Q&A Batch 49! HUGE Information.

[kingbdogz]

Recently Blizzard has released the recent Q&A Batch 49. The Batch includes pictures which show the art changes done to various StarCraft II units as well as the latest artwork of the Infestor. Also included are the descriptions of some of the macromanagement mechanics that Blizzard has been testing along with some screenshots. Lastly, Karune replied to a few questions from the fans.

Art Updates
The StarCraft art team have been making massive updates to the Zerg faction, adding various new animations and improving even further on the textures of Zerg units and buildings. A picture is a thousand words so check out the updates for yourself!

Zerg Drone (Before/After)
http://www.battle.net/images/misc/09-02/UpdatedDrone.jpg

Zerg Overlord (Before/After)
http://www.battle.net/images/misc/09-02/UpdatedOverlord.jpg

Zerg Hydralisk (Before/After)
http://www.battle.net/images/misc/09-02/UpdatedHydralisk.jpg

Zerg Overseer (Before/After)
http://www.battle.net/images/misc/09-02/UpdatedOverseer.jpg

Zerg Baneling (Before/After)
http://www.battle.net/images/misc/09-02/UpdatedBaneling.jpg

Throughout the development process, the team is constantly reiterating and improving on the game in every way. As mentioned before, the Infestor too is getting a makeover, becoming much creepier and intimidating you definitely don't want to end up helpless at the will of this thing!

Zerg Infestor Concept Art
http://www.battle.net/images/misc/09-02/InfesterArt.jpg

The StarCraft 2 team has made a number of changes in each of the races as the game gets closer to Beta. These are some of the new weapons and abilities that are currently being tested on the battlefield.

Protoss Dark Pylon
Long used only by the Dark Templar of Shakuras, the Dark Pylon is now used by all as the Protoss war for survival becomes more desperate. In addition to providing supply and giving power to nearby Protoss structures, the Dark Pylon has several unique abilities that require energy to use.

Proton Charge: an area-of-effect ability that gives all targeted Probes additional charge for their Proton-Cutters. Probes that have an additional charge gather additional minerals per trip when collecting resources. The Proton Charge lasts only a short time before dissipating.

Null Shield: a single-target ability that causes a Protoss Shield to shimmer and warp, cloaking the targeted Protoss unit. The Null Shield lasts only a short time.

Argus Link: a single-target ability that transfers energy from the Dark Pylon to any energy-using Protoss unit.

Screenshot: Proton Charge in Action


Terran Orbital Command
The Terrans rely not only on the troops they can train on the battlefield but also on troops called from deep space. The Orbital Command allows the Terrans to make use of their orbital assets to support their fight on the ground. As an upgrade to the Command Center the Orbital Command can create SCVs and serves as a drop location for collected resources. In addition it has several abilities that require energy.

Calldown Mule: sends a single automated mining robot by drop-pod that assists SCVs in collecting resources by working around current SCV mining operations. Unfortunately the Mule is still in the prototype phase and has a limited battery supply (timed life).

Calldown Extra Supplies: sends additional supplies to a targeted Supply Depot. Generally used by Terran commanders only in an emergency to allow them to support additional troops.

Scanner Sweep: using a satellite in high-orbit, the Terrans reveal a large area anywhere on the map and detect all cloaked units within the target area.

Screenshot: Mules Everywhere!


Zerg Queen
The Zerg Queen has continued to evolve over the last few months. She is a fierce defender of the Zerg Hatcheries and can often be found in small groups defending the larger Zerg infestations. In addition to defending her Hatchery from ground and air threats, the Queen has several special abilities that require energy to use.

Build Creep Tumor: with a mighty push from her bowels, the Queen creates a cluster of organic tumors that generate additional creep. In recent months the Zerg have mutated to move more quickly on creep, making this an important function for the Queen.

Spawn Larva: by injecting Queen ichor into a Hatchery, Lair or Hive the Queen can cause the Zerg structure to undergo a startling metamorphosis. The Hatchery starts to throb and green sacks swell up on the structure. Eventually four additional larva burst out of the Hatchery and land next to whatever larva are already wriggling around nearby. While a Hatchery hosts more than 3 larva, the Hatchery will not spawn additional larva, until that number drops below 3.

