as taken from the Starcraft II Armory...
Protoss
With their highly advanced technology and potent psionic abilities, the protoss once considered themselves the most powerful species in the galaxy. Their war with the zerg has proved otherwise: even the most individually capable warrior cannot overcome such insurmountable numbers. The lesson has been hard one for the protoss, for their society is built around core philosophies that have been rigidly adhered to for over a thousand years. However, the zerg invasion of the protoss homeworld of Aiur has brought the race to a crossroads: the protoss must embrace change if they are to survive and prevail. Now new tactics and technologies are being brought to bear in the increasingly desperate battle against the zerg, and ancient, terrible weapons the protoss set aside long ago are being unleashed.
The protoss have never been a prolific people and have traditionally bolstered their numbers with a variety of robotic war machines. Individual protoss warriors are unsurpassed in their skills, greatly enhanced by the combination of technology and formidable psionic strength. Nonetheless, the protoss must rely on mobility and surprise to maximize their advantages without getting drawn into a battle of attrition. One of their greatest strengths lies in their fleet, which boasts a variety of ships powerful enough to pound an enemy to atoms.
Strengths
* Powerful and Defensive Units
* Buildings warp themselves into play
* Probes can build multiple structures at once
* Phase Cannons attack both land and air and can detect invisible units
* Phase Cannons can phase themself and move around
* Regenerative Plasma Shields
* Can use Phase Prisms as a substitute pylon matrix
* Can warp units into the psionic matrix using a Warpgate
* Colossi can traverse up and down terrain
Weakness
* Expensive and Long build time
* Buildings must be placed within psionic matrix
* Buildings go offline out of psionic matrix
* Colossus is susceptible to anti-air
The psionic matrix returns from the original Starcraft. The psionic matrix is a field of energy emitted by a Pylon in which it is the base of Protoss economy and structure. Buildings can be warped into the psionic matrix from Aiur by a Probe; the matrix also powers the buildings within it, so if the matrix goes down, so does the buildings. A new unit, the Phase Prism is a transport ship that can also transform into a substitute Pylon and emit its own psionic matrix.
A new feature that has been added to Starcraft 2 is the use of "Warp In" technology. Warp In allows any unit from a Warpgate (Upgraded Gateway) to be materialized into the psionic matrix, anywhere on the battlefield. With this new ability, it also creates a new role for the Phase Prism. A Phase Prism can emit its own psionic matrix in which units can be warped into; a powerful tactic on the battlefield.
Terran
The terrans are relative newcomers to the Koprulu sector. They are the descendents of a disastrous colonization expedition launched from Earth centuries ago, its human cargo made up of dissidents and malcontents the government deemed expendable. The survivors of the expedition established three colonies that became the basis for the major power blocs in terran space: the Confederacy, the Kel-Morian Combine, and the Umojan Protectorate. The corrupt Confederacy was overthrown by terrorist and revolutionary Arcturus Mengsk during the chaos of the zerg invasion. Now the Terran Dominion has emerged from the ashes of the old Confederacy as the dominant power, ruled by none other than Emperor Arcturus I.
Forced to adapt to the harsh existence on the mostly lifeless worlds of the sector, the terrans are masters of survival. With neither the advanced technology of the protoss nor the natural prowess of the zerg to rely on, the terran military forces consist of a varied mix of units. From basic but effective infantry like the marines to heavily armed battlecruisers, terran units rely on solid armor, plentiful firepower, and strength in numbers to hold the line. Terrans excel in defensive situations where their bunkers and siege tanks really shine.
