• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 09:17
CEST 15:17
KST 22:17
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Siren's Call8[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Summer's End9Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2915Serral wins Maestros of the Game 244ByuL, and the Limitations of Standard Play3
Community News
Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20)5Weekly Cups (August 24-30): Patches' balance mod takes over2New 3v3 BGH Ladder (and more) on ShieldBattery!38Weekly Cups (August 17-23): Zerg dominate the week6Weekly Cups (August 10-16): SHIN doubles3
StarCraft 2
General
Weekly Cups (August 10-16): SHIN doubles Weekly Cups (August 24-30): Patches' balance mod takes over SC4ALL II: SC2 Player Announcement 6/8 - Maru How would you feel about frequent/monthly balance patches for SC2? Weekly Cups (August 17-23): Zerg dominate the week
Tourneys
Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20) 2026 GSTL Announcement PIG STY FESTIVAL 8.0! (13 - 23 August) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament IntoTheTV X SOOP SC2 League : Weekly & Monthly
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
Nexus Wars 2021 GUIDE [M] (2) Industrial Park
External Content
Mutation # 541 Binary Choice The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 540 Dodge This Mutation # 539 Thunder Dome
Brood War
General
Which box art did your first copy of StarCraft 1 have? ASL22 General Discussion BW General Discussion New 3v3 BGH Ladder (and more) on ShieldBattery! XUN appreciation thread
Tourneys
Escore Tournament - Season 3 [ASL22] Ro24 Group F BSL LAN Party - Kraków 29-30 August - OPEN SIGNUPS [Megathread] Daily Proleagues
Strategy
Replay Review Process - What do you do? Game Theory for Starcraft Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation Fighting Spirit mining rates
Other Games
General Games
General RTS Discussion Thread Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Anyone here play Quakeworld back in the day? EVE Corporation
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish TSM pausing esports and CLG Dead
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Power Rank TL Mafia Community Thread NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance
Community
General
Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
MarineLorD Fan Club The Creator Fan Club The ShoWTimE Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 MLB/Baseball 2023 NBA General Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Northern Ireland Global Starcraft
Blogs
Regacy Esports: The Bh…
regacyesports
Violent Games and Crime Rate…
TrAiDoS
LOCKPICKING NOOB
LUCKY_NOOB
Cathedral Of CS And NY pizza a…
FuDDx
Please support my new stand…
Peanutsc
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 6475 users

The future of the carrier - Page 5

Forum Index > SC2 General
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 14 15 16 Next All
bonifaceviii
Profile Joined May 2010
Canada2890 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-11-29 19:23:03
November 29 2011 19:22 GMT
#81
On November 30 2011 04:12 GhostFall wrote:
I'd like to mention you're forgetting a micro trick with carriers from Starcraft 1. When the interceptors fan out, if the carrier was constantly moving, the interceptors would not return inside the carrier. Instead they would hover under the carrier, and fan out instantly when ordered to attack. Essentially graviton catapult through micro alone.

It's fine to eliminate this particular trick and replace it with an upgrade in the transition to SC2 (I don't think anyone up until this point has said anything bad about graviton catapult). What isn't fine is the immediate return of interceptors on a move command.
Stay a while and listen || http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=354018
GoodRamen
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
United States713 Posts
November 29 2011 19:37 GMT
#82
the tempest which was the carrier during the alpha stage has a harden shield against ground so couldn't carriers have the same but for air???
#1 Fantasy Fan!!!!
LuisFrost
Profile Joined February 2011
Mexico130 Posts
November 29 2011 19:57 GMT
#83
I can understand it if Blizzard decides in the end to cut the carrier... the cold hard truth is that no matter how much we remember the Ganthritor most SC2 players simply don't care. I feel they only added the unit to shut us up: after all, in the early days the BW fans were all there was and it would have been bad for their PR if they got away and didn’t contribute to build up hype. That’s why as a fan and a costumer I only wish Blizzard was more open about why they are removing the unit: have they tried the solutions proposed by the community? Have they at least tried to stop the interceptors from returning immediately? Can they at least show us they tried?

