Unit Proposal = Kerrigan's Queens to Broodmothers?

Co-op Missions Discussion
1

Kerrigan and Zagara both have Queens, and since Kerrigan is the Queen of all swarms it would be more fitting if she summoned “Broodmothers” to join the fray. This change is for varieties sake.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX3_fluBt5Y
Link: https://youtu.be/GYUeIfzFPLM (Revamped Broodmother against Void Rift)

This is a unit pitch to include or replace Kerrigan’s Queens.
Broodmothers (Used Large Queen models to avoid overlap) are master hive keepers as well as formidable combatants if necessary.
They are unlocked in level 15

Notable Speciality

  • Broodmothers are “summoned” through any hatchery/lair/hive with “Full energy”
  • Only Kerrigan’s Queen can evolve to Broodmother. Only 2 Broodmothers can be made (In the ending cutscene from waking the ancient, Kerrigan was accompanied by 2 Queens).
  • Can be captured by army selection.
  • Broodmothers benefit from Kerrigan’s upgrades from Evolution Chamber but with 50% potency. (They also recieve +25% from level 15 talent)
  • They can move off creep without impairment
  • Their energy cost -10%, they get further -10% energy discount from Kerrigan’s Upgrade.
  • Able to regen energy twice as fast when burrowed
  • Instead of bouncing attack, Queens are give +25% Frenzy.

Stat

Summary

Cost: 200 Minerals, 50 Gas, 3 Supplies
HP: 350 +(100 with Heroic Fortitude)
EP: 200 (Full from Birth)
Life Regen: 0.5468 + (0.2734 with Heroic Fortitude)
Energy Regen: 1.125
Air Talon: 18 (8 Range)
Ground Attack: 9 x 2 (3 Range)
Armour: 1
Speed: 2.5 (Unaffected by off-creep)

Abilities

Summary
  1. Transfusion 50 > 45 > 40.5 (Able to Autocast and splash heal 75 instantly with 50 regen in 10 seconds) (Newly added) Highly Useful for healing multiple units
  2. Wild Mutation (Newly Added) (Similar function to Campaign, only target one unit/structure)
    Highly Useful for buffing single strong unit/structure
  3. Devotion Sacrifice 350 health and 200 energy to fully restore Kerrigan’s Health/Shield/Energy.
    I made this ability to for purpose of helping Kerrigan Exclusively (I am worried this overlaps with Alarak’s Supplicant sacrifice, although the Broodmother is severely drained).
2 Likes
2

I can see several issues here, other than being unnecessary:

They sound like a variation of Abathur’s Swarm Queens. That’s not variety which by definition is something different or unique.

That’s going to make Spawn Larva a big hassle if you are continually using F2.

Chances are they are going to be stuck behind Hydralisks when attacking ground units which will reduce their combat effectiveness.

3

This is the right decision, because according to the description of Kerrigan she commands with strong zerg, and I liked that they affect Kerrigan’s upgrades.

There is a problem for those who use F2 more often that Broodmothers will constantly move away from the base. I think this can be solved if you allow the queen to mutate to broodmother.

It seems to me that for them also need to add the ability from HotS Wild Mutation, they will become more support and make zerglings more playable.

1 Like
4

That’s how you play Queens, they are more of a “stay at home caretaker” units so you can’t grab them with F2 commands.
Broodmothers are designed to both Keep the hive and battle at the same time, it’s like a cross between Queen (Zagara) and Swarm Queen (Abathur)
Unfortunately I don’t know how to change Queens into different just yet.

Actually that ability is already taken by Zagara’s Frenzy. Zagara’s Frenzy doesn’t boost HP but it affects attack speeds and movement speeds to virtually every units (players/allies).

Hi, Dead it seems that I had to bring up that ability but with 50% potency and targets one unit. I guess they can pass, seeing it is an inferior version of Frenzy even though overlaps with Zagara. I am planning replace this with new ability as soon as a good Idea comes through though.

This is a pitch I threw, I wonder if it would stick. I was thinking of giving Broodmothers other abilities but since Kerrigan is already capable enough, I just left them with their already existing abilities (If not enough, splash heal).
Personally I thought Kerrigan could have Broodmothers because they were more fitting.

1 Like
5

Theme wise they are fitting but that’s about it.

They need to solve some issues outside of a better version of Queen.

Defending min2-3 wave (mutators and RtK) should be considered in this utility. Replacing Larvae Injection with a one time cast that gives double or more charges should be useful. There are only 3 at Hive tech, so having them out on the field is more useful than a prettier version of Queen-stay-home is probably better.

Consider each Broodmother to give an aura. Battle wise, it didn’t look all that great, so as support perhaps is best (especially considering Kerrigan is very hero-centric).

1 Like
6

They were meant to be given a small creep aura like Omega worms but I took it back.
Their combat capability is lukewarm at best but they do provide some good measure of air attacks.

Kerrigan would be still forced to build spine crawler either ways in early waves, but Broodmother can do much better job holding out the base than Queen can (stronger attack/full energy).
I avoided touching Larval injection other than its energy cost because I was worried that it might overlap with Zagara’s Queens.

7

There’s a few more things here:

Having a strict limit on certain units implies that these units are so special that having more would be overpowered hence a hard cap on how many you can make. Think Brutalisks and Leviathans - how OP would Abathur be if there are no limits on them.

The thing is these Broodmothers as pitched don’t do anything special; they are merely Queens by another name with various stat changes. They should be doing special to warrant such a cap.

They would run out of energy after just 5 heals if left on autocast. In combat, that is basically a matter of seconds and would take a long time to recharge that energy. It’s very inefficient.

8

Then I can simply make them powerful not as a combat unit but all purpose supporter unit.
I applied Transfusion into a splash heal and given a minor version of Wild Mutation (One unit only with 50% potency of original).

If their abilities are powerful yet deservingly high priced and slow to recharge then that should set up the balance.
If their energy runs out I can simply make them regen faster through burrow so they are not abused (But not fast enough to have them battle ready for consecutively).

1 Like
9

If Kerrigan had to have Broodmothers, I would do it along these lines:

  • Either allow Queens to morph into Broodmothers or allow hatcheries to spawn Broodmothers as a separate unit, capped to 3 if that
  • Queens retain their usual role and Broodmothers become full time combat units, spellcaster or otherwise
  • Broodmothers have their own unique set of abilities and upgrades, and can no longer use Queen abilities

Or use a cooldown or a combo of both. Special abilities don’t necessarily need to be tied to just energy.

10

Acceptable.

Then Broodmother could no longer have Spawn Creep Tumor/Larva.

Since Kerrigan, Zagara, Queens and Zerg spellcasters use energy they should keep their energy.
Broodmothers can replenish their quickly energy through burrow. That should be enough (Consume doens’t seem fitting).

I overlooked that. Acceptable. Then adding longer cooldown will suffice.

1 Like
11

That’s because Queens would already have dibs on that, the overlap would be excess.

I wasn’t saying to remove energy. Spells needs a balance between costs to make sure they don’t curtail the unit’s effectiveness.

12

I didn’t expect you to accept my request.

1 Like
13

Well, I tried to find another way but I couldn’t so I accepted your idea (I tweaked the potency but it’s enough).
The ability proved to be very useful for Spine Colony, Torrasques and Broodlords

1 Like