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CARRIER HAS ARRIVED!


Now that I've had time to assemble my field report on the recent Terran developments, we will use this information to better prepare our own strategies should we come to blows with their heavy, sluggish machinery. As many steps as the Terrans take, however, the Protoss take two. We are ever vigilant, never resting in the comforts of past victories. We have many concerns in this world, and the Terrans are merely one of them. The Zerg -- that blight in the blackness of space -- is a constant threat, for they are savage, ruthless and their appetite for destruction is insatiable. If either of those groups think they'll catch us napping, with our defenses down, they'll have a rude surprise in store. The Protoss are never caught unawares. Our Observers are everywhere, lighting up at the slightest enemy movement, while our holy army stands at the ready, the fires of battle flowing through our veins. We have also moved with the times, and are ready to strike at the hearts of our enemies with both elegance and precision. The streamlined Protoss army has seen its own improvements, and when next we meet with our insistent foes, I think they'll be surprised to see that this particular wall pushes back.

DISCLAIMER: The following statistical details were siphoned from the pre-Alpha version of Starcraft II, and are provided purely for entertainment purposes and pre-Blizzcon theory/strategy-mongering. All details, like timing and units produced are subject to and highly likely to change after extensive play balancing. Neither 1UP nor Blizzard makes any guarantee toward the long-term reliability of this information.

Nexus (100) [Numbers after unit name -- when known -- indicates time to build]
- Warp in Forge (33)
- Warp in Assimilator (35)
- Warp In Pylon (25)
- Warp in Gateway (50)

Forge (33) Requires Nexus
- Warp in Photon Cannon (35)


Gateway (50) Requires Pylon
- Upgrade to Warp Gate (30)



Dark Templar

As we settled in to Blizzard's cozy LAN set-up, grabbed hold of the Logitech MX518 optical mice, and proceeded to fire up some games on the 128x128 Bel'Shir jungle map modeled after the classic Lost Temple map, a distinct shot of energy crept up our collective spines as we began the first ever multiplayer games of Starcraft II. What was once only recently splashed across enormous screens in Seoul, South Korea was now in control in the palms of my hands, and this was nothing short of amazing. Four months ago I never knew this game -- the sequel to my favorite game of all time -- existed, and now I was playing it. With me (and also against me) were Jeff Green and Sean Molloy, editor-in-chief and managing editor of Games For Windows, respectively, and it was up to us and the small handful of European journalists assembled to put Blizzard's game through its paces.

Twilight Council (42)
Requires Gateway
* Research Soul Hunter Tech (35)
* Research Stalker Tech (35)
* Research Immortal Tech (35)

The first thing I noticed when I created a game was how natural it felt. During Blizzard's 'real-time' demo in Seoul, without any heads-up display or unit-placement grid visuals, it was difficult to imagine how the game actually played. Sure we got to see a bunch of units in action, but we really didn't see any footage of them being generated, so this was another first for us. Double-clicking the four Probes that lined the base of my Nexus selected them all, and right-clicking on the minerals put them to work. Some of the shortcuts for unit-building have changed though, so the key I pressed to build a new Probe didn't work, forcing me to press the build-Probe icon. Not a big deal, obviously, just something that took a little getting used to since it affected far more units and structures than just the Probe.

Robotics Facility (60) Requires Twilight Council
- Warp in Phase Prisms (50)
- Warp in Observers (33)
- Warp in Reavers (55)
- Warp in Colossus: Requires War Beacon (100)


War Beacon (60) Requires Robotics Facility
- Warp in Colossus
* Research upgrades for Colossus


Null Circuit (50) Requires Robotics Facility
- Required to produce Observers and Reavers
- Required for upgrades for Observers and Reavers
* Gravitic Booster: Observer movement speed (110)
* Gravitic Drive: Phase Prism movement speed (110)
* Increase Scarab damage (140)


Starcraft II producer Chris Sigaty wasn't kidding when he said that 3D makes a world of difference in the game. We all know and love and remember our time with the original Starcraft, which is still one of the best real-time strategy games out there, but with each of the original 2D sprites only having about 4 frames of animation each, seeing the redesigned original units come to life alongside all of the new units is exciting. Unlike, say, Star Wars Episode IV versus Episode I, the new-school reinvention of Starcraft does not disappoint. I don't remember if you could set the rallying point on a mineral deposit in the original Starcraft, but in II you can, so any Probes generated by your Nexus will automatically go harvest minerals and gas for you. The dev team has also added an 'idle unit' button, so you can easily track any units not pulling their weight.


