EPT+ Show Spoiler [Note to admins] +
I realize this post may belong in the blog section, but because it is solely related to building a costum fourth race in Starcraft 2, I found it more suited in this forum. I hope you agree with my decision.
+ Show Spoiler [Introduction] +
Hello everyone. I am Callynn, a 25 year old biology teacher student who has done some amateur game design and one year of game architecture and design worth of study along with a year of biomedical sciences. I am currently in my final year and because I have some time before my college year begins and because I am fascinated by game design challenges I have decided to write this post that will go into the theory behind the creation of a new playable race for Starcraft 2 and all of the challenges that lie in that design for costum mapmakers. I was inspired to write it by the many game design flaws I found in other people's attempts to create such a race and when attempting to 'correct' their 'mistakes' I myself discovered how well thought out some of Starcraft 2's aspects really are and how hard it is to overcome the design challenges it poses.
How to make a new race in Starcraft 2 and why it is so hard
In order to make a new, balanced race in Starcraft 2 there are a ton of challenges lying before a designer. First and foremost, but often overlooked is the current metagame. The game is currently 2 years old, players have discovered how it works with the current races and adding an entirely new race is basically throwing that all away in matchups involving that new race. This is something that may solve itself, and building a new race around an existing metagame can be very dangerous as well. It is important to keep this in mind, when you are building a new race you should probably not take the metagame too much into account.
Furthermore, creating an originally themed race in the world of Starcraft is very challenging. The main themes are all taken, Industrial tech, Psionic superaliens and hivemind biological swarm. The only open door is the Hybrid race, which is thematically stronger than any race (which makes designing it inherently feel awkward, because if they are too strong they are unbalanced, and if they are balanced, they feel too weak to be called Hybrids).
Next to that are the unique features of each currently existing race in Starcraft 2, I will go into the details further on in the analysis, but basically the Terran, Protoss and Zerg have been designed almost 18 years ago and went through all this time of trial and error. The only positive aspect about this is that there will be no 'aged trash' in the new race (like the outdated designs of some overhauled SC1 units that do not fit in the SC2 Strategy world).
In order to address all the challenges ahead, it is important to first dissect the game back to its core by identifying what is the same about each race and why it is the same. The next step is to identify everything that is unique and why it is balanced nonetheless. The purpose of each unique feature in Starcraft 2 is to increase the skill cap of the game (by giving the player a meaningful choice and by providing the player with something to do that is not related to combat directly, such as positioning an army). These unique features need to be added to the new race to make its skill potential as high as the other races (though some may argue that this skill cap is not as high as with other races, I feel that currently the skill cap of all three races in the game is so high that no human can perfectly play either race all game long, and this is good).
Identifying what is the same about each race in Starcraft 2:
It is especially important to stick with a 'basic' grid when creating something new based on something you already know. When drawing a fictional type of fruit, you should take a close look at the apple, the banana and the tomato (yes, tomato is a fruit, too) before being able to create an awesome new fruit yourself. The same applies to creating a new race.
There are not many things the same for each race in Starcraft 2, but those that are the same are that way because balance requires it. For example, you cannot simply create a new race that gathers gas without using workers, because that means that in order to disrupt gas collection a whole building needs to be destroyed instead of just some low health workers. You also cannot remove the main building hall, it is the core of the game, the main target for each race, even though it fulfills slightly different roles. The further away one deviates from this basic grid, the more likely it becomes that the race will be unbalanced (or extremely hard to balance by making huge concessions elsewhere).
• Main building (Nexus, Command Center, Hatchery) to start as resource gathering station.
• Workers (almost identical health, identical damage, identical supply cost and production time).
• Mining Minerals
• Mining Gas (requires Extractor, Refinery or Assimilator)
• Supply amount per supply provider (+8 supply)
• Supply provider cost (100 minerals)
• Research facility required to unlock base defenses (Engineering Bay, Evolution Chamber and Forge)
• Tier 1 base defense structure that provides detection (Missile Turret, Photon Cannon, Spore Crawler)
• Massive ground unit that can break force fields in tier 3 (Thor, Ultralisk, Colossus and Archon)
• Primary ground spellcaster with specialty AoE (Ghost, High Templar, Infestor)
• One unit has greater range than base defense structures (Siege Tank, Colossus, Brood Lord)
• Up to 3 levels of upgrades (but upgradable bonuses vary, such as Zerg Carapace for all ground, Terran Infantry and Mech armor and of course Protoss Shields)
• Each race has units that fulfills specific roles, but the units cannot be compared (zergling, marine and zealot are completely different, so are the mutalisk, viking and phoenix)
Identifying what is unique about each race in Starcraft 2 and what role this unique feature provides:
Before being able to create a 'unique' race, it is important to keep in mind what it is that makes a race unique. These unique features can be roughly subdivided into three catagories; Buildings, Economy and Warriors. Some unique features are truly unique and cannot be classified in one of these sections, but they are mostly added to economy (although they may very well be used offensively).
While analyzing each race, you can begin to outline the specific roles that each building and warrior fulfills. Some are clearly there to be able to counter something of another race, while others are far more subtle. There are also units that are there because the previous game had them, and they fulfill no real role whatsoever. Because the full analysis is a bit dull and long, it is important to go through all of them. I spoilered them for people who want to just skip to the conclusion.
+ Show Spoiler [Zerg Analysis] +
Zerg (Buildings)
• Hatchery -> Lair -> Hive upgrade to unlock tech buildings. The role of the main building for the Zerg is to unlock cleanly cut technology tiers and provide the production of all units by generating Larva. This centralizes the role of the Zerg main building.
• Larva at one building to produce every unit of the Zerg, centralizing production and promoting production speed.
• Fragile and slow to construct tech buildings to unlock unit technology. This allows Larva to be turned into a certain unit, allowing large amounts to be made as soon as this slow building is finished. This creates clear timelines for opponents to see when to strike and what they can expect will be coming as well as a target to be destroyed.
• Drones are consumed when creating a building, but buildings are slightly cheaper than those of other races. This is probably done because Larva allow Zerg to quickly replenish its worker count. While thematically correct, this is also a balance decision.
• Creep to construct buildings (except Hatchery), keep buildings alive, increase movement speed of ground units and provide line of sight (tumors). To compensate for the constant, free of charge regeneration of buildings, they are dependable on creep. Creep fulfills a big role in providing vision and strategic flexibility for ground army movement as well as base defense positioning.
• Base defense is split up in a ground base defender (Spine Crawler) and an air base defender that provides the tier 1 detection (Spore Crawler). These base defenses can be moved and replanted anywhere on creep. The only reason behind this split in defense role is to add to the race's uniqueness, the replanting is of high strategic value.
• Nydus Network allow Zerg units to be teleported anywhere on the map. The only requirements are vision and some building time along with large Gas costs. The main weakness is that every time a teleported is constructed, all other players are warned of its presence. If used properly, Nydus Canals (worms) can safely teleport armies in and out of a danger zone without losing too many units.
Zerg (Economy)
• Larva represent a (poorly visible) fourth resource for the Zerg, as they are needed to make any unit, except for the Queen. This increases the skill cap of the race. Larva are what make the Zerg race most distinct (strategically) from the two other races.
• Overlords to provide supply, a moving unit that can be upgraded as the race's primary flying transport or the race's primary detector unit. It is slightly more fragile, but fills a powerful scouting role in the game.
• Queens to increase production on Larva, create Creep tumors and provide powerful tier 1 defense. They increase the skill cap of the race. In order to become a good player, their abilities must be used at all times. Queens fulfill an important defensive role, do not require a Larva to be built and will never be useful off-creep. Queens are also the only unit that can shoot into the air, providing the only mobile tier 1 anti air defense. This is why the Spore Crawler's ability to be replanted is so important.
