Whoo, 3481 kills on Brutal In Utter Darkness this weekend.
...
Teach me, Master, for I am not worthy
(No really, how?)
I cannoned up the upper portion (i.e., southwest of the archive) and pulled back there with my starting forces after the first 3 waves so stuff would only be hitting from two ramps instead of three entrances (I just replayed the mission on casual afterward to easily get the research points for defending the archive). I ended up with three main piles of cannons, although I don't know if it was ideal or not. A main one in the middle that seemed to take the hits for my Colossi and air units, and then one on each side a little way past the ramp. Started getting unit upgrades as soon as the mission starts. Built about 10 more probes from each Nexus as well. Ignored the gold mineral expansion -- it's not worth trying to defend it on brutal in my experience.
Then I just built nothing but Colossi and Phoenixes for the rest of the mission. I piled up the Colossi in the middle. I tried to graviton the hybrids whenever possible, especially the ranged ones since they seem far more dangerous. I also did my best to keep the freebie units/heroes you get alive, especially the flying ones. I used the flying units to focus on broodlords and lifted hybrids. I had to rebuild a lot of cannons over the course of the mission especially on the sides where sometimes only one or two Colossi could reach (this is what I meant when I wasn't sure if it was ideal or not), but until the end I was losing very few Colossi and Phoenixes so it didn't come at a major expense of units. I also needed to build more pylons back by my buildings since you end up losing a lot of supply by giving up the lower area. I sprinkled some cannons (maybe 15 or so) back by my buildings and workers since random creep things start appearing there eventually.
Not long after bailing out of the middle, the zerg seemed to set up shop there. There was creep all over that area. I think my final mission time ended up around 42-43 minutes.
Edit: If you've only done it on normal or hard and not brutal, that number probably sounds crazier than it is. They seem to attack with a lot more units per wave in brutal, but the waves don't get to the ridiculous "it's time for you to lose" stage with 20 hybrids and 50 Corruptors any faster. Thus you end up with a lot more kills over time. As long as you can hold out until the rape portion of the show around the 40 minute mark, you'll get a shitload of kills. I have more kills in my hard clear than my normal clear, and more in my brutal clear than my hard clear. Although my normal clear was just my first attempt when I hadn't really developed as good of a strategy, but I still don't think I'd get 3k+ in normal before it becomes impossible.
Tried Supernova on brutal last night. Ridiculous. And I'm one Protoss research point short of tech reactors, which would help a lot for it. I might just try one of the cheese strategies next time since I don't think I have the speed to be able to handle all the crap they throw at you while accumulating a big enough army to mow down their bases.
I am most the way through the SC2 campaign and I am thoroughly underwhelmed.
I remember enjoying the War3 campaign much more, and even the SC1 campaign. I know there's probably some nostalgia at work with the SC1 campaign but I'm fairly certain the War3 campaign was much more interesting than this. Hell, a decent SC1 modder could recreate the SC2 campaign for SC1 and you wouldn't lose much other than the shiny stuff.
I'm expecting much better things from the map making community.
Dangerisk on
If what you say is true, the Shaolin and the Wu-Tang could be DANGERISK.
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AegisFear My DanceOvershot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered Userregular
Tried Supernova on brutal last night. Ridiculous. And I'm one Protoss research point short of tech reactors, which would help a lot for it. I might just try one of the cheese strategies next time since I don't think I have the speed to be able to handle all the crap they throw at you while accumulating a big enough army to mow down their bases.
I ended up doing it with:
Banshees. Building nothing but banshees and a few vikings for the very last part and going to the southeast route. You'll have no trouble except for the fucking high templar who will never, ever, fucking miss you with storms. Creeping slowly up the right hand side of the map, sniping shit, until it has no more ground to air attacks and then sniping the temple.
Tried Supernova on brutal last night. Ridiculous. And I'm one Protoss research point short of tech reactors, which would help a lot for it. I might just try one of the cheese strategies next time since I don't think I have the speed to be able to handle all the crap they throw at you while accumulating a big enough army to mow down their bases.
