Rory Swann (Co-op Missions)

"Swann is a mechanical master of all things Terran. With Swann, you’ll have access to unique and advanced weaponry, which you can use to wreak unspeakable mayhem across the battlefield. Beginning each game with a massive laser drill, Swann will be unable to construct a Barracks. Instead, Swann relies entirely upon his mechanical prowess, and once he’s constructed his army there is little that can stop him."

- Commander blurb

Rory Swann is a playable commander in the Co-op Missions mode of Legacy of the Void. His army composition is based around mechanical units (vehicles, starships, and turrets), improving their performance in battle and allowing him to build large numbers of them more quickly. He also has access to a Drakken laser drill which the player can control, and attack anything within the player's line of sight. He can also construct a variety of defensive turrets. All of his mechanical units are constructed 20% faster than normal, and his factories do not cost any vespene gas to construct.

As a downside, Swann is unable to build a barracks, and must rely on factory and starport units.

Info

 * Recommended for experienced players
 * Control a giant Drakken laser drill with destructive energy abilities
 * Build an army of vehicles, spaceships, and turrets

Mastery

 * Power Set 1
 * Concentrated Beam Width and Damage: +2% – 60% (up to a maximum of 640 damage)
 * Combat Drop Duration and Health: +2% – 60% (up to a maximum of 96s, and 640 health)


 * Power Set 2
 * Immortality Protocol Cost and Cooldown Duration: -2% – 60%
 * Structure Health: +2% – 60%


 * Power Set 3
 * Vespene Drone Cost: -3% – 90% (down to a minimum of 10 0)
 * Laser Drill-Production Time: -2s – 60s

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

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

Strategies
Swann has access to a variety of Brood War and Starcraft II units; while he has many useful options, it is very upgrade heavy. Centered around building as many mechanical units as possible, Swann mixes up the old and the new with a variety of vespene gas-guzzling war-machines. Swann can construct factories without the need of a barracks or any vespene gas. To top it off, Swann also has access to the Drakken Laser Drill from the Wings of Liberty campaign after 300 seconds of build time.

Power Set 1: Concentrated Beam / Combat Drop
 * Recommended masteries:

☀Concentrated Beam Width and Damage: +2% - 60% (minimum 400 damage; maximum 640 damage)

☀Combat Drop Duration and Life: +2%-60% (minimum 60s/400HP; maximum 96s/640HP)
 * A 19/11 split allows your Concentrated Beam to deal 552 damage, which is enough to one-shot the highest-HP standard unit in the game: the Battlecruiser. Combat Drop shores up Swann’s early game better and allows for your A.R.E.S. to tank more efficiently for your Siege Tanks in the mid- and late game.

Power Set 2: Immortality Protocol Cost and Build Time

☀Immortality Protocol Cost and Build Time: -2%-60%


 * Full points equates to more aggressive usage of siege tanks and thors. The ability to cheaply revive units is more important, especially because you then won’t be relying as much on your static defense on most maps. If you are only using goliaths on certain defensive maps and mutations, then Structure Health is probably a better choice.

Power Set 3: Vespene Harvester Cost

☀Vespene Harvester Cost: -3%-90% (100 minerals down to a minimum of 10 minerals)

☀Laser Drill Build and Upgrade Time: -2s-60s (300/190/220 seconds; minimum of 240/130/160 seconds)


 * With full mastery points, Swann reduces his total Drone cost on all 4 initial bases from 800 Minerals to 80 Minerals. This equates to cost-savings of 720 minerals early game and 50% increased gas production than normal for upgrades; all extremely useful for economic openers. Vespene Harvester Cost decrease is the clear choice here as Swann usually needs his extra gas income ASAP. Being able to afford Gas Harvesters much earlier in the game is a HUGE deal, as it allows Swann to ramp up his army earlier. Swann cannot depend on the Laser Drill to take out all attack waves and objectives consistently, and hence a stronger early-game army is more desirable.

Economy First
Swann economy takes longer then most commanders to get started. A trick to expand faster is to build a devastator turret next to the expansion rocks after construction of the first factory. The turret will quickly destroy the rocks, and can be salvaged for a full refund after a base has been established. Once Improved SCVs is unlocked, ten SCVs can make the time needed to construct an expansion command center, while also saturating it immediately afterwards. Vespene harvesters should be placed on all vespene geysers, including those of the player's ally. These drones grant vespene to both players, and can kickstart Swann's economy and allow for production of heavier vespene units while giving more resources to more vespene reliant heroes like Vorazun. Use Combat Drop liberally against large waves, and try to target its drop as upon impact it stuns all enemy units around it.

