Dustin “Cavez” Browder, StarCraft 2′s lead designer, has posted a few new details about two units we’ve been hearing a lot about lately: The Thor and the Nomad.

Before getting to the meaty part, Cavez mentions that the Cobra is out of the game completely.

The Cobra is out, the Thor is in, but it’s not a “replacement” in the ways you guys are thinking of it since the Cobra and the Thor do such very different things.

Goodbye, Cobra, and see you in the map editor.

This is what Cavez had to say about the Thor:

But here’s what I can tell you about the Thor in the current build:

 

- He is big, but the art is smaller than what we showed in the last demo, so he takes up less space and he can path a little better.
- He turns fairly quickly. Turn speed is not a balance factor.
- He has a lot of health (400 right now).
- He’s not super expensive (250/200 right now).
- He has a good bonus vs. armored units on the ground and he tends to waste a lot of damage on small units.
- His AA missiles are effective but not crushing. You can over-whelm him with enough air. His pathing size does limit his mobility when trying to chase fast moving air units.
- His shoulder guns are not currently in opperation. If we keep the current design the art will change.
- He does great against Stalkers, and several secret Terran and Zerg units. He also does well against most (but not all) air units.
- He is balanced so that if you kill him and then leave him disabled while he burns down you will do pretty well. If you fight both the Thor and the Disabled Thor then things tend to go pretty well for the Thor (for cost).
- The current Thor is countered by range, mobility or certain powerful anti-armor units.

Right now he’s kind of fun. I don’t know if he’s fun enough for StarCraft 2 or not. That will take a few more weeks at least.

The Thor has gone through a lot of changes already, and we doubt this will be the last. Currently, it seems that Blizzard is gearing the Thor to function as an anti-tank tank. He will be useful against large, armored targets – both in the air and in the ground – but will no longer have a long range attack and the barrage artillery ability.

An interesting twist is the new dead-but-not-dead mechanic, which will give the Thor an “extra life” as an immobilized turret. Balancing the unit to the point where it is cost effective when used fully (until its second death) but not so when only killed once and left to rot is a new, interesting concept. Of course, leaving an undead Thor lying on the battlefield might mean you will have to face him again after an SCV fixes him up to full health.

If there’s one thing we’re going to miss about the old Thor, though, it’s this:

Moving on, the Nomad:

Yeah, we’re still working on the specifics on this guy. For those of you who made it to BlizzCon you saw some of the ideas that are in the works but things have changed a bit since then.

 

The Science Vessel abilities are great but we are trying to provide new strategies as well. We’ll have to see what happens with the specifics on the Nomad as we continue to test. The Nomad is starting to feel pretty different from the Sci-Vessel since his abilities are based around constructing things and those things can be destroyed.

 

EMP is in the current build of the game. Irradiate is not, nor is the old style D-Matrix.

 

Irradiate isn’t gone, it’s just “Not in right now.” Those are very different places to be. I can’t tell you how many times EMP has come and gone only to come back again.=)

We have recently discussed the issues of the old Science Vessel’s abilities in the post about the Nomad’s new official page. Nothing has changed since, but Cavez is hinting that Irradiate might possibly return in some form, like the EMP and the altered Defensive Matrix.

Irradiate or not, the Nomad is shaping up to be a crucial unit for the Terran race.

More than 2 weeks have passed since the last unit update on StarCraft2.com. Today’s update deals with one of the units with knew the least about – the Terran Nomad.

Builds From: Starport
Armament: None
Role: Battlefield Support/Construction

The Nomad is, basically, a poor-man’s Science Vessel. Not as sophisticated or pretty, but it does the job of providing detection and other support functions to the Terran army.

The TF-620 nomad is an all-around workhorse that combines the functions of light manufacturing center and observation post rolled into one. A common sight among the fringe-world colonies, the nomad is a robust, air-mobile vehicle built to operate independently in all but the harshest climates. Although the nomad shares a number of common traits with its smaller cousin, the SCV, the nomad is a far more specialized and advanced engineering craft.

