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Since I'm just kind of sitting around today with a bad cold and feeling a bit bored I thought I'd finally take some time to look at the unit silhouettes everyone's been talking about. I normally don't pay too much attention to this sort of stuff, but thought it might be fun to write down some thoughts on it.
I used the popular "level-adjusting in photoshop" technique everyone's been using to see a little bit more of the unit. I'm guessing a lot of what I'll say has already been guessed by others as well. I haven't really been reading the threads. Mostly just looking at the pics on Reddit. Sorry if this all seems re-hashed. That's why I made it a blog. 
TERRAN:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/PfPRI.jpg)
Messing with the levels on this once reveals quite a bit. I think it confirms that the thing on top is a flame-thrower and certainly seems to show that the round parts on the shoulders and ankles are wheels. This leads me to think that Blizz is actually going to remove the hellion and replace it with this unit, which would be a transforming Hellion/Firebat combination. I could see the "hellion mode" possibly only hitting one target now in the same way a vulture did in BW while it's "firebat mode" would be slower, but have a large-ish cone area of damage. Making a unit like this would still give Terrans harassment potential, but not in a way that could devastate mineral lines like Hellions can now. The "firebat mode" might be useful against early ling aggression and also as a part of a larger army later in the game. It wouldn't shock me at all to see them remove the Reaper from the game and have this build from the Barracks. Removing the Reaper would also cause Terrans to have to consider whether to use a mule or a scan early on which is another sort of "soft-nerf" that I could see Blizz implementing. In that case the "hellion mode" would probably be an upgrade that requires the factory. This would, however leave the factory with only tanks and Thors to produce which makes you wonder what other changes we might see...
ZERG:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/UGofO.jpg)
I think Blizz did the best job on masking this unit out of the three they've shown us. Levels don't reveal a whole lot. It seems pretty apparent that this is some sort of siege-type unit with the large cannon-like structure on it's back. This type of unit is something that Zergs have been asking for since the removal of the Lurker. For some reason Blizz seems to really not want to bring the Lurker back so I see this as sort of a compromise between them and the Zerg players. Whether it will be able to fill the spot the Lurker did or not remains to be seen of course. I wouldn't be surprised to see this as an evolution of either the Roach of Hydralisk. Most likely the Roach. The big question is if this upgrade would be available at Tier one through building a building or if it would be something trainable after Lair tech. The Zerg getting a siege unit in tier one could have a lot of implications, but I'll leave the theory-crafting for another time. Since SC2 was released I've always wanted to see the Roach and Hyrda change places in the tech tree with a slight buff to Roaches and slight nerf to Hydras along with it. A change like that would go along with a Zerg seige unit that morphs from a Roach coming in tier two. The changes I outlined earlier for Terran with their new unit would also make it much more viable to have the Hydralisk in tier one. Whatever way Blizz decides to work this I think it's going to be a big change for the better for Zerg.
PROTOSS:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/wUkFr.jpg)
Levels on this image reveal a ton. We can see pretty clearly that it's a flying unit and therefore would be most likely produced from the Stargate. I can only speculate at what it does though since the image doesn't really give us any clear conclusions like I feel the other two pictures do. It appears that the three prongs on the bottom are the weapon and it looks to me like they're angled down. This makes me think it's some sort of harassment air-to-ground unit in its most basic role. That by itself seems kind of lame though so I'm sure there's more to it. It wouldn't shock me to see this have a spell or two added to it or some other function. It's hard to guess with this one. We'll have to wait and see.
So that's about it. Just my ramblings on the possibilities. I'm really looking forward to seeing what these things actually do. I'm the type of person that loves big changes so I hope they have a real (positive) impact on the competitive scene.
 
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On October 18 2011 20:00 Risljaninasim wrote:
Nope, you're not insane
Well that's a relief.
