To preface: the sense I get from the prestige system is that each one is based on an aspect of the commander’s “identity.” Raynor’s three are strong bio, stim for mech, and mass air rush; Karax’s three are turret buffs, unit spam, and top bar focus.
Now, when you add 54 new “sub-commanders” to the game, not all of them are gonna be winners. But I feel some of the prestiges seem to fundamentally misunderstand what makes the commander interesting.
Take Swann 2, Grease Monkey, for example. The benefit is that your turret upgrades are empowered. I don’t think I’ve ever built a turret as Swann, and I sure as hell wouldn’t plan a build around them. At least Karax has an upgrade that makes cannons build instantly - for Swann to get a similar “forward base” ability, you need to grab like 5 SCVs and make them all build the same turret at once. So not only is it weak, but it doesn’t capitalize on what makes Swann desirable.
When I think of Swann’s identity, here’s what I brainstorm (just off the cuff):
-Laser Drill lets you provide some short-term support anywhere on the map. (Swann 1 attempts this but doesn’t go far enough IMO - it should be a ground-targeted AoE, and it should have a bigger effect with no damage falloff.)
-Swann’s mech hordes have a lot of little benefits that let them ignore most of the drawbacks of mech - tech reactor makes them spammable, for example, and science vessels even give them a medivac equivalent. (Swann 3 does this wonderfully by giving them mobility via teleporting dropships.)
-As an “engineer” expert, Swann’s SCVs repair faster and can build together, his Siege Tanks can rebuild themselves, and his turrets have neat effects - everything feels like it’s been tweaked or optimized by a guy who has a fundamental understanding of how machines work. (I think this is what Swann 2 is trying to do, but we’re gonna expand on it.)
So, we’ll keep the turret upgrade aspect, but expand on it a bit - SCVs need to have more “know-how,” things need to feel like there’s a failsafe (Swann’s seen a billion siege tanks blow up, he knows where to reinforce them so they can be rebuilt with minimal hassle), and in terms of gameplay, there needs to be some impetus to build aggressively; there should be a reason to bring SCVs along, both to rebuild/repair stuff and to throw down emplacements.
So here’s what I propose for Grease Monkey:
-Upsides: Turret upgrades are 100% more effective, SCVs can build and repair at range (say, range 4, like medic heal), and combat units and turrets that are being repaired gain damage reduction and attack speed.
-Downsides: Combat units are 50% more expensive and Science Vessels cannot be built.
So instantly, you have a reason to use this prestige on maps that aren’t raw defense. Turrets are cheaper than combat units, so you send in a few SCVs to dump one in place for support, then they move on to heal and buff your (smaller) army. Meanwhile, players who WANT a defensive Swann still get their buffed turrets, but the SCVs who keep them going can do so from a safer distance.
Added the Sci Vessel drawback because 1) I want to really, really encourage players to bring SCVs along, and 2) Sci Vessels just reinforce the mech deathball gameplay that this prestige is trying to avoid.
Obviously this is just a thought exercise, and I don’t expect any of these ideas to be implemented, but something needs to be done about a couple of these prestiges. I’ve spent like half an hour on this post so I’ll cut it off here, but if people are interested, I can keep going - next on my watch list are Nova 2 (cheaper airlifts? who cares??) and HnH3 (“you can build lots of strike fighters, but you don’t want to build lots of strike fighters”).
What other prestiges do you think need work?
