EPTFirst, I want to talk about what I feel (and apparently Blizzard) to be a core issue with SCII. And that is the deathball mechanic. There is currently a thread which addresses the deathball and the negative consequences it has on gameplay, leading to the 1A mentality and the like. I feel that the deathball arises from the lack of space controlling units
EDIT: I wrote this two days before the whole movement/pathing discussion movement showed up again, and also think suggested changes in that dept. are crucial to improving SCII.
What do I mean by space controlling units? I dunno, many things. I would argue that the HT is not a space controlling unit, for the simple reason that it cannot apply sustained damage. But what it does apply is a large amount of AOE, something most argue that space controlling units should have.
Now one of the most agreed on culprits for the deathball mechanic today is SCII’s pathing engine (seeing as all the threads about it are popping up). I do agree, but instead of focusing on that I’d like to address Blizzard’s current plans for HOTS and how they factor into negating the deathball (as well as how I’d do things, damnit). I’ll probably do one for post, two where there is space, as my current thoughts are around 6500 words total, lol.
ZERG SWARM HOST:
Now when this unit was initially announced I felt quite excited about it and the potential it held. Having seen it in action at Anaheim and reading others’ opinions about it, I’m not really satisfied in the direction that Blizzard is heading.
Let’s look at the core idea behind the swarm host: the ability to apply sustainable, long term pressure that occurs in waves, eventually forcing an engagement from the opposing player. The host attempts to do this through locusts. At the moment they seem to be high powered range units that have the damage of a hydra and double the health of a ling. On paper, they sound good. But b/c of their status as a hybrid unit, low quantity, overlap, and timed life they don’t really cut it. Also consider that hosts must be massed in order to have any considerable effect on gameplay, sacrificing supply that you might use for direct damage units.
Now, as for potential uses for the host, I don’t see them used very much for harassment. Why? Not enough DPS/Too costly. Also consider that hosts do not elicit the same kind of reaction from a terran player that mutalisks do. They cannot bypass terrain like a flying unit can. Their damage output is too low to cause the distress that mutalisks cause. Once you attack with them they are almost immediately nullified. And if you are going to get drop in order to harass with the hosts, then you had better build enough to do damage, which leads to the next issue which I have with this model as it stands now.
Swarm hosts will not be useful in direct army engagements left as they are. Why? Not enough DPS/little effect on opposing forces/too much of commitment/locusts take too long to spawn/eat up concave space.
If you are going to mass swarm hosts, then you are committing a large chunk of you army supply to a unit that is unable to apply direct damage. Locusts do not provide enough DPS as they are to withstand the combined DPS of a Terran/Protoss army, and considering that most units are ranged it seems unlikely that most of the locusts will ever even be able to engage. Coupled with the fact that in the current build they take over 25 in game seconds to spawn without an upgrade, and are spawned only two at a time, they seem underwhelming.
So, here is a suggestion based on what I’ve seen.
Improve the SH spawn rate and quantity dramatically. That’s right, to the point of being overpowered. Maybe if the hosts spawned three locusts at a time with an upgrade for the fourth, they would have more of an effect on gameplay. Also consider decreasing the spawn time. As they are now, the long spawn time creates huge gaps where the hosts are completely vulnerable. By increasing spawn rate and decreasing spawn time dramatically, you have a unit that might be able to apply direct damage. Obviously tone down the damage/health afterwards.
+ Show Spoiler +
Ok I cut this out of the main body b/c I feel like people might read it and just think I'm whining about wanting the lurker back without any reasoning behind it. That's rather frusttrating but I wanted the focus more to be on positional units and how the swarm host works to fill that role. You can read this crap if you want. It was just what I thought might work as a better alternative based on what I think zerg needs atm, nothing more. It doesn't have to be the lurker ffs.
2. Implement the lurker. Quite honestly, I don’t see any other way to solve the deathball problem on the zerg side of things. Let me elaborate. I use the lurker as a model for the type of space controlling unit that I am looking to see implemented. And…the lurker just so happens to be a very successful example of what is needed in order to allow said space control. Perhaps the actual unit implemented can be different – different attack style/delivery, different model/name, different move speed. All those things can change. But what is needed – that the swarm host in its current incarnation does not deliver – is direct, sustainable AOE damage. That is what makes lurkers a staple of BW play – the fact that a small amount of lurkers are able to hold off a disproportionate quantity of enemy forces, while also freeing up supply. All this hinges on the fact that the lurker’s damage output is sustainable.
Here’s an example of how the “lurker” could fit into SCII: It is a tier 2 unit that evolves from the roach. It requires the lair, and an upgrade from the roach warren. It does 20 damage to light and 30 damage to armored units. It requires 3 supply. It has a range of 7. It costs 75/100 to evolve, for a total cost of 150/125. As simple as that.
Implemented like this, the “lurker” would provide an element to zerg gameplay that is sorely lacking in the current game. Why does the “lurker” perform the space control role better than the swarm host? The differences lie in delivery. The “lurker’s” attack is instant, directed from the unit itself from a fixed range. The swarm host’s attack is indirect, and the units that it spawns are not even guaranteed to deliver any damage.
I feel that the swarm host somewhat fails its intended purpose. Because it has wave type sustainability as opposed to delivering direct damage, it is unable to provide successful pressure (extremely large gaps between attacks). Locusts are not guaranteed to make contact with the enemy, let alone do damage, and their slow spawn rate means that pressure fails to elicit any meaningful reaction. Increasing spawn rate might help to make it more viable, but I feel that it is more likely conceptually flawed (also the little fact that it somewhat overlaps the broodlord in design).
Anyhow that’s all I have on that. I’ll do a couple more of these as I format my thoughts a bit more. There’s a lot going through my head with all the discussion on unit movement/collision right now.
Also make sure to check out Barrin's FRB Mod. I think that’s also a step in the right direction that’s been sorely neglected.
Also, I was thinking about making a custom map format that would implement all the changes and suggestions that I have for HOTS. Is that a good idea?
EDIT: So actually I've been thinking about it and I really think that burrowed banes might be able to fill that role in a limited fashion, only issue is that they are 1x use. I guess I'll play around with that.
And I just wanted to highlight one of the bigger issues to me which is that i feel like you max too fast in SCII, is all. There are a lot of different ideas floating around out there that all aim to "slow the gameflow down" and essentially make it more difficult to max, like FRB.
I doubt any of these ideas will actually be implemented in the game, lol, but at least it's out there. Really I think I should say that it's less about the swarm host and more about the role that I feel positional units should play. SH might be a very good positional unit if it can create a wall to control area with spawns, and really I understated the power that it might have with delaying smaller forces. It's just against the power of any sort of deathball that I think they'd be rendered useless, and that a sort of AOE unit would have more applicability.