* Click for big

The Nomad has a new, distinct ability: it can create various types of turrets and immediately drop them on the battlefield. Currently, we only know of one turret variant: the Auto-Turret.

The mechanics for creating the turret are not yet clear, but we speculate that they might be similar to the way Carriers build interceptors and Reavers build Scarabs. These are manufactured inside the unit, for a cost of minerals, and are then available to be used in combat. However, Karune has mentioned that the Auto-Turrets rely on energy only:

The turrets are dropped by the Nomad (using energy), acting as decent defenses, and even better harassment, if used by a skilled player.

Can the Nomad instantly create its special turrets and drop them on the battlefield without delay? We hope this question gets addressed in a future Q&A batch. Also, since the Nomad is described as a more advanced SCV, another important question to be asked is whether it will be able to repair Terran units and buildings.

* Click for big

The Terran Dominion initially provided nomads to give low-level protection to its most isolated outposts, typically manning them with local civilians as something akin to a volunteer fire truck or ambulance service. Over time the military support applications of the nomad have seen it deployed in escalating levels of conflict, gradually replacing the older and vastly costlier science vessel.

The old Science Vessel, a Terran favorite when fighting the Zerg, is out. Can the Nomad provide an adequate replacement? The Science Vessel had many useful qualities and abilities:

• Detection
• Irradiate
• Defensive Matrix
• EMP Shockwave

As of the last update, the Nomad only has two of these – Detection and Defensive Matrix. EMP Shockwave has been relegated to the Ghost, and that leaves one, very important ability orphaned: Irradiate. Irradiate is a devastating ability when used against the Zerg, since all their units are organic, but it’s also a good weapon to have against a Templar-happy Protoss player. In fact, Irradiate was one of the main reasons Terran players teched-up to Science Vessels in StarCraft matches.

Will it be given to the Nomad? Will the new offensive turrets make up for its absence? Will it be added to the Super-Ghost‘s arsenal? Time will tell.

Goodbye, Science Vessel!

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.

This month’s discussion starts a bit later than usual, even though the subject it deals with is much more expansive than the last one. Karune, Blizzard’s RTS community manager, has posted the new topic on battle.net. Here’s his introduction:

As everyone has already seen, StarCraft II has brought the world of StarCraft into 3D and added many new units, landscapes, and effects that have never been seen before. On this journey of consistent artistic evolution, we have seen Warp Rays changed to escort ships, the infamous Carrier brought back into action, and even the Siege Tank get a makeover. There is still much left to this artistic journey and now is the community’s chance to let us know what you love about StarCraft II visually and what you would change.

All three of the changes Karune mentions were brought by after specific feedback by Blizzard fans, posted on our blog and in their forums. The Carrier had been missed and was brought back into the foreground in place of the Warp Ray, while the Siege Tank’s old look was promptly changed after receiving more negative feedback than the decision to start the Iraq war.

Here’s your chance to influence Blizzard developers and get your input into StarCraft 2 again, in this discussion topic that deals with the game’s artistic direction. Apparently, the transformation of unit roles and their redesigns (Warp Rays, Carriers) are fair game as well, so take that into account when answering. Here are this month’s official questions:

* Do you like the new look of the landscapes?

 

* How does the Terran faction look visually?

 

* How does the Protoss faction look visually?

 

* Additional Feedback you would like to give

Additionally, here are the SC2 Blog’s questions for this topic:

1) Are you satisfied with the general artistic direction of the units in the game, which are mostly comprised of 3D versions of the old designs?

 

2) Do you feel that the new look, compared to StarCraft 1, is more, less, or equally “cartoony”?

 

3) Which of the returning units from StarCraft 1 has received the best StarCraft 2 design? Which is the worst?

We know these are tough questions, but Blizzard needs its community now more than ever. Go forth and provide your most eloquent responses – in the manner requested by Karune:

Please structure feedback as follows:

—–

<question you’d like to answer>
<your answer>

<question you’d like to answer>
<your answer>

All of your comments will be sent to Blizzard – the feedback you provide shapes the game you’ll end up playing, and your opinion matters now more than ever.