SC:L Challenge Guides - Wings of Liberty

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In the old days of StarCraft, the only way that somebody could learn the game was through the Single Player Campaign which slowly introduced units as you played. Or, to jump right into multiplayer and get thrashed by experienced players that know the ins and outs of their races. Thankfully, this brutal initiation process is toned down in StarCraft II with the introduction of the Challenge Missions. Each of the missions is designed to introduce you to the various mechanics of play that will be necessary to play well against other people in multiplayer. You will learn a lot of the core skills such as unit control and base management, as well as spells or abilities. Hopefully after you complete these difficult challenges, you will be able to transition from the exquisite Single Player Campaign and into the competitive world of multiplayer. If you are worried about the daunting task ahead of you, fear not, as there is help to be had! What follows are some strategies that can be used to help guide you along your way. As with all things in StarCraft though, these strategies are but one of many ways to achieve victory.


Tactical Command

The goal of Tactical Command is to teach you some Terran mechanics and unit counters. Throughout each round in the challenge you will be forced to divide a set pool of units against three groups of enemies. To be successful you’ll need to pick the appropriate counter or unit composition to defeat the various enemy forces. The goal is to help you to learn a bit more about the unit counters and how to micro them effectively.

Starting units:
20 Hellions
13 Siege Tanks
6 Medivacs
3 Ghosts
26 Marines
17 Marauders
10 Vikings
5 Thors

Round 1:

Zerglings:
For the Zerglings, Hellions are the counter of choice. Just employ a bit of micro by
running them away after they shoot, then stopping to shoot again. By using this strategy, you should should be able to easily kill all of the Zerglings without losing a single unit.

Banelings:
A single strategically deployed Siege Tank will be sufficient to survive the suicidal rampage of the Banelings. Place the Siege Tank into Siege Mode right behind the Supply Depot and let it shoot the Banelings once. Target the middle of the clustered Banelings to kill several more; as long as only two or three Banelings survive the shelling, they will collide into the Supply Depot without causing any unit casualties.

Mutalisks:
Use all of the Marines,Medivacs and the Ghost for the Mutalisks. Be sure to use Cloak and
Snipe to minimize losses.

Round 2:

Roaches:
Send a single Medivac, the Ghost and the Marauders to kill the Roaches. With a
little Medivac Dropship style micro, picking up severely wounded Marauders just before they die, it is possible to get away without losses.

The Ultralisk:

Use the other Medivac and a single Siege Tank to take out the Ultralisk. With similar
Dropship style micro, chip away at the Ultralisk without getting hit. Position the Siege Tank and the Medivac away from the Ultralisk and take a few shots; when the Ultralisk comes after the Seige Tank, load-up the Tank at the last possible second. When the Ultralisk runs to the Supply Depot, drop the Siege Tank back out and repeat until the Ultralisk is annihilated.

Hydralisks:

For the mass of Hydralisks, place the remaining five Siege Tanks into Siege Mode behind the Supply
Depot. When the Hydras near your position, Stim the group of Marines and attack-move into the enemy. Losing a Marine or two can be common, but with careful play no losses is possible.

Round 3:

Broodlords and Zerglings:

Send all of the Hellions and seven of the Vikings to take out the Zerglings and Broodlords. When the round begins, send the Vikings in to kill the Broodlords and be ready to micro the Hellions against the Zerglings in the same fashion as in round one. Using shift-que targeting to set up your Viking kills will allow you to focus more of your attention on working with the Hellions.

Hydralisks and Roaches:
Use all of the Siege Tanks, Marauders, Medivacs and the Ghost to handle the Roach/Hydra army. Siege the Tanks behind the Supply Depot and Stim the Marauders when the enemy approaches; also be sure to use the Ghost’s Cloak and Snipe ability to make things easier.

Mutalisks:
For the final Mutalisk battle, there should be five Thors and a few Vikings remaining. Focus fire with the Thors and just pull any weakened Thors away from the battle and this round should be no problem at all.





For the Swarm

The objective of this challenge is to familiarize you with several micro techniques and the common unit counters for Zerg. Burrowed ambushes, Burrow micro and Infested Terrans pave the road to victory for this challenge.

