terran may not be as mobile as in SC1 but now they are more defensive
and massable.

Imagine 160 marines getting dropped by 20 medivacs in your main base!

 

Saying they don't have as much mobility is so wrong IMO... Their army may not be more mobile, but their units as individuals are. I thought this was quite obvious in BR2...

 

I was still going to write a wall of text here, but:

That pretty much sums it up. Terran is even more the turtle race then it used to be. By the way: that could also be the reason that Karune said that Terran was ideal for beginners. You can play slower and used more macro, compared to the other races, that is. The game still has a faster pace then most other games in this genre.

 

@ Dragon God

I think you misunderstood a little on what I was saying.

Terrans doesn't have less mobility in SC2. Infact they have more mobility with the introduction of Reapers, Vikings and Medivac. However, Terrans are a lot less mobile when compared to the Zergs and Protoss in SC2 because in SC2, Protoss and Zerg got new mechanics that makes them very mobile (Warp-in, Nydus Worms, Creeps).

 

Don't forget the reapers, those are very mobile, and if you'll watch either battle report you will notice that the flying buildings have gotten a huge increase to speed and take off and landing takes under a second. I think we're going to see the mobile buildings used a lot more in the future, with landing factories or barracks right outside your enemy base becoming much more feasable.

 

Shame they removed the drop pods, that would have made for very interesting tactics, and with medivac/marines and reapers allow Terrans to be more like defensie with guerrilla and strong hit and run attacks, backing up their armored spearheads with infantry skirmishes

 

@Novacute-

i can tell you most not be 100% up to date on ur SC2 information.
i'll put it simply to you. Theres been 2 battle reports both with terrans and we havent seen a SINGLE tank...

these are both games that used mid mage units and lasted a good while. I'm just wanna point out the fact that the terran player didnt have to win off a basic tank push says alot. Terrans even if there sill not as moble as the other races still have much more tactical use then the other races. 2 battle reports thus far and the terrans have embarrassed both races so far.

Colossuss have failed and there terrain moble. zerg didnt realy use anything of moble use but they lost either way. I'm still for terrans being the race to play above the others (imo)

 

Agree with @Ych and @Aurora there, all is just as it's supposed to be.
Every race has it's advantages from SC emphasized in the SC2.
Zerg mass, Protoss mobile, Terran tough.
The differences really become more apparent towards the L8, mid-game.
In general: Toss would build arbiters and recall, Terran would push-&-siege and Zerg would mass...well...everything
Now it'll be probably even more obvious, distinct.
Protoss and zerg might try and mobilize units to Terran, but they'll just end up in the world of PAIN upon doing so.
All balanced imo.
TY

 

The protoss are supposed to be tough. I feel like the race roles are completely changing.

 

They arent, with tought he means defensive tough. It all depends on the match-ups. In ZvP its tough against mass. in TvZ its push against mass. in TvP its mobillity (protoss) against toughness.

 

Terrans can still build buildings anywhere and with the sensor towers you can tell when and where the opponent will be, knowledge of a raid before it happens its priceless, terrans can alway consolidate areas better than the other two races, so you can have outposts and react to opponent movement.

Proxy pylons are great but it does not give you site and when attacked by a large force is can go down which can prevent a teleport, as the zergs... its creep... yes they have building to extend it, but this only really makes them have better def which they need, you drop it with the overseer but its still not that great.

I believe in terms of mobility the terrans are still the best, they have the tools to control a large area of the map.

 

slightly off here, the Overlord drops creep, give you supply and can transport units. The Overseer gives you slightly more supply, detects cloaked units, can produce a Changeling, can increase its own sight range if it stays still, and finally it can heal units or buildings with the transfusion ability.

you can produce a lot of creep to help your map control, which is what Zerg really wants out of all the races, me thinks.