Razor Plague: with a great breath the queen exhales a cloud of tiny Zerg creatures that create a vast swarm nearby. These creatures attack all enemy creatures within their swarm, doing additional damage to biological targets. What makes it worse is the Zerg player can control the swarm, moving it around to attack whatever enemies he wishes until the swarm becomes exhausted and dissipates.

Screenshot: Incoming Swarm!


As always, feel free to give the Devs and I a w00t if your enjoying these Q&As!

How does one construct a dark pylon? Is it a separate, more expensive replacement for the original pylons or an upgrade?

The Dark Pylon currently costs 150 minerals (50 more than normal Pylon) and has the Gateway as the prerequisite building. This of course is all subject to change while more balance testing is occuring.

I assume the orbital command is now a replacement of the surveillance center? Does that mean people who opt to upgrade their CC's to a planetary fortress are no longer able to beneft from these new features, even without the use of salvage?

Yes the Orbital Command is what the Surveillance Center used to be. If you build a Planetary Fortress you will not be able to use these new features, but your command center will be upgraded to Armor 3 and have a Ibiks Laser that does 40 splash damage with a 6 range. These stats are of course all subject to change through balance testing.

I don't suppose Proton Charge would stack, hm?

Nope they don't stack, but if casted again, it will renew the duration of the ability.

The new infestor (pure awesomeness BTW), resembles the reaver in shape and looks rather slow. Is it super slow? Can you tell us anything about its speed?

The Infestor will still be relatively slow, though they have been sped up a bit from when you guys last saw it.

In 1 screen shot there are 15 eggs hatching. We know the hatchery can make 3, then the queen can make the hatchery add 4 more. So in this shot, did the the Queen use her ability multiple times in quick succession or would she have to wait until the firs 7 hatch before she can use it again? I guess what I am asking is if the hatchery can only spit out 4 extra larva at a time or if you can tell it to do it 4 times and have it spit out 16 larva?

After the original 3 larva, each Hatchery can only be spawning 4 larva at a time. The ability cannot be used again on that Hatchery until those 4 larva have spawned.

The mules help the terrans by essentially being SCV's that mine fast right? Do they help the other SCV's mine faster as well? Can they build things? Do they cost supply since they are only there for a while? When they "run out of battery" do they shut down until you "recharge" them or do they explode and disappear forever?

Mules will not help other SCVs mine faster. They will also not be able to build anything, but will be able to repair buildings and units. Furthermore, they will not cost supply. Multiple Mules can be dropped at any given time as long as you have sufficient energy available. When the Mules run out of battery, they will not be able to be recharged, and new Mules will need to be dropped.

Is the fungal infestation a long range attack (like parasite and spawn broodling were) or does he have to be rather close?

It will be a ranged ability. This is one of my favorite abilities, it really wrecks mass Marines which are quite a force to be reckoned with at the moment with Medivac support.

Can the mule defend itself?

Yes. It currently has the same attack value as a SCV.

Can the drop pod be placed anywhere with line-of-sight, leading to the mule being used as a scout?

Yes, this can be quite helpful in some circumstances. Originally, each drop ship spawned 3 Mules, but it became a bit too advantageous in scouting 3 places at once.

Does razor swarm damage both ground and air? What about friendlies?

It does currently damage both ground and air, but not friendly units.

Can null shield be cast on non-Protoss allies?

Currently, yes.
Yes, this also means cloaked Siege Tanks are possible...

Nonetheless, remember all things are still subject to balance.

The Dark Pylon and Queen are tier 1 tech. IIRC the Surveillance Station required the Shadow Ops to be built (making it tier 2), is this still true of the Orbital Command?

The Orbital Command requires a Barracks first to be built. The Planetary Fortress requires an Engineering Bay first to be built.

With the queen you can build up larva. Say you don't have a tech building up yet but you want a ton of that units, you build up larva (you can see 15 in that screen shot--that's 5 hatcheries!), then when tech finishes, you get a ton of that high level unit.

