Ideas for the next commander

[RouxyG-1731]

For this Blizzcon, I hope Blizzard is going to release a Co-op commander and hopefully a new mission as well. For the commander, it’s most likely a terran, since we last saw a Zerg, with Stetmann, and Protoss, with Zeratul. I have some ideas that I think would be fun to see for a new Terran commander.

First, I would love to see this mechanic, where you have an army of both Terran and Zerg/ Protoss units. Having a possibility of making roaches alongside marines would be nice to see. This could be a good way to insert the Cerberus skin set of Zerg, while not having to create another Zerg commander.

Secondly, I thought it would be nice to see changes with the economy. There could be Mules to replace the SCVs, or make the SCV production like mules: by dropping form a drop pod and with a cooldown that can stack up to 5.

Here is the list of units I would love to see for the commander:

• Marine;

• Herc;

• Warhound;

• Cyclone;

• Widow Mine;

• Thor;

• Battlecruiser;

And for his Zerg:

• Roach;

• Infestor;

• Mutalisk;

• Viper;

• Broodlord

I had some ideas on how some of these units could work:

1. Mutalisk: The mutalisk could have a barrier/ personal shield that active after being attack. It could work like the shield Stetmann’s zergling have. The mutalisk could also have a cloaking field like the banshee. Lastly, they would have there ability to heal faster out of combat.

2. Roach: The Roach could be the replacement of the marauder, where it could have stimpack, but would still have Zerg roots, where when it kills an enemy, it would spawn 2 roachlings.

3. Cyclone: For the Cyclone, I would like to be able to choose which version of the cyclone I would use. Either the 2018 version, where it shoots really fast or the current one that has more micro involve. The change between the version could work like Han and Horner’s Battlecruiser or it could be trough an upgrade like Stukov’s infested liberator.

4. Battlecruiser: The Battlecruiser could have the ability to load in units and load them out. i would like to see tactile jump on them so their could be some mobility options. The battlecruiser could have a multitude of weapons such as a laser form the laser drill, his regular attack and a barrage of missiles like Swann’s missile turret. They could be swap like Horner’s batttlecruiser.

Lastly, for his cooldown, I think it could be nice to have one around a giant beefy units that can clean up an area by itself.

Another one could be use for as a defensive tool like a drone that gives a bonus in armor/hitpoints/ attack speed/ healing.

A third one could be around a drop of elite units , like raynor’s dusk wings or Zeratul’s legions.

With those ideas, I wonder who could have those functionalities.

[Kirena-1950]

I always liked the idea of a Cerberus commander making use of Warhounds as field commanders that operate and order the Remote Control Zerg around, able to summon collections of RCZ units like banner armies that follow the summoner Warhound around, fighting foes.

The RCZ units are steadily replaced when killed for free after a short delay, so long as the commanding Warhound unit remains intact. If the Warhound controlling a banner army is killed, the RCZ under him go berserk, attacking each other or anything around them.

[ZealousGamer-1296]

If it is Terran; the most likely Commanders would be Tosh or Valerian.

However, you never know. We could see Protoss or even another Zerg Commander. It depends of what they are working on. If it is Protoss; I’d say Selendis. Although, they could throw a curve ball and give us Rohana.

I doubt it’ll be Zerg but, if it is; I’d guess Overmind or Izsha.

[Serenicus-1598]

Ariel Hanson as the next Terran commander, pretty please. I know there’s a lot of good choices for Terran, and you guys have great ideas, but yeah. Ariel Hanson rocks AND she hasn’t killed billions of people like Kerri has. Or thousands like Nova.

[Kirena-1950]

I have longed wanted Ariel Hanson, and a colonist commander whose forces and structures use a civilian aesthetic. Command Biodomes look so cool, but barely get used even in the campaign, and would work great as her town hall structure, complete with randomly generated environment with every match.

Hanson also lend herself well to being potentially a Terran commander with very powerful supportive effects, much like with Karax from the Protoss faction and Stetmann from the Zerg.

I think there are a lot of ideas that could be done with her as a commander, to Cryobat and ice-based weaponry (stemming from attempting to pacify the infested to capture and study them for a cure), to making her the Vorazun of Vikings, giving her cheaper ones that have extremely powerful abilities and stats, making them a workhorse unit that the colony can always rely on.

As a researcher, I could imagine her having a ton of unique researches that can actually influence one’s allies, furthering her role as a support. Like Upgrades that also increment her partner’s upgrade tiers, stacking with any they have, potentially upgrading both attack and armor to +6 instead of the cap most commanders have of +3.

[ackmondual-1952]

For Terran, I wouldn’t mind Tosh, Valerian, nor Ariel Hanson.

However, I will still pitch in Warfield, and Kate Lockwell as well.

[Kirena-1950]

@typhoon-1135

Those are interesting ideas. I think there are a lot of cool things that can be done with her if they don’t focus too much on the colonist aspect (e.g., unarmored civilians throwing Molotov cocktails like we see in the early campaign missions, which would feel silly in the context of the End War against Amon). I think her army should be conventional infantry and mech with some twists. They could also give her an APC unit. I really like the idea of giving her a support role (like Karax or Stetmann) with a focus on research.

Thanks, I think there are a ton of ideas, both new and old, that could be applied to her. Having a Science Facility to start with for all her Shared Researches that affect her and her partner.

