Fenix (Co-op Missions)

"The purifiers have been unleashed upon the forces of Amon, and at their helm stands Fenix. Utilizing an array of destructive robotic bodies, and backed by a supporting crew of legendary protoss heroes, you can now rain death upon your enemies with some of the most honorable characters of protoss lore."

- Commander blurb

Fenix (later known as Talandar) is a commander in Co-op Missions introduced in Patch 3.13. He fields a powerful Purifier army, with AI constructs of past protoss heroes available at his command. His army consist of "shells" for these AIs to occupy.

Fenix himself is able to switch between three forms, a Praetor form that can use an area of effect spin, a charge and a shield recharge, a Solarite Dragoon form with a powerful anti-ground line attack and an anti-air area-of-effect attack as well as an "Arsenal Overcharge" ability which removes the cooldown of his other abilities, and a Cybros arbiter form with the ability to recall and stasis enemies and cloak allies and itself. Fenix can swap between these forms at will, and the different forms will only naturally regenerate energy and health while they are swapped out.

Info

 * Recommended for experienced players
 * Control Fenix as he leads a powerful robotic Purifier army
 * Fenix can transfer between three mighty forms to adapt to any situation
 * Powerful protoss heroes can transfer their consciousness into standard units to bolster your army's strength

Mastery

 * Power Set 1
 * Fenix Suit Attack Speed: +1% – 30%
 * Fenix Suit Offline Energy Regeneration: +0.5% – 15%


 * Power Set 2
 * Champion A.I. Attack Speed: +1% – 30%
 * Champion A.I. Life and Shields: +1% – 30%


 * Power Set 3
 * Chrono Boost Efficiency: +1% – 30%
 * Increase Starting Supply: +1 ~ + 30

Game Unit
Thanks to his ability to transfer his A.I. consciousness, Fenix gets access to several purifier weapon suits that allow him to shift his abilities according to battlefield conditions.

Praetor Armor
Praetor Armor has the following abilities:

Solarite Dragoon
Solarite Dragoon has the following abilities:

Cybros Arbiter
Cybros Arbiter has the following abilities:

Units and Structures
Fenix has access to the following units and structures:

Champions
In addition to his normal arsenal, Fenix has the ability to field the AI personalities of past protoss heroes to aid him.

If all six heroes are on the field, the next probe built will turn into Probius. This will change the model and name, but give no stat boost or special abilities to the probe.

Note: (+X) only applies to the Tactical Data Web trait at Fenix level 15.

Talent Progression
Fenix acquires the following talents as he levels up.

Strategies
The main focus of playing Fenix is the direct control of his hero unit, which holds immense amounts of power when all three of his Purifier Suits are leveraged to their full potential. To use Fenix well, its important to understand when to swap between his different forms and to keep in mind that his suits only regenerate Energy when they are not active, so be sure to swap often.

Additionally, up to six different A.I. personalities from various protoss heroes can be researched at the Purifier conclave (once unlocked). Once a personality has been researched, it will automatically search for a standard unit to transfer into, and turn them into a game-changing hero unit. Anytime that particular champion falls in battle, their consciousness will automatically relocate into another body of that same type (assuming one is available) and continue fighting. Most of Fenix's combat units have their own champion to lead them into battle, and every champion also has unique abilities which make them even more powerful.

In general, in most maps, even without ally's help, Fenix hero alone can handle the first two incoming enemy waves as well as the first or the second objective if used properly, and possibly more with the help of an ally. Therefore once proficient in using his abilities effectively, it is recommended that in the early game, players produce absolutely no units and only focus on saturating the worker counts and getting that critical production structures count to ensure stability for the remaining game. The risk associated with this approach is when the enemy sends waves much before Fenix spawns(~ 50 seconds). The key to dealing with this is not to panic and DO NOT pull your probes to attack them. The first wave does not have enough dps to end the game before Fenix spawns as long as you put a gateway between your nexus and the enemy wave.

Power Set 1: Fenix Suit Offline Energy Regeneration
 * Recommended masteries:
 * Both are solid options, but the energy regeneration of Fenix means that Fenix can more often make use of Arsenal Overcharge, allowing him to personally clear entire bases and attack waves.

Power Set 2: Champion A.I. Attack Speed
 * As champions can transfer between host bodies, it is more valuable to allow them to burst with more damage, especially with the boost they gain when they switch shells.

