The Protoss Mothership is certainly a sight to behold. I’m sure you’ve all already seen the Starcraft 2 developer’s video and witnessed the awesome power of this monstrosity. It truly is a sight to behold, dwarfing even the mighty battle cruisers. If you’re wondering how the mothership fits into the storyline, here’s a brief overview:

After the destruction of Aiur, and the attacks on Shakuras, the Protoss has decided to create safe havens within the sky. These glass domes that encase entire Protoss cities are a symbol of hope and power. Headed by the leaders of the Protoss Conclave, Motherships are not only armed to the teeth, but also act as a funnel for the Conclave’s immense psionic power. Only deployed in the battle field during the most dire of circumstances, the Mothership has the capacity to turn a defeat to victory, and single handedly level small armies.

The mothership fires 8 psionic missiles at a time, targeting both ground and aerial units. In addition, The three special abilities demonstrated in the video are:

• Time Bomb - Slows down all enemy movement within a radius around the Mothership’s position when it casts this. It also stops ranged weapons from reaching their targets. Ideal for dealing with static defense like Missile Turrets.
• Planet Cracker - Deals massive damage to an area directly below the Mothership’s position (ideal for destroying buildings and slow-moving targets such as Siege Tanks.
• Black Hole - Creates a black hole in the air, drawing enemy air units into it to be destroyed. It’s unclear if it also affects friendly and allied units.

Each of these special abilities are extremely powerful and if used correctly can easily turn the tide of a battle. The one that I am somewhat concerned about is the Black Hole ability, as it seems to be a bit overpowered. If the hole targeted both enemy and friendly units, it would go a long way towards keeping the balance in check. Take a look at the mothership’s abilities in gameplay:

It goes without saying that you are only allowed to build one of these beasts. While the Protoss Mothership seems overpowered, I have confidence that Blizzard will make sure the units are as balanced as possible upon release. On the other hand, I can’t wait to see what the Terran and Zerg “mothership” units are!

Related Posts:

• Protoss Stargate - Starcraft 2 Buildings
• Phoenix Revealed - New Starcraft 2 Units
• Starcraft 2 Coverage @ SC2Armory