One old Terran research, for example, could be the Cellular Reactor, boosting starting and max energy for all units and buildings by 100, as well as an additional +1 energy regen per second, having great synergy for those commanders that use energy for their army, and even affect Hero units like Kerrigan and Nova and the 3 suits of Fenix.

Another example is Micro Filtering to give a boosted income from all sources for vespene.

A slightly retooled Optimized Logistics could be researched to give both commanders’ passive haste on their unit production structures, to make building new units faster, or accumulate production/warp charges at a faster rate.

A new research could be a permanent Mule that both primary Town Hall structures of Hanson and her ally get, giving boosted Mineral Income when researched for the rest of the mission.

Likewise, a research could make use of the old Command Center Reactors that affect her and her allies’ Town Hall structures, giving other commanders’ Command Centers and Nexii double production, and give Hatcheries double Larva Production rate and capacity.

Internal Tech Modules research that gives her and a Terran allied commander the ability to Reactor all units from their production structures.

An idea I like is that you get one Free Shared Research right off the bat as a level up Talent, that researches instantly and costs nothing, but Hanson has a bunch of valuable Shared Researches, so you have to decide what will get the most value. Boosted Mineral Income with the permanent Mules, or boosted Vespene Income, or double worker production for a faster start, or is it a tough mutation or mission and you want to rush units out with Optimized Logistics, or boost Hero Units with the extra 100 energy capacity for the hero micro.

[Helleformer-2650]

@RouxyG-1731

And for his Zerg:

• Roach;

Nearly every zerg commander has roaches this way or another. And you want one more? Same with mutas.

[ackmondual-1952]

@Helleformer-2650

Nearly every zerg commander has roaches this way or another. And you want one more? Same with mutas.

… about half of them. Abathur and Dehaka, yes. Zagara via CD. Stetmann, via spells

For Mutas, only Kerrigan, Abathur, and Dehaka can make them.

[Helleformer-2650]

Didn’t you forget there are 5 zerg commanders only? 4 of 5 have roaches and 3 of 5 have mutas.

[RouxyG-1731]

I saw the roach as a replacement of the marauder. There is no Zerg units except the roach that could fit the role. A lot of commanders share the same units, like the siege tank or the zealot. So having more roaching wouldn’t be a problem as long as they are unique. This version of the roach could be nice to see and wouldn’t feel the same as the others.

[ZealousGamer-1296]

This was mentioned before on other threads but; I’d like to see Rohana added as a Commander. Someone on this forum (I think it was Kirena) mentioned that she could have a unique building based on the “War Council” from the Spear of Adun. Her “War Council” would allow players to choose faction based units from the Daelaam.

I feel like we are missing a true Daelaam Commander. A Commander that uses each of the 4 Protoss factions (Templar, Nerazim, Purifier, and Tal’darim). Granted, she wouldn’t likely be next but, I hope we get her someday. There are so many units left over that she could use.

[ackmondual-1952]

??
I’ve got 6… Kerrigan, Zagara, Abathur, Stukov, Dehaka, Stetmann

[Helleformer-2650]

@ackmondual-1952

I’ve got 6

Yeah, my mistake, I didn’t count Stukov as zerg. Anyway there are too many roaches already. Dehaka even has 2 types.

[ackmondual-1952]

@Helleformer-2650

Yeah, my mistake, I didn’t count Stukov as zerg. Anyway there are too many roaches already. Dehaka even has 2 types.

On the surface, I could agree with this. OTOH, Roaches are a sort of that “bread and butter” unit of Zerg. I guess you could swap them with Lurkers. Unlike say when we went from Sc1 to Sc2… Goons got replaced with Stalkers, Guardians got replaced with BL, and Wraiths got replaced with Vikings.

Ditto with Zealots. 4 of the COs have them, even if they’re called something different or have a different spin to them.
Artanis - “Spinlots”. Not their actual name, but they wield spears instead
Karax - Sentinels
Vorazun - Centurions
Fenix - Legionnaires

[LotharAxe-1326]

@ackmondual-1952

or have a different spin to them.
Artanis - “Spinlots”.

I saw that.
At least the zealots are significantly different, can’t tell the same about the roaches. Zagara and Abathur even share the very same roach type. People been asking for that corpser strain for a reason.

[ackmondual-1952]

@LotharAxe-1326

I saw that.
At least the zealots are significantly different, can’t tell the same about the roaches. Zagara and Abathur even share the very same roach type. People been asking for that corpser strain for a reason.

To me, it seems close enough:
Abathur’s are virulent Strain that slow target movement and attack speed. They can also accumulate biomass, and transform into Brutalisks

Zagara’s are free, but on cd (cool down). The Drop Pod delivery method also does damage

Stetmann’s are free, but come from m-Infestors

I haven’t played Dehaka, and his Primal Roaches seem to be “vanilla”, but Primal Igniters are definitely different (if we are indeed still counting them as Roaches).

[Helleformer-2650]

I just felt a couple of ideas. We have strange unit variations in co-op, right? Like immortals who shoot air. Lets have a lurker who doesn’t need to burrow to attack. Let him show his tentacles right in a battle (we still don’t know how they really work).
Also we could have unit combinations like this:

• Roach who looks like partially a bane, it has normal attack but explodes if killed.
• Giant hydra who goes to melee attack like ultra.
• Swarmer who attacks like a sunken colony.
  And stuff.

And still we don’t have zerg who uses toxilisks.