While the rest of you are enjoying multiplayer scraps in Blizzard's StarCraft II beta, we recently had an opportunity to go hands-on (again) with the single-player side of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. What has changed since last year? Plenty.
First StarCraft II Single Player Campaign Hands-On (With Spoilers)
We've played one-third of one-third of StarCraft II's single-player campaign recently.…
Read more ReadThis time, Blizzard showcased three new spoiler-laden missions from the game's single-player portion, set about halfway through the game, according to StarCraft II lead designer Dustin Browder. We also got a peek at the skill-building Challenge maps, which will push your micro-management and hot key skills to their limits.
Since Browder believes that new StarCraft II players should spend a minimum of 20 hours playing through the game's single-player side before diving into the deep end of online multiplayer—he also recommends getting your feet wet with two-versus-two battles before playing any one-on-ones—there's more to Wings of Liberty's campaign than just storytelling.
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Our latest play session started on the bridge of the Battlecruiser Hyperion, with access to the ship's Cantina (where Raynor can catch up on current events, gossip, hire mercenaries and drown his sorrows), the Armory (where one can spend credits to upgrade infantry and vehicles) and the Lab (where the player can interact with Dr. Ariel Hansen and resident ship geek Stedman, as well as research additional upgrades). The Hyperion has had a design overhaul since we were last on board, with the Armory sporting a new look, filled with Firebat and Marauder units, and the Cantina more bustling than before.
The Cantina jukebox is also better populated with original songs like White Boy Jones' 'A Zerg, A Shotgun and You' as well as covers of songs like The Stooges 'Raw Power,' Elvis' 'Suspicious Minds' and Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Sweet Home Alabama.' The top down shooter arcade cabinet, The Lost Viking, was still unfortunately unplayable.
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Also updated was the Lab, which this time let us research upgrades to Terran structures and unlock new campaign-only unit types. To acquire these upgrades, players must locate batches of Zerg genetic material and Protoss artifacts during missions.
And while technically outside of the campaign, the new Challenges—part tutorial, part achievement-hunting trial—are just as intriguing as the Terran versus Zerg versus Protoss drama.
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Challenges
If you've played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, think of StarCraft II's Challenges as the game's version of Spec Ops mode. Of the nine Challenges that were present in the build of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty that we played—three 'easy,' three 'advanced' and three 'expert'—only two were unlocked for us.
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The first, Psionic Assault, was of advanced difficulty, designed to test our unit micro-management skills with a small Protoss force. The challenge equips the player with six High Templars, which can cast a lightning-like Psionic Storm spell on top of enemies and drain an enemy's energy with Feedback, and nine Sentries, a relatively weak ground unit that can attack with an energy beam. The Sentry, however, comes in handy during the fight thanks to its ability to cast force fields and conjure hallucinations that will distract enemies.
Psionic Assault is, essentially, a mini horde mode. The level will throw a series of increasingly difficult and varied squads at the player. Those encroaching enemy squads, a mix of Zerg, Protoss and Terran, will force players to switch up their techniques and utilize their High Templars and Sentries effectively to succeed.
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Each Challenge will grade players on their performance, issuing bronze, silver, then gold achievements based on their score. In Psionic Assault, killing 75 enemies nets you a bronze rank, 150 gets you silver and 225 wins gold. My high score, after about a dozen tries, was 168.
The other available Challenge was Harbinger of Death. The reason that this map was deemed of 'expert' difficulty was its harsh limitations. Players are only allowed to use keyboard shortcuts to issue commands. You're given a large and varied Protoss alien force, ranging from giant Carrier ships to ground units like Zealots and Stalkers, and scores of docile Terrans and Zerg to kill. The player is given limited time to wipe out as many enemies as possible. To grab the gold trophy, you'll need to be quick with a keyboard shortcut and have the skill to manage a large army, not an easy task.
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Now onto the Terran single-player campaign, which will not only touch on the game's story--consider this your last spoiler alert!—but also explains how the Protoss mini-campaign comes into play.
Welcome to the Jungle
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Our first new Terran campaign mission was a gas grab. Jim Raynor and his crew of merry marines took a job from the dreadlocked Tosh, who we meet earlier in the campaign. The job is the harvest what the humans call Terrazine, but what the Protoss call the Breath of Creation. With a name like that, it's not hard to imagine that the Protoss inhabiting the planet we were on were reluctant to give up that gas to a bunch of lowly Terrans. Each gas jet on the planet had a Protoss altar built around it, with small squads of Protoss soldiers eager to stop Raynor from harvesting said gas.
To win 'Welcome to the Jungle,' we had to harvest Terrazine from seven of the altars that emitted that gas. While Raynor's team escorted an SCV unit to harvest the Terrazine, Protoss forces would attack. Additional Protoss forces would also send automated Probes to seal off those gas jets. While not too challenging on normal difficulty, the base capture-like tactics required adding an interesting spin to the standard resource gathering and unit building.
