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Terran Unit Review (Blizzcon 2008)

gearvOsh US

Administrator
Banshee
5,570 posts

Pet 22,998
11,495

Oct 16th 2008, 02:36pm
After attending Blizzcon and testing the current build for all 3 races, im going to have to say that Terran is still my favorite race to play. The feel, the build and the playstyle are all very reminiscent of the original game, good job on that Blizzard. I will be reviewing most of the new units and some of my favorite units or strategies, enjoy!

Other Blizzcon Reviews
- Terran Units
- Protoss Units
- Zerg Units

Marauder - A
Stats via Game Guide

A great replacement for the Firebat! Even though the Marauder is not a melee unit, this new infantry unit brings a lot to the table. With a passive ability (no research required) that slows down enemies, it can be used in a many situations. One instance is placing them in bunkers and when the enemy is charging forward the Marauders slow down the first wave giving extra time for your tanks or marines to mop up. It also works exactly the same in the opposite instance when the enemy is running away. With health at 125 (may change of course) its a great meat shield and protection for fellow marines, simply place the Marauders at the front and the Marines in the rear. They don't fare well in single combat, but when grouped with about 5 others they excel. Combined with Marines and Medivacs (MMM), they are one deadly combo.

Reaper - C
Stats via Game Guide

The Reaper is a unit im not too sure about, I couldn't really find a role to use it for. Of course everyone will say that is good for base raiding BUT you don't get them till about tier 2. They are unlocked when you build a Shadow Ops (adv building) and even then you have to upgrade D8 Charges. Although you can still destroy the enemies worker line at this point, they would have a formidable army or defense. They have terrible stats and wouldnt be much help in a real battle (D8 might do something), but they move extremely fast, they could be used as bait. All though this is a personal opinion, others might find some interesting tactics with him.

Hellion - B
Stats via Game Guide

I was a bit skeptic about this unit at first but after playing with him, I liked it. Literally its an extremely fast and mobile Firebat with increase range. Its range is 4 and its speed out runs a Zergling, you know what that means. On its own this unit is extremely weak but when in groups of about 5 they can deal with masses of Lings and even Zealots. You can also do hit and run tactics if you have great micro. Simply run up and burst with a flame, run back a few feet and flame again, then repeat. This would work on slower units but be weary of Zealots with charge and upgraded Lings. It also has an upgrade that improves its attack speed, which is helpful for the hit and runs.

Medivac - B
Stats via Game Guide

As with the Hellion I was skeptical of this unit. Mainly because you have to wait till like tier 3 to get them and by then you might not use infantry as much. Either way I found it a pretty good replacement seeing as how they can be used in many instances. One way to use them is to have them heal your units while they are engaging the enemy, if one of the units is about to die simply load him in the Medivac. This way you keep microing your units away from death. If you have about 3-4 Medivacs you can devastate an enemy using the tactic above; just use the MMM combo! The downside is that you wont be able to heal as many units at once like the Medic was able to do AND if the enemy has good anti-air your pretty much screwed.

Nighthawk - A-
Stats via Game Guide

I always found it odd that Terrans had a "caster" mechanical unit. This incarnation that deploys and builds machines seems like a lot of fun, and it is. Bringing back the classic spider mines, you can now use them more offensively then before. Now that you can fly, you can drop a few of these in an enemy worker line (or at a retreating chokepoint) and watch the carnage; you can also support your static defenses like the original. The auto-turret is a good addition as well, its basically a beefed up marine. These do not have a life duration so you can keep them on the battlefield until they are destroyed. As with spider mines you can use them offensively against a worker line or defensively in battle or alongside your defenses. The targeting drone is one ability I was not able to use (everytime I used it the game crashed! haha), but it looks like a good addition.

Viking - A
Stats via Game Guide

This and the Marauder are my new favorite Terran units. The versatility of the Vikings is amazing. Every time I used this unit I would destroy the enemies economy; just fly in, land and kill half their workers, when you see enemies approaching return to air form and retreat. That strategy never failed, and its even better when they build air defenses because you can simply land and bypass it. I also had no problem dealing with other air units, my group of 6 vikings can take out basically all other air units. Their air attacks also did extra damage to massive units, which means goodbye carriers and cruisers. With the ability to double pump these units using a reactor, you could have a formidable army within minutes.

Others
SCV - He wears a trucker hat, badass.

Marine - Good all around unit as before. When upgraded with shields and comboed with Marauders and Medivacs, extremely effective.

Siege Tank - Still amazing at long range bombardment but with the increase of resouces you wont see as many as these in game... which I think is a good thing.

Ghost - Didnt use this unit much besides to nuke. Its Psi round is good at taking out enemy casters/psionic units and its EMP is amazing at destroying Protoss shields.

Thor - This unit needs to still find its place in game. Its good at dealing with bunched air units (not when they are spread out), but thats about it. The only other use for them is using them as meat shields mech rebirth.

Banshee - This was an ok unit, didnt find much uses for it that other units cannot do. It simply shoots 2 missiles at ground units dealing ok damage. The only upside was shooting while cloaked.

