Infested Terran Ability. Yay or Nay? (0.6.0.B14259B)

[TheEconomist]

I see Infested Terrans as distraction and quick anti-air in case of emergency. It seems to not do much else also KHB showed that they are useful.

I made a topic on this game:

http://www.gosugamers.net/starcraft2/replays/29402

[Omeganian]

Kerrigan should keep them in storage until she finds a way to mutate them into something more interesting.

[ArcherofAiur]

Despite any of the "explainations" for how marines in armour pop out of infestors its is still awkward and stupid.

[Caliban113]

that animation has to go

Mostly this. - but more importantly, (from a gameplay perspective) the unit/spell has to be more effective or its never going to see any use.....and so far, every version of this has pretty much failed.

Actually, I'm fine with the lore notions.

In fact, earlier in the thread, I suggested giving the Infestor a cross between WC3 'Devour' and SC 'Consume'. The Infestor receives bits of energy by consuming enemy units - It wouldn't have to be directly related to the Infested Terran mechanic, but it would lend some credibility to the whole notion.

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[Visions of Khas]

I'd be fine with a Devour Enemy Dead ability. That would place the Infestor in harm's way and make the Infested unit more rare, compensating in favor for a stronger Infested unit.

Or perhaps it could project a cloud/AoE spell. Any enemies that die within that short-lived AoE reanimate? Meh, I prefer Devour...

[Aldrius]

the unit/spell has to be more effective or its never going to see any use

It's incredibly useful right now. It's the only thing the Infestor can actually cast on buildings. It's the only real way for the Infestor to quickly kill things efficiently too.

But having said that, I don't think any of the suggestions here would help the ability. The key thing it provides now is that it's not dependent on your opponents behaviour. It's a spell that your Infestor can cast at any time.

The only reason I'd be okay with the Infest ability replacing it is that 90% of the time you're going to cast it in your opponent's base anyway.

[SubterraneanArdor]

It’s a mechanically weak ability that needs a buff. But I do not see a significant need for it in the first place -- and I love summon spells. I’d rather see Parasite come back in than this. (Parasite is one of the few spells that I’d be fine with being cast while burrowed.)

And, conceptually, it is completely freakn’ absurd. Infested Terrans are sentient beings with mechanical weapons -- wth are they doing sleeping in an Infestor’s stomach?!

A better ability would be Nourish -- the Infestor infects all targets in the area with an organism that will hatch out of the targets once they die; this can affect friendly units. The size and power of these hatchlings is dependent on the supply value of the dying unit.

Alternatively, I’d be happy with a “tricky” ability -- call it Aggression: targets of the spell are bombarded with biochemical, microbiological, and psionic effects that spur aggression. The target increases its attack rate and damage and takes DoT. It’s been done before, many times, but it’s still nifty.

If you must put Infested Terrans into multiplayer -- and I don’t see why you must -- then just give Zerg a new building with which to produce them. They can still use larvae -- thematically, the Zerg larvae will combine with a human subject to make the spiffy new Zerg soldier (so the larvae egg will have a different animation at the hatchery). The new building could be “called down” from orbit instead of merely grown as well, representing the importing of fresh, human stock.

But Infested Terrans should not be stupid suicide troops or mindless grunts. It is incredibly dumb to imagine that the Zerg covet humanity, a species without much physical prowess, and then turn their new primates into idiot suicide bombers. They should be support casters with a ranged attack, much like WC3 casters.

[Shadow Archon]

The new building could be “called down” from orbit instead of merely grown as well, representing the importing of fresh, human stock.

Like in DoW, where the Imperium's buildings are sent down from orbit?

[SubterraneanArdor]

Like the already-extant MULE, but sure, whatever works.

[Omeganian]

Like in DoW, where the Imperium's buildings are sent down from orbit?

There was also this old game called Uprising