Co-op Commander: Stetmann

Commander Intro

As a starting point for the next Commander, the design team was determined to leverage the awesome fan-favorite Mecha Zerg skins. After a bit of deliberation on which character could possibly command the Mecha Swarm, we settled on the Hyperion’s former chief science advisor, Egon Stetmann, a character the Co-op team already has a very special relationship with. More specifically, we homed in on his maniacal and slightly paranoid Mist Opportunities persona. Creatively, we knew that Stetmann was relatively unexplored, which meant that we had a lot of freedom in terms of gameplay, lore, and character development.

This new Co-op Commander version of Stetmann explores his life after Mist Opportunities, when he spent years as a castaway marooned on a foreign planet, struggling to survive. Quite a while has passed since we last saw him, and not only has Stetmann survived—he’s thrived, having built both an army to defend his beloved Bel’Shir, and a best friend to keep him company with lively conversation.

Playstyle

Stetmann is a macro Commander who’s enhanced the potential of the Swarm with advanced Protoss technology and a healthy dose of Terran ingenuity.

All standard combat units in the Mecha Swarm use a special form of energy called Egonergy. Egonergy does not regenerate on its own; it’s restored primarily via the J.U.I.C.E. Stetzone configuration. Mecha units with Egonergy are more powerful than their standard Co-op counterparts, but without it, they become depleted husks of their former glory.

Stetmann utilizes a repurposed harvesting bot named Gary as his hero unit, who fulfills more of a support role compared to those of his heroic counterparts such as Kerrigan or Nova. While Gary is relatively weak on his own, he can act as a powerful force multiplier for Stetmann’s Mecha Swarm.

Among Stetmann’s other key features are Stetellites, which you can deploy from the top bar panel. Similar to Pylons, Stetellites provide areas of influence called Stetzones, which grant various passive bonuses to your army. You can switch between different Stetellite configurations via the top-bar, which confer different bonuses to allied units. Some keys to succeeding as Stetmann include continuously managing your Stetellite deployment and re-evaluating the optimal Stetellite configuration for the situation.

Design Philosophy

Once we decided that Stetmann was the next commander, we started to hone some of his core mechanics. We wanted to leverage his penchant for researching and adapting Zerg and Protoss technology for Terran use. One of the first mechanics we decided to adapt was the iconic Zerg creep mechanic.

Stetellites and Stetzones were designed to grant the same satisfaction players receive from spreading creep—and, thereby, their influence—over the map. Stetzones are powerful enough to encourage “Stetellite spread” and the ability to change Stetzone bonuses adds another layer of complexity to the mechanic. Plus, your allies will greatly appreciate your help!

When designing different Stetzone configurations, movement speed and health regeneration immediately jumped out at us. Settling on the third Stetzone configuration was trickier, but we eventually came up with the concept of Egonergy and Egonergy/energy restoration, as it checked a few boxes, like:

• Making the player feel powerful: It was very important for us that the Stetzone mechanic provides powerful bonuses in order to encourage engagement. Egonergy/energy restoration achieves this by tying directly into Stetmann’s units’ power level.
• Creating tension when switching configurations: At the same time, we wanted to differentiate the bonuses provided as much as possible to encourage engagement with switching Stetellite configurations. Egonergy/energy restoration achieves this by alternating between powerful and inconsequential based on the situational context.
• Promoting interesting interaction with allies: Widespread energy restoration for allies is something we’ve never tried before, and we believe it’ll open up interesting, unexplored strategies for allied commanders.
• Fulfilling the fantasy: Restoring power to a robotic unit makes intuitive sense for this Commander.

Finally, Stetmann’s Mecha Zerg units draw inspiration from either Terran and Protoss technology. It’s only fitting that his Mecha Hydralisks shoot missiles or his Mecha Zerglings have a version of Hardened Shield.

Top Bar Abilities

Deploy Stetellite

Deploys a Stetellite at the target location. Stetellites must be placed within a Stetzone.

Fun Accelerator for Speedy Transportation Configuration

Greatly increases the movement speed of all friendly units within the Stetzone.

Health Uptick Generating System Configuration

Greatly increases the life regeneration of all friendly units within the Stetzone.

Just-in-time Uninterruptable Input for Charging Egonergy Configuration

Greatly increases the energy regeneration of all friendly units within the Stetzone.

Mecha Units

Mecha Zergling

Fast melee unit that reduce incoming damage and increase its attack speed with Egonergy.

Mecha Baneling

Suicide unit that can rocket jump, absorb damage, and increase its damage with Egonergy.

Mecha Hydralisk

Ranged attacker that can launch Egonergy-powered anti-air missiles.

Mecha Lurker

Anti-ground ambusher that can execute complicated algorithms to either tunnel to a nearby location, dealing damage along its path, or focus its spines in a small area.

Mecha Infestor

Infestation specialist that can spawn Mecha Roaches, infest an enemy building, spawn Mecha Roaches on death, or recharge a friendly unit—all using Egonergy

Mecha Ultralisk

Heavy assault beast adept at exploiting enemy mechanical units.

Mecha Corruptor

Anti-air flyer adept at dealing with masses of enemy air units, key enemy ground units, and structures.

Mecha Battlecarrier Lord

Flying heavy-assault unit that combines the characteristics of all three races’ capital “ships” by firing Mecha Broodlings, spawning Locusceptors, and firing its signature Stetmato Cannon.