I ended up doing it with:
Banshees. Building nothing but banshees and a few vikings for the very last part and going to the southeast route. You'll have no trouble except for the fucking high templar who will never, ever, fucking miss you with storms. Creeping slowly up the right hand side of the map, sniping shit, until it has no more ground to air attacks and then sniping the temple.
I built tanks and goliaths, then leap-frogged my tanks ftw.
kedinik on
I made a game! Hotline Maui. Requires mouse and keyboard.
Tried Supernova on brutal last night. Ridiculous. And I'm one Protoss research point short of tech reactors, which would help a lot for it. I might just try one of the cheese strategies next time since I don't think I have the speed to be able to handle all the crap they throw at you while accumulating a big enough army to mow down their bases.
I ended up doing it with:
Banshees. Building nothing but banshees and a few vikings for the very last part and going to the southeast route. You'll have no trouble except for the fucking high templar who will never, ever, fucking miss you with storms. Creeping slowly up the right hand side of the map, sniping shit, until it has no more ground to air attacks and then sniping the temple.
See, I tried to do it this way, but I just couldn't get enough units built up due to the frequent, large Protoss rape squads, the looming fire threat, and having to clear other Protoss shit out of the way. By the time you're at their base, they have a ridiculous amount of things that attack you/defend their base, and I didn't have enough AA to handle their scouts, phoenixes, and carriers. Psi storm attrition certainly didn't help. However, it was a first attempt, and I figured out a couple things I needed to do better, so I could definitely make a better attempt at it. I'm just not sure if I want to. It's a very stressful mission to play, so if I can pull off some cheese maneuver to win it in 10 minutes or with less exertion, maybe I'll just do that.
Edit: I certainly don't expect to one-shot every mission on brutal. Like I said, Supernova is just a frustrating mission for me to play at Faster speed, so I think I may try to order up some cheese.
Tried Supernova on brutal last night. Ridiculous. And I'm one Protoss research point short of tech reactors, which would help a lot for it. I might just try one of the cheese strategies next time since I don't think I have the speed to be able to handle all the crap they throw at you while accumulating a big enough army to mow down their bases.
I ended up doing it with:
Banshees. Building nothing but banshees and a few vikings for the very last part and going to the southeast route. You'll have no trouble except for the fucking high templar who will never, ever, fucking miss you with storms. Creeping slowly up the right hand side of the map, sniping shit, until it has no more ground to air attacks and then sniping the temple.
See, I tried to do it this way, but I just couldn't get enough units built up due to the frequent, large Protoss rape squads, the looming fire threat, and having to clear other Protoss shit out of the way. By the time you're at their base, they have a ridiculous amount of things that attack you/defend their base, and I didn't have enough AA to handle their scouts, phoenixes, and carriers. Psi storm attrition certainly didn't help. However, it was a first attempt, and I figured out a couple things I needed to do better, so I could definitely make a better attempt at it. I'm just not sure if I want to. It's a very stressful mission to play, so if I can pull off some cheese maneuver to win it in 10 minutes or with less exertion, maybe I'll just do that.
Edit: I certainly don't expect to one-shot every mission on brutal. Like I said, Supernova is just a frustrating mission for me to play at Faster speed, so I think I may try to order up some cheese.
Is Supernova the one mission where their whole base is powered with Prisms rather than Pylons? Build up a force of banshees and vikings or wraiths as soon as possible and send it to destroy their production abilities.
Undead Scottsman on
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AegisFear My DanceOvershot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered Userregular
I am most the way through the SC2 campaign and I am thoroughly underwhelmed.
I remember enjoying the War3 campaign much more, and even the SC1 campaign. I know there's probably some nostalgia at work with the SC1 campaign but I'm fairly certain the War3 campaign was much more interesting than this. Hell, a decent SC1 modder could recreate the SC2 campaign for SC1 and you wouldn't lose much other than the shiny stuff.
I'm expecting much better things from the map making community.
