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Sarah Kerrigan is a playable commander in the Co-op Missions mode of Starcraft II, introduced as a commander in the Legacy of the Void expansion. She is controlled as a hero unit during missions akin to Heart of the Swarm, and her brood contains many familiar Zerg strains[1] along with the ability to deploy a much more powerful version of the Nydus Network.

Overview[]

"I am the Swarm."

- Kerrigan(src)

Kerrigan is a powerful hero commander, spawning for free at four minutes into the game and reviving for free when killed. Her army composition is composed of a mix of fragile damage dealers and tougher, more defensive Zerg strains, which are both supported by the hero and in turn serve as support and additional firepower. Her Omega network is deceptively powerful, providing her with mobility that borders on omnipresence, detection on demand, aggressive ambushes, quick escapes and tanking. Lastly, she's able to provide additional resources both for herself and her ally using the hero's Assimilation aura ability.

Despite the in-game description of Kerrigan as "for players of all skill levels", Kerrigan players will benefit from a combination of good hero micro, solid macro play and judicious army micro, as the commander is relatively complex to master.

Info[]

  • Recommended for players of all skill levels
  • Control Kerrigan on the mission with aggressive abilities
  • Lead a powerful army of the toughest Zerg units

Mastery[]

Power Set 1
Kerrigan's Energy Regeneration: +1.5% – +45%
Kerrigan's Attack Damage: +1 – +30
Power Set 2
Reduced Combat Unit Vespene Gas Cost: -1% – -30%
Immobilization Wave Increased Damage: +3.33% – +100%
Power Set 3
Expeditious Evolutions: -2% – -60%
Primary Ability Damage and Attack Speed: +1% – +30%

Prestiges[]

Level 1 – Malevolent Matriarch
Advantage: Malignant Creep effectiveness increased by 100%. Queens are no longer slowed and may place creep tumors when off creep.
Disadvantage: Nydus and Omega Networks are unavailable.
Level 2 – Folly of Man
Advantage: Kerrigan expends stacks of Fury while using Leaping strike or Psionic shift, striking nearby enemies for 50 damage and stunning them from 3 seconds.
Disadvantage: Kerrigan's Carapace generation reduced by 50%. Kerrigan's ability damage reduced by 50%.
Total damage when expending Fury stacks
1 enemy 2-3 enemies 3-6 enemies 6-12 enemies 12-24 enemies
1 Stack 50 N/A N/A N/A N/A
2 Stacks 100 150 N/A N/A N/A
3 Stacks 150 300 300 N/A N/A
4 Stacks 200 450 600 600 N/A
5 Stacks 250 600 900 1200 1200
With the maximum 5 stacks of Fury, strikes up to 24 units (total damage 1200) within a range 10. Each stack of Fury expended applies the damage and stun to the appropriate number of units depending on the number of stacks expended, and multiple expended stacks can target the same unit. Does not require detection to hit cloaked or burrowed units.
Level 3 – Desolate Queen
Advantage: Assimilation Aura resource drops increased by 100%. Kerrigan gains Kinetic Blast and Crushing Grip.
Disadvantage: Leaping Strike and Psionic Shift are unavailable.
Aesthetic: Reskins Kerrigan into her Heart of the Swarm terran form.

Accessibility[]

  • Ease of Play - Fair
  • Sub-Ascension Power - Fair
  • Power Level for Beginners - Average
  • Power Level for Veterans - Very Good
  • Early Game Strength - Good
  • Ease of Macro - Fair
  • Ease of Micro - Very Good
  • Mutation Versatility - Very Good
  • Ramp Up Speed - Good

Game Unit[]

As a hero unit, Kerrigan is very powerful once she spawns at 4:00 and can be upgraded further at the Evolution chamber. She can quickly clear weaker enemies with Psionic shift while still dealing well with powerful ground units like Hybrid, can easily reposition with both her basic abilities and has self-sustain from her regenerating Mutating Carapace shield.

However, without her second and third prestige which transform her hero unit, her basic abilities aren't effective against air units, leaving her vulnerable to air-based attack waves. Against larger enemy forces, Kerrigan should instead take a more supporting role, using Immobilization wave to stun enemies over a wide area while her army rushes in.

While her Folly of Man prestige implies a focus on crowd control over damage, it actually improves her explosive power and anti-air capabilities, making her less dependent on support. Players will want to alternate between attacking exactly 5 times and using an ability mostly to reposition while releasing a full strength volley of strikes, and for very safe play can attack her own Omega worms to stack Folly before entering combat.

On the other hand, Desolate Queen completely changes the hero unit into a long-ranged support spellcaster, losing Leaping Strike and Psionic Shift in favour of Kinetic Blast and Crushing Grip. She becomes much better at sniping key targets safely at the cost of her ability to quickly deal with large numbers of ground units.

