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Hey guys. Recently I was hired by Blizzard to help them balance test some of their new units for Heart of the Swarm. One of the new units we tested is the Warhound, the unit that is supposed to replace the Terran Thor. I've decided to share with you some of the gameplay in action with screenshots!
Basically what I've found is that the Warhound is EXTREMELY overpowered against Terran mech units. Like, completely broken beyond anything you can imagine.
Here's an example. One of the testing scenarios I've been putting the unit through involves controlling a group of four Warhounds against several waves of other Terran mech units. The results may surprise and anger many current SC2 fans. TvT will never, ever bee the same.
Warhound
+ Show Spoiler +
Anyhow, currently the Warhound equips two long-ranged beam cannons for anti-ground and a missile launcher for anti-air. It also has surprisingly high health for a Terran unit.
Loadout
+ Show Spoiler +
In order for Blizzard to fully test out the effectiveness of the unit, I was only given control one of the Warhounds, and the AI controlled the other three. The custom scenario took place on a desert map. You start out with your Warhounds, and are soon attacked by multiple enemy mech units.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/HAiMo.jpg)
Don't worry about the bad graphics, they're just placeholders for the real thing
The main beam cannons are extremely powerful, able to take out battle hellions in about three hits. Also, there seems to be a bug where the missile launcher could also target ground units, but whatever.
What's really important though, is that the beam cannons seem to be able to take out Siege Tanks in a single volley. I mean, WTF?
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/qBwbW.jpg)
Close-up of the twin crucio cannons, just before I shot at it with my beam cannons
And then...
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/NxupX.jpg)
YOU SEE? YOU SEE?
So basically I just ran around with my Warhounds and focus fired all the units down in quick succession.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/BEliy.jpg)
Cinematic new camera angle for HotS
In short, my four Warhounds were able to destroy twelve Terran mech units including four Siege Tanks without losing a single unit of my own. Here's my assessment of the Warhound as a unit,
Pros:
-Fast
-Very high HP and armor
-One-shots siege tanks at long range
-Can attack while moving, but not fully 360 degree torso twist
Cons:
-Has a fairly large turning radius
-Very slow acceleration and deceleration
Please keep in mind though, this unit is still in the pre-alpha stage, so a lot of things may change from now until release. If you have any questions about the Warhound, feel free to ask, and I will try to answer the best I can.
+ Show Spoiler +This is heavy on the sarcasm. Screenshots are from MechWarrior 4 for the uninitiated 
 
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Why does hotS look so different and shitty? Wtf is blizz doing... Yea they'll tweak the numbers, but dude the huge problem on their hands is shitty graphics and that fucked up HUD interface, where's my adujant
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OMG thats crazy. I think it would be an interesting change to TvT tho
The graphics look really weird.
I can't put my finger on what it is tho. Im guessing because its still in testing.
So would how does bio do vs Warhounds?
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above posts: cant tell if serious or trolling;;;;;;;;;;;
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I was about to rage, then I realized that warhounds really are OP, so, no big deal.
I see in the upper right hand corner that warhounds have a varying cooldowns for multiple attacks, pretty crazy.
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Took me longer than I'd like to admit to recognize that this was a joke. I thought that blizz might use some sort of weird simulator to test unit strength... I never played mechwarrior but I vaguely remember watching my dad play it when i was like 3 or 4 years old ^^
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So they're like immortals that can attack air
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holy shit so op
at least they don't have gauss rifles, that would be silly.
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" warhound? you mean the goliath? the vultron?" -Artosis
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This is going to be amusing when posters #2 and #3 come back later and pretend as if they knew the OP was trolling all along.
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On December 12 2011 14:45 MayorITC wrote:
This is going to be amusing when posters #2 and #3 come back later and pretend as if they knew the OP was trolling all along.
thats the definition of troll
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On December 12 2011 14:45 MayorITC wrote:
This is going to be amusing when posters #2 and #3 come back later and pretend as if they knew the OP was trolling all along.
Should also be pretty great when you come back and realize there's a difference between trolling and an obvious (and funny ^_^) joke.
All jokes arent trolling. : )
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How could anyone possibly think that there was any chance of this being a serious post once they saw the first picture.
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On December 12 2011 14:13 Ktk wrote:
above posts: cant tell if serious or trolling;;;;;;;;;;;
And that my friend is the art of the troll 
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On December 12 2011 14:51 jaybrundage wrote:Show nested quote +On December 12 2011 14:13 Ktk wrote:
above posts: cant tell if serious or trolling;;;;;;;;;;; And that my friend is the art of the troll
See? Now we can never tell. Or can we?
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mechwarrior brings me back the the 90s... man....
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Maybe you can say something about the new units, some inside?
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If you drink eight beers and close one eye they kind of look like robot marines if you know what im saying.
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Wow, thank you for bringing this to the community's attention, it must have been a colossal effort, all the detailed text annotations, the secret pre-alpha screenshots that you no doubt Mission Impossible'd your way out of Blizz HQ with, and risking your life and freedom to bring this thread to Blogs.
Your service shall not be forgotten. Let us pray that Conscience Terran will save us all in 2015 (that's a joke on Blizzard time, see? Funny, right? No? What?).
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i was 99% sure you were trolling when reading this part " I was hired by Blizzard to help them balance...."
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Where are the destructible rocks?
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People need to learn the difference between joking and 'trolling'.. -.-
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On December 12 2011 15:56 Mobius_1 wrote:
Wow, thank you for bringing this to the community's attention, it must have been a colossal effort, all the detailed text annotations, the secret pre-alpha screenshots that you no doubt Mission Impossible'd your way out of Blizz HQ with, and risking your life and freedom to bring this thread to Blogs.
Your service shall not be forgotten. Let us pray that Conscience Terran will save us all in 2015 (that's a joke on Blizzard time, see? Funny, right? No? What?).
Ya pretty sure I'll be fired from Blizzard and banned from their games for life. But sacrificing in the name if e-Sports is worth it.
On December 12 2011 18:55 FinestHour wrote:
Where are the destructible rocks?
There weren't any on the test map.
But I've played other maps. The Warhounds are actually able to take down destructible rocks just by walking into them, crazy.
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On December 12 2011 19:03 DeekZ wrote:
People need to learn the difference between joking and 'trolling'.. -.-
same shits, just in different context
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This should be on the SC2 general thread.
But the real problem with warhoud? No not its being OP. Terran has always been OP in SC.
Its how it fucking looks.
Its like a nerd geek bot gone all wrong. Not very SC at all. They should change the way it looks for shame.
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Doesn't look so OP to me. It'll be OP if the introduce a "Gauss rifle" upgrade though.
Quick question, does it have jetpacks?
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The first two posts make me laugh, because regardless if they're trolling or not...it at least looks like they got played.
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Wow these graphic settings are groundbreaking for RTS! Can't wait to controll one Warhound myself!
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/u7Tq0.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/bwjpV.jpg)