Power Set 3: 29 points in Chrono Boost Efficiency and 1 point in increase starting supply
 * Increase starting supply provides little benefit to Fenix as it is designed for optimizing the early game for fast tech tree and economy by saving <400 minerals, but Fenix has access to all tech trees from the beginning and chrono boost also provides massive economic boost via fast probe production. Thus it is recommended that only 1 point is spent in increase supply to remove the initial 15/15 probe bottleneck and the rest spent on chrono boost efficiency for faster upgrades and fast critical unit production as well as a huge boost for key ally's structures (Stukov's infested colonist compound/Nova's barracks.)

Steward of the Purifiers
Fenix himself is a powerful hero unit, and his ability to switch between suits makes him very flexible. There is a short cooldown between switching suits, and the deployment range is global wherever there is vision, allowing Fenix to be where he needs to be wherever the action is. However, these suits have a long cooldown when destroyed, so it is best to not be too careless with them, as having them in a key situation can mean the difference between victory and defeat.

Praetor armor is Fenix's tanking option, and can tie up enemies while his army deals the damage it needs to. Fenix can use his charge ability to stun nearby enemies, and his whirlwind can clear out large clumps of light units like marines or zerglings. His most valuable ability is the ability to instantly recharge his shields, which he autocasts upon them being depleted. This has a moderate cooldown, so once it's triggered it may be best to switch suits.

Solarite dragoon is a fantastic burst option for Fenix. In this form, his solar cannon hits all ground units in a line, while his solar flare deals heavy damage to air units in an area. This can be used as a quick defensive option against small to medium sized attack waves. The most valuable feature of the solarite dragoon is Arsenal Overcharge. This ability removes the cooldown on his two abilities, and grants the potential for massive burst damage against ground and air units. As his abilities each only target ground or air units and must be targeted, pick targets well. Also, since Overcharge does not remove the energy cost be careful not to rapidly use energy before its active, or the dragoon suit waste valuable time in overcharge mode doing nothing.

Cybros arbiter is Fenix's final form and a key to his army's mobility. Fenix can recall his army to any point the arbiter is at. Mixed with his ability to change forms and transport anywhere on the map, this means Fenix's army can teleport to wherever there is vision. Stasis locks enemies down, making them invincible but frozen. This has a very small cast radius, but is very low energy and allows Fenix to pick priority targets like battlecruisers, siege tanks, and hybrids. His final ability is cloaking field, which will cloak both Fenix and allies around him. The ability drains energy over a time, and lasts as long as he has energy. This becomes less useful on higher difficulties unless detection can be sniped, but works great with commanders like Vorazun who benefit from cloak.

The key to Fenix will be learning when to switch forms and how to use the mobility of spawning him anywhere to the best advantage.

For Our Strength is Eternal
Fenix's other power is the ability to research champions from the Purifier conclave. These champion A.I. will then buff a friendly unit of their type, granting them better stats and abilities. When that champion dies, it will transport into a nearby base unit of its type. If no more base units exist, it will spawn in on the next unit made of its type. These champions are key to Fenix's army; normally Fenix's forces are quite fragile, but with the addition of champions they gain a good bit of power. At level 15, this power is increased by these champions gaining a flat bonus for every other unit of their type on the map.

Kaldalis is one of Fenix's keys in the early game, and spawns as the legionnaire champion. His attack speed means he can solo the first attack wave of any type, and he can clear rocks or enemy defenses leading into the nearby expansion. He and Fenix are key to establishing a good mid-game, though he will often lose power in the late game unless legionnaires support him. Cleave is a helpful ability for Kaldalis, giving him more power against massed light units.

Talis is a great mid-game option, though she doesn't have much of a role in the army other than adding straight damage against both ground and air.

Taldarin grants a solid damage boost, and his ability to clump units together works great with Fenix, colossi or any area of effect damage. His ability to "stack" damage on a single unit and then release it upon death makes him also powerful against high heath targets like hybrid.

Warbringer's slow can help against heavy melee armies or massed infested, and his burst damage upgrade makes him valuable against heavier targets as well.

Mojo allows for air domination, and can stun clumps of air units with his upgrade. He is great on maps with heavy enemy air presence, and can dominate maps like "Void Launch."

Clolarion is a very powerful champion. Though carriers themselves are moderately low damage and sometimes must be watched, Clolarion can harass enemy positions with ease with both interceptors and interdictors to clear fortifications. His real power lies in his solar beam, which can focus on air targets and deal damage the longer it's focused. With no real heavy anti-air other than scouts, this means Clolarion can dominate the skies against enemies like the hybrid nemesis.

Champions serve as the meat of Fenix's army, and last as long as units of the same type as them are on the field. However, the nature of Fenix's army means that usually only two or three types of units will be deployed to make use of their download ability. Nonetheless, it's valuable to have all tech options open in order to have them fielded. The Purifier conclave will show which champions are currently deployed and which are not.

