New Terran Unit in Heart of the Swarm - Page 21

On October 05 2011 11:35 Beorning wrote:
Gave it a shot
New SCV with double combat shields, that can build destructible rocks.

On October 05 2011 10:12 Beece wrote:
Whos that pokemon!

On October 05 2011 11:33 GigaFlop wrote:

It's definitely something like a viking, but ground-based. Transforms between wheel-movement and bipedal movement. The shields would be for side armor plating when in wheel form, and maybe have some kind of armament for biped mode.

On October 05 2011 11:33 caradoc wrote:
Alright, so this link (http://i.imgur.com/j52j0.png, and the above post) essentially proves that it is a second form for the hellion.

Lets attempt to divine what its combat role will be.

First we need to note that the balancing team has consistently balanced in such a way so as to minimize overlap in units combat roles (i.e. rebalancing the thor in early beta to more of an assault unit so it didn't crowd into siege tank territory).

That done, lets ask some questions:

Q: Does terran need any type of anti air?
A: No, marines + vikings + thors more than cover this area.

Q: is this a harass unit?
A: most likely not, the hellion already does this (along with reaper/banshee/drops), and it seems silly that walking would give it more mobility or other harass potential.

Q: Assault unit?
A: most likely not, marauders accomplish this in the early game, while thors fill their niche nicely. In addition, current Terran units already have a complement of dmg to light and armored, so it will most likely not serve a direct combat role. (EDIT: though see below)

Q: What about positional control?
A: Siege Tanks do this to an extent, though there is currently little in the way of positional control for bio compositions.

Since we've established what it isn't, what is left seems to be a fairly narrow range of support and/or short-mid range positional control.

So either it gives a small area affect buff/debuff, or it transforms, sacrificing mobility for larger radius splash? Possibly more like a firebat, or a wide area flame turret. Don't think its a meat-shield, since hellions are pretty lightly armored.... thoughts?

On October 05 2011 11:35 Beorning wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +
New SCV with double combat shields, that can build destructible rocks.

On October 05 2011 10:11 Magrath wrote:
It's a mule mixed with a marauder. I can see it now. Battling protoss with one appendage and being op with the other.