Starting units:
10 Ultralisks
10 Zerglings
3 Infestors
21 Hydralisks
32 Roaches
11 Mutalisks
14 Corruptors

Round 1:

Colossi:
Send four Ultralisks to take out the Colossi. Burrow the Ultralisks slightly ahead of the creep so that they aren’t targeted by the Colossus. Unburrow when the Colossi are in range, and enjoy the swift death of the tripod.

Immortal:
Send all of the Zerglings to handle the Immortal, and be ready for some quick Burrow micro. Each Zergling dies in two shots from the Immortal, so when you run in to attack keep a close eye on the wireframes of your selected Zerglings, if you see one change color, click it, and hit R as quickly as you can to Burrow that Zergling and save it from death.

Void Rays:
Use an Infestor and all of the Hydralisks to defeat the army of Void Rays. Burrow the Hydralisks near the edge of the creep and keep the Infestor a little ways back. When the stage starts, use as many Infested Terrans as possible to tank for the Hydralisks, since Infested Terrans do not count towards unit loss. When the Void Rays come into range, unburrow the Hydralisks. Focus fire is very effective and you shouldn’t lose many, if any, units. If a Hydralisk is near death, then simply burrow it to minimize losses.

Round 2:
Zealots:
Use all of the Roaches to deal with the Zealots. With some fancy micro there will be no losses on this one; you can either use the hit-and-run technique, where you attack the Zealots and then run away, repeating the process, or you can Burrow injured Roaches to keep them safe. A mix of the two is best; maintain a hit-and-run tactic, Burrow the Roaches that are injured (often the ones closest to the Zealots) and there should be no losses.

Void Rays:
For the Void Rays, Mutalisks and the Infestor are the units of choice. Once again, use Infested Terrans to tank for your units and pick off the Void Rays one by one. Pull back any injured units if necessary.

Stalkers:
For the final stage of this round, only your two Ultralisks remain. Just Burrow them in the Stalker’s path towards the Spire and unburrow when the Stalkers are in range to deal terrible terrible damage. Just keep an eye on their health and Burrow one if necessary.

Round 3:
Stalkers and Immortals:
The Broodlords alone are enough to handle the group of Stalkers and Immortals. Just attack-move all of the Broodlords into the enemy and, if necessary, pull them back slightly to barely remain out of the Stalkers’ attack range. The superior range of the Broodlord will allow your Broodlings to keep the Stalkers and Immortals too busy to approach your Broodlords.

Archons and Zealots:
To handle the Zealots and Archons, the Infestor, Roaches and Ultralisks will do nicely. Use Fungal Growth to stall a group of units to make things a bit easier. Additionally, try to use Neural Parasite on some units; even one Archon will greatly improve your force while reducing the enemy’s. Remember, Neural Parasited units don’t count towards losses. Burrow any units that get hit too hard and you shouldn’t lose any units.

Carriers:
For the final stage of this challenge, use all of your Corruptors against the four Carriers. Simple focus fire and Corruption from the Corruptors will make it quite easy. As usual, keep track of unit health and pull back any weakened Corruptors.



Path of Ascension

This challenge is all about the Protoss and good, efficient use of their units and abilities. The unit abilities are key to making this challenge manageable. In order to achieve gold, you will need to micro a little bit, but it is not too drastic.

Starting units:
17 Stalkers
8 Colossi
22 Zealots
2 Sentries
2 High Templars
4 Archons
7 Carriers
14 Immortals
4 Phoenix

Round 1:
Hellions:
Using all of the Stalkers to handle the Hellions is fairly easy, and it introduces you to Blink micro. For this match-up, just have all of your Stalkers highlighted and attack-move them towards the Hellions. Any time the shields of a Stalker gets low, select that Stalker and Blink it away then send it back in to attack. Rinse and repeat until all of the Hellions are dead.

Marines:
Position the Colossus on the ledge as far forward as possible. Take the free shots as they run by, but be careful to actually start to pull them towards the Colossus by walking a colossus down the cliff a little, otherwise they may just run by and take out the Pylon. There is little real micro involved here, just dancing one of the five Colossus up and down the cliff trying to minimize damage taken.

Marauders:
Using the Sentry, create a Hallucinated Archon and send it in first. Follow it in quickly, with the Zealots. Micro the Sentry and use its Guardian Shield ability to keep as many Zealots under its protection as possible.