Your memory is objectively wrong. Objectively. The War3 campaign is really bad. And you're welcome to go play the SC1 campaign again. It has not aged well at all.
I know that :P I just thought I remember it also had bases powered by prisms.
Anywho, I tried for the Media Blitz on hard achievement (beat it in 20 minutes). I knew I didn't get it but I was shocked when I was nearly 10 minutes over.. Good gravy that ones hard.
not really, repair Odin send him out with some scv backup make about 5 thors head to the base you destroyed with the Odin, send both parties to the other base after the linkup :P
To be clear the Odin should head to a new base while the thors head to the destroyed one.
I am most the way through the SC2 campaign and I am thoroughly underwhelmed.
I remember enjoying the War3 campaign much more, and even the SC1 campaign. I know there's probably some nostalgia at work with the SC1 campaign but I'm fairly certain the War3 campaign was much more interesting than this. Hell, a decent SC1 modder could recreate the SC2 campaign for SC1 and you wouldn't lose much other than the shiny stuff.
I'm expecting much better things from the map making community.
Your memory is objectively wrong. Objectively. The War3 campaign is really bad. And you're welcome to go play the SC1 campaign again. It has not aged well at all.
Agreed. I recently replayed both the original campaign and the Frozen Throne expansion campaign for Warcraft 3, and neither is particularly enjoyable. The only really neat thing I still like is the heroes.
Dhalphir on
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AegisFear My DanceOvershot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered Userregular
I am not understanding the billion Dark Shrines as part of a wall here, but my God is that video hard to watch, not only for the lack of sound, but because he physically clicks each cannon placement rather than shift-clicking.
Dark Shrines are tiny (so they dont obscure the cannon's range too much), and a non unit producing structure so low on the AI's target list, and have a fairly high amount of hitpoints/shields (not as much as a gateway, but gateways tend to get focused down)
It's not the way I would have done it though, I just hold the 3 sides for a few waves with DTs till detectors show, make archons and then clump underneath the archive with a pile of collosi and mixed air, retreating once it sinks and then fortifying the top. Idk if I could get 3500 on brutal but 2750 is pretty easy
override367 on
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Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
edited August 2010
also maybe its just be but aren't dark shrines a little expensive to be bpart of a wall?
i'd just use pylons and replace them as needed.
Dhalphir on
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Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
Pylons are more likely to be attacked, as I understand the singleplayer AI for this game, things like dark shrines, forges, robo support bay, etc are near the absolute bottom of things they'll pick to attack
not really, repair Odin send him out with some scv backup make about 5 thors head to the base you destroyed with the Odin, send both parties to the other base after the linkup :P
To be clear the Odin should head to a new base while the thors head to the destroyed one.
The Odin can hold out against a invasion fleet by itself? Even with five SCV's? (Likewise with the five thors?)
I know that :P I just thought I remember it also had bases powered by prisms.
Anywho, I tried for the Media Blitz on hard achievement (beat it in 20 minutes). I knew I didn't get it but I was shocked when I was nearly 10 minutes over.. Good gravy that ones hard.
I went way over time on my first attempt as well. It turns out Odin + the other starting Thor with an SCV/Sci Vessel repair crew can easily handle the first base/transmission while you get some tanks and other stuff built up for defense/the other transmissions. I went so far over time the first time because I ended up trying to get a decent force for offense rather than just sending out your starting two units after getting the Odin repaired. Building up just seems to give the computer time to get even more stuff. For the second and third transmissions, if you can just get a few tanks (3-4) sieged up on the beacon with the Odin and some other air+ground attacking units (more Thors, marines and medics, goliaths) in front of them, that seems to be enough. If air ends up being a problem, have your SCV repair crew build a turret or two by the beacon a little bit before you roll on to it.
Also, I don't know how you're using your first 5 minutes, but it seemed to work well to take out most the threatening junk in two bases (leaving up turrets and stuff that doesn't really matter) rather than focus on clearing one.
forty on
Officially the unluckiest CCG player ever.