Zerg (Warriors)
Zergling:
Description: Zerglings are created two at a time and they have the lowest health and damage of all warrior units in the game. Their strength lies in numbers and there are several strong upgrades to keep them useful in later tiers, such as speed and attack speed.
Resource: Zerglings are very mineral efficient and very larva-inefficient.
Role: Zerglings are used for rush attacks, surrounding enemy units to prevent movement, mineral line harassment and strong counter attacks. They are only good in army engagements when the main bulk of the enemy army has already been severely weakened by stronger Zerg units.
Roach:
Description: Roaches are the slowest tier 1 unit in the game, strongly contrasting the zergling.
Resource: Roaches are very resource efficient units, costing only few Larva per supply and barely any minerals and gas.
Role: Roaches fulfill a defensive role in the early stages of a game (being too slow to move offensive off-creep before tier 2), while fulfilling a main foot soldier role once they have the speed upgrade. Roaches can only shoot ground units and require strategic concave positioning to be optimally used.
Baneling:
Description: Banelings offer a strong strategic asset to the tier 1 of Zerg, a unique and fast way to quickly break walls and overwhelm enemies that are unprepared. This creates a clear choice in their creation, but their role continues to be important in later stages in the game.
Resource: They are resource inefficient if used incorrectly, costing 50 minerals and 25 gas (25 minerals for each zergling and an additional 25/25 to morph into a baneling). They must kill at least two tier 1 units like the marine to be slightly efficient in cold math.
Role: Banelings provide a hard counter to large amounts of light classed ground units in all tiers, but their 'fear' component is probably more important. Enemies that have scouted a Baneling Nest will have to take into account that their Zerg opponent may attempt to break into their fortification with an early push. This is a risky choice for the Zerg player however, creating a beautiful strategic choice.
Hydralisk
Description: The only ground warrior that is able to shoot into the air for the Zerg is the Hydralisk. Hydralisks are extremely slow off-creep (but this is going to be balanced in HotS for their tier 3 viability). Hydralisks have among the highest damage output in the game, but they are quite fragile.
Resource: The Hydralisk's mineral and gas costs are quite high, being more expensive than the Roach while slower and having a lot less survivability. Hydralisks add little to the 'hit and run' theme of Zerg armies, because of their fragility and the only up point is that they can shoot into the air.
Role: The supposed role of the Hydralisk is the main foot soldier of the Zerg army. This is true for tier 1 and tier 2 situations, but without the tier 3 HotS upgrade (speed) they are relatively useless unless if used by dropping them with Overlords and Nydus Canals. I will assume the primary role of the Hydralisk is a hard counter against air units, while I know this is untrue (due to their innately slow speed). They are supposed to back up the Roach by using their massive damage output.
Mutalisk
Description: Mutalisks are the only relatively cheap air unit that can strike both ground and air targets without morphing (like the viking). They are very fast and have a splash attack, making them exceptionally strong at harassing weaker targets. The downside is that they are very fragile and do not have a large amount of burst damage on their own.
Resource: Mutalisks are cost efficient, provided that they are used properly. If they are slain by a misclick, they are extremely expensive while they excel at their cost if they manage to clear a whole mineral line of workers.
Role: The Mutalisk's main role is to give map control, preventing enemy players from sending their armies out without risking their bases to be strongly countered. They pressure the opponent's position, even if they aren't being used a lot. Mutalisks are however extremely weak in direct army engagements. The Mutalisk is also strong in a defensive role against drops.
Infestor
Description: The primary ground spellcaster with an AoE ability of the Zerg is the Infestor. Infestors fulfill a very important army role for the Zerg in WoL because of the innate weakness of the Hydralisk.
Resource: Like all primary ground spellcasters with an AoE ability, the Infestor costs 150 gas. This is the core of their resource balance (along the High Templar and the Ghost).
Role: The Infestor fills several holes in the Zerg main army niches. It can provide a strong ranged army (Infested Terrans) to fight in a direct engagement or harass mineral lines as well as provide anti-air support and defense. The Fungal Growth ability is very important at catching enemy units that attempt to kite the melee ranged and low ranged units of the Zerg ground army (almost all Zerg ground units are melee or have extremely small range, the Hydralisk being too slow to chase and the Roach having almost no range). Lastly, Infestors provide a tier 3 counter against powerful massive units with their mind control ability (Neutral Parasite).
Corruptor
Description: A relatively slow, though air to air fighter.
Resource: Corruptors are quite expensive for their primary role, but these costs are balanced if you consider that they can be used to become Brood Lords in tier 3.
Role: The Corruptor's sole existence would be a hard air-to-air counter against enemy capital ships if they did not have the Corrupt ability. They are also the only reason Zerg are able to defeat Protoss, because they can quite rapidly take down the Colossus, a unit that melts through most Zerg ground army compositions. Corrupt is slightly underused, but powerful if used on the correct targets nonetheless. Corrupt slightly increases the skill cap of the zerg race.
Ultralisk
Description: The Ultralisk is the supposed ultimate Zerg ground unit. It can take huge amounts of damage and deals huge amounts of splash damage. They are however, difficult to control due to their large collision size and inability to cross other Zerg units. Ultralisks allow Zerg armies to break Force fields.
Resource: Ultralisks are very expensive on minerals and gas, but very cheap on the Larva.
Role: The Ultralisk hard counters lower tier ground armies, especially if used with the Infestor's Fungal Growth ability. They are made to distract and shock the opponent, focusing them down is a viable option, allowing cheaper and weaker units to deal more damage in the mean time. Ultralisks are the only way for Zerg to break Protoss Force Fields, which makes them important in certain late game engagements with only ground armies being used, but in general the Brood Lord is a more powerful and cost efficient Zerg unit. Ultralisks cannot be slowed, mind controlled, rooted or stunned.
Brood Lord
Description: The Brood Lord is the slowest air unit in the game and the capital ship of the Zerg, and can only strike ground units. It is the single most powerful siege unit in the game, and the main reason the Zerg is a strongly viable race in the end game.
Resource: Brood Lords are very expensive on minerals and gas, also force you to sacrifice a Corruptor but cost almost no Larva for their relative strength.
Role: The Brood Lord is designed to break defensive positions on the ground that no other Zerg unit can break. It deals massive amounts of damage to any ground army, but it's slow movement makes positioning them extremely important. Their broodlings provide an additional fleshwall that makes them even harder to defeat with a ground army, making air units the only viable way to defeat them. However, the slow movement speed of Brood Lords makes their user innately weak to counter attacks, forcing them to make a lot of base defense.
Overseer
Description: Scouting and harassment as well as mobile detection are the Overseer's primary roles.
Resource: Overseers are among the cheaper mobile detectors in the game.
Role: Changelings, if used correctly, provide a very important scouting role for the Zerg. While many Zerg players are forced to use overlords due to the relative easy to spot Changelings, they are still free scouts. Contaminate is a powerful ability that can disrupt the production of a player, but it requires a high amount of skill to be able to use it at the right moment. Additionally, the Overseer's main role is to provide mobile detection.
+ Show Spoiler [Terran Analysis] +
Terran (Buildings)
• A lot of Terran Buildings can fly to reposition or defend them from ground to ground attackers. This opens up a lot of strategic choices.
• The Command Center allows Terran to expand to island locations earliest in the game, forcing map design to prevent islands (in 1v1, but also sometimes 2v2) from allowing damage-free expansion (no rocks or neutral creep tumor).
