The original StarCraft, which was released in 1998 for the PC, is one of the best selling computer games of all time, and is still be sold today, almost a decade later. The popularity of the original game has set that stage for StarCraft 2.
New Protoss Ground Units
StarCraft 2 would not be a sequel if it did not include some new units! First the Protoss. The Protoss, can no longer produce dragoons, because of the destruction of their home planet, Aiur, where the facilities to make them were located. Instead, you can now produce several units akin to the dragoon. One of them is the Immortal, a dragoon like unit that is specially designed to crush those pesky heavy artillery units! It had a shield that activates when hit by powerful weapons, however, this shield does not activate against small arms, putting it at risk to those cheap, weak units. Similar to the Immortal is the Stalker, another kin to the dragoon. It has the ability to “blink”, or teleport short distances.
This unit will make sure no one escapes. On a different note, the Colossus, a massive machine with 3 legs, has joined the Protoss forces. Its strong attacks can mow down infantry, but its real strength lies in its ability to simply walk up walls with its extremely long legs, which would make it great for ambushing those bases hidden away. Although zealots aren't a new unit, they have a new ability. In the original Starcraft, you had to buy a speed upgrade to make them move faster. Now, the charge into battle, which, when they see an enemy, greatly increases their speed. Very useful closing the gap against troublesome marines.
New Protoss Air Units
The Protoss are taking air power to a whole new level. They are introducing several new such as the Phoenix, a fighter that has the ability to overcharge its weapon and fire many times the normal amount, which does far increased damage. The price to pay is that after firing, it is vulnerable to attack, and can neither shoot back or move away. Another new unit, which many Protoss players will no doubt find very useful, is the phase prism. The phase prism is support unit. It has the ability power any nearby buildings, so it is, essentially, a flying pylon. Another Anti-armor unit for the Protoss is the Warp Ray.
The warp ray is special because it can make quick work of even the heaviest foe. Its ability, is that the longer its firing, the stronger its attack becomes. As one can imagine, that also means smaller units, and simply massing in numbers will overwhelm and destroy the Warp ray. Finally, perhaps the most interesting unit in the Starcraft 2. The mothership. As one can deduce from its name, this unit is VERY powerful. It has 3 abilities, all of which are extremely useful.
The first one described here, and possibly the most deadly, is its ability to create a black hole. The black hole will suck up all nearby units, destroying them. A second ability is its time stopping effect. This will render all incoming projectile weapons useless. Not sure if lasers still work though. The final ability is its power to fire a multitude of lasers at the ground, mowing down and units unlucky enough to be caught beneath it.
Those are the new Protoss units to date! Whether there are more is for you to find out! Hopefully you will read the next article on new Terran units in Starcraft 2.
