Awesome Bombing By Terran Battlecruiser

Awesome scene at the end of Starcraft 2: Zero Hour Mission where Raynor's Battlecruiser Hyperion under the command of Matt Horner came to rescue Raynor & his troops from massive Zerg invasion of Planet Mar Sara.

The Hyperion was initially Arcturus Mengsk's flagship during his rebellion against the old Confederacy. Raynor hijacked it when Arcturus left Sarah Kerrigan to die on Tarsonis. Thus begin Raynor's war against his former leader. It is now Raynor's flagship & his mobile headquarter during the Wings of Liberty campaign.

Armed with multitude of ATS & ATA Laser Batteries, Missile Barrage plus the devastating Yamato cannon, the Hyperion is indeed a force to be reckoned with. Does anyone knows whether the Hyperion has Plasma Torpedoes?

Starcraft 2: Infested Terrans Attack Base

Terran Firebat is the best type of unit to defend your base in SC2 Outbreak Mission. Their double hand-mounted perdition flamethrower incinerate multiple infested Terrans rushing to attack these elite flamethower infantry.

Put a regular Firebat in a bunker together with some marines for a balance defensive force. The Firebat will toast any enemies who manage to reach the bunker while the marines engage incoming enemies at medium range. Mercenaries Firebats like Devil Dogs are much tougher allowing you to deploy them outside the bunker to burn any infested creatures than manage to slip through your defensive perimeters.

Starcraft 2: Destroy Infested Buildings

In SC2 Outbreak Mission, you are suppose to destroy all infested buildings on Planet Meinhoff during the day. It's suicidal to do it at night because of the overwhelming numbers of infested refugees & marines that roam about during night time.

To inflict maximum damage with enough time to retreat back to base when night falls, use the Hellion high-speed raider with infernal flame thrower. Hellion fire it's flame in a straight line so multiple units can be hit if you aim for the last enemy rushing at you. This video shows Hellion units destroying an infested Terran base. Retreat back to your base with about 10-15 secs left to night falls before the infested refugees attack.

Starcraft 2: Outbreak Mission Briefing

Of all the 26-30 missions in Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty, this is one of my favorite mission. This mission involved you cleaning the Planet Meinhoff from Zerg infestation while defending your base of operation from their attacks when night falls.

Zerg are infesting the area turning the refugees & marines into horrible living dead. They are vulnerable to sunlight which incinerate them during day time. So they burrow into the ground during the day & attack your base at night. You need to defend your base at night & counter-attack them once the sun is up. Incinerate all infestation using your fast moving Hellion with heavy infernal flame throwers.

Terran Medivac, Viking & Banshee

Detail descriptions of Terran Medivac, Viking & Banshee. Switch to full screen & pause the video to read them. The Medivac can be very useful when grouped with ground infantry units such as Marines, Firebats & Marauders. It'll continuously heal infantry units while they engage enemy units.

I'm kinda lost on how best to use the Viking. In Fighter mode, it has powerful Lanzer torpedoes against air targets while in Assault mode, it has twin Gatling cannons against ground units & structures. However, micromanaging them can be a real hassle. You don't want your whole squadron to be wiped out by Zerg Hydralisks just because they are in Fighter mode & you were too busy focusing on some battle elsewhere to change them into Assault mode.

Banshee are cool. When escort by Wraiths to protect against enemy air units, they are perfect gunship for ground bombardment & harassment. Nothing shock the enemy more than few squadrons of Banshee & Wraiths de-cloaking & attacking them by surprise!

Terran Spider Mine & Crucio Seige Tank

Detail descriptions of Terran Spider Mine & Crucio Siege Tank. Switch to full screen & pause the video to read them. I found no use for Spider Mines aside from those missions where speed is not important. Terran Vultures are too weak for any offensive or defensive purpose so the best they can do is to lay Spider Mines to delay or weaken enemy rush attacks.

Crucio Seige Tanks are great for base defense. Put a few in seige mode around your base & they'll rain down hell on your attackers. Their armor is kinda weak when these tanks are mobile. They are totally defenseless against enemies air units so you need to get some Goliaths to cover them when enroute to assault the enemy. Best put them in a massive Hercules & land them right down in the enemy base morphing straight into seige mode. They'll rain havoc & destruction on the enemy structures.

Terran Firebat, Marauder & Spectre

Detail descriptions of Terran Firebat, Marauder & Spectre. Switch to full screen & pause the video to read them. I find if funny that they recruited resocialized criminals & psychotic pyromaniacs to don the Firebat suit. Somehow crime & fiery destruction must go hand-in-hand.

Marauders are exact opposite of Firebat, with regular folks joining to serve as soldiers & security professionals. Spectres are awesome with their mind blast, psionic lash & Nuke launch ability.

Starcraft 2 Mercenaries for Hire

After few lengthy wars in the Koprulu Sector, there are plenty of mercenaries for hire in Starcraft 2. These include:

1. War Pigs: hardened criminals recruited as Marines.
2. Devil Dogs: ex-Confederate Firebats with more hit points & enhance firepower. **
3. Hammer Securities: Kel-Morian Combine Marauders.
4. Spartan Company: former UED Expeditionary Force with large Goliaths. ***
5. Siege Breakers: ex-Confederate siege tank pilots with powerful Crucio Seige Tanks. **
6. Hel's Angel: pirates that roam the Fringe Worlds with Vikings, preying on Dominion shipping lanes. **
7. Dusk Wings: deserters from the first Dominion's Banshee squadron that operates as mercenaries now.
8. Duke's Revenge: a very large & powerful Battlecruiser with twin rotating cannons. ****

** Good buy
*** Great buy
**** The best money can buy

It's best to use mercenaries for assault since they have higher hit points & more powerful weapons. Keep your regular troops in the bunkers or for base defense. Combine groups of mercenaries dropped off from few Hercules transporters can storm & destroy any Zerg nest.