Reaver

I wasted little time gathering minerals, as I'd spent some time before the session brushing up my rusty Starcraft skills with the original, and so was somewhat proficient getting my build order started. Climbing up the first tier of the tech tree was like riding a bicycle. Pylon, Forge, Stargate, Photon Cannons in that order, all the while producing more and more Probes to gather resources until my Pylon cap was maxed. As the first few Photon Cannons started warping into view, I began generating Zealots to help preoccupy any enemies that should come my way while my Cannons lay down covering fire. By 'enemies' I mean Jeff and Sean. Sean, in the long run, did a little bit better than Jeff did, mostly because I didn't bother surrounding his early attempts at creating a base with a suffocating grid of Photon Cannons as I did with Jeff. Jeff, so rusty I could hear his brain creak, was unable to get anything going thanks to my ruthless perimeter of Cannons, and while I didn't eliminate his base outright, I did squash any uppity attempts at rebellion (usually when he sent three or four hard-earned Zealots at one of my Photon Cannons) by keeping a cloaked fleet of massive overkill at the ready. Nothing quite like thinking you may be able to eke your way through someone's phalanx of Photons, only to wake an entire, invisible fleet hanging by overhead.

Stargate (60) Requires Twilight Council
- Warp in Phoenix: Air and ground attack (45)
- Warp in Tempest (previously known as Carrier): Air and ground attack (60)
- Warp in Warp Ray: Air and ground attack (90)
- Warp in Star Relic: Force Field, Detonate, Cloak Field (60)
- Warp in Mothership: Air and ground attack (140)


YOU MUST CONSTRUCT ADDITIONAL PYLONS


That 'battle' went by with little incident, and while the occasional skirmish with Sean's forces provided a greater challenge, we spent the majority of our time getting to know the tech tree. After the first tier of structures and units built, things quickly veer into unknown territory, as familiar units are either gone or, in some instances, renamed. Unit-building shortcuts were also different, so what pressing 'E' might have built in the original game -- when the Gateway menu is open, for example -- is now more than likely assigned to build a different unit. As I hastily scribbled down every detail I could spot (the eagle-eyed reader may notice an inconsistency here or there, but remember I was taking notes while oppressing GFW's editor-in-chief, so in multi-tasking I may have slipped on occasion), lunch was eventually served, and an interview session with Christ Sigaty and Dustin Browder commenced, which brought an end to our inaugural play session. Once our interview -- which you can watch on the first page -- was over, it was back to the LAN and into the heat of battle we went.

Fleet Beacon (65) Requires Stargate
- Required to produce Warp Rays
- Required to produce Star Relics
* Research Gravitic Thrusters: Phoenix movement speed (140)
* Research Apial Sensors: Phoenix sight range (110)
* Research Detonate: Star Relic cloak field ability. Star Relic will explode after a short time when activated. Hit points determines damage (110)



Star Relic

This time around I left Jeff to his own devices, while Sean did his own thing. This time around I wanted to see what a fight would be like when my opponents were able to build a little momentum. That didn't mean I had to sit around and hand them the game though, and confident that Jeff (if not Sean) wasn't going to make an early strike at my base (he'd have to send out some of his troops to do that, leaving his own base exposed), I set up some temporary defenses consisting of a small blockade, some Photon Cannons and a handful of Zealots, and then sent out a Probe to start making claims on additional mineral deposits. One thing that took a little getting used to were all the new abilities that came with each unit. I have never been particularly good at warping units into an enemy's base, and only towards the end of my Starcraft career got the hang of building a Nydus Canal on an enemy's base, or dropping a dozen Overlords worth of Hydralisks on someone's Command Center. With Starcraft II, there are a lot of ways to do stuff like that, with numerous Shuttle-like units capable of warping units in or out of the field of battle. For the time being, I had to content myself with building a diverse array of units that could cover ground-to-ground, ground-to-air, air-to-ground, and air-to-air attacks. I wanted to be prepared for any eventuality. Too bad for me -- in the short term -- that Jeff had figured out one way to neutralize almost anything I sent at him: The Mothership.

Cybernetics Core (50) Requires Twilight Council
- Upgrades for Zealot
- Upgrades for Stalker
- Upgrades for Immortal
- Upgrades for weapon and armor
- Upgrades for air units
* Research Charge: Increase Zealot speed for intercept purposes
* Research Blink: Allows Stalkers the ability to blink in and out of combat (80)
* Research Hardened Shield: Increases power of Immortal Shield, reducing damage of single attacks by 10 (110)
* Upgrade air weapons for Phoenixes, Warp Rays, Tempests, and Interceptors: Level 1, level 2, level 3 (140 each upgrade level)
* Upgrade air armor for Phoenixes, Warp Rays, Tempests, and Interceptors: Level 1, level 2, level 3 (140 each upgrade level)