Power of the Sun
The Drakken Laser Drill is one of the most useful tools in Swann's army, and its abilities allow it to cripple most attack waves in one go. However, upgrades do take a long time on it, so it is worthwhile to get them started as early as possible. As such is it useful to have an armory made before the drill comes online. The drill will auto target any unit that comes out of the fog of war, but try to focus the drill on higher priority targets such as spellcasters or hybrids. It can also alleviate plenty of trouble if the polarity mutator is in play.

Set Back a Pretty Penny
Goliaths and Hellbats should be the core units of Swann's army. Goliath's superior anti-air range and flexible multi-lock upgrades are essential; it allows them to be a good source of damage for the army while staying back from the frontlines. The Hellbat's armor upgrade can put a buffer between the Swann's main army and the enemy forces. They excel against zerg armies, and are a good way to dump minerals if Swann begins to stockpile them while running low on gas. If possible, try to put out a pair of hellbats for early defense. While extremely effective once upgraded, Swann's hellbats are fairly fragile until their armor upgrades are researched. This can leave a Swann player stunned when their seemingly tough forces are destroyed.

Drop The Hammer
Siege tanks and thors are also powerful units, but become even more so when Immortality Protocol is unlocked and they can be reinforced on the frontlines instantly. Note that using Immortality Protocol, while cheaper and quicker than making a new unit, costs gas, so this does not mean that these units should be wasted carelessly. Siege tanks with their Maelstrom Shells become flexible against all kinds of targets, and on maps like Temple of the Past are key to holding off some of the larger attack waves. Know when to siege and when to stay mobile; never siege outside the effective-range and contribute minimal damage to a large battle. Thors are flexible, can absorb damage from enemy armies.

Get In My Hold
Swann's Hercules dropships are much cheaper than in Wings of Liberty, take up less supply, and can make tactical jumps. A few dropships can immediately ferry an entire army of thors and siege tanks past chokepoints and dump them instantly wherever they are needed. This is a useful skill to master, particularly on maps where Swann has to defend an objective. Swann's critical weakness in terms of late-game offense is his speed, his thor and siege tank based army is painfully slow to reach objectives, forcing him to rely on wraiths and hellions for an impromptu and fragile defense.

Science Hurts
Lastly, science vessels are one of the most essential units in Swann's arsenal. In addition to being Swann's detector unit, these ships can heal mechanical units for the cost of energy, but with Improved Nano-Repair they can repair indefinitely. This means that a group of four or five science vessels can keep an entire army going, putting them back up to maximum health between combat encounters fairly quickly. This also frees up the energy for the science vessel's other abilities, defensive matrix and irradiate, which can and should be used liberally.

Protoss Commanders
Artanis grants Swann Guardian Shell, which has immense synergy for Swann's army in the mid to late game. In addition to keeping Swann's high cost units alive during heavy combat, Swann's science vessels mean that these units can be quickly recovered from the point of death. With siege tanks and thors, this gives them another backup in addition to Immortality Protocol. In addition, Artanis's army will usually consist of immortals, dragoons and sometimes tempests, which also benefit from Swann's ability to repair them.

Karax synergizes perfectly when paired with Swann, due to both commanders' focus on mechanical units and potent defense capabilities. Karax's powerful anti-ground forces with the immortal and colossus are well complemented by Swann's powerful anti-air goliath and thor. Both commanders also have units that excel against priority targets: cyclones, and immortals upgraded with shadow cannon. Swann's science vessels and Karax's carriers can repair mechanical units, and both can combine their static defenses together for more versatility; energizers can also be added for even more effectiveness since they can speed up static as well as army units. Karax is incredibly gas starved, and Swann goes a long way to alleviate this. This is the only way to obtain a true army of powerful units for Karax. Karax's passive heal of mechanical units comes in extremely handy in the early game; Swann's units are as strong as they are slow, making it more difficult for Swann to retreat in battle. Karax's reconstruction beam ability is particularly useful in this case. If all else fails and both players suffer great losses in battle, Karax can help both players recreate their armies faster than anyone else.

