Korean press review SC2 Terran units and buildings

More Terran news hit Korean sites today. Info on several units and upgrades, plus some good images of the new units recently seen in the Swedish Super Play magazine.

Although not fully translated, Misuzu over at Blizzforums gives us a working guide through the three articles.

In the main article there are a series of pictures. The most interesting being a close up of the new Viking in its "walker mode". Also mentioned is a reworking of the look of the siege tank, which will be unveiled at BlizzCon later this year.

Oldies but goldies - the Ghost and the Battlecruiser

The ghost makes a comeback as known before. It still has cloak, and is still your best friend for launching nukes. The article reveals two new abilities, Snipe and a slightly more untranslatable ability that sounds like a marine drop. Snipe is a high-power shot that can target non-mechanical units. Along with the Ghost from StarCraft 1 the Battlecruisers are still in. It gets a new upgrade called Plasma Injection (or to that effect) which deals huge damage to ground targets over a wide area.

And now for the new units. The Viking, pictured in walker (pic) and fighter mode respectively. It can target ground units when on the ground, air units when in the air. The ability to switch between modes is an upgrade however. Then we have the Banshee, seen in the gameplay video - a bomber rather than a fighter, and can only hit ground units. Large damage capacity and the ability to use stealth makes this a pretty frightening unit.

We also see an update on the Reapers, which give them the ability to place mines, although not in the same way as the Vulture. Mines seem to target stationary objects, better for their base hit and run tactics.

Cobra - a hovertank

The article also shows pictures of the Cobra (pic), a sleek hovertank with twin railguns. Apparently it can shoot while its moving.

Thor - Heavy mech walker

A totally bad ass unit that is actually built by the humble SCV. Equipped with siege weapons and clearly heavily armed & armored. Power of this unit is offset by weapon cooldown times and relative speed.

And as a final note for the units, the marines have their old upgrades, plus two new upgrades: a shield and a 15 hp upgrade.

Building news

It has been confirmed that the Command Center can upgrade to a Planetary Fortress which has a strong attack. Another upgrade that was seen and questioned in the very first gameplay video was the fact that Command Centers in SCII can carry five SCV's while flying. This will make expanding to islands much more efficient.

Only two add-ons?!

It seems that all of the add-ons from StarCraft have been removed and replaced with two add-ons. These add-ons feature a new system of production. A Tech Lab (pic) allows Barracks, Factories or Starports to create higher-tech units like Medics, Tanks, or BattleCruisers, respectively. A Reactor add-on allows the building to create two units at once. There is a catch - only one add-on can be connected at once, so a Barracks cannot create two medics at once. To off-set this, the main production facilities all share the same add-ons, so lifting off and switching to new ones will be much more efficient.

Sensor vs. Radar

A Sensor Dome seems to be a Detector only - a Turret without an attack which is probably dirt cheap and quickly built. A Radar Dome on the other hand is a bit more complicated. It seems that they are a replacement for the StarCraft Comsat Station but that they work a bit differently. The translation says that "opponents can avoid its sense area while rushing to the base." Exactly what that means is a bit ambiguous, but Blizzard should be releasing official information soon.

Special thanks to Misuzu and Blizzforums for the good word and quick translation.