Why are hybrids more powerful than...

the protoss, zerg, terrans?

Do they have warmachines or vechiles? Starships and starfighters (most important thing since its STARcraft not groundcraft) ? ...lasers? bullets? nukes? etc.

as far i can tell they are just powerful ground biological units (archon+ultralisk?).... zerg and protoss combined.

will they have hybrid air units? will they have shields? shoot projectile psionic acids?

how do you think they will be like? so is it like their most weakest unit can be par with the ultralisk? wow, but still they dont have technology and stuffs. they are also not really powerful psionically than the protoss.

so are the hybrids the xelnaga too?

let see.

zerg/protoss>xelnaga. the zerg made the xelnaga run away and they never been seen again for a long time, right?

xelnaga+hybrids=zerg/protoss.

protoss warmachines>xelnaga. i dont know what more the xelnaga can offer if protoss have motherships and carriers etc, unless they have flying self destructing xelnaga temple then they would be owning the stars.

protoss biological units<hybrids. obviously

protoss psionics and magics<xelnaga. not that much i think.

honestly i dont like the idea of hybrids being the powerful race in starcraft universe. blizzard prettty much base it on the alien movies i sc1 where there are hybrids too but it fitted in alien movies because the humans there are not powerful like the terran and there are no other race there such as the protoss.

i rather see the starcraft universe to have a powerful advance pure technology race (more advance than the protoss) than biologically strong and powerful mystical people like the hybrids/xelnaga as the most powerful race. coz it seems too warcraft fantasy like, it should be starwars sci fi like. lol. seriously, i just find it hard to imagine how can hybrids be powerful if they are just biological, few and dont have warships etc, the zerg are powerful because they attack in swarms.

thats why i want to see the UED back with a complete new units and weapons ready to take control of the universe and beat the hell out of the overrated xelnaga. its rare and i love to see human as the most powerful race in a scifi setting. and it would be awesome for starcraft.

i would be pissed off if blizzard decided to get rid of the ued by including in sc2 lore that the xelnaga/hybrids already pass across earth and destroyed it completely before heading to korpular sector to finish off the other 3 races. maybe blizzard is tired to make a story for the ued and they would do something desperate like this. that would suck.

i dont like to see this happening because for one i would like to see the ued to come back as a new race, and like the recent lore said the ued should be powerful so i dont think the xelnaga would easily destroy the earth that easy.

so any opinion as to why/how the hybrids can be powerful?

 

They are so powerful because they have both purity of form (Protoss) and purity of essence (Zerg). Protoss and Zerg only have either one and Terran has none. That's why they are so powerful.

 

yes in ground battle the hybrids would be pwning all races.

but how about starships and basic spacefighters? you need this if you want to own the universe right?

let say the xelnaga will have them. but dont you think the protoss have better machines and tech etc... they did not say that xelanga have better tech tho obviously they are more powerful psionically since they created the protoss.

 

The Zerg have no warships, no jets, no capital ships, and yet they're the dominant race in the Galaxy.

I'm sure that's included with the Purity of Form package

 

The Hybrid is supposed to be a unit, right? It's a single species created by Duran, and not a race. The unit itself will be extremely powerful, possibly extremely overpowered, as, as GasMaskGuy said, it has both purity of essence and purity of form, which is allegedly the ultimate combination and is what the Zerg have been searching for ever since they learnt of the Protoss, which, on a side note, is why, if it's true, the Zerg should never be able to successfully assimilate the Protoss.

So, yeah. The Hybrid is not a race. Protoss, Terran and Zerg will be the only playable races in StarCraft2, and that's how it should remain, so the UED shouldn't make it either. Not to mention that their technology is pretty much level with that of the Terran, but they're ages away, aren't at risk of invasion and seeing as they're the exact same race as Terran, they'd just be a different faction and not a different race. Like the Sons of Korhal and Confederacy in the beginning of StarCraft1.