Round 2:

Thors:
Carriers and High Templar are the units of choice to use against the almighty Thors. Make sure to spread the Carriers out as much as possible to minimize the Thors’ splash damage. After engaging the Thors, use the High Templar to Feedback four of the Thors for an instant 200 damage to each. After this, focus down the weakened Thors and pull back weakened Carriers, and get by without losses.

Siege Tanks:
Immortals were made to eliminate Siege Tanks. To minimize losses, you will want to use a little micro technique; shoot, then quickly move forward while the attack is on cooldown then shooting again. This lets you take a little bit less damage against the Siege Tanks that are in Siege mode, and lets you deal a little bit more damage by causing them to do friendly fire splash damage on their own Siege Tanks. You might lose an Immortal or two on this one, but with careful micro you should be able to minimize your losses.

Battlecruisers:
Cluster the six Void Rays together by clicking rapidly below them then use focus fire to kill each of the Battlecruisers. As usual, keep a close eye on the unit wireframes and pull back any Void Rays that are close to being killed. It’s likely that you’ll lose a Void Ray in this stage.

Round 3:

Battlecruisers and Vikings:
Use the Archons, Stalkers, and the High Templar provided to engage the Battlecruiser and Vikings. Put the Archons at the front of the line, to tank the damage, and then Blink the Stalkers in behind the enemy. Additionally, make sure to use Feedback on the Battlecruiser. You shouldn't lose any units on this stage.

Reapers and Hellions:
A Sentry and all of the Colossi make quick work of the Reapers and Hellions. Use the Sentry to spawn two Hallucinated Archons, then retreat the Sentry far behind the Pylon. Dance the Archons around while the Colossus shoot from afar, the Archons are there to keep the enemy distracted and tank for the Colossi.

Siege Tanks:
For the final stage in this round, use the Phoenix, Immortal, and Zealots. Position the Immortals slightly ahead of the Zealots, as the Zealots are faster than Archons and can't soak quite as much damage. After sending everything in to attack, use the Phoenix’s Graviton Beam on four of the Siege Tanks to lift them up and temporarily remove them from the fight. You might lose a unit or two on this one, but overall the losses should be below the allowable ten.

Congratulations on your Gold!



Covert Ops

The object of this challenge is to go around the map and kill 175 enemies before the timer expires. Cloak wears off (note: if Cloak wears off, you won’t automatically lose the mission, but the Zerg will be able to attack your units). So being fairly quick is quite important to be able to finish in time.

Starting units:
11 Ghosts
8 Ravens

To start, gather all of the Ravens and Ghosts together and head Northwest. When nearing the enemy units, Cloak the Ghosts and leave the Ravens a bit behind so they don’t get hit. A little tip that makes it a little easier is to right-click, or Move, right next to the enemy units then attack so that they can't run very far. After killing the Hydralisks, Roach, and Overlord continue heading North towards the ramp leading down to the Hatchery.

At this point, you will encounter your first Overseer. Overseer's have the ability to see Cloaked units like Ghosts, so keep the Ghosts away when it comes close and launch three Hunter Seeker Missiles with the Ravens, and it will instantly die. Alternatively, depending on the units alive around the Overseer, you can simply use a few snipes. After it is dead, move forward a bit and launch a single Nuke in the gathering path of the Drones. While the Nuke is being called down, use the other Ghosts to continue forward to the East. Here, you will encounter your second Overseer; it is patrolling up near the Spine Crawler. Launch three more Hunter Seeker Missiles to kill it. Launch another Nuke down into the pit that is just a little bit South.

Up ahead near the huge pile of Spine Crawlers lies another Overseer. There shouldn't be quite enough
energy for three Hunter Seeker Missiles yet, so use a Ghost to shoot it once while they are flying at it. After it dies, launch two Nukes into the Spine Crawlers.

Carefully move forward towards the Northeast Hatchery now, as there are Spore Crawlers that
have detection and another Overseer creeping about. If you have the energy for a few Hunter Seeker Missiles, use them to kill the Overseer and launch a Nuke on the two Spore Crawlers. You should have Gold after killing the Spore Crawlers, but if not do your best to kill the Zerg units that are probably starting to swarm you. You probably should have enough energy in a few Ravens for more Hunter Seeker Missiles, so use them as well. If you still have a Ghost that has the energy to Cloak, you can launch a nuke into the mining Drones to surpass your gold kill goal.

