Tempest

The protoss tempest is a new unit set to be introduced in StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm.

Overview
A capital ship, the tempest was developed by the protoss after the first phase of the Second Great War, in order to maximize the effectiveness of their war machine against their enemies.

Game Unit
The tempest is the new protoss capital ship, replacing the carrier. It has very long-ranged ("siege") weapons, for both anti-air and anti-ground. Its range is so high that it even goes beyond what can be observed on the game display.

The tempest does low damage for its cost, which is intentional&mdash;it is very much a support unit meant to be used strategically rather than a core combat one. It is good at enemy harassment and forcing the enemy to come into the range of core protoss units.

The attacks deal bonus damage to massive units.

The tempest's unit profile may depict a female protoss pilot.

Development

 * Main article: Tempest/Development

The tempest's aesthetic was devised by Samwise Didier via a "napkin concept." The first sketch was simply a curve with a ball of energy within it. In its current form, the tempest was designed to exemplify the sleek, organic shapes of the protoss.

The rationale behind the tempest's max. 22 range is that with its base range, despite being an aerial unit, it isn't that different from a colossus or a brood lord. The weapon range (called "strategic range" rather than "artillery range") was thus created to make it stand out from these units more. The max. range may be increased/reduced over the course of development.