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Following a successful win of 'Welcome to the Jungle,' during which we dug up a trio of Protoss artifacts as an added bonus, we found out why Tosh wanted that Terrazine so badly. Turns out that, unbeknownst to Jim Raynor and the crew of the Hyperion, Tosh is a Specter, a more elite version of the StarCraft Ghost unit. Combine one Ghost, one dose of Terrazine and the galactic element Jorium, and you get a Specter. The fact that Tosh decided to keep that information from Raynor didn't sit well with him, establishing some tension between the two.
'I'll be keepin' an eye on you, Tosh,' Raynor says.
'You can try,' Tosh fires back.
The Dig
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If you just read our preview of StarCraft II: WIngs of Liberty's single player mode from last year (or you have an impressive long term memory) you may recall that we already played a mission named 'The Dig.' That earlier mission has been renamed, with the new mission taking its name while adding a new unique element.
In 'The Dig' we're introduced to the Siege Tank for the first time, the Terran unit that acts as traditional tank in its standard mode, a dangerous mortar-launching cannon in its stationary alternate mode. That mission also gives players control of a unique weapon, the Drakken Laser Drill. This massive drill is pointed at a Xel'Naga temple guarded by a powerful Protoss army. Inside that temple are more Protoss relics that the Terrans want. As the laser cuts through the temple's defenses, waves of Protoss attack the Terran stronghold, all with the aim to destroy the laser drill.
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Although the Terrans are outmatched, the player can turn the Drakken Laser Drill on his enemies, destroying the powerful Archons and Colossi that would normally present a harsh challenge for the Terrans.
After the laser drill countdown completes and Xel'Naga temple is opened, the player having successfully wielded the drill as an incredibly destructive support unit, 'The Dig' ends with the Terrans securing the Protoss artifacts inside.
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Cut to an in-game cinematic and..
Whispers of Doom
Jim Raynor takes the Ihan Crystal given to him by Zeratul, the Dark Templar from the original StarCraft, which lets our human hero relive the memories of his Protoss ally. This first memory is the mission 'Whispers of Doom.' It starts with a beautifully rendered confrontation between Zeratul, a handful of Hydralisks and the Queen of Blades herself.
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The mission is one of a smaller scope, putting the player in control of Zeratul and a small group of Stalkers. The mission is mainly a walkthrough of a Zerg infested world, with Zeratul seeking a trio of Xel'Naga shrines. Here, the player learns a bit about how to control the Protoss race in StarCraft II, taking advantage of the Blink teleportation skill and Zeratul's Void Prison, a spell that renders an enemy unit immobile for a short time. It's a fun exercise in micro-managing a small team of Protoss and ensuring that no one, particularly Zeratul, dies.
'Whispers of Doom' is brief, but ends with an exciting escape sequence and a Zerg rush, forcing the player to think creatively when escaping the enemy onslaught.
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So ended our hands-on time with StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty's new content.
The new missions that we played, while not radically different from what we'd seen during our previous hands-on time with StarCraft II's campaign, were both enthralling and further enticed us for the other two-thirds or so. The liberties that Blizzard is taking with uniquely single-player units and abilities makes the campaign side of the game feel like the more lighthearted part of the experience.
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But wrapped in the compelling narrative of the struggle between the universe's three races and the individuals entangled in these wars, it feels easy to lose the recommended 20 hours in StarCraft II's story-driven component.
Multiplayer Guide
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Cheat CodesWhile playing the game, press [Enter] to display the console window. Then, type one of the following codes and press [Enter] to activate the corresponding cheat function. Note: Enabling cheat codes, except for the 'overengineeredcodpiece' code, will prevent achievements from being earned until a new game is started or a saved game is loaded.
Result | Cheat Code |
God mode | terribleterribledamage |
All missions [Note] | leaveyoursleep |
All research options [Note] | horadriccube |
5 million credits [Note] | whysoserious |
5,000 gas | realmendrilldeep |
5,000 minerals | spectraltiger |
5,000 of each resources | whorunbartertown |
5,000 Terrazine on custom maps using Terrazine | jaynestown |
+1 weapon, armor, and shield upgrade | iamironman |
Fast build | catfoodforprawnguns |
Fast heal | imadoctornotaroachjim |
Units do not cost resources | moredotsmoredots |
No supply cap | bunker55aliveinside |
Disable fog of war | tooktheredpill |
Disable ability cooldown | hanshotfirst |
Disable tech requirements | sosayweall |
Disable defeat conditions | nevergiveupneversurrender |
Disable victory conditions | tyuhasleftthegame |
Win current game | whatisbestinlife |
Lose current game | letsjustbugoutandcalliteven |
All cinematics [Note] | eyeofsauron |
All UNN Broadcasts [Note] | stayclassymarsara |
Play the 'Terran Up The Night' song | overengineeredcodpiece |
Additionally, the following codes are only available in versions prior to v1.3.0:
Result | Cheat Code |
5,000 custom resources | dzmhairspring |
5,000 minerals | stroaksmolts |
5,000 minerals and gas | smoldersbolds |
Extra research points | wapboinkers |
Fast build | basestarsprimative or reversingnazaire |
Fast heal | fsbcomunicacion |
Disable fog of war | sawnoutofmemory |
Disable food and psi requirement | mintmansoperator |
Disable defeat conditions | ypoonsvoicemail |
Disable time of day | qrotero |
Win current game | cmethodfeedback |
Lose current game | cadeasygoin |
Mission graph dialog selectable | lyingpect |
UNN broadcast menu | furabranchery |
Note: Only available in Campaign mode.