 

The Hybrid might be a race, like Warcraft III demons. They'd be boring if there was only one "type". They might not come in breeds like Zerg, though.

Here's a theory about at least one more unit, based on Shadow Hunters:

Warning #1: Shadow Hunters spoilers. (And also Enslavers II spoilers.)

Warning #2: Shattered Metal Cookware alert.

Sources/Info

Dark Origin

Duran's Hybrid project in Dark Origin involved mixing the DNA of Zerg specimens (specifically Zerglings, oddly enough) and High Templar.

I figured there were two reasons for choosing High Templar rather than just random Protoss.

1) They're the most powerful Protoss psionically (that aren't Archons or Dark Archons; for all we know Archons don't even have genetic material!).

2) The Protoss had purity of form and essence before the Aeon of Strife (the latter was their psionic link). The Xel'Naga left Aiur when the Protoss lost their essence, but they got it back in the form of the Khala. It might not be as pure as the original link, but the Protoss have the genetic potential to access the link in its purest form.

2a) The Dark Templar have altered their biology, at least to a degree. (Theoretically, a Dark Templar's baby could be raised in the Khala and become a Zealot or High Templar, depending on how much genetic difference there is.) Source: http://battle.net/scc/protoss/units/darkarchon.shtml

2b) Hybrids are probably pure of form and pure of essence... or at least that's the intention behind creating them. They fulfill the Xel'Naga's desires. (Of course, they also fulfill the Overmind's desires, and possibly another races' desires too.) Note that being pure isn't necessarily the same thing as being powerful. This isn't a "Hybrids uber-pwn everyone!" thread.

Enslavers II

As we know, Metzen chose which of the branches of the campaign was canonical. Honestly, I think he chose the more boring branch, but there's still information to be explored.

Mission 4A

So... he combined Dark Templar energy with Zerg energy. But I thought both types of energies were pretty similar (which is how Dark Templar can kill Cerebrates). Kerrigan, despite being a powerful Zerg psychic, does not have that ability, and needed to rely on Dark Templar to kill the second Overmind.

Mission 5B, from the non-canonical branch.

In that mission, Ulrezaj's crystals turn Zerglings into Devouring Ones and Hydralisks into Hunter Killers. In groups of three or less, they weren't exactly dangerous. They certainly were not psychic.

The whole point of this is to show that Ulrezaj has experience combining Dark Templar energy with the Zerg.

Shadow Hunters

In Shadow Hunters, we learn several things about Ulrezaj. Massive spoilers ahead! If you haven't read the novel, stop here now!

Ulrezaj has a boss!

Ulrezaj used a drug to control a Protoss band (the Tal'darim), transforming them mentally into Dark Templar. The poor suckers didn't realize this though, despite learning how to cloak, and indeed continued to hate Dark Templar! The drug wasn't natural, and Ulrezaj either made it, had it made, or his boss made it for him. Either way, I have no doubt that transforming these Protoss mentally into Dark Templar was deliberate.

Ulrezaj used a strange Xel'Naga-crafted device to drain several of these semi-Dark Templar. I assumed that he did this to ensure his own survival; Archons don't live long according to lore. (I figure a few years, which is far longer than a typical StarCraft game, for obvious reasons!)

Ulrezaj taught these Tal'darim how to capture Zerg and bring them to him. Ladranix wondered why there weren't any Zerg bodies near the Tal'darim caverns.

There were strange creatures in vats in the giant crystal chamber. They were definitely psychic. Did Ulrezaj enhance his technique? We don't actually know for sure whether these were Zerg or Hybrids, as no one wanted to take a good look in the vats. (However, what else would Ulrezaj be doing with Zerg?)

Conclusions and Questions

1) Is this complete crack pottery? Or just unlikely? If it's the latter, it may be worth examining this in greater detail.

2) Does it even make a difference which type of Protoss are used when making Hybrids?