Congratulations on your Gold!



Psionic Assault

The goal for this challenge is to develop your micro abilities and game-sense with a few Protoss spellcasters. You will need to be able to use and control several different abilities to defeat as many units as you can. With proper positioning and well-time use of your units abilities’, this challenge becomes MUCH easier. A key point to remember is that for most of the time, you have a high ground advantage. This means that if they cannot get up the ramp, you can hit them without them being able to hit back at all. Also, try to be mindful of which units are casting their abilities. By spreading the casting of the abilities evenly among your units, you’ll maximize energy regeneration potential. This can take an advanced bit of micro, but with practice, it will serve as a valuable skill in multiplayer. So, lets go for a step by step guide for each round as they come and how to handle them.

NOTE: If you are unsure on the placement of Force Field, please watch these two videos as they detail the placement for the ramps:



Starting units:
11 Sentries
6 High Templars

Round 1 - 14 Zerglings
This round is quite simple, just place two Force Fields on the bottom of the ramp and attack the Zerglings with the Sentries as they frantically try to get to the top

Round 2 - 10 Marines
Just like with the Zerglings, a couple of Force Fields at the bottom prevents them from doing any kind of damage at all as they try to get past the barrier as the Sentries attack them.

Round 3 - 6 Zerglings, 4 Hydralisks
As before, two Force Fields will stay up long enough to kill all of the units without using Psionic Storm.

Round 4 - 13 Marines, 1 Marauder
Two Force Fields on this round will last just barely long enough to kill them all without a Psionic Storm. A little bit of micro on a Sentry or two to minimize damage may be necessary, but the shields should regenerate most of the hits until they are hit again.

Round 5 - 15 Zerglings, 8 Banelings, 1 Roach
Once again, two Force Fields at the bottom of the ramp to block their progress. However, this time throw down a Psionic Storm as they all clutter together to do Terrible, Terrible Damage.

Round 6 - 10 Marines, 3 Marauders
Two Force Fields and a quick Psionic Storm should make quick work of this round. Make note that the next round is in the bottom of the map instead of the same old location, so after taking them out be sure to down South and onto the overhang to get free shots in while units try to make it to the ramp.

Round 7 - 23 Zerglings
With Sentries near the ledge, get some free shots off while the Zerglings are running in. Throw down a couple of Force Fields and kill the rest off without using a Psionic Storm.

Round 8 - 6 Zealots, 5 Sentries
With units near the ledge still, get some shots off on them then use two Force Fields on the ramp and toss in a Psionic Storm using the High Templar. Now note that the next round starts rather quickly back in the North end of the map, so move back up towards that ramp quickly.

Round 9 - 10 Reapers
This round is potentially lethal. Using a Sentry, create a Hallucinated Immortal and put it out in front of all of your units to take the brunt of the damage, and cast a well placed Psionic Storm on the Reapers to take most of them out. Be very careful with the Sentry and High Templar, as they will absolutely melt away if they get targeted by the Reapers. Note the next round is back in the Southern end of the map, so hurry back down just a little bit. Don't go to the ledge though!

Round 10 - 6 Reapers
Another potentially lethal round. Quickly make another Hallucinated Immortal and send it out towards the ledge that the reapers will come up. Prepare a Psionic Storm on this round; cast it right where the Reapers leap up, to lower the risk of losing any units.

Round 11 and 12 - 4 Banelings, 6 Hydralisks, then two Banshees
These two rounds are grouped together as they happen at virtually the same time, one in the South then one in the North. Keep the Sentries down at the ledge and use Force Field when the Banelings and Hydralisks get kind of close to the ramp, then take a couple of High Templar to the North and use Feedback on the two Banshees to instantly kill them. The next round occurs in the North.

Round 13 - 4 Stalkers
Two Force Fields at the bottom of the ramp will solve this one quickly and easily. The Force Fields will go away before they are all dead, so some minor micro may be involved so as to not take any real damage. If you want, you can use Psionic Storm to avoid the micro. The next round is in the South, but do not go to the ledge!

Round 14 - 10 Reapers, 2 Ghosts
This is another dangerous round. Hallucinate an Immortal and two Stalkers to tank as much of the damage as possible near the ledge where the Reapers will jump up, and be ready to use Psionic Storm very quickly. Use Feedback on both Ghosts with the High Templar to cause immediate and painful deaths. The next round is in the North.

