StarCraft/Enslavers II: Difference between revisions
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→Mission 3: Nemesis
(guide imported from CC-BY-SA document: http://faqs.ign.com/articles/105/1058545p1.html, by Stephen Politzer-Ahles) |
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The two Zerg camps you need to destroy are large and defended by tons of units, so you'll need to build a big army to take them out. To speed up resource gathering, you should take over a third resource patch that is across the bridge from your secondary base and to the east. It is poorly defended (two each of Sunken and Spore Colonies, and some burrowed Hydralisks and Zerglings), so you can take it with just 10 or so Dragoons (or whatever else you've been building). Set up a base there with ample defenses, and then begin buying upgrades and amassing an army (Archons, Carriers, Reavers, and Dragoons is a good choice). By this point the Zerg will be starting to attack you with more substantial forces, but as long as you've built a ton of Photon Cannons around your bases (particularly in the northern portion of your main base) you should be able to weather whatever they throw at you. They'll make at least one big attack with Ultralisks and air support, which will be easier to hold off if you can surround the Ultralisks with Zealots. The brown camp has Guardians and Devourers, but they won't attack your bases – they only attack you much later in the mission, so if you're quick you may never need to worry about them. | The two Zerg camps you need to destroy are large and defended by tons of units, so you'll need to build a big army to take them out. To speed up resource gathering, you should take over a third resource patch that is across the bridge from your secondary base and to the east. It is poorly defended (two each of Sunken and Spore Colonies, and some burrowed Hydralisks and Zerglings), so you can take it with just 10 or so Dragoons (or whatever else you've been building). Set up a base there with ample defenses, and then begin buying upgrades and amassing an army (Archons, Carriers, Reavers, and Dragoons is a good choice). By this point the Zerg will be starting to attack you with more substantial forces, but as long as you've built a ton of Photon Cannons around your bases (particularly in the northern portion of your main base) you should be able to weather whatever they throw at you. They'll make at least one big attack with Ultralisks and air support, which will be easier to hold off if you can surround the Ultralisks with Zealots. The brown camp has Guardians and Devourers, but they won't attack your bases – they only attack you much later in the mission, so if you're quick you may never need to worry about them. | ||
You can attack the bases in either order. The brown camp in the east seems to have more heavy units – it's teeming with Ultralisks, Guardians, and Devourers. The orange camp in the West has Lurkers, Scourges, and massive swarms of Hydralisks. It makes no real difference what order you do them in. You can take the brown camp early in the mission with just 12 Dragoons and 12 Reavers (you'll lose most of that army, but not before taking out nearly the entire base); but trying to do the same with Dragoons and Archons may get you wiped out. Or you can build your | You can attack the bases in either order. The brown camp in the east seems to have more heavy units – it's teeming with Ultralisks, Guardians, and Devourers. The orange camp in the West has Lurkers, Scourges, and massive swarms of Hydralisks. It makes no real difference what order you do them in. You can take the brown camp early in the mission with just 12 Dragoons and 12 Reavers (you'll lose most of that army, but not before taking out nearly the entire base); but trying to do the same with Dragoons and Archons may get you wiped out. Or you can build your Stargates in the northern half of your main base (above the minerals), so the edge of the orange base is already softened up (when your Carriers get churned out they get into skirmishes near the cliffs), making it pretty easy taking. However you do it, once you destroy all the buildings in both bases you will be treated to a scene and then the mission will end. | ||
==Mission 2: Hung Jury== | ==Mission 2: Hung Jury== | ||
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==Mission 3: Nemesis== | ==Mission 3: Nemesis== | ||
This mission will be a doozy. You're given the option of retrieving the | This mission will be a doozy. You're given the option of retrieving the Khaydarin Crystal in the northwest corner of the map, or destroying Schezar's Command Centers in the northeast. To follow the canonical storyline, you have to choose the crystal. | ||
