Question Thread for Joneagle_X

lol @ 1n5anity,

Thanks for the chuckle.

Overlord speed doesn't affect DTs as they're no longer detectors. The Zerg has to pay 50/150 to evolve an Overseer which is then vulnerable to Phoenix targeting. Much easier to use DTs against Zerg.

Also, frankly, at this point I would never use HTs to form Archons as they're so much more expensive, 125/50 versus 50/150 (maybe 50/200? Not sure. Unless ofc you're just burning gas off and in that case you're using it for the wrong purpose).

And Archons are just plain nasty as units stack much more closely meaning their splash damage just annihilates melee units even worse. It's great against Zealots upgraded with Charge. Support your Archons with your own Zealots w/ Charge and that battle is over in seconds. 1-2 Archons can seriously flip flop a battle in PvP. Archons are now useful in any matchup (they weren't all that useful PvT before, mostly just as a residual for HTs that were out of energy).

 

Okay...now what is your favorite tactic playing as Terran vs. Protoss?

 

As Terran I like to use a variety of units. It really depends on the P's tactics what you should try to use. Infantry is a good way to go as the Protoss is going to have a harder time countering you all that effectively. Marauders do very well against Stalkers and they hold their own cost v cost against Colossus. It's when you get Colossus against Marines or Hellions that you're really in trouble. I try to avoid using Hellions at all (despite being tempting against Zealots) because the Marauder is much more effective without having to tech up the tree.

So against Protoss the Marauders are really a lot more important than the Marines. Use Marines only as a meatshield and damage booster for your Marauders.

I also think Siege Tanks are key to defending against cliff attacks from Colossus and Stalkers but Tanks should really only be used sparingly because you don't want to end up with 12 tanks against a bunch of Immortals. Then you're right back to relying on infantry.

What I've found is a really useful combo is to go Marauder/Marine at a ratio of almost 1:1 and then go for Thors and Ghosts with EMP. If you EMP a Colossus (or any Protoss unit) and then quickly focus-fire on it there's not much they can do. The Thors provide very nice damage support without being too immobile like the Siege Tank. Be sure to protect your Thors though because they're just like your opponents' Colossus, strong but slow and vulnerable solo.

The Banshees and Vikings are also useful but I find it difficult to keep both tech trees going at the same time. You can use Vikings as support for Banshees (as well as an optional ground force) and use your Banshees to take out any Stalkers (although cloaking is necessary to really counter Stalkers well at all. Those free hits while the Observer shows up are essential).

The important thing as Terran is to aggressively push your expansions. This is true against both races but especially Protoss. Expanding and utilizing the Planetary Fortress upgrade at strategic locations is absolutely devastating to your opponent as you hardly have to defend your base at all. Simply set it up and start mining. It takes such a significant force to bring one of these down that it's worth it for you to build it even if there's a good chance it will be destroyed simply because of the amount of damage it will inflict. Just set your SCVs to auto-repair while they're mining and they will instantly start repairing the CC if it's attacked.

As a side note auto-repair is always good to have activated on a few SCVs as you can simply send a damaged unit over to your mineral line and it'll be automatically repaired. Just keep your eye out for those idle SCVs once the repair is finished.

 

Awesome thanks man. I can't freaking wait to play this game.

 

Would you suggest a new air unit for the zerg? Apparently, they only have 3, and mutalisks are pretty much useless now.

 

Well let's compare it to Terran...

Viking

Battlecruiser

Banshee

Raven

and their "rough" counterparts

Corruptor

Mutalisk

Brood Lord

Overseer

...

While I think it's possible that some of the capabilities of Zerg air need to be shifted around, I don't think they need a new air unit. The Corruptor is more than capable of taking down capital ships on a budget.

What the Zerg does need is to have the Brood Lord evolve (possibly) from the Mutalisk instead of the Corruptor.

 

Would it be reasonable to give the overseer some self-defense, seeing that it's expensive and the only air/mobile detector? Maybe he should have an ability to increase his defense up to 10 (or so) for a matter of time so he can withstand enemy attacks, or even an ability mirroring irradiate to withstand any M&M, seeing as its very popular.

I want the overseer to at least have some attacks as the raven has 2, and a simple spore cloud to block ground unit's sight is NOT enough.

 

Did you see anyone effectively using the reaper during blizzcon? When is it important, and as a new unit does it fit into the game nicely, or is it just kind of there?

 

@ Cabbage,

It wouldn't really be appropriate to give the Overseer an attack. An offensive ability like it's new swarm thing is about the best I think you could hope for. You have to remember that the Zerg are not about individual strength but the presence of numbers. So if you look at it that way the Overseer is a match for the Raven in that it has a more subtle effect but when employed en masse achieves the same advantage but in a different way. That goes for comparing all the Zerg units to other air units.

A common theme for the Zerg is that their effects often help to make other units more effective. Case in point is the Devourer in SC:BW which negated all armor values up to 9. So a unit with 9 armor (fully upgraded Battlecruiser) would be extremely vulnerable to a combination of Devourers and Mutalisks.

@ SarkFall,

I used the Reapers quite a bit. Very useful early and mid game. Though I'm sure an adaptation could be found for late game play as well. It's a great harasser unit but also posses the bonus of micro-ability. It's tough to mass produce this unit as it requires extra Barracks tech and can't be built from the Reactor but it's D-8 charges, once researched, are devastating.

I routinely utilized the Reaper as a Wall unit, using it's superior range (7) and it's D-8 charges to hold off vastly superior numbers of Zealots, Zerglings, and even larger units like Hydralisks. In addition you can use the Reaper as the ultimate harass unit. The cliffing ability gives it so much versatility. You can literally take your opponent's choke from him by force by hopping up behind him and then shooting down from his own ramp. The line of sight changes of Starcraft 2 in play again.

The D-8 charges are also devastating against SCVs and buildings, but are most effective in delaying your attacker's ability to defend against your Reaper strike. Since the D-8s cannot be destroyed but instead have a timer before they blow, you can essentially make an area of ground inaccessible to your opponent less he lose his entire force trying to cross the mines.

It's very similar to the Vulture's spider mine attacks except that the mines are invulnerable and are therefore more effective later in the game.

In essence, the Reaper is a powerful unit when utilized correctly but does not stand up well in toe-to-toe skirmishes except situationally (i.e. against Zerglings, Marines, and Zealots).

 

hg

 

Hey, the only reason why spidermines didn't attack was because the units were hovering. So obviously the charges still damage everything near it, even cloaked units, as splash damage still affects them.

 

The charges are simply on a timer. So units don't set it off. Any ground unit in the area when they go off will take damage.

 

they do terrible, terrible damage

 

Actually, I'm not really sure how much damage they do, but it's enough to start that phrase.

Anyways, Jon, is there a cool down on when you can throw another charge?

 

Yup. It's a cooldown ability. About 10-15 seconds.

 

The blink ability for the stalker needs to be activated right?

 

Yes, it's a researched ability.

 

No, I meant activated ability, as in the ability needs to be pressed (for example, the yamato cannon) and left-clicked somewhere to where it will blink to.

 

*I think He also meant that and just added the info that its a researched ability.

Random Q: Is there a protoss afterlife?

 

Yes, it has to be "activated" or cast... just like any other ability ever...