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In my experience, taking out Zagara before getting 100 eggs is fairly easy because of the banelings. Their attacks are great at countering her zerglings, and enough can burst down buildings or harder targets in the space of a few seconds. Plus Creep is Creep, so you get the movement bonus inside her base to get the bombs to their destinations faster. Now this is not to say that she is defenceless. To try and discourage you from just running in Zaragra has Ultralisks and Mutalisks in her base, aka "I laugh at your Zerglings" and "immune to Zerglings and Banelings." So pure Zerglings needs an overwhelming number of them, really incentivizing the burst damage of Banelings. Funnily enough, Zagara has more callouts depending on what you are doing. If you are building up a big swarm of units in likely preparation for going after her base but don't park it in front of it so she gets out, she will taunt that while you were building an army, she was out gathering eggs. Likewise if you have been running around gathering eggs she will say "while you have been out gathering eggs, I have been training troops!" Zagara does indeed send attack waves after your base, even if she is not in them, so you can't completely neglect your base defense (unless you already have enough of an army to support/Kerrigan herself is strong enough to gather the last of the eggs).
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Feb 24, 2024 15:13
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Zagara is who I'd pick to be the protagonist of a non-Kerrigan version of the Zerg campaign. She's a nice straightforward pure zerg leader, that other characters like Dehaka can contrast with. She is to the brood mothers what Daggoth was to the cerebrates, a named character to represent a general category of people. You could write a pretty compelling story out of her rising above that and figuring out concepts of ambition and leadership from first principles, trying to learn from more experienced commanders (both friendly and enemy) without relinquishing power to them. That's not the story we're going to get with her, of course - Kerrigan is here, so she can just sit at the side and learn from mother instead. And I don't remember her role being particularly bad, she'd just be a good candidate to build a lot more off in a way that Dehaka isn't really.
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Feb 24, 2024 15:18
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Thinking about it, it might have been cool (if PC destroying) for when you reach 100 Eggs Zagara also popped any eggs that she had gotten so the two masses of Zeglings/Banelings could meet in the middle, the surviving side continuing on to the base. Moving back a bit, I have heard tell that back in development regarding Zurvan there was originally going to be a mission where it was him versus another ancient Zerg in a big Kaiju battle. I imagine the actual mission would have been along the lines of either tip-toeing around the battle to accomplish objectives to power him up, or attack specific sub-systems on the enemy/other objectives to weaken the challenger. Or it could have simply been an early version of a particular mission that we shall see in LotV.
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Feb 24, 2024 15:45
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What happens if Zagara somehow reaches 100 eggs? Automatic game over cutscene, or is there an actual playable sequence where she sends an endless stream of banelings at you?
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Feb 24, 2024 16:27
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Regalingualius posted:What happens if Zagara somehow reaches 100 eggs? Automatic game over cutscene, or is there an actual playable sequence where she sends an endless stream of banelings at you? It's just a "Zagara got 100 eggs" text popup then the "defeat" popup.
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Feb 24, 2024 16:30
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zagara my beloved, my adored  Continuing the trend of the only good things to come out of the campaign are the side characters, Zagara loving rules. Frankly, the entire cast of HOTS is great except for Kerrigan.
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Feb 24, 2024 18:04
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there's a reason every side character from hots (except izsha) made it into hots
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Feb 24, 2024 18:38
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i considered clarifying the acronyms but decided against it
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Feb 24, 2024 18:38
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I have a soft spot for Zagara because she was my main in HOTS and her kit was so flavorful and unique. Hunter Killer harass is one of the funniest things you can do.
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Feb 24, 2024 18:42
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Man, this game has such a lackadaisical plot to go with what seem like really great ideas for missions.
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Feb 25, 2024 03:00
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When it comes to mission design HOTS is definitely my favourite.
