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The future of the carrier - Page 8

Forum Index > SC2 General
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ArcticRaven
Profile Joined August 2011
France1406 Posts
December 03 2011 22:07 GMT
#141
The carrier, iconic unit ? Maybe. Fix hydras so they are useful, first, then we'll see.
[Govie] Wierd shit, on a 6 game AP winning streak with KOTL in the trench. I searched gandalf quotes and spammed them all game long, trenchwarfare247, whateva it takes!
0neder
Profile Joined July 2009
United States3733 Posts
December 03 2011 22:18 GMT
#142
Well I do agree zerg should have a 1 supply units whether Hydra, roach, or something else. Didn't it feel awesome when Leenock had over a hundred zerglings last night? We need that feel with more than 1 unit.

But you can't say the Carrier isn't iconic either. It's still being used successfully in OSL finals for pete's sake.
cLutZ
Profile Joined November 2010
United States19574 Posts
December 03 2011 22:30 GMT
#143
Carriers could eliminate the need for the tempest if they simply got a new ability: Detonate interceptor.

Clearly the AOE couldn't be Reaver strong, but a nice little burst, on demand, that causes some serious AOE, then your carriers retreat.
Freeeeeeedom
Captain Peabody
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
United States3128 Posts
December 03 2011 23:21 GMT
#144
On December 04 2011 07:30 cLutZ wrote:
Carriers could eliminate the need for the tempest if they simply got a new ability: Detonate interceptor.

Clearly the AOE couldn't be Reaver strong, but a nice little burst, on demand, that causes some serious AOE, then your carriers retreat.

This would be really cool, actually. Press a button, and one of your interceptors suicides into the muta ball.

Anyway, I definitely support the Carrier staying in. It does have a good, unique role, and a good, unique unit design, and with a few tweaks, could actually be quite strong. It would, in fact, be a lot stronger, I think, in conjunction with the Tempest, either as a separate unit, or an ability on the Carrier.

Hear this, Blizzard? Keep the Carrier!
Dies Irae venit. youtube.com/SnobbinsFilms
Kaitokid
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
Germany1327 Posts
December 03 2011 23:25 GMT
#145
It makes me sad that the Carrier will be gone in HotS.. I think its a unit with a lot of potential and its much more interesting than the Tempest in design.
BlueBoxSC
Profile Blog Joined October 2011
United States582 Posts
December 03 2011 23:28 GMT
#146
On December 04 2011 08:21 Captain Peabody wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 04 2011 07:30 cLutZ wrote:
Carriers could eliminate the need for the tempest if they simply got a new ability: Detonate interceptor.

Clearly the AOE couldn't be Reaver strong, but a nice little burst, on demand, that causes some serious AOE, then your carriers retreat.

This would be really cool, actually. Press a button, and one of your interceptors suicides into the muta ball.

Anyway, I definitely support the Carrier staying in. It does have a good, unique role, and a good, unique unit design, and with a few tweaks, could actually be quite strong. It would, in fact, be a lot stronger, I think, in conjunction with the Tempest, either as a separate unit, or an ability on the Carrier.

Hear this, Blizzard? Keep the Carrier!



I actually like the idea of Protoss scourge more than losing the Carrier and getting the ugly Tempest. :<
BwCBlueBox.837
Govou
Profile Joined August 2010
Canada1072 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-12-03 23:59:37
December 03 2011 23:57 GMT
#147
what protos needs isn't massive capital ship

they need cheap, fast build air unit that can be massed. Otherwise, Viking owns them all in terms of cost/time. (and chances are they already have vikings out)

Zerg needs better T1 scout unit and Protos needs better low tech Harass unit. Otherwise, Terrans have away too much versatility and all in attack they can pull. These have been notified time and time again from the launch.


IMO they need to modify phoenix and make it cheaper/weaker and faster built unit in some ways.
stevarius
Profile Joined August 2010
United States1394 Posts
December 04 2011 01:42 GMT
#148
On November 29 2011 22:18 bladesoflight wrote:
by fixing it they are removing it end of thread !

User was warned for this post


I'm surprised this guy was warned when we all know the Carrier is not going to remain because of Blizzard's decision to remove it in HotS. I'd highly doubt they would revert any changes like this.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Mordanis
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States893 Posts
December 04 2011 02:07 GMT
#149
On December 04 2011 10:42 stevarius wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 29 2011 22:18 bladesoflight wrote:
by fixing it they are removing it end of thread !

User was warned for this post


I'm surprised this guy was warned when we all know the Carrier is not going to remain because of Blizzard's decision to remove it in HotS. I'd highly doubt they would revert any changes like this.