The Tal'darim were transformed into Dark Templar mentally, not genetically. The change was in their brain chemistry. They could revert back to regular Protoss if cut off from the drug (and one character in the novel started to do just so). As a result, they could substitute for High Templar fairly easily.

Zerg are pure of essence. It might not matter that Dark Templar aren't anything close to pure of essence. Just by having Zerg genetics, every Hybrid might be pure of essence. (Of course, it could also be a failed experiment; they'll be alive, but maybe they'll be wimpy.)

These Hybrids might not be of the same quality as the Hybrids Duran was making. After all, they're not being culled from the ranks of extremely powerful Protoss, but just any random Protoss that Ulrezaj was able to co-opt. (I presume there's at least some genetic component when it comes to psionic talents. Let's not forget that some Protoss, like Tassadar, were very talented, whereas Fenix, who was about 50 years older, was "only" a Zealot and so not particularly powerful psionically.)

Are they a backup for Duran's plans, in case Zeratul or someone one stumbles upon them and foils them? Zeratul presumably fought and killed one when Dark Origin came to a close, making him the only person who might know what their combat weaknesses are. "Dark Hybrids" might be different enough from the "light Hybrid" that Zeratul encountered. They could be a nasty surprise for Zeratul.

If there really is a difference, maybe they could cloak. (So can Duran. I wouldn't want to run into them on a dark night!)

3) Is Ulrezaj's boss Duran? Would Duran willingly work with a Dark Templar? (They're not pure of essence, falling further from Xel'Naga ideals than regular Protoss, and Ulrezaj is a powerful psychic capable of mind-controlling his opponents. Of course, maybe Duran is immune to mind control. He certainly evaded Kerrigan's control!)

4) The giant crystal is itself creepy. It's a Xel'Naga AI of sorts, capable of draining the life energy from Protoss. Khas temporarily hooked himself up to it, and learned a great deal about the Xel'Naga. However, he had to be freed before it sucked him dry so he didn't learn everything there was to learn.

The crystal would know whether the Xel'Naga are truly good guys or not, and possibly many of their secrets. However, the caverns were declared off-limits after the Aeon of Strife; only Khas, his student Temlaa and some Judicators had ever been down there until the fall of Aiur. Afterwards, Ulrezaj induced the Tal'darim to enter the caverns, but told them to stay out of that particular room on pain of death.

Preservers would know about the crystal, although not what information it contained. Ulrezaj (and presumably his boss) want the Preservers killed because they "know too much". Ulrezaj went to a great deal of trouble to keep people away from the crystal.

 

^wow thanks for the info, tho i only read 25% of it. i agree that there would be different kind of hybrids.

if the xelnaga/hybrid would be a playable race i think the fitting mechanics for them is similar how you make units in battlerealms. you put a certain type of units (tier 1 hybrid) in different hybrid cells and it will transform into a different kind of unit depending on what kind of cell you place the unit.

while the actual xelnaga would consist of few units mostly caster but have uver powerful temple like airships.

@fenix.

about the zerg being the most powerful race in sc1, that too is kinda hard to imagine. anyway i just hope sc2 will show us why the zerg are powerful coz the sc1 cinematics was not really enough. there should be MORE zerg in those cinematics to own the galaxy. anyway i was surprised with the zerg scourge, its HUGE lorewise.

@itza

but blizzard said the UED should have more advanced and different from terran. imo they were just lazy in making scbw ued. but now they are backing it up with excuse like the ued copied terran tech and left their weapons at home on earth.

 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_vigor

Unknown. However, they might get machines from their masters.

Duran was working on their genetics. Someone else might be making them weapons.

?, ? and ? I hope Hybrids have organic ships, because winged infested Protoss would just look dumb. I would expect such ships to be crafted by their masters but crewed by Hybrids, as the masters (probably Xel'Naga) are wimps behind the weapons consoles.

The Hybrids might have their own shields... but only if they're typically psionically stronger than Protoss. (Only a few psionically powerful Protoss can make shields without the assistance of technology.)