Even if WoL, HOtS and BW exist at the same time “go play BW” is NOT a real argument: this discussion is not about nostalgia even if some posters only argue from there, it’s about the idea of an air siege unit which is only as effective as the player controling it vs a big expensive corsair you just A-move. This discussion is about if the community has ideas that are at least good enough for testing. The day Blizz shows me the video were a carrier decimates an army because microable interceptors are just too good, that day I’ll shut up.
Wafflelisk
Profile Joined October 2011
Canada1061 Posts
November 29 2011 20:00 GMT
#84
I don't care what Blizzard does to the carrier; leave it unchanged, buff it, nerf it.. just leave it in. Not arguing why the rest of you would want it, it's cool if you want it axed, but it's always held a very special place in my heart.. and I'm a Zerg.
Waffles > Pancakes
Mikelius
Profile Joined September 2010
Germany517 Posts
November 29 2011 20:05 GMT
#85
Other than the fact that there has not been even one incentive to try and use the Carrier by means of a patch at all, the Tempest doesn't even remotely fulfill the Carrier's role.

The tempest is pretty much a glorified Corsair with a ground attack and no disruption web, meant to kill clumped up air units, while the Carrier is made to provide some form of aerial siege technology like Brood Lords.

In BW they were my favorite units, now only see WhiteRa and HongUn use them once in a while.
Less QQ, more PewPew
Mohdoo
Profile Joined August 2007
United States15743 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-11-29 20:36:47
November 29 2011 20:36 GMT
#86
I'm still hopeful that the Carrier will just end up redesigned. Its so much better than the silly temptest... Same with the mothership. The mothership is already somewhat of a staple in PvZ now, as its the only good method of dealing with infestor+broodlords.
0neder
Profile Joined July 2009
United States3733 Posts
November 29 2011 20:46 GMT
#87
You have good points, but I think some of them are just symptoms of the two main points:

1 - We haven't really had carrier friendly maps in the SC2 ladder pool, ever. BW had 'carrier friendly' maps.
2 - IF you actually could to something similar to BW level micro with Carriers, THEN the other negatives wouldn't outweigh the positives anymore. But, because you can't, it seems like all the variables are negatives.

We have seen some carriers in GSL. We'd see more if we had more Carrier friendly maps.

One final point is that SC2 is being figured out from the early game onwards. This means that the lategame metagame is the last to develop. Carriers are risky, because players simply have less experience with them and are unwilling to switch to them in the late game and leave things up to chance. I fear that Carriers are still viable (though possibly a bit weak) in their current state (maybe a slight viking nerf would help), but that Blizzard will remove them before that happens, or now that Blizzard has said they will be gone in HotS, WoL players will now ignore them because Blizzard preemptively discouraged their use in competitive play. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.
ReketSomething
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States6012 Posts
November 29 2011 20:55 GMT
#88
Ive played with carriers a lot and I would say one of the main problems with the carrier is that vortex eats up it's interceptors.
Jaedong :3
-Secret-
Profile Joined June 2011
United Kingdom233 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-11-29 21:02:45
November 29 2011 21:00 GMT
#89
I can see the future of PvP late game turning into what is now TvT late game ie big air battles with tempests and this could not be possible without carrier. I myself am a terran and find protoss boring as hell to watch/play/play against (no offense) but if PvP revolutionised in this way then it would make things as interesting as TvT dont know what else to say but yeah.

Edit: carrier should be buffed in HOTS as a terran it will make no difference to me as i will have warhound to counter it so im happy
-Secret-
Profile Joined June 2011
United Kingdom233 Posts
November 29 2011 21:01 GMT
#90
On November 30 2011 05:05 Mikelius wrote:
Other than the fact that there has not been even one incentive to try and use the Carrier by means of a patch at all, the Tempest doesn't even remotely fulfill the Carrier's role.

The tempest is pretty much a glorified Corsair with a ground attack and no disruption web, meant to kill clumped up air units, while the Carrier is made to provide some form of aerial siege technology like Brood Lords.

In BW they were my favorite units, now only see WhiteRa and HongUn use them once in a while.