0
AegisFear My DanceOvershot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered Userregular
edited August 2010
The Odin can singlehandedly (with a few turrets for support) on Brutal take out both minor bases near your starting location, repel the air and ground invasions (the latter with 1 Barrage usually).
I found it to be the single easiest Brutal mission because of him.
I even managed to take out the right most base with him and 2 other Thors, due to the unit types at the eastern most base.
Terran: You're a captain in the UED, killed by Kerrigan. Fate: Deceased. Zerg: You're an un-named cerebrate who has been captured by Kerrigan to serve her. Fate: Unknown. Protoss: You are Artanis again. Fate: Leader of the Khala Protoss.
Artanis being the player makes little sense as Artanis has been made a preator (like Fenix) and addresses you directly in Brood War as executor. Blizzard have retconned it to be Artanis in their backstory pages on the SC2 website, but a few people have pointed out it makes more sense if you're actually playing Selendis.
There is *one* spot that calls Artanis the Executor in Brood War, and it *barely* does it at that (plus it was on their website - they've definately made story mistakes on their websites in the past). I personally say that's a typo/mistake. If they are going to go through the trouble of saying the others are real people, it makes no sense to have this one campaign with Artanis talking to himself :P
I do like the idea that you are Selendis in that campaign though.
The books (which are an active retcon over the campaign, at least for Liberty's Crusade and Queen of Blades) have Artanis as the executor circa invasion of Auir timeline. (Specifically the part where the Protoss show up to arrest Tassadar and find him hanging out with humans)
IIRC, the Dark Templar trilogy also mention him as Executor during that specific timeframe (Protoss coming to Char), with Selendis as one of his assistants.
But none of that is Brood War. It's the original campaign where it's definately clear (tons of sources) that he was the Executor. He was promoted (or something) right at the start of Brood War, which IIRC, none of the books actually cover.
My main gripe here being that if he was Executor during Brood War, he is talking to his damn self in every mission briefing. That makes no sense. It would be one thing if Blizzard had just retconned out "the player" as a character, but they clearly didn't.
not really, repair Odin send him out with some scv backup make about 5 thors head to the base you destroyed with the Odin, send both parties to the other base after the linkup :P
To be clear the Odin should head to a new base while the thors head to the destroyed one.
The Odin can hold out against a invasion fleet by itself? Even with five SCV's? (Likewise with the five thors?)
Yeah, this seemed to be the key that I missed the first time. I underestimated the Odin (with some SCV/vessel repair help). It alone is probably enough to handle the first transmission, as long as it's in one of the bases you wrecked up during the start.
forty on
Officially the unluckiest CCG player ever.
0
Warlock82Never pet a burning dogRegistered Userregular
not really, repair Odin send him out with some scv backup make about 5 thors head to the base you destroyed with the Odin, send both parties to the other base after the linkup :P
To be clear the Odin should head to a new base while the thors head to the destroyed one.
The Odin can hold out against a invasion fleet by itself? Even with five SCV's? (Likewise with the five thors?)
Yeah, this seemed to be the key that I missed the first time. I underestimated the Odin (with some SCV/vessel repair help). It alone is probably enough to handle the first transmission, as long as it's in one of the bases you wrecked up during the start.
IIRC, I did the first base (top one is the one I wreaked because air can go to hell) with just the Odin and the free Thor they give you, and that was totally enough for that. The others get harder and you definately need more support for them.
Terran: You're a captain in the UED, killed by Kerrigan. Fate: Deceased. Zerg: You're an un-named cerebrate who has been captured by Kerrigan to serve her. Fate: Unknown. Protoss: You are Artanis again. Fate: Leader of the Khala Protoss.
Artanis being the player makes little sense as Artanis has been made a preator (like Fenix) and addresses you directly in Brood War as executor. Blizzard have retconned it to be Artanis in their backstory pages on the SC2 website, but a few people have pointed out it makes more sense if you're actually playing Selendis.