Psionic acids? Nah... I don't think attacks need to be mixed and matched that way.

I think they will be biologically powerful compared to the Protoss (purity of form) and Zerg (biological power houses), so picture something humanoid but more powerful. They seem to be on par with Protoss psionically. (The imprisoned High Templar had minimal psionic emanations, same with the Hybrid. I would expect the emanations to be much higher out of the Stasis Cell.)

Nope. The Xel'Naga have been alive for a very long time, while the Hybrids have only been in existence for about four years.

let see.

Nope. Xel'Naga > Protoss. To this day, the Protoss barely understand Xel'Naga technology.

Are you talking about power rankings here? I would think Xel'Naga and Hybrids working together would pwn the Zerg and Protoss.

Nope. Xel'Naga tech > Protoss tech.

Most likely, if Zeratul's reaction was any guess.

We just don't know. The Xel'Naga did build that incredibly powerful temple, but that was a psionic amplifier. Then again, any psionic Xel'Naga (or are they all psionic?) could have an amplifier. And they could give those to Hybrids.

LMAO! Zeratul knows more than you do, and he's afraid of the Hybrids.

An individual Hybrid would probably be more powerful than an individual Zerg (and would be balanced like the Protoss; powerful but expensive). Protoss can sometimes beat Zerg. I would expect that the Hybrids can at least sometimes beat Zerg.

Not anytime soon. Blizzard said the UED won't play a major role in StarCraft II; at most they'll be remnants of the original invasion force. The UED has never even heard of the Xel'Naga or Hybrids, either.

For all their power, the Hybrids will have significant disadvantages. They'll be, at most, four years old. Learning how to be a commander takes more time than that.

 

@ zeratul11. Where did Blizzard say that? From what I've seen, they've said that the UED technology is almost identical to that of the Terran, if anything only being a model or two different. Why do you think they're so different to the Terran? The Terran were, until very recently, part of Earth's population. Then they were sent off, galaxies away, and became their own faction. They're not a different race, they're only a different faction. Having the UED as a separate race would be like having Raynor's Raiders as a different race. They're the exact same thing, only a different faction.

I wouldn't go along the lines of thinking that the Hybrid would be a complete race, but then again, that's just me. In my opinion, they'll end up like the basic Naga in the WarCraftIII Editor. There were Myrmidons, Royal Guard, Sirens and Lady Vashj, or, in other words, a fighter, a big fighter, a spellcaster and a leader. Sure there were Couatl, Mur'gul, Snap Dragons, Siege Turtles and Elementals but they weren't actually Naga (and even then there wasn't a full race) so, linking this all back to the Hybrid, there would only be a few distinct Hybrid units, so although there may not only be one type, I'd doubt there being an entire race.

 

Yeah Zeratul. Xel'Naga have "World Ships" not just Mother Ships. Keep in mind too, -their- technology and temple, irradiated an entire planet and slaughtered billions of zerg.

The Xel Naga also.... CREATED THE PROTOSS AND ZERG! i mean wtf man. They didn't wanna kill their creations thats why they fled.

 

Protoss Purity of Form
Zerg Purity of Essence

Technically the hybrid would be the perfect mind (Zerg/Overmind) inside the perfect body (Protoss). So I don't know what keeps the perfect mind from creating its own weapons and own ships. Especially when your race's body is driven on Protoss bases.

Having an army, with the strength and durability of a Protoss warrior, being driven by a single mind's perfect coordination (no second guess, no mutination, no values, no fear, no pride, and no personal gain)... This is how I see the hybrids right now.

What ever the Xel'Naga did, they most probably took the best choice to make them 2 different races. Please pray that we will not have to wait for SC2 Expansion to learn more.

 

At BlizzCon, in the Lore Video, Blizzard explained the UED should have been different, and had technology superior to that of the K-Sector Terrans.

 

You know this whole Hybrid fiasco is extremely intriguing. I simply cannot imagine what a cross between a Protoss and a Zerg could be like. I wonder though why Duran would create this hybrid in the first place. I suspect he is a Xel'Naga agent or something.

