Blog #3--Base Stats

The purpose of this blog is to give some insight into how base stat points are allocated. If you come up with a good idea for a new unit or believe that an existing unit's base stats should be changed, this article should help you make sure that it's feasible.

If you look closely at the different units and their respective stats, you will notice that each one's base stats add up to 8 (I'm going to refer to this concept as "the rule of 8"). This is obviously intentional and not currently subject to change. Every playable unit's base stats will add up to 8 for the sake of fairness and consistency. 5 is the maximum value for any of the base stats, and 0 is the minimum (except for the power rating, which is explained a little lower). I should also mention that I want to avoid any overlap whatsoever--I would prefer if no two units shared the same base stats in each category.

The reason I mention this is because sometimes people think the best way to improve a unit they feel is underpowered is to add to that unit's stats. For example, I've heard a few times from different people that the Thor has a woefully underpowered "power" rating considering its lack of speed and overall size. However, if you look at his stats, he has the max power rating possible while maintaining the "rule of 8". 3 is the max, and only, power rating a unit can have with a maximum base health (5) and a minimum base speed (0). Any buffs to the Thor must therefore be made through his abilities.

This means that some units will be inherently worse than others due to their base stat allocation. I believe the Thor to be one of the worst combinations of stats imaginable maintaining the "rule of 8," while the Marine is probably the best stat-wise. But that's okay--there's a wide variety of abilities to compensate or enhance the units' base stats.

One other rule I should mention is that no unit will have a power rating of 0. Since the power rating increases the travelling speed of dodgeball projectiles linearly, having a power rating under 1 would not only look ridiculous, but it would make throwing a dodgeball near useless. Even with the SCV, with a power rating of 1, it is near impossible to hit an able opponent with a straight throw. I believe that the game's fun factor would diminish entirely if a person played a unit that was incapable of ever scoring a kill and earning minerals in the first round.

Anyway, here are the stats behind the stats, for any of you who are curious:

Health:
Base(0): Health = 5
Bonus: Health + 5

Power:
Base (0): Range = 9, Straight Throw Movement Speed = 3
Bonus: Range + 1, Straight Throw Movement Speed + 1

Speed:
Base (0): Movement Speed = 1.2
Bonus: Movement Speed + 0.3

Also note that increasing power will not increase the movement speed of dodgeballs from a Lob Throw. Only the range of lobbing will be increased.

rut