There is *one* spot that calls Artanis the Executor in Brood War, and it *barely* does it at that (plus it was on their website - they've definately made story mistakes on their websites in the past). I personally say that's a typo/mistake. If they are going to go through the trouble of saying the others are real people, it makes no sense to have this one campaign with Artanis talking to himself :P
I do like the idea that you are Selendis in that campaign though.
The books (which are an active retcon over the campaign, at least for Liberty's Crusade and Queen of Blades) have Artanis as the executor circa invasion of Auir timeline. (Specifically the part where the Protoss show up to arrest Tassadar and find him hanging out with humans)
IIRC, the Dark Templar trilogy also mention him as Executor during that specific timeframe (Protoss coming to Char), with Selendis as one of his assistants.
But none of that is Brood War. It's the original campaign where it's definately clear (tons of sources) that he was the Executor. He was promoted (or something) right at the start of Brood War, which IIRC, none of the books actually cover.
My main gripe here being that if he was Executor during Brood War, he is talking to his damn self in every mission briefing. That makes no sense. It would be one thing if Blizzard had just retconned out "the player" as a character, but they clearly didn't.
Again, Retcon. Chris Metzen said that he considered the books to be the de facto version of what happened. (So Liberty's Crusade and Queen of Blades replace Rebal Yell and The Overmind/first half of The Fall). If 5/6ths of Starcraft are now retconned, it's logical to assume the whole of Starcraft I is considered retconned in Blizzard's book.
So basically he's not talking to himself because those events never happened that way. At least, not anymore.
Undead Scottsman on
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AegisFear My DanceOvershot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered Userregular
edited August 2010
Wait, they retconned the plot and lore through books? The hell?
the default 'you' in SC1 never said anything, it makes no sense that you were artanis who was active in briefings and even missions
i don't think you quite understand that Blizzard is just retconning the whole of that campaign into that the events actually unfolded with Artanis commanding.
because they specifically hired him to write a particular story?
you don't think they just tell a novelist "go write a Starcraft book" and leave it at that, do you? the consulting process is lengthy and involved.
Eh - I was taught by someone who wrote several of the Resident Evil and Command and Conquer books...the consulting process is different from novel to novel and can be as involved as "go write a Starcraft Book."
I consider it pretty lazy of Blizzard to completely retcon a story that most people interacted with through the games because of the books.
SkyGheNe on
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Warlock82Never pet a burning dogRegistered Userregular
Terran: You're a captain in the UED, killed by Kerrigan. Fate: Deceased. Zerg: You're an un-named cerebrate who has been captured by Kerrigan to serve her. Fate: Unknown. Protoss: You are Artanis again. Fate: Leader of the Khala Protoss.
Artanis being the player makes little sense as Artanis has been made a preator (like Fenix) and addresses you directly in Brood War as executor. Blizzard have retconned it to be Artanis in their backstory pages on the SC2 website, but a few people have pointed out it makes more sense if you're actually playing Selendis.
There is *one* spot that calls Artanis the Executor in Brood War, and it *barely* does it at that (plus it was on their website - they've definately made story mistakes on their websites in the past). I personally say that's a typo/mistake. If they are going to go through the trouble of saying the others are real people, it makes no sense to have this one campaign with Artanis talking to himself :P
I do like the idea that you are Selendis in that campaign though.
The books (which are an active retcon over the campaign, at least for Liberty's Crusade and Queen of Blades) have Artanis as the executor circa invasion of Auir timeline. (Specifically the part where the Protoss show up to arrest Tassadar and find him hanging out with humans)
IIRC, the Dark Templar trilogy also mention him as Executor during that specific timeframe (Protoss coming to Char), with Selendis as one of his assistants.
But none of that is Brood War. It's the original campaign where it's definately clear (tons of sources) that he was the Executor. He was promoted (or something) right at the start of Brood War, which IIRC, none of the books actually cover.
My main gripe here being that if he was Executor during Brood War, he is talking to his damn self in every mission briefing. That makes no sense. It would be one thing if Blizzard had just retconned out "the player" as a character, but they clearly didn't.