Twilight Archon

The Mothership, and it's notorious 'Planet Cracker,' was one of the big surprises at the Seoul unveiling. So powerful that any Protoss army can only have one at a time, the Mothership can raze ground forces as well as pummel anything that comes at it from the sky. It also has a move called the 'Black Hole,' which, as the name suggests, creates a huge, swirling, vortex that sucks up anything and -- to be more precise -- everything in its wake. When we decided it was finally time to clash, I sent my amassed fleet and ground forces at Jeff's wimpy camp. When I met with his conventional defenses, I had little trouble hammering his flimsy selection of Photon Cannons, Zealots and Stalkers with a basketball team's worth of Reavers, pregnant with Scarabs. As any Starcraft vet knows, a dozen Scarabs landing simultaneously equals a one-shot to just about any standing structure, including a Nexus. As it was just a few Pylons, Photon Cannons and soldiers, those were destroyed in an instant. Of course, the Tempests, Warp Rays, Phoenixes and Star Relics flying overhead meant even bigger trouble for Mr. Green, at least, that is, until they ran into his Mothership. With a click of a mouse-button, Jeff activated the Black Hole and in one grueling slow-motion moment, sucked my entire fleet out of the air and sent them packing to some unknown dimension. Touché, Mr. Green, touché.

Templar Archive (75) Requires Cybernetics Core
- Warp in High Templar
- Spell research and upgrades
* Research Psi Storm: High Templar AoE attack (110)
* Research Khaydarin Amulet: Max High Templar energy increases by 50 (110)



Tempest

Determined to win this war of attrition, I set my dozen-strong Stargates into manufacturing mode, cranking out Tempests like my name was Henry Ford. I doubled the number of ground troops, with multiple Forges having long since upgraded every armor and weapon boost, as well as movement speed and the new Zealot 'Charge' move that allows them to close the distance on a ground-based enemy in a blink of an eye. I would swarm any ground-based threat while meeting his mothership head on. As expected, round 2 was a much more focused affair, as I unearthed any expansion base Jeff tried to put together, drowning them in a swarm of purple fury (I was the violet Protoss in this match). When his Mothership crept out of the fog of war, I sent my balanced fleet of airships at it, only to see a similar result take place. Jeff Green + Mothership + Black Hole = Many Units Lost. However, this time I was prepared. Knowing that he couldn't just spam Black Holes on me, I let him punk my frontline fleet with his over-powered move. But things turned out a little different when -- thanks to this diversionary tactic -- I wheeled out my own Mothership above his main base and Planet Crackered the works. As he saw the end near, and since his Black Hole timer had yet to reset, I moved my own Mothership within range of his, as well as a secondary fleet of Tempests, and shot his Mothership down with a Black Hole of my own, while the Tempests unleashed their piranha-like Interceptors on the beleaguered ship.

Dark Obelisk (??) Requires Cybernetics Core

At this point, Dustin Browder admitted that the Black Hole attack was something that would have to be nerfed immediately, as both he and Sigaty laughed at the sight of my entire fleet taking a nosedive in one fell swoop. As I stated earlier, there's still a lot of balancing that needs to go into the game, and this play session was one way for the developers to see what things need it the most. After all, Blizzard has been working on this game for two years already, and we were the first fresh eyes to see the game in a long time, so things that the dev team may now take for granted, are still a surprise to new players. Whether the Black Hole will be nerfed to absorb a limited number of ships, or do a specific amount of damamge, or powered-down in some other way hasn't been decided, but the tide of battle will undoubtedly require slightly more skillful play than simply producing a Mothership and hitting 'Black Hole' on the enemy.





High Templar

Further games with some of the other journalists in the room revealed that there are some quick learners in the room, as I engaged in some heated skirmishes, utilizing hit and run tactics, harassing the other players as they harassed my own bases. Eventually I was undone by the limited resources, as one of my opponents claimed a few more mineral and gas deposits than me (primarily by warping Probes to secluded island resources that I hadn't gotten to in time). All in all, I at least discovered that Starcraft II was, as I had hoped, seriously fun. I didn't really enjoy the jump from 2D to 3D that took place when Warcraft III came out, as I felt that the 3D wasn't used as effectively as it could have been, and that the camera didn't let you see enough of the field of battle, as it was only used to zoom in and check out how cool the units looked in 3D. With Starcraft II there is no such problem. You always have a good lay of the land, which is important in a real-time strategy game, and the graphics are super-sharp. The animation is so fluid, and seeing the detailed models move around like they do is a joy to behold. The classic soundbites are back, and one interesting thing I gleaned from the interview with Mr. Browder and Mr. Sigaty is that the Ghosts in the game might not all be men. I asked them if the seemingly-defunct Starcraft: Ghost game might have at least contributed Nova (Ghost's protagonist) or Nova-like characters for players to use in Terran campaigns in SCII. While it's certainly not a done deal, the pair admitted it was a distinct possibility. Since Firebats are currently out of the sequel for the time being, changes like these are the ones most worth watching, as they will change everything you know about Starcraft.

Where did you copy that from?

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1up by chance?

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go Stork WCG 2007 Protoss reign supreme