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Do we still want the Roach in HotS? - Page 5

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ThePlayer33
Profile Joined October 2011
Australia2378 Posts
June 16 2012 10:59 GMT
#81
only if you make lings hit air
| Idra | YuGiOh | Leenock | Coca |
Garmer
Profile Joined October 2010
1286 Posts
June 16 2012 11:01 GMT
#82
remove roach
make ling more strong(like in BW or slightly better)
make them move underground(at faster speed then roach), so they can avoid force field
profit??
Incognoto
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
France10239 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-06-16 11:08:32
June 16 2012 11:03 GMT
#83
The Roach is key to so much Zerg play it's insane. It's used in every match up and in different ways it's quite possibly one of the most interesting units Zerg has. The Roach's key value is that it is way more robust than any other Z unit. It doesn't die immediately like Hydra, Zerglings, Muta, etc. That makes the Roach an immensely versatile unit.

Some people say that Roaches are 1-A dumb units. While that can be true if you do strats like the 12 minute max, people largely underestimate the value of burrow with Roaches. In a fight, burrowing weak Roaches can be as good (perhaps even better than) blink for Stalkers. They get their health back so quickly it's absurd. Burrow also makes them good harass units. I think Root Zergs are those who utilize burrow roaches the best and I encourage Zergs to watch their streams. This may be biased, I only watch Root Zergs and Idra so... :p

No, Roach is a great unit, the bread and butter for Zerg. Don't take it out.

I'd rather see an anti-armor unit for Zerg, like the Immortal. Might make retarded Roach/Infestor wars more interesting to watch. :B



Also Tanks aren't boring at all they're absolutely huge in TvZ (probably TvT as well, I wouldn't know about TvP but it seems that mobile units > tanks). I would argue that TvZ is easily the most entertaining match up there is btw.
maru lover forever
shin ken
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
Germany612 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-06-16 11:17:25
June 16 2012 11:03 GMT
#84
I really like the roach! It reminds me of those cookie cutter spammable tank units from old games like command & conquer! It's cool to have something like a good ol' tank rush (=roach rush) in the game especially for beginner/lowlevel players. It's a good way to learn basic macro and timings with those units. AND it has trademark command & conquer tiberian sun style burrowed movement.

It's one of those units that has "Dustin Browder" written all over it, who brings a lot of C&C influences into the starcraft space. There might be some people who don't like that influence but Dustin designed the games which are widely considered the pinaccle of the C&C series which has never recovered from his departure to Blizzard.

Many Most C&C players followed suit and switched to the SC camp and while it's a minority (which is not represented in the progamer circus) you shouldn't ignore the likes and dislikes of a significant chunk of your playerbase.
Iyerbeth
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
England2410 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-06-16 11:07:56
June 16 2012 11:04 GMT
#85
My biggest issue with delaying or removing Roaches is there would never be another Lair built in ZvZ again. You might be able to work around the other match up issues, but without any option to fight Banelings, ZvZ would suck.

I think the real problem with the Roach was in the design of the Zerg army. Every race can pick a staple "backbone" unit and for Zerg the only option is the Roach. You could argue that Lings could fill the role and maybe do in some cases when handled by people like Stephano but realistically they die to pretty much everything unless you get very favourable surrounds and minimal splash. Then there's the Hydra which dies to everything. The Baneling which has obvious issues being the backbone of an army. The Ultra which is Hive tech. What else can Zerg do but build Roaches?

That's not a balance whine I should add as I'm quite happy with the strength of my Zerg. I just don't see any other unit that can be the staple Zerg unit as it stands now.
♥ Liquid`Sheth ♥ Liquid`TLO ♥
Atlasy
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Hungary229 Posts
June 16 2012 11:07 GMT
#86
On June 16 2012 18:33 Fleshcut wrote:
It's too important to Zs to remove it. Why not remove the tanks from terran? They are boring. Leading to turtle style play and impossible to crack defenses. Roaches are at least mobile and get you into a real game even if I have to admit that they are boring compared to lings. But you can't remove any of them. :/ Sadly.

I laughed so hard <3 thank you. Dude I'm seriously interested how did you get that conclusion.