Round 15 - 6 Mutalisks
This round is a little bit tricky, but isn't too bad once you know where to place the Psionic Storm. The key to casting Psionic Storm on air units is not to cast it on the units themselves, but instead on the circles on the ground below them. If you cast it on the units themselves it will completely miss. So, Hallucinate an Archon and put it out in front (you may still have a Hallucination from the previous round, if so bring it along too). Once the Mutalisks engage and come close to a stop, use Psionic Storm and then clean-up whatever remains with the Sentries. The next round is in the South, but do not go to the ledge!

Round 16 - 10 Marines, 2 Marauders, 2 Vikings
For this round, try to bait the units to come in. So try to get somewhat close to the ledge so that the Vikings come in and land before the other units try to come up the ramp. Once the Vikings are isolated, kill them then Force Field the ramp and take out the rest of the units with a Psionic Storm and the Sentries. The next round is in the Northwest!

Round 17 - 20 Zerglings
Quite an easy round, just head over and use Psionic Storm on the Zerglings while attacking with Sentries.

Round 18 - 6 Roaches
Put the Sentries fairly close to the cliff and engage the Roaches, pulling Sentries away if they get hit (it's OK to pull all of them back) and use Psionic Storm once they are fairly clumped. Try to kill them as quickly as possible, as having the rocks still alive helps for the next round.

Round 19 - 1 Ultralisk
Just put all of the Sentries as close to the cliff as possible to let all of them attack and burn it down. They shouldn’t get hit at all. The next round is in the Northeast.

Round 20 - 10 Banelings
A couple of Force Fields at the bottom of the ramp is all that is needed to kill these dirty Lings. The next round is in the South.

Round 21 - 2 Siege Tanks
With the Sentries at the ledge, Force Field shouldn’t even be necessary to kill off these two Siege Tanks.

At this point, you will have received gold! There is no other achievement oriented with this challenge, but you can read on to try for the perfect score of 300. If you do, the next round is in the Northeast.

Round 22 - 6 Marauders, 4 Ghosts
Once again, the trustworthy Force Field proves its worth. Toss a couple of them down at the bottom of the ramp and throw in a Psionic Storm for good measure. The next round is in the Northwest, but dont go near the rocks!

Round 23 - 8 Hydralisks, 2 Roaches
Let the units kill the destructible rocks if they are still up, then use a single Force Field the bottom of this ramp. Cast a single Psionic Storm on the bunch that are on the ramp, then when the animation finishes use another one. You really do not want to engage the Hydralisks if you can avoid it, as they deal damage VERY quickly. The next round is in the South, so hurry over to the ledge.

Round 24 - 8 Zealots, 2 Stalkers
Two Force Fields on the ramp and two Psionic Storm casts (one, then another and not at the same time) will deal with them quite nicely. The next round is in the Northwest very shortly, be quick in getting close enough to the ramp to use Force Field!

Round 25 - 9 Hellions, 1 Banshee
One Force Field on the ramp, and two separate Psionic Storms will handle the Hellions, and a Feedback will take out the Banshee. Be very careful not to get too close though as the Hellions will torch your light units like crazy! The next round is in the Northeast.

Round 26 - 8 Banelings, 2 Mutalisks
Hallucinate an Archon, then Force Field the ramp to prevent the Banelings from coming up. No Psionic Storm is necessary to handle the Banelings. The next round is in the South, so get to that ledge.

Round 27 - 7 Sentry, 3 Immortal
Force Field absolutely proves itself in this challenge; another two Force Fields will keep you safe. Use a Psionic Storm on the clumped enemies and then dispatch of the rest with Sentries. The next round is in the Northeast.

Round 28 - 4 Hydralisks, 3 Stalkers, 3 Ghosts
Once again, a couple of Force Fields on the ramp to protect yourself and a Psionic Storm for some extra damage once they cluster together, will handle them with ease. The next round is in the Northwest.

Round 29 - 1 Battlecruiser
Hallucinate two Archons and put them out in front. Use a Feedback and attack with Sentries and it should die. If it starts to attack the Sentries use Guardian Shield and some micro to pull them back if they get hit. The next round is in the Northeast.

