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In this recent update Karune talks about his experience with a new Terran unit called the Jackal. The folks at Blizzard have likened this new unit to the Vulture from the original StarCrafts but I tend to think it's just a new name for the Cobra unit that they scrapped a few months back. It is a fast vehicle built from the factory armed with a rail gun that does AoE damage. Before it was scrapped, the Cobra was a fast, agile hover tank built from the factory, armed with a rail gun and could fire on the move. No one has seen screenshots of the Jackal yet, but it seems by Karune's description that it is the Cobra only instead it must stop and fire like the Vulture used to before it begins moving again.

This update also answers a few very good questions about drop pods, bunkers, nukes and being able to "dance" with your units (fire, move, fire, move ect.) like you could with the Vulture. Overall I'd give this update a solid 8.5/10, plenty of great information and a new unit, but like one person said on the forum, where's the screenshot? Would have been nice to see what the Jackal looks like.

Read on for Karune's update...

Gameplay Blog: This past week while playing a Terran versus Terran mirror game, I discovered a new unit option from the Factory. This new unit is known as the Jackal, which is a fast vehicle like the Vulture, but instead wields a rail gun, which does an area of effect damage in a straight line at ground units.

My opponent built the standard Marines & Medics (M&Ms) composition while I bunkered my choke point and teched straight to a Factory with a Reactor add on, which allows me to build two Jackals at one time from a single Factory.

After I built a group of 6 Jackals, I rolled onto the field with my Jackals broken up in two groups with 3 Jackals each. I engaged his M&Ms with my first group, having the Marines line up around my Jackals as they naturally do while firing. Quickly, I brought in my second group of Jackals along the side to flank the M&Ms and the line attack did the rest, killing up to 2-3 units with a single focus fire command. With a little micromanagement, I was able to decimate his whole group of 15 or so units, while only losing two Jackals. That battle gave me a significant military advantage, which eventual led to a relatively quick win.

As always, feel free to give the Devs and I a w00t if you are enjoying the batches, especially the new sections like the gameplay blog we've added.

---StarCraft II Q&A Batch 31---

1. How will Marines mount into a pod? Is this done via the barracks, or an entirely unannounced building, or Dropship-like airship yet to be revealed? (sc2armory.com)

Terran infantry currently load into the Shadow Ops building (prerequisite for the Ghost). A Ghost can then launch drop pods, which originate from that building.

2. Can a player order a Ghost in a Bunker to call Nukes and Drop Pods? baboonsy (Battle.net)

Yes, Terran infantry currently have all abilities except the SCV repair ability available for use while inside a bunker, including the use of Nukes and Drop Pods.

3. What spells are specifically affected by the Nullifiers ability? Will physical spells like the Marines Stim Pack, the Ghosts Nuke, or Reaper Mines be disabled? Also, will spells cast before entering the area (I.E. Ghosts cloak) be disabled upon entering the area? (www.starcraft2forum.org)

Only abilities which require energy usage will need be unable to be cast while in the Null Voids area of effect. Additionally, the Null Void ability will disengage cloak by units such as the Ghost. It also currently reveals burrowed Zerg units, but this is still being debated in terms of balance.

4. Last we heard, Veterancy was active for the Terran but we havent heard anything about it since and are quite curious is it still in the game? (starcraft-source.com)

Veterancy will likely be seen in the single player campaign, but will not be in the multiplayer game.

5. In StarCraft, some units had instant attack animations (Corsiar, Mutalisk, Vulture). This allowed people with good micro to make these units move and shoot. In contrast there were units that had an attack animation which required the unit to stop and shoot. This allowed people with good micro to dance (move, shoot, move shoot, maximizing the distance travelled without the unit losing any shooting time). In Warcraft III, units tended to have attack animations which took as long as the cooldown for the attack, making micro actions such as these non-existent.

Will units in StarCraft II have attack animations that last as long as the cooldown for their attack, similar to Warcraft III? or will players be able to dance (moving in between shooting) like in StarCraft? Also, will there be any units with instant attack animations that can be micromanaged to move and shoot like in StarCraft? -Fen / GenericTerranPlayer (teamliquid.net)

Balance will be the first priority when determining the animation duration for units. With that said, there will be certain units that players will be able to dance with, and there will be other units which will force the unit to stop and fire. Some units in StarCraft II will not only need to stop and fire, but will do additional damage to a target while it focuses. All of these characteristics which determine how a unit will be used in competitive play will be chosen based on balance.

6. When a unit is cloaked or burrowed, can the sensor tower still see the unit in the fog of war? DarkAlaskan (Battle.net)

Yes, the Sensor Tower will reveal all units in the fog of war, including cloaked and burrowed units. Sensor Towers are currently a staple to any Terran defense or offensive.

Q u o t e from StarCraft 2 forum: agreed with what Blazur says about bunkers and nukes, but imo if you reduced the range at which nukes can be thrown when inside a bunker it would be a little bit easier, still I would prefer ghosts not being able to launch nukes when inside a bunker....I mean wtf am I supposed to do if there are 5 bunkers?? How do I know where it's been launched from? lucky guess?

Karune's answer: Honestly, this is completely up to balance, and of course if it proves too difficult to prevent or avoid, I'm pretty sure it will be changed.

Furthermore, the red dot that Ghosts project when launching a Nuke at the moment, is somewhat easily avoided.

Q u o t e from StarCraft 2 forum: Thanks for the update Karune. The new jackal sounds cool. Hopefully it will be similar in cost/build time to vulture. I do have some questions about it.. 1) Will the Jackal be able to hit air? 2) If it does attack air, will it maintain its aoe line damage or be a single target only attack? Seeing as this seems like the replacement for the cobra it seems natural to have the Jackal hit air.

Karune's answer: The Jackal does not currently hit air, but be assured that Terrans will have their counters to air. At the moment, they are still figuring out what unit best fits that role (such as the Thor).

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