Battlecruiser - A great new revision of the classic cruiser. This one has 3 different augments are helpful in certain situations. It can either be a massive unit killer, mass air destroyer or an aerial meat shield.

Roland US

Staff Writer
Colossus
2,269 posts

Pet 19,207
15,755

Oct 16th 2008, 02:50pm
Whoah, Miles wrote an article, very nice, I'm surprised you gave the reaper a "C" it's been around since launch and no ones seemed to have a problem with it. Nice with the Hellion and medivac, I was worried about that, and good news for me that firebat replacement don't just tear Zealots apart anymore.

stebo88 US

Raven
4,387 posts

Pet 22,487
17,132

Oct 16th 2008, 02:51pm
Very nice output Miles. ^^ oi

Reading all of this gave me that same excitement I had while playing the Terran at BlizzCon.

Quote by Roland
Whoah, Miles wrote an article, very nice.


Yes I know, I'm shocked too.

I think Miles should consider putting some of this on his GEARS #9

Psyker BE

High Templar
461 posts

Pet 7,049
5,092

Oct 16th 2008, 03:04pm
Nice article Miles. I'm glad to hear the Viking is so effective. And yeah, the new SCV portrait is hella redneck. :D

silent_templar PH

Phoenix
3,494 posts

Pet 29,577
20,122

Oct 16th 2008, 06:17pm
wow great review miles...i hope you can also make some for the zerg and the protoss :D
The Siege has begun on Siege Lament

gearvOsh US

Administrator
Banshee
5,570 posts

Pet 22,998
11,495

Oct 16th 2008, 06:20pm
Quote by silent_templar
wow great review miles...i hope you can also make some for the zerg and the protoss :D


I plan to do the Zerg, hopefully stebo can cover the protoss :]
And thanks again everyone!

TehIchigo KP

Hellion
762 posts

Pet 8,074
5,507

Oct 16th 2008, 07:08pm
You ass :( i was making this overview for so long, and you took the idea and did it SO well that I have no choice to applaud you.

Well played sir, well played.
Quote by gearvOsh
I am a mighty race of Admins.

Tide_of_Corn US

Marine
183 posts

Pet 8,776
2,127

Oct 17th 2008, 08:26am
oh! oh! oh! zerg yay yay yay!
boom.

Begemot US

Probe
120 posts

560
422

Oct 17th 2008, 03:06pm
Nice job. I think this is one of the better formats for a race review. Unit, grade/rating, and description.

extra points for having the time to do it with you being the main guy of the website.

tuppy45 AF

SCV
97 posts

Pet 1,269
1,269

Oct 17th 2008, 06:22pm
goodamit, everyone knows his name cept for me. And they shpuld put the banshees' missles back to how they were with aoe.
People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it's easier to harass old rich ladies than it is to harass motorcycle gangs.

lom109 US

Super Moderator
Immortal
1,791 posts

Pet 4,509
1,102

Oct 17th 2008, 06:44pm
nice article. there isnt else much to say about it, gear's got down all what we've been all thinking down pat.

Moderator

dillinger CA

Reaper
387 posts

Pet 3,660
3,865

Oct 18th 2008, 04:54pm
I am curious about Tanks in a Terran army. They seem to have been somewhat nerfed in the present build (although from what I read here they still have a massive bonus damage against armoured). You also mention Tanks getting more expensive and that we'll likely see less of them. If you have a chance could you(or anyone who has played SC2 demos) comment on or guess the implications of this for TvP? All TvP in Broodwar is basically about Tanks, what will it look like now?

Stalkers and Immortals had probably already rendered Tank-based armies in TvP obsolete (I would not be looking forward to the frustation of Stalkers blinking into the ranks of my Tanks causing them to obliterate my own army). There was also the question of what would shield the Tanks in SC2 w/Vultures gone (Vikings? Marauders? Hellions?).

So is it fair to say we are in for a big shift in how these two races fight? How do Terrans deal with the individual strength of Protoss units w/o the firepower from mass-Tanks? Is it now about air superiority for Terrans? Do the strength of Marauders make bio-builds (or partial bio) a viable strategy against Protoss now?

I'd love to hear some insights on this.

PS - Awesome website, thanks for putting the time into providing us with all this info. I check it at least every other day for updates!

DNA36 MX

Drone
58 posts

Pet 444
197

Oct 18th 2008, 07:04pm
Thx, thee terrans are looking good, but is it me or do they seem overpowered compared to the zerg and protoss, it seems mos their units rape earth. Id hope and this probably will be true, that blizzerd does some balancing

Illidan Stormrage EG

Raven
4,226 posts

Pet 54,532
37,473

Oct 19th 2008, 12:36am
Great review miles...too bad the game crashes on targetting drones, i had many questions about them...anyway, i couldnt agree more on the reaper.

Proto Protoss

Traveler
24 posts

827
612

Oct 19th 2008, 05:47am
terrans are a bit overpowered, but the immortal is one thing the protoss have thats still good besides the templar.The hellions flamethrowers wont do swat aginst them The seige tanks cant hurt them because of the hardened shields. The thor no longer has the super cannon, showen in the terran gameplay video. So immortals are good aginst the terrans overpowered units. (hope that shields works on bangles)