Throwing Down With the Best of Them
Fenix's army itself has some helpful abilities to aid them in combat. While they have a resource reduction compared to other units of their type for the most part, they also take a long time to produce on the high tier end, and are relatively fragile without their champion occupying them.

Legionnaires serve as a powerful early game option, and a late game mineral dump. They cost more than zealots; 160 minerals, but are tankier and can tie up enemies while heavier units deal damage. However they do not scale great into the late game, and their large size means they can often be hit by multiple smaller units at once. Adepts meanwhile serve as the best all-around unit for Fenix, able to attack both ground and air. Unlike multiplayer adepts, they can send out a shade of themselves that deals damage but can't be targeted. This leads to some interesting micro potential where adepts can attack and move back, kiting enemies through their shades. If properly covered mass adept can destroy enemy armies.

Conservator's are Fenix's sentries, and their most valuable function is deploying a pylon field that allows Fenix to reinforce gateway units on the front. This can mean Kaldalis or Talis can instantly be back on the frontlines after all legionaries and adepts are cleared out. In addition, they can create a guardian shield around a target area, which can be helpful in covering for units assaulted at range.

From the robotics bay, Fenix has the immortal, which functions as the multiplayer immortal does, and can take out hybrid with ease. He also has the colossus, which can clear light ground forces with ease, but is nearly worthless if the opponent uses vipers and/or scourges. Watch the enemy composition, and if colossi are unviable consider disruptors. While they require much more micromanagaement, the disruptor can wipe out swaths of units with their targeted disruption nova, and can be permanently cloaked. However, this means that they fire much slower than colossus, and can't be left to their own devices.

From the Stargate, Fenix has scouts and carriers. Unlike SC1 scouts, Fenix's scouts are quick to produce and serve a valuable role of heavy anti-air. Though their anti-ground attack is only really viable against light enemies, scouts in high numbers will be quite valuable against heavy enemy air compositions. Carriers are an interesting option for Fenix, but not always the correct one. Heavy area of effect in co-op means carriers will lose their interceptors at a fast rate, sometimes turning a strong push into a failure. Watch them closely and keep an eye on their interceptor count; it is sometimes better to fall back and allow them time to recover rather than have the interceptors launch one at a time and get destroyed.

Carrier Me
For all of his strengths, a flaw becomes readily visible in Fenix's army as of level 10, with the acquisition of Operational Efficiency. When Fenix's gas cost for his advanced buildings is reduced to zero, the temptation to rush for his endgame strength is enormous. This usually takes the form of a fleet of carriers, bypassing the majority of his champions in exchange for the raw power of the protoss armada. This, although very powerful, can all but end the game in some situations. This strategy completely ignores much of Fenix's early strength, his heroes, and leaves Fenix with a small and slow strike force. Essentially, it forces the other player to carry Fenix through much of the game, as only Fenix himself will be available for battle and he can be overwhelmed.

Although some of Fenix's allies can handle this with difficulty, such as Raynor or Zagara, several of Fenix's allies cannot. Karax, Stukov, Nova, Abathur, and Swann all take a great deal of time to produce a viable army. With Fenix doing the same via the slow construction time of carriers, both players are left relying on Fenix's ally, who will have a small and vulnerable fighting force that is easily outgunned.

As of patch 4.0, only Carrier build has became slightly less attractive as interceptors now cost minerals (15min each) and pure ground units can achieve similar survivability and sustainability of carriers via conservator for some enemy compositions (obviously reaver/colossi protoss enemy is a bad news). But Mass carrier build still remain one of the most powerful strategy since it virtually has no counter.

Protoss Commanders
Artanis is a decent partner for Fenix. One of the great weaknesses of Fenix is how fragile his army can be and how difficult it can be to replace them. Artanis meanwhile can serve as a shield to Fenix's high damage units with quickly warped in Aiur zealots and dragoons. Guardian shield also is deeply invaluable for high priority units like colossi and carriers, and it means that Fenix will have a window to change suits upon taking fatal damage, preventing the long cooldown that results from a suit's destruction. However, this does have the downside that champions will take longer to benefit from Avenging Protocol upon changing to a new unit.

Karax is an excellent teammate for Fenix, and Fenix benefits greatly from Karax's reconstruction beam. All of Fenix's units are mechanical, but quite fragile. As such considering the high value of Fenix's army, the ability is deeply helpful. This can also aid Fenix himself, who normally can't recover shields and health without switching suits, but can with reconstruction beam and shield batteries. The second benefit of this pairing is that Karax's Energizers can greatly enhance Fenix's already deadly forces. The champions that Fenix fields become all the more deadly with a boost to both their movement and attack speed. When used properly, Karax and Fenix can cover each other's weaknesses perfectly. Fenix's Arbiter form and Karax's orbital guns can neatly provide cover for the other player, and their armies can cover each other extremely well if their composition is carefully managed.

