Stalker Attack Delay - The Protoss Fix - Page 5

On September 24 2011 06:28 XenoX101 wrote:
One problem I see with this is making stalkers too strong against zealots in PvP, nobody will build zealots if they are so easy to kite, and blink stalker builds will be infinitely more powerful as a result. It also means you can snipe immortals much better than you normally would as retreating is a lot easier.

On September 24 2011 06:28 XenoX101 wrote:
One problem I see with this is making stalkers too strong against zealots in PvP, nobody will build zealots if they are so easy to kite, and blink stalker builds will be infinitely more powerful as a result. It also means you can snipe immortals much better than you normally would as retreating is a lot easier.

Also it removes a bit of skill from the game, think back to the slowest, most unreliable unit in Brood War, the reaver. The reaver was awesome precisely because of how difficult it was to control/use, it made players work on their shuttle micro (shuttles themselves having terrible turning and acceleration) to incorporate reaver play. It does feel nicer to micro more nimble stalkers, but it is also a lot easier which lowers the skill needed to micro them properly.

On September 24 2011 06:28 XenoX101 wrote:
One problem I see with this is making stalkers too strong against zealots in PvP, nobody will build zealots if they are so easy to kite, and blink stalker builds will be infinitely more powerful as a result. It also means you can snipe immortals much better than you normally would as retreating is a lot easier.

Also it removes a bit of skill from the game, think back to the slowest, most unreliable unit in Brood War, the reaver. The reaver was awesome precisely because of how difficult it was to control/use, it made players work on their shuttle micro (shuttles themselves having terrible turning and acceleration) to incorporate reaver play. It does feel nicer to micro more nimble stalkers, but it is also a lot easier which lowers the skill needed to micro them properly.

On September 24 2011 05:41 Fig wrote:

Stalkers have the worst DPS/cost ratio of any unit in the game, I think making the micro for them more important would do wonders for them, and the race as a whole. I mean marines have this and they are the exact opposite, highest DPS/cost ratio unit in the game.

On September 24 2011 05:35 axellerate wrote:
Original Thread By Arch (http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/3229374433):

This is something interesting to consider for stalkers. I was experimenting with the galaxy editor and I decided to remove the attack delay that occurs between the time when an attack command is issued and a laser is fired. To avoid confusion, this has nothing to do with the time in between each attack. It is a measure of how quickly the unit responds to the attack command.

Then secondly as part of this particular experiment, I had increased the firing arc to 360 degrees. I figured this feature is what really made dragoons so badass, so I wanted to check out the stalkers with this feature.

The combined effect of these two tweaks was that the stalkers felt more smooth and responsive to commands, almost like driving a bmw compared to an old ford. The biggest consequence of the changes was that their "stutter step" capabilities were greatly improved. In the middle of a heated battle, I could move - shoot - move - shoot - move - shoot and maneuver around the battle pretty much without losing any dps. In my opinion the change gives the stalker the ability to use it's strong attributes (speed, mobility, and range) to their maximum potential in a way that is fun and demands micro.

Also, in my honest opinion, the change was not so extreme that the stalkers felt overpowered. It was still very tight to micro against marines, for example. But it made it doable. Stalkers vs marines currently, even with the 1 range differential, is near impossible to stutter-step micro because marines have 0 delay and a near immediate turning speed, meanwhile stalkers have a crippling attack delay, and a slower turning speed. I didn't take exact notes on the turning speed numbers, so you will have to forgive me on that one.

Also I should note that this change does not increase a stalkers dps. It decreases the *drop* in dps when stalkers are shooting on the move, and it does it in a way that scales with micro. IMO it's an awesome change.

So that was my experiment.

I think it would be cool if some of you out there could try out these settings in your editor and let me know what you think of it. Maybe it's the spark that stalkers needed to be appreciated.

Thanks for taking the time to read.