Come to think about it, I'd heard some oddball rumor a few months back that sounded like regular BS, but since they used the word Twilight before SC II was even announced I gave it a little thought. Would at least make for interesting gameplay choices. The unit in question was called a Twilight Avatar, and the person on Diablo 1 b.net claimed it was the result of fusing two archons in the next SC. It was supposedly shaped like a floating diamond surrounded in swirling energy and threw out a multi-colored beam that scattered over units, causing light AOE damage and slowing all hit down to about 2/3 speed. This would build up the tier of Protoss Templar side units... maybe in an expansion or last minute surprise unit.
That sounds like a cool concept actually... But it'd better be strong for 4 templar worth. thats 600 gas 200 minerals :/
He said it was designed to be like a semi-permanent support unit, the damage wasn't high but sustained constantly, and it slowed the enemy down significantly so they recieved lots of punishment from fewer units. Plus it's supposed to have ridiculous levels of shielding, equivalent to a Nexus or some such. It seemed like the type where you would only want one or two of them - the slowdown doesn't add up with multiple Avatars.
I'd be careful with rumors like that. I think that the idea of merging 2 archons a cool one. However I think that it would have pretty cool powers rather then just a decent sized armor/attack. Blizzard tends to put the higher up units with either alot of brute force (like an archon/battlecruiser) or alot of powers. (like defiler/arbiter) Seeing as how the archon is already almost all you could wish for as a ground assault/heavy trooper. I would tend to beleive that the combination of the two would yield something with more of a focus on powers. If I were to name the powers they'd be something like... Incinerate: Casts A flame over an area of ground...any units walking through it will take constant damage. Psionic Overflow: A wave of power emits from the Avatar draining its shields, but recharging the shields of nearby units. Mind Detonation: The Avatar sacrifices itself while targeting another unit doing massive damage and stunning nearby units for a few seconds. (Biological)
Yeah I agree, unless it had at least one or two huge powers it wouldn't be worth the effort. However I really love the slowdown idea... would fit with the Blackhole and Time Bomb effects, and if it could slow down Zerglings? The Zerg would have to think really hard about how to fight against something like that.
True, but how many slowdown abilities does one race really need? I dont think zerg would have many problems with it however as banelings would take down a unit like that in short order. Still...I kinda like the whole idea of using an archons shield to recharge all the other unit's shields aronud em...
I like that idea Phantom, and it would solve the riddle of the missing shield battery... however, if Psionic Overflow were used then I'd insist that the unit have a decent amount of HP, like 100, so that one bullet won't kill it if the ability is used. I would have never thought of this, but it's a cool concept (sacrificing for defense instead of offense). Plus I could imagine the animation, showing the shield break and fly out in a circle from the Avatar and flaring up the shields of other Protoss. How about this for a regular attack (I call it "Psionic Projection") - the Avatar sends out a single blurry shadow entity that attacks melee only, but it takes no damage. In this way the enemy player would have to tell their troops to kill the Avatar and ignore it's Projection, which would be sort of like a permanent Hallucination except that when there are no enemies around it disappears into the Avatar. Also it would have to move as slow as the Avatar.
Well I was always in support of giving archons a bit more HP to compensate for that little weakness , however every unit has a counter or a weakness. Rather then giving a melee clone as a defense, you'd most likely have to cover with other troops and count on a stronger force trying to cover for your guy. As for an attack like that...well it sounds easy enough to see through I'd rather have an offensive ability or something to use as a distraction. Lets say we stick with the theme of using its own formidable shields to recharge its allies. Another use for it would be to use energy as a blowback for units or as you said to create a projection to use as a distraction. I dunno...it sounds cool but needs more thought