You start in the center of the map with few defenses. Your first focus should be on increasing your defenses (early on, you'll probably need at least five Photon Cannons at the north and south entrances, and ground forces) and building up an army as quickly as possible to secure more resource areas – with only one base, you will not be able to harvest fast enough to prevent being overrun. Build mostly Dragoons and Reavers in this early part of the mission – there are not many air forces on the map yet, so you can focus on ground control. The orange base where the crystal is, is very heavily defended, so | You start in the center of the map with few defenses. Your first focus should be on increasing your defenses (early on, you'll probably need at least five Photon Cannons at the north and south entrances, and ground forces) and building up an army as quickly as possible to secure more resource areas – with only one base, you will not be able to harvest fast enough to prevent being overrun. Build mostly Dragoons and Reavers in this early part of the mission – there are not many air forces on the map yet, so you can focus on ground control. The orange base where the crystal is, and it is very heavily defended, so the way to win this mission is to slowly take over the map and build up a large force. | ||
There are several white Terran/Zerg bases which pose the most immediate threat to your survival, and which are also the ones you will need to take to secure resources. There are small white bases at both southern corners of the map, and larger bases in between them (one directly north of you, one directly south). The corner bases are not well-defended and should be your first targets for expansion. The one in the southeast has nothing but a couple Sunken Colonies and can be taken with just a couple Reavers and Dragoons; once you have set up a base there, you can build up an army to take the one in the southwest corner, which will put up a bit more of a fight. | There are several white Terran/Zerg bases which pose the most immediate threat to your survival, and which are also the ones you will need to take to secure resources. There are small white bases at both southern corners of the map, and larger bases in between them (one directly north of you, one directly south). The corner bases are not well-defended and should be your first targets for expansion. The one in the southeast has nothing but a couple Sunken Colonies and can be taken with just a couple Reavers and Dragoons; once you have set up a base there, you can build up an army to take the one in the southwest corner, which will put up a bit more of a fight. | ||
While you are taking these bases, you will also need to constantly rebuild the defenses at your main base in particular, and perhaps the satellite bases as well. Your main base will be under constant attack from all sides: Terran ground forces will frequently assault your photon cannons at the north and south entrances, and Siege Tanks will shoot at you from the cliffs above. Zerg will also drop units to the west of your base and try to come in behind your minerals, so you will need cannons or units back against the Western cliff as well; before long, you will also start facing heavy air attacks from Wraiths and Mutalisks (later in the game they will be replaced by Battlecruisers and Guardians). The sooner you can build up an air fleet, the better you will be able to defend against these threats. At this point in the game, you'll be facing the most attacks at your main base, and you'll be getting hit less in the southeast (but still hit hard enough that you'll have to rebuild your | While you are taking these bases, you will also need to constantly rebuild the defenses at your main base in particular, and perhaps the satellite bases as well. Your main base will be under constant attack from all sides: Terran ground forces will frequently assault your photon cannons at the north and south entrances, and Siege Tanks will shoot at you from the cliffs above. Zerg will also drop units to the west of your base and try to come in behind your minerals, so you will need cannons or units back against the Western cliff as well; before long, you will also start facing heavy air attacks from Wraiths and Mutalisks (later in the game they will be replaced by Battlecruisers and Guardians). The sooner you can build up an air fleet, the better you will be able to defend against these threats. At this point in the game, you'll be facing the most attacks at your main base, and you'll be getting hit less in the southeast (but still hit hard enough that you'll have to rebuild your Cannons there regularly), and hit very infrequently in the southwest – but that doesn't mean you can leave the southwest alone, as there will still be some attacks there. | ||
Now you can work on slowly building up an attack force to take the crystal. The orange base defending the crystal is on an island, so you will need a large air fleet to have any hope of penetrating it; use carriers for this. (You should have at least two | Now you can work on slowly building up an attack force to take the crystal. The orange base defending the crystal is on an island, so you will need a large air fleet to have any hope of penetrating it; use carriers for this. (You should have at least two Stargates and try to keep churning out Carriers constantly, as enemy attacks will inevitably destroy some of your Carriers while you're still building the fleet). If you have lots of extra vespene gas and few minerals (from building bases and Photon Cannons), now is a perfect time to build as many Archons as possible. Finally, keeping the final assault in mind, you should build three or four Arbiters with the Recall ability and energy upgrade researched – that will be much more effective than Shuttles when you need to get your ground units across to the island. | ||