• The Command Center can be upgraded to fulfill a powerful economic boost role (Orbital Command) or a powerful defensive role (Planetary Fortress). Orbital Commands provide the Terran with energy requiring detection and scouting anywhere on the map, additional supply or an additional and efficient mineral worker that cannot construct buildings. This increases the skill cap of the race.
• Add-ons such as the tech lab and the reactor core are unique buildings that can be combined with flying production facilities such as the Barracks, Factory and Starport to unlock certain units and upgrades as well as boost the production of units. They provide an important strategic role, as they are relatively weak and cannot be moved.
• Terran Buildings create a clear split between two distinct army compositions, Biologically oriented or Mechanically oriented. This is mainly due to upgrades not being shared, Terran have the most unit upgrades (damage and armor) of all races.
• Terran Buildings slowly die when they are damaged into red, but can be repaired by the SCV for a small cost. This repair allows Terran Walls to be among the strongest in the game.
• Terran Supply depots provide a gate function. This means Terran can always create walls that they can pass, but the enemy cannot pass. This increases the skill cap of the race.
• Terran base defense is split into two buildings, the Bunker which can hold any biological Terran unit and the Missile Turret, which is the primary anti-air defense as well as the stationary detector. The Bunker is a unique building that allows a highly skilled Terran player to perfectly counter incoming enemy armies early on in the game, and allows Terrans to offensively contain an opponent.
• Terran buildings are the only buildings that do not require a specific power field (such as Pylon Energy or Creep) to be constructed. This allows offensive use of some buildings.
Terran (Economy)
• MULES provide Orbital Command using Terran with a skill cap increasing economic boost and choice. MULES can also be used as an emergency repair unit anywhere on the map, which is especially useful to boost powerful Mechanical units.
• Scanning provides Orbital Command using Terran with the ability to use a short amount of detection and fog of war revealing scout that costs no unit (and thus no supply). This however, reduces the economic or supply boost that could be used otherwise. Scanning is the main reason why the Terran mobile detection unit is the most expensive in the game (the Raven).
• Supply allows Terran to sacrifice some Orbital Command energy to double the supply a supply depot provides (once). It is considered to be less efficient to use this ability over a MULE, but since a MULE cannot attack, it is considered a good emergency ability to provide supply and make warriors appear from their respective buildings.
• SCVs must remain at a building site when creating the building and are unprotected against ranged attacks and some melee attacks at this time. This fragility compensates for the fact that Terran can construct their buildings anywhere on the map without requiring an energy field.
• SCVs can repair mechanical units and buildings for a cost while Medivacs can heal biological units. This means that all Terran units can be restored to full health most rapidly. This is compensating the Zerg unit and building slow natural regeneration which is free and the Protoss unit and building fast Shield regeneration, which is also free.
Terran (Warriors)
Note that Terran Warriors are split up in Biological and Mechanical, which is decided by their upgrades (Engineering Bay as opposed to the Armory). This is unique to the Terran Army and is the reason why they have the most units in the game, which in fact not all units are viable to be used in a single match.
Marine:
Description: Marines are, like all Terran warriors, a ranged unit. They have relatively low health and only slightly more damage than the weakest damager in the game, the Zergling. However, the fact that they are ranged makes their strategic value very high.
Resource: Marines are a cheap unit.
Role: Marines fill the most roles of any warrior unit in the game, from harassment early on (with bunkers), kiting melee units early on, clearing Overlords on the map to deny scouting and defending against most air attacks and drops. Their Stimpack ability makes them viable in tier 2 and tier 3, allowing them to do absolutely insane amounts of damage if left unchecked. They provide a main army role as well due to this, but the player is required to have a high skill to be able to keep his Marines alive in later stages of the game. Marines are a biological unit, and can thus be healed rapidly by the Medivac.
Marauder
Description: The Marauder provides the Terran an early defense against armored and bulky units of the other races that the Marine cannot handle efficiently. Marauders are good against armored units and buildings, cannot attack air units and can slow opponents if upgraded.
Resource: The Marauder is not cheap, but worth it's cost if used as a hard counter or as a rush pressure unit.
Role: Marauders are the hard counter against armored units in a biological unit army composition. They can decimate buildings even faster than marines, dealing twice the damage against buildings and armored units. However, Marauders are relatively useless against most light units and cannot attack air positions. Marauders also benefit from the Stimpack upgrade.
Reaper
Description: Reapers are fast and agile ground units that deal bonus damage to light units and buildings, but are relatively useless against armored units. They can cross cliffs, making them ideal harassment units.
Resource: The Reaper is quite expensive on the gas for the limited role it provides.
Role: The Reaper is a clear scout and harassment unit. It is mostly useless in direct army confrontations and has no tier 3 role (the Marine + Medivac performs his role cheaper and safer). In my analysis, the Reaper is an unbalanced unit and the HotS update is not improving this (health regeneration). The reaper is a biological unit, but does not benefit from Stimpack.
Hellion
Description: Among the most clear cut role fillers in the game, the Hellion is the counter to large amounts of light classed units, dealing massive damage to them. Their speed allows them to fulfill a strong harassment role as well and gives the Terran player map control in the early game.
Resource: The Hellion costs no gas, which makes their cost as well as their role efficient within the mechanical army.
Role: The Hellion is designed to fill the role of harassment and map control unit early in the game, while providing the mech army in the late game a way to deal with light armored units. The HotS update will make Hellions even more viable than they are now. Hellions are mechanical units and can be repaired for a cost with SCVs.
Siege Tank
Description: The Siege Tank fills the role of being the backbone of a strong Terran Ground army. They can be a valuable addition to a biological army and are the core of the mechanical army. They are relatively fast units that can deal large amounts of damage to armored units and buildings. Their signature role is to provide location control while in Siege Mode, making a Terran Army position costly to engage for any ground army opponent.
Resource: Siege Tanks are not cheap, but definitely worth their cost if used properly.
Role: The Siege Tank's role is twofold: It provides a powerful defensive position when behind Terran walls or for a Terran army while in Siege mode and it can strike base defenses without being counter attacked by these base defenses. In their mobile mode, Siege Tanks deal a large amount of damage to single armored targets as well. Siege Tanks are mechanical units and can be repaired for a cost with SCVs.
Ghost
Description: The primary ground spellcaster with an AoE ability of the Terran is the Ghost. Ghosts are designed to have two abilities that are good against mostly a single enemy race and one ability that is powerful against all enemy races.
Resource: Like all primary ground spellcasters with an AoE ability, the Ghost costs 150 gas. This is the core of their resource balance (along the High Templar and the Infestor).
Role: The Ghost's roles depend on the opponent's army. With Protoss end-game ground armies being amongst the most powerful in the game, the Ghost's EMP ability is needed to soften up their shields and drain High Templar of their energy. Against strong Zerg units, the Snipe ability is exceptionally powerful, while not as strong as it probably should be. Against all races, the Nuclear Missile ability is probably the signature ability of the Ghost to force certain engagements, defend certain engagements or clear out economy.
Viking
Description: The Viking is a relatively weak air-to-air hard counter against capital ships that can also transform into a strong ground harassment unit. It can be an addition to a mechanical ground or land army, but is mostly meant to deal with powerful air units such as Brood Lords, Carriers and Motherships.
Resource: Vikings are slightly cheaper in gas and more expensive in minerals than the Corruptor, while supposedly fulfilling the same role. However, they can also attack ground units when transformed, which makes them more catagorizable with the Mutalisk and Phoenix. Their resource cost is probably balanced, but only for specific roles.