I think blizzard has a big surprise planned for us.

>_> . . . <_<

 

So... Why should the UED be different? They're exactly the same as Terran, just basically a different faction. Their technology shouldn't be too far off them either. After all, all of the Terran's technology is based off, though obviously not identical to, that of the UED. In fact, if anything, Terran technology should be far superior as they've been put into military overdrive, while the UED still have to function like a normal government.

 

1) Because Blizzard said so, and it's their game. (It'll probably crop up in the Brood War novel too, whenever that comes around.)

2) Because they've been separated from the K-Sector for 230 years. This means the Terrans have been changing that technology for 230 years (and the UED/UPL have been changing their technology for 230 years).

That is a long time, just picture the differences between a 50 year old computer compared to one made nowadays, and you will see what I mean. Computers went from vacuum tubes to integrated circuits. Suppose there was something as good as integrated circuits, but for whatever reason we don't use them. They have advantages (faster) but disadvantages (power hogs). If the UED took one path, and the K-Sector took another, the differences would be huge after 230 years.

3) Because on Earth, in real-life, right this very minute, different countries use different technologies, despite being on the same planet.

4) While the Terrans have been fighting wars (advancing military technology) the UED has had at least some wars, and didn't spend 30 years in stasis. It took the Terrans of the K-Sector 60 years just to rediscover "subwarp" travel. (We're not sure if this means sublight or supraluminal speed, but that's a total of 90 years when the UED was advancing their tech.)

This might explain why the UED could get to the K-Sector so fast (it took them about a year).

I would expect low-ranking UED units to be the same (their Marines are called "smiths", according to some very obscure trivia that was on battle.net 7 years ago) but high-ranking units would be quite different (and more powerful but more expensive). Blizzard said (at BlizzCon 2007) that the UED left their "big guns" and "tachyon lasers" home.

5) The K-Sector Terrans had better technology in a few areas, such as the Psi Disrupter. (That was a Confederate invention.) In fact, this device formed the linchpin of the UED strategy.

 

1. That doesn't explain why they should be different. That only states that they are different.

2. Where'd you get the 230 years from? Besides, comparing the Terran's separation from the UED to the recent technological advancements of computers doesn't show anything. Old computers are old because they're fifty-odd years old, not because they've been developed by a group of people who have been separated for fifty-odd years. The Terran and the UED are on the same timeline, modern computers and fifty year old computers aren't.

3. Actually all countries use the best technology available to them, and most developed countries already have all bases covered anyway. There aren't really any examples of certain countries using technologies that are completely different to that of other countries, so I don't see why it would have to be the case with the UED and Terran.

4. The UED wouldn't have even been in a similar situation to the Terran. Yes, they would have probably have had wars as well, but nothing on the same scale as that of the Terran. We're in a war at the moment, but if you imagine us sending a large group of people into a completely new environment, facing completely new enemies with completely new methods of fighting and weaknesses, and completely immerse them in a war of galactic proportions for years. After 230 years or whatever, which would you believe to be the advanced, military-wise? We'd definitely have the advantage of starting off with the basic technology, but they'd be put in a military overdrive. And not only would everything they made be military-based, but they'd also be designed for taking on the new enemies and their strengths, weaknesses, and ways of fighting.

5. The Terran would have to have better military technology in almost all areas because that's what they've been forced to develop. Basically, anything new they got in Brood War or get in StarCraft2 is of their own invention, so the UED wouldn't have access to them, so it's not just things like the Psi Disrupter. Then there's the fact that almost all Terran military technology would be specialised to be as effective as possible against the Protoss and Zerg threats, which the UED wouldn't be used to at all.

 

Source: http://sclegacy.com/content/editorials-8/blizzcon-2007-starcraft-lore-panel-editorial-44/

The only thing that's for sure is that the UED have far superior technology than the Terrans. So hopefully that proves that they do have better technology at least.

