Lurker

"Lurker, attacks many foes while burrowed. Effective against light enemies."

- Abathur

The lurker is a zerg unit that may attack only when burrowed.

Overview
"Watch it! Lurker! Those bastards attack while they're burrowed - we need some detection out there to root it out."

- Jim Raynor

Evolved from the hydralisk, lurkers are powerful anti-ground ambushers. They serve as defense warriors for hive clusters and outlying zerg colonies. Lurkers emit waves of super-dense spines against their enemies, having a full width of damage of ten meters. However, lurkers must actually burrow underground to release these subterranean attacks. Any warriors on the surface who are caught by these spines are instantly impaled. These spines themselves are capable of tearing into flesh, steel, and even reinforced armor plating. The spines can even be directed downward into open spaces, provided the lurker is underground. As such, even a handful of lurkers can turn an inoccuous chokepoint into a nightmare. The only weakness of the lurker is that it is virtually defenseless while above ground.

History
The lurker had been developed from the hydralisk strain by the Brood War. The strain was first observed under the leadership of Kerrigan (although technically, it was their handiwork that was the first indication).

During the Second Great War, Abathur discovered a group of feral lurkers on Cavir, left over from the Tiamat Brood in the. The Swarm was able to find a lurker den and protect from the feral zerg long enough for Broodmother Kilysa to recover its essence.

StarCraft
Lurkers must burrow in order to attack, rendering them invisible from enemy attackers.

Lurkers are particularly effective as a defense against enemy raids on workers. As long as the defenders can keep enemy detectors from penetrating, raiders deployed by air transport are at risk of being annihilated by pre-deployed Lurkers that they cannot see. Terrans are not as handicapped against lurkers because of the ComSat station.

The lurker's attack does linear splash damage to allied and enemy ground units, but not the player's other ground units, in its path. The lurker has no means of defending itself when not burrowed, and is vulnerable during the process of burrowing; this takes more time than for other units and enemy units can still attack them at that stage, possibly killing the lurker before it even has a chance to effectively become invisible to the enemy and attack.

StarCraft: Ghost


The lurker was to appear in StarCraft: Ghost. Its form underwent an extensive redesign from its Brood War incarnation during development.

StarCraft II
In the current version of StarCraft II, lurkers only appear in the Galaxy Map Editor, and the Heart of the Swarm campaign.

However, it appears in the Legacy of the Void multiplayer game, with enough range to outrange base defenses. It is a tier 2 unit.

Strategies
In Legacy of the Void, lurkers serve as siege and harassment units, along with being able to defend key locations. They deal splash damage to large numbers of units.

Heart of the Swarm Campaign
The lurker is useable in the campaign as an evolution split from the hydralisk. It deals more damage and has more life than usual. Its counterpart is the impaler. Compared to the impaler, the lurker has lower range, but is more effective against zealots and marines thanks to its splash attacks.

Co-op Missions
The lurker den and lurker strains are exclusive to Kerrigan in Co-op Missions, unlocked once she reaches Level 5.

Trivia
The lurker is often nicknamed "lurk" in online culture.