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Feb 25, 2024 03:53
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Intermission 8 Video: Meeting Zagara      I would obliterate their fortress at Dauntless Plateau, but the only way to reach it is through the Bone Trench. This actually checks your choice on Char back in Wings! If we cleared Shatter the Sky instead her line would change to: quote:
 But what of the xel'naga artifact? Could the terrans still possesses it? They might, but I know it's not here on Char. It's no threat to us. The Leviathan is starting to get a bit crowded. >Talk to Izsha.    But when the terrans came here with that same artifact, you recalled the nearest brood to defend you. I see. But what of the broods there were still out in deep space? They went feral. They attacked each other. They died by the millions. That will not happen again.This chat changes entirely if done before Zerus. quote:
So yeah, despite Izsha intoducing herself as the Queen of Blades' backup memory drive we still don't get any solid answers on what the hell Kerrigan was doing in Wings! She got a vision? Did Tassadar's ghost beam In Utter Darkness to her as well as Zeratul? Was she planning to try and outplay Amon? If so, what was the deal with her embracing her end back at the start of the Prophecy chain? Don't ask such silly questions, go harvest some more essence! >Talk to Dehaka.  Essence count: 61   They will fade. They are more dangerous than you know. I will taste their essence. Then I will know them. Essence count: 62 >Talk to Zagara.   No.Yes. Faster then. No.Yes. Do not toy with me, my queen! Tell me your secret.Behold: The replacement for Cerebrates. Talk to Abathur in the evolution pit. He will tell me? He will change you. Go. She leaves after that. >Examine Warfield's Compound.    >Talk to Abathur.  This conversation only happens after talking to Zagara, before this he just repeats the same stuff from his end of Zerus chat.   Now added muscle density, expanded brain matter. Now able to hypothesize multiple scenarios. Cognitive flexibility. Perhaps I should add this to all future broodmothers. Extraneous brain matter deemed unnecessary to the broodmother in Swarm. Extra matter requires extra energy. Also leads to increased independence. This contradicts imperative: Zerg must present no danger to leader of Swarm. Times are changing. I want my minions as dangerous as possible.With what we currently know, you might be thinking that Kerrigan has learned some lessons from Zerus. Bring the Broodmothers closer to the primal pack leaders to strengthen the Swarm as a whole, you know? The problem is that this convo is the same regardless of if you've been to Zerus or not, so it has absolutely nothing to do with the primal zerg. >Examine Baneling.  The Baneling can choose between increasing initial damage, like the Siege Tank's Maelstrom Rounds.  Keeping damage the same but boosting splash range.  Or making their explosion heal allies units.  Eh, I rarely use Banelings anyways, so it doesn't matter what I grab here.  Finally, 7 missions into this revenge plot against the Dominion-  We actually get to fight the Dominion. Also note how there's no main mission reward here. If we came to Char first, this is where we'd get the Zergling evolution. Since we already have it, all we get is the bonus.
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Feb 25, 2024 04:11
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Izsha, all around me I see the signs of the old Queen of Blades. But I can't remember why I held my forces here on Char for so long.
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Corrosive Acid makes Banelings smash the living hell out of things and are absolutely wonderful against things that are normally considered to be their counter.
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Feb 25, 2024 04:40
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By contrast, I remember using the hell out Banelings with Corrosive Acid and one of their evolutions as my bread and butter base busting units.
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Feb 25, 2024 05:07
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I hear that swarmlings are good if you're going banelings
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Feb 25, 2024 05:39
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Rounding out the trifecta, I never build Banelings myself, but I was a fan of using Regenerative Acid and Kerrigan's Spawn Banelings ability as my primary emergency heal. The cooldown is way longer than her actual heal but I find there's usually not many times where Kerrigan's taking enough fire to need a heal that often, and in exchange it triggers in full effect right away and can smash the hell out of an attack wave at the same time.
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Feb 25, 2024 05:47
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Regenerative Acid is that weird upgrade where it feels like they just threw it in because they couldn't think of anything else to give the baneling, but it turns out it's actually feels kind of good when you run a comp of JUMPY BOYS and one of the baneling evolutions. The same thing that let's raptorlings run adrenal all day every day means the problem of targets being surrounded by hungry zerglings is now another added incentive to surround targets with hungry zerglings.
