Zeratul (Co-op Missions)

"In this alternate timeline, Zeratul has survived to see the battle against Amon fully unfold. As a commander, he harnesses the power of the xel'naga for his army and upgrades."

- Zeratul Spotlight

Zeratul is a commander for the Co-op Missions mode. He brings the power of xel'naga-enhanced protoss to bear against his enemies, and can utilize xel'naga relics to turn the tide in his favor. He is the mode's second hybrid-type commander, combining elements of the protoss and xel'naga arsenal.

Zeratul can deploy to the battlefield as a hero and can build advanced protoss forces augmented with xel'naga technology. Scattered through the map are a series of random artifact fragments Zeratul must collect. Using prophetic vision will give Zeratul a hint as to its location. Once it is found, it will give Zeratul new upgrades and top bar abilities.

Zeratul's top bar abilities are customizable, and each tier has options to select from. Zeratul can call down Legendary legions to help him in battle, which cannot be directly controlled but directed to locations. Zeratul can also utilize these customizable top bar to augment his army with passive abilities or new calldowns. Upon gaining all three artifact fragments, Zeratul can call down one of two xel'naga constructs, the Avatar of Form or the Avatar of Essence.

Overview
"Alas, the day has finally come. The End War is upon us... and all of creation depends on our victory. I must look again to the wisdom of the Xel'Naga... their ancient constructs hold the power that could be our salvation!"

- Zeratul

Info

 * Power up your army and abilities with xel'naga artifacts
 * Control an elite xel'naga-enhanced protoss army
 * Build out your top bar with artifact fragments
 * Summon ultimate xel'naga constructs (Avatar of Form and Avatar of Essence)

Mastery

 * Power Set 1
 * Zeratul Attack Speed: +1.5% – 45%
 * Combat Units Attack Speed: +0.5% – +15%


 * Power Set 2
 * Artifact Fragment Spawn Rate: -2 sec – -60 sec (down to a minimum of 120 sec)
 * Support Calldown Cooldown Reduction: -1 sec – -30 sec


 * Power Set 3
 * Legendary Legion Cost: -1% – -30% (down to a minimum of 350 0)
 * Avatar Cooldown: -2 sec – -60 sec

Game Unit
Zeratul deploys personally to the battlefield to aid his army. He serves as a viable source of air and ground damage, dealing 100 damage per attack. Zeratul himself can hunt around the map for artifact fragments, and use Prophetic Vision to close in on their location. While Zeratul himself is relatively fragile, his high mobility with blink and Void Seeker can let him move in and out of combat and strike key targets.

Calldown Abilities
Zeratul can customize his calldown abilities from a variety of options. His Legendary Legion calldowns are gained at the start of a match, but his other three top bar abilities are obtained for each artifact fragment collected. Once a top bar ability is chosen, it is finalized for that mission.

The following abilities are available to pick from at the start of the game, and focus on Zeratul's summonable Legendary legions.
 * First Tier

The following abilities are available to pick from upon discovering the first artifact fragment.
 * Second Tier

The following abilities are available to pick from upon discovering the second artifact fragment, and focus on passive buffs.
 * Third Tier

The following abilities are available to pick from upon discovering the third artifact fragment, and grant Zeratul his ultimate Avatar calldowns.
 * Fourth Tier

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

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

Playstyle
Zeratul’s gameplay will revolve heavily around the Prophetic Vision ability, which allows the player to discover three Xel’Naga Artifact Fragments on the map. Players are encouraged to seek out these Artifact Fragments as they will improve Zeratul in a variety of ways:

In addition, uniquely among Commanders, Zeratul’s top-bar will be fully customizable. Both at the start of the game and with each Artifact Fragment recovered, you’ll be able to choose one additional top-bar ability from a selection of two or three. Players should select these abilities carefully based on both their individual playstyles and the needs of the mission.
 * Zeratul, his units, calldowns, defensive structures, and even Probes will gain weapon, armor, and shield upgrades with each Artifact Fragment.
 * Zeratul has no traditional researchable abilities. Instead, Artifact Fragments he finds will grant his units Artifact Enhancements, which are either new abilities or improvements to existing abilities.
 * Zeratul has a potential of four top-bar abilities, but only one is unlocked at the start of the game. Players unlock new top-bar abilities with each Artifact Fragment they find.
 * The Legendary Legion calldowns improve with each Artifact Fragment found.
 * Zeratul himself gains bonuses.

Development
The designers of Co-op have stated that they always had been huge fans of Zeratul as a character in the StarCraft universe, and wanted to bring him into Co-op Missions. However, there was already a “Dark Templar” commander in Vorazun, so care was taken to differentiate him.

The team wanted him both to be on the field as a hero and have a small elite fighting force, as he was most often featured in insurgent-style missions in the StarCraft II campaign, but to go beyond his singular identity as a dark templar. Throughout the campaign, Zeratul looked to the wisdom of the xel’naga for guidance, obsessed with finding their prophecies, and as such the idea to have him hunt xel'naga relics to aid him was made.

In addition, the team was committed to creating a commander that felt and played differently from his protoss brethren. To that end, Zeratul’s army was given xel'naga enhancements, with the intention of making him feel as much of a xel'naga commander as a protoss commander.

The Legendary Legion mechanic was inspired by Zeratul's propensity to have allies sacrifice themselves to aid him in the campaign.