Interceptor "bug"

General Discussion
1

Strange inconsistency in the SB detected. SB is assumed to heal all things possessing injured shields on ground and above ground. Strangely they do not apply to Interceptors.
Blizzard was so concerned with the “consistency” of SB that made even units lifted by Graviton’s Phoenix benefit from SB healing.
Why Interceptors are excluded?

P.S In BW Carrier you (if recalled Interceptors inside Carrier) could fast heal Interceptors, SC2 removed even this fair trade-off.

I would be happy to hear your positions in this matter. I mean Protoss position because Zerg and Terrans are on-board with the concern that this is a “bug” that has to be fixed …ASAP!

5 Likes
2

Bug confirmed, SB’s are not allowed to heal interceptors.

To fix it, all the Balance Team would have to do is remove the NotInterceptor (Unnamed) Validator.

3

I am not versed in Map-Editor. Please MyOh can you confirm that Interceptor benefits from Cyber-Armor Upgrades?
It might seem paranoid but Infestor’s IT shows that bugs exist and can go undetected for years.

4

I always knew that (and any Protoss above Gold), it’s not a bug. It’s the MoronTeam double-standard and inconsistency in action. It will never be redressed.

My first post was sarcastic, but my second post is dead-serious. Do Interceptors benefit from Cyber Upgrades?

I am not holding my breath that MoronTeam would help Carrier…

5

Yes they do get upgraded

6

I’d be for it, but in the grand scheme of things, do you want your batteries wasting energy on a single interceptor?

7

It might keep interceptors alive longer in defensive situations where you see dozens of spammed IT attacking a protoss at a protoss base.

8

Definitely yes. With the current Interceptor Build time (even with -2 sec) Carriers are turned in dead Supply for long periods of time.
This might force even new metas and tactics in fighting with Carriers.
Personally i use the SB with a Probe offensively on strategic locations on the middle of the map.
Probe builds SB and Cannons without waiting for pylons using the Prism field, by the time the big-army arrives the Pylons, SB, Cannons and a single GW for fast warps is ready.
In many cases my opponents are for a big surprise when confront a big-army (with 10 less zealots) supported by fortifications…

I know it’s not meta and a lot of people will call it Bronze strategy (like the Zergs called so the spreading of Creep for a whole frigging year).

2 Likes
9

This game is all about what works, if it works it was good =D. I just didn’t think it would make that big of a difference.

10

Interceptors instantly regain full shield by entering back to the carrier (and usually relaunch immediately) and being repaired rapidly if it stay inside it. It always was the only protoss unit that can be repaired or healed by protoss technology.

If an interceptor lost all its shields, it will return to the carrier automatically. Should be the same behavior since SC1

11

I know that this was true in the BW-Carrier but i doubt that is still valid. In this dirction MyOh and Terranecll can throw light because they are walking Starcraft encyclopedia in stats and unit change history.
I remember when MoronTeam turned the Carrier to junk, Papanarbre and some knowledgeable protoss said that all you mentioned was removed to SC2 Carrier.

1 Like
12

I think the behavior is deliberate so that the shield batteries don’t waste time healing the interceptors instead of, you know, any other more valuable unit. Think about it, would you rather have the battery heal your carrier or its interceptors?

2 Likes
13

As long as building Interceptors takes longer than Buildin Carrier himself, i would not be so sure. What is the value of a 350/250 unit with 0 DPS that takes 6 Supply?
Think how happpy terrans would be to have a IM that lasts…90 seconds.
Yes, an Interceptorless Carrier is a Carrier that i hit by a Raven with a IM of more than 1 minute…

1 Like
14

In SC2 it doesn’t work like that at all.

15

I’m 99% sure that’s not how it works in SC2, even if it was that in BW.

2 Likes
16

I would be surprised if it wasn’t intentional. One of the big things that make carriers so powerful is that they have a ton of Health between the interceptors and the carrier, and the peak Shield regeneration potential is actually insane. Each interceptor has 40 health and each interceptor can regen shields so the rate at which carriers can regenerate HP is actually insane. This is especially the case since the AI of the interceptor swarm does a really good job at distributing damage, resetting attack target locks, etc. If you add shield batteries on top of that it would be off the charts broken.

2 Likes
17

I suspected that much. The health regeneration on paper might seem impressive but in a real battle it is not that much. Where would find the time the Interceptor to auto-heal where the condition for shield-regeneration is - 7 sec no-damage?
I would like to have a slower regen-rate but 6 or 5 no-damage time.
The regen-rate is much more important for zergs that begin their auto-healing instantly but not so much for protoss outside hit and run units that you save in order to fight over and over (Phoenix and to a smaller extent Stalker).
This imaginary bug-fix would only help Carrier defensively but you never see a fight of a deathball with SB support.

Presently the best Carrier usage is in a number 2-3 just to mess with AI. They lack the firepower and DPS-consistency to justify building an army around them (mass Voids or Archons to fight Corruptors)…
People that build 16 Carriers are just trolling…

18

A carrier is significantly more expensive to replace than a set of interceptors, even if the time is comparable with chrono. Beyond which, if you lose the carrier, you still lose the interceptors. Theres really no situation where you want the interceptors to survive over the carrier.

1 Like
19

But with Carriers behind SB they are in far less danger of dying than Interceptors. A single 400HP unit behaves differently than 10 40 hp units.

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20

Replace Carrier with High Templar then. Or Archons, or tempests, or zealots, or whatever other unit you have out there in the fight. The last thing you want your interceptors doing is screwing up your support unit by distracting it from the non-disposable parts of your army.

1 Like