These are the few ideas that come to mind to solve the current problems of Zerg units. I hope that you can understand these ideas, becouse my english is very poor. Roach dynamic solution Spoiler It would have an activated ability (not upgrade required) of "Run" (double speed in a distance of 5 cells) reducing its life in 35 points if the roach has more than 50 or reducing 10 points of life if it has less than 50 when you activate the ability. -It does not regenerate when is running- With this mechanic, if the roach is full life and you wants to close distance to reach some unit that you are chasing it will be expensive in terms of HP lost, But if the roach is about to die and you want to give it a chance to survive moving it far away, takes only 10 HP. To complete this mechanic and not allow abuse, it requires the next estrictions: Regeneration limit: Roach can regenerate only 200 HP in all its life. With the regenerating speed upgrade this limit increases to 250 HP. (This ensures that in cases where only one unit attack the roach occasionally, these roach are not inmortals) To get balance or to give it a rol, the tier can be change to 2 instead of 1.5 (roach warren requires lair) is like the inmortal toss rol. Theory: There comes a point where cells can not make copies of copies of themselves and the regeneration capacity is lost. Hydralisk tier and rol Spoiler Tier 1,5, lurker tier 2, stats and Rol similar to SC1 Infestor Spoiler The design should be more consistent with its useful of travels underground with the following abilities. Liquid infestation: 50 energy, objetive: structures as we seen in the first video, takes 5 seconds to finish drop the liquid. Leaving to that structure without operation for 60 sec and from that structure come out 5 broodlings. Example: If you drop it on a Barrack, that barrack does not produce units until the liquid is left. If you drop it on a Pylon, this stop to give energy to nearby structures, if you drop it in a spawning pool, the enemy can not build zerlings, similar effects with all the structures and defences.. Fabric Slug: 75 Energy, objetive and graphics as the old Esnare (needs upgrade from infestor pit). Decreases to half the range and sight of the units affected making them a 20% more vulnerable to damage. Disease: 100 Energy, objective: biological ground units (needs upgrade from infestor pit). The target unit is affected by the disease in a time range of 15 sec. This unit can infect those that are close (takes 2 second), but to the spread is subtracted 1/4 time of infestation (10 seconds), if that unit infest another although it was the last second of 10, the third unit is infested 1/4 time of the 10 sec, so 7 seconds. So in every spreading the infesting time is 1/4 less. The disease effect decreased %HP on time and gives madness (difficult handling like the irradiate effect) Queen Spoiler Completely linked to the evolve of the hatchery and only one queen per hatchery. Example: If we have 1 Hatchery, 2 Lairs and 1 Hive, we may have (if we want) 1 queen in her first evolution, 2 queen in their second evolution and 1 queen in her third evolution. The queen is created from hatchery and not from larva. If the hatchery is destroyed she dies 3 min after. If we make the queen in hatchery stage the queen cost 150 min, and if we evolve the hatchery to Lair, we don't need paid extra, the queen evolve to the same time. We cant not have a lair or Hive with its queen in diferent stage. If we do not get queen in hatchery stage and we wanna get a queen in Lair stage, we paid a higher cost, the same happens if ours LairQueen or HiveQueen dies, for get it back we paid a cost that depends on its evolution. HatchQueen-->Cost 150 min, 200 HP, 100 Energy. LairQueen--> Cost 250 min, 150 Gas, 350 HP 150 Energy. HiveQueen--> Cost 350 min, 250 Gas, 600 HP 200 Energy. Abilities: The queen can heal Structures in the same manner as an SCV repair buildings (She heal a little faster but she spend some energy while doing it) It can create a creep tumor spending 30 energy. The queen can enter inside the hatchey, lair or hive. When she is inside it can make up to 3 mutant larvae spending energy (we can see the energy left of the queen) who bring with her when she goes out (with a delay to enter again) The speed mutation and in what units can the larvae mutate depends on evolution of the queen, The mutant larvae does not need creep to survive. HatchQueen Larvae: 35 Energy per larva. The speed mutation is like a normal larve, These larvaes only can mutate in creep tumors, drones, zerlings or Hydralisk (you need the necessary structures like spawning pool for zerling or hydralisk den for hydralisk, all the units to their normal resources cost) LairQueen larvae: 40 Energy. Mutation time is half, drones takes 20% + resources per trip, zerlings and hydralisk have their HP incresed in a 20% (they can have little differences in their design). You can also make scorges with 20 % more damage than sc1 if you got Spire. You got an extra unit that you can make with these larves that is like a “RazorPlague” Insect swarm: Cost 50 min, HP 250, scale cliff, 20 sec lifetime, swarm size 5 cells diameter, ~7 area damage to all ground units