HongUn recently left prime and progaming dont know for how long and if its permenant, i heard its mainly due to his studies but i also think the news about the carrier affected this decision too just saying
Moonling
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States987 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-11-29 21:29:19
November 29 2011 21:27 GMT
#91
Good points! However I feel that the collosus is ruining star craft 2 for this exact reason: why make any other unit when you have colossus? If it was gone t would not make Vikings therefore allowing for a stargate tech switch that toss used to do in bw. The colossus IMO has broken the mechanics of the game and stalled the meta game forprotoss worse than blizz realizes. Ground aoe from the reaver would fix the carrier, because no colli means no Vikings, plus changing speed and micro would fix it to. However, bliz I think realizes this therefore it's either the carrier or colossus and they chose to keep the collosus

Edit: stupid phone
1% of koreans control 99% of starcraft winnings. #occupykorea.
andrewlt
Profile Joined August 2009
United States7702 Posts
November 29 2011 21:45 GMT
#92
On November 30 2011 01:34 TheButtonmen wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 30 2011 01:22 Archybaldie wrote:
On November 30 2011 01:20 TheButtonmen wrote:
On November 30 2011 01:19 Archybaldie wrote:
On November 30 2011 00:09 BrosephBrostar wrote:
So is the colossus compared to the reaver. So is the roach compared to old hydralisks. So is the corruptor compared to scourge. So is the marauder compared to siege tanks. Come on guys I thought SC2 was supposed to be a new and different game. If you want BW then why not play BW?


My point was not "more broodwar" my point specifically was the tempest is a sorry excuse for a replacement to the carrier. The game would be better served with a working carrier rather then then the tempest (based on the concept of the tempest shown at blizzcon). Also regarding the colossus as a protoss player i hate that unit more then anything it leads to unintresting games the tempest would just add to that syndrome.


You haven't even used the Tempest yet or seen it in anywhere near a finalized state, what are you basing this off of?

We have no way of knowing this stuff yet, save the complaints for the beta at least.


The concept and idea that the tempest is being based on. If you have a bad foundation the building eventually falls down. So unless there is a DRAMATIC shift (which there could be) in the tempest. Then in its current state its a sorry excuse for a replacement.

But lets get away from the tempest and back onto the discussion of why blizzard hasnt even attempted to fix or work with the carrier.


Probably because they felt that the carrier isn't a very useful / interesting unit, I mean its whole thing is that it makes units to attack with but really the broodlord does that better and the new swarmlord as well; a unit that attacks by making swarms of tiny units is a pretty zerg thing rather then protoss.

By removing the carrier (which was boring / zergish) and replacing it with a new high power capital in the tempest as well as adding the Oracle (both of which actually feel protoss) they are adding much more options to the race then just buffing the carrier.



It's sad that the protoss feel in SC2 is a build deathball then 1a race. Because that's what you're arguing with the tempest.
Crisium
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
United States1618 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-11-29 22:42:29
November 29 2011 22:40 GMT
#93
On November 30 2011 06:45 andrewlt wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 30 2011 01:34 TheButtonmen wrote:
On November 30 2011 01:22 Archybaldie wrote:
On November 30 2011 01:20 TheButtonmen wrote:
On November 30 2011 01:19 Archybaldie wrote:
On November 30 2011 00:09 BrosephBrostar wrote:
So is the colossus compared to the reaver. So is the roach compared to old hydralisks. So is the corruptor compared to scourge. So is the marauder compared to siege tanks. Come on guys I thought SC2 was supposed to be a new and different game. If you want BW then why not play BW?


My point was not "more broodwar" my point specifically was the tempest is a sorry excuse for a replacement to the carrier. The game would be better served with a working carrier rather then then the tempest (based on the concept of the tempest shown at blizzcon). Also regarding the colossus as a protoss player i hate that unit more then anything it leads to unintresting games the tempest would just add to that syndrome.


You haven't even used the Tempest yet or seen it in anywhere near a finalized state, what are you basing this off of?

We have no way of knowing this stuff yet, save the complaints for the beta at least.


