Infestor - Spawn Infested Marines

[XSOLDIER]

With the new Infestor model finally revealed, it made me start thinking about the Spawn Infested Marines ability. The new Infestor seems like it would be capable of holding about 5 incapacitated Marines inside its body. It's ability to move underground would allow it to scavenge injured bodies easily.

This would allow it to infest them, and bring them into a strategically useful area, and quickly lay them in eggs in a combat zone. It would explain how it would be able to produce the Marines, while the Zerg have still not assimilated Terrans. It would also explain how the Infestation might be able to be a little more carefully regulated and work more effectively - thus the Infested Marines are able to fight, rather than just be transformed into volatile explosives.

Opinions / ideas?


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[DemolitionSquid]

Sounds more reasonable than just birthing them.

[Visions of Khas]

Aw man, that makes so much sense. I never would have thought of that. Great!

Where's the +Rep when you need it?

[PsiWarp]

The ability can be made sense of, just a bit strange the way Blizzard displayed it. However, I do find it strange a newly born Infestor carry these victims of the swarm within their sacs already.

All I can think of is that the Infestor Pit contains captured Terran expedition forces/teams during the four years of inactivity.

Though, I would much prefer a Changeling-like creature that shapes its body to the respective basic infantry of said race while functioning the same (reference to Dark Templar vote). This way, they can be fully organic and not appear ackward in a battle versus Protoss or Zerg, with no Terrans in sight.


-Psi

[Blazur]

Definitely a sensible argument.

Consider a change in the mechanics of the Infestor. Its got a different type of infested unit for each race: the infested marines (ranged), infested zealots (melee), and infested zerg (fast melee with burrow). Each of these it equips by ingesting the decaying bodies of each race, assimilating its DNA and regurgitating it out. It can store up to 5 of these at once, and release them all at once with the press of a button.

Bodies cannot be consumed while traveling underground, and the Infestor must surface to do so.

With this new mechanic it never expels energy to pop out infested units, but instead must rely on dead bodies to equip the units similar to the Undead Meat Wagon of WC3. The infestor can consume the bodies of any Terran infantry (or SCV) to yield infested marines, any Protoss infantry to yield the zealots, or any Zerg infantry.

[PsiWarp]

That's actually not bad, perhaps under the conditions of the enemy biological unit (non-massive) being at 20% HP (explains how the Infestors get under the shields of Protoss, when a Zealot's at 25 HP 0 shield :P).

Maybe something like 35 energy auto-cast, whenever an enemy unit in range is at 20% or below, Infestor immediately swallows it whole and a few seconds later an Infested Terran, Protoss or Zerg is born.

Now if only we can get around the infestation concept, like how Neural Parasite seems to do so. Perhaps, not Infestation, but Mutation!


-Psi

[Alex06]

I prefer just having it spawn 5 infested marines, and instead of the current animation with the Infestor throwing eggs, it would just show Marines rising out of the ground as they get infested. (Kind of like zombies)

Of course, it wouldn't require any Marines to have died there before. Lore would just have it pretend there were already dead marines in the ground.

OR EVEN BETTER! The ability could be turned around. The infestor would use an area of effect ability, and when a marine dies in the ability's target area (after its been cast), the marine will instantly revive as an Infested Marine. Infested Marines could then simply not have a limited survival time. Think of this as the Nod Redemption support power from C&C3: Kane's Wrath. That's how it would work.

[MattII]

Nah, I'm going more for Blazur's idea as well.

[Zero]

With the new Infestor model finally revealed, it made me start thinking about the Spawn Infested Marines ability. The new Infestor seems like it would be capable of holding about 5 incapacitated Marines inside its body. It's ability to move underground would allow it to scavenge injured bodies easily.

This would allow it to infest them, and bring them into a strategically useful area, and quickly lay them in eggs in a combat zone. It would explain how it would be able to produce the Marines, while the Zerg have still not assimilated Terrans. It would also explain how the Infestation might be able to be a little more carefully regulated and work more effectively - thus the Infested Marines are able to fight, rather than just be transformed into volatile explosives.

Opinions / ideas?


X

Definitely sounds like an acceptable explanation. Although I have to admit, I'm still sad we can't infest the buildings and get three different infested units (one for each race), since this will likely only work with infested Terran and not the Zerg or Protoss. Still too soon to know for sure though. At least the infestor model looks way better, although it does look like a defiler straddling a baneling.

[XSOLDIER]

It could also be that its ability to generate Neural Parasites allow it to be capable of infesting their hosts more effectively as well.


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