Mothership Update

[Pick]

Regarding the black hole, I've heard some interesting strategies pulled off regarding it.

- A seige tank cluster was causing major issues on an important ramp. The use of a black hole threw about 7 tanks out of the fight. By using a phase prism, he warped in 8 zealots into the black hole (or warped them in and ran them in) When the black hole ended, the zealots obliterated the tanks with little losses.
- Mothership teleported to a base under attack, threw a black hole out and put the probes into it to protect them as help was on the way. This significantly reduced probe losses.
- Using it on a ramp to an opponent's expansion to prevent reinforcements from coming from the main base. This allowed him to kill the expansion and leave before those units were available.

While many of the same tactics with stasis field are the same, I've been made to understand it's strength is that it can continually inject units after it's placement, which adds a more interesting dynamic than simply "hit or miss".

Thanks for this info! It now has me brain storming all the strategic possiblities for the new black hole.

Charging Zealots into a black hole full of siege tanks is awesome.

[Dark-Slayer]

They should update all of the units there, not just the Thor and the Raven, all the units are way outdated...

[Triceron]

They might as well just leave it, because if they update it now they'll only have to update it again once they change whatever unit they update.

If they just stuck with the most stable choices, they'd be pretty boring updates anyhow. Who really cares about the zergling and baneling updates when people are most interested in the units that we know less about, like the Infestor.

[ArcherofAiur]

My guess: mothership's weapon attack payload is altered to deliver the same amount of damage (or more overal), but limited to X dps per target and constrict the circumstances in which it can target more than one at a time. a powerful support caster that also has recieved a speed buff would be op if also had the firepower of a battlecruiser, so they had to limit the strength of this vessel, but not make it unable to kill things by itself.

I've made these observations from the most recent video... I made a similar post elsewhere, but since then I have been thinking carefully about it...and wish to elaborate on my prediction

The mother ship is capable of firing up to 3 targets at once.

total dmg value per attack-
12 (6x2) [less than or equal to] X [less than or equal to] 40 (20x2)

facts known

• all the zerg were north of the mothership
• there are 6 "laser battery" discs, evenly spread out around the ship (2 on every third of the chassis)
• every attack animation a pair fired together at one target (so the damage total could be done with 2 attack rolls)
• each pair that fired were always next to one another
• the mothership fired 3 times at 1 specific hydralisk before it died. Upon the third hit, the hydralisk was also hit by a colossus sweep (almost instantaneously...slightly after the blue beam animation though, so its unknown which truly killed the hydralisk)

There are a set of blue "discs" from which the mothership fires beams of electrical blue energy. the attack was always a pair of beams directed at 1 target. Each third of the body has its own pair of discs. As the mothership rotates, the pair of laser "batteries" that fires at its target that were in range alters to whichever 2 are closest and/or maintains a line of sight/range (if its the latter, the line of sight ranged is limited). Never during the video were any other pair of batteries in range of a zerg (there were other multiple individual batteries in range, but never one that was also next to the third closest/in range) Ergo its possible that the mothership will use all its weapons if every 2 batteries can hit a target.

The limitation straightforward. The mothership is not meant to be an assault craft, so to illustrate this its weapons are organized in such a way that it can always defend itself, regardless of which side can attack. Furthermore it can return fire on units approaching it from several directions. It has a potential for high dps. It is possible that each attack is doing 40dmg. I would unleash hell when its in the fray...so its up to the player to risk being aggressive with this unique unit. Or they can play safe and still be able to make pot shots at targets near it.

I suppose blizzard wanted the ms to be faster, but not enable players to kite enemies with it 8x8 attack.

dmg numbers (I read someone making a comment about this on this forum; you know who you are and I thank you/credit you for noting this. I went and watched the video over again and did my own math to see if he/she was correct. Based on my math the guess was approximate)

below is the damage range of the mothership I calculated has based on the information about the hydralisk. Because dmg values in starcraft 2 are integers I altered the math above to the lowest possible integer .
11 1/3 (5 2/3x2) [less than or equal to] X [less than or equal to] 40 (20x2)

edit: my math characters aren't showing correctly so bear the type in the math

Nice work up. One thing to point out is that at around 25 seconds only one battery fires. All the batteries appear to operate independant of each other but still fire at like targets. Cant wait for complete confirmation (and proving demo wrong )

[Gradius]

And it's implied there were billions of Protoss on Aiur.

I bet the Protoss empire at the beginning of SC could have taken on and probably beaten the UED. It's too bad the Protoss broke all their armies against the swarms, who also had to have been proportionately crippled. The Koprulu terrans were like a mere bug in comparison. But now both Zerg & Toss are reduced to the level of the K-terrans. :[

[Nicol Bolas]

It has a potential for high dps.

No, it doesn't. It couldn't even kill a single 80Hp Hydralisk (assuming they're still 80Hp) in 2 shots; it had to have help from the Colossus to finish it off (you can tell the Colossus got the death blow because it played the burning-death animation).

Even if your proposition is true, it would only be able to attack three targets. With a pathetically weak attack. Surrounding it with pretty much anything that can shoot it means it's going to die. If one battery can't kill an 80Hp unit in 4 seconds, then having 3 batteries that can fire in 3 separate directions means nothing. They'll barely scratch a Void Rays armor before they carve a Mothership to pieces. Vikings and Corruptors will easily have their way with a Mothership as well.

The attack has been nerfed into uselessness. It is only slightly more effective than the Arbiter's pop-gun.

[The_Blade]

Guess you can't have everything in one units. Don't you think the same? Although, to be a "unique" unit, it is too nerfed. It has an awesome support arsenal, yet it needs other units to survie.

[Jconant]

" Nice work up. One thing to point out is that at around 25 seconds only one battery fires. All the batteries appear to operate independent of each other but still fire at like targets. Cant wait for complete confirmation (and proving demo wrong ) "

this is quite a wrench in my prediction >< So it is more likely that they each act independently, but they only had one target it could hit or chose to focus on one target. I noticed also they don't fire while the MS was casting spells.

"It couldn't even kill a single 80Hp Hydralisk (assuming they're still 80Hp) in 2 shots"

Did you not read my post all the way through? I addressed this:

There is a small delay in each attack by the MS. Upon the third shot the hydralisk died (and the ms definitely fired first). At minimum the lasers were somewhere proximately 12 dmg (or 6 if each one acts independently), and needed 3 (6) shots to dmg the hydralisk enough for the colossus to finish off.
Or the laser did 40 dmg (20 per laser), had just enough to kill it, except the damn thing got lucky through armor/ hp regeneration to survive another hit.

...again bear also in mind it also got a speed buff. Either which end of the dmg "inequality", the weapons on the mothership are only going to most effective while being in the fray. Dmg will be limited if you want to do hit and runs or kite ground units.

[Nicol Bolas]

Upon the third shot the hydralisk died (and the ms definitely fired first).

So what you're saying is that it would have, at best taken 4 shots to kill a single Hydralisk by itself. That's pretty pathetic damage output, particularly when coupled with its slow cooldown. Its guns got a pretty substantial nerf.

A single Stalker or Zealot can kill stuff faster.

[DemolitionSquid]

I'm honored so many people are so obsessed with me that their life goal is to prove me wrong about something as stupid as the Mothership's attack.

The Mothership does NOT work like the C&C4 Salamander.

And even if does, the fact you think it could "tarnish" my reputation is sad, pathetic, and wholly laughable. You guys need to get out more.