-The Spellbound Witnessing of the destruction on Timul IV; what really happened to the Terran garrison that day.
I still cannot forget the $&%* I saw that day…they moved with a fluid grace that belied their size, the only indicator of their presence the sound of that quaking thunder that accompanies them. It was as if every exertion was forced upon them the force of a tidal wave, a contraction of muscle and sinew that drew only release from the sole goal of its target. We fired shell after artillery shell into their midst, but they shrugged them off with barely any gaping wounds across that hard, thick shell. Thick as they come, it throws not a wrench into their workings for if only that it further enhanced their purpose as they come, a barrelling force of indestructible carnage. And they hit home, with the force of that tidal wave I was talking about, all that pent-up rage in that tortured shell, fuelling the thrusts of those massive tusks. We were mowed over in seconds.
-diary entry found at the garrison on Timul IV
This thread can also be called How to Fix Starcraft 2 in ONE Move.
Well well well…who missed Starcraft 1’s animation of the big boys? Me, I do. I was so looking forward to my favourite unit’s comeback in the second installment of my favourite RTS franchise, because they fulfilled what the nightmare of the Zerg was all about and stood for, that of a evolutionary crown beast that was entirely bred for destruction, but it was to my realisation that they were no longer animated the way they were back in SC1. There is something a little lacklustre about their current incarnation, something a little less sexy, like they have no real intention to brunt their bulk into your face, but casually trod up to you and swipe with you with its right set of claws first, then its left, alternating. Sounds boring isn’t it? SC1, they nailed it, the Ultralisks moved, even though not very fast, as if it was exerting all its strength in moving its huge bulk forward, and when it struck, it was as if that titanic exertion was translated into its attack, and to complete the image, it used both its tusks.
This is an excerpt of a conversation I had with my friend, conveying my past sentiments on the Ultralisks, before the alterations:
when they moved, they lumbered forth at a steady pace that was frightening in consideration of their great bulk, and the entire motion was as if in reckless efforts despite the weight of its great bulk, which gave the impression of a momentum of a barrelling ram of destruction just as it seems to be carried with the strain of that bulging mass of pulsing muscle, as if the muscles were contracting and propelling against a monstrous denial of the efforts required. more can be said about the sexy way it moved, but when it attacked, it is as if it org&*med with every crushing smash of its inhumanly enormous blades it attacked with the bestial focus of every ounce and shred of muscle and sinew, propelling the crushing weight of its blades as if to certify it is a mindless being, of its tortured origins bred to be only a demon of destruction.
now it is so lacklustre
are you sure it is even a beast?
I don’t feel the energy from it
I can no longer mast^&*bate to it in fact
omfg
u mast*&(bate to sc1 ultralisk?
I used to think of Ultralisks barrelling down in a path of destruction, smashing apart with sheer brutality even the most stalwart and self-contained base defences, striking awesome fear into the hapless Terrans with a carnal force with every swipe of pure unbridled strength completely devouring all hope, CRUSHING EVEN ULTIMATE RESISTANCE WITH THE FURY OF A DEMONIC BEAST
that was sex to me
and of course I imagined them as females
lol
u beast boy
and return the sound to its Original Starcraft voice set, it reinforced my belief it has an org&*m everytime it attacks
So now onto how I think you should change the Ultralisk. First of all, the Attack Animation. There should only be one attack animation, and it should flow seamlessly from the Moving Animation, as if it was the SC1 Ultralisk instead. Secondly, give it an Armour boost, 1 base Armour for it is freaking disgraceful. And that’s all folks, I leave the rest of the complaints to you.
P.S. there’s two other points of note, something most people might not have noted, but in SC1, the Ultralisk’s Attack Animation would pause after several strikes. Blizzard should bring that back. And the second point of note is the Ultralisk had an Attack Range of 1, not ZERO. This does not mean it can Attack Air, BUT it is able to hit an enemy on an elevation. I know it works, I have had my Ghost killed that way before.
I have some solid solutions to the problem with the Ultralisk, and it will settle its power balance for good. First of all, keep the Area-Effect Attack at 40 Damage, its Hitpoints at 500, and its Speed as that of the base Zergling. This is rectified by the return of the slight pause of the Ultralisk’s Attack with every 3 or 4 Attacks. The animation should be changed as well, with the Ultralisk Moving more like its SC1’s animation. It should only have one Attack Animation, and that is the one with them moving forth with their tusks crashing into the enemy, fluidly with the momentum of their movement. It should have a base Armour increase of 2 or 3, and an Attack Range of 1. All this is just like it was in SC1, except for the base Armour of course, but that was always a-coming. You can also increase the Attack Cooldown of the Ultralisk a little, to maybe 15 again, or 1.5, as it was back in SC1. This way, even though he has a high Damage Area-Effect Attack, it will not be too powerful, because it is slower at 1.5, and suffers from a slight pause every 3 or 4 Attacks. And finally, the Attack Upgrade of the Ultralisk should be +4. (About the Cooldown, I am not sure what is the equivalent of 1.5 for StarCraft II, because that was its Attack Speed in SCBW. I suggest leaving that alone, and adding the slight pause between every 3 or 4 Attacks.)
Also, allow Ultralisks to walk over smaller Zerg Units like Zerglings and Broodlings, just like the Colossi, but not all Units, only the small Zerg Units. That will really fix them, and actually resolve all the problems with Ultralisks being unable to bring their weight to the fore, due to how unwieldy and unmanoeuvrable they are.