Again, Retcon. Chris Metzen said that he considered the books to be the de facto version of what happened. (So Liberty's Crusade and Queen of Blades replace Rebal Yell and The Overmind/first half of The Fall). If 5/6ths of Starcraft are now retconned, it's logical to assume the whole of Starcraft I is considered retconned in Blizzard's book.
So basically he's not talking to himself because those events never happened that way. At least, not anymore.
What the hell are you talking about? The books don't cover Brood War. I am not denying that Artanis was Executor during the original campaign. I'm saying he wasn't during Brood War. The *only* thing that says he was, was a little "what happened so far" thing they did on starcraft2.com several months back. And even that only said it once and never again.
because they specifically hired him to write a particular story?
you don't think they just tell a novelist "go write a Starcraft book" and leave it at that, do you? the consulting process is lengthy and involved.
It's a collaborative process. Sometimes the author pitches a story idea he's interested in to Blizzard, other times Blizzard seeks out an author to write a specific story. IIRC, Heaven's Devils is a case of the latter, wherein Blizzard wanted a novel to flesh out the backstory of Raynor and Finley, and wanted it to be out in time for Starcraft II.
Re: Warlock "Brood War isn't convered in the book"
No it's not. That doesn't mean Brood War wasn't retconned by it though.
I mean, it stands to reason that if Blizzard is going to retcon that the executor in Episode 3 was Artanis all along, it makes no sense for them to suddenly go "But in Brood War, he's back to the original executor!" They've already shown they don't care for the integrity of the story vanilla Starcraft, what makes you think they're suddenly going to change their minds for Brood War?
EDIT: I mean, if we want to go by the original intention of the games, the Executor of vanilla Starcraft is the same one from Brood War, so IMO, if Blizzard's current stance is that the executor of vanilla Starcraft is now Artanis, then the Executor of Brood War would also be Artanis, but I suppose that's an assumption. Still, considering Blizzard's stance on it, I think that's the best interpretation.
EDIT2: I mean, either Artanis was the executor in Brood War too, or he was only executor for all of a couple months.
Undead Scottsman on
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Warlock82Never pet a burning dogRegistered Userregular
because they specifically hired him to write a particular story?
you don't think they just tell a novelist "go write a Starcraft book" and leave it at that, do you? the consulting process is lengthy and involved.
It's a collaborative process. Sometimes the author pitches a story idea he's interested in to Blizzard, other times Blizzard seeks out an author to write a specific story. IIRC, Heaven's Devils is a case of the latter, wherein Blizzard wanted a novel to flesh out the backstory of Raynor and Finley, and wanted it to be out in time for Starcraft II.
Re: Warlock "Brood War isn't convered in the book"
No it's not. That doesn't mean Brood War wasn't retconned by it though.
I mean, it stands to reason that if Blizzard is going to retcon that the executor in Episode 3 was Artanis all along, it makes no sense for them to suddenly go "But in Brood War, he's back to the original executor!" They've already shown they don't care for the integrity of the story vanilla Starcraft, what makes you think they're suddenly going to change their minds for Brood War?
EDIT: I mean, if we want to go by the original intention of the games, the Executor of vanilla Starcraft is the same one from Brood War, so IMO, if Blizzard's current stance is that the executor of vanilla Starcraft is now Artanis, then the Executor of Brood War would also be Artanis, but I suppose that's an assumption. Still, considering Blizzard's stance on it, I think that's the best interpretation.
EDIT2: I mean, either Artanis was the executor in Brood War too, or he was only executor for all of a couple months.
Why not? He was a quick replacement for Tassadar, he did awesome and helped save the Protoss race from the Overmind, so bam, he gets fast-tracked to a new promotion.
Also, what "original executor"? The executor was just "executor", could have been anyone. Personally I like the suggestion that the Brood War executor was Selendis.