First, with HotS coming out and with it's current form Hydras are way more powerful than roaches. I believe that roaches can be jumped out. You won't need them in the game only in special situations. And you will never ever make one of them.
Second, if you look back from where roaches come from you will see that they're completely crippled in their current form. Their original role was to regenerate as fast as they can and all that stuff, but it was obviously imba as shit. Now they are essential. Why? Easy because non of the Zerg units can fit in his role. Hydra could but it's too slow to actually be available. Roaches were designed to be an interesting unit, but in their current form they are kinda boring.
Third, do you realize what do you say? Tanks are essential, and even I do feel like they are too weak especially if we consider that abduct is coming out soon and if it remains in it's current form it will completely cripple tanks. Tanks are designed for a slow, strategical pushes, and obviously there is that turtleish style, but it's not problem, in my opinion.
Fourth, :DD that was the moment when I've laughed the hardest. Why? Comparing lings to roaches is really stupid, and calling zerglings interesting is ... strange... I mean they are not a smart-designed unit, you don't need mind to design a zergling I mean what do you need? Low health low cost low damage and speed. That's all. A 4 years old kid could design it. It's not interesting at all, It's just important. The game can't exist without them they serving an extremely important role. Not like roaches because their role could be easily overtaken by Hydras.
Bensio
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United Kingdom621 Posts
June 16 2012 11:07 GMT
#87
i would prefer a slightly stronger zergling, while making the roach more of a tactical burrow tank unit, have its tankiness come from burrow regen, not health, I wish it had its insane burrow regen from the beta back but with a lot less HP
Durp
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Canada3117 Posts
June 16 2012 11:10 GMT
#88
Roaches will end up being more of a niche late game unit in HotS. The Hydralisk with its movement bonus is going to be the unit zergs start massing late game. It's got better DPS, and will now actually able to be used offensively. The roach conversely will now primarily fit the role of anti-mech/all in busting unit, and an anti-zealot or heavy colossus play unit.

I actually really like the Roach as a unit, I think the real problem isn't the unit itself but rather the ultra-reliance on it that zerg players have now. With the swarm host addition and hydralisk changes, I imagine that will change with HotS. Keep it in.
SOOOOOooooOOOOooooOOOOoo Many BANELINGS!!
sertas
Profile Joined April 2012
Sweden889 Posts
June 16 2012 11:12 GMT
#89
its easy, remove roach and replace with hydra for the same price, the hydra death animation should be cool as in broodwar and the unit is a lot more interesting then the roach. Add maybe something new to tier 2 this i dont know what. But you dont really need to add anything new, hydras are very rarely used in ZvP or TvZ anyway. So hydra would be the new roach and a lot cooler.
Deckkie
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Netherlands1595 Posts
June 16 2012 11:12 GMT
#90
On June 16 2012 19:56 Assirra wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 16 2012 19:47 Deckkie wrote:
On June 16 2012 19:38 [F_]aths wrote:
On June 16 2012 19:36 Deckkie wrote:
I wouldnt be surprised if 80-90% of players wants the roach/Colossus/marauder gone. To bad its te 10-20% that works for blizzard.

I think that when the Colossus is gone it would be easier for zerg to figh without roaches, and easier for terran to fight without marauders.

Give the zerg tier 1 Hydra's, with a Tier 2 speed boost and we could possibly have a more awesome game overall. And they can replace the tier 2 hydra with the swarm host.

So every race has regular anti-air units before tier 2? Sounds not so awesome to me with that much symmetry.


The thing is that at this point every race has a regular anti armour unit at tier 1, and that kind of symmetry isnt very awesome to me. Especially when it feels as if every armour unit is balanced against the tier 1 anti armour unit.

What anti armor unit does the zerg has exactly?
They don't get bonus damage against armor if that is what you mean.


Yes, I know it isnt as linear as armour unit vs anti armor unit.
But what I ment was that when armour units are made (tanks, colossi, thor, ultra) that there is this tier 1 unit that becomes the go to unit. Terran just makes marauders and zerg just makes roaches as very 1a friendly counters. With the Protoss its already done a little different, they have the zealots that are the beefy units and the staker is kinda mid range.

It may not be always correct, but it often feels like the bigger units are balanced by making very standard, general tier 1 massable units. and therefor my dislike for the roach and the marauder.

But please tell me if im very of point, because I am terran myself (and only diamond at that TT) and may very well be wrong.
Always look on the bright side of life
DarkPlasmaBall
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States45175 Posts
June 16 2012 11:12 GMT
#91
On June 16 2012 18:46 Chargelot wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 16 2012 18:42 dAPhREAk wrote:
and replace it with what?

