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Omobono posted:Aren't the free ones just Jim, Kerri and Artanis? Same here, but not so for my friend who only has Wings. At some point they gave him away as an anniversary thing, if what I searched online is right, and I'm guessing that only applied to folks who owned at least one expac somehow? Hard to say.
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Jan 30, 2024 23:10
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Has there been a post about what Co-op is exactly? Like, what're the rules about it, and the progression or whatever? Is it something like The Last Stand mode in Dawn of War 2? Or, I suppose, like C&C Generals or Red Alert 3, now that I think of it, but with an RPG progression...?
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Jan 30, 2024 23:37
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painedforever posted:Has there been a post about what Co-op is exactly? Like, what're the rules about it, and the progression or whatever? Is it something like The Last Stand mode in Dawn of War 2? Or, I suppose, like C&C Generals or Red Alert 3, now that I think of it, but with an RPG progression...? Commanders start at Level 1, playing matches earns you XP, more XP means more levels, more levels means more unlocks/abilities/upgrades, when you hit maximum level your XP starts feeding into Masteries (extremely minor buffs that tweak playstyle) and potentially Prestiges (rulesets that make your Commander into some kind of variant that's mostly the same but has key differences). There's no story beyond what Bisby already covered: BisbyWorl posted:Now, a few bits of Plot to cover that Co-op assumes you know that the LP hasn't reached: Co-op is non-canon despite the wishes of the fanbase, so we'll be seeing some characters who are confirmed to be Extremely Dead pop up.
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Jan 30, 2024 23:46
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Huh, took another gander at the co-op screen, and it'll let you ready up as any commander. Then I checked the purchase button in confusion (on everyone but the first three) and that held the answer. You can go up to level 5 with a commander without buying it, and then Raynor/Kerrigan/Artanis are the only ones that can go past that point without cash. Considering how MTX'd it is, I am pleasantly surprised that it's actually try-before-you-buy.
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Jan 31, 2024 03:23
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It wasn't, for a very long time. Used to be you could only play commanders you'd bought. If I remember right, buying the Nova Covert Ops stuff got you the Nova commander as well. The co-op commanders have also never gone on sale.
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Jan 31, 2024 03:28
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Warmachine posted:The grind is probably my only real criticism of co-op, followed a bit by variety. The leveling system is just obnoxious, since as Bisby points out the Prestiges can radically change how a commander plays, and a lot of commanders have core features locked behind the 1-15 progression, which you'll be spending a lot of time in the middle of because you're trying to unlock the next Prestige. Furthermore, the Masteries are no joke, so you REALLY want to hit level 90 to have the maximum points to distribute in there. Fortunately that carries over between commanders, but the 1-15 grind is forever (or at least until you unlock at the Prestiges you want for a commander). [Grumbling and irritated noises about how we didn't need no "progression" systems in unreal tournament or tribes or SC1 to stay 'engaged' that really just makes me look and feel old) Kith posted:
Identifying objects in your dataset by common name instead of specifically-assigned unchangeable unique IDs is very good design that every beginning server admin, database admin, or programmer, learns is very good design they should definitely keep doing sometime in their first six months on the job. BisbyWorl posted:Calling it here. lol also lol Objectively worst retcon coming up, but not the one I personally thought was the most stupidly dumb in SC2. That one happens late in Void.
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Jan 31, 2024 07:58
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bladededge posted:[Grumbling and irritated noises about how we didn't need no "progression" systems in unreal tournament or tribes or SC1 to stay 'engaged' that really just makes me look and feel old) Yeah well Unreal Tournament got free expansions midlife too, and that's not happening anymore either. I booted up UT2004 the other day, there are over a hundred player models to choose from. For free. Was taken aback, it would simply never happen now. Which is a roundabout way of saying that watching this almost made me want to play SC2 co-op because it looks fun! And then I saw the progression and the microtransactions and all the Blizzard everywhere and decided against it. Which is too bad, because it does look like fun.