-Some codes from: Randy and Mike Bowers
Cheat Codes (Lost Viking mini-game)While playing the Lost Viking mini-game, press [Enter] to display the console window. Then, type one of the following codes and press [Enter] to activate the corresponding cheat function:
Result | Cheat Code |
Add indicated points to score | -score [number] |
Extra life | -addlife |
Ten extra lives | -life |
Spawn power-up | -pu |
Level skip | -levelclear |
Man ends | -bonus |
Boss appears | -boss |
Wave of enemies | -behind |
Alternate background | -mb |
Display 'Boss Incoming' message | -ss |
Display the sine of three angles: 180, 90, and pi | -sine |
View ending sequence | -end |
Hide 'Quit' button | -noquit |
In the 'Media Blitz' mission, where you control the Odin in the city, go to the far bottom-right corner of the map. Destroy the red civilian building on the little floating platform. There is a pathway to the building from the small enemy expansion base that is just north of the player's starting position. Once the building is destroyed, 'secret documents' will be revealed. Pick the 'secret documents' up with any ground unit, and then complete the mission as normal. The 'Piercing The Shroud' secret mission will now be accessible through the Star Map. Note: You cannot play the secret mission after going to Char, as you have to go to another planet. Thus, you must go to the load menu and load a game from before Char to play the mission.
Lost Viking mini-game[Left Click] the arcade machine at the Cantina on the Hyperion to play a space shooter mini-game.
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Alternate background screensSuccessfully complete Campaign mode to change the appearance of the background screens.
'Terran Up the Night' songSuccessfully complete Campaign mode to unlock the 'Terran Up the Night' song.
Zerg Queen quick larval injectionSelect all queens with 'control group'. Hold [Inject Larvae], then press [Backspace] to jump between each hatch and [Left Click] that hatch. This will use the closest queen to cast 'Inject Larvae', without having to press [Inject Larvae] each time.
Dancing unitsSelect one of the following unit types, press [Enter], then type '/dance' to make them dance: High Templars, Hydralisks, Marauders, Marines, Thors, Ultralisks, Zealots, Zerglings.
Cheer animationsType '/cheer' to prompt an additional animation from the following units: High Templars, Hydralisks, Marauders, Marines, Thors, Ultralisks, Zealots, and Zerglings.
Exploding creatures[Left Click] any creature multiple times to make it explode.
Cow Chat channelSelect the blue symbol under the title at the StarCraft 2 menus to enter a public chat channel called 'cow'. Every time you speak, your message will be followed by 'moo'.
Hidden dialogue[Left Click] units multiple times to hear secret dialogues.
Marine in 'Deadmans Port' missionAt the bottom left corner where the salvage scrapper machine is located, look slightly to the left on the big 'man-made' cliff to find small red lights. Notice that they are attached to a small 'metal bed' with a marine laying down on it and his arms sticking up in the air.
Marine in 'Havens Fall' missionIn the single player campaign, search the lower left corner of the map near the refugees. You can find a frozen Marine just before the bottom left Zerg base in the water.
Marine in 'Piercing The Shroud' missionIn the single player campaign while in the loading bay before the room with the Brutalisk, go outside through the door. Follow the rock ledge as it leads up, and more of the map will be visible. Continue until you find a Murloc Marine.
Marine in 'Welcome To The Jungle' missionIn the single player campaign, you can find a Murloc Marine near the left edge of the map, slightly north of your base. He is standing on a cliff edge that is surrounded by trees.
Marine in 'Zero Hour' missionIn the single player campaign, search the top of the map just above the left Vespene geyser. You can find a Tauren Space Marine that enters an outhouse. Repeatedly [Left Click] the outhouse, and it will shoot into space.
Disappearing Marauder in 'Zero Hour' mission
Attack the Zerg base to the north/northwest, and find the neutral Marauder. [Left Click] him until the text 'Secret 3..2..1' appears, and the Marauder will disappear.
Blizzard referenceDuring the Protoss missions, watch the TV to see a music advertisement for LVL800ETC featuring a lot of songs. All those songs are from a metal band called LVL80ETC, which is made up of Blizzard employees and is dedicated to all things StarCraft and Warcraft. The lead singer is the head of Blizzard's art department.
Successfully complete the 'Ghost Of A Chance' mission and unlock the Ghost rifle. Go to the armory on the Hyperion. [Left Click] the Ghost rifle to examine it. Keep looking at the screen until Nova (from Blizzard's unreleased game StarCraft: Ghost) briefly appears and disappears.
