With the release of UFC 2009, inFamous, Wolverine and a slew of summer blockbuster films, StarCraft II has taken a backseat in most people's minds. Fans are getting tired of hearing about the beta “coming soon” since that's been the word on the street for 3 months now. Even more depressing than that is the fact that we're patiently waiting for the beta – not the actual game; The actual game won't be out until December if we're lucky.
In an attempt to cure some of that depression I've compiled a bulleted list of interesting tweaks in the development of StarCraft II – tidbits if you will to lift your morale and keep you marching to Blizzard's drum.
- The very powerful new unit we saw in the second Battle Report called the NightHawk – which devastates with it's Hunter Seeker Missile – has had its name changed. It is now known as the Raven. While many, including myself, thought that NightHawk was a cooler name, Blizzard thought otherwise. “A ‘Nighthawk’ implies more of a fighter class ship,” said a Blizzard community rep. In the Battle.net forum.
- Said Hunter Seeker Missile has a delay between clicking and actually firing. In addition to that the opposing player is cued by a visual to let them know which unit is being targeted. This allows for quick micro to minimize the damage to a large force.
- Terrans have retained their effective building blocking strategy from the original game.
- Medivac dropships are capable of transporting Thors. The actual animation to display the smaller ship carrying the larger unit has yet to be created.
- The Immortal's hardened shields take any attacks that would do damage greater than 10 and reduces it to strictly 10. For example, a siege tank or battlecruiser's high damage attack will be reduced to 10 but a marine's lower damage attack of 7 or 8 won't activate the hardened shields and will only do said damage.
- “Baneling has a new ability that allows it to detonate with a hotkey, making it possible for Banelings burrowed to detonate underground and explode units above it. This detonation will in no way affect the amount of damage it already does on explosion. Yes, you really do have Baneling MINES now.” - Karune
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Click the image above to buy tickets
Just as a reminder, tomorrow is the last day you can buy tickets to BlizzCon 09. So if you live in the Anaheim area or are planning on making a big trip out of it tomorrow is important for you. Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. PDT at Blizzard's store.
StarCraft II die hards can expect many more Q&A updates over the course of the weekend, so keep checking back for those.