Round 30 - 1 Colossus
Hallucinate another Archon and put it out in front of your units to tank for you, and focus down the Colossus with Sentries. Once again, be very careful and be ready to pull the Sentries back if they start to get hit. The next round is in the South.

Round 31 - 1 Ultralisk
Hallucinate another Archon and have it in front of your units and simply taze the Ultralisk down with your beams. It should die before the Hallucination does. The next round is in the Northwest.

Round 32 - 1 Thor
Hallucinate a few Archons and have them all in front. Once they are engaged, Feedback the Thor for some massive damage and kill it as fast as possible! Sometimes the Thor just hates Sentries and will target them instead, but there isn't much that can be done as he does one-shot them. The next and final round is in the Northeast.

Round 33 - The Mothership
This round actually isn't too terribly bad. Hallucinate a few more Archons, and use Feedback as soon as the Mothership is in range. This round can go from easy to difficult if she uses Vortex. If there is any excess energy on the High Templars, feel free to use Psionic Storm to make the kill a bit easier.

Congratulations! You have completely beaten Psionic Assault and have killed 300 units with only 11 Sentry and 6 High Templar!



Infestation

This challenge is actually quite easy, and doesn't even require the Roaches to complete. All that you need to do, is find each Siege Tank on the map and take control of them. There are two Siege Tank's on the highest level near where you start. There are two additional Tanks on the area right below them, and one more near the Command Center on the lowest area.

Starting units:
10 Roaches
9 Infestors

Start off by burrowing and moving to each Tank’s location with a different Infestor, then unburrow and use Neural Parasite on the two Siege Tanks on the highest level. Make sure to unburrow inside of the Tank’s firing range. After these tanks kill the group of Marines near the middle platform Siege Tanks, unburrow those Infestor's and use Neural Parasite on those two. Once the Colossus guarding the Siege Tank near the Command Center dies, unburrow again with one more Infestor and take control of that last tank. Just these five Siege Tanks will kill enough to get gold.

If you want to go beyond gold, there are a few more things that can be done. Send the Roaches to the very Southwest corner of the map and the small section above that to get a few more kills in. Then, in the far Northeast corner of the map is another Colossus. Position the Infestor out of range of the Marines, and take control of the Colossus and kill all of the Marines nearby for another 29 kills. The final unit that can be taken control of is an unsieged Siege Tank just West of the Colossus, use this tank and put it into Siege Mode and kill off some more buildings.

One thing to note while doing this mission is that when taking control of a unit that moves around, like the Colossus, be sure to not move them too far away from the Infestor that is controlling it as the channel spell will break.



Harbinger of Death

This challenge introduces a couple of very important things, hotkeys and multitasking. You can not click on any abilities at all, so you must know the unit’s ability hotkeys. The main hotkeys that you’ll need are:
A - Attack
W - Selects your Warpgates
Z - Builds a Zealot from your Warpgates when they are selected
S - Builds a Stalker from your Warpgates when they are selected
I - Builds interceptors when Carriers are selected
E - Changes the Warp Prism into Phasing Mode when they are selected
B - Used for the ability Blink on your Stalkers
T - For Psionic Storm on your High Templar
F - For Feedback on your High Templar

Those are all of the keys that you should need to use to complete the Challenge, not all of them may be necessary but it is important to know them.

So, to prepare for the Challenge, it is a good idea to set up some hotkeys to your units so you can quickly select them. Hitting Ctrl + # will assign a unit or group of units that you have selected to that number key. So, Ctrl + 1 will assign your selection to the number 1.

An example of what can be used:
1 - High Templar and Sentry
2 - Stalkers
3 - Phoenix and Zealots
4 - One Warp Prism
5 - Other two Warp Prisms
6 - Carriers

Some tips to assist you on your way, try to not focus on the fights at all. Give your units an order to kill something then move on to another section. The way that the guide is set up is to remove as much micro as possible to let you attack move a group of units then move on to the next group.

Starting units:
8 High Templars
6 Sentries
11 Stalkers
9 Phoenix
3 Warp Prisms
5 Carriers

Now that you are ready for the Challenge to begin, hit Ready and get started! First, send the Carriers out just a little bit to clear a tiny area for the Warp Prisms, shift+attack them a bit to the side then to the North with the Zerg to make it so they can nearly be ignored after this initial command. Also, while doing this build Interceptors for the Carriers by hitting I.

