What zerg jumper/walker will they have?

My guess is that since the other races in StarCraft 2 have certain units that can transverse cliffs, the zerg will logically have something similar to that or a major counter to those abilities. I would guess the more simple solution would be to have a zerg transverser... however I can't imagine that this would be the zergling as the zergling is the most basic unit. Neither zealots nor marines can transverse cliffs. I think that giving the zergling this ability would massively change the gameplay. Can you imagine trying to defend against a zergling rush when they can just hope up or down the cliff at will? It would be impossible to defend, you'd have no static defenses and no choke points. I think it will be a higher level unit (hell the colossus is tier 2? 3? and reapers are 1.5).

My guess also would be that since it has the ability to transverse, it would either be an assault unit (like a higher HP hydra that just does close combat) or a low range shooter (a la the stalker). There's not really a point in having a long range shooter that can transverse like that. It would have less situations that it needed to use the ability.

 

Very good points, nice post.

 

I would go as far as calling Reapers Tier 2, now after the change...

 

Something that travels under the ground, maybe that would work

 

Well guys I was watching the video where the Stalkers stalk the Reapers and kill them, then the Zerglings pop up. Well when they pop up and run it looks like the have wings when they are hopping and using their wing to hover a bit.

 

They have always looked like that in SC2.
I say, wings stay. But only as a design thingy. Cliff jumping zerglings would have to be nerfed.
Compare Marines to Reapers, the Terran cliff jumper. Marines got like 40 hp, 55 after shield, and 6 damage. Reapers have around 35-45 hp and 4 or 5 damage, along with a shorter attack range.
Also, Reapers cost 50/25, meaning that you would have to have gas.
Lings would have like 25-30 hp, 3-4 damage and cost 50/25 (for 2). That would suck.

 

its really hard to balance lings jumping off cliffs...
i hope they have a unit that will be able to like dig into the wall and unburrow at the top of the cliff
and its not too fast cuz it looks creepy when its like instantaneous

 

Lings shouldnt be able to traverse, their wings simply serve as a leapfrog effect letting them jump over each other so the swarm is more effective, as opposed to sc1 were they would have to go all the way around the large circle of Zerglings. They need something that climbs like I said before.

 

This new Zerg unit will be called the Zerg Fagticulousilly and it will be a strange festive amoeba monster that can ooze its way up walls and sing show tunes to torture enemy units into surrendering.

This unit has not been confirmed by Blizzard, officially.

;P

 

Well the jumping OFF a cliff sounds good, since they have wings it could reduce the fall resulting no damage?

 

If the lings could jump off a cliff you could just build your hatchery above your enemy and have your lings swarm down on your enemies... not a good thing

 

Not really, if your enemy has any scouting ability, they would see it before you would have a large army built up yet. Also, if the transport ability is the same tier as in sc1, building a base there would be extremely risky and the overlord could easily be killed just trying to get the drone that close to your enemy's base. Here are a couple ways, both the protoss and terrans could counter.

Protoss
Protoss could easily defend in case of such an attack by using any phase cannons they have in thier base and send them to the invasion area. The protoss units could hold out against the zerglings for some time with the new abilities they now poses. The zealot's rush ability would allow them to quickly advance upon them and get i the first hit.

Also, if they are teching, they would most likely have a few stalkers by now with blink possibly researched and a few immortals as well for ranged fire. If they are really good, colossi might be present at the battle field as well. And the zealots could hold the zerglings back away from the ranged units, resulting in major loses for the zerg.

Terran
By the time you have your hatchery and a few zergs, terran will have a sizeable force of marines and a few medics. The marines would make mince meat of your forces easily. If that is not enough, they might also have a few siege tanks possibly with siege mode researched to lay waste to the zergs being held back by the marines.

Also, if the terran have been teching instead of fielding a massive army, they would have a starport already up and could be having a few banshees already being made, which, when created, would decimate the zerg forces. A few marines, medics, and a single tank could kill many zerglings and hold them back for a time to allow more time for the air units to be produced and up on the battle field.

EDIT: Terrans could also have a sensor tower to easily spot the hatchery and any units before the zerg build a sizable force. Thus allowing terran to prepare or counter before the zerg are ready.

 

Don't the Terrans have some sort of detecting structure, so wouldn't they see it before there is a whole swarm? Or even 2 Hatcheries?

 

Forgot about that. Yes, the sensor tower. Only, if they placed it in range though, which it most likely would be placed near entranceways because of its detection abilities. However, with the new cliff climbing units, they will have a few near the cliffs if they are smart.

I'll add that to the recent post.

 

Either way, you always want to be in possession of the high ground, especially if it's right above your base. In SC1 and BW, you got a bonus for being on the high ground and there was a corresponding penalty for shooting up at units on the high ground. I'm not sure if this will make it back to SC2, but conventional military thinking is to hold the high ground.

 

Better view, angular tregectories, and difficulty to reach higher ground=win hands down.

 

The high ground bonuses will be back in SC2, but this time you can't see units that are firing at you from high ground, unlike in SC1. That makes it even more important to keep the high ground.

 

Now high ground will be invaluable. Now, unless they have spells they can cast into the unseen area, they will have to push through to reachs the ranged units firing down upon them from above.

 

So Zerg should just use Overlords or Nydus worms to get on cliffs, since Starcraft is a RTS and people usually use cliffs as an advantage.

 

I would really like zerglings to be able to jump cliffs, but have it be like a really late-game upgrade. I've said this before I know. I just think it would be so cool to see swarms and swarms of zerglings pouring over the cliffs into your base when you least expect it...BWAHAHA!

Or it could be an infested Terran ability. Maybe late game you could go two directions, big and tough with ultralisks or quick and high-damage with the infested humans. I have no idea what they're planning for infested terrans but they better keep them cause otherwise what was the point of all that fuss about it in the first war? I'd like to see them as like a weaker form of Kerrigan. Ok sorry I digress.