- The Overmind(src)
Full Circle is the tenth and final zerg mission of Episode II of StarCraft.
History[]
Background[]
The Zerg Swarm has invaded Aiur and are rampaging across the planet. The Cerebrate led an attack on a khaydarin crystal formation, and retrieved a shard of the crystals for the Overmind[1]
The Overmind tasked the Cerebrate to a final mission that would ensure the zerg's conquest of Aiur. The Overmind directed the Cerebrate to an ancient xel'naga temple that marked the site the creators of the zerg and protoss, the xel'naga, had first set foot on Aiur.[2] The Cerebrate was to destroy the temple and bring the khaydarin crystal to its ruins. With the power of the crystal, the Overmind would be able to manifest its physical form on Aiur.[3]
The Hour of Judgment[]
The Cerebrate's brood attacked the temple grounds, guarded by the Vanguard of Aiur. The brood destroyed the temple, infuriating the protoss and causing them to launch an all-out offensive to keep the zerg from the temple ruins. However, the Cerebrate held off the protoss and brought the khaydarin crystal shard there.[3] An asteroid struck the temple ruins, and the Overmind was made manifest on Aiur.[4]
Walkthrough[]
The player's base is situated near two large mineral fields. The player may wish to destroy the creep colony in their base to build a second hatchery closer to the eastern minerals for faster mining. More mineral fields lie to the east and west against the cliffs, but the eastern field has photon cannons on the cliffs above, so the player should avoid it until the Akilae Tribe (green) is destroyed.
The map is filled with diffuse resources, and gas is scarce. Even the bases of the Akilae Tribe (teal protoss) have perhaps 1500 Vespene in their geysers at the start of the mission, and will likely be depleted by the time the player can sack their bases. This does not make the geysers useless, however: apart from the two 5000 Vespene geysers (just to the north of the player's starting location and in the center eastern edge of the map, beneath part of the teal protoss's base), the only other options are two small geysers with 1500 Vespene, each geyser very far from associated (and sparse) mineral fields. Vespene is therefore at a premium, while minerals are comparatively plentiful. This shapes the army that the player can build.
The Akilae Tribe (teal) will primarily attack with ground forces, while the Velari (yellow) far to the north will attack with scouts and carriers. The player should quickly mobilize an attack force and destroy the two Akilae bases east and west of their base, which will give the player much more ease in the mission. An air force of mutalisks can break the defenses of the bases, after which a zerglings swarm can destroy the buildings. Another option is to research Ventral Sacs (transporting for Overlords) and take a force of two dozen Hydralisks to the undefended ledge just west of the player's starting position, from which the player can mount a direct attack on one of the Akilae Tribe's Nexuses (and from there annihilate the whole base). For this strategy, movement speed and range upgrades for Hydralisks are in order, as are attack and armor upgrades. It is also to the player's advantage to mine as many minerals as possible, including to the west of the starting position. Placing the Hatchery for this amidst the trees, further north than might seem optimal for gathering, will help spread creep closer to the ramp needed to access the western Akilae base. The player can then build Sunken Colonies near the ramp (but out of range of the Photon Cannon on the cliff above) and be prepared to cut the land communication between the Akilae bases when the assault begins. The player's Sunken Colonies will then absorb a number of the Akilae reinforcements as their Hydralisks consolidate the base. The best time to launch such an attack is likely after the first Carrier / Scout attack by the Velari. The Ultralisk that the player starts with can also be brough to the cliff to run point when attacking Photon Cannons, and the player should be ready to immediately establish their own base with a drone as the Nexus is destroyed. By the time the attack on the western Akilae Tribe base is finished, the player's gas supply will have increased and they can make Mutalisks or even (if multitasking well) upgrade to a Hive and produce a handful of Guardians to attack the eastern Akilae base. The protoss will re-estalish destroyed structures, but if the player is especially quick and moves their Overlords in anticipation of each cliff-scaling, the Hydralisk force complemented by Guardians can destoy the eastern base in short order. Another major event that may intervene is an Akilae attack with a large group of Zealots. If the player is quick enough, the eastern base can be destroyed before this happens, otherwise defeating this wave is a good signal to press a new offensive.
With the teal protoss bases destroyed the player can seize their resource nodes and continue upgrading and expanding their forces. Three, perhaps four, dozen Hydralisks are a good basis for the army due to their capability to take down protoss air units and the productin depending more on minerals than gas. The player can also build dense clusters of Spore Colonies to nullify the Venatir attacks. A cluster of 8-10 packed colonies can defeat a Carrier's interceptors, effectively neutralizing the threat it poses. Because of the high armor on Carriers and the full upgrades that the Venatir will research, destroying the interceptors before the Carrier itself with a dense cluster of Hydralisks or even Mutalisks is a reasonable strategy. Once the teal protoss are defeated, the yellow protoss will not attack very often, and the surfeit of minerals permits the construction of many Spore Colonies to defend mining operations. With an upgraded force of two dozen Guardians and two dozen Mutalisks, the player can easily smash the yellow protoss base, working east to west or vice-versa. To destroy the temple last is a reasonable propositon, as it will activate the Ara (red) protoss. (Attacking the red base, or perhaps just bringing forces near the temple, will also incite the red protoss to begin upgrading and attacking--it is their priority to defend the area.) With the yellow protoss out of the way, the red protoss are not nearly as tough, as they are equally spread out and have no upgrades when they first activate.
For a faster game, the Vthe path through the Velari base to the temple is linear. The temple itself is heavily defended by numerous photon cannons and protoss units, including high templar, reavers, and archons. The player may want numerous hatcheries and several expansions to finance the rapid reinforcement of their army, and rally their hatcheries to the temple to keep pressing the attack. If the player does expand to the central eastern and central western ledges, where additional small gesyers and minerals can be found, a Nydus Canal network is very useful in quickly moviing Hydralisks from one location to the other for defense.
When the temple is destroyed, a drone with the khaydarin crystal will spawn at the player's base, and their final objective is to bring the crystal to the temple ruins. At this time the Ara Tribe (red) far to the north will begin to defend the temple. The player should not have much difficulty continuing to hold them off, however, as long as they keep their forces grouped near the temple for strength in numbers. When the drone carrying the crystal reaches the temple site, the mission ends.
References[]
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: The Invasion of Aiur (in English). 1998.
- ↑ Overmind: "Behold, there is a temple, not far from here, that lies upon ground most hallowed. Though I have born witness to the passing of countless millennia, the temple which you must assault is older by far. For it was constructed by my creators, the Xel'Naga, and it marks the site where the Xel'Naga first set foot upon Aiur." StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: Full Circle (in English). 1998.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: Full Circle (in English). 1998.
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Cinematic: The Invasion of Aiur. (in English). 1998.