New HotS Units/Abilities in Blizzcon - Page 270

On October 22 2011 15:24 fros7 wrote:
So the Oracle shuts down buildings how long does it last?

On October 22 2011 15:26 Fig wrote:

http://www.gamefront.com/blizzcon-2011-starcraft-2-heart-of-the-swarm-new-multiplayer-unit-stats-and-abilities/
Phase Shift- Target structure is phased out of existance for 45 seconds. It can’t attack, use abilities or upgrade.

On October 22 2011 15:27 vandelayindustries wrote:
Why was the new Protoss 'raiding' designed as a way to hurt the enemy economy without actually killing workers? It seems far less frightening than Mutas/ling or bane runby/medivac drops

They look awesome: whenever a unit looks OP, you can just go ahead and make your own. As zerg I would love to have a unit that copies other units. Also, I think it would make more sense for zerg to clone something than a toss. How much supply are they? 2? I could imagine remaxing on them and then turning them all into immortals or siege tanks.

I'd gladly trade you my swarm host for your replicator XDv

On October 22 2011 15:27 vandelayindustries wrote:
Why was the new Protoss 'raiding' designed as a way to hurt the enemy economy without actually killing workers? It seems far less frightening than Mutas/ling or bane runby/medivac drops

On October 22 2011 15:26 Fig wrote:

http://www.gamefront.com/blizzcon-2011-starcraft-2-heart-of-the-swarm-new-multiplayer-unit-stats-and-abilities/
Phase Shift- Target structure is phased out of existance for 45 seconds. It can’t attack, use abilities or upgrade.

On October 22 2011 15:32 Ballistixz wrote:



the ability to make a 3 base player go down to 2 or 1 base because all of the mineral patches were made useless is pretty good.... u would have to bring most of ur army to destroy the entombing stuff off of the mineral patches or have a useless base and not mine for 45 seconds. that can actually be huge in the highest levels of play.

not only that but those things seem pretty damn fast, so they could probaly cover multiple bases easily and keep going back and forth all game and out run most if not all anti air.

On October 22 2011 15:40 roymarthyup wrote:
i think the replicant is extremely overpowered if you can copy SCV's or drones. it has mapwide vision but workers shouldnt be copy-able

my god... imagine a toss thats able to mass roaches.... oh god.... mass voidrays + mass roaches

On October 22 2011 15:32 Thereisnosaurus wrote:


VS ZERG
The replicator is just not cost effective enough to be viable. what would you make? not lings/roaches/hydras/mutas/corruptors that's for sure. I can see maybe replicating a swarmhost


The only replicable targets worth replicating on a zerg team are infestors and vipers. Here's why, the replicant details state that *all abilities are enabled by replication* so you get the viper upgrades (presumably the pull ability and the swarm ability are both researched) for free. Of course, neither of those are particularly useful against zerg, so the main use I see is replicating infestors to fungal. That will all depend on whether the replicator spawns with the energy of the target, the max energy or the starting energy with or without pathogen glands (since that is an upgrade, not an ability)

Alternately, you can replicate your own units, most likely immortals (since you have a robo to work off) or void rays (since this is the only other reasonably cost effective morph to make). Neither of these are regulars in PvZ atm, and I don't think that is going to be any more the case in HoTs as it stands due to the viper and the improved hydra.

VS terran
again with the not replicating stuff: marine, marauder, hellion, reaper, warhound.

Siegetanks: a viable choice against marine tank, of course it relies on the terran *going* marine tank and giving you that option. Ditto vs mech, where I imagine we may see this. It's a fairly cost effective morph, with good damage efficiency.
Ghosts: Awesome except for the fact that terran is the one race which ghosts don't screw over. Perhaps a single replication to clone a ghost and EMP the terran's ghosts, but splitting makes this less viable and it's even more so if the replicant ghost only spawns with 50 mana.
Vikings: very helpful circumstantially, such as in the case where the terran has a lot of banshees and medivacs but no Vikings oh wait.
Banshees: This one is actually a really good target. you automatically get cloak, so this might be a good answer to 1/1/1 builds. You make banshees, I make em too. Sure you have marines, but how many scans have you got saved up there kiddo? The replicant also builds pretty fast, so you can pump your first few immortals and then constantly add replicants to replace immortals or make siege tanks or banshees depending on how the battle goes.
Medivacs: a surprisingly good target, and viable since if people drop you you can just nick the template pretty reliably. Being able to heal your zealots and templar is handy, as is having a dropship of your own to use with dts or whathaveyou. not incredibly cost efficient, and you can make prisms if you can make replicants, but still pretty cool.
Ravens: Free hunter seeker missile is about the one thing that makes this viable, but again a terran has to be dumb enough to make one available. Perhaps a DT opening switching into replicants to counter any bio/raven push.

Again, replicating your own units seems just as much of a decent idea. Immortals and voidrays are both solid anti-terran units, particularly with terran's new kit. Still, good players should make builds that eliminate the inefficiency of replicators, so they'll remain a clutch wierd game unit I'm sure.


Vs Protoss:
The main thing a replicant offers in this matchup is speed of building, meaning you can have more immortals than your opponent or something like that. I see voidrays making a bit of a comeback in PVP due to the possibility of tempests (whose strong single target AG attack seems good vs toss) and to counter oracle harass, since cannons won't do a great job of it due to the building lockdown. A double dose of voids courtesy of a robo pumping replicants in concert with a stargate could prove a nasty surprise to the unwary.


So,yes, there are a few cases where replicants could be useful, but I just don't see them being a really interesting, viable unit. Their main strength will come from *not* being made, because simply the fact they exist will change the strategies of opponents to exclude replicable self-counters. That's well and good, but it doesn't make for awesome gameplay and spectator experience.

On October 22 2011 15:41 SheffiTB wrote:

The replicant costs 200mins 200 gas. Copying a worker or a roach wouldn't be a very good idea.

On October 22 2011 15:45 Adreme wrote:


I think you missed the fact that if you took over a ghost and then empd his ghosts that suddenly his ghosts cant emp your HT.

On October 22 2011 15:52 Daralii wrote:

A worker could be worth it if the replicated worker can build.