Regardless of whether Blizzard originally intended for both Executors to be the same in the game (which is just a guess really), they certainly didn't originally intend for Artanis to be talking to himself. I mean, he specifically addresses the Executor in the very first mission briefing.
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Then I just built nothing but Colossi and Phoenixes for the rest of the mission. I piled up the Colossi in the middle. I tried to graviton the hybrids whenever possible, especially the ranged ones since they seem far more dangerous. I also did my best to keep the freebie units/heroes you get alive, especially the flying ones. I used the flying units to focus on broodlords and lifted hybrids. I had to rebuild a lot of cannons over the course of the mission especially on the sides where sometimes only one or two Colossi could reach (this is what I meant when I wasn't sure if it was ideal or not), but until the end I was losing very few Colossi and Phoenixes so it didn't come at a major expense of units. I also needed to build more pylons back by my buildings since you end up losing a lot of supply by giving up the lower area. I sprinkled some cannons (maybe 15 or so) back by my buildings and workers since random creep things start appearing there eventually.
Not long after bailing out of the middle, the zerg seemed to set up shop there. There was creep all over that area. I think my final mission time ended up around 42-43 minutes.
Edit: If you've only done it on normal or hard and not brutal, that number probably sounds crazier than it is. They seem to attack with a lot more units per wave in brutal, but the waves don't get to the ridiculous "it's time for you to lose" stage with 20 hybrids and 50 Corruptors any faster. Thus you end up with a lot more kills over time. As long as you can hold out until the rape portion of the show around the 40 minute mark, you'll get a shitload of kills. I have more kills in my hard clear than my normal clear, and more in my brutal clear than my hard clear. Although my normal clear was just my first attempt when I hadn't really developed as good of a strategy, but I still don't think I'd get 3k+ in normal before it becomes impossible.
I remember enjoying the War3 campaign much more, and even the SC1 campaign. I know there's probably some nostalgia at work with the SC1 campaign but I'm fairly certain the War3 campaign was much more interesting than this. Hell, a decent SC1 modder could recreate the SC2 campaign for SC1 and you wouldn't lose much other than the shiny stuff.
I'm expecting much better things from the map making community.
I ended up doing it with:
Currently DMing: None
Characters
[5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
Edit: I certainly don't expect to one-shot every mission on brutal. Like I said, Supernova is just a frustrating mission for me to play at Faster speed, so I think I may try to order up some cheese.
Is Supernova the one mission where their whole base is powered with Prisms rather than Pylons? Build up a force of banshees and vikings or wraiths as soon as possible and send it to destroy their production abilities.
Currently DMing: None
Characters
[5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
Damn you Aegis.
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Your memory is objectively wrong. Objectively. The War3 campaign is really bad. And you're welcome to go play the SC1 campaign again. It has not aged well at all.
Anywho, I tried for the Media Blitz on hard achievement (beat it in 20 minutes). I knew I didn't get it but I was shocked when I was nearly 10 minutes over.. Good gravy that ones hard.
To be clear the Odin should head to a new base while the thors head to the destroyed one.
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Me on Twitch!
Agreed. I recently replayed both the original campaign and the Frozen Throne expansion campaign for Warcraft 3, and neither is particularly enjoyable. The only really neat thing I still like is the heroes.
I am not understanding the billion Dark Shrines as part of a wall here, but my God is that video hard to watch, not only for the lack of sound, but because he physically clicks each cannon placement rather than shift-clicking.
Currently DMing: None
Characters
[5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
It's not the way I would have done it though, I just hold the 3 sides for a few waves with DTs till detectors show, make archons and then clump underneath the archive with a pile of collosi and mixed air, retreating once it sinks and then fortifying the top. Idk if I could get 3500 on brutal but 2750 is pretty easy
i'd just use pylons and replace them as needed.
The Odin can hold out against a invasion fleet by itself? Even with five SCV's? (Likewise with the five thors?)
Also, I don't know how you're using your first 5 minutes, but it seemed to work well to take out most the threatening junk in two bases (leaving up turrets and stuff that doesn't really matter) rather than focus on clearing one.
