SC2 Campaign: How do you get all the upgrades and missions?

[IskatuMesk]

@ Mags & Bill,

I didn't have banshees for that, so I had to depend on Wraiths for my AtG damage. Which wasn't ideal, so I largely depended on tanks. Diamondbacks are really incredible units, but they're expensive, so once I got tanks I only built Diamondbacks sparingly. They do make good "tanks" in the sense they take hits well, but their DPS doesn't really compare to tanks.

Usually, if I need Vikings, I get the Merc vikings since it's faster. I didn't find I needed them very often in that mission though (No doubt you'd need them for the Loki), wraiths were better if you could snipe their detection, since it made their units flail around and not get killed.

HKS is also having a bit of trouble with that very same part. We're both playing on Brutal, though. This part is burned through my mind since I kept reloading here after losing to the 4th base didn't autosave after the third.

By the time Tychus takes a break after the top base I have two hero tanks and 3-4 normal tanks. An attack comes to my base consisting of a few vultures and Diamondbacks. My 3 or so normal tanks are currently at the base - I let them kill the stragglers while getting all of my air dudes together (around 6-8 wraiths and a few vikings). I also grab the hero vikings here and start up a second factory and keep making tanks. As soon as those attacks are killed I unsiege EVERYTHING (I have a planetary fortress and 1-2 turrets to deal with the attack that comes during this part, it's just a few banshees and goliaths and marines so nothing to worry about, just don't let them kill any stray tanks you've got lying around, that sucks) and waltz over to the front of that base...

Let's put it in easy terms.

This is not what you want to happen;
http://a.imageshack.us/img690/2527/sc22 ... 27avis.jpg
Doesn't matter what units are up there, they'll ALL focus on him if they get the chance to. He dies very, very fast.


Assuming he doesn't die instantly charging up that ramp (the tank aggros him), he'll aggro in the following order;

1 tank at the front, 1 at the back (snipe these with wraiths the second you get the chance to BEFORE he attacks)
A bunch of vultures (ignore them, harmless)
Some Diamondbacks (These are a threat)
A ton of infantry (Can ignore for the most part)
A Raven with hunter-seeker missile (just eat it)
A Battlecruiser (not a big threat if you can throw at least 2 wraiths on it)

This is what you want to happen...

http://a.imageshack.us/img338/4633/sc22 ... 61avis.jpg
Attacks by tanks will begin to pull dudes out of his base that will immediately die. This depletes the amount of units the Odin will have to fight when he inevitably Rambos the ramp.

Redo the mission if you don't have enough units to attack the base before he moves; the first base needs no assistance besides your wraiths and marines, and the second can be supported with just the merc tanks and any wraiths you've got.

The idea is to attack the base before he moves at all. By attacking it with a bunch of tanks you'll pull a bunch of his units out of the base. Kill the Raven that pops out, avoid that turret next to the ramp, fly INTO the base and shoot at will. Kill the dropships, they're easy targets and give Tychus one last thing to waste damage on. The BC is not a huge threat, so focus on the + to armored units that can threaten him or your tanks directly. It won't aggro right away.
http://a.imageshack.us/img831/166/sc220 ... 82avis.jpg
Keep pushing into the base after the ramp, there's a part on the east side with another tank for you to kill.

Once that base is dead then you've got the fourth one to deal with. This one is an even bigger bitch because it's got a PF and merc tanks + banshees. This is where I got any vikings I had left and flew around sniping what I could. A pre-emptive strike here can kill you if you don't pull it off just right. Killing the banshees is enough since if you can spot the tanks and keep him repaired he'll deal with them fairly quickly. A bunch of vikings will pop out but they tend to drop to the ground immediately and die to your tanks or Tychus himself.

