Following last week’s somewhat boring Q&A, this week’s session is much more interesting. Posted by Karune, Blizzard’s RTS community manager, it features answers regarding important gameplay mechanics and other issues fans have been inquiring about for a long time.
Even the “Chat with Devs” section brings up an interesting dilemma:

Chat with Devs: The StarCraft II team is trying out what it would be like to have the Ghost as a Tier 1.5 unit without stealth, keeping the stealth ability as an upgrade at a later Tier.

This will be quite interesting since their snipe ability could provide much support to a group of Marines, picking off key units such as Medics, Templars, etc.

This will surely make Ghosts appear in more games, even 1v1s, and increase the available number of infantry units the Terran can normally field. Will they be useful inside a Bunker?
On to the Q&A!

1) Will there be Vespene Gas deposits that yield better rates, the same as yellow crystals?


It is very likely that there will be higher yield Vespean Gas deposits, though we are being very careful in balancing this, since gas collection is based on a more linear rate of collection (3 collectors) versus mineral collection.

Interesting news. This creates even more options and decisions for players to make in every match of StarCraft 2. Do you expand to the natural, easily defendable, normal-resources expansion, or do you risk taking over one of the higher quality expansions, either with yellow crystals or the higher quality Vespene deposits? Such a decision could affect gameplay directly, especially if you have to choose an expansion with just one of the two higher quality resources.
Traditionally, in StarCraft 1, more mineral resources would allow a player to create a large army of basic units, and use his gas to upgrade their abilities. On the other hand, a player who takes hold of gas reserves could tech up quickly and field high end units.

2) What happens if you initiate the warp-in of a Protoss Stalker but the pylon providing power is destroyed before warp-in completes?

If you lose the pylon providing power for the unit warping in, you will lose that unit, and the purchasing credits will likely be refunded.

Is a harsher penalty not warranted? If you manage to successfully cut off Pylon power while your enemy’s units are warping in, why not punish him accordingly and take away his spent credits?

3) Could the Colossus be transported by the Phase Prism, since the Prism’s crystal can turn any matter into energy?

Yes, the new Phase Prism now transports by changing the unit they wish to transport into energy, which is stored in the Phase Prism for transport. This allows the Phase Prism to be able to transport even gigantic units such as the Colossus.

Previously, Blizzard had stated that the Colossus could not be transported in any way. In fact, this is one of the main issues players have with it replacing the Reaver, as it could never fill its infamous role, sneaking up behind enemy territory and devastating the worker line in seconds. This opens up new options for the Colossus - an already mobile unit, capable of traversing physical obstacles few units can manage. We are left to wonder whether Phase Prisms will still be able to “carry” Colossi in energy form in the final game, an ability that might prove to be extremely powerful.
Another consideration, now that the Colossus is transportable, regards the Thor - another unit that we’ve been told is too large to be transported. Now that transporting huge units is fair game, we expect a similar solution to come up for the Terran as well. Perhaps a Dropship could could give up its entire cargo space for the Thor, which it would lift, tied to its hull?

4) What happens if a Terran Battlecruiser targets a Protoss Stalker with the Yamato Cannon but the Stalker blinks away before the shot is completed?

Currently, the shot from the Yamato Cannon will still track and hit the Protoss Stalker.

Yamato shots used to track fleeing StarCraft 1 units to infinite distances, and this will not change in StarCraft 2.

5) Will Dark Templars be invisible when warping in, or susceptible to attack for a few seconds before it fades out?

No, currently the Dark Templar will be invisible the instant it begins to warp-in, though of course we are still testing this for balance as it makes the Dark Templar quite strong in back door drops.

Another way for the Protoss to disrupt their enemy’s economy easily. Making the Dark Templar visible and vulnerable for a brief period while materializing would make for a good gameplay mechanic, however.

6) Do the bunkers have any visual indication as to whether or not they’re occupied?

Currently the bunkers do not have any visual indications to whether it is occupied or not, but this is something we would like to change.

That’s it for this week’s excellent update, which somewhat compensates for the lack of news recently. Where’s our new unit page, Blizzard?


From the Starcraft 2 Blog.

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