After this, grab one of the Warp Prisms and put it near the Phoenix and grab the other two and send them to the area that the Carriers just cleared. While they are heading to their areas, go grab the Stalkers and Blink up the cliff to take out the Reapers up there. After
doing that, go back to the Phoenix's and select the Warp Prism and put it into Phasing Mode and select the Warpgates by hitting W and warp in as many Zealots as possible by hitting Z and picking where to warp them in. Once they are warped in, tell the Phoenix and the Zealots to attack pretty much the entire Northwest island. Check up on the Carriers and build more Interceptors as needed.

Now go down to the Southwest and select the High Templar and Sentries and have them kill the first group of Marines just down the ramp. Psionic Storm isn’t necessary, so just attack them. Then go back to the Stalkers in the Southeast and have them blink down the cliff and attack this entire section. Then go back to the High Templar and Sentries and have them attack the three groups of units to the left, using a Psionic Storm for each group, and a quick Feedback for the Ghost that is up above. Check up on the Carriers and build more Interceptors as needed.

Around this time, the Warpgate’s cooldown should have expired, so go to the East and select these two Warp Prisms and put them into Phasing Mode (E) and select the Warpgates (W) and warp in some Stalkers (S). While they are warping in, go to the Stalkers in the Southeast and tell them to Blink up the cliff to finish off that area. If the Phoenix and Zealots aren’t attacking anything and there are still units on that Northwest island, have them attack another portion of it. Check up on the Carriers and build more Interceptors as needed.

Now, back to the High Templar and Sentry in the Southwest, head farther South to take out another group of units. Use a Psionic Storm and a Feedback on the Ghost. Then take out the other group just a little bit East of them. Now go back to the Stalkers in the Southeast and have them Blink down the cliff and meet up with the Stalkers that warped into this area. Attack move near the tall cliffed area in the East and take out all of those units in the Eastern section. Check up on the Carriers and build more Interceptors as needed.

Back once again to the High Templar and Sentries, have them go a bit Northeast to take out another group of Marines. This area should basically be clear now. If there is still more time, take the Stalkers and Blink them over to the Zerg island in the North to assist the Carriers.

If you manage to complete all of this, you should have well over the required 150 kills for Gold. There are many strategies to this strategy and playing through it multiple times with different approaches will significantly improve some foundation multiplayer skills.



Opening Gambit

The main goal behind this challenge is to get you used to macro-managing your base. The attacks that come are little more than a nuisance, so your main focus will be on building your base up and getting those 30 Marines, 8 Ghosts, and 8 Siege Tanks out as quickly as you can. To start things off, just play it like a normal game. Select the SCV's and send them to mine and build another SCV from the Command Center. Rally the Command Center to the minerals and continue to make SCV's as money allows. Upon hitting 9 supply, pick an SCV and bring it out to the ramp. Notice that there are already outlines of two Supply Depot's and a Barracks. The formation that they are in forms an impassable wall to protect your base. So, pick one of the two Supply Depot outlines and build a Supply Depot. Continue to make SCV's while doing this. After the Supply Depot finishes, just save a bit of minerals and build a Barracks on its outline then make more SCV’s. One thing to be watching at this time, is to note the build time of the Barracks and the SCV, as it is good to get the Orbital Command up as soon as possible. An SCV takes 17 seconds to build, while the Barracks takes 60. As the Barracks approaches completion, look at how long it has left to decide if it is possible to make another SCV before the Barracks finishes. If the Barracks has around 15 seconds left until it is complete, and there is an SCV that just started, don’t queue up another one and instead be ready to change the Command Center to an Orbital Command.

Around 13 or 14 supply, build a Refinery. The tangible constraint in this challenge is Vespene Gas, as Ghosts and Siege Tanks are fairly expensive in that department. Don’t try to get mine too much gas too quickly, as it limits production capability down the line, so just one Refinery is fine for now. After the Barracks is complete, make an Orbital Command and a Marine, then upon reaching 100 minerals make another Supply Depot on its outline to complete the wall. Also, be sure to rally the Barracks behind the wall so that the Marine doesn't drop out in front of it into harms way. Once the Orbital Command is complete, use the Mule on the minerals and enjoy some extra income!