Role: The Viking is the only answer against the Zerg Brood Lord for Terran when Ghosts cannot get near the Brood Lords due to detection and the Ravens are taken out. They are also the only counter to Carriers and the Mothership when terrain does not allow Marines to get close enough to them. Next to this, the Viking may be a powerful harassment unit against mineral lines, but unfortunately the Marine + Medivac is more cost efficient for this job. Vikings are mechanical units and can be repaired for a cost with SCVs.
Medivac
Description: A fast transport ship that can heal biological units.
Resource: The medivac is worth every mineral and gas that they cost, they are very cost efficient if protected properly.
Role: The Medivac is the backbone of a biological army of Marines and Marauders that use stimpack to quickly heal them up and provide them with an insane amount of mobility. Taking out medivacs can be hard when they are protected by this biological army, but this will damage the Terran army in the long run. The Medivac allows the Terran army to be among the most mobile in the game, being innately faster than the Warp Prism and the Overlord. Medivacs are mechanical units and can be repaired for a cost with SCVs.
Thor
Description: A slow moving, massive ground unit that is strong against armored targets and clusters of light air units.
Resource: Thors are very expensive tier 3 ground units, but they are worth their cost if used in the proper army composition.
Role: The Thor is the primary anti-air unit for a mechanically oriented army, decimating weaker air units and having enough range to damage Brood Lords. They can quickly take out Corruptors when they are clustered, allowing the Viking to clean up the Brood Lords. Their ground attack, although very powerful against single targets, is more efficient in the tier 2 phase of the game (against roaches and stalkers for example). Thors can break Protoss Force Fields. Thors provide the support for a mechanical army of Siege Tanks. Thors are mechanical units and can be repaired for a cost with SCVs.
Banshee
Description: A decently fast air unit that can attack only ground targets. It fills the role of air to ground harassment much better than any other Terran flying unit. Because the Banshee can become invisible, they are sometimes hard to deal with and force interesting strategic choices.
Resource: Banshees are a big investment for a risky but sometimes rewarding strategic choice.
Role: Banshees have two roles: They can put pressure on the opponent by harassing the mineral lines, creating initial map control and they can be used in army compositions to deal exceptional damage to clusters of ground targets. Banshees are mechanical units and can be repaired for a cost with SCVs.
Raven
Description: Ravens are flying spellcasters that provide mobile detection to late-game Terran Armies. They are a fine addition to any army, protecting the army against projectiles and taking out fortified positions and clusters of enemy units with Seeker Missile. They can also summon inefficient turrets.
Resource: Ravens are very expensive spellcasters, costing 200 gas. They are also quite fragile and need a lot of protection.
Role: The Raven is one of the answers against clustered up units, especially from the Zerg or Terran army (against protoss, the Ghost is a more efficient choice). Seeker Missile can decimate an army in seconds or at least force the opponent to flee. Point Defense Drone provides a zone immunity to missiles, which is more effective against other Terran and Protoss than against Zerg (since most Zerg units are melee, unless if they use a lot of Infestors or Hydralisks). The Raven is the most expensive mobile detector in the game to compensate for the Terran Scanner Sweep ability.
Battlecruiser
Description: The Terran capital ship, especially efficient against large clusters of light units, air or ground. They can also destroy fortified targets such as base defenses and other capital ships using the Yamato Cannon ability, but they are very slow and expensive.
Resource: Battlecruisers are extremely expensive capital ships that are easily countered by signature air-to-air counters. This makes them cost inefficient in higher level of skill games.
Role: The Battlecruiser has no role that another unit cannot fill. They are inefficient at taking out powerful other capital ships and their powerful splash damage to light units only makes them somewhat useful against light air units (since the Siege Tank and Hellion can take care of ground units in a cheaper and faster way). The Battlecruiser is basically an expensive and inefficient Banshee that can hit air units. Battlecruisers are mechanical units and can be repaired for a cost with SCVs.
+ Show Spoiler [Protoss Analysis] +
Protoss (Buildings)
• Protoss Buildings are constructed without keeping a worker occupied (as with terran) or sacrificing a worker (zerg). This allows for large amounts of Protoss buildings to be constructed using only a single worker.
• Protoss buildings, with the exception of the Nexus, Assimilator and the Pylon, require a Protoss Power Field to function and to be constructed. Without this power field, a building cannot be placed and if a building has been placed, it cannot be used to produce units or research upgrades. An unpowered building can however still provide the ability to unlock other building technology.
• Protoss base defenses are the only ones that have a singular combined function. The Photon Cannon can shoot air units and ground units with the same amount of damage and also provides stationary detection. However, the Photon Cannon can be shut down by destroying the Pylon(s) powering it.
• Protoss buildings have shields that will rapidly regenerate when they are not being struck. The shields often compose 50% of the building's total hit point pool. Any damage to Protoss Buildings cannot be repaired.
• Protoss have a Warp Gate that when finished can teleport new gateway units into the game anywhere on the map where there is Pylon power provided. This power can also be provided by a deployed Warp Prism. Although this way of producing units is somewhat more powerful than the Zerg Larva and vastly more powerful than the Terran way, only Gateway units can be produced this way and destroying Pylon power will disable their creation. High tier units and air units cannot be produced in this way.
Protoss (Economy)
• Pylons, the supply providers of the Protoss also generate the energy field needed to place and power buildings, giving them a central role in the building economy.
• Chrono Boost, an ability of the Nexus, provides players with the ability to increase the production of units and researches by 25% for a short period of time in exchange for some energy. This opens up a lot of strategic choices for the player as well as raises the skill cap of the protoss race.
• Probes do not require to stay at a building site, allowing Protoss to have the most active workers of all races if they decide to chrono boost their probe production. This also makes the Probe a (more) viable scout.
• Warp-in allows for interesting strategic choices early on in the game ,especially if combined with chrono boost this can provide for a very powerful timed push.
• Protoss units have shields that regenerate very quickly when not attacked, but only their biological units (the Zealot and the Templars) can be healed (by Terran Medivacs and Zerg Queens). Protoss Mechanical units cannot be repaired.
• Because most Protoss units are mechanical, anti-biological abilities and damage is weak against protoss.
Protoss (Warriors)
Zealot
Description: A powerful melee unit that deals a lot of damage and has a lot of health, but is twice as expensive as the Zerg and Terran 'counterparts'.
Resource: Zealots cost a large amount of minerals, but this is easy to afford with chrono boost used properly to create a lot of probes. Zealots are very resource efficient if used correctly, able to defeat more than their cost in Zerglings if placed correctly.
Role: The Zealot provides early game protection by functioning as a 'gatekeeper' for protoss walls (because they lack a supply depot, they must close the 'door' with a unit. They are very efficient units when fighting units in a tunneled position, but are relatively expensive in battles where they are easily surrounded. In the late-game, the Zealot is a strong foot soldier counter against Terran biological armies, but inefficient against most Zerg armies. Zealots can be Warped in.
Stalker
Description: Most bulky, very fast ranged attacker. The Stalker fulfills many early and mid-game roles, being basically a fast Hydralisk with double health, bonus damage against armored units and later on the ability to teleport a short distance.
Resource: Stalkers are expensive units, costing slightly more than the Zerg Hydralisk, which is a tier 2 unit, but they are more than worth it.
Role: Due to their high mobility they can provide early pressure in a game, they are also exceptionally good at kiting slow melee enemies as well as marines. Stalkers are clearly countered by two types of units, the speedy small zerglings once upgraded and the slower anti-armored units. Their ability to teleport opens a lot of interesting strategic choices in the late game. Stalkers can be Warped in.
