Friday, September 3, 2010

Units That Are A Little Too Good

I'm going to name off a few units which I feel are too strong in specific match-ups. Some are very role specific but dominate the role they play too much, and become impossible to fight against. Be it strong attacks, or abilities.






1. The Viking


This unit is fairly versatile given it's ability to land on cliffs, and exploit certain advantages/disadvantages on certain maps. However, that's not really where the biggest issue lays.


Simply put, this unit dominates to skies too easily. Once a Terran masses enough of them it reaches a critical point where they're just impossible to beat, which absolutely forces you to focus on ground. This can be somewhat problematic in a number of ways, since siege tanks are currently dominating all ground units. See the problem? Sure it may be difficult to reach that point when you're Terran, but if you do the game is almost always in your pocket. Every air unit except vikings are bad against vikings. They're also inexpensive, which means you can mass produce them quite easily. They have insane attack range, which renders a lot of units useless with a bit of micro.


I really feel that Viking range should be reduced by a bit. I'm unsure what other balance changes could be done though since their HP seems fine, and their damage isn't that great until they're in higher numbers.





2. The Colossus


The Colossus can also be a bit of a problem when it comes to ground vs ground battles. Granted colossi are useless without their range upgrade, or sufficient AA support, but once they get it they completely dominate the ground unless up against a tank force. However with good support tanks shouldn't be much of a problem.


A colossus just does too much damage, and it's range is too great. I've lost a lot of battles due there being 1 or 2 colossi on the field under my opponents control. They may cost quite a bit and take up a lot of supply but for their damage output I'd say they more than make up for their price. This unit is literally every Zerg users nightmare, and it's still scary for Terran or Protoss. Bioballs get completely manhandled by a couple of them, and Protoss ground gets completely crushed by them too.


I can admit these units are really bad if they're by themselves though. As are most units though. A good player won't lose his colossi though.






3. The Voidray (The noobs friend)


Generally this unit is bad in small numbers, but that isn't always the case. If you don't scout it for whatever reason, voidrays can completely decimate your base and units in a matter of seconds. Once fully charged a voidray fleet is completely unstoppable unless you're REALLY prepared for a void rush, even then it's difficult depending on which race you are.


The problem is voidrays charge too easily by attacking buildings. Since they are flying units they can avoid any static defense you may have up and can get a free charge from one of your buildings. Then once you come to attack the voidrays, and they melt your army in an instant.


I just really dislike the fact that a handful of these can win someone a game if the other person is caught off guard. I think their charge rate for attacking buildings should be reduced.






4. The Ghost


This unit is pretty good in a multitude of situations due to it's abilities:


EMP


This is really a game breaking ability at the moment. Right now Protoss' hard-counter to tank mass, is Immortals. Which are completely dependent on their shields. One blast from a ghost can render them all useless and they become tank food. I've done it to people, and have had it done to me countless times. It's not just Immortals that suffer too, it's all units that rely on casting spells to be effective.


Snipe


This ability isn't as bad as EMP however it's a devastating spell against Zerg. Zerg has no way to deal with it. Mutalisks become completely obsolete once a couple ghosts are out on the field. That's really my only gripe with snipe at the moment.


Nuke


The only problem with nuke is it's very hard to see the painter. Maybe it's just me, or my settings. But I have a VERY hard time looking for the red dot. Especially in hectic games where I have more than 1-2 bases operating. It's very hard to find where the nuke is going to land.






5. The Baneling



Now before I make any points, I'd like to say that banelings are extremely useless in some situations. I am well aware of this.


Banelings are too good in ZvZ, in fact the matchup almost becomes a coinflip. ZvZ was pretty bad for this in SC:BW, but with the introduction of banelings ZvZ just became a whole lot more hectic and unpredictable. A few banelings can easily wipe out a large attack group of zerglings.

ZvZ has just become so much more one dimensional. It's generally just zerglings/banelings facing off, and whoever gets the lucky pop off wins the game. Sadly I'm unsure how this problem can be resolved. Roaches are a perfect counter to them, but roaches are very slow early game and can easily be out maneuvered. Leaving your mineral line at the mercy of the other player.


42 comments:

http://thelulz4eva.blogspot.com/ said...

Still 2? even call of duty has 5 relase.. lol. just kidding. i played this game with my old ati 3850 hd. it was ok. and you know what best part was? the mini game!!! viking one. btw keep posting. cheers!!!

yoshiface2.blogspot.com said...

Voidrays best get the nerfbat in the next patch or blizzard is going to get some stern emails from me haha :p

Unknown said...

good post
keep it up

Ensine said...

I totally Agree on Vikings and Void Rays, but ghosts are easily countered, collosi are a top tier unit, with no air attack, and banelings kill themselves to do damage.

Liu Xiaorong said...

exactly what i thought about these units, they should definitly tone them down but blizzard is toning down the tanks and bc
which is crazy

http://sc2prostrat.blogspot.com/

Walther said...

Showing some support :)

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Anonymous said...

Supportin!

Slumph said...

1 word.. terraaaann :P

Jimmy Volmer said...

lol, you just made me lol

Mr. Derp said...

Great post.

AlphaDaily said...

great, i'm following you definitely :)

i'm avid starcraft player and moneymaker myself

MTB111 said...

awesome dude, supporting :)

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Alex DeLarge said...

Yes! this is so awesome, great info

Orzo said...

nice post bro, keep up the good work

Much Poopies! said...

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Anonymous said...

Thanks for the information.

Baller said...

omg starcraft 2 is gay. SC 1 was the first and last game of its kind.

Anonymous said...

ghost are fun :D

Jared said...

i hate overpowered stuff in every game. haha, i always hated overpowered classes in MMOs too, such fotm stuff.

화이팅!! said...

cool advice bro !

Light Weight Baby! said...

good post!

Discerning Gentleman said...

that sounds very interesting!

Jimmy Volmer said...

that's an interesting way of looking at it...

Zykei said...

Honestly, competitive SC2 isn't really my thing, I'm more into custom maps ever since WC3. I do agree with your assessment of those units.
Also, I followed ya, come have a look at my blog when you get the chance :)

Slumph said...

get more up, banelings are awesome :D

Silly Old Bum said...

The bug is so cute.


<3
Sillyoldbum

Cryllis said...

Cant wait to get the game!

Aaron said...

nice post..
cumulative sw knowlege

Fancy Picture Man said...

Good to know about these units

BIGPOPPA said...

Great post. Many good suggestions.

mannellee said...

love the blog keep it up

mannellee said...

love the blog keep it up

Gloistina said...

lol when me an dmy partner play i just pump out viking and allows him to control offensive zerg/terran he attacks i defend with anything that comes out

Squall said...

Totally agree on Vikings, collosi and Void Rays

Unknown said...

great information i loved it

Martin Lersch said...

Keep up the good work.

monitors said...

Interesting blog mate! :-)

azurebalmung said...

i'm completely with you for the nerf of the collossi

Roy said...

Ghosts are so strong against ultra's with their snipe ability

Epsi said...

Vikings in masses are great.

R2r.0 said...

YES finally someone else agrees with me about the vikings good job!

Yureno said...

yeah vikings are overpowered but the anti air zerg unit is a perfect counter to it