Even going near the base will immediately aggro BC's and banshees. This is where your surviving wraiths and vikings come in. I also tried just building turrets around the walls here, that worked reasonably well to protect your tanks in the initial push.

http://a.imageshack.us/img189/563/sc220 ... 03avis.jpg

The Planetary Fortress is the big problem; it takes the Odin some time to kill it and other dudes will get free shots on him.

http://a.imageshack.us/img18/4930/sc220 ... 36avis.jpg
Lost most of my tanks to banshees. The Merc Vikings aren't a threat on land so long as you've got tanks, so keep your air units away from them. I lose this attempt... and have to redo the third base yet again...

The Loki

Right before you enter the fourth base, if you fly something to the right you'll see a BC with fucking vulcan cannons on the right. You can't see his health until he lifts off (you attack him) but on Brutal he has 2500. He has an anti-air AoE rocket burst and a yamato he can fire while moving. Did I mention he's FAST? Faster than vikings by far?

I didn't get the chance to make a real attempt on him due to being crunched to protect Tychus (See me floating tons of resources like an idiot? You DON'T WANT TO DO THAT ON THIS MISSION! Some missions you can be lazy on, this one is not one of them). I think you can just build a stack of missile turrets and vikings to kill the Loki.

http://a.imageshack.us/img535/3231/sc22 ... 98avis.jpg
Watching the video I recorded of these missions, the Loki's missiles don't track you, so you can dodge them. They'd do the most damage. You'll still need a stockpile of shit if you want to kill him before Tychus ends the mission, though. Don't float cash, don't lose units, and you could probably do this on Brutal without too much problem.

Also, there's a base you can take when you destroy the third base. All I usually did here was drop my self-extracting gas shit on it. I'd build a CC in some attempts but forget to in others. My main was about mined out by the fourth base so I recommend to build there ASAP if you have spare cash to support large tank/viking production at this point in the mission.

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/9425 ... 76avis.jpg
This is how you get it done. No PF there this time...?

The fifth base, Horner warns you about BC's, but there was only a few there that the Odin pulled one-by-one. That base was really easy with my stockpile of units. Don't forget to save here anyways, though, in case something bad happens.

Korhal (The mission for Thors) is VERY easy on Brutal and there's no reason you shouldn't do it. Easiest mission in the game so far for me.

[Krazy]

Can't you go back and unlock the secret mission after beating it the first time?

Apparently not. You can get the item that unlocks it, but doing so does not unlock the secret mission.

Also, I thought I'd share my Odin protection strategy:

I like the following upgrades for this mission:
Armory:
-Both medic upgrades
-Preferably both goliath and siege tank upgrades (but maybe not req'd)
-Maybe the bunker range up

Protoss:
-Command Center Reactor (this one is important)
-I also like Orbital Depots

Zerg:
-Regenerative Bio-Steel (optional but I like it)

Mercenaries:
-Tanks, Golis, Vikings

Strategy:

Before base 1
1 - After the opening, put all your SCVs into minerals, and build (2x with Reactor) more scvs for minerals.
2 - 2 Medics
3 - About the time wraiths come, put two medics on follow for Odin, and then send 2 scvs with him. This group of 4 units will often be able to go with him as he goes to attack the first base, keeping his health up the whole time.

During Base 1
1 - Cloak the wraiths and have them take out the medivacs
2 - If not already, factory tech lab (and when done, 3 siege tanks for your right side bunker)
3 - Second bunker, and fill both with marines (a marauder or two optional but not necessary)
4 - Armory with vehicle upgrades
5 - If you have been doing macro well, you should have some leftover minerals and gas. Get as many heroes as you can afford, with another pair of medics if you can.
6 - To buy more time, let Odin finish the job on his own once the main group of enemies is dead (rule of thumb)

Base 2
1 - Use your heroes to help in the initial push.
2 - Use wraiths to kill any bcs or sentinels as needed
3 - Send 2 or 4 more scvs up along the left side in case your two repairing Odin die.
4 - As all that happens, continue to pump out heroes, and regular tanks and goliaths.

