The importance of terran air

[Protogod]

Am I the only one who has noticed a lack of cohesiveness between the terran ground and air? I mean, terran seem to be lacking in the anti air department, with the only real anti air weapons being air units themselves (vikings air form, predator, BC)

I mean, the siege tank is AG (obv) thor is primarily AG, cobras -can- shoot air but dont seem to be a real anti-air unit in the sense of most hard-counters blizz is using.

Then you have the predator, viking air mode, and bc as anti air. I mean, the banshee and viking seem like decent crossover units, but its as if that is too little. There really isnt an anti air ground unit for the terran yet. And it looks like the banshee is the only good Air to ground unit until the BC gets plasma torpedoes.

As such, it seems like getting air will be a very important step in melee (much greater than in sc1) especially when you remember that the carrier will be returning, and, moreover, the mothership will be coming.

Thoughts?

[Kawagata]

predator- interceptor mod is teh pwn. Intercepts all incomming fire. If it's too late game then you're hooped though.. I miss the gol...

[3Vee]

I've got mixed feelings on this one. I've liked the feel the Terran have developed in high-level play as a largely ground-based race. On the other hand, Blizzard could be trying to break that pattern. As long as it's balanced, I don't really care; on the other hand, for balance to be there, I only see two options.

One is for the Marine HP upgrade to be early second tier. That would make Marines a viable AA option until the heavy hitters (late second tier, third tier: Banshee, Carrier, BC) show up.

The other is for some Terran air unit to be early 2nd tier, but this has its own problems. The Terran are in some ways inherently more mobile already with floating buildings and such - how will it work if they get air first too?

[TitanWing]

Thor -> Gol = problem solved

Though personally, I'd prefer Terran air being the new source of AA for Terrans. Us poor T players never get to use air forces like the Protoss and Zerg because they die so fucking easily and cost a shitload.

I'm almost more worried about Protoss AA than Terran's though. All they have is the Stalker, Phoenix and Warp Ray.

[Faiien]

atm i think predators are the only hard counter for air for te terrans, mayb the thor has some sort of super aa too..the vikings arnt that bad, their aa should also be pretty decent.

[TitanWing]

Judging by the Predator's 4 damage, I don't think it will work against a Mothership or BC too well.

[Basan]

Unless it's deflector mode returns the offending fire to it's point of origin... but that would also involve a major tweak in the balance department, I guess. :P

[Faiien]

Judging by the Predator's 4 damage, I don't think it will work against a Mothership or BC too well.iam hoping that the damage was just a default >.<, but if it isnt i guess it can only be used as a light air counter

[Kawagata]

Well you don't send an all air fleet out by themselves. Interceptor Mode + Support (rines or something) = Ownt?

[Protogod]

predator fleet will only defeat mass air units (mass muta, or masss wraith as comparable to SC1)

They are basically valks/corsairs with a defensive mode.

[Faiien]

well id rather not have hard counters for anything, this would make the game too simple, id rather their be soft counters with many possibilities

[sdbolts11]

Well, the Protoss don't have so much ground-based anti-air themselves.

Back to Terran, it seems that their air units and possibly Thors are the anti-air :/
It seems that their air-to-air combat has been improved, although the Wraith served the purpose well back in SC1. One question: can Cobras attack air units? They would be pretty good against heavily armored ships!

[Protogod]

Well, the Protoss don't have so much ground-based anti-air themselves. Because you saying it obviously makes it true?
Please try to elaborate/prove your hypotheses.

[TitanWing]

I'm almost more worried about Protoss AA than Terran's though. All they have is the Stalker, Phoenix and Warp Ray.
That's why. The Protoss currently have only the Stalker as ground based AA. Though I realize it's the same as SC1 (just the dragoon), so this probably isn't an issue, just an observation of mine.

Anyways, let's get back to TERRAN.

[Faiien]

ahhh even though the terrans dont have any hard aa units they have the capabilities to destroy powerful air units with their basic units, if they had to destory a ms or a group of banshees i would suggest a group of upgraded marines with a nomad casting a shield to reduce their damage, this should make quick waste of any powerful air unit, and mayb a couple of predators couldnt hurt. I realize this isnt a one step equation but i think its fun to come up with new ways to beat one unit!