below the swarm. Build time 5 sec LairQueen, 2,5 sec in HiveQueen. Everything that is below the swarm does not suffer attack range, the damage of these attack is absorbed by the swarm. Try to imagine the strategy possibilities that this unit can give it. HiveQueen larvae: 45 Energy, Mutation time 1/4, Drones +40% recources por trip, Zerlings, Hydralisk, Insectswarm +20% HP than lair, scorges +20% damage than Lair. (The resources cost, is the same in all cases) Aclaration note: you cant not mutate these zerglings or hydralisk into banelings or lurkers. Overlord rol Spoiler At the beginning of the game is slow but it can drop creep and carry up to 8 larvae normal/mutants without upgrade (you need drop creep before getdown normal larvae, the creep grows slowly and the creep area is smaller) Then you have the speed upgrade in Lair that also make you drop creep with normal grow and area. Theory: As the overlord now generates creep in their bodys that give them an extra weight, now only may carry larvae. Nydus Worm, extension idea. Spoiler After Lair, you can build the Nydus Network, which enable mutate larvae into Worms (unit that is pre-mutation of the Nydus Worm that we saw from Blizzard) Characteristics of the Worm: 1-Cost 100 min, supply 2 2-Transport capacity [10](it can not transport ultralisk) 3-Only 60% speed of the medivacs or phase prism. 4-While the worm travels under the ground is invisible unless the enemy use a detector. 5-Underground could be harmed if we see it or not. 6-When the worm is underground its life is high, becouse we must be borne in mind that is not easy to do damage through the soil, also slow ground units are more vulnerable than air units. Approximately 300 HP under the ground, 120 HP in other cases. 7-It has the option to mutate into the actual Nydus Worm (cost leave to balance) the worm needs creep to go out how we saw in the videos. This option is enabled once we do an upgrade in the Nydus Network. Once mutated, this one disappears and appears as a canal option in the Network. I leave you some sample images to see as I had imagined at begining. http://www.dark-star.com.ar/Sc2Worm/worm.htm As I do not know if the graphics engine of SC2 could work with something like that, i made these other images with different jump mechanic that it has not problems with the graphics engine. http://www.dark-star.com.ar/Sc2Worm/mechanic.htm As you seen with this mechanic would have no problem with the graphics engine but the design of the worm is not very real for those flights, so I leave here a design change to this mechanic. http://www.dark-star.com.ar/Sc2Worm/design.htm Well, I did this design with few time and the limited Spore creature creator. So you need to have a little imagination to see the idea.. The appendices in the front would be more thin and sharp to break the ground forward. Also when the worm gathers momentum to jump with its front and back attachements who help to extend the wings. Should be a unit that can fly but prefers to travel underground. When is in the air only travels in a straight line until reach land, when is in the air it has 120 HP. In this way, with an extra cost to reach nydus Worm, we can not make abuse of the canals, and so makes them a strategic choice more aggressive. Zerg technology tree taking in account these ideas: http://dark-star.com.ar/Fotos/ZTreeEng.jpg Sorry to be very detailed in the ideas, but I was trying to do a good solution without balance problems. I am concerned that if the ideas are very detailed, this means that there are fewer points which to discuss. I hope not.
I like the Zerg Roach idea, it does give them an assault role and it makes the unit quite similar to the Stalker, however what about the hydralisk? the hydralisk may lose its role from the roach if they have the run ability, but with more balance put on the units, then the ability should work fine, i guess. Welcome to the forums by the way :>
Hey these are pretty good ideas in my opinion, hmm the hydralisk idea could work out since last I heard roach was ground-to-ground only, so the hydralisk still can work as a ground-to-air.
Yeah, becouse the roach without that abilitie it will be very boring to play. Becouse is slow, low range and the enemy only need to do focus fire. (we always do that with heavy units) in this way adds dynamic to roach and make it more fun to play. As marinecorp said, hydralisk does not loose its rol, becouse is an ground-air unit or a long range unit.. And if we put the roach after lair like the image tree that i post.. the role of each one is more differentiated. Is like stalker and inmortal rol.. In blizzard build the hydralisk loose its rol, is in a tier very high, its very expensive.. why you need a anti air unit in tier 2?? instead that the best choose is to make mutalisk or corruptors. About queen idea and its insectSwarm what do you think? blizzard give to the queen the razorplague abilitie. i wonder.. where this plague come from?? is not very real.. is like the mommy movie.. like a curse. then giving the queen ability to have its own mutant larvae and she may mutate them in special units like this insectswarm is more real and fun. what about the infestor and nydus worm ideas?