The concept and idea that the tempest is being based on. If you have a bad foundation the building eventually falls down. So unless there is a DRAMATIC shift (which there could be) in the tempest. Then in its current state its a sorry excuse for a replacement.

But lets get away from the tempest and back onto the discussion of why blizzard hasnt even attempted to fix or work with the carrier.



Probably because they felt that the carrier isn't a very useful / interesting unit, I mean its whole thing is that it makes units to attack with but really the broodlord does that better and the new swarmlord as well; a unit that attacks by making swarms of tiny units is a pretty zerg thing rather then protoss.

By removing the carrier (which was boring / zergish) and replacing it with a new high power capital in the tempest as well as adding the Oracle (both of which actually feel protoss) they are adding much more options to the race then just buffing the carrier.



It's sad that the protoss feel in SC2 is a build deathball then 1a race. Because that's what you're arguing with the tempest.


As much as the BW - SC2 comparison is frowned upon, this cannot be overlooked. Another example, Reaver is the antithesis of A-Move, and compare it to the Colossus. Compare BW Carriers to the Tempest. It's a bit troubling. Don't think of it as a puerile war of "My game is better than yours" think if it as "How can we improve SC2 by looking at the past". The Tempest's Micro abilities are worrisome. While SC2 fans should not necessarily be demanding the return of the Reaver, you should be demanding more of a skill ceiling than a-move colossus that you sometimes fall back or kite with. There is so much potential in SC2, including carriers, and just giving up on carriers without a balance change is troublesome.

We need to always demand the best. Even if Carriers are not used right now, would not a balance change be better than what the Tempest's current form is? I'd like to think most people would say yes.
Broodwar and Stork forever! List of BW players with most Ro16, Ro8: http://tinyurl.com/BWRo16-Ro8
Poplicola
Profile Joined November 2011
Sweden15 Posts
November 29 2011 23:34 GMT
#94
Just some things that came to mind reading the OP. I wouldn't propose all of them simultaneously.

1. The carrier is too slow to build.
Could it be considered too slow because a single carrier on it's own is useless as things are?' If things were different it could be viable to mass carriers over time from a single stargate.

2. The carrier is not micro friendly.
Improve microability.

3. The carrier is the most dependent unit on upgrades and hit hardest by enemy upgrades.
Carrier upgrades along with ground units.

4. The carrier is too easy to counter.
Brood lord cost increase; now morphs from mutalisk. (Yes, this will in turn create some other problems, but one musn't be afraid of such.)

5. The carrier's role and weaknesses seem to overlap that of other units
-

6. The carrier's interceptors are too fragile.
Reduced build time or heal.

Also, I agree with maps not being very carrier friendly, or, imho, even especially creative in general right now.
Espion9
Profile Joined March 2010
Canada25 Posts
November 30 2011 00:59 GMT
#95
Nice read. I would take fixed carriers over any of the current protoss units announced for Hots. It's sad to see such an iconic unit get removed without even an attempt to fix it.
liberal
Profile Joined November 2011
1116 Posts
November 30 2011 01:11 GMT
#96
I think Blizzard should keep a few terrible units in the game just for their potential BM factor.

As in, "lol MC massed carriers against IdrA and made him rage quit!"

Because I mean personally, the scout is more iconic to me than the carrier
avilo
Profile Blog Joined November 2007
United States4100 Posts
November 30 2011 01:22 GMT
#97
The carrier is good, people are too mystified to build them though.
Sup
Nymbul
Profile Joined July 2011
United Kingdom127 Posts
November 30 2011 01:25 GMT
#98
On November 30 2011 05:05 Mikelius wrote:
Other than the fact that there has not been even one incentive to try and use the Carrier by means of a patch at all, the Tempest doesn't even remotely fulfill the Carrier's role.

The tempest is pretty much a glorified Corsair with a ground attack and no disruption web, meant to kill clumped up air units, while the Carrier is made to provide some form of aerial siege technology like Brood Lords.

In BW they were my favorite units, now only see WhiteRa and HongUn use them once in a while.


I don't understand the Mothership removal either. It seems like players are finally playing around with it and we're seeing some very interesting tactics and then it's gone....

