Evasion

In the gameplay video, it's apparent that at least ground targets can dodge enemy projectiles. Watch the sequence that features the Terran Reapers inside the Protoss base. As the Reapers retreat, they evade several shots from the reactivated Photon Cannons. Further along, you can watch as they escape some of the Stalker's fire.

The ability to dodge projectiles could cause some balance problems (some ranged units have no visual projectile, like the Marine) although I think it adds to an important strategic element: retreat.

I'm curious how far this will be taken in SC2. Will faster air units, like the Mutalisk, be able to dodge projectiles such as GTA projectiles?

 

Good observation, I didn't even notice that one :good:

 

neither did i, but did projectiles ever miss/get dodged that way in starcraft1
In warcraft 3 the only attack damage to miss was seige, everything else aprat from arrows would curve in mid air until it hit the target.
so the question is wether or not those shots are actually doing damage, not jsut graphicly missing the target

 

Demon hunters had a evasion abilty tho where there would be a percentage that a attack could miss (you would see miss coming from the enemy unit)

 

Also, in SC1, there was a chance-to-miss factor.
It only activated in two conditions, and created a 70% chance of successful hitting.
If you were under cover, as in under tree doodads or something similar, or on the high ground being attacked from low ground, you had a 30% chance of not taking damage from attacks. You could see it best in the low-to-high ground attack scenario, and the attack sprite would physically miss the target.
Blizzard might have something similar to this, and extrapolate the fact that Reapers are floating up a bit, and erratically moving, so they could be considered on the "high ground."

Or it could be something completely different

 

Damn, you learn something every day, never knew about the cover.

 

Along with damage and armor upgrades, an Evasion/Dodge upgrade would be a great addition to SC2, in my opinion. It adds another level of skill to the game as mentioned above.

 

Why would it add more skill? Battles just take longer because of the upgrade, and if you have the upgrade and the enemy doesn't hes screwed

 

If you have damage or armor upgrades and the enemy does not, then they are screwed as well. Evasion would just add another level to the game. Maybe adding it as an upgradeable ability only on certain units would be interesting as well.

 

yes, exactly what I said. Thats why I don't really see what it has to do with skill?

 

Well, it would just be another thing to micro manage. A skilled player could take full advantage of specific unit movements. The Stalker's Blink ability (from what we've seen so far) already gives the player a great evasion tool. It seems possible to Blink away from a Yamato shot or other powerful projectiles. Imagine a Protoss vs. Protoss battle with one side using a "hit and run" tactic to avoid damage from Photon Cannons while still doing damage to them (attack and quickly Blink to avoid the projectile).

 

We're talking about the passive ability evasion, it would just be another upgrade.

 

Using the logic of WCIII Attacks and their following abilities, I don't see this happening. One of my custome WCIII:TFT maps is entirely separated and only connected by WayGates. If we use the thought experiment of having way gates = blinking away from something, then Blink would not save you.
Shots from ranged units on one end of the waygate redirect and travel to the other end so they can hit, and by extrapolating from Blizzard's ridiculous attack-follow schemes, where almost all ranged attacks track, even if they shouldn't, I would guess that Cannon attacks would simply readjust and hit the Stalkers. it's not as if they can Blink very far anyways.

 

If you ask me, it doesn't look like the cannons missed the retreating reapers at all.

It's the same animation as when the shots hit the stationary reapers.  The only difference was, when the reapers retreated, the dissipating animation of the shots no longer stacked on top of the reapers because they were moving away from the point of contact.

Same thing with the stalkers' shots.  In fact you even see the stalkers killing off one of the retreating reapers on one of their supposedly "evaded" shots.  It's just an after image after the initial shot hits, nothing more.  It would be silly if shot dissipation animation move and followed their targets.  Maybe smoking/burning animation on the target unit, but certainly not the dissipation of the shot itself, that would be silly.

I don't see evasion coming back in SC2 as an upgrade, not a chance, only as a game mechanic as it was back in SC1.  The low ground to high ground % chance miss factor was in WC3 as well, but I don't think the concealment miss chance was.  The doodad concealment miss was largely pointless, even when I actively tried to take advantage of it it made little difference.  And how many maps have trees galore?

Targeted ranged attacks in SC can not miss otherwise.  In WC3 even if you teleported back to town, a nerubian's shot would port with you and hit you at home.  Yamato definitely wouldn't miss blinking targets either.  The only ways for a charged yamato to miss its target is: premature death(target or BC), recall, or stasis.  Quickly extending the range, basically running away, would not work otherwise.

 

The skill in upgrades is the skill it takes to research the upgrade: you have to spend time and resources to do the research. While it is being done, the player can't use them to build units to attack or defend. Upgrades, like tech levels, are like "investments" towards the future, with a loss taken in the present.