Diablo referenceDuring 'The Devil's Playground' mission, go to the bottom right corner of the map on Redstone III. You will find Diablo, from the game of the same name, surrounded by lava. He will attack your units when discovered.
World Of Warcraft referencesOnce you are on the ship's cantina, look in the upper left to see a red female holograph doing the same dance as the female night elf from World Of Warcraft.
Ending sequencePerhaps it is a bit too early to be talking about the expansion packs to StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty– the game is just a week old, after all- but if you played through the campaign already, you are likely eagerly awaiting the continuation of the story.
When it was first announced that the campaign of StarCraft II would be split into what essentially amounts to three games, the reception was fairly cold. Many saw it as a money grab, and worried that Blizzard was taking what existed, stripping into thirds, then selling each part separately. Now that players have had a chance to try out the deep Terran campaign, plus the multiplayer that made StarCraft famous, hopefully they are satiated for the moment (check out our full review of the campaign for details). But if not, or if you just want to know for the future, here is what we know of the upcoming expansion packs.
The first expansion pack released will be the Zerg-centric Heart of the Swarm. Players will take control of the Queen of Blades, Kerrigan, and attempt to become more powerful through mutations. Unlike the Terran campaign, there will be no cash to purchase upgrades, but there will be an RPG element that will help Kerrigan increase in personal power while the Zerg rally to her. The more powerful you become, the more Zerg you can control, so playing each and every mission to its fullest will be key to upgrading.
As with the Terran campaign, players will be able to choose which mission they want to purse and when, but there will be a linear story that picks up after the end of the Wings of Liberty– which is the official name for the Terran campaign.
The big question is when to expect the first expansion. At the moment it is all speculation, but StarCraft II lead producer Chris Sigaty told Shacknews that it might be around 18 months from now, which would put it on shelves either right before, or just after Christmas 2011.
“We’re estimating about 18 months from release of Wings of Liberty to when the next one comes out.” Sigaty said. “That’s purely speculative, honestly. Historically, it’s taken us about a year-WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne is a good example-but you’ll see the sum-total package [in Wings of Liberty] has raised the bar and there’s a lot more to do with StarCraft II‘s expansions. I think 18 months is probably fairly accurate.”
The second planned expansion, Legacy of the Void, will feature the Protoss, and focus on Zerutal as its main character. The Terran campaign features a handful of Protoss missions, so gamers have had a taste of what to expect, but unlike the other races, the Protoss campaign will feature a heavy emphasis on diplomacy.
The Protoss begin as a fractured race on the brink of extinction, and the campaign will force players to choose who to side with, which will alienate others. The story and mission tree will unfold based on which factions you align yourself with- so there may be missions you cannot access, which could make this the most replay friendly campaign of the three- as you attempt to unite the Protoss.
No word yet on when the expansion for the Protoss will be available, but late 2012or early 2013 seems likely. Also unknown is the price for each expansion. Blizzard has confirmed that despite the size and the amount of work going into the campaigns, the company is viewing the Zerg and Protoss campaigns as expansion packs rather than additional games. Blizzard has seemingly stuck to the $30 price for all recent expansions, and while that could change, at the moment it seems accurate.
Without giving away spoilers from the Terran campaign, there are also rumors of a possible fourth expansion pack that would follow another race. Blizzard originally planned a fourth campaign, but deemed that it would water down the other three to take resources from them to begin building another. It could still happen, but it would likely be three-four years away if ever.
In Starcraft 2's single player campaign, two new research options unlock for every 5 Zerg/Protoss research points recovered, up to the maximum of 25 research points per race.
What are the pros and cons of the choices available at each tier for Zerg and Protoss research? Are there particular combinations that work particularly well together?
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4 Answers
Zerg:
- Tier 1: 150 life on bunkers is MUCH better than the shrike turret. more hits b4 it goes down, starts repairing itself at half health so at 75 hp earlier, especially with increased SCV repair speed. Shrike turret is ground only and has crappy damage.
- Tier 2:The fortress is much better than the perdition turret. The perdition turret isn't better than a bunker with 4 marines and a firebat, gets destroyed often, and costs precious gas which you need for units and upgrades. The fortress upgrade is only really good in a few scenario's but packs a decent punch, is repairable, and adds hp's to your building, allowing you to use it as a wall to slow down enemy advancement, including on the last map.
- Tier 3: Neither hercules nor predator unit are really required in any mission. Normal drop ships will work fine and even heal nearby units, despite the incredible amount of units a hercules can travel it requires a special building to be built and you won't have your first one until you have spent hundreds of minerals and gas. The predator unit is very decent when combined with regenerative biosteel and science vessels, especially in scenarios with many waves of enemies. This is actually a matter of personal taste as far as I'm concerned.
- Tier 4: Regenerative Bio-Steel. The mana upgrades and starting energy increase are very useful in many scenarios but in the end the regenerative bio steel will allow you to sweep any map on any difficulty with more ease than normally. Also, in call of the void your battle-cruisers wont even get hurt by the rift generators.