Nothing is final though I suppose. I'm still expecting the replicator to get axed, it just doesn't feel organic to Protoss. They're the most technologically advanced race. It's said in game and they know it, why would they copy in their eyes lesser races.
emc
Profile Joined September 2010
United States3088 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-11-30 01:29:21
November 30 2011 01:28 GMT
#99
the carrier wasn't micro friendly in BW either, I don't understand the difference here.

The carrier literally hasn't changed, the only difference is that the game engine changed. So, blizzard wants to add in a unit that will benefit more from the new game engine and give some power back to protoss air.

But there was another thread claiming that all of the air problems in this game stem from vikings which is partly true, at least in the case of TvP it certainly is.
acidstormy
Profile Joined January 2011
United States191 Posts
November 30 2011 01:31 GMT
#100
Thanks for analyzing this! I usually get carriers late game becuase i assume they are tier 3 and should be amazing units, but they don't really do that much now that i think of it. I think its better to stick with HT and mothership
Its like trying to find a needle in a stack of needles
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 14 15 16 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
OSC
13:00
King of the Hill #261
EmpressLilyy20
Liquipedia
GSL
11:00
2026 GSTL: Main Stage Day 4
IntoTheiNu 1196
CranKy Ducklings SOOP183
Classic 57
Rogue 51
Cure 37
Rex36
Solar (SOOP)26
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Classic 57
Rogue 51
Cure 37
Rex 36
Solar (SOOP) 26
SHIN 13
Trap 13
Zoun (SOOP) 10
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 42198
Calm 8843
Bisu 2630
Shuttle 1791
Horang2 811
EffOrt 579
Jaedong 479
BeSt 435
Light 417
Mini 357
[ Show more ]
Larva 277
Soulkey 234
Rush 219
Stork 213
Snow 203
Hyuk 185
Mong 178
Dewaltoss 139
Zeus 96
Sea.KH 75
Leta 71
Mind 61
Pusan 59
Killer 44
ToSsGirL 36
Barracks 36
soO 26
Free 25
Aegong 22
Hm[arnc] 21
Sexy 16
sorry 15
Noble 15
SilentControl 15
Shine 15
Terrorterran 14
Sacsri 14
ajuk12(nOOB) 12
zelot 12
Rock 3
NotJumperer 2
Icarus 2
Dota 2
Gorgc3682
qojqva1958
Dendi1295
syndereN315
Counter-Strike
olofmeister1477
zeus152
markeloff119
Other Games
singsing1713
B2W.Neo767
hiko545
Lowko349
Sick125
OGKoka 123
RotterdaM99
Mew2King68
ArmadaUGS34
QueenE25
Organizations
StarCraft: Brood War
Kim Chul Min (afreeca) 809
[ Show 11 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Nemesis2208
• Jankos1343
• TFBlade625
Upcoming Events
PiGosaur Cup
10h 43m
Kung Fu Cup
21h 43m
Replay Cast
1d 10h
The PondCast
1d 20h
IntoTheTV X SOOP
2 days
CranKy Ducklings
3 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
OSC
4 days
Afreeca Starleague
5 days
Soma vs Shuttle
BeSt vs Rush
WardiTV Weekly
5 days
[ Show More ]
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
Leta vs ggaemo
Jaedong vs Queen
GSL
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

BSL 2026 LAN: Kraków
PiG Sty Festival 8.0
Light Tournament 2026

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
K-JUNGMAN
ASL Season 22
Super Anchor Qualifying S3
CSL 2026 AUTUMN (S22)
RSL Revival: Season 6
Big Dog Cup 2026 Div 1
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
Esports World Cup 2026: LCQ
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026

Upcoming

Acropolis #5
Acropolis #5 - TRS
Escore Tournament S3: King of Kings
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Acropolis #5 - GSA
Acropolis #5 - GSB
Acropolis #5 - GSC
HSC XXX
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
Calamity Invitational
BLAST Rivals Fall 2026
IEM Beijing 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
1win Private Club #2
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
1win Private Club #1
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.