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Jan 31, 2024 08:53
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Kith posted:Co-op is non-canon despite the wishes of the fanbase, so we'll be seeing some characters who are confirmed to be Extremely Dead pop up. The missions themselves could work as poo poo happening between the end of Legacy and the final campaign, mostly because their plot is "here be good guy or gal being under attack by Amon's forces, the commanders roll in to kick hybrid rear end". Mengsk being playable despite the fact that, spoilers, he ain't gonna walk away alive from Heart, that's obviously non-canon. Same for other dead dead dead commanders.
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Jan 31, 2024 10:57
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aniviron posted:Yeah well Unreal Tournament got free expansions midlife too, and that's not happening anymore either. Man, why'd you have to bring those games up? I loved those. The Assault matches and the Team Deathmatches and the varied and wonderful maps and skins that you didn't need to unlock or DLC or anything and could just play whenever?
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Jan 31, 2024 19:26
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Xarn posted:So much grinding for levels, I thought this was an RTS. An RTS with competition modes and story progression.
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Jan 31, 2024 19:59
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Nostalgamus posted:IIRC: how can you tell if you have those bonus commanders unlocked, I never bought Legacy of the Void, but I did buy WoL, HotS and Remastered (and never really checked out Co-op until this LP)
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Jan 31, 2024 20:25
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Aces High posted:how can you tell if you have those bonus commanders unlocked, I never bought Legacy of the Void, but I did buy WoL, HotS and Remastered (and never really checked out Co-op until this LP) If you go into the Co-op menu and click on a commander, there will be a "Purchase" button near the bottom if you do not own them.
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Jan 31, 2024 20:29
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Unit Spotlight: Swarm Queen Overview:
Abilities  Rapid Transfusion
 Spawn Creep Tumor
Field Manual Artwork  
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Feb 1, 2024 04:46
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supporting the swarm by shidding and farding
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Feb 1, 2024 05:38
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... does the new Queen have boobs?
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Feb 1, 2024 06:54
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No, it is just a convenient carapace ledge
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Feb 1, 2024 07:12
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painedforever posted:... does the new Queen have boobs? insert that 'Beyond the Aquila Rift' gif
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Feb 1, 2024 08:59
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It's interesting that the "new" queen actually fulfils the role described for the queen in the SC1 fluff: a support unit for Zerg nests. SC1 queens were attack/debuff casters with little reason to just sit around a base.
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Feb 1, 2024 15:13
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I was so happy that there was a Brood War speedrun in GDQ. I was watching it with my husband and spotted the Queen during True Colors and knew exactly what it was going to be used for. His face when it went off was incredible.
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Feb 1, 2024 15:19
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Kith posted:I was so happy that there was a Brood War speedrun in GDQ. I was watching it with my husband and spotted the Queen during True Colors and knew exactly what it was going to be used for. His face when it went off was incredible. Says he can throw down with the best of them. Dies like the rest of them.
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Feb 1, 2024 15:46
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GunnerJ posted:It's interesting that the "new" queen actually fulfils the role described for the queen in the SC1 fluff: a support unit for Zerg nests. SC1 queens were attack/debuff casters with little reason to just sit around a base. Yeah, the new queens are basically Hive Tyrants.
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Feb 1, 2024 15:47
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Funnily enough, the Queen in SC2 is actually closer to the original concept of the SC1 Queen than the end product of that game. The Queen was originally conceived as a ground-based mobile larva-spawner that Zerg could use to morph units in the field. I guess the Swarm Queen specifically doesn't get Spawn Larvae but SC2 Queens in general do. Also looking at the Queen up close and personal for it's spotlight in the SC1 LP made me realize that the two units are physically a lot more similar than I thought. Take a Swarm Queen and put a weird leather-y webbing between its legs and make it fly and you've got a Brood War Queen.