Continue to make Marines and SCV's, and after getting 100 gas start building a Factory. While still producing Marines and SCV's, notice that despite building units, minerals are still accumulating and your stockpiles do not remain close to zero, as they should usually be. This will allow you to start your expansion inside of your current base. At 400 minerals begin creating a Command Center near the cliff on the right side. When the Factory finishes, add-on the Tech Lab  and start producing Siege Tanks (also, rally the Siege Tanks near the cliff so they are all ready to Siege when it is available). Make a Siege Tank first, then start researching Siege Mode. Don’t forget to keep an eye on your supply - being building Supply Depot’s several units ahead of time so that you don’t get supply locked. Also start building a second Refinery as well, as gas is going to be needed in larger quantities shortly.

Once the Command Center finishes, upgrade it to an Orbital Command then fly it over to the Natural Expansion (the mineral patch just below the ramp) and move about seven or eight SCV's down with it. Once that is all running, drop down an additional three Barracks and make some more Marines from them as well.

Things are getting a bit more hectic now, as you need to produce from four Barracks, two Command Centers and a Factory, while making sure to not get supply blocked. Throw down two more Refineries at the expansion and a Ghost Academy. After the Ghost Academy starts, put some Tech Labs on three of the Barracks and start making Ghosts from them.

From this point on, it is simply maintaining production and it is smooth sailing from there! Keep an eye on the Objectives in the top left of the screen to keep track of how many of each unit that is left so that no time is wasted in making an extra of any unit. A unit is counted once it has finished building and not while it is building.

Now, after around 15 minutes of gruelling base management, you should hopefully have the gold for Opening Gambit!



Rush Defense

The basic idea behind this challenge is to try and teach you how to defend against a possible early rush from your opponents. All you need to do is survive the attacks from some Zerglings and some Zealots with fewer than nine units lost to get gold.

Zerg:

Select an SCV and build a Barracks as soon as possible. Then make some more SCV's (queue up enough to get to 14 supply and make a Supply Depot as well, may as well make it early than never in this scenario). When the Barracks is close to finishing, grab another SCV from the minerals and have that one build the Bunker right next to the Barracks, and queue up a Marine as soon as possible as well. Use the SCV that built the Barracks to delay while the Marine and Bunker are building by having it run out towards the Zerglings. It is OK to lose an SCV or two here, as the challenge is just to lose less than nine units, but delay the Zerglings as much as possible since it does make things easier. Rally the Marine to be behind the Bunker and Barracks wall and it will be protected from the Zerglings.

If the first SCV doesn't delay them enough and the Bunker is still being built, the SCV building it may die and it will be necessary to pull another one down to finish it (or if going for a flawless victory, hit T with the building SCV selected and it will halt, but not cancel, the construction and try to drag it back to safety). Once the Bunker is finished just put the Marine into it and change the Barracks rally point into the Bunker and let some SCV's stay nearby with auto-repair on and it should be an easy win from there.

Protoss:
Just like with the Zerg, select an SCV and build the Barracks as soon as possible. After it finishes, make a Bunker (use the same SCV that built the Barracks, as the Marine will be delaying this time). Rally the Barracks towards the Gateways and be ready for a little bit of micro to delay the Zealot. Once the Bunker finishes just drop the Marine in and change the rally point into the Bunker. Again, keep some SCV's nearby to auto-repair. From here, wall off or build another Bunker at the other side of the mineral line for some extra defense, as occasionally they will come in and try to kill SCV's or extra Marines not in the Bunker. When building up there, be aware that repairing SCV's do get targeted if there isn't a wall, so wall off or be careful.

Keep producing from one Barracks or expedite the process by making a few more Barracks and making more and more Marines. It is possible to move out with 12 or so Marines and with a bit of micro win with no losses, but there isn't a timer so make things easier and just build 20 or more Marines and attack-move to victory. Be aware of the Photon Cannon down below though - take it out last as it can hit back. Kill all of the buildings on the high ground out of its range then go to the ledge and take out the remaining Photon Cannon and Pylon; it won’t be able to fire back since without the other buildings on the high ground it won’t have vision.

Congratulations on your gold for Rush Defense!






This has been a StarCraft: Legacy (http://sclegacy.com/) guide.