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StarCraftWire.net has posted a new StarCraft II feature. The article offers an examination of Blizzard Entertainment's evolving plans for the Zerg race with a breakdown of the changes each unit has undergone during the company's development and testing. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty will include all new multiplayer challenges, and give players the chance to pick up the Terran's storyline several years after the end of Broodwar.

Creep
The creep is an integral part of both the design and gameplay for the Zerg, so it's no surprise that the developers have tried to play up on this with StarCraft II.

When the Zerg was first announced the creep had the ability to deal damage (albeit in small numbers) to any non-Zerg structure that it touched. This was removed as part of the Q&A Batch 45 when the developers thought that it negatively affected those in team games who were allied with Zerg players. Its usefulness was also questioned in 1v1 matchups.

To help compensate for the damage removal, and to further identify this unique aspect of the Zerg, the creep gained the ability to increase the speed of all Zerg units (minus the Drone) by 30% in mid September 2008 as part of the StarCraft II Discussion Topic by Karune.

Hydralisk / Lurker
The Hydralisk and Lurker have both returned for StarCraft II, with the first gaining a significant boost in offensive power.

The Hydralisk easily remains the most versatile unit for the Zerg, since it is capable of striking both air and ground and is also reasonably durable when compared to a few of the others. They also offer excellent support for other more-specialized units, such as the Ultralisk or Brood Lord.

The Lurker's attack methods have also remained unchanged since their appearance in the Brood Wars. They are capable of delivering a devastating area-of-effect ground attack by using their supra-dense spines while burrowed. These spines are specially designed to penetrate through earth, crust or even rock ground, and are known to deal great damage to anyone standing in the line.

How has this unit changed?
Original tests had put the Hydralisk at Tier 2 when the Corruptors were pulled back in tech. This meant that they first required a Lair to be built and they also received an increase in damage and health.

They were moved back to Tier 1.5 in late July 2008 as part of the Q&A Batch 42 because the developers did not like how the switch reduced the effectiveness of the Corruptor.

Dustin further expanded on this in April 2009, explaining that the downgrade was to allow additional options for Zerg vs Zerg match-ups instead of the simple massing of Roaches.

The Lurker received an art upgrade in late April 2008 to a much more 'spiny' look but was reversed in August 2008 when Karune mentions that the original artwork was returned. The range of the Lurker has also been increased to 9 when compared to its StarCraft 1 counterpart.

Finally, many fans had noticed in the Battle Report 2 that the Hydralisk now has a melee attack. Cydra further confirmed this in late April 2009.

StarCraftWire.net: Zerg Alpha Evolution

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