- Tier 5: The zerg slower is many times better than the control tower. Although the control tower is manually targeted and can demolish enemy waves by controlling an ultralisk in that wave, and when properly used can even be used to build a second army with separate food supply, in the end the slower allows you to move down any zerg units with them doing little or no damage to your base, even on brutal. Slow zerg are dead zerg (don't forget to use marauder slow combined with it to make the zerg sluggishly slow.
Protoss:
- Tier 1: Ultra-Capacitors 5% attack speed can matter a lot on marines in a bunker. The best reason to take attacks however is if you have marauders with slowing aoe upgrade. more units slowed with marauders, more dps, and they are in a bunker anyway most of the time.
- Tier 2: take the 25% gas mining. Being able to produce earlier in the scenario can save you troops to help with the next waves, and cumulatively save you a lot of hassle. Gas is often the limiting factor in the speed of your army construction. If you plan the supplies right and micro manage just a bit more orbital supply depots hardly speed up your production capabilities or game-play in comparison.
- Tier 3: building 8 scv's in queue with 2 per time will rocket-launch your economy. On average a scenario will have 2-4 active gas mines in use at any time depending on your expansiveness and playing speed. those 6-12 scv's in food, combined with the advantage of not needing a command center don't weigh up against the increased production speed which will rocket-launch your campaign economy output in EVERY scenario, right from the start… If you need food later, you can always shoot your own SCV's.
- Tier 4: Science Vessel vs raven is again a matter of taste, like the tier 3 Zerg upgrade. Ravens when properly micro managed can cause havoc with their damage abilities and work wonders against air units. However, if you like auto healing your tanks or anything mechanical, irradiating large groups of enemies and forming virtually indestructible death squads with neosteel battle-cruisers, I'd definitely advise the science vessels. They are my personal favorite.
- Tier 5: The tech reactor is greatly superior to the orbital marine units. Although orbital drops can be useful in multiple scenarios, don't forget that with tech reactor you need only 1 of each building in any scenario, saving you at least between 500-1200 minerals and gas in most scenarios and allowing a speedy build of high tech units.
Final note:
Don't forget marauders slowing AoE upgrade in the armory. I finished the entire brutal campaign and all campaign achievements without that but it made things unnecessarily hard. Slow enemies are usually dead enemies before they even reach your base.
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CaulUinTûrCaulUinTûr
There are three that come to mind that I strongly feel have a better alternative.
Mount and blade cure injuries. Random chance)- Costs 600 Resp, 6 inf- Good: After being treated for wounds, will have to wait 8 hours- Evil: after being treated for wounds, will get hurt a bit.Right now, I would need face codes (as you can see, Ioreth doesnt look too good).@invain, I'll need a morannon healer too (entry point 13).As usual, it needs to be tested, but we have test menus for this (CPP's injure me/companions; and my test menu Heal All Injuries).Right now, haven't tested with injured companions, but I think it is solid.
'Build 2 SCVs at once' or 'Vespene Geysers do not require SCVs for gathering'
Choose build 2 SCVs at once. Doubling the rate at which you build SCVs has an exponential impact on your economy. The 3 or 6 SCVs you lose to mining gas is negligible compared to how much faster you can get your economy going. Especially in the last mission. I completed it on Brutal, and was non-stop building SCVs for gathering minerals and repairing units. Not having to gather gas is really only a significant help in one of the campaign missions.
'Tech-reactors' or 'Drop pods'
Choose Tech reactors. Not only do Tech-reactors allows you to spend fewer resources on structures, and more on units, but they also increase your unit production rate. The drop-pod ability is late in the game, and faster deployment for ONLY Barracks units is not as helpful as faster and cheaper production.
'+25% Geyser allocation' or 'Instant Supply Depots'
If you are good at keeping track of your supply count, choose the +25%. While calling down Supply Depots instantly has its uses when you are trying to create a wall-in. If you can keep track of your supply count, there's no reason to miss out on +25% gas allocation.
rysamarysamaStarcraft 2 Zerg
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'Weapons Upgrades grant 5% increased attack speed' or 'Armor Upgrades grant 5% more HP'
This is a tricky one -- but ultimately, it really comes down to unit comp.
Ask yourself -- do you intend to invest in medic / repair tech? The longer any individual unit survives, the more it benefits from increased attack speed. Raw health only matters in the absence of SCVs, Medics, or Science Vessels. If you buy the bunker upgrades -- it makes sense to go with the weapon upgrades -- units can't benefit from increased health when they're in the bunker after all.
If a marine usually has an attack speed of .83 seconds / attack, and the weapon upgrade reduces that by 5% ( to .78 ), it takes 5 attacks for the marine to benefit from the extra attack speed (both make 4 attacks in 3 seconds, but after 4 seconds, the upgraded marine has made 5 attacks, and the unupgraded marine has made only 4 (but is about to make a fifth)
The longer you can make your units survive, the greater the benefit.
Bonus health doesn't make sense on the weak, individual units who will die quickly anyway.It, on the other hand, works better for stronger, more expensive units who are already taking several hits to down. A battlecruiser's 400 hp goes up to 420 -- which means it will survive two attacks more from a mutalisk swarm (discounting armor)
A marine would only go from 45 HP to 47.