The beetle. It's like a roach, but with 25% more fun built into it. It could do things like burrow underground and move, and then pop up onto unsuspecting enemies. Roaches can't do that. Roaches are boring 1a units.


I totally expected this post to be written by baller.

Where has he gone off to? Haven't seen him posting lately.

But I agree that if we're just going to get rid of 1a units... then there goes 1/3 - 1/2 the units in the game
"There is nothing more satisfying than looking at a crowd of people and helping them get what I love." ~Day[9] Daily #100
Nazza
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Australia1654 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-06-16 11:15:29
June 16 2012 11:13 GMT
#92
The REAL questions is, what does the roach do that a (BW) hydra cannot?

Units usually have two major traits: Versatility and Damage. And usually when you have more Versatility, you have less damage. I definitely think that some units in SC2 have way too much damage and not enough versatility.

The better units imo, have a lot of versatility, which actually is enough for you to keep using them early to mid, or mid to late game.
Eg.
Marine:
Hits air/ground
Cheap
Can be stimmed and microable (splitting/etc)
however very low health and (individual) damage

Phoenix:
Fast Air Unit
Used to Scout
Used to Harass
Used to defend vs Muta Harassment
However very low health and (individual) damage

Whereas, the roach: It has lots of HP and pretty good damage. However, there is no real way to "get more" out of a roach. You can't really micro it, and burrow-movement is extremely gimmicky. The only real practical situation I can really think of is doom dropping, which you can do with any other unit.

And the counter argument is that: BW Hydras don't actually have that much micro either. And yes, I would agree with you, there's actually nothing more to a hydra other than it can shoot up as ground units. However in BW, Reavers and psi storm in ZvP, and wraith harassment/heavy late game in ZvT made them so that whatever situation you were going to make hydras meant that you had to micro them and be extremely proactive about moving and relocating your hydralisk force.

My biggest issue is probably the fact that roaches are redundant, the roles of the hydra and the roach overlap a little bit. That is, you could probably make a more compact game of SC2 if you just gave back the old Hydra, and focused your resources on something Zerg really does not have, that is something that really makes use of the creep mechanic rather than say "oh hey, let's make hydras unnecessarily slow off creep to make an artificial synergy".

TL;DR: Try not to think about the game in terms of damage and unit counters, but units that can give you a tactical edge.
No one ever remembers second place, eh? eh? GIVE ME COMMAND
paradoxOO9
Profile Joined January 2011
United Kingdom1123 Posts
June 16 2012 11:14 GMT
#93
Its more the way that people use them, I still don't understand why people aren't using burrow the same way that protoss are using blink. They have great abilities like burrow movement and the health regen that just go kinda unnoticed.
Nazza
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Australia1654 Posts
June 16 2012 11:20 GMT
#94
On June 16 2012 19:51 Arnstein wrote:
The problem with big changes, like removing the roach, is that it would change too much for the competitive players. Pro players depend on winning, and it's not fun for them to play if the game changes so much that they don't know what they're doing anymore.


Trust me, Pro players don't depend on units to win them games. Part of their job sometimes is to adapt to change (hi Kespa).
No one ever remembers second place, eh? eh? GIVE ME COMMAND
DarkInfinity
Profile Joined July 2011
121 Posts
June 16 2012 11:21 GMT
#95
Yes, unless you want to make the hydralisk tier 1 and reduce its cost, the roach is a critical unit to Zerg in all matchups.
And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee!
Chargelot
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
2275 Posts
June 16 2012 11:21 GMT
#96
On June 16 2012 20:12 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 16 2012 18:46 Chargelot wrote:
On June 16 2012 18:42 dAPhREAk wrote:
and replace it with what?

The beetle. It's like a roach, but with 25% more fun built into it. It could do things like burrow underground and move, and then pop up onto unsuspecting enemies. Roaches can't do that. Roaches are boring 1a units.


I totally expected this post to be written by baller.

Where has he gone off to? Haven't seen him posting lately.

But I agree that if we're just going to get rid of 1a units... then there goes 1/3 - 1/2 the units in the game

Ahaha. Roaches can be fun units. You just have to use them correctly. Zealots are fun with charge. Stalkers are fun with blink. Marauders are fun with shells. Roaches are fun with burrow move.
if (post == "stupid") { document.getElementById('post').style.display = 'none'; }
gingerfluffmuff
Profile Joined January 2011
Austria4570 Posts
June 16 2012 11:22 GMT
#97
On June 16 2012 20:07 Atlasy wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 16 2012 18:33 Fleshcut wrote:
It's too important to Zs to remove it. Why not remove the tanks from terran? They are boring. Leading to turtle style play and impossible to crack defenses. Roaches are at least mobile and get you into a real game even if I have to admit that they are boring compared to lings. But you can't remove any of them. :/ Sadly.

