New Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm units revealed

With StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm rapidly approaching beta later this summer, Blizzard showed off some of the game's new units.

John Keefer

June 8, 2012 4:00 PM

With StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm rapidly approaching beta later this summer, Blizzard showed off some of the game's potential new units. The Heart of the Swarm focuses on the Zerg, and two new units were shown for that side: the Swarm Host, which sends out infinite waves of free locust units against the enemy, and a Viper unit, which can pull units to its location or blind other units. Two new Terran and three Protoss units were also on display.

A Zerg Viper

These new units are not final, and Blizzard is reserving the right to pull these units later should they "not work out" before the beta. Several units have already been in the game and removed for that reason. Gamers at the MLG Spring Championship in Anaheim, CA had a chance to play with the eight new units. In addition to debuting the new units, the company also modified the abilities of several more, asking gamers to provide feedback. Many of the competitive players present at this tournament will be invited into the beta, a Blizzard spokesperson said, so that they can get a more extensive feel for how the units handle in competitive situations.

Protoss vs. Zerg on a jungle world map

In the image above, a wave of Protoss Tempests, with extremely long-range, advance on Zerg position. Notice in the top left a few shields are in place. A Protoss Oracle is using its shield ability on Zerg mineral harvesting to slow down the enemy's flow of resources.

Zerg vs. Terran on an ice world map

Here, an aerial Zerg Viper uses is "blind" ability (the green spray) to cut down on the sight range of some Terran units. Blinded units have a firing range of one. The Viper can also pull units closer to its position for other Zerg units to attack.

Terran vs. Zerg on a Lava world map

A couple of Terran widow mines explode, destroying the units they had attached themselves to. The mine attaches itself to the first enemy unit that crosses it, and blows up 10 seconds later, causing 200 points of damage to the unit and additional splash damage to surrounding units. The video below shows off all the units on displays and some of the changes to existing units:

John Keefer

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June 8, 2012 4:00 PM

John Keefer posted a new article, New Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm units revealed.

With StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm rapidly approaching beta later this summer, Blizzard showed off some of the game's new units.
- jimvolk
  
   reply
  June 8, 2012 4:10 PM
  
  I wish I was good at this game.
  - Horn
    
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    June 8, 2012 4:39 PM
    
    Seriously. I was happy when I got to diamond but I'll never move up beyond that.
    - [deleted] 2084680424
      
       reply
      June 8, 2012 7:28 PM
      
      [deleted]
  - flagg209
    
     reply
    June 9, 2012 5:51 AM
    
    I also wish I was good at this game
  - [deleted] 481526362
    
     reply
    June 9, 2012 7:12 AM
    
    [deleted]
- MamiyaOtaru
  
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  June 8, 2012 4:14 PM
  
  I don't enjoy playing this game, which makes me sad because I love the shit out of Brood War :(
  - dael
    
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    June 8, 2012 4:41 PM
    
    Why not? Matchmaking is still solid.
    - MamiyaOtaru
      
       reply
      June 8, 2012 5:14 PM
      
      It's the game I don't enjoy, not the process of finding an opponent.
      
      and it's hard to quantify, plus any attempt at doing so leads to people telling me I am wrong. Like I'll see it their way and realize I've been having fun all along!
      - Xulu
        
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        June 8, 2012 9:51 PM
        
        That's cus BW is the superior game by far. No argument.
      - DewFuel
        
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        June 8, 2012 11:41 PM
        
        I got so fed up with WoL that I quit the game until more HotS information was available. I too loved brood war, but something about WoL didn't click with me. There was a lot lacking (hard to quantify, but a lot of people on TL have made some excellent posts on the subject matter), and a lot of the gameplay seemed extremely repetitive and many units were just plain boring
        
        After seeing the exhibition matches on MLG for HotS, it looked a lot more BW-like. That's a good thing in my book. You might want to give it a shot.
        
        Narrator2012
        
         reply
        June 9, 2012 11:37 PM
        
        You know, for as much as you have written there, it would have only cost you a few extra letters to actually spell all of the things to which you are referring. (HotS, WoL, TL, MLG, BW)
  - miasma&!
    
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    June 8, 2012 8:19 PM
    
    I'm in the same boat fwiw.
  - Saldrin
    
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    June 10, 2012 4:59 AM
    
    Same, I never finished the campaign. I know you all with disagree with me, but I actually like playing single player in RTS even if they were designed for multiplayer. The thing that pissed me off the most was forced roles, like timed missions, escort missions, requirements to complete levels that go against the way I like to play, completely removes the freedom to play the game I want to. And I never finished it because of this.
    - rottdcorpse
      
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      June 10, 2012 8:52 AM
      
      Well dude, that's just boring IMO. The best thing about SC2 singleplayer was that the missions were scripted and had certain challenges you had to adapt to. Such as the lava level and the gathering vespene gas level and the imfamous infested zerg attack at night level. All great, fun scenarios.
      
      What you want it seems is a throwback to the old days, the C&C days.
      
      Start with MCV.
      Build Base.
      Turtle.
      Build big army.
      Win mission.
      Rinse and repeat for 20 hours.
      
      Am I right? Yeah, I'm right.
      - Saldrin
        
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        June 11, 2012 4:43 AM
        
        Pretty much yeah! I kinda favored the DoW original over C&C but the concept is the same.
- RuskiSnajper
  
   reply
  June 9, 2012 12:35 AM
  
  Wooooohooooo let the party begin!
- scoobydooX64
  
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  June 9, 2012 1:06 AM
  
  Solid release date ?
  - DragonSire
    
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    June 9, 2012 1:33 AM
    
    With Blizzard? Never.
    
    Or at least until about a month before it's release. That's when we'll know.
    
    You know what would be cool if Blizzard did? Work on a project until it's ready for beta, then tell everyone they want some help to iron out the last details. No more waiting for 5 years after we already know about it.
  - jimvolk
    
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    June 9, 2012 5:36 AM
    
    "2 years of polish"
    - Volatus32x
      
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      June 9, 2012 5:39 AM
      
      lol
  - phate81
    
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    June 9, 2012 7:14 AM
    
    They still need time to implement the auction house. Now you can trade units like Pokemon cards.
- [deleted] 1271987451
  
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  June 9, 2012 7:08 AM
  
  [deleted]
- gibolas1234
  
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  June 9, 2012 7:33 AM
  
  So they removed carriers and replaced them with a unit that does exactly the same thing?
  
  That zerg burrowing unit also looks terrible. Viper and ultra upgrade look pretty neat, though.
  - chilln
    
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    June 9, 2012 8:26 AM
    
    Burrowing unit is sweet. It will screw up terran siege lines with friendly fire etc. theres always that dumb 9 min window where if ure zerg u have to hold position and deny 3rd bases to keep siege terrans back. Then wait for them to push. But u cant really get in unless theyscrew up
    - gibolas1234
      
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      June 9, 2012 9:34 AM
      
      Their range is so short and it takes time for them to burrow. It seems like some tanks with a scan would take care of them easily.
- vitek r
  
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  June 9, 2012 7:39 AM
  
  wow the burrow charge is awesome, its like Dawn of War style infantry throwing mayhem!
- FreshwaterAU
  
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  June 9, 2012 7:50 AM
  
  Can't wait