I found it to be the single easiest Brutal mission because of him.
I even managed to take out the right most base with him and 2 other Thors, due to the unit types at the eastern most base.
Currently DMing: None
Characters
[5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
But none of that is Brood War. It's the original campaign where it's definately clear (tons of sources) that he was the Executor. He was promoted (or something) right at the start of Brood War, which IIRC, none of the books actually cover.
My main gripe here being that if he was Executor during Brood War, he is talking to his damn self in every mission briefing. That makes no sense. It would be one thing if Blizzard had just retconned out "the player" as a character, but they clearly didn't.
IIRC, I did the first base (top one is the one I wreaked because air can go to hell) with just the Odin and the free Thor they give you, and that was totally enough for that. The others get harder and you definately need more support for them.
Tony Jay was so great
Again, Retcon. Chris Metzen said that he considered the books to be the de facto version of what happened. (So Liberty's Crusade and Queen of Blades replace Rebal Yell and The Overmind/first half of The Fall). If 5/6ths of Starcraft are now retconned, it's logical to assume the whole of Starcraft I is considered retconned in Blizzard's book.
So basically he's not talking to himself because those events never happened that way. At least, not anymore.
Currently DMing: None
Characters
[5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
Because that's what they hired him to do?
you don't think they just tell a novelist "go write a Starcraft book" and leave it at that, do you? the consulting process is lengthy and involved.
i don't think you quite understand that Blizzard is just retconning the whole of that campaign into that the events actually unfolded with Artanis commanding.
or maybe you don't fully grasp what a retcon is?
Eh - I was taught by someone who wrote several of the Resident Evil and Command and Conquer books...the consulting process is different from novel to novel and can be as involved as "go write a Starcraft Book."
I consider it pretty lazy of Blizzard to completely retcon a story that most people interacted with through the games because of the books.
What the hell are you talking about? The books don't cover Brood War. I am not denying that Artanis was Executor during the original campaign. I'm saying he wasn't during Brood War. The *only* thing that says he was, was a little "what happened so far" thing they did on starcraft2.com several months back. And even that only said it once and never again.
It's a collaborative process. Sometimes the author pitches a story idea he's interested in to Blizzard, other times Blizzard seeks out an author to write a specific story. IIRC, Heaven's Devils is a case of the latter, wherein Blizzard wanted a novel to flesh out the backstory of Raynor and Finley, and wanted it to be out in time for Starcraft II.
Re: Warlock "Brood War isn't convered in the book"
No it's not. That doesn't mean Brood War wasn't retconned by it though.
I mean, it stands to reason that if Blizzard is going to retcon that the executor in Episode 3 was Artanis all along, it makes no sense for them to suddenly go "But in Brood War, he's back to the original executor!" They've already shown they don't care for the integrity of the story vanilla Starcraft, what makes you think they're suddenly going to change their minds for Brood War?
EDIT: I mean, if we want to go by the original intention of the games, the Executor of vanilla Starcraft is the same one from Brood War, so IMO, if Blizzard's current stance is that the executor of vanilla Starcraft is now Artanis, then the Executor of Brood War would also be Artanis, but I suppose that's an assumption. Still, considering Blizzard's stance on it, I think that's the best interpretation.
EDIT2: I mean, either Artanis was the executor in Brood War too, or he was only executor for all of a couple months.
Why not? He was a quick replacement for Tassadar, he did awesome and helped save the Protoss race from the Overmind, so bam, he gets fast-tracked to a new promotion.
Also, what "original executor"? The executor was just "executor", could have been anyone. Personally I like the suggestion that the Brood War executor was Selendis.
Regardless of whether Blizzard originally intended for both Executors to be the same in the game (which is just a guess really), they certainly didn't originally intend for Artanis to be talking to himself. I mean, he specifically addresses the Executor in the very first mission briefing.
Edit: But seriously, this is the only place that calls him an Executor in Brood War:
http://us.starcraft2.com/features/storysofar2.xml