The Firebat

I only mentioned the ground-anti-air. And I stick with it. Not so sure if Cobras can do it so effectively. That's why I'm the only person who wants the Thor skill to be AoE vs. air and not ground. Anyway, I see the Firebat as merely an alternative to ground Vikings.

Firebats could be launched by drop-pods, in theory, and work better with Ghosts and Medics. Vikings are a good transition to Starport units, once it starts to fly, getting them as back-up. Looking at the terran tech-tree, if you wanna build Reapers and goto Covert Ops., Firebat might be better, imo. While if you wanna get to air and get BCs, you might wanna build preferentially Vikings and get air, since its halfway to BCs.

That's how I see them working. After all, Special Ops. is in a totally different direction from Thor or Deep Space relay. Those are clearly the 3 terran tech-paths, just like the Protoss also have 3: Templars, Air and Robots. Even if ultimately you get acquire all three and combine them.

Since they're making teching smooth, they might add the Firebat as a connection of the 'Ghost-branch' to the other two.

 

I wish firebats were built at Barracks. How else am I sposed to counter zealot rushes? Marines and Reapers will get shredded. Especially with that charge ability.

 

Charge is a tier 2 or 3 upgrade, and the new bunkers have more hp, and the CC can be upgraded into a Planetary Fortress... so Zealot rushes will be balanced.

 

Well, that is helpful. Didn't know that thanks.

 

Well, I'd rather see Vikings in Factory than in Starport. Look, it's nice because it versatile. It's raider > So, you should mass it > It shouldn't be expensive > It should be litlle weaker - so no primary terran airfighter... air mode is for moving and bypassing enemy defences.

Of course, Firebat may be produced in Barracks, but it means that barracks are able to produce five types of units... why not in Factory 1st slot?

EDIT:
hey, how about Reapers from Starport PP

 

Firebat+rax=5 rax units? Marine, Medic and Ghost makes 3, not 4. Did you get the Reaper mixed up?

 

Right, I've forgot that reapers come from that ridiculous 'Merc Haven'... Prison, should be...

 

there is no sense into build a building just to make a single unit

 

By building the haven, you gain access to the Covert Ops...
So it's not just a unit producer, it opens up new tech.

 

And its not ridiculous. They've undergone re-socialization programs. If they needed to be in prisons, they wouldn't be controllable either. It is nice that they appear in a Merc-haven, looking like a bar. I like the notion that they're dangerous humans under a thin control, but controlled. Setting prisoners free in a war would be like suicide. I say NO to prisons and YES to Merc Haven!

And it needs to be a secondary building because too many reapers can be made at one time. Their limiting factor of how many can be spawn is the number of Merc havens. For each Merc haven you get instant 4 Reapers when buying them, no building time required. That's what is great about it.

 

Suicide you say? Since firebats die a fiery death why shouldn;t they harm their enemies surrounding them in the process?

Was I in the middle of something ;D...

 

Aren't a lot of the marines criminals too?

 

Yes, they are. I think that ALL of them are, actually. The ones that aint criminals sits in Vikings and Siege Tanks etc.
Btw... Is the Firebat a criminal too?

 

no, blizz said it changed from 90% criminals to 50%

 

"Potential marines who prove too intractable even after resocialization are instead sent to the "Icehouse" in the Torus system, where reapers are trained." - SOURCE: Official Starcraft II site.

Reapers are in fact not resocialized. They represent criminals who the resocialization programs will not work on. Reapers are controlled under the threat of brutal force and the far-off promise of potential freedom. They are not, and should not, be controlled with parole-style temporary freedom, perks of any kind or positive reinforcement in general. Reapers follow orders because they don't want to die... that's it. So yes, they should be housed in a prison setting, not a bar.

"Reaper troopers are chemically altered to make them even more aggressive before being subjected to weeks of brutal training in close-quarters combat and the use of their jet packs. A reaper who survives two years of duty is granted a full pardon and freed, his debt to society fully paid. In five years of service, the Reaper Corps has yet to have a single trooper survive more than six months." - SOURCE: Official Starcraft II site.

 

Yeah, this lore they made up sure is dubious. I mean, for Marines they meant that they were on front but undergone re-socialization, and for Reapers they wanted to make them even more scary. But that creates a dilemma, of how would they even obey your commands.

My bet is that they created these "scary" profiles so the players wouldn't feel so guilty to spend Marines so easily. Making them "evil" would take away the moral dilemma of throwing them into certain death. Reapers then, as even more sure of death and even more spendable, would be the criminal beyond the point of no return. And that is settled by the fact that you know Marines are gonna die but you don't want them to, and it can sometimes be avoided. Reapers are suicidal fighters that go into the enemy base and might never make it back, with even less odds than Marines.

To me, that's what caused them to make these profiles.

Barracks, as shown in the Marine video, are some sort of prison. The Marine is set free while getting his armor on and goes directly into the battlefield. Reapers could be inside there just the same way.

 

I don't understand why Merc Haven should allow you to build Covert Ops... Purposes of these buildings have nothing common - Merc Haven is about training and equiping criminals, where Covert Ops is devoted to secret tactics and special agents - Ghosts, psionically gifted humans...

Another thing is that gamers don't like buildings like Citadul of Adun (imho best analogue to Merc Haven), which has only one upgrade in it and allowed you to build Templars Archives...

 

yeah and a Marine have a average life or 6 secondes...

 

Yeah. They really do last very little. I remember Marines as the crappiest unit in SC1. It really is funny how they pumped up its image for SC2. It's like promoting a game by making the lamest unit look very cool.

 

well I won't say lame

as

Marine + SCV = bunker rush
Marine + Firebat = counter zergling rush
Marine + Medic = counter hydralisk, muta
Marine + Ghost = counter BC&Carrier
Marine + Siege Tank = counter ultralisk
Marine + dropship = economic attack
Marine + Siege Tank +dropship = economic attack from high ground
Marine + Wraith = easy counter zergling+Gardian attack
Marine + Sc vessel = counter lurker
Marine + goliath = own air unit
Marine + Vulture = own Zealot
Marine + Valkry = underused
Marine + BC = underused
Marine + nuke = :

so in general

Marine + Tanks= close quarter support
Marine + air unit = protect unit from scourge
Marine + low budget = cheap meat shield ;D