By now you may be running low on resources, and the constant attacks may be keeping you from building an offensive force. So taking out the larger white bases north and south of your original base should help; the northern one in particular is resource-laden and less well-defended than the southern one. Once you have taken them, you can set up more bases and churn out as many units as possible (you should be hitting the psi limit by now; free up some psi by taking the probes from your bases that are out of minerals and send them into enemy camps). Be forewarned, though, that with white mostly out of | By now you may be running low on resources, and the constant attacks may be keeping you from building an offensive force. So taking out the larger white bases north and south of your original base should help; the northern one in particular is resource-laden and less well-defended than the southern one. Once you have taken them, you can set up more bases and churn out as many units as possible (you should be hitting the psi limit by now; free up some psi by taking the probes from your bases that are out of minerals and send them into enemy camps). Be forewarned, though, that with white mostly out of the way and the center of the board yours, orange (Zerg) and red (Schezar) will start attacking like crazy; at this point in the game a large fleet of Guardians and Devourers may wipe out your southern and middle bases (forcing you to re-climb the tech tree in your new bases) and fleets of Battlecruisers, Siege Tanks, and Goliaths may begin to pummel the eastern side of your northern base. Your other bases should be left alone in this part of the game and all attacks focused on the north, so gather your troops there. If any of your satellite bases, especially ones with no tech tree buildings and few or no resources left, get hit with a major attack, feel free to let them fall – you don't need those bases anymore, and trying to protect them is just a resource drain. You will save resources by consolidating to one or two bases and not spreading your units so thin. | ||
Assuming you survive the pummeling, make sure you have 10–12 Carriers, as many Archons and Reavers as possible, and at least three Arbiters. Then send the Carriers directly west from your northern base, moving along the very top of the map until you see the orange Spore Colonies. Do not try to penetrate orange anywhere else – most of their base is ringed by another white base and you would have to fight through twice as many defenses if you came from another direction; if you attack the hole in the northwest part of their base, you should just barely be able to puncture their defenses. Once your | Assuming you survive the pummeling, make sure you have 10–12 Carriers, as many Archons and Reavers as possible, and at least three Arbiters. Then send the Carriers directly west from your northern base, moving along the very top of the map until you see the orange Spore Colonies. Do not try to penetrate orange anywhere else – most of their base is ringed by another white base and you would have to fight through twice as many defenses if you came from another direction; if you attack the hole in the northwest part of their base, you should just barely be able to puncture their defenses. Once your Carriers have taken out the Spore Colonies and cleared out some space on the ground, send in your Arbiters and then recall in as many Archons and Reavers as possible. The Archons, Reavers, and Carriers can do their thing, taking out as many units and defensive structures as they can (don't worry about destroying the harvesters and Hatcheries) while the Arbiters pull back out of harm's way. Your attack force will probably be overrun, so don't expect them to be able to take out the whole base; just clear as much of a path as possible to the crystal. Once the path is more or less clear, tell your Probes to stop harvesting and gather them in a bunch, then send your Arbiters to the crystal – hopefully you still have some Carriers or Archons alive to distract the enemy and draw their fire. Once your Arbiters are over the crystal, Recall in as many Probes as possible. Ignore the Sunken Colonies there; as long as at least one Probe survives them and touches the crystal, you will win the mission. | ||
'''Alternative strategy''' | |||
Considering the difficulty of the level, provided by the sheer amount AND size of the enemy bases and the forces they produce, one may ask if there is a way to "cheese" through the fight. Well, there is one and it's doable in less than 10 minutes. It should be mentioned that it leads to missions 4A "Desperate Measures" and 5A "Showdown", which is the canon version, but if you want to play the other branch, this strategy can't be applied. | |||
Once you start, quickly train a bunch of Probes and put them mostly on minerals - you will need almost no gas for the whole mission. The strategy is to produce mass Shuttles, so build two Robotics Facilities ASAP and start pumping. In the meantime research the Shuttle speed upgrade and, optionally, the Plasma Shields upgrade. It's possible to win with 5-6 Shuttles, but it's better to have 10-12 just to make certain. Load a single Probe inside each one and head towards the Crystal in the Northwest. You may also use Mojo to draw some fire for the Shuttles. Unload the Probes on top of the Crystal - once one of them reaches it, you win. | |||
==Mission 4A: Desperate Measures== | ==Mission 4A: Desperate Measures== | ||