Sentry
Description: Although the most powerful and most expensive units in the game belong to the Protoss, their lack of mass by numbers requires the use of the Sentry, a specialist caster unit unique in the first tier when compared to the other races. It's most notable ability being Force Field, which is a strong strategic ability in the early and mid game. This unit increases the skill cap of the race.
Resource: Sentries are fragile and expensive casters, costing 100 gas. But if used correctly they are worth it.
Role: The Sentry's primary role is an early defense against all-in attacks, particularly from Terran and Zerg opponents by shielding buildings from damage with Force Field and blocking entrances with Force Field. Force Field is also used to defend armies in the middle of the field by separating massive armies of the enemy in little bits, decreasing their damage output significantly. Offensively, Force Field can be used to block ramps while the army takes out an enemy expansion. Additionally, the Sentry can shield friendly units near it with a Guardian shield that reduces ranged incoming damage and it can create illusions of any Protoss unit to fool the opponent or scout the map quickly. The Sentry can be Warped in.
Observer
Description: The mobile detection unit of the Protoss is an invisible and slow moving unit with no other abilities called the Observer.
Resource: The Observer is more than worth it's cost, and only a few are needed in each match.
Role: It's role as a detector is obvious and the only one, but the fact that it is invisible makes it the most efficient scout in the game, though not the cheapest, that is the Changeling.
Warp Prism
Description: The Warp Prism is the Protoss air transport ship. While it cannot heal or provide supply, it can become a stationary device that generates a small Pylon energy field upon which units can be Warped in.
Resource: The Warp Prism is cost efficient, taking the high gas cost of other Protoss units into account by costing only minerals.
Role: The Warp Prism has two roles, being the air transport to harass and out-position other ground units and being a mobile Pylon energy field to Warp in reinforcements while advancing with the main army. Warp Prisms can also provide emergency power to powered down buildings.
Immortal
Description: The most powerful single target anti-armored ranged ground unit in the game. Immortals deal insane amounts of damage against armored targets, and decent damage to any other ground unit. They have special shields that reduce any damage above 10 to 10 damage. This makes them particularly good at soaking up heavy damage, but relatively weak against weaker units.
Resource: Immortals are costly on minerals and also cost a decent amount of gas, but for their strength they are worth the price.
Role: The Immortal is the backbone of a strong ground to ground army against powerful armored targets, but their role is overshadowed by the colossus in slightly later phases of the game. The Immortal is an excellent replacement choice for the Colossus to prevent air to air units from being effective against the army, but they are not good against large numbers of weaker foes. This clear strategic difference makes it a viable option, but definitely not an overpowered option.
Colossus
Description: The most mobile ground to ground siege and splash unit in the game is the Colossus. It is expensive but powerful and mobile. While the Brood Lord and the Siege Tank are slow and immobile, the Colossus is able to scoot up cliffs to avoid ground to ground attack while retaining that powerful splash attack. However, it has a clear weakness, as it can be targeted by air-to-air attackers and it is very expensive. It is also a massive unit, allowing enemy force fields to be broken.
Resource: Colossi are expensive units, costing a ton of resources. Without their extended thermal lance upgrade, Colossi are not worth that price and they should be defended well in battles.
Role: The specialist protoss anti-base defense unit, that is also very effective at incinerating large amounts of enemy ground units. It's attack deals damage in a horizontal line, which is extremely effective against how enemy units often naturally position themselves. Colossi are the clear choice if a player opts to skip or only make very few Immortals in their ground army. While the Colossus can break force fields, it is rarely used for this purpose.
Phoenix
Description: Very fast and agile air-to-air attacker that is designed to take control of the sky. It is exceptionally strong against light air units, but not good at countering enemy capital ships. It's graviton beam ability allows it to lift up a non-massive ground unit.
Resource: Phoenixes are relatively expensive, considering they are not useful against a wide arrangement of other units. They are a clear counter to some units however, which makes their cost very effective.
Role: The Phoenix fulfills the role of a harassment unit by harassing mineral lines when they are in a group using Graviton beam to lift up and kill workers (and sometimes even queens). They are also good to take map control early on in the game and can pick off small numbers of ground units. Phoenixes are particularly strong against the light Viking and Mutalisk, but relatively useless against any other air unit. In the main army, their Graviton Beam can be used to disable enemy spellcasters by lifting them up.
Void Ray
Description: Relatively fast air ship that can strike both ground and air units. It is specifically designed to deal with enemy capital ships, but excels at more than just that role. It's unique feature, charging up its attack to deal cumulative damage the longer it attacks used to be considered overpowered and due to this, they lost the upgrade that improved this ability. Void Rays can decimate an enemy base if left unchecked.
Resource: Void Rays are relatively expensive units that cannot deal splash damage and are quite fragile, especially in small numbers.
Role: The primary role of the Void Ray is to hard counter enemy capital ships, a role that it can perform decently well but a role that it is rarely used for. The Void Ray is very useful along some Phoenixes for early game pressure and map control and can be a decent addition to a primary protoss army. Void Rays also have strategically risky, but deadly potential to end the game soon by building them in large numbers.
Carrier
Description: The Protoss capital ship, designed to be an expensive and overwhelming unit but in truth quite weak considering its cost and speed. It does not have an attack of its own and instead relies on small units it carries with it, called Interceptors. These small units cost 25 minerals each and can be killed in battle, making the Carrier cost even more resources to sustain.
Resource: The Carrier is by far the most resource inefficient unit in Starcraft 2, costing a large amount of minerals, gas and time to construct while being slow and having no ability to besiege an enemy fortification due to lack of range. Killed Interceptors cost even more resources to replace.
Role: The Carrier fulfills no clear role as it is only useful when the Protoss player has already won the game by superior resource count. Carriers are easily countered by the Zerg Corruptor and Infestor and the Terran Viking and Raven, most of which are cheaper and faster to create. This, along with the Carrier's limited movement speed makes the Carrier fulfill no role that cannot be performed by another unit in a more cost efficient method. While the HotS replacement of the Carrier (the Tempest) is a logical strategic choice, all they really succeed at doing is making an unoriginal Brood Lord with twice the range and no broodlings. They should probably just increase the travel distance of the Interceptor from the Carrier and make interceptors regenerate for free (although at a slower rate) like Locusts.
High Templar
Description: The primary ground spellcaster with an AoE ability of the Protoss is the High Templar. High Templar are mainly designed to deal damage, not disable movement. Psy Storm deals the highest damage over time of all area of effect zone spells in the game (EMP and Nuke are instant and EMP only works against protoss shields and energy). Feedback provides a decent countermeasure against units with energy, but ideally energy of the High Templar is spent on storms.
Resource: Like all primary ground spellcasters with an AoE ability, the High Templar costs 150 gas. This is the core of their resource balance (along the Ghost and the Infestor).
Role: The High Templar's goal is to counter cluttered up groups of (mostly ground) units and disable enemy spellcasters by draining their energy. After their energy is spent and the need for direct combat warriors arises, High Templar may be sacrificed in pairs to create a powerful Archon unit. This permanently destroys the High Templar.
Dark Templar
Description: The Dark Templar is a permanently invisible, high damage dealing melee unit that is especially costly. By the time they can be unlocked, most opponent players have already unlocked some detection, making this unit only exceptionally powerful against less skilled players.
Resource: The Dark Templar is very expensive, but can be sacrificed like the High Templar in pairs (also along a High Templar) to form an Archon.