Because of all of that, I think it's better to go with weapons speed than bonus health.
Raven DreamerRaven Dreamer144k119119 gold badges621621 silver badges897897 bronze badges
'Build 2 SCVs at once' or 'Vespene Geysers do not require SCVs for gathering'
I don't agree that Build 2 SCVs at once is definitely superior to Vespene Geysers do not require SCVs for gathering. Both have unique benefits.
The Build 2 SCVs is good early game, because it gives you a faster ramp rate of mineral production early on. However, late game, this won't be so important. The Vespene Geyser research is better for late game. During late game, the player will most likely have advanced far up the tech tree. These advanced units require a lot of Vespene gas. Typically, the 2 Gas geysers at your base are not enough to keep up with the 7 to 10 mineral fields. This is where the Automated Refinery comes in. Because it does not require SCVs, it also does not require a command center. Thus, the player can build refineries at expansions, without the need to protect them since the most they could lose is a refinery (100 mineral) compared to a refinery, a command center, and a fleet of SCVs otherwise. If you are someone who likes late game, and uses high-tech units like siege tanks, wraiths, etc, you will find the Automated Refinery very useful.
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StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty | Table of Contents | Walkthrough
Table of Contents
- Terran
- Zerg
- Protoss
- Patch notes
Multiplayer
Only marines, SCVs, Hellions Medivacs and Vikings do not need tech labs to be built.
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Cleanup this page!This article could use a cleanup in order to be more legible and/or presentable. Please help improve this article in any way possible. Remember to follow our editing guidelines when improving existing articles. If you can improve this page, please edit it, or help by discussing possible changes on the talk page.
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- 1Campaign and multiplayer Units
- 1.9Thor
- 2Campaign-Only
- 3Mercenaries
Campaign and multiplayer Units[edit]
Melee Units are included in both the online matchmaking modes, and the campaign.
SCV[edit]
The worker of the Terran forces, allowing the construction of buildings and repair of units. In the singleplayer campaign, permanent upgrades for SCVs can be purchased, reducing the cost of producing an SCV and repairs, respectively.
MULE[edit]
Mules are droids that are called down from an Orbital Command, assisting SCVs in mining work and repairing. They will stop working after 90 seconds. MULES mine at a faster rate than SCVs, producing thirty minerals for every yield instead of five.
Marine[edit]
In StarCraft II, Marines will be able to receive a ballistic alloy combat shield upgrade that increases their hit points by 10 thus making them have 55 HP. Once upgraded, the Marines' game model will change to include a shield and bayonet. Marines will have two more upgrades beyond the weapon and armor upgrades: Stimpacks and U-238 shells (abilities possessed at BlizzCon 2007).
Marines can be countered by Siege tanks, Hellions, Banelings, Brood lords and colossus.
Marauder[edit]
The Marauder is equipped with dual grenade launchers, and does extra damage against armored units. It can use Stimpacks in multiplayer. You can upgrade marauders to slow down units when their grenades hit at the tech lab.
The Marauder is considered an early support unit, designed to pick off early game units. An upgraded marauder is useful for slowing down fast melee units such as the Zealot.
Marauders are strong against thors, Roaches and Stalkers while weak to marines, Zerglings and zealots and any air units.
Reaper[edit]
Reapers specialize in hit-and-run, close-quarters combat. They are more mobile than Marines as their jet packs allow them to surmount obstacles independently. Reapers are clad in self-contained body suits, and are armed with dual P-45 Scythe Gauss Pistols(against units) and deuterium-eight demolition charges(against buildings).
Reapers are drawn from Marine recruits that could not be successfully subjugated by neural resocialization. These resistant recruits tend to be among the most hardened of criminals, and are sent instead to the 'Icehouse' in the Torus system to be inducted into the Reaper Corps. Reaper recruits are chemically altered to make them even more aggressive before being subjected to brutal training in close-quarters combat and the use of their jet packs.
While theoretically a Reaper who survives two years of duty would be pardoned and released back to civilian life, in its five years the Reaper Corps has yet to have a single trooped survive more than six months.
In the campaign the reaper can throw special bombs that do heavy area damage to both units and structures.
Ghost[edit]
Ghosts gain some new abilities suiting their role as special forces troopers. They also have a higher rate of fire.
Ghosts are trained at a Barracks with an attached Tech Lab, and require a Ghost Academy. Ghosts may be available earlier in the tech tree, but abilities like Cloaking would only be available afterwards.
The below is a listing of the Ghost's special abilities; however, all information here is tentative and subject to change pending the release of the game.
- Cloak
- Makes the Ghost invisible to anything but detectors.
- Nuclear Strike
- Similar to the ability in StarCraft but does 300 damage to all units and 500 to structures. Launching player sees a large red symbol on the target area while the opponent only sees a red dot.
- Sniper Round
- Requiring 45 energy, this ability deals 25 damage(50 to psionic targets) to any biological unit, ignoring any armor.
