The following section contains information from a previous version of StarCraft II which is no longer valid.
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The hellion and hellbat are units which underwent much development in StarCraft II.
Wings of Liberty[]
Early three wheeled design of the hellion, named the jackel
The hellion went through 600 design changes over the course of development. Various names were pitched, including the jackal, loki and fire bike.[1] In its earliest stages, the vehicle was a hoverbike much like the Vulture, and possessed a powerful anti-infantry railgun. It was added to the game as the "jackal" by February 2008 in conjunction with the marauder as a replacement for the firebat. It was renamed the "hellion" by September.[2]
Early model
The initial design settled upon was a three-wheeled vehicle. The response on the development team was rather mixed about the three-wheeled version, and while taking an opportunity to quickly make non-lethal civilian variations, the four-wheeled version was made by June 2008.[3] The three wheeled version was reused for the Outback Hunter.[1]
In March 2008, the hellion had its HP reduced from 125 to 75 and its speed slightly increased.[4] An upgrade that doubled its attack range, High Capacity Barrels, was removed by September. As of then, it cost 25 gas, dealt 8 damage, and had 6 range.[5] In October, it gained increased stats;[6] its HP increased to 90 and its damage increased to 12 (+6 vs. Light), while its range decreased to 4 and it no longer cost gas.[5] In September 2009, its damage was changed to 10 (+5 vs. Light) and range increased to 5.[5] Its damage changed to 8 (+6 vs. Light) by the StarCraft II beta. The hellion's weapon was originally called Battle Cannon.[5]
The hellion had a total of eight upgrades named Napalm Fuel Tanks, Thermite Filaments, Turbo-Charged Engines, Twin-Linked Flame Thrower, White Napalm, Viral Plasma and two versions of Infernal Pre-Igniter. Only Twin-Linked Flame Thrower and Thermite Filaments are used in the release version of the Wings of Liberty campaign, with Infernal Pre-Igniter being the only upgrade in multiplayer.
Turbo-Charged Engines greatly increases the movement speed of the Hellion, with Viral Plasma and White Napalm increasing the base damage of the hellion's weapon. The old version of Infernal Pre-Igniter decreased the delay between shots by 0.75 seconds instead of granting bonus damage. Napalm Fuel Tanks however has no effect in-game as it remains incomplete.[7]
Beta Patch 11 increased the Hellion's attack range from 5 to 6. Patch 15 decreased its weapon upgrade bonus from 1 (+1 vs Light) to 1. Patch 17 reverted the range increase. Patch 1.4 decreased the damage upgrade from Infernal Pre-Igniter from 10 to 5.
Civilian Hellions[]
Flame-colored civilian vehicles
A civilian version of the hellion, with flame paint, was to be available in the single-player campaign during development.[8] They diverged into bike and squad cruisers.[9] In the final production Hellions are not seen used by civilians and no flame print models appear in the game.
The color schemes of the two were derived from Bumblebee, Optimus Prime and The General Lee. Their drivers were the same model as missile turret operators.[1]
Heart of the Swarm[]
"Battle mode" hellions were originally the de facto mode of the hellion. This was to assist lower-skilled players. Higher-skilled terran players disliked this, especially when playing against the zerg.[10] The speed is helpful for hit-and run harassment during the early game. Battle hellions were made available in Balance Update 2, requiring an armory to be built. The unit gained the Biological classification in Balance Update 3 and was officially named the "hellbat" in Balance Update 6.
The transformation between hellion and hellbat used to require an upgrade researched at the armory called "Transformation Servos", costing 150 minerals and gas and 110 seconds.[11] This lasted until Balance Update 7, where it only required an armory. The upgrade returned in Balance Update 15, albeit moved to the tech lab, until it was again reverted in the Patch 2.1.2 Balance Update to just require an armory.
Balance Update 8 increased the hellbat's splash damage radius from 90 to 110. Balance Update 11 decreased the radius to 45, increased their weapon damage from 10 (+9 vs. Light) to 18 (+12 vs. Light), changed their attack speed from 1.9 to 2, and modified Infernal Pre-Igniter to no longer increase Hellbat weapon damage.[12] Balance Update 14 increased the hellbat's cargo space from 2 to 4.
The Patch 2.0.9 Balance Update decreased the hellbat's damage from 18 (+12 vs. Light) to 18 and modified Infernal Pre-Igniter to once again affect it, now giving it the +12 vs. Light bonus.
Patch 4.11 in Legacy of the Void decreased the research cost of Infernal Pre-Igniter from 150 minerals and gas to 100.
References[]
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