[Assumption] First Shot Of The Brood Lord

[Blazur]

I think it looks pretty sexy, although very reminiscent of the original Guardian. But I'm okay with that.

However, if they're gonna give it the same looks and nearly similar role to the original Guardian I wish they would just retain that name. Also, save the original model for the Swarm Guardian for an expansion unit...because that thing looked cool as hell.

[Nicol Bolas]

each "large" tentacle was essentially a missile purchased with minerals in the same way Scarabs were purchased for the Reaver

Such an ability would be entirely antithetical to the functioning of the Zerg race. It is a basic trait of Zerg units to be "simple". That is, if they have specific abilities at all, they are passive. Obviously spellcasters break this, but that is true only of spellcasters. Outside of Burrow, which is a global upgrade shared by almost-all ground units, non-spellcaster Zerg units don't get active abilities. Zerg unit micro is a function of spellcaster usage, basic unit control, and burrow.

StarCraft 2 has held on to this design ethic of the Zerg race. It's one of the reason why Zerg units seem so dissimilar from SC1. A ranged unit that can hit both ground and air is a Hydralisk, if for no other reason than that you can't really do much more with it than that without giving it an active ability of some kind (blink, stim, etc).

If you want to have something "Reaver-like" among the Zerg, it needs to follow Zerg design principles. My old suggestion of the "Hunter Killer" did something like this. It was basically a unit that required ammunition, but it generated ammo automatically. It was like a Reaver, but different in that it was centered around giving a powerful attack initially and then being relatively useless over the course of the next part of the battle. The HK would run out of ammo fairly frequently.

By contrast, Reavers rarely run out of ammo. The ammo requirement is basically an APM and money sink. You couldn't really have a unit that builds its ammo from resources automatically; auto-spending money is a big no-no. And since Zerg units can't have active abilities, you can't have a Zerg unit that uses money like a Reaver or Carrier.

[SpiderBrigade]

Nicol, it would be easy to combine your Hunter Killer idea (which I remember fondly) with the Brood Fiend tentacles. They regrow over time, there is an initial "spike" of damage where it generates a sizable army of Broodlings, but then the rate of fire slows down as it has to grow new tentacles.

[ManjiSanji]

Nicol, it would be easy to combine your Hunter Killer idea (which I remember fondly) with the Brood Fiend tentacles. They regrow over time, there is an initial "spike" of damage where it generates a sizable army of Broodlings, but then the rate of fire slows down as it has to grow new tentacles.

I thought about something like that too, where they regrow over time, and, perhaps normally slowly, or you could pay minerals for them to regrow immediately.

So Hunter Killer Tentacles? Could be fun.

[Nicol Bolas]

They regrow over time, there is an initial "spike" of damage where it generates a sizable army of Broodlings, but then the rate of fire slows down as it has to grow new tentacles.

I don't know if that's good for a flying unit, particularly a slow one. The main reason I felt the HK could get away with it was that it could always burrow to recharge. That's not perfect protection, but it's pretty good, especially if there are other dangerous units around.

Flying units can't exactly hide when they run out of ammo. So if anything survived the first attack, the flier is basically at the mercy of whomever can shoot at it.

[SpiderBrigade]

Well, from what I remember, the limiting factor was the regrowth rate of the spines/tentacles. It sounds like you're imagining something that would take far too long to be useful in combat. However it could also be made equivalent to a regular (if slow) attack cooldown.

So the Brood Fiend could have a maximum of, say, 5 tentacles. In the first few seconds of combat it would fire all of these off, giving it a powerful initial attack as you've described. But then it would still be able to contribute for the rest of the battle, similar to other slow-firing ranged units like Siege tanks or the old Guardian (although slower). Keep in mind that the initial attacks are generating a huge swarm of support units, which will continue to be replenished by subsequent attacks.

[ManjiSanji]

Well, from what I remember, the limiting factor was the regrowth rate of the spines/tentacles. It sounds like you're imagining something that would take far too long to be useful in combat. However it could also be made equivalent to a regular (if slow) attack cooldown.

So the Brood Fiend could have a maximum of, say, 5 tentacles. In the first few seconds of combat it would fire all of these off, giving it a powerful initial attack as you've described. But then it would still be able to contribute for the rest of the battle, similar to other slow-firing ranged units like Siege tanks or the old Guardian (although slower). Keep in mind that the initial attacks are generating a huge swarm of support units, which will continue to be replenished by subsequent attacks.

Hmm, so the initial 5 tentacle-missiles would be the big punch, and then it could still fire off a weaker attack? Or the tentacle-missiles would be like a sort of...special attack or strong support attack while it also still has a regular, weaker attack used in the replenishment period?

I wish there was a way to have a unit like that; it sounds fun.

[SpiderBrigade]

ManjiSanji, the Tentacles would be the only attack the unit has. They take a certain amount of time to regrow, and the unit can have a certain number at any one time. So if it is fresh it will have all 5 (or however many is balanced). Then before it can fire again it needs to regrow a new tentacle, which would create a cooldown similar to other units.

[ManjiSanji]

ManjiSanji, the Tentacles would be the only attack the unit has. They take a certain amount of time to regrow, and the unit can have a certain number at any one time. So if it is fresh it will have all 5 (or however many is balanced). Then before it can fire again it needs to regrow a new tentacle, which would create a cooldown similar to other units.

Oh I see. Ok, I like that. So, dismissing the Reaver, "cost-for-ammo," idea?
I'm fine with that, just throwing ideas around, honestly.

I'd also like to see the Broodlings sort of changed in to similar, "Tentacular monstrosities," to coincide with the whole idea. Sort of like the Brood Fiend is spitting out chunks of itself that don't survive very long away from the host body, and tear themselves apart attacking the enemy.

[SpiderBrigade]

I look forward to seeing this unit in a custom mission, if nothing else