Actually originally there were other capital ships for protoss, but everyone went crazy about them removing the carrier so they put it back. One unit that they had to "replace" the carrier was called the tempest and it couldn't shoot air. In short, they have reverted this exact change in the recent past.
I love the smell of napalm in the morning... it smells like... victory. -_^ Favorite SC2 match ->Liquid`HerO vs. SlayerS CranK g.1 @MLG Summer Championship
epi
Profile Joined January 2010
Canada115 Posts
December 04 2011 05:07 GMT
#150
You've identified a lot of the flaws of the carrier, and I agree with them - but many of them were also present in the BW carrier, which suggests, at least to me, that these flaws aren't what's making the carrier unusable in SC2. The problem isn't just one of the many metagame things that people have identified in this thread, but all of them. Consider just how many things had to be just right for the carrier to work in BW.

The carrier was usable in exactly one matchup: PvT. It isn't usable at all PvZ in BW because spire is a standard response to early game corsairs, and scourge counter carriers extremely efficiently. Even without that, the typical Zerg composition involves very large numbers of hydras, which do a pretty good job against interceptors. And even without that, defilers are extremely strong against carriers, making hydras invulnerable to their attacks and getting the most mileage out of their plagues on carriers. It also isn't usable in PvP because the baseline unit in that matchup was the dragoon, and Protoss casters are also strong against carriers. So in two of three matchups the BW carrier is doing no better than the SC2 one.

Now it did work against Terran, but Terran has plenty of units that obliterate carriers. Marines are just as good against interceptors as in SC2. Wraiths, battlecruisers, and goliaths can all hit the carrier and all work pretty well. Why didn't any of these stop it? Let me list the ways.

1. Protoss was too strong against bio to use it. So marines are off the table, because barracks units were just worthless outside of a few offbeat timing attacks.
2. As a design decision, fighter-class air units did not do much damage to ground units, and got extremely hard-countered by dragoons, which were a backbone Protoss unit. So wraiths weren't made, either, and crucially, not starports and no air upgrades, so a switch to wraiths or battlecruisers was not possible.
3. That meant TvP was played exclusively with factory units. Mech pushes are fairly immobile, something the carrier can exploit, and it forced Terran players to use the goliath against carriers - arguably one of the weaker options in isolation.
4. The goliath is a ground unit with poor pathfinding, so only as many as can fit on a piece of terrain can shoot at a carrier at once. They are also stopped by cliffs and unwalkable space. Poor pathfinding means that the maximum possible number of goliaths in an area is almost never reached.
5. The goliath has a relatively slow moving projectile. Projectile ranged attacks are weaker against interceptors, especially slow ones, since it typically means that many more projectiles will be launched at an interceptor than are required to kill it. Of all the possible responses to carriers, goliaths are the weakest against interceptors.
6. The goliath costs enough gas and is weak enough against ground that building too many results in being overrun by solely gateway units. The best terran players build almost zero goliaths until they're sure there are carriers or a few arbiters - they'll even bring SCVs and build turrets rather than build goliaths.

So there's six reasons why carriers worked against Terran in BW. Six reasons that contributed to one big weakness, which is what the carrier exploited. The important point is that all six of these reasons had to be true for the weakness to exist and for carriers to work. Change just point 1 - if marines work against Protoss, each of the other points can stay exactly the same and carriers drop out of the metagame completely. Or change point 5 - let's say goliaths used their machine gun against air instead of missiles - and in all likelihood carriers are unusable once again as goliaths mow interceptors out of the sky.

The question isn't about whether we can make the carrier build in 90 seconds, or whether interceptors heal, or how much it helps to have or not have upgrades. Those things are relevant adjustments if the unit itself is already valuable, but they aren't, by themselves, the reason why you do or do not use the unit. In BW PvZ there was no weakness that the carrier could exploit and consequently it found itself unused, even though it was the same unit that Jangbi could use just two of to beat back a mech push in the OSL.

The bottom line: in order for the carrier to be useful, it must either be radically redesigned to exploit an existing weakness, or the rest of the game needs to be adjusted such that a common strategy vs. Protoss becomes weak to carriers where it wasn't before. Anything else isn't enough.
azngunzfoo
Profile Joined August 2010
United States8 Posts
December 09 2011 05:24 GMT
#151
this might actually help out the carrier



the video is of a modded carrier, where someone went into the galaxy editor and changed the mechanics of the carrier
basically, the interceptors are already out and following the carrier (similar to the flyingbroodlings that float with the broodlords)

with what we see inthe video, carriers would be able to be microd more effectively because they could more or less focus fire down units. also, with the interceptors already floating around, they could also be used as extra fodder (units to be attacked by the enemy) so that in fights when people dont focus down the carriers themselves, the carrier would not die as fast.
Selendis
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Australia509 Posts
January 18 2012 18:06 GMT
#152
I couldn't agree more OP.
Probes are sooo OP
Olsson
Profile Joined April 2011
Sweden931 Posts
January 18 2012 18:40 GMT
#153
OP says that roaches have potential to be burrow healed? No they don't so burrow a roach thats on red HP, it will still die due to incoming rounds before it's burrowed and will still take fire because of detection. Meaning it will just burrow and die before getting a last shot off. Burrow at yellow health? It doesnt do any damage what so ever, dps which we need because roaches are low ranged low dps units.