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Feb 25, 2024 07:22
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For some reason this makes me imagine Abathur in some sort of TV advert. There's GOT to be a BETTER way!
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Feb 25, 2024 11:09
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PurpleXVI posted:For some reason this makes me imagine Abathur in some sort of TV advert. Viewer must wait, product possesses more. Purchase now, bonus included. Total market value of product, 10,000 minerals. Organism Abathur offer, 2,000 minerals. If buyer unsatisfied, money-back guarantee available. Usage period, thirty days.
SoundwaveAU fucked around with this message at 12:31 on Feb 25, 2024 |
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Feb 25, 2024 12:21
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PurpleXVI posted:For some reason this makes me imagine Abathur in some sort of TV advert. New product: Toilet Baneling. Morph from Zergling, pop in bowl, lid down. (boom) Limescale: gone.
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Feb 25, 2024 12:25
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No other strain gonna do that
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Feb 25, 2024 14:02
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you know the one: you buy one you get one free! I said, you buy one you get one free! Right now for every single zergling you buy I'll give you nother one absolutely FREE
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Feb 25, 2024 15:05
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If you live on Korhal? gently caress YOU
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Feb 25, 2024 15:08
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"Kerrigan. I just wanted to let you know I'm about to eat a giant bowl of Cheetos. Yeah, like four bags' worth. Okay, I'll let you go."
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Feb 25, 2024 17:16
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Communist Thoughts posted:
I'd buy that for a dollar!
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Feb 25, 2024 19:26
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BisbyWorl posted:
What *is* it with frigging actiblizzard and having boss faces just pop up every so often with pitiful, boring taunts, anyway? The Diablo 3 and 4 gameplay trailers tell me that they're still all in on this nonsense. Total opposite of Bisby here, I frigging loved banelings. Great big swarms of charging explosive bugs smashing enemy bases. Hits the same sort of feeling as dropping multiple nukes on a base, to me. SC2's abnormally weak sound effect design really hurts them, though. I feel like those kersplosions need a lot more bass. They didn't get done dirty as bad as the hydralisk and zealot, but they're up there.
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Feb 25, 2024 22:29
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bladededge posted:What *is* it with frigging actiblizzard and having boss faces just pop up every so often with pitiful, boring taunts, anyway? The Diablo 3 and 4 gameplay trailers tell me that they're still all in on this nonsense. You need to build up stakes and threat, since you're not going to do it through gameplay because these are beginner missions and the writing is bad and, also and mostly unrelated, doesn't really understand the medium, they go that way.
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Feb 25, 2024 22:37
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bladededge posted:What *is* it with frigging actiblizzard and having boss faces just pop up every so often with pitiful, boring taunts, anyway? The Diablo 3 and 4 gameplay trailers tell me that they're still all in on this nonsense. it's a real pain in the rear end to build up a boss in a video game, narratively speaking. in other media it's a lot easier to have the hero and villain run into each other in a context where they either can't kill each other or are unwilling to do so for some reason, and as a result they get to have some characterization time, to make the ultimate confrontation more meaningful. but in most video games, and definitely all Blizzard video games, your primary verb for interacting with the environment is "kill." artificially stopping the player from using that verb for the sake of the story is incredibly annoying (hey remember that bit of Diablo 3 where you have to escort the guy who's incredibly obviously going to be a boss fight later? no not that one, the other one. no, the other other one) and having a villain who's infinitely beyond your ability to harm decide not to kill you because haw haw you're that far beneath him makes the villain look incompetent. Blizzard Villain Skype is not an elegant solution to this problem, but is A solution to the problem.
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Feb 25, 2024 22:57
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An even better question is to ask how Zagara is communicating with Kerrigan.
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Feb 25, 2024 23:02
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Kith posted:An even better question is to ask how Zagara is communicating with Kerrigan. Just because they're Zerg doesn't mean they don't have cell phones.
