1 - Spore cloud was said to be removed and replaced with an ability that increases damage done to a unit. Is this true?

Yes spore cloud was removed. Although I never actually used the ability, it did affect the damage dealt according to the tooltip.



2 - When you morph an Overlord into an Overseer, do they turn into a cocoon (like when morphing a Guardian or Devourer in SC1), or do they just act like an upgrade?

Cocoon, it looks pretty cool. The Overseer looks different from Overlord, and because of this the cocoon is shaped like an Overseer. Additionally, the same goes for the Brood Lord. It also has a cocoon that has its own specific shape.



3 - When Protoss players mass Stalkers, is there a good counter to them around the same Zerg tier or does the Zerg player have to go deep into T3 to counter T1-2 units again?

It's hard to say at this point. I'm sure there are a few ways to deal with that. I'm sure you will succeed by using mixed unit combos, such as: Zerglings, Banelings and Roaches OR Zerglings, Roaches and Hydras. It's always good to have lots of Zerglings with support of ranged units, it makes blink micro a little harder for your opponent. It all depends on upgrades too, you probably want to be a step ahead of your opponent.



4 - Does the Brood Lords attack spawn Broodlings on every attack or when the target unit dies?

Yes, it automatically spawns 2 Broodlings with each shot, even if the target is a structure. So even if the enemy unit doesn't die, it can be swarmed by 6 Broodlings after 3 shots. It is EXTREMELY deadly if you somehow have 5+ Brood Lords.



5 - How effective is the Queens spawn larva in terms of economy?

They are the most important thing for a Zerg. Queens are a must have at all bases and expansions (at least 1). You want to use the ability every +/-40 seconds (however long it takes larva to come out of the sacks so you can spawn more from that hatchery) OR every time you have 25 energy if you have more than 1 hatch per base. But then you might want to get another queen.



Your queen will almost always have 25 energy by the time you're ready to spawn new larva, unless you use energy for something else (creep tumor for example). Larva is permanent so it's not a bad idea to let it stack up if you don't have the money to build anything at the moment. It is also extremely helpful because it can replace drones that have been used in structures.



The current "MBS" implementation on other races, also applies to larva.



6 - Since Roaches heal only when burrowed, are they much less useful?

To be honest, it's probably something we'll be able to say for sure when beta comes out. Reason is if you're using roaches together with other units... and you burrow your roaches to regenerate, chances are your other units will get destroyed and roaches alone won't able to handle the enemies forces. Basically you have to get your ROACH MICRO to the point where it benefits you, otherwise it will be a disaster. I think it's best used for Hit-and-Run tactics...



Also it might useful when you're just Massing roaches... that way you could kinda use it like stalkers' "blink". Burrow one group of roaches, let them heal while other take heat, then burrow the others and unburrow the first group and so on. The reason it would probably work better than blink (once you master it), is cause when you keep switching units around, their health restores all the way. Stalkers only have rechargeable shields... which means you have to do a lot more blinking.

BUT there's also a downside to burrow regenerate... DETECTORS! Which I think is exactly why roaches can move under ground now. Burrow, flank your opponent while you're healing and other roaches take heat and BAM you got yourself a surround. But yeah. It's a tough question. If you have no clue what you're doing, fast regeneration while burrowed will be useful only outside of combat... you probably won't use it too much in the actual battle.



7 - Does Overlord's transport ability make Nydus Worm unnecessary (especially in middle game)?

Nydus Worm is a very valuable thing to have. Not necessarily as an offensive instrument, but also defensive. It's much easier to protect your expansions if you have worm network going to all of them. I mean if you want to transport a couple of units to an island to establish an expo - be my guest. But if you need heavy reinforcements to one of your distant expo's, you're not going to take your time to load your entire army into overlords... (I mean you'll probably have them spread out all over the place anyway...) So I think that both will have their uses. Worm is for moving LOTS of units instantly (especially if you already have a worm summoned) and overlords are for random unit transports.



8 - Do spore colonies have detection while uprooted and moving, or only when rooted into the ground?

I know both the spine and spore crawlers can move on and off creep but they can only be rooted on creep and can only attack when rooted... because of this, detection only works while they are rooter into the ground.



9 - What is the current state of the Nydus Worm/Canal/Network? As I understood, there were some changes made to them. Are they still in the game and how does it currently work?

Yes its still in the game. You have a load/unload button on your worms which means once your units are in the network you can choose where they exit by selecting the appropriate worm or network and clicking the unload button. If you want to unload specific units from the group you have in the network, I'm sure it works the same as the "Fly-By" drops in SC/BW. You just click on the unit portrait and it will spit that unit out. At this time, the worm requires creep below it to spawn. Additionally, the worm is produced at the network and can be placed anywhere on the creep (no more Overseer).



10 - How is Zerg tier 2 shaping up? How do Banelings fit into midgame strategy now with their nerf? What situation would a Baneling be more useful than the Zergling it was morphed from?

I found banelings pretty useful... Not like destroying-everything-in-their-path useful but they changed the shape of the game for me a few times. Light units don't stand a chance against them (unless they're massed ranged units... aka MARINES) and on top of that it causes the enemy to back up or retreat if they notice Banelings. They work best in flank/surround maneuvers or if set as traps... same ol' Zerg burrow trap. Lure them in (past or on top of burrowed Banelings) and then do as you please... detonate them and obliterate their current squad.