Strengths
* Can build structures anywhere
* Can repair vehicles and buildings
* Cloaking and invisbility detection
* Mobility and good defense
* Medics can heal other fleshy units
* Buildings can lift off the ground
* Nukes and Drop Pods
* Radar towers can see enemies in the fog of war
* Heavily armored and strong siege capabilities
* Reapers can traverse up and down terrain
* Supply Depots can submerge under ground
Weakness
* Required micromanagement of units
* Buildings burn to the ground if low health
* Bunkers provide good defense but take much man power and resources
In the previous Starcraft, quite a few buildings had the ability to construct addons. An addon would enable production of higher tier units for the corresponding structure and also enable certain upgrades to be researched. This added more versatility to the Terrans as each addon can be rearranged with another building of its correct value. An example would be a Science Facility changing addons between a Covert Ops and a Physics Lab.
Recently new in Starcraft 2 is the removal of all old addons and the production of new addons called Tech Lab and Reactor. These two addons are interchangeable between certain structures like the Barracks, Factory and Starport. A Tech Lab is a new addon that enables production of higher tier units and enables upgrades for its corresponding structure. A Reactor is a great new addon which doubles the unit production queue of a structure, allowing it to produce two units at once.
In previous years, the Terran relied on a Comsat Station and Missile Turret for detecting invisible units. This was highly ineffective in many situations, so Terran scientists set out a devised a new type of structure. A Sensor Tower helps detect invisible units, increases line of sight around the tower and also reveals an enemys position within the fog of war.
Zerg
The zerg are a race entirely unlike the terrans or the protoss. They are composed of many different species integrated into the Swarm via zerg infestation. These creatures are rapidly and selectively evolved into deadly and efficient killers to further the driving zerg imperative of achieving absolute domination. The zerg make no use of technology to create their weapons, armor, or starships. Instead, these functions are efficiently fulfilled through biological adaptation and planned mutation of the zerg strains. Even zerg buildings are in fact specialized organs within the living, growing organism of a zerg nest.
When the zerg first arrived in the Koprulu sector, they were unified by their absolute obedience to the zerg collective sentience known as the Overmind. The Overmind ultimately directed the actions of every zerg creature in the Swarm, functioning through a hierarchy of lesser sentiences. The first and most important tier of these consisted of the cerebrates, each entrusted with direct control of a sizable section of the Swarm. The cerebrates' commands were disseminated in turn by the overlords, which directly ordered and controlled the mass of zerg creatures both in their nests and on the battlefield.
Although the Overmind was primarily driven by its desire to consume and assimilate the advanced protoss race, it found useful but undeveloped material in humanity. Taking a powerful terran psionic, Sarah Kerrigan, the Overmind evolved a new and unique creature: the Queen of Blades. When the protoss destroyed the Overmind during the invasion of Aiur, the Queen of Blades manipulated the dark templar into eliminating the surviving cerebrates. As a result, she came to dominate the Swarm.
Strengths
* Units are cheap and in the multiples
* Certain units can burrow underground
* Hatchery can build 3 units at a time
* Units heal automatically
* Overloads provide supply, detection and can fly
Weakness
* Buildings must be built on creep
* Units are usually weak but in the numbers
* Drones are lost when creating a building
A few select Zerg units have the ability to burrow underground, while burrowed they are invisible unless the enemy has a detector. Burrow is a great ambush and offensive strategy. While burrowed a Zerg unit can not do anything except unburrow. While burrowed, the units owner sees nothing but a pockmark on the ground. He can select the pockmark to get the units status info. Enemy players see nothing unless they have a detection unit nearby. Even with a nearby detection unit, the enemy will only see the pockmark. Depending on the terrain and cover, the pockmark can still be hard to see.
The Overlord is the primary unit of any Zerg colony. The Overlords watch over and command all Zerg underlings. The Overlord acts as a mobile food supply for the Zerg while also being able to create creep and disabled resource nodes. The Overlord can be upgraded to an Overeer, which has a wider range of vision and detects invisible units. With these abilities the Zerg can defend strongly against enemy sneak attacks as well as assault enemies with great ease. Its always a good idea to place one to two Overlords within each attack.
I hope it's pretty much as balanced as it sounds. I shall be playing as the... zergs (ZERG RUSH~!!)
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