Infestor Musings...

[Eligor]

Both Ideas are good, but as Tricerion said, Infestor is a caster. He should be hidden, or in the back of the army. He is support unit, and Toxic Creep is support ability but you shouldnt charge on enemy with your infestors, that is the main reason why they can move while burrowed, to be hidden. Toxic Creep sounds cool idea, and I would like it more if it can be casted like old plague/Ensnare/Psi Storm, on target ground. Then it would be really useful ability with combination of Plague and Ensnare.

The thing with Toxic Creep (as mentioned in my original post) is that it lasts for quite some time (5 minutes being quite a lot in a StarCraft game). So all you need to do is lay it down in an area you want to keep the enemy out of (that could be a chokepoint, or a potential expansion). You absolutely don't need to bring the Infestor in direct contact with the enemy for toxic creep to be useful, in fact, in my mind most of the uses involved laying it down before the enemy troops arrived to the place, of course if you want to contaminate the ground beneath the feet of the workers and make their life hell sneaking the Infestor in could be quite a challenege, but one with significant rewards.

P.S. Infest by the way would slightly outrange all static defenses, so the Infestor may cast it from a safe distance.

[RamiZ]

The thing with Toxic Creep (as mentioned in my original post) is that it lasts for quite some time (5 minutes being quite a lot in a StarCraft game). So all you need to do is lay it down in an area you want to keep the enemy out of (that could be a chokepoint, or a potential expansion). You absolutely don't need to bring the Infestor in direct contact with the enemy for toxic creep to be useful, in fact, in my mind most of the uses involved laying it down before the enemy troops arrived to the place, of course if you want to contaminate the ground beneath the feet of the workers and make their life hell sneaking the Infestor in could be quite a challenege, but one with significant rewards.

P.S. Infest by the way would slightly outrange all static defenses, so the Infestor may cast it from a safe distance.

Sure, I know what do you mean, but SC2 is fast-paced game. There are no abilities there that last that Long. Also, Toxic Creep should be offensive ability, not defensive IMO. And you cant execute attack with it and for example, mass Zerglings and Banelings, like you would do if it can be casted from distance like Plague. Also if enemies can see it there is even less chance that they will get over it.

[Eligor]

Sure, I know what do you mean, but SC2 is fast-paced game. There are no abilities there that last that Long. Also, Toxic Creep should be offensive ability, not defensive IMO. And you cant execute attack with it and for example, mass Zerglings and Banelings, like you would do if it can be casted from distance like Plague. Also if enemies can see it there is even less chance that they will get over it.

You obviously can't use it like Plague, but what you can potentially do is herd fleeing enemy units onto it. It wasn't conceived as an offensive ability but one which can be used offensively if you're good enough, the fact that it's something the enemy can see and has a choice of whether venturing onto the toxic creep or not is for me one of the more interesting sides to the ability, since it brings in the element of calculated risk on the enemy's part (your units MAY still be fighting fit after passing that contaminated chokepoint which presents a faster way to the enemy's base, or they may not, it's up to the player to decide and that introduces another margin for error (and the more margins for human errors and miscalculations the more interesting the game is)). Besides in StarCraft II, where terrain seems to play an even greater role such an ability is very pertinent. The relatively long time it lasts by the way is there to balance out the fact that it is noticeable and avoidable (it doesn't necessarily have to be 5 minutes of course, the exact amount of time should be determined through hands on balance testing, but it has to be a significant period of time in a StarCraft game, long enough to be an effective defensive ability). The general idea of course is that with tandem with Infest it makes the Infestor into a rather crucial unit for map control, gives it a defined role that is not by any means narrow, and yet different enough from all the other spellcasters in the game. Besides, both Infest and Neural Parasite are very offensive and direct abilities, having a third one like that on one caster would most probably be too much.

[PsiWarp]

I think it would be less demanding on the game engine and CPU processing power if the Toxic Creep was a particle effect of said ability... you could rename it Miasma and make it a poison mist instead, much less complication imo.


-Psi

[Eligor]

I think it would be less demanding on the game engine and CPU processing power if the Toxic Creep was a particle effect of said ability... you could rename it Miasma and make it a poison mist instead, much less complication imo.


-Psi

That would potentially obscure vision, there was a unit in WarCraft III that generated Blight as it moved, I don't see why a similar mechanic would be complicated or taxing to perform in the SC 2 engine.

Besides, slime is more visceral and fitting for the Zerg, and emphasizes the fact that it's an anti-ground ability.

[PsiWarp]

Which unit would that be?

If its slime you want, slime effect can be at ground level, thus not obscuring vision... I just feel that with all the different team colors this spell can show, that would create more misinterpretation than particles.


-Psi

[RamiZ]

There was a unit in WarCraft III that generated Blight as it moved.

Really? I played Wc3 for 5 years and I dont recall any Undead unit that could do that.

[Pandonetho]

It's probably a campaign unit.

[B~E]

So I bothered to register just to give my two cents on the Infestor. I feel that desesperat over this unit.

So as I see it, if the Queen is a defense-oriented spellcaster, then the Infestor should be based on supporting offense. Therefore...

Corruption: With an AoE similar to the Plague ability, affected units become corrupted for a short period of time (15-20 seconds). Which mean that if they'd died during that period, they would spawn mantalings, or preferably organic structures that attack both air and ground, like the Corruptor.

And as an homage to SCI, the player would also gain the vision of the corrupted units, as long as the ability last.

Spawn mantalings/organic towers: As its been suggested earlier, it'd effectively replace the infested terrans, thus resolving any lore/suspension of disbelief problem. Spawned units/structures would attack both air and ground, and die shortly.

These two abilities would work well together, for obvious reason. One Infestor could distrupt an entire mining zone single-handedly. Still, this would make the infestor less OP than a Templar...

The third ability could be Infestation, which would spawn creep, roots, and tentacles in an AoE, disabling a handful of buildings and units (zerg as well) for a short period of time. The player could gain all advantage associated with the creep in the AoE. It'd be a lot like the Corsair's distruption, but wouldnt affect units that enter the AoE after the spell in casted.

[LordArreat15]

There no undead unit in WC3 that generates Blight, the one he may be talking about the undead Meat Wagon/Abomination's Disease Cloud Aura ability.

Disease Cloud Aura (Passive)
Gives Abominations a Disease Cloud aura that deals 1 damage per second for 120 seconds. Meat Wagons will cause Disease Clouds wherever they attack that deal 1 damage per second for 120 seconds to nearby enemy units. Undead are immune to Disease Cloud.

Or is it the Obsidian Statues' Essence of Blight ability?

Essence of Blight (Autocast)
Restores 10 hit points to nearby friendly units.