Progression

Stetisfaction Guaranteed

Stetmann can deploy Stetellites, which grant passive Stetzone enhancements. Structures that unlock units are limited to 1. Mecha Larvae spawn at an increased rate. Stetmann's Mecha units utilize Egonergy, which does not regenerate on its own.

The J.U.I.C.E. is Loose

Unlocks the J.U.I.C.E. Configuration, which regenerates Egonergy for Stetmann's units and energy for allied units.

Gary: Stetellite Overcharge

Gary gains the ability to overcharge a Stetellite, allowing it to actively grant bonuses to nearby units depending on the current Stetellite configuration.

Mecha Zergling & Mecha Baneling Upgrade Cache

Unlocks the following upgrades at the Mecha Spawning Pool and the Mecha Baneling Nest:

• Mecha Zerglings gain 100% increased attack speed at the cost of Egonergy.
• Mecha Banelings gain increased attack damage for each point of Egonergy remaining when they explode.
• Improves the Mecha Baneling's Egonergy Impact Barrier to absorb more damage per point of Egonergy.

Friends Forever

Allows Gary and Stetellites to pick up the Remnants of destroyed Mecha units. When enough Remnants are picked up, Mecha units will be rebuilt at no cost at their respective unlock structures.

New Unit: Mecha Lurker

Area damage ambusher. Must burrow to attack. Can use Tunnel of TERROR Algorithm and Focused Strike Algorithm. Morphed from Mecha Hydralisks.

Stetmannopoly

Upgrading to Mecha Lair and Mecha Hive reduces the cooldown and increases the maximum charges of Deploy Stetellite.

Mecha Hydralisk & Mecha Lurker Upgrade Cache

Unlocks the following upgrades at the Mecha Hydralisk Den and the Mecha Lurker Den:

• Increases the Mecha Hydralisk's anti-air range by 3.
• Unlock the Mecha Lurker's Focused Strike Algorithm ability, which allows it to concentrate fire in a small area around a target enemy unit for 10 seconds.

Pushing the Egonvolope

Allows Stetmann's structures to research two upgrades simultaneously.

Mecha Infestor Upgrade Cache

Unlocks the following upgrades at the Mecha Infestation Pit:

• Unlock the Mecha Infestor's UMI-C Charging Protocol ability, which allows it to restore health, Egonergy, and energy over time to a target friendly unit. The unit’s ability cooldown rate is also increased.
• Allow the Mecha Infestor's Roaches Away! and Deconstructive Roach-nite abilities to spawn an additional Mecha Ravager.

New Unit: Mecha Battlecarrier Lord

Flying heavy-assault unit. Shoots Mecha Broodlings at its target. Builds and launches Mecha Locusceptors that attack enemy ground targets. Can use Stetmato Cannon.

Mecha Ultralisk Upgrade Cache

Unlocks the following upgrades at the Mecha Ultralisk Cavern:

• Unlock the Mecha Ultralisk's ability to absorb 25 life from nearby friendly or enemy mechanical units, healing for that amount.
• Reduces the damage taken by Mecha Ultralisks by 25%.

Lovable Little Rascals

Mecha Zerglings and Mecha Banelings drop double the amount of Mecha Zergling Remnant.

Mecha Spire Upgrade Cache

Unlocks the following upgrades at the Mecha Spire and the Mecha Greater Spire:

• Unlock the Mecha Corruptor's Terraclean Solvent ability, which allows it to deal damage over time to an enemy ground unit.
• Unlock the Mecha Battlecarrier Lord's ability to build and deploy Mecha Locusceptors, which can attack enemy ground units.
• Unlock the Mecha Battlecarrier Lord's Stetmato Cannon ability, which allows it to fire a blast of energy, dealing 300 damage to an enemy unit.

Mechnum Opus

Gary gains the ability to transform into Super Gary. Super Gary recharges abilities more quickly and can hold twice the number of ability charges. He can also temporarily generate his own Stetzone and gains attack speed and health regeneration when he collects Mecha Remnants.

Tips

• Stetellites allow you to greatly expand your influence. If you’re covering the entire map, not only will you have a powerful, permanent buff field, you’ll also be able to teleport anywhere on the map with Gary.
• Actively switch between Stetzone configurations to give the best buffs for the situation. Try to consider not only your needs, but what would help your ally as well.
• Whenever you have a free moment, deploy Stetellites!
• If you’re having trouble catching up with Stetellite production, use Super Gary’s Gary-zone ability to start a new cluster of Stetellites.
• Lower tier Mecha Zerg have smaller Egonergy pools, but also low Egonergy costs for their abilities. Recharge them quickly between bouts of combat.
• Mecha Lurkers are adept at holding positions against multiple weaker enemies. But after diligent research, Stetmann has also programmed his Mecha Lurkers to focus their attacks on more threatening enemies using the patented Focused Strike Algorithm.
• Fueled by a steady stream of J.U.I.C.E., Mecha Infestors can be a seemingly never-ending source of Mecha Roaches. Don’t forget to research the BONUS Ravager! upgrade.
• Stetmann is a firm believer in recycling. Once enough Mecha Remnants from destroyed Mecha units are collected, a new unit will appear at your base. Don’t forget about them!
• Super Gary’s “The Best Oil” ability allows him to increase his attack speed and health regeneration whenever a member of the Mecha Swarm dies in his vicinity.