A new StarCraft 2 gameplay video has surfaced on YouTube, featuring a late game battle between two opposing Terran armies. The forces mainly consist of Thors, Siege Tanks, Battlecrusiers, and a single Banshee. The video exposes new facets of the StarCraft 2 Terran race, which we will explore here.

Thors are used as all-rounded units and are produced in relatively large numbers. Although they were recently relegated to an anti-air role, they are clearly capable in most battlefield situations. The Thors have massive amounts of hitpoints and long range attacks for both ground and air targets, making them valuable for just about any situation. In the video, they can even be seen functioning as damage tanks - even for Siege Tanks themselves!

As has previously been mentioned, the Thors aren’t destroyed immediately when taking enough damage, but instead become wreckages - which stay immobilized on the battlefield, stuck until the player repairs them. It’s not clear whether the repairs are undertaken by SCVs or if the Thor can be “revived” by a click of a button (and some resources). At the 3:57 time point, A Thor wreckage can clearly be seen coming back to life without an SCV working on it.

Siege Tanks, on the other hand, seem somewhat inadequate when facing Thors. The relatively large amount of artillery damage, which usually stops most attackers in their tracks, isn’t enough to deter even a small force of Thors. Do the Terran possess any other means of stopping Thors, aside from even more Thors?

The answer is yes. Like the Thor, the Battlecruiser is an all-rounded unit - possessing the same qualities of the Thor, but in flying form, and with additional powerful offensive abilities. The videoed game seems to revolve around just these two units - a bit disappointing for a game of StarCraft. Hopefully, this battle doesn’t represent the typical Terran versus Terran endgame in StarCraft 2.

Other notable things in the video are the harassing Banshee, which tries to hunt down enemy SCVs, new voices for it and a few other units, and a couple of Medivac Dropships that are aimlessly flying around, as no infantry units are present. The Banshee is seen firing its new focused, non-AoE attack for the first time. At the moment, it seems a bit feeble.

This game likely doesn’t represent the full gamut of effective play styles for the Terran race, focusing solely on the two heavy hitters. Hopefully, even though the Battlecruiser and Thor appear to be extremely well-rounded and powerful, they are not the only late game options available for Terran players.

Karune, Blizzard’s Official RTS Community Manager, has released a third batch of answers, giving rest to a few myths and answering other interesting questions:

1)What is the role of heroes in StarCraft II? Will they be the same as in StarCraft?

 

StarCraft II campaign heroes will fulfill roles similar to what appeared in the original StarCraft single player experience, but they will have even more unique abilities from standard units, and will be more innovatively integrated into the story campaign. Heroes will not be buildable in multiplayer.

Heroes drastically change the balance of a multiplayer match, and can interfere with the core StarCraft gameplay that SC players have come to expect from StarCraft 2. For many, this confirmation brings a sigh of relief.

2)What is the max unit count population for each faction?

 

Unit population count for each faction will be very similar to the original StarCraft.

This echoes what Chris Sigaty, Lead Designer for SC2, has said in the leaked GFW interview.

3)Will there be an in-game option to change hotkeys around?

 

Currently it is planned to have this feature, though much testing has yet to be done on it. We are looking into several innovative ways to make the UI customizable to players, to allow flexibility in their style of game play.

Good news, no doubt. StarCraft’s hectic pace requires expert players to become intimately familiar with the keyboard shortcuts. This will allow all players to have a greater degree of control over the game.

4)Is Karunes Battle.net Forum Avatar a Protoss High Templar?

 

Yes it is.

5)Will the Robotics Facility have a similar upgrade to the Warp Gate allowing it to warp units in?

 

There are no plans for this at the moment. Currently Warping technology is limited to the Warp Gate. Of course, we are still testing and balancing this, and nothing is set in stone.

The Reavers will have to get to the field the old fashioned way, it seems.

These Q&A updates are now appearing weekly. The Official Unofficial Starcraft 2 Blog has sent its own questions, regarding the Yellow Crystals (a sc2blog exclusive find!), to Karune. We hope to bring you Karune’s official answers by next week!

According to the recent official BlizzCon update, StarCraft 2 will be playable at the upcoming BlizzCon !

Visitors to BlizzCon 2007 will be treated to the first-ever public hands-on with StarCraft II. Demo stations will be set up at the convention, and attendees can sample the new units and gameplay elements for themselves in multiplayer battles. We’re excited to offer this exclusive opportunity to our players, and look forward to seeing you at BlizzCon.

The announcement also means that not only is the 3D engine ripe for simplistic presentations of gameplay, but the game’s mechanics already support multiplayer action, or will at least start supporting it by August 3, 2007.