Also, mutant larva hatch faster.


These are no longer 'mutant larva' so they will not hatch faster, but everything else is correct

Is there anything that would prevent you from offensively dropping mules in the thick of battle? (For example it *might* be useful to drop near units that would then cause things like siege tanks to attack them and while ultimately leading to a very short lifespan for the mule, could lead to splashing a player's own units with damage)

This is theoretically possible, but the animation of the drop pod that hits the ground is a bit long (roughly 5-10 seconds), so it isn't like an instant drop.

Also, Karune, does that then mean that these larva do not cost supply? If that is the case then another advantage over a hatchery is if you mess up and forget to build enough ovies (or you just had a bunch of ovies get sniped), then instead of having to wait for more ovies, you can build mutant larva and not lose unit making time in the end.

They do not cost supply, they are just normal larva. The concept of Mutant Larva with timed life seemed more tedious and much harder to grasp in gameplay than the current reincarnation, which has definitely sat much better with the team and testers.

Was the new infestor art looking so much like a Reaver done on purpose? Maybe a joke to all the guys asking to put the reaver back?

The Infestor has a completely new model different than the Reaver, but does coincidentally have the same shape as a Reaver. Don't forget, Reavers will still be seen in single player as well as the map editor.

Terran and protoss now have abilities to both increase they're income temporarily (mules dark pylon) as well as abilities to increase they're offensive production (reactor warp gates). Zergs only have a production ability (mutate larvae). Are zergs getting something to fill the temporary income role? Or is the mutate larvae supposed to just pump drones to make up for that?

Being able to spawn additional larva can potentially help Zerg production quite a bit actually. Prior, when a Zerg player hatched offensive units, they were always sacrificing the creation of more drones. This ability allows more bandwidth to create even more offensive units for a big push, build more balanced with more drones and additional units, or double up on the teching effort with all drones. There are a lot of options to play with that will surely inspire many new strategies.

How far in tech is the dark pylon cloak?

All 3 abilities are available right when the Dark Pylon is created.

Can dark pylons be used as a warp-in end that gives energy to your HT's?

Sneaking a cloacked probe and placing a pylon in the back of the enemy base for warp-ins and hidden cannons sounds like fun ^^

Yup, everything a Pylon can do, a Dark Pylon can do better but of course at a cost.

According to the new Q&A both terrans and protoss got energy-dependent economy boosts, the zerg doesnt. instead the zerg gained a boost in unit construction time (i.e. queen spawns 4 mutant larvae). one implication i can see is that it further underlines that zerg needs to expand quickly, and they can maintain numeric advantage as long as they manage their expansions well.

I'd like to see what more experienced players can forsee besides this, gameplay-wise.

Spawning larva also costs energy (currently 25) and time.

In general, can you waypoint casting abilities?

You can waypoint casting ability. For example, High Templar will move to the first location, cast the Psi Storm and will return to the last designated location. You can waypoint Zerg's Burrow ability as well.

The most recent waypoints will be displayed that you can see, and you can waypoint with Patrol command too.

for zerg is it the same that the hatchery sets the rally, or can you rally for each individual egg?

You can do both. You can set a rally for your hatchery, but can then override it with manual orders per egg as well. Also don't forget, you can set a worker rally point for your hatchery, as well as a unit rally point.

The psi round deals bonus damage vs casters (high templar, infestor...), but all the units with energy receive this extra damage (specially huge units like battlecruisers & motherships)?

You can't target mechanical units with Ghost's Psi Round, like Battlecruiser, Mothership and Nullifier.

Just a question. Battle Report was told to be out with P&R 49, and it is not atm. Is it ready???

I don't believe the Battle Report was ever scheduled to be out at the same time as Q&A 49, but it is still in the works. We really do want to find the perfect battle to show off the new features.

In StarCraft II, will you be able to setup a "queue" for a worker unit to build buildings?

Yup - this is possible in StarCraft II.

We all know that the Reaper and Colossus basically ignore cliffs when they move.

Down to the question... Can they see up cliffs?
Does the Colossus have vision like a flyer (can see over anything), or is there a limited height they can see or walk over?

