EPTAs we all know Blizzard is looking to replace Neural Parasite with a new spell, after their first experiment of an aoe spell buffing Zerg units did not work out the way they wanted to.
There is an area that I feel is left unexplored within the realm of StarCraft 2 when it comes to spells: Unit vision and sight radius. Perhaps this can be the area we can target to find ideas for a new spell, but it has to match certain criteria:
1) It has to be visible in a way that spectators and players alike can clearly see what is happening, and that logically fits the visuals coming with the spell.
2) It should preferably not be a binary relationship between the player using the spell and the player on the receiving end of said spell. Rather the spell should allow for various responses and a relative depth of interaction.
3) If possible, it should be somewhat unique in function when compared to other spells already in the game.
With these three factors in mind, here is the idea I came up with and I would love to have some feedback on it.
Neural Blocker:
Casts up a swarm of microbes at the targeted area, blocking out visual transmissions and reducing the enemy vision of that area to 0. (In other words wherever this spell lands, you cannot see into the area even if it is within your vision range). Enemy units standing within the swarm have their vision reduced to 2. The area of effect for this spell could be similar or slightly bigger than Blinding Cloud and the energy cost should be balanced around its relative power in terms of duration and radius.
How does this fit the 3 criteria above?
1) It is very obvious to see and brings a level of recognition for even the spectator without StarCraft knowledge (a la sandstorms or mist banks). It creates visible micro moments.
2) This is not a "you didn't dodge and now you're trapped or destroyed" relationship. The parties can choose whether or not to engage around the swarm areas. It allows Zergs to keep enemies in the dark about their movement, cover up flanks or forcing a stop to the march of the enemy army. It can take advantage of terrain but will have various degrees of effectiveness depending on the terrain. It can be great in chokes defensively, but not as helpful when attacking into a choke where an enemy base lies for example. It provides a level of strategic depth that few spells are capable of and the potential of what you can do with or against it seems promising to me.
3) The only spell that has anywhere near a similar effect is Blinding Cloud, but Blinding Cloud is more of an offensive spell accessible on a later tier, while the Neural Blocker should be available at late Tier 2 and could help ease up a potential transition to Tier 3 later.
Problems it may face:
Potential problems could be the combination of Blinding Cloud and Neural Blocker at the very late game, but it would be a very costly combination to work towards which may be a redeeming factor. Spell cost contributes at large to the balance of this spell combination.
Should Scans, Revelation and Changelings be the only method other than sending units into the swarm for a 2 vision range to gain vision within the cloud, or should detector units also provide vision within the swarm?
Coding of the spell. It has to be able to recognize when an enemy unit enters the swarm in order to grant it 2 vision, but also be able to recognize when the swarm is within the vision range of units, but no units are inside it to grant the limited 2 vision within the area of the swarm.
Conclusion:
These are some thoughts I tried to match to some of the criteria Blizzard wants to meet for LotV. My goal is to spark discussion and give more people ideas that can in small part be based on some of the thoughts presented here, yet be different in order to assist Blizzard in their brainstorming for a new potential spell. Have a nice day and thank you for reading!