The flaw of this pairing is that both commanders have very similar forces: slow and expensive with low push potential. Both armies require another, meatier one to screen for them, as they take a while to construct and are relatively fragile. Karax and Fenix will need to observe each other's army carefully, so that they build forces that complement one another instead of overlapping. For example, both players going carrier heavy will ultimately result in a painfully small fleet of ships when both characters combine their forces. Also, Fenix will have to take Karax's weak anti-air capabilities into account and produce Adepts or Scouts to help his ally.

Vorazun and Fenix work together very well, but share many of the same weaknesses. Vorazun can screen with her Shadow Guard in the very early game on maps with very quick attack waves like "Rifts to Korhal." A lot of her powerful melee units can also tie up enemy forces while Fenix's fragile but powerful units can pick them off from a distance. Scouts pair up nicely with corsairs, as corsairs can clear out large numbers of clumped light air units while scouts deal heavier damage to larger ships. The Cybros arbiter's cloaking field also grants Fenix's army and the non-cloaked army of Vorazun the flat 15% damage bonus Vorazun's level 15 talent grants, as well as the very useful ability to warp away fatally damaged units. As this cloaks Fenix himself, this is also helpful way to keep the Cybros arbiter from going on a long cooldown.

Alarak and Fenix's level of synergy is dependent on player strategy and experience with the commanders. In inexperienced hands, Fenix and Alarak simply get in each other's way. Overlapping hero abilities and somewhat similar army roles cause them to be a clumsy duo. This is particularly true when Fenix tries to rely exclusively on carriers or Alarak his wrathwalkers.

With careful management and practice, Fenix and Alarak can become a truly lethal force. They both wield fragile, high damage armies that rely on hero units. The key to using them well is to harmonize those armies. Fenix's army is a high DPS force and Alarak's is an anti-armor crew, they can combo perfectly with proper management. Fenix's adepts, scouts, immortals, colossi, and carriers are extremely effective when paired with a force of supplicants, slayers, havocs, vanguards, and wrathwalkers. The two armies will cover each other's weakness perfectly, allowing them to unleash an incredibly high firepower onslaught that can vaporize most enemy bases and units in seconds. With skill, Alarak and Fenix can use their hero units together as an effective duo. Fenix and his warriors providing a steady DPS that keeps Alarak alive, and Alarak providing crowd control or support via the Death Fleet to prevent Fenix from being overwhelmed.

Terran Commanders
Raynor and Fenix work great together. Both are high damage armies that are decently fragile, but Fenix has heroes that can screen for both armies and allow them to get out the damage they need. Praetor armor and Kaldalis can tie up ground forces while the two armies deal heavy damage, ending most fights before the enemy can tear into either back line. The most invaluable thing for Fenix though is Raynor's medics with their upgrade to heal mechanical units. Arguably even more invaluable than Karax's reconstruction beam, the medics will give some much needed durability to Fenix's forces and keep them up and running between large engagements. Raynor's calldowns and Fenix's ability to recall his army allows the two to pressure any point they need on the map.

Swann and Fenix work fantastic together. Both have strongly mechanical armies, but Swann takes a long time to get an army going, while Fenix can dominate the early game with his hero unit and Kaldalis, allowing Swann to get his economy moving. Science vessels can quickly heal all of Fenix's mechanical units, giving them much needed tankiness. This is helpful as Fenix will usually be in front of Swann's army, taking hits while Swann gets in the damage. Immortals serve to help with bulkier targets like hybrids, while goliaths can serve as heavy anti-air to aid Fenix's colossus or carriers, allowing him to rely less on scouts. Fenix's praetor armor also serves as great defense for a siege tank line mid game, and his solarite dragoon can prevent the death of both armies if things begin to take a turn for the worse. However, both armies take a good amount of time to replace.

Nova and Fenix work well together. Both have armies that are very slow to construct, and both use relatively small numbers of units. This latter similarity means defensive drone is a great help to both armies, and can effectively make Fenix and his melee champions nearly invincible as they wade into enemy lines. Solarite dragoon serves as a good alternative to an airstrike, giving Nova more resources to build her army with. Meanwhile, the tankiness of Nova's units serve as a good mid-line between Fenix's more fragile adepts and colossi and Fenix's frontline.