Colossus can have a vision of the upper ground just like the air units, while Reaper can't as a ground unit.

Colossi and Reapers can't climb up a cliff of 2 level at one time.

I'd like to know how much energy the Dark Pylon has, how much those abilities cost, how long their duration is, and their CD. The energy transfer and cloaking abilities sound really cool

I can see a ton of potential for combing a Dark Pylon with Warp Prisms Warp in . I realize all this info would be subject to change, but having that information to talk about would be great


Dark Pylon has 200 energy.
Proton Charge costs 50 energy and lasts for 30 seconds.
Null Shied costs 50 energy. No cool time, as long as you have enough energy, you can use this ability.
Argus Link drains 75 energy per second from the Dark Pylon.

Are queens still unique? What about motherships?
What tier are the lurkers? Are they still late-game units?
Are hydralisks still better anti-air than anti-ground? What are their damage stats?

1) Neither are unique.
2) Lurkers are tier 3. The Lurker Den requires a Hive. Banelings are much better for earlier AoE, and Lurkers are a good siege type unit in addition to its previous uses. They have a range of 9 which outranges Protoss cannons and have an attack of 15 15 to armored (including buildings).
3) Hydralisks are still slightly better against air, with air to ground attack stats of 10 6 armored and ground to ground attack stats of 10, both with range 6.

This is absouletely astonishing, the new Zerg graphics are AMAZING! They look so detailed! Once again Blizzard has not failed to amaze me.

Source: Battle.net

 

[RaijinSpark]

Lol Nice

 

[LordDz]

Grrr ^^
EDIT: Me like.

 

[PrinceofIce]

The new graphics look more zerg-like and just a lot more detailed. Great job finding this dude.

 

[kingbdogz]

The new graphics look more zerg-like and just a lot more detailed. Great job finding this dude.

Indeed, and the new Mechanics are a great treat to top it off.

 

[MGCǂSpectre]

Honestly im SICKKKK of forums' questions like 'How does one construct a dark pylon?' Get the game and see it by yourself damn it, stop asking such ingame questions... as if you will stay with that info that may change with patches. I want to see a clear answer when we can finally have a taste of that game the beta or whatever. They said they would release it at the end of 2008, the ready version, now we know they had a lot of work at that time, now they did indeed almost everything and still don't release the beta..... What are we waiting for? The Messiah?? Lol

Btw thx for the screenshots, good and when I see one shot high res the feeling is gr8, no doubt will be enjoyable to play. And the zerg with that slippery skin are awesome, now that's zerg.

 

[kingbdogz]

Honestly im SICKKKK of forums' questions like 'How does one construct a dark pylon?' Get the game and see it by yourself damn it, stop asking such ingame questions... as if you will stay with that info that may change with patches. I want to see a clear answer when we can finally have a taste of that game the beta or whatever. They said they would release it at the end of 2008, the ready version, now we know they had a lot of work at that time, now they did indeed almost everything and still don't release the beta..... What are we waiting for? The Messiah?? Lol

They never stated that it was to be released by the end of 2008, you have fallen victim to a rumour. The most they have said is 'it will be out when it's ready'. On the Dark Pylon thing, the game is not out, how could they see it by themselves? People do not know if it is built or not, it could of been placed by an ability, summoned by Probes for energy, or anything else.

P.S if you have been following the forums, Cavez has stated they are working heavily on the Campaign and Battle.net 2.0 (which is the reason they are holding the beta back), with the amount of work they have put into these two aspects they will surely make the game even more godly.

Btw thx for the screenshots, good and when I see one shot high res the feeling is gr8, no doubt will be enjoyable to play. And the zerg with that slippery skin are awesome, now that's zerg.

Indeed it will be great to play, and right now the Zerg finally feel monsterous and alive like the original, even the buildings look really organic and lively.

 

[Dreadnought[dA]]

Now they just need to update Gaytoss and Terrabads looks.

 

[Tyranid]

Sounds interesting, and the new Zerg look REALLY good. I just wish the Infestor still infested (Terran) buildings rather than spawning the infested marines from it's back or something like that.