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I guess we will find out in 4 days =)
The protoss unit really looks like Cylon Raider =D
here is a "fan art" by Armadawn
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/0mnRg.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://oi53.tinypic.com/2nsbbyt.jpg)
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I really hope you are right with the new zerg uni :-)
I really dont care what the other races get, just give us some siege ;-)
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Nice level adjusting. Out of the three which one do you think is going to be the lamest? I think its the toss's
900th posts on this?!!?!?!? WTF
+ Show Spoiler +
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On October 18 2011 20:03 Hiwashi wrote:
I guess we will find out in 4 days =)
The protoss unit really looks like Cylon Raider =D
Thats exactly what I was thinking:D
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wow this is a great analysis man! you have a very creative mind
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i'm hoping protoss is getting an air-to-ground harass style unit that's a bit more viable than the phoenix. Back in beta protoss was supposed to get more interesting air units but ended up with a weird air-to-air fighter that doesn't actually see much use in that capacity.
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It'd be sweet if that last unit was like the lightning gun from Quake, and it consumes energy to fire the weapon. It fires in a fixed line to a specific spot just in front of it, so you use a hotkey to activate the weapon then micro the flyer back and forth to do the damage you can.
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Seems pretty spot on with my own speculations. I like the idea of the hellion being removed in favor of this new unit. The zerg unit seems like the only thing it can really be is a siege unit (I'm thinking some sort of acid stream like those zerg towers in the campaign that were infesting human colonies). The protoss unit seems a little vague, but I agree it looks air-to-ground, whatever it does, please, PLEASE let it give me a fighting chance against EMP's.
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On October 18 2011 20:04 RogerX wrote:Nice level adjusting. Out of the three which one do you think is going to be the lamest? I think its the toss's 900th posts on this?!!?!?!? WTF + Show Spoiler +
Grats. I'm not really worried that any of them will be lame, but I'm most curious about the Toss unit since you really don't learn much from the image.
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Very sensible deductions. Almost too sensible. Will David Kim be as sane as you, Doa?
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Pretty cool and thoughtful analysis of the silhouettes, Doa. I like your thinking on the terran unit, as it seems as though it would change terran enough to not really "nerf" their early game into oblivion, but to change the way terrans have to think to make the game change a bit. A combination mech/bio unit? Think of the possibilities.
Get well soon! :D
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On October 18 2011 20:09 DoA wrote:Show nested quote +On October 18 2011 20:04 RogerX wrote:Nice level adjusting. Out of the three which one do you think is going to be the lamest? I think its the toss's 900th posts on this?!!?!?!? WTF + Show Spoiler + Grats. I'm not really worried that any of them will be lame, but I'm most curious about the Toss unit since you really don't learn much from the image.
looks like an improved pheonix to me :/
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we'll just have to wait a few more days....until more theorycrafting? or do they reveal what the units do?
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I hope the new protoss unit is like a flying zergling. Or something like a slightly better interceptor that doesn't require a carrier. With the new swarmling idea it would be cool to see protoss get a similar unit.
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This seems pretty accurate! I do however think that the Protoss one will be some sort of morph or evolution of the pheonix... maybe like the archon i formed from 2 templars... But its just a guess lol
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Papua New Guinea1059 Posts
![[image loading]](http://i53.tinypic.com/k8emg.png)
That's whats up for zergs.
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I think your prediction on the Terran unit is close to or spot-on. Hellions are simply to good like they are now and a "firebat/hellion - mode" would give the hellion unit more depth.
The zerg unit seems to be a lower tier siege unit wish will give zerg players a whole new level of play. They will be able to control areas much easier and i myself are not looking forward to siege lines in another matchup 
The protoss unit reminds me abit of the Wraith unit in design. Might see a air-ground harrash unit or a air spellcaster. Since they have talked about maybe removing some units this might be a rework of the phoenix into another air spellcaster.
I feel that the zerg unit will change gameplay the most if these predictions are correct but we will have to wait until Blizzcon this weekend for more theory crafting
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EPT
