A trio of snapshots out of BlizzCon have revealed the new units that will be making their way into the upcomping second chapter in the StarCraft II triology, Heart of the Swarm. While we don't have many details aside from their names, appearances, and official descriptions, the units sound like a promising mix-up to the standard SCII ranks.
Terran
- Warhound: This versatile factory unit is great against mechanical ground targets and can dish out area-of-effect anti-air attacks.
- Battle Hellion: New transformation mode to gain durability in exchange for slower movement, great for fighitng mixed forces using light troops combined with area-of-effect attacks
- Shredder: Mobile unit that can deploy and create a whirlwind of death around it. Safety protocols auto-disable the attack if other friendly units enter the danger zone.
Protoss
- Replicant: Microscopic robots can fuse themselves to copy a targeted non-massive unit. The replication also auto-enables any specific upgrades of the targeted unit (ex: cloaking, etc.)
- Oracle: This flying support unit can scout and disrupt the enemy economy. It can reveal what structures are making and also temporarily disrupt building productions & resource harvesting.
- Tempest: Powerful capital ship that dominates the skies with massive area-of-effect attacks against light enemy flyers and a strong beam against ground targets.
Zerg
- Viper: Flying unit with support abilities, it can grant detection to units, create a cloud to hinder ranged attacks & abilities, and quickly pull units to safety (friendly) or their doom (enemy).
- Swarm Host: This zerg host can gradually spawn endless waves of attackers while burrowed to overwhelm your enemy.
Those on the BlizzCon floor are also reporting that the Protoss' Carrier and Mothership units have been removed from the game in the current build, implying that Blizzard will be taking a heavy handed approach towards multiplayer balance.
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm does not have an official release date, but news of a beta is expected soon, leading to a possible release sometime during 2012.