Han and Horner and Fenix have some synergy, but both gain benefits from losing units, and sometimes have lighter armored units to compensate. This can be bad when after a battle both forces are depleted. However, Fenix’s hero makes for a powerful addition to Han and Horner’s army, which can also provide a line to screen for Fenix’s lighter units like adepts. Vikings can also cover for heavier carrier compositions.

Zerg Commanders
Kerrigan and Fenix have mediocre synergy. While the resource gain helps Fenix, his cost reduction on his units mean he'll likely be overstocked on one of the two resources depending on army composition. Both overlap in that they have a very strong early game, a weaker mid game and a powerful late game. In the late game Kerrigan works great with Fenix, as her ultralisks and zerglings can provide cover for Fenix's forces, while the abilities of Fenix's champions will serve to prevent her from taking heavy losses. Solarite dragoon can provide bursts for Kerrigan, while immobilization wave can turn the tide of an engagement gone south.

Zagara and Fenix work great together, as both cover for each other's weaknesses. Zagara's zerglings can tie up immensely powerful armies while Fenix bursts them down with heavier units, and Fenix and his frontline can help Zagara by adding something tanky with high damage to the front. Frenzy grants a great bonus to unit like immortals and colossi, and scourge can clear the air while Fenix focuses on a ground army, paving the way for units like colossi to roam free. In addition, Zagara's quick respawning army allows for Fenix to get some breathing room should an engagement go south, while Fenix's champions can still be brought out quick to provide heavier support for Zagara.

Abathur and Fenix have mediocre synergy. Both have armies that will dominate later in the game, but are slow to start and hard to replace losses from. Fenix can pump out an army quicker than Abathur, and mend can help recover a heavily damaged Fenix army. Fenix can cover for Abathur's lack of early anti-air with scouts while Abathur can easily handle any ground armies with his roaches/brutalisks while teching up to mutalisks and eventually leviathans. In the late game, the two can dominate together, with Fenix's champions and Abathur's evolved units making a powerful screen for the high damage backline. Conservators can aid Abathur immensely, providing cover for his more fragile units.

Stukov and Fenix have a very powerful synergy. While they lack the ability to directly aid one another, both cover for each other's weaknesses very well. Fenix and his early champions can dominate the early game while Stukov prepares his larger infested waves. These waves tie up enemies, are dirty cheap, and set enemy forces up to be slaughtered by Fenix's dragoon bursts and his heavier units like immortals and colossi. Scouts and adepts can provide more reliable anti-air, and the ability for the Cybros arbiter to warp in anywhere can cover for Stukov's lack of detection. Fenix's mobility mixed with Stukov's two calldowns means both armies have powerful options when it comes to laying down heavy damage to whatever point of the map they see fit.

Dehaka and Fenix have moderate synergy, but both suffer from overlapping mechanics. As with Alarak, Dehaka and Fenix both rely on single units to take a lot of their damage for their squishier army units, though in the later game Dehaka has tyrannozors and primal ultralisks to take damage for him. In the late game, Fenix can provide strong anti-air in his carriers and dragoon shell that Dehaka has less of. Fenix’s arbiter shell also augments Dehaka’s ability to have a global presence, allowing Fenix to move Dehaka’s army around while Dehaka himself can deep tunnel anywhere.

Development
In designing Fenix as a commander, the developers acknowledged him as a powerful warrior that leads from the front lines. Thus, it felt right to make him a controllable hero who appears directly on the battlefield. The Purifiers can store the personalities of protoss, but as other co-op heroes can revive, Fenix had to be made distinct. Thus, the idea was made to show him being able to transfer his consciousness into different robotic bodies. This led to the idea of "shells," to which Fenix could jump between depending on battlefield conditions. Players are encouraged to make these changes often due to limited regeneration properties for the suits and their low cooldown.

Lastly, the developers wanted to incorporate the fantasy of transferrable consciousness into his Purifier army as well, hence the replicated heroes concept.

Data and images in the Galaxy Map Editor show Fenix was intended to have instigators at some point in development, likely scrapped instead for the adept. Some also suggests the immortal and the carrier was intended to be named the resistor and bomber.

Trivia

 * An unused button for Fenix has the description "They﻿ call me Gato. I have Metal Joints. Beat me up. And Earn 15 Silver Points." This is a possible reference to the Gato enemy from Chrono Trigger.


 * During the release of Fenix, there was some controversy in the StarCraft community surrounding the commander being named "Fenix" rather than "Talandar," the name he chooses at the end of Legacy of the Void. In Patch 3.14, Blizzard added an upgrade named "A Strong Heart" at Fenix's forge that allowed players to change Fenix's name to Talandar for 25 minerals and 25 gas.