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Feb 25, 2024 23:12
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Kith posted:An even better question is to ask how Zagara is communicating with Kerrigan. Same way the cerebrates did, I assume? They were vaguely telepathic within the hivemind, I don't think the particular mechanism for that was ever explained. Figure Kerrigan would give Brood Mothers the same ability.
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Feb 25, 2024 23:20
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Zagara has a zergling on a box holding a big megaphone
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Feb 25, 2024 23:26
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megane posted:Zagara has a zergling on a box holding a big megaphone better than rapping at you in ultralisk semaphore?
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Feb 25, 2024 23:27
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Meanwhile all I can think of is a mission in the middle of SC1 Zerg where Kerrigan gets cheesed off that the protoss are doing things and tries to lure Tassadar out by killin' his dudes. It seems to work, and he requests a 1v1 duel, but only sends a hologram, being all "lol, why would I even do that, I'm a caster and you're a melee monster. I can't believe you fell for that." You get all your killing in, and get to have the "villain" style on the "hero" without a climactic showdown. Not saying it's easy, by a long stretch, just that it's something they've done before and I guess forgot how to do?
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Feb 25, 2024 23:35
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Kith posted:An even better question is to ask how Zagara is communicating with Kerrigan. tiny broodling tapping its beak on a telegraph "It's a livin'"
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Feb 25, 2024 23:36
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Communist Thoughts posted:
HI BILLY MAYS HERE WITH ANOTHER EXCITING OFFER FROM THE ZERG SWARM DO YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH REMOVING VISCERA, NECROTIC TISSUE, AND OTHER ORGANIC RESIDUE FROM YOUR CARAPACE? THEN YOU NEED BANE-CLEAN. BANE-CLEAN IS MADE FROM NOTHING BUT TOP-GRADE CORROSIVE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS FORMED FROM MULTI-STAGE CHEMICAL REACTIONS INSIDE THE DIGESTIVE TRACT OF THE NEWEST STRAIN OF KERRIGAN'S BANELING. WATCH AS BANE-CLEAN PROTONATES AND HYDROLYZES ORGANIC MATTER AT THE MOLECULAR LEVEL IN NO TIME AT ALL, LEAVING BEHIND A SHINY CHITINOUS EXOSKELETON YOU CAN SHOW OFF TO YOUR BROODMATES. CALL NOW AND WE'LL SEND YOU A SECOND CANISTER OF BANE-CLEAN ABSOLUTELY FREE!
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Feb 25, 2024 23:39
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BisbyWorl posted:Intermission 8 … Why even introduce that whole memory backup? I mean, Kerrigan apparently still remembers most important things like the Overmind, being on Char, and most of the stuff she did as Queen Bitch of the Universe. Let me guess: Amon still has (some) control over her? While freeing her from that control was the only semi-plausible reason for the whole dezergify-rezergify bullshit?
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Feb 26, 2024 00:14
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The correct answer is that you're thinking too much and that Kerrigan didn't have an objective in Wings, she was just an antagonist, now Blizz might declare that she did have one but that's just putting a plot hole in another plot hole, like the memory of where Kerrigan parked her headquarters being available to Kerrigan after amnesia.
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Feb 26, 2024 00:26
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Something that I think might have not been explained after it was brought up was how the Primal Zerg were able to talk to Kerrigan. I saw it as them "talking" was really a translation of what Kerrigan was understanding. Notice how most of them besides Zurvan spoke somewhat brokenly and almost more in concepts than anything else. That is just what their mixture of roars/pheromones/body language were "saying," like how a dogs ears facing backwards/laying flat on their heads show submission/fear. Kerrigan just happens to have enough Zerg in her that she can actually "understand" what all of these mean. As for talking to other people, Kerrigan is like THE psychic, so she either picks up on people and speaks to them that way, or the Protoss/Terran have sensors that happen to be able to project/accept telepathic waves that Kerrigan can pick up and and speak through.
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Feb 26, 2024 00:52
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| # ? Jun 1, 2024 09:04 |
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Kith posted:An even better question is to ask how Zagara is communicating with Kerrigan. She's using her outside voice
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Feb 26, 2024 01:45
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