Starcraft 2 Wings of Liberty ending scene

After destroying either the Nydus Worm network or Zerg base for flyer units, the remaining Terran force assault the Zerg primary hive cluster on Char. The Queen of Blades inflicts heavy casualties on the Terran force as they defend their base while waiting for the Xel'Naga artifact to charge up. Finally the charged up Xel'Naga artifact destroyed the Zerg swarm & de-infested Sarah Kerrigan.

The Terran marines wondered into the primary hive & found the de-infested Sarah Kerrigan inside (her hair is still Zergish though). Tychus Findlay pointed his C14 gauss rifle at Kerrigan & confessed he had made a deal with Arcturus Mengsk to kill her in exchange for his life. But Raynor managed to stop his dastardly act & killed Tychus with a single shot from his pistol (most likely a headshot, shooting elsewhere on a Terran marine armor suit would be useless).

Raynor carried Kerrigan outside towards the sunset, as Kerrigan regained her memory, she laid snugly into his arms, knowing very well the worse is over for her.

~~~ THE END ~~~

Rally for the Final Battle on Char

Both sides suffered heavy casualties as the battle progressed in Char. Raynor's men & Dominion marines lied dead & exhausted from fending off countless waves of attacks by Zerg swarm from the primary hive in Char. As Raynor picked up a dog tag from dead Raider M.Koiter, General Horace Warfield arrived in the battlefield, his injured right arm replaced by a robotic claw & chain gun.

General Horace brought the now fully assembled Xel'Naga artifact to be deployed to de-infest Sarah Kerrigan. Raynor reassured Tychus Findlay who balked at the prospect of depending the whole war in Char on an alien artifact. Raynor's inspiring speech to everyone to get ready for the final battle is the pinnacle of this scene.

First Battle on Char

As the Queen of Blades launched waves of pre-emptive strikes against Prince Valerian fleet hovering about Char, Raynor's Raiders set up base on Char to rescue Dominion troops who escaped in drop pods from destroyed ships in orbit. Due to limited time & large presence of zerg swarm everywhere, it's best to rescue only the strong units such as Thor or Battlecruiser. It's sad to see Terran Battlecruisers crashing down due to attack from Zerg spore cannons on Char surface. This is first battle where you can deploy Nuclear warhead, and also the first time Raynor's Raiders combined forces with Dominion marines.

While defending the Dominion base from the Zerg swarm, General Horace was seriously wounded. Fortunately Jim Raynor & Tychus FInlay came to his rescue & called in Banshee gunships to destroy the Zerg counterattack. Jim Raynor won General Horace gratitude & admiration in this battle.

Prince Valerian plan to invade Char

Valerian Mengsk managed to convince Jim Raynor to invade Char, a fiery volcanic planet. Assisted by General Horace Warfield, a veteran leader of 5 invasions against the Zerg swarm, he took half the Dominion fleet with him. As his father Arcturus told Valerian he's way over his head with his dangerous plan, Zerg Mutalisk attacked his fleet. They mobilised for ground invasion immediately. The excitement is peaking in Starcraft 2 Wings of Liberty.

Assault on Valerian Mengsk flagship Bucephalus

Valerian Mengsk revealed himself to Raynor as the owner of Möebius Foundation, when the rebel leader confronted him on his father's flagship, the Bucephalus. While holding a revolver to Valerian's head, loaded with one bullet meant for his father, Raynor demanded to him why he shouldn't kill him where he stands. The heir apparent answers that he can give Raynor his greatest desire: a chance to rescue Kerrigan.

Valerian theorized that the artifacts the Raiders were collecting could de-infest Kerrigan. Valerian's motivation in allying with Raynor is to prove to the people that he would be a worthy successor if he reformed the most dangerous mass murderer in history. This is one of the few episodes where we see Raynor's Raiders fighting against Dominion marines.

Nova killed Tosh

If you're a ladies man & decide to side with Nova to destroy the Spectre base, you'll gain access to Ghost operatives after the mission. I still haven't found a good use for the Ghost sniping function. After Raynor destroyed the Spectre's training facility, Nova will kill Gabriel Tosh in this video. Talk bout betraying a friend & comrade for a lady assassin who's cold & calculative - what a bummer!

Victory for Gabriel Tosh

Interesting choice again: whether to side with Nova or Tosh? If you side with Gabriel Tosh to break prisoners out of New Folsom & destroy the prison, you’ll gain access to Spectre operatives after the mission. I find Spectre way more powerful than Ghost with their Mind Blast & Psionic Lash upgrade, in addition to their standard Nuke launch ability. They can take out groups of enemies or kill a powerful one. Dunno bout you guys, but I’m the “stand by my comrade” kinda guy, so this is an easy choice for me. Nova? She’s just a pretty face in a tight armor suit who can charm your gold tooth away!