It’s that time of the week again. Another Q&A batch from Karune, Blizzard’s RTS community manager / superstar, has been posted on Battle.net.

First up, an explosive “Chat with Devs” section that puts the rest of the answers to shame:

Chat with Devs: The Thor has been the unit that just hasnt quite fit in, in terms of role, but it might have found its own little place it can call home. After the Devs tried out several things with the Thor, including making it a super unit, they have now decided to have it replace the Cobra, as the heavy and air unit counter. Additionally, they may be adding a new mechanic, in which the Thor will need to be killed twice, once to make it immobilized, due to its large size, and then the second time to kill it for good. When immobilized, the Thor will still be able to fire at ground and air units. Additionally, while the Thor is immobilized, a SCV can repair it back to full health, having it regain mobility.

A lot has changed since we’ve last heard of the Thor. Back then, the Thor’s role overlapped too much with other Terran units, and the devs considered changing it radically or even cutting it completely from the game. In the same Q&A batch, the Cobra had also undergone an important change – the Protoss Statis Orb’s old slowing weapon was given to it – which left its old role, as a “heavy and air unit counter”, unoccupied.

It looks like the Thor will now function as a super-heavy, hard hitting mech that is hard to take down. While it will likely be relatively slow, once it gets to a position, the enemies of the Terran will have a hard time budging it – perhaps even more so if it ends up getting its “extra life” as a heavy turret.

On to the Q&A:

1. Will there be a way for fan sites to parse replays uploaded to their website so they can pull information such as race, player names, map, etc.?

 

Exact details have not been finalized, but we do plan to create a much more robust way of being able to search and share replays in game.

2. The Soul Hunter was considered a good counter unit against the Zerg; why did you remove the Soul Hunter from StarCraft II?

 

 

There were a couple of reasons, but one of the more important ones is that it was difficult to make it easily readable in big battles when the Soul Hunter had upgraded. Another reason is that this unit was way too targeted against the Zerg, since they have so many low hit point units, as opposed to other factions.

3. Has the Merc Haven been removed since the Reaper is built from the Barracks? If so, whats replacing it (if anything)?

 

 

The Merc Haven has been brought back in for the current build. It currently needs a Factory as a prerequisite, and is a prerequisite building to build Reapers from the Barracks.

We have a feeling this is going to change again. Currently, to build Reapers, the Terran player has to build a Barracks, then a Factory, and then a Merc Haven to be able to recruit Reapers from the Barracks.

4. Will “Unlockable Content” be included with the game, such as Art Packs, Secret Maps and Missions, Extra Units, and Special Sounds and Movies?

 

 

We are exploring the possibility of having various types of art unlockables, which may include some in-game decals.

5. Is it possible to build Phase Cannons, turn them into energy and then move them across the map to your opponents base or an expansion, redeploying them using a Phase Prism?

 

Yes, this tactic will be possible.

We already knew that. In fact, we knew MORE about the Phase Cannons from the previously given answer:

5) Will phase cannons dissipate if they travel outside influence of pylon matrix?

 

 

No, phase cannons will not be destroyed if they travel outside of pylon power. However, phase cannons caught outside of pylon power will still be able to move but will also be stuck in energy form. They cannot redeploy until they are back in range of pylon power. Also, while in energy form, phase cannons have no shields and are extremely vulnerable to enemy fire.

6. How does a Zerg Overlord fly?

 

 

To fly, the Zerg Overlord uses gas sacs (filled with helium) combined with a weak telekinetic psi-ability for lift and motive power.

Well, we’re glad they cleared that up.

Related Posts:

• » Two Massive Q&A Sessions: Battle.Net and Beta In-Depth
• » StarCraft 2 Beta: Protoss Strategies Overview
• » StarCraft 2 Beta: Yo Mommaship Got Nerfed
• » One Week Into The StarCraft 2 Beta: New Patch, Blizzcast

20 Comments to “Q&A 24: The Thor’s New Role and the Reaper’s New Home”

1. Lonia — December 15, 2007 @ 10:44 am
   

   Woot. Building a reaper will be pain in the ass if final version follows the same tree

2. SikTh — December 15, 2007 @ 11:35 am
   

   Why do they keep answering the same questions repeatedly? And why are you the only ones who call them on that?
   Thanks for the extra information.