Role: The Dark Templar's role is twofold: Firstly they are used to take out important targets within enemy territory, mainly resource income and special technology. If the enemy has no detection, this means certain doom for them. When the enemy does have detection, Dark Templar may be merged into Archons or hidden in the main army to secretly deal massive amounts of extra damage (especially if the enemy forgets to bring a mobile detector or forgets to scan). The Dark Templar is easily countered, but can be very powerful nonetheless.
Archon
Description: The result of two Templar merging is the Archon, a powerful only consisting mostly of protoss shield power, allowing it to theoretically be regenerated back to full health. The Archon is massive and can thus break force fields. It deals bonus damage to biological targets and does damage in a splash, making it particularly good against Terran biological armies and Zerg armies.
Resource: Two Templar are extremely expensive, the Archon is an inexpensive version of the Colossus while being able to deal with air units as well as ground units while having only a short range.
Role: The Archon is the result of the moment that High Templar become useless in battle by running out of energy or the moment that Dark Templar are no longer viable due to a lot of detection of the enemy. In either situation, the Archon is among the most powerful ground units in the game that is also able to shoot up into the air. While not vulnerable to air attackers like the Colossus, the Archon is unable to pass cliffs and has a much shorter range.
Mothership
Description: A unique unit of which only one may exist on the battlefield per player. The Mothership is a slow and powerful spellcaster that conceals all nearby friendly units from sight. This, along with the Mass Recall and Vortex abilities makes the Mothership a primary target in most end-game battles.
Resource: The Mothership is a cost effective unit, but very expensive.
Role: The Mothership's main role is to counter extremely difficult to defeat army combinations of the opposing player, regardless of their race by cloaking all allies and by being able to disable a large portion of the enemy army (by temporarily sending them to Disneyland) with Vortex. The Recall ability also allows large armies that are outmaneuvered to be returned in a safer position.
Conclusion of unique and non-unique roles that are roughly the same for each race
As can be seen from the analysis, each race has several options to boost their economy (Larva inject can produce more workers thus more income, MULE provides more income and chrono boost on probes provides more workers thus more income). This is the same for each basic feature, they fulfill a role in a greater picture. These roles are the following:
• Macro: Keep the player occupied to increase his race's potential. If the player is exceptionally good, he can continue to do these mundane tasks while his army is in combat to separate himself from the more casual players.
• Awareness: The player needs to be aware and memorize the strength and weakness of every individual unit of the enemy race as well as his own to be able to quickly respond to a strategic problem. Units made in a new race must present both obvious and hidden strengths and weaknesses for the player to be able to make strategic decisions in making or not making them.
• Micro: The player needs to control the units given properly and know how and when to use them. The player also needs to be responsive with the little details each battle provides (which are often many more than a single person can handle). This is the primary reason Starcraft 2 has only few spellcasting units. Keep this in mind when making a new race and new units, more abilities per unit means more micro requirement.
Unit Roles:
Everyone may argue that the Zergling, the Marine and the Zealot are the race's primary counterparts of each other. This is not true at all, they all fulfill very different roles per race. The Zergling and Zealot can both be used to counterattack, but the same goes for most other units. The core is, that the Zergling with speed is able to surround and capture most enemy armies, preventing movement. This is essential for the Zerg race, while the Zealot's main function is to counter specific unit setups. The Marine is the only ranged unit in this mix, and he therefore deals least damage (50 minerals for 2 lings = 10 damage potential, the 100 mineral zealot deals 16 damage, which is 8 damage per 50 minerals). The fact that the Marine can be used to kite units however, is a strategic aspect that should not be forgotten. It is not as simple as comparing cost to damage output, the range and strategic location as just as, if not more important.
Therefore, instead of creating a grid 'make 3 tier 1 units' you should consider making units with a clear purpose. Ask yourself what the unit is going to do, what will it be good at and what will it be bad at? How will the enemy be able to counter this unit and is that fair? Regardless if this, there is still a main grid that needs to be kept in mind. Every race so far has had a spellcaster with an AoE ability that costs energy and the caster always costs 150 gas. This is a clear sign that the new race should probably have a similar unit in order for it to be balanced, or is it? You could ask yourself, how do I solve the lacking of a AoE spellcaster, how do I balance it out? This however, is a very advanced question. Lastly, it is important that when making a new unit, you need to keep in mind how you will keep it useful during the length of the game. Zerglings get speed and more attack rating, Zealots get charge and Marines get Stimpack and 10 bonus health. Keep these things in mind and keep it simple.
The Unit Role Grid:
Tier 1: Tier 1 units should be relatively cheap, relatively fast to build and should have some sort of upgrade that keeps them viable in tier 2 and tier 3 in the game.
Upgrades: All units should have three levels of upgrades and should be able to benefit from at least two of those upgrades. Keep that in mind, and also consider how much damage they gain from each upgrade. Do not forget to compare them to the other race's units and try looking at the trends in the tier.
- The tier 1 units must provide the player with the option to deal early pressure or defend against early pressure.
Tier 2: Tier 2 units should be somewhat more costly on gas than tier 1 units. That being said, they should also fulfill a more dangerous role than tier 1 units, either by having a nasty ability or a clearly stronger asset (mobility, damage or health) than unupgraded tier 1 units. Tier 2 should also include air units, as they are an important strategic part of the game as well as an aerial transport in some way.
- Tier 2 units should include a generic spellcaster.
- Tier 2 should include at least two air units and one aerial transport.
Tier 3: Tier 3 units should cost a lot of gas and be clearly more powerful than tier 1 and tier 2 units. They should however also have a somewhat clear way to be countered, as they may potentially be game-ending.
- Tier 3 or below should include a unit that can break Force Fields.
- Tier 3 or below should include a unit that outranges static base defenses.
- Tier 3 should include a viable capital ship.
Last Note - Identifying Tiers: Although the Zerg are the most clearly separated into tiers, the most important thing about a tier in Starcraft 2 is the investment of time into it. Resources are a second prerequisite, as tier 3 units are obviously vastly more expensive than tier 1 units, they will prevent a 'rush to high tier' from becoming unbalanced. For example, the time it takes to build a Colossus with extended thermal lance is something you can safely call 'tier 3'. You should also include resource cost into your calculation, how much bases would be needed to support constant production of this unit.
Also do not forget to consider what the race can offer against any and all strategies that are popular and were popular. See testing
.Underlying themes; the responsive army, the strongest army and the army with the largest numbers
Lastly I'd like to go into the depths of the thematic value of a race. This may be overlooked entirely when designing a new race, but when creating something new and fresh, it will not feel nearly as clean as one of the existing races if it lacks an underlying theme. This is most notably, a feeling you get when playing the race. It helps the player get into the groove, feel attachment for the race they play as well as allow the player to follow the strengths of the race's unique features.
For Zerg, this is the swarm feeling. Blizzard did a decent stab at getting the aggressive, overwhelming unit feeling into the Zerg race by making their production capabilities large while keeping the cost of each individual unit relatively low compared to the other races. As a result, Zerg are strong in numbers but relatively weak compared to other race's units.
For Terran, this is the feeling of home. This is your race, your people and you are surrounded by foes. You are able to wall yourself in, the buildings even motivate that you protect yourself and the mobility of the army (especially the bio army) motivates safe hit and run techniques and strong fortified positions to defend yourself against the onslaught of the Zerg and Protoss.
For Protoss, it is the feeling of ascendance, being superior to the enemy in every way with each unit being of higher quality than those of the other races. No single unit can beat your single units if you play correctly, you are ascendant in both technology and psychology and can twist reality itself with Warp in, Vortex and energy field control. The obvious weaknesses are integrated to make Protoss feel superior, but still balanced.