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Feb 1, 2024 16:04
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JohnKilltrane posted:Funnily enough, the Queen in SC2 is actually closer to the original concept of the SC1 Queen than the end product of that game. The Queen was originally conceived as a ground-based mobile larva-spawner that Zerg could use to morph units in the field. I guess the Swarm Queen specifically doesn't get Spawn Larvae but SC2 Queens in general do. Hell, the Swarm Queens already have the webbing. Just get them flapping it like wings. It looks like Kerrigan did evolve them a human-ish torso where the Queen's head used to be. Maybe that weighed them down too much for flight. Maybe this was part of the process of her developing Brood Mothers. I guess while coming up with her own equivalent of the Cerebrates, she wanted to build them in her own image.
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Feb 1, 2024 16:57
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The spike high heels under their flap skirts are why they move so slow off creep, clearly. 
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Feb 1, 2024 17:19
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painedforever posted:... does the new Queen have boobs?  Boobs more efficient.
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Feb 1, 2024 18:52
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They're the queen's creep tumors.
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Feb 1, 2024 20:47
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So that's why it's called malignant creep.
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Feb 1, 2024 21:18
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The face also looks a bit Protoss-y. Oh god, and it also has hair-like thingies. This is so unnecessary.
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Feb 1, 2024 21:45
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Gonna pin a pink ribbon on that bug.
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Feb 1, 2024 23:25
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I don't think even Kerrigan would be able to stand up to Susan G. Komen's legal team.
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Feb 2, 2024 00:03
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Zerus 1: Waking the Ancient GETTING REWARDED FOR KILLING COLONISTS WITH A POWER BOOST YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!  At the very least, Zerus has some lava.    No, you did. We wouldn't be anywhere near here if the writers didn't give you their notes.   You must let Zerus remake you, Kerrigan! The final war nears, and there is little time. I don't have to do a drat thing. I will not be a pawn in your prophecies.Kerrigan has zero interest in Zeratul's bullshit. But you will do anything to have your revenge?Unfortunately, he Knows The Plot, so he can get her to do it anyways.  Then that is enough. >Talk to Izsha.    But the primals feed off the essence of individuals. They're in the state of constant evolution. They don't die.Essence count: 20  Until they are killed by another primal. True. The most successful hunters among them must be incredibly ancient. And incredibly dangerous.You heard it here first, folks. Feeding off essence makes you immortal! >Talk to Zeratul.  The xel'naga wish you restored as the leader of the Swarm.  Spare me your self pity, Zeratul. Everyone has to make peace with their own choices. I made my peace long ago. When we are done here, I will return to my own people, and accept their judgement. We all have to pay for our actions someday. I guess your day is almost here.>Talk to Abathur.   I thought you'd like them. As individuals they constantly evolve to be more efficient killers. Primal zerg, reactionary, improvised. Some good sequence, can steal. Swarm, efficient, careful improvements. Successful. Behold: The one (1) level I got from Enemy Within.  Time to battle against the primal zerg, hidden from their intergalactic kin for untold eons! Surely they will be like nothing we've ever seen! Video: Waking the Ancient  They gather even now, preparing to destroy us.Also, we get Mutalisks!   You want me to awaken it, don't you?  They wish to stop you from speaking with the Ancient One. What will you do? God, she really does just say that with a straight face.  And that's it for Zeratul's role in Heart! Two games in a row where he just shows up, tells us exactly what the Prophecy says we should do and fucks off!    To awaken this creature, we must feed it.     And that's the mission in a nutshell. Find Quillgor, kill Quillgor, feed this hunter that's so advanced he can get other people to do the hunting for him.  And we get our first look at the rank and file pri-  That's a Zergling and Hydralisk. This is just a loving zerg mirror!  