- EMP Round
- Similar to the Science Vessel's EMP Shockwave ability, the EMP Shot is an area of effect attack which drains 100 shields from units and structures and all energy from spellcasters. Only used in multiplayer.
Can be upgraded to stay cloaked forever and upgraded to have a longer range attack and see much farther. Also they are trained a lot faster than reapers.
Hellion[edit]
Replacing the Jackal (which had replaced the Vulture), this vehicle relies on speed and a flamethrower to deal with masses of smaller units. They work especially well against early Zerg units and marines but do not send them after roaches, marauders and stalkers.It can be upgraded to do double damage to light armored units and altogether more damage at the factory tech lab.
Siege Tank[edit]
The Siege Tank continues to function as it did in previous games with the dual tank and artillery modes. The tank cannot fire when moving, leaving the tank vulnerable to attacks by melee units.
The Siege Tank is a heavy mechanical ground unit with a long range and high damage capabilities. When in Siege Mode, the tank now spreads its treads in four directions while still sprouting two clamps to help keep it stationary. The Siege Mode attack has an area of effect; however the Protoss Immortals are able to reduce its damaging effects to a minimum. Mobile or stationary, Siege Tanks can only attack ground units.
Siege tanks are ideal for countering massed marines, marauders, roaches, hydralisks and stalkers and do good against the Thors, Ultralisks and colossus but weak against air units.
Thor[edit]
Heavy assault mech made to take down strong ground units like the Ultralisk. Its special ability can stun its target and do 500 damage to anything it hits. Also has strong anti air cluster missiles which can damage groups of flyers. It is strong against Light air units, marines and stalkers but weak against marauders, zerglings and immortals and Ultralisks can resist thors and do heavy damage with their kaiser blades which do bonus damage to armored targets.
Odin[edit]
A more powerful version of the Thor. The Odin can use a nuclear missile. Its barrage attack costs less energy than the Thor's ability, and can attack any unit and structure. It is not very powerful against Battlecruisers however and its AA attack does not do splash damage due to its a prototype. It is only in the campaign.
Viking[edit]
The Brood War revealed weaknesses in Terran anti-air capability. Wraith combat fighters and Valkyrie missile frigates proved to be an unwieldy combination against agile Zerg airborne organisms. In addition, ground-based anti-air support from Goliath assault walkers was too limited in its mobility: all too often airborne attackers would simply move out of the Goliath's range.
In the aftermath of the war, Terran weapon technicians proposed a radical new concept to resolve both of these problems. Based heavily on the transformation design of the Siege Tank, the Viking was designed to be the ultimate anti-air and ground-support weapon system. With the ability to change its combat role from an assault walker to an air-superiority fighter, the Viking can switch smoothly to fulfill tactical needs in a developing battle.
While the Viking's versatility is its greatest asset, it is also one of its drawbacks. Few pilots are able to handle both combat modes and the majority of Viking pilots are killed in their first battle. Those who survive however, become amongst the most skilled pilots.
The Viking is produced from the Starport.
- Walker Mode
In the walker mode the Viking has low armor, leaving it vulnerable to powerful ground units such as Siege Tanks.
The walker mode is armed with twin gatling cannons. it can only attack ground units (a change from previous builds).
Karune stated that its ground mode could attack both ground and air units but that ability was undergoing balancing testing and may have been removed.
- Fighter Mode
When in this mode the Viking has an extremely powerful anti-air attack (MT50 Lanzer Torpedoes) designed to destroy capital ships but does not have the ability to attack ground units. In this mode, it has superior mobility and base-raiding capabilities. Vikings are strong against slow moving targets like Battlecruisers, Corruptors, Void Rays and colossi but expect it to be weak against marines, thors, Mutalisks, Hydralisks, stalkers and anything that is fast moving due to Vikings are fragile to anything.
- Upgrades
Upgrades include making Vikings do splash damage with ripwave missiles and long range firepower.
Medivac[edit]
Dropships will appear in StarCraft II; they have also received the Medics' healing ability. A variant named the Hercules Dropship is set to appear in story mode only.
Can be upgraded to drop passengers faster and heal two infantry at the same time at the cost of more energy in the campaign.
Raven[edit]
The Raven, formerly known as the 'Nighthawk', 'Vulcan', and 'Nomad', is analogous to the Science Vessel of the original StarCraft, and are 'primarily support craft' for the Terran faction. Ravens originally were said to 'look like a floating construction crane that's been bent into a square', but have since received a completely new design.
In addition to being detectors, Ravens have several special abilities:
- Auto-Turret, which uses energy to drop an Auto-Turret. The turret is a decent defender and makes for an even better harasser. These do have a timed life.
- Defensive Drones. These intercept incoming missiles and enemy fire. These do also have a time life.
- Hunter-Seeker Missile. This missile deals 150 area-of-effect damage against both ground and air targets. The splash damage can damage friendly units; the missile kills on contact and can be avoided if the targeted unit retreats for the specific amount of time. The missile will have a slight delay after launch, and a visual indicator shows which unit is being targeted, enabling the other player to respond. It cannot target buildings, but can damage them if it attacks units right next to a building.