Anyways to the OP. Carriers also counter vikings per supply so yeah FYI.
Naniwa <3
HardlyNever
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
United States1258 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-01-18 18:55:35
January 18 2012 18:54 GMT
#154
On November 29 2011 23:26 Levistus wrote:
Replace the Mothership with the motherfucking Carrier hailing "Carrier has arrived!" to change the tide of battle, which will be the case of the future Thor(Thor is here!). Just make the interceptors invincible or something. I just love the carrier and its interceptors and its "Carrier has arrived" when made. Also they should use broodwar arbiter's voice.



I actually really like this idea. The carrier should be the big tide-turner. Make it like one of the "super class" ships like the Gantrithor was. It could have like 10-12 interceptors, and more armor. Maybe even an attack of its own besides the interceptors (or not, idk).

It is too cool of unit to be replaced so easily. As others have said, they are helping the battlecruiser, but not the carrier!?! Which sounds much more exciting and deep? A unit that launches several other small units that dart in and out, or a unit that shoots one big splash damage shot. It isn't hard. The carrier is a much deeper unit than the tempest, with a lot more potential, if they would just spend some time with it.
Out there, the Kid learned to fend for himself. Learned to build. Learned to break.
Ariuz
Profile Joined October 2011
Germany39 Posts
January 18 2012 20:08 GMT
#155
one of the best threads I`ve ever seen on TL forums, I agree with u in all terms, I just think removing the battlecruser would make more sence, give the carrier a chance! sometimes I use it in lategame PvZ when they have to many broodlords, I just dont really like it that I need to pay for my intercepters and the broodlord gets his broodlings for free.
GhostBusters
Profile Joined July 2010
United States198 Posts
January 18 2012 20:17 GMT
#156
I've always felt like a lot of the big tech3 units in sc2 are countered to easily, with all the bonus dmg to massive or high range. I feel like the carrier is 1 correct buff away from being a good teir3 choice. I think in the lower levels ( non masters + ) it is still viable.
Yut, bellybuttons.
itsjuspeter
Profile Joined November 2010
United States668 Posts
January 18 2012 20:19 GMT
#157
On December 04 2011 07:07 ArcticRaven wrote:
The carrier, iconic unit ? Maybe. Fix hydras so they are useful, first, then we'll see.


This is a thread discussing Carriers, do you go around starting zerg qq everywhere you go?

Anyway,

Carriers are indeed an iconic unit, we saw some of its promise in PvZ, the problem is the usage in PvT where high dps from marines in conjunction with vikings make them unusable unless used in a funky build. Addressing these issues should be the main thing to focus on.
Gladiator6
Profile Joined June 2010
Sweden7024 Posts
January 18 2012 20:28 GMT
#158
Carrier will always have a place in my heart at least, well written topic. Not much to discuss for me since I agree with everything you say, I just hope Blizzards balance team sees this and agree as well. Not a single change happened to carrier in WoL, let's hope HotS will be different in that aspect!
Flying, sOs, free, Light, Soulkey & ZerO
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland26853 Posts
January 18 2012 20:40 GMT
#159
Though I do love carriers, I don't think we should keep them because they are 'iconic'.

The reason they should be kept is that, if they worked like in BW they were a unit that wasn't brilliant A-moved, but was microable and scaled well with skill. Well-microed Carriers in BW were a thing of beauty.

So now we hear that Carriers are gone, and replaced with the Tempest that looks like the definition of an A-move unit that requires next to no ability to use. I would prefer the Carrier to stay and be reworked, but if you [i]are/i] taking it out, replace it with a unit that requires some actual skill at this game to use. It doesn't even counter the thing it's apparently in the game for particularly well - mass mutalisks because it's so far up the Stargate tech path.

Are Blizzard actually consciously trying to make the only viable styles of Protoss turtling into deathballs, or hitting 2 base timings because it sure seems that way?

'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
drop271
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
New Zealand286 Posts
January 18 2012 20:49 GMT
#160
@OP

Where is the 'why' in your article? In making a case for retaining the carrier, which seems to be your central point, you seem to overlook why it should be retained? You do briefly mention sentimentality, canon, and its role in Brood War, but to an extent those are irrelevant. In SC2, is having it important?

The argument you follow with regards the faults of the carrier. Fine. Blizzard know this, thats why they are removing it. How does that relate to your first point?
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