They even have Guardians! We don't even use Guardians anymore!  And they have better Guardians that can hit air!   Let them try. I start off with a decent opening army, including six Zerglings that will last forever thanks to Zergling Reconstitution.  And the expansion is just outside my base.  However, it's guarded by a Quillgor Alpha and three Quillgors. The Alpha has 325 life and deals 7 damage, while the smaller version has 150 life and deals 5. They're just time wasters, and aren't a real threat.  When an Alpha dies, it leaves a corpse for me to harvest.  This Alpha was rude enough to die right on the expansion, so I have to harvest it now to make space for a Hatchery.  It takes a minute for a Drone to finish harvesting.  Also the Mutalisk will constantly flash in the morph menu until I finally make one. Heart can be annoyingly handholdy at times.  Southeast of the Ancient One is a pool guarded by a few Primal Zerglings.  They're loving Zerglings. 45 life is on par with my own if I ran the life boost mutation.  Essence count: 21 Approach, absorb essence. Will augment strength.Essence count: 22 Just slurping up some essence goo for an easy level.  Then find more quillgor, Izsha. Yes, my queen.Feeding one thing of biomass prompts a remark from Izsha.  A primal is standing around northeast from the essence pool.  When I approach, it ducks into the bushes and burrows.  Izsha flags all the Quillgor on the map and-son of a bitch this is Welcome to the Jungle all over again! 7 bits to win! 13 total on the map! I bet Brakk's gonna start sending groups out to deny me biomass!  Exploring the map reveals this batch of Primal Roaches, Hydralisks, and Ultralisks hanging around. They have a few stat tweaks, and the Ultra is an entirely new model. But again, still ZvZ.  As you might expect, six Zerglings can't really do much here.  But a bit of kiting keeps the important units safe.  Meanwhile, back at the Lair, some growths have popped up. Those are the reviving Zerglings, thanks to Zergling Reconstitution, and the bar on top is how long until they hatch.  The growths pop off.  And my Zerglings are back into the fray!  Letting me use the same pack of units to open every fight!   The Strange Creature makes another appearance, this time jumping off a cliff and burrowing when it hits the ground.  While exploring the map I run into a stream of Primal Zerglings, plus some extra Primals. I figure those Zerglings were an early raid heading to nab a Quillgor.  We have to stop them. Our forces can intercept their raiding parties.Brakk's raids have to kill the Quillgors themselves, same as me, then have their own 60 second timer to destroy the biomass. Much like the altars in Welcome to the Jungle, pushing them off of it will completely reset the timer. The map is covered in cliffs that keep ground units from taking a direct path to any attacked Quillgor, encouraging mass Mutalisks to bounce around the map as needed.  Also I accidentally kited a Quillgor really close to my expansion. Saves me a bit of a trip, at least.  Brakk is nowhere near as aggressive as the Tal'darim were in Welcome to the Jungle, so I can take my time and build up.  Although he'll still send out attack waves.  Zerg is my worst race, just because having to burn workers on static defense before I'm fully saturated just breaks my brain and I never do it in the early game.  You can see that this raiding party took some damage from the Quillgor.  And this is the other reason you want mass Mutas here: If you haven't already cleared the area out there's usually a pack of primals between you and whatever is being targeted.  Oh also they still send a small attack at harvesting Drones.  Thankfully I'm close enough for Kerrigan to get over and nail them with Crushing Grip before they can kill my Drone.  A Drone holding biomass leaves a small blood trail behind it, which is neat.  How are we understanding the primals, anyways?  I go grab the biomass next to my expansion.  Brakk goes after the same corpse.  The primals do have one new unit! It's the new unit zerg got for skirmish, it isn't even a campaign exclusive. Swarm Hosts occasionally poop out two small units called Locusts, which are high damage/low health timed summons. If you can get past the Locusts, they're helpless.  We're already halfway there!  Roll cred-gently caress no I have way too much self respect for that.  Grabbing the fifth.  Find the second essence pool.  Mmmmmmm... Tastes like evolution!   Clear out some primals.  Ultralisk AOE means nothing when my Zerglings revive for free!  Brakk actually gets close to destroying a corpse! Close.  A thing to note about the biomass is that unlike the Terrazine canisters, which I could tuck away in my base for later, biomass is on a fixed track.  If I try to move the Drone away it'll drop the biomass on the spot.  