 

I hope this quoting style is acceptable.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you what future technology will actually look like. The best I can do is use currently-existing examples.

Suppose you had one culture that worked on electric cars for 230 years. You have another culture that worked on gas-powered cars for 200 years. Both would be hyper-efficient, but the electric cars would probably maintain their advantage in overall efficiency, while the latter would probably be cheaper. This wouldn't happen on Earth, because one would turn out to be better than the other, and that one would replace the inferior technology. However, spread the two civilizations and you can see something like that occurring.

From the manual. It states that the Terrans were in the K-Sector for 200 years. Add 30 for the time they spent in statsis, and you get 230.

You can also calculate it from the time the Terrans were sent on the journey, but you have to read that part of the manual carefully. (It's too easy to look at the date 2229 and start from there. There's a forty year gap you have to pay attention to.)

Except for 30-90 years of K-Sector Terrans not having access to advanced technology. (Thirty years asleep, sixty years redeveloping the same technology that brought them there.) Picture a post-appocalyptic Earth (eg nuked today). Five hundred years in the future, we'd be more advanced than we are now, but said Earth people would have fallen behind and been forced to catch up.

Poor countries can still get good tech because they can buy it (or share it, or steal it) but the Terrans of the K-Sector never had that option.

So maybe computers weren't a good example. Perhaps we should compare primitive cultures with industrial cultures. When the Spaniards landed in South America, the natives had cloth and bark armor, and used flat gold (yes, you read that right, gold*) clubs as weapons. (The natives believed in capturing opponents by beating them over the head and sacrificing them to their gods.) The Spaniards had metal breastplates, metal swords, and even a few guns. And both cultures were on the same timeline. Isolation can really mess with the pace of technological advancement.

*The natives hadn't figured out how to smelt metal, but gold is basically always pure, and as long as you have fire you can melt the little nuggets in a mould and let it cool in the appropriate shape. And heavy, which is important if you want to hit someone over the head with it.

True but the UED has a minimum 30 years head start (probably longer, considering how long it took for the Tarsonians to develop space travel technology enough to find the other two colonies; that was sixty years).

What if those people you sent were given an advanced computer (ATLAS) but nothing else worthwhile? No actual guns, just plans for 30 year old guns. No transportation (they had to be dismantled). Those people are going to spend their first years just trying to live. (The Terrans didn't even start fighting with each other for at least sixty years after waking up, as it took them that long just to find each other.)

Sure, they'll advance their killing tech faster, but they'll start from behind because they were too busy trying to give themselves the "stuff of life" (eg farming techniques on an alien planet, building homes so people didn't die of exposure, etc).

I think the UED could have still kept the edge, although they'd eventually be eclipsed, at some point in the future. And let's not forget Blizzard's statements, either

The Terran technology used in StarCraft I was designed to kill Terrans. For instance, the Wraith, Goliath and Siege Tank were all designed in the Guild Wars, which was the war between the Kel-Morian Combine and the Confederacy. They had battlecruisers back then, too.

The span of time between StarCraft I and Brood War was very short. It's never really been specified, but we know it can't have been more than two years. (In fact, the Protoss campaign strongly implies that Episode IV started right after Episode III, which gives the Protoss no time to create new tech. Good thing the Dark Templar had some different tech to help out!)

It's only now that the Dominion and other Terrans have had four years of R&D that they have actual anti-Zerg/anti-Protoss weapons.

 

take zerg and protoss, put them together, you get something better...

otherwise blizzard would have to explain to us that the secret level in brood war is just an easter egg and nothing more/

 

The Xel'Naga are the Hybrids. The Hybrids are the Xel'Naga

They will not come back for peace trust me. We should follow Zeratul and destroy them. Once done we will have to hunt the Zerg and Kerrigan.

The Hybrids are both Protoss and Zerg. I would say Protoss with reduced psi emanation. So less powerfull than a Protoss. But a more powerful Zerg.