Before Base 3:

- Your economy should be as strong as it can be
- Your right side should have 2 full bunkers and 3 siege tanks
- You should have 2 defiler samples
- You should have several siege tanks and goliaths and heroes ready to help in the next push, as well as some wraiths and maybe 1 3 pack of hero vikings
- You should have at least 2 medics and 2 scvs on Odin

Bases 3 - 5:
- Use tanks and goliaths to push in with the Odin.
- Keep the Odin alive with scvs and medics.
- Use vikings and wraiths to take out air.

During base 5, your base might come under attack from the left side, but it probably won't die before the map is over.

Also, no reason to kill the Loki if you're not on Normal difficulty, I'd just ignore it.

Save often.

[Maglok]

Thanks for the tactics, will endeavour to try soon.

[RazorclawX]

Can't you go back and unlock the secret mission after beating it the first time?

Apparently not. You can get the item that unlocks it, but doing so does not unlock the secret mission.

It does, actually. You have to still have access to the Star Map, so if you went to Char you can't play it.

[Krazy]

Finally got my 26/26 (on a full brutal replay) and beat All In on Brutal. I think that mission ends up having a lot of luck in it. I just kept remaking and eventually I got one where the first two worm attacks were very easy to manage. I found the zerg-slow-down turret at the end of the zerg tech tree also really helps if placed well.

It still came down to having the relic activate at 98% when my base was getting swarmed. That was satisfying.

[IskatuMesk]

I'm two missions away from the last one (about to rape that platform but the whole thing turned all crazy colored and bright and hurt my eyes so I said FUCK YOU and went to sleep instead).

I hope it's hard like people have said it is. The only missions that have been difficult were difficult because of reasons outside the mission design itself. I just facerolled the invasion having no fucking idea what I was doing with over half my units in my base expecting a big finalle and, again, the mission just ended like that.

[RazorclawX]

I'm two missions away from the last one (about to rape that platform but the whole thing turned all crazy colored and bright and hurt my eyes so I said FUCK YOU and went to sleep instead).

I hope it's hard like people have said it is. The only missions that have been difficult were difficult because of reasons outside the mission design itself. I just facerolled the invasion having no fucking idea what I was doing with over half my units in my base expecting a big finalle and, again, the mission just ended like that.

Most people seemed to complain about All In, Engine of Destruction, and Great Train Robbery (although I don't know why on that one) as being the most difficult. The Char insertion mission is one of the easiest ones; you can faceroll that one pretty hard.

[Maglok]

Am up to the Char missions in hard now.

[Krazy]

Most people seemed to complain about All In, Engine of Destruction, and Great Train Robbery (although I don't know why on that one) as being the most difficult. The Char insertion mission is one of the easiest ones; you can faceroll that one pretty hard.

The only way I can see engine of destruction being hard is if you come at it too early and don't have the scv upgrade.

I think some of the time achievements are somewhat difficult, I don't know that *surviving* any of the missions is terribly hard (with the exception of maybe All In on Brutal).

I think the Haven Mission where you have to kill the 3 Nexus and the Mothership on Brutal is harder than GTR or Engine of Destruction, but I imagine people don't complain about it because you can simply choose the other mission instead (which seems much easier).

[IskatuMesk]

All In gives me problems because I wasn't aware Kerrigan had a passive shield. I was wondering why a dozen tanks and 4 planetary fortress and 20-30 vultures couldn't take her past 50% reliably, but now I know. That is what makes that mission really difficult is if you don't realize that; you waste everything trying to kill her and lose a side then you're screwed.

Now it's on.

The train robbery one... I can see why it would be easy. I had problems personally because I have tunnel vision. I lost several attempts on A - trying to kill the terran bases in futility, B - accidentally running into Marauder death trains, and C - SECRET SIEGE BREAKERS AHAAHAAAAAAAAA MY FACE

It's not hard per se. Engine of Destruction is rendered difficult by several factors, including the unit AI. Once I figured out I had to attack early it was just my bad macro holding me back.

/e

There we go, beat the game.

And the ending was rofl worthy