Then get back on the path once I click it again.  Now I just have to find that third pool.  I run into a Primal Hive.  Despite being called a Hive, they can do the Night Elf building thing and stand up to attack me.   In the bottom right corner is Brakk's 'base'.  It's just an absolute ton of primals with the only buildings being two Primal Hives.  Brakk is hitting a corpse during this, but I just let him have it. Not like I'm at any risk of losing at this point.   And the fourth and final Primal Hive on the map is here.  All this gets you is an achievement.  I find the Strange Creature again.  Finally find the last pool.  Essence count: 23  And get the last bit of biomass.    But before the Ancient One can wake up, Brakk tries to step in. Defend the hive cluster!   Brakk spawns in the remains of his old base and calls in a few friends for backup.  However, I have a maxed out army and can rush him instantly.  He lives for about 5 seconds.  And the mission ends with some ominous evil laughter.          Your Swarm bears the mark of Amon, the fallen xel'naga, who came to Zerus long ago. He forged the zerg into a weapon, and took them away. Yet some of us were hidden, overlooked. We multiplied. We remain pure. If you seek our power, you must become primal zerg. You must become pure.Oh so we were just one mission out from learning Amon's name. And oh god Amon actually did just make the Overmind and gently caress off.   Waking the Ancient - Complete the "Waking the Ancient" mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign. A Game of Drones - Don’t lose more than 3 Drones in the “Waking the Ancient” mission. Rude Awakening - Kill 4 Primal Hives in the “Waking the Ancient” mission on Normal difficulty. Whack-A-Brakk - Don’t let Brakk destroy any Biomass in the “Waking the Ancient” mission on Hard difficulty. Don't Look Up - Control 70 Mutalisks at the same time within 20 minutes in the "Waking the Ancient" mission on Normal difficulty. BisbyWorl fucked around with this message at 05:04 on Feb 6, 2024 |
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Feb 3, 2024 05:38
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hahahahahaha yes it's starting
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Feb 3, 2024 05:41
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BisbyWorl posted:
Maybe falling for the "You must let Zerus remake you, Kerrigan!" bit would land better if it was clear that she was unable to get her revenge on Mengsk without it - like if she fought and failed, then was like okay I have to do Zeratul's idea. As is, she already seems to be a fairly capable leader of the swarm (especially if we had done Char already) with a fair shot at Korhal if she just kept up on the track she's on. I guess maybe the second mission counts as "fought and failed" but since she hooked back up with the Zerg, things have been going pretty well. gohuskies fucked around with this message at 06:27 on Feb 3, 2024 |
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Feb 3, 2024 06:24
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Like I said before, I don't remember anything about these missions specifically (except the big ending) but I do remember liking them. There's some interesting stuff going on within some very rough edges. -I like that Kerrigan just wholesale rejects Zeratul's prophecy and the idea that she's the savior of the universe that Jim believed wholeheartedly. I said that would have been a much better way to introduce her, someone trying to run away from that responsibility and live the second life she was gifted with Her Mans while Jim was trying to get her to embrace it, and this seals the deal. Her flippant attitude toward Zeratul's Things Of Great Import is great, and equally great is Zeratul's clear loathing for this situation as he is forced to indulge her dumb quest for revenge to get what the universe needs out of her. As soon as he feels like he's done what he can he hauls himself back to Shakuras to be EXECUTED FOR TREASON rather than suffer the indignity of helping her more than the minimum. Menewhile Kerrigan is calling him out for his martyr complex and melodrama in a way that is funny for being on point, while also obnoxious given her own baggage. It's a neat dynamic. How cool would it have been if Kerrigan had to bust him out of prison or something later and made him her Captive Wise Man? -As an environment, Zerus is really pretty. It definitely has the feeling of an untamed jungle wilderness to me with all the lush vegetation. I REALLY like that the Primal Zerg don't have "bases" per se and don't spread creep, since that would run counter to the wild aesthetic and creates a strong distinction with our Zerg: they are more organized, but they have lines they're forced to color inside that the Primals lack. Making their spawners combat units