Banshee[edit]
A Stealth Aircraft that is effective against ground forces.
It has light armor and is not very fast so use it as hit and run or sabotaging the other player's workers.It can be upgraded to cloak at the starport tech lab.
The Banshees are weak against any air unit that can take them down easily including Vikings, Mutalisks, corruptors and phoenixes while its ground unit counters include thors, hydralisks and stalkers.
Battlecruiser[edit]
The default weaponry of the Battlecruiser is no longer a single powerful attack. Instead it will fire multiple laser bolts, each inflicting 8 damage on ground units and 6 on aircraft. These units have a health of 550 and armor of 3. Their weapon speed is a lot faster than marine weapons or even zergling claws.
Battlecruisers take 110 seconds to build in the campaign while they take 90 seconds in multiplayer. The Battlecruiser can be outfitted with missile pods to deal with swarms of light flyers and a defensive matrix to protect the battlecruiser.
Yamato Cannon does 300 damage to anything it hits. Just do not use these units on Vikings, Corruptors or the void ray.
Campaign-Only[edit]
These units only appear in the campaign, and cannot be used online in match-making.
Diamondback[edit]
Can attack while moving. Attacks ground units. Weak against Marauders, zerglings and immortals.
Firebat[edit]
The Firebat's role remains unchanged from its original incarnation: flamethrower-wielding infantry with splash damage. In StarCraft II, the unit has received a health buff to 100 points and wider splash. They can be upgraded with Incinerator Gauntlets (+40% attack area) and Juggernaut Plating (+2 armor) at the Hyperion's Armory.
Also, the player can purchase Mercenary Firebats in the form of the Devil Dogs. These units spawn with +60% health and +25% damage. Firebats are good only against Light units only and weak against everything else.
Goliath[edit]
Anti air and anti ground attackers. Missiles do extra damage to Armored air targets like Void Rays but its not meant to take on ground units like Stalkers and immortals. Upgrades includes can target air and ground simultaneously and long range attacking.
Hercules Dropship[edit]
Unarmed Massive transport that can carry more passengers than the Medivacs and if shot down over ground all units transported inside it will survive.
Medic[edit]
Heals biological units and useful for when Marines got stims and are stationed in bunkers.
Predator[edit]
Terran melee attacker that can take down swarms of zerglings.
Science Vessel[edit]
The unit has changed significantly from the original it still retains its role as a support unit. Can do serious damage to biological units with its Irradiate ability and repairs mechanical units Nan-repair like the medic.
It is unlocked in the campaign for 20 protoss research points.
Spectre[edit]
Spectres are elite ghost agents which have been exposed to the psionic reagent substance terrazine. They were created as part of Project Shadow Blade, previously led by General Horace Warfield.
Spectres have similar strengths and weaknesses with Ghosts, faring well against Massive units, but falling under the pressure of massed units. Spectres have the ability to use nuclear strikes, personal cloaking, ultrasonic pulse, and psionic lash. Nuclear strike and personal cloaking work similarly to ghosts, but ultrasonic pulse and psionic lash are spectre-only skills. Ultrasonic pulse stuns an area near the casting spectre, and psionic lash deals 200 damage over 3 seconds to one target.
Spectres can be upgraded with the Nyx-class Cloaking Module, which makes the energy drain from personal cloaking less than the mana gain, spectres to remain cloaked indefinitely.
Vulture[edit]
This unit is fast as hellions and can lay mines.
Abilities
Cerberus Mines
Enhances spider mine trigger and blast radius by 33%.
Replenishable Magazine
Vultures can replenish spider mines, once per use of this ability. A vulture can carry a maximum of three spider mines. This ability is autocast.
Wraith[edit]
Can attack air and ground targets. It can still cloak and it is useful against Carriers and Battlecruisers if not detected. Two upgrades can make the wraith start with 100 energy and if detected it can dodge 20% any range attacks.
Mercenaries[edit]
In the campaign the Terrans have access to mercenaries which are powerful versions of certain units like the War pigs are super versions of the Marines. The Terrans can only have a limited amount of mercenaries out like only 2 Hammer Securities out on the field.
War Pigs[edit]
4 Powerful Marines with high health points and powerful rifles. Can be summoned only for a maximum of 3 squads.
Devil Dogs[edit]
Two powerful versions of the Firebats. Can only be summoned up to 2 squads.
Hammer Securities[edit]
Two powerful versions of the marauder. Can only summon 2 squads.
Spartan Company[edit]
Two Powerful Goliaths that got powerful autocannons and missiles. Can only summoned up to two squads.
Siege Breakers[edit]
Two powerful Siege Tanks that got powerful Siege mode artillery weapons. Only can be used twice.
Hel's Angels[edit]
3 Strong Vikings that has more health and firepower than a standard Viking.
Dusk Wings[edit]
Basically two Powerful upgraded versions of the Banshees.
Jackson's Revenge[edit]
One powerful Battlecruiser with high health points.
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