To catch this theme, this underlying feeling of a race - it is important to have a good background story on them, know what they are like and how they would fight as a result of this, be it with honor or sheer aggression. The color and art style of the units and buildings should feel similar to each other, yet completely different from the other races. Keep that in mind when designing a new race.
Testing and polishing, and testing and polishing some more
It goes without saying that in order to create a well balanced race, it should be tested for several thousands of hours by many different players from many different levels of skill. Regardless of this truth, many designers (even many professional designers) forego this important phase of creation. While this is true for any (competitive) game, it is all the more true for something as fragile as strategic balance. Simply allowing a Bishop to move one step horizontally in addition to his diagonal movement in chess would completely change the game, and in chess both players play the same 'race'.
Theorycrafting is fun, and attempting to overcome the challenge of building a new race for Starcraft 2 is certainly equally if not more fun. Succeeding in creating a new balanced race however, is impossible to accomplish alone and very hard to accomplish as a professional team.
Some last words
I may be updating this post when Heart of the Swarm is going into beta to further discuss the impact of the creation of a new race and new units. What I have currently seen from the alpha, it is clear to me that Blizzard has a long road of careful balancing ahead of them if they truly plan to add two or more units for each race. I feel that some of their decisions are off, while others are absolutely correct. In either case I am looking forward to what they will make of HotS with a critical eye.
I hope you enjoyed the read,
Callynn
+ Show Spoiler [References] +
+ Show Spoiler [Example of a Fictional Race] +
Fictional Starcraft 2 Race
The Ihanri
Ihanrii Lore
The Ihanri
Ihanrii Lore
Successfully reborn within unstable but powerful, hybridized Protoss-Zerg bodies, the Ihanri (or Xel'Naga) seek to retake control over their creations and reclaim their place in the universe. Regressed and inexperienced with the recent violent nature of the Koprullu sector, the Ihanri's scientific knowledge is all that keeps them from falling apart. Although supposedly superior to any other race, the hybridized creatures that host the Ihanri have a very high degree of conflict on a genetic level. This causes their bodies to become unstable when left without the proper technological support. Consequently the Ihanri are forced to fight the other races on equal footing.
Ihanri Gameplay Theme
The theme behind the Ihanri is a biotechnological race that is held intact by supernatural technologies. They may seem to behave like a hivemind, but are individuals that use robotized servants. Instead of regenerating, their buildings deteriorate if left unsupported by the nanogrid.
The nanogrid is a field generated by the Stabilizer wherein highly advanced nanobots reside. These nanobots prevent deterioration of Ihanri buildings, slowly regenerating buildings and units of the Ihanri race at 1.5x the rate at which Zerg regenerate naturally. Without a nanogrid, buildings slowly lose health over time. Ihanri units do not need a nanogrid to survive, but a nanogrid will give them slow life regeneration. In order to construct a building, nanogrid field is required. If the field falls away, the building is destroyed (not cancelled).
To construct a building, a Creator (Ihanri worker) must move to the target nanogrid powered location and becomes protected under the building that is being made. Once the building is finished, the Creator can return to mining.
The Stabilizer is the mobile Ihanri supply provider that generates a small 5 radius nanogrid field around it when moving. The Stabilizer can also be deployed in a stationary position, extending the nanogrid field around it to up to 8 radius over time. Stabilizers provide an important economic role, as they have the ability to double the next unit production queue on any Ihanri production building.
This mechanic will make Ihanri feel slightly less aggressive and more protective, requiring proper positioning of Stabilizers both in the base as well as within offensive army positions.
Ihanri Unique Economics
Constructor
Role: Foundation building
Build time: 100 seconds
Supply provided: 4
Produces: Creators and Stabilizers
Hit points: 1750
Armor: 1
Classification: Mechanical, Structure
Abilities: Vespene Isolation, Nanobot Shell
Allows: Canvass, Splicer
Cost: 350 minerals
Starting energy: 0
Max energy: 200
Additional info: Like all Ihanri buildings, the Constructor requires a nanogrid to be built and sustained. The Constructor has two abilities, the economical Vespene Isolation which allows the mining of gas without the use of workers and the military Nanobot Shell which can be used to keep base defense alive and even offers cheesy building attack options. Constructors also build both the worker and the supply provider (which share the same production queue).
(Ability): Vespene Isolation
Instantly absorbs 50 gas from a Absorber or 25 gas from a naked Vespene Geyser within 8 range.
Cost: 50 energy
(Ability): Nanobot Shell
Covers a target friendly building with a protective shell of nanobots, increasing its armor by 2 and regenerating 500 hit points over 15 seconds. Has infinite map range. Cannot target Deployed Stabilizers.
Cost: 50 energy
Absorber
Role: Vespene Gas Building
Build time: 45 seconds
Hit points: 800
Armor: 1
Classification: Mechanical, Structure
Cost: 75 minerals
Additional info: The Absorber allows the Constructor's Vespene Isolation ability to be double as effective and allows Creators to mine Vespene Gas. Like all gas buildings, the Absorber allows up to 3 workers for optimal gathering efficiency. Like all Ihanri buildings, the Absorber requires a nanogrid to be built and sustained.
Stabilizer
Role: Supply provider
Build time: 20 seconds
Supply provided: 8
Speed: 0.750 (1.3 with Upgrade in tier 2)
Acceleration: 1.0625
Lateral acceleration: 46.0625
Deceleration: 0
Collision radius:1
Hit points: 250
Hit point regeneration: 0.3 / sec
Armor: 0
Classification: Mechanical, Air (mobile mode) Ground (deployed mode)
Abilities: Support, Deploy/Ascend, Nanogrid Field Generator
Cost: 100 minerals
Starting energy: 0
Max energy: 200
Additional info: The Ihanri Stabilizer is a flying robot that provides a nanogrid field around it to prevent Ihanri buildings from losing health and slowly regenerating Ihanri unit health. The nanogrid field can be extended from 5 to 8 radius by landing the Stabilizer, making it vulnerable to ground attack and removing its ability to move. Stabilizers can also double a Ihanri building's production rate by using their Support ability on the building. Stabilizers are built from the Constructor and take a queue position along with the Ihanri worker, the Creator.
(Ability): Support
Adds a second production queue to target production building, allowing the next two produced units to appear from the production building simultaneously. Support range is identical to the Stabilizer's current nanogrid field radius.
Cost: 25 energy
(Ability): Deploy / Ascend
When flying, deploys the Stabilizer on the ground, extending the radius of its nanogrid field by 3 but making the Stabilizer vulnerable to ground attacks. This also increases the range of Support by 3. When landed, ascends the Stabilizer into the air, decreasing the radius of its nanogrid field by 3 but allowing the Stabilizer to move and removing its vulnerability to ground attacks. This also decreases the range of Support by 3.
Cost: 0 energy
Cooldown: 4 seconds.
Creator
Role: Basic worker
Build time: 16 seconds
Speed: 2.8125
Acceleration: 2.5
Lateral acceleration: 46.0625
Deceleration: 0
Collision radius:1
Hit points: 45
Armor: 0
Armor type: Light
Classification: Biological, Ground
Cost: 50 minerals
Damage: 5
Targets: Ground
Attack Cooldown: 1.5
Additional info: Ihanri workers are built 1 second faster than a Drone. In exchange for this, the Constructor also produces the supply provider of the Ihanri, the Stabilizer, which takes 20 seconds to built. During this time, no Creator can be made. A Stabilizer can however use Support on the Constructor to double the production queue. This allows a highly skilled player to rapidly increase it's worker production.
