Rethinking research in the frame of context of group combat, it occurred to me that beyond the points covered in my original post on research, the real value of research comes from the ability to construct more specialized units, which in turn result in stronger heterogeneous groups. From this perspective, I would claim that in any well made RTS, the lowest tiered units would be largely unspecialized- namely, stats that are effective for 1v1 combat and as more research permits the creation of more units, the new units become more and more specialized. We see this in Starcraft- Terrans have the well rounded Marines, Zerg have well rounded Hydralisks, and Protoss typically produces well rounded combinations of Zealots and Dragoons.
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