a la Night Elves was pretty inspired. I like that mystery critter running around just as a tease. I like that there are just pools of primordial ooze that Abathur can sift through for weird "essence." -I can understand being irritated that most of the Primal forces are Just Normal Zerg Reskinned (although I like the skin!) but their little twists are pretty cool. Zerglings having more HP or Guardians attacking Air-to-Air are minor, but it's something, as is the presence of the Swarm Host. They should have doubled down harder on this. If our goal is to "become Primal Zerg," imagine if completing this sset was what unlocked Abathur's ability to evolve your units into new forms. He crows about the superiority of "slow, careful, efficient evolution," over the Primal's "reactionary, improvised," style. Make him eat those words when we have to deal with Zerglings that can jump cliffs or spawn two at a time with our standard models carrying the best power Abathur could manage, an... attack speed boost. Let these missions serve as a preview of what your swarm can become by the endgame by throwing every possible permutation of the evolvable units at you, and make sure we're up against a never-before-seen Zerg unit that you'll eventually acquire in every step of the series. So, positivity aside, god drat is the dialogue in this banal and hand-holdy even by this game's standards. Did they really think people just would not understand this very simple premise of "kill the critters, feed the meat to the monster?" Also, why is the Primal Overlord such a joke? They already had a solid boss fight in this game, they couldn't think of a way to account for you rushing him down with a supply capped army? Give him a big AOE ability that wipes out most of your troops and force Kerrigan to fight him along while you build reinforcements. Have HIM spawn with an army that matches yours in composition? Give him some kind of temporary invulnerability that turns on and off at various intervals. SOMETHING! Also, that line about how the Zerg's weakness compared to the Primals is their "mindlessness," was a pretty good shot from Brakk... but its also a joke given how unaggressive and simplistic his strategy seems to be. Why isn't he attacking multiple corpses at once, or attacking your base at the same time he swings on your objective? Make the player multi-task to beat him, give the Primals some credibility. But I guess that would go against the mission's spirit of being as easy as possible because they were scared their players wouldn't understand something more complex than THROW ZERGLINGS AT ENEMY BASE UNTIL DEAD.
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Feb 3, 2024 06:50
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BisbyWorl posted:Your Swarm bears the mark of Amon, the fallen xel'naga, who came to Zerus long ago. He forged the zerg into a weapon, and took them away. Yet some of us were hidden, overlooked. We multiplied. We remain pure. If you seek our power, you must become primal zerg. You must become pure.
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Feb 3, 2024 08:13
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Welcome to Retcon City, planet Zerus. Population: us.
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Feb 3, 2024 08:26
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Important correction, this isn't Welcome to the Jungle. That was TvP, this is ZvZ This mission is also waaay worse to play. Xarn fucked around with this message at 12:51 on Feb 3, 2024 |
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Feb 3, 2024 09:11
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DTurtle posted:Wait a second, the Zerg weren’t a project of the Xel‘naga as a whole, but just a single "fallen" one? Yup. Also, the people called Xel'naga in the SC1 manual were retconned to not be Xel'naga after all.
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Feb 3, 2024 09:28
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Abathur is still the standout star of Hearts. He's just so proud of his work and rightfully disdainful of the primals.
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Feb 3, 2024 09:32
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Grammarchist posted:Abathur is still the standout star of Hearts. He's just so proud of his work and rightfully disdainful of the primals. Rant about this idiocy when I have an actual keyboard but yup, these morons got no space faring capabilities. They're loving weaklings. Shake them for everything they're worth them chuck them in the trash where they belong. E: seriously Kerrigan's Swarm has been tangoing with Terran and Protoss for years, this "hellworld" got nothing in comparison.
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Feb 3, 2024 09:48
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