Ihanri Economics Recap
As can be seen by the three basic cornerstones of the Ihanri race, their economic boost (equal to the Protoss' Chronoboost, the Zerg's Larva Inject and the Terran's MULE) is the Vespene Isolation ability on the Constructor. It provides a Ihanri player with the ability to mine 25 gas from a Vespene Geyser (within limited range), or 50 gas from a Absorber [i]without the use of workers. Overpowered? Consider that the Ihanri have no way to boost their mineral income except by simply letting their workers not mine gas, this ability compensates the lack of a mineral boost.
Ihanri players however must decide between using their Constructor's energy to boost their economy (by harvesting gas with Vespene Isolation) or to keep their energy for a offensive push or to defend against a rush. This is because the second Constructor ability, Nanobot Shell, will greatly improve the strength of a (defensive) building. This ability can be used for a 'building rush' (see the other buildings further below) or to ensure the survival of a rapidly dying, but very crucial Ihanri building. The choice of the energy cost on the abilities is based on the Terran mechanics (MULE and Call Down Supply), though I realize the energy cost on Nanobot Shell is strongly subject to balance as well the amount of Vespene gas gathered by Vespene Isolation. These abilities increase the race's skill cap (by occupying the player, they need to spend their Constructor's energy).
The Ihanri Stabilizer uses the combined mechanics of all three other races with some twists. When grounded, you can call the Stabilizer a Pylon. When flying, you can call the Stabilizer an Overlord. The field the Stabilizer generates will make the terrain around it favorable for combat engagements (like creep) because it increases unit health regeneration (only slightly more than Zerg though). However, because the nanogrid field is needed to make sure buildings survive, using a Stabilizer in an offensive manner will expose the Stabilizer to the enemy as well. Killing a Stabilizer is worse for an Ihanri player than an Overlord (which provides only vision and supply in tier 1), a Pylon (which only powers buildings and provides supply) or a Supply Depot (which only provides supply and can function as a gate in a wall). This is because the Stabilizer has not two, but four roles.
1. Increasing unit production.
2. Allow buildings to be constructed and alive by staying in range of them (including expansions!).
3. Create favorable terrain to fight on with Ihanri units.
4. Provide supply.
Now, one could argue that the Stabilizer also functions like a scout, because it can move (when in flying mode) like an Overlord. However, while the first Overlord can be used for scouting, the Stabilizer must remain within a certain place of the base to prevent the main building from dying (the Constructor needs a nanogrid to prevent losing health!) and to be able to build buildings. This means that the second Stabilizer is the only means for scouting (while this means you cannot expand with it). This makes the Stabilizer unfit for scouting in the early game but useful for scouting and improving terrain for the units in later stages of the game, unless the player decides to take big risks.
Some strategic decisions to be made due to the Stabilizer functionality:
1. You can decide to build a Stabilizer very fast instead of a worker. Ihanri start with 12 supply (8 from the starting Stabilizer and 4 from the Constructor). A player can move his initial Stabilizer (which is slightly faster than a Zerg Overlord) to the enemy base to do a proxy or 'cannon rush'. In exchange for this, his Constructor starts to die, so a new Stabilizer must be built quite fast. Because of the investment needed to keep the base alive, the rush timing will work out in balance with the rush timings of other races (balance testing needed of course).
2. You can decide to use your first Stabilizer for a fast expansion. A nanogrid field is needed to build and sustain the Constructor.
3. Because Stabilizers take 4 seconds longer to build than a Creator (Ihanri worker) and because they take up the same building queue as the worker, keeping a close eye on the supply and income is very important. At least one Stabilizer should use Support on a Constructor to prevent building time loss of a worker.
4. Stabilizers should be positioned within an army (especially when they have the speed upgrade) to increase the health regeneration of the Ihanri army. A well placed Stabilizer can makes the difference between winning and losing a battle. This also makes them attractive targets for the enemy to kill.
5. Once the enemy has a good air-to-air harassment (phoenix, muta) Stabilizers should be landed on the ground or properly protected.
Suggestion: Because it may become too hard to manage the Support ability on each individual Stabilizer, each production building can request the nearest Stabilizer to cast Support on them, actively removing the need for a lot of different control grouped Stabilizers.
Other Buildings
Splicer
Role: Infantry production
Build time: 75 seconds
Produces:
Hit points: 1250
Armor: 1
Classification: Mechanical, Structure
Allows: Implanter
Cost: 200 minerals
Requires: Constructor
Upgrades into: Implanter
Additional info: Like all Ihanri buildings, the Splicer requires a nanogrid to be built and sustained. Splicers are the Ihanri's tier one unit producer that can double up the next unit queue space if a Stabilizer's Support ability is used. If macroed correctly, this allows Splicers to produce two units from the start of the game, this is also why the Splicer's building cost is slightly higher.
Canvass
Role: Ground unit research center
Build time: 35 seconds
Hit points: 900
Armor: 1
Classification: Mechanical, Structure
Allows: Pulse Barrier, Sonar Battery
Cost: 100 minerals
Requires: Constructor
Researches available: Hybrid Armaments, Hybrid Shells, Biointegration
Additional info: Like all Ihanri buildings, the Canvass requires a nanogrid to be built and sustained. It allows ground unit damage and armor to be upgraded and also allows for the Biointegration upgrade, which reduces the rate at which buildings that are not in a nanogrid field lose health by 75%. The Canvass also unlocks the base defense structures Pulse Barrier and Sonar Battery.
(Upgrade): Hybrid Armaments
Costs: 125 minerals, 125 gas, 160 seconds research time
Improves the damage of all Ihanri ground units.
(Upgrade): Hybrid Shells
Costs: 125 minerals, 125 gas, 160 seconds research time
Improves the armor of all Ihanri ground units.
(Upgrade): Biointegration
Costs: 100 minerals, 50 gas, 60 seconds research time
Reduces the rate at which buildings lose health when not in a nanogrid field by 75%.
Pulse Barrier
Role: Ground to ground base defense
Build time: 50 seconds
Hit points: 350
Armor: 2
Classification: Mechanical, Structure
Cost: 150 minerals
Requires: Canvass
Damage: 10 (+10 versus light)
Attacks: 2
Attack Cooldown: 2.15 (slow)
Range: 7
Meta Target priority: 19
Kill score: 250
Production score: 50
Additional info: Like all Ihanri buildings, the Pulse Barrier requires a nanogrid to be built and sustained. Pulse Barriers can only attack ground targets, at which they shoot two pulses in a straight line. Pulse Barriers are especially effective against light targets, allowing them to oneshot a Zergling (40 damage) and twoshot a fully upgraded Marine. However, the Pulse Barrier's attack cooldown is 0.3 seconds longer than that of a Spine Crawler (1.85 -> 2.25).
Sonar Battery
Role: Anti-Air base defense, Stationary detection
Build time: 25 seconds
Hit points: 350
Armor: 2
Classification: Mechanical, Structure
Cost: 100 minerals
Requires: Canvass
Damage: 5 (+5 versus massive)
Attacks: 3
Attack Cooldown: 0.88
Range: 7
Meta Target priority: 19
Kill score: 250
Production score: 50
Additional info: Like all Ihanri buildings, the Sonar Battery requires a nanogrid to be built and sustained. Sonar Batteries can only attack air targets, at which they shoot three sonar pulses per attack. Sonar Batteries provide a detection field, which can see invisible, cloaked and burrowed units. Sonar Batteries are exceptionally powerful against massive targets, dealing double damage to them, but they attack slightly slower than a Spore Crawler (0.02 seconds per attack slower).
Everything here is work in progress, and nothing more than unbalanced theory.
More to come.
