It's been well over a decade since StarCraft 2 assumed the mantle as the premier competitive RTS, and its self-proclaimed spiritual successor Stormgate is hoping to kick off the genre's next generation. With a free-to-play model, extensive modding support, some fresh mechanics, and a few other tricks up its sleeve, FrostGiant's RTS just might have what it takes. Stormgate's familiar Human Vanguard and demonic Infernal Host factions have been public for some time, but only recently was the third Celestial Armada faction announced.
Game ZXC recently had a chance to try out the Celestial Armada in a test build, and even in this early state, it's clear that the faction is not just "Stormgate's Protoss," except in that it's an ultra high-tech faction that contrasts with the "human" and "chaotic" factions. The Celestials are a skillful, strategically complex faction that encourages aggressive expansion and allows for some head-spinning tactics using its unique mechanics. Although the tech tree wasn't complete and units are subject to change after this build, it's not hard to imagine that high-level competitive Celestial play will be quite a spectacle.
The Celestial Armada Is Extremely Flexible
The first thing players will notice about Stormgate's Celestials is that they don't even use workers for base building. Although they have a resource harvesting unit, the Prism, structures can be placed anywhere at any time as long as they are in range of the cascade field emitted by other Celestial structures. The twist here is that the main Celestial building, the Arcstation, can also fly and bring its cascade field with it, giving the Celestials incredible potential to expand rapidly and allowing for some bold rush tactics. Frost Giant's Gerald Villoria had this to say about the Celestials' playstyle:
You're building your production structures, you're spreading all over the map, and your Arcship is laying down cascade fields, so you can build anywhere that you fly. You're spreading out all over the map and are more mobile than any other faction. Then you will designate one of those production structures–let's say you have six Bastions all over the map–and you got really sneaky and you built one pretty close to the enemy flank. You can designate that one as your Prime Bastion. All the production from the six Prime Bastions you built all over the map will be channeled through that one Bastion, so you can have six Argents pop out of that one Bastion all at once.
Complementing this rapid expansion capability, Celestial unit-producing structures like the Bastion can also have a "prime" designated among them. A Prime Bastion will output all the production from any other Bastion around the map, multiplying its production capabilities. A stealthy Celestial player could have five bastions in hidden locations, and whenever one of them is attacked, all five can spew out new units to defend the one that's under attack. As Villoria said,
The goal there is to really reward you for creative play, for surrounding the enemy, and for moving your units all around the map by swapping production structures and putting those units out.
The Celestials Only Superficially Resemble StarCraft's Protoss
Similarly, the Celestial Armada's units reward creative thinking rather than merely winning rock, paper, and scissors. Units like the Cabal can inflict devastating debuffs or sacrifice themselves to take permanent control of an enemy unit, while the Animancer can drain enemy units to heal allies or cloak friendlies with stealth. As Villoria remarked, the Celestials are masters at misdirecting and manipulating their opponents in and out of combat.
The idea with Celestials is that you constantly want to move your main base around and be constantly expanding. Your opponent never really knows where you are. It's very, very hidden. You always want to hide builds and hide structures, because you can build anything anywhere.
Although there are a few similarities in terms of theme and units like the Cabal somewhat resembling Brood War's Dark Archon, it's safe to say that even a veteran Protoss player will find themselves dealing with an entirely new kit that involves unique approaches. RTS fans looking for a fresh outlet for their strategy gaming may find Stormgate's Celestial Armada to be a rewarding test of their skills.
Stormgate
Frost Giant Studios' Stormgate is an upcoming free-to-play real-time strategy game. Envisioning a post-apocalyptic landscape, the game seeks to offer an accessible entry point into the genre.
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Developer(s)
- Frost Giant Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Frost Giant Studios
- Genre(s)
- Real-Time Strategy
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