Vorazun greatly benefits from Swann's vespene harvester. In addition, well placed dark pylons can shield Swann's heavier back-line units such as siege tanks, and in the higher levels can give them a substantial damage increase. Mass-produced upgraded wraiths should also be prudent for the same reason. Vorazun can also use Black Hole to set enemy armies up for Swann's powerful calldown abilities, as well as his siege tanks and the science vessel's irradiate.

Alarak is an effective teammate for Swann. Both have access to transports, the war prism and Hercules, making them highly mobile. Goliaths and thors provide a powerful anti-air support to supplement Alarak's ground-focused army. Science vessels and SCVs can repair Alarak's powerful robotic units. Swann's vespene harvesters are invaluable; allowing Alarak to upgrade and train his ascendants in large numbers.

Fenix is an excellent teammate for Swann. Many of Fenix's units are heavy on gas in spite of their cost reduction, so having a boost to economy will help Fenix's army hit its population cap faster. The largest benefit Swann adds to Fenix's arsenal is science vessels, as all of his army is mechanical and has no self heal. This allows his normally squishy army to be more durable. Fenix's suits, legionaries and Kaldalis can also serve as a buffer for Swann's mech line, and Swann can also serve to help Fenix's lack of reliable anti-air with goliaths. However, both armies take a long while to replace, so a bad engagement could mean both commanders fall too far behind to recover.

Terran Commanders
Raynor's army is perfectly functional without any aid from Swann's units, and vice-versa. However, one strategy that works to maximize efficiency is for Raynor to focus on an air army of banshees and vikings, as Swann's air game is weak, but he has a stronger ground game with hellbats, siege tanks, and thors. With such a strategy Swann can also use his science vessels to support Raynor's aerial forces. Swann also can provide Raynor with unattached tech reactors, accelerating his production of advanced units such as marauders and battlecruisers.

Nova can benefit a great deal from Swann's vespene harvesters, but otherwise her unit quality is far superior to Swann's (with the exception of Swann having thors and cyclones). Science Vessels can help keep Nova's mechanized units alive while not requiring her to make ravens, and Swann's static defenses easily compensate for Nova's poor defensive structures. Tech reactors don't help Nova's production, as her unit calldowns are cooldown-based. Additionally, Swann's laser drill can work in tandem with Nova as she dismantles enemy bases.

Zerg Commanders
Vespene harvesters are a boon to ultralisk and mutalisk production for Kerrigan and baneling production for Zagara. It is efficient for Swann to focus on a powerful ground army while Kerrigan/Zagara gets an air force to support them. Kerrigan's Nydus Worms can also help out with Swann's poor mobility.

Abathur is another good choice for Swann. Vespene harvesters allow Abathur to gain much needed gas for later game units and high tier research. Many of Swann's units have high range, which allows Abathur's shorter ranged, high health ground army to create a buffer between the enemy and high priority targets. Abathur's Swarm Queens can also be upgraded to heal mechanical units in the Evolution Chamber on high levels, and Swann's Science Vessels can cast Defensive Matrix on Abathur's already durable front line units, allowing both armies to be virtually indestructible.

Stukov does not benefit from Swann's vespene drones in a major way, but Stukov's forces compliment Swann's forces very well. Swann can provide a more expensive siege line while Stukov's disposable waves on infested create a buffer zone, protecting Swann's units and keeping the enemies in the area of maximum damage for his siege tanks. Swann's science vessels can heal Stukov's mechanical army. In addition, on defensive maps infested bunkers and the infest structure ability allow for aid on Swann's siege tanks and turrets even from long distances. Swann's drill meanwhile can be used to clear the way for infested waves that are struggling to break through a defensive line.

Dehaka and Swann are deceptively strong together. One of Dehaka’s major issues in the later game is gas consumption with his army, a problem Swann and his vespene drones help mitigate. This also allows Dehaka to potentially transition into an air combination, something usually hard without suffering midgame. Swann also has a long ranged army with high damage that suffers in melee, while Dehaka has a low to mid-range army with heavy armored melee units. This allows Swann to deal heavy damage with goliaths and siege tanks while Dehaka does the brunt of the fighting. In addition, with how early Dehaka comes out, he can keep the first attack wave at bay without Swann having to use his ARES warbot calldown.

Development
Data in the Galaxy Editor points to Swann having access to diamondbacks at some point in development.

Trivia

 * In Patch 3.15, Swann was given his own unique interface, giving it a "rougher" mechanical terran look.