I laughed so hard <3 thank you. Dude I'm seriously interested how did you get that conclusion.

First, with HotS coming out and with it's current form Hydras are way more powerful than roaches. I believe that roaches can be jumped out. You won't need them in the game only in special situations. And you will never ever make one of them.
Second, if you look back from where roaches come from you will see that they're completely crippled in their current form. Their original role was to regenerate as fast as they can and all that stuff, but it was obviously imba as shit. Now they are essential. Why? Easy because non of the Zerg units can fit in his role. Hydra could but it's too slow to actually be available. Roaches were designed to be an interesting unit, but in their current form they are kinda boring.
Third, do you realize what do you say? Tanks are essential, and even I do feel like they are too weak especially if we consider that abduct is coming out soon and if it remains in it's current form it will completely cripple tanks. Tanks are designed for a slow, strategical pushes, and obviously there is that turtleish style, but it's not problem, in my opinion.
Fourth, :DD that was the moment when I've laughed the hardest. Why? Comparing lings to roaches is really stupid, and calling zerglings interesting is ... strange... I mean they are not a smart-designed unit, you don't need mind to design a zergling I mean what do you need? Low health low cost low damage and speed. That's all. A 4 years old kid could design it. It's not interesting at all, It's just important. The game can't exist without them they serving an extremely important role. Not like roaches because their role could be easily overtaken by Hydras.


If i would be playing terran or Protoss i would post the same :D

But, Hydra dies to everything, literally.
It is light and needs Lair tech and its gas heavy and it needs creep (will see about the speed upg)

Maybe changing the Hydra into a non-light (like the queen, without the psionic part) unit with 90 hp would work, idk.
・゚✧:・゚+..。✧・゚:・..。 ✧・゚ :・゚ ゜・:・ ✧・゚:・゚:.。 ✧・゚ SPARKULING *・゜・:・゚✧:・゚✧。゚+..。 ✧・゚: ✧・゚:・゜・:・゚✧::・・:・゚・゚
FakeDeath
Profile Joined January 2011
Malaysia6060 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-06-16 11:28:21
June 16 2012 11:23 GMT
#98
On June 16 2012 20:14 paradoxOO9 wrote:
Its more the way that people use them, I still don't understand why people aren't using burrow the same way that protoss are using blink. They have great abilities like burrow movement and the health regen that just go kinda unnoticed.


IMO Blink will always be more useful than burrow movement.
Since you can always use blink in battles whereas you can't do the same with burrow movement.

Burrow movement is mainly used to going through FFs and for its increased health regen.
I don't see any other situation where burrow movement can be useful other than these two.

Burrow movement loses it effectiveness as it progress towards the later stages of the game where BLs+Infestors become
more prevalent on the field and roaches loses their effectiveness whereas stalker will still be useful in sniping infestors and BLs
with blink.So yeah most people don't get burrow movement.

Plus,Blink and Burrow Movement are 2 entirely different skills.
So you can't compare them like that.
Play your best
VirtuallyJesse
Profile Joined February 2011
United States398 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-06-16 11:25:00
June 16 2012 11:24 GMT
#99
I'd love to see Roaches gone and Stalkers be remade, at least in my perfect world at least. ^^ Blink is neat but theres so much more opportunity.
freetgy
Profile Joined November 2010
1720 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-06-16 11:27:05
June 16 2012 11:26 GMT
#100
On June 16 2012 19:37 Hall0wed wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 16 2012 19:28 Ryder. wrote:
On June 16 2012 19:08 Hall0wed wrote:
On June 16 2012 18:38 freetgy wrote:
I think roaches are fine, but the are to fast & tanky for the ressourc cost.

usually a unit is either fast or tanky.

A speed roach has movement speed of 4 on creep.....almost as fast as speedlings.

As far as i am aware 2 roaches beat any equivalent of 150/50 ressource army of the opponents, which makes them a very boring a-move unit in most of the cases.


1 Stalker

Yes 2 roaches do beat 1 stalker, what's your point?


Micro


you realize that speed roaches are faster then stalker off creep, and even way faster on creep?
and good luck doing that while beeing fungaled
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