3. Perspektyva — December 15, 2007 @ 4:23 pm
   

   Well, I believe the reapers will be worth the wait, considerng the demolition charge doesn’t ger butchered in some horrible way…

4. i luv guardians — December 15, 2007 @ 11:50 pm
   

   as if the thor is not powerful enuff

5. Eros — December 16, 2007 @ 6:18 am
   

   i luv guardians

   WORD.

   C’mon, a double die unit that can be fully repaired that has an extremelly hard-to-resist firepower? Worse, unlimited builds? Bring the Tempest back for the Protoss and we would be discussing superunits (as if there wouldnt be enough already).
   And i want 300hp z’lings too please..

   -.-

6. jibbiajabba — December 16, 2007 @ 11:37 am
   

   Finally the siege tank reclaims it’s role as a heavy pusher. As for the Thor, I think it’s a good idea to make it a heavy anti-air so that it balances against the anti-ground of the Mothership.

7. Lonia — December 16, 2007 @ 11:53 am
   

   We should all know that in order to make 50 zillion thor or mothership or even carriers, one should better have 250 f!@#$ bases to fund this massive forces. Or better able to withstand 6 lings pressure in 3 min of the game.

8. Arthur Santana — December 16, 2007 @ 4:44 pm
   

   Exactly what I was wishing the Thor to become =)

9. Ken — December 16, 2007 @ 4:51 pm
   

   wait,wait,wait let me get this straight.. So the Cobra is out now? what will replace the vulture? I hope the Thor becomes slower in turn…

   And clearing the phase cannon’s issue is good. That the only good question asked in this batch!

   And who asked the number 5 question about the overlord?!? that is the stupidest question i have ever heard in history of SC!

10. Eros — December 17, 2007 @ 6:36 am
    

    Ken, did you end up seeing the question about “What do the protoss eat?” or something?
    THAT was WORSE!

11. Jebbou — December 17, 2007 @ 10:32 am
    

    “decided to have it replace the Cobra, >> as the heavy and air unit counter << ”

    Most likely that the cobra’s role is changed to something more appropriate, such as peon raiding. I found it weird when they announced that the cobra became the anti-air+heavy. I hope they do something neat with it though, since they wont have the mine laying ability of the Vulture.

    As for the Thor, although I really like the unit design, I am not fond of any of the roles it’s been given so far. The first one seemed more appropriate, but overlaps the Siege Tank role, whereas the new one seems a bit .. uninteresting. (even with the “extra life”).

12. brainless — December 17, 2007 @ 11:53 am
    

    i wonder would thor still be able to turn after being immobilized….either make the turning speed slower or cannot turn at all…

13. Kane — December 17, 2007 @ 12:09 pm
    

    I agree, making it unable to turn would be pretty cool.

    Terran stuff that does a lot of damage to heavy or air units should have a lot of guns, like the Thor. It would look weird coming from the Cobra…

14. MechaBeast — December 17, 2007 @ 1:48 pm
    

    So… does that mean that the Thor artillary bombardment no longer exists?

    Also I’m hoping that the Thor’s Air attack is an AoE effect, which seems to be the terrans weak point at the moment. Plus, I’d like to see the Thor have an AAA flak cannon animation for its attack.

15. i luv guardians — December 18, 2007 @ 3:09 am
    

    if terran has this super thor, protoss has this super mothership then zerg has to have the torrasque buildable. (the torrasque is the hero version of ultralisks that really kicks asses in sc 1. i mean not even 5 siege tanks and bunkers can stop it) if u nid something to recall, play ‘to chain the beast’ of broodwar

16. i luv guardians — December 18, 2007 @ 3:17 am
    

    since the thor is so powerful now, bring back the original mothership powers, charge up all the thor’s powers to the maximum and set these 2 as super units that can only be built once sorta like heroes in warcraft.

17. Eros — December 18, 2007 @ 11:10 am
    

    Yeah… MOTHERSHIP RULES! o/
    Torrasque, i remember it!

    PS: answering to “i luv guardians”

18. thor pwns — January 5, 2008 @ 3:08 pm
    

    i highly doubt that thor will be unbalanced in the game, so it wont be a super ownage unit

19. George Millency — January 18, 2008 @ 10:05 am
    

    I am a developer of starcraft, i will ask you to delete this site, for it’s illegal info posting…

20. Protoss Pwns — January 19, 2008 @ 7:11 pm
    

    George Millency, Gtfo.