Like most heroes in Co-op, Kerrigan is respawned at your main base one minute after being killed.

Abilities[]

Kerrigan has the following abilities, depending on prestige choice.

SC2 KerrLeapingStrike Icon
Leaping Strike

Kerrigan leaps to her target and deals 150 damage. Can be used without a target to travel quickly. Passive: Kerrigan gains +10 damage and -3 attack range.

Ruthlessness: Increases the Leaping Strike damage from 150 to 300 and its range from 6 to 12.

Folly of Man: Reduces the Leaping Strike damage from 150 (300 with Ruthlessness) to 75 (150 with Ruthlessness).

Desolate Queen: Replace the Leaping Strike ability by Kinetic Blast ability.

Usage
Hotkey Q
Cost 50 Energy
40 (with Ability Efficiency) Energy
Range 6
12 (with Ruthlessness)
Notes

Mastery: +3 (+1.5 with Folly of Man) ability damage per Primary Ability Damage and Attack Speed mastery point. Up to a maximum of 390 (195 with Folly of Man) ability damage

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Initially available.
ve
SC2 KerrPsionicShift Icon
Psionic Shift

Kerrigan dashes through her enemies, dealing 50 damage to all enemies in her path.

Ruthlessness: Increases the Psionic Shift damage from 50 to 100.

Folly of Man: Reduces the Psionic Shift damage from 50 (100 with Ruthlessness) to 25 (50 with Ruthlessness).

Desolate Queen: Replaces the Psionic Shift ability by Crushing Grip ability.

Usage
Hotkey W
Cost 50 Energy
40 (with Ability Efficiency) Energy
Range 6
Notes

Mastery: +1 (+0.5 with Folly of Man) ability damage per Primary Ability Damage and Attack Speed mastery point. Up to a maximum 130 (80 with Folly of Man) ability damage

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Initially available.
ve
SC2 KerrKineticBlast Icon
Kinetic Blast

Instantly deals 150 damage to target unit or structure.

Ruthlessness: increases the Kinetic Blast damage from 150 to 300.

Usage
Hotkey Q
Cost 50 Energy
40 (with Ability Efficiency) Energy
Range 9
Notes

Mastery: +3 ability damage per Primary Ability Damage and Attack Speed mastery point. Up to a maximum of 390 ability damage

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Desolate Queen prestige
ve
SC2 KerrCrushingGrip Icon
Crushing Grip

Stuns enemy units in area of effect and deals 25 damage for 5 seconds. Heroic units are slowed.

Ruthlessness: increases the Crushing Grip damage from 25 to 50.

Usage
Hotkey W
Cost 75 Energy
60 (with Ability Efficiency) Energy
Range 7
Duration 5 seconds
Notes

Mastery: +0.5 ability damage per Primary Ability Damage and Attack Speed mastery point. Up to a maximum 65 ability damage

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Desolate Queen prestige.
ve
SC2 Kerrigan AC - AssimilationAura
Assimilation Aura

Causes all nearby enemies to drop resources when killed.

Desolate Queen: Increases the Assimilation Aura resource drops by 100%.

Usage
Hotkey E
Duration 15 seconds
Cooldown 120seconds
96 (with Ability Efficiency) seconds
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Initially available.
ve

Deals 100 damage to enemies in a large area (radius 27) around Kerrigan and stuns them for 10 seconds.

Reveals cloaked and burrowed units and structures.

Heroic units are slowed instead of stunned.

Folly of Man: Reduces the Immobilization Wave damage from 100 to 50.

Usage
Hotkey D
Cooldown Coolup: 600 seconds

Cooldown: 180 seconds

144 (with Ability Efficiency) seconds
Notes

Mastery: +3.33 (+1.665 with Folly of Man) ability damage per Immobilization Wave Increased Damage mastery point. Up to a maximum 200 (100 with Folly of Man) ability damage

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan Level 2.
ve

Upgrades[]

Researched[]

SC2 KerrHeroicFortitude Icon
Heroic Fortitude

Increases Kerrigan's maximum HP by 200 and life regeneration by 100%.

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Initially available.
Acquisition
Purchased from Evolution chamber
Hotkey F
Cost 100 Minerals 100 Vespene gas 60seconds
Mastery: -2 Minerals -2 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 -1.2seconds per Expeditious Evolutions mastery point. Down to a maximum 40 Minerals 40 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 24seconds
ve
SC2 ChainReaction Icon
Chain Reaction

Kerrigan attacks bounce to subsequent enemies, dealing 10 damage to up to four more targets.

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan Level 9
Acquisition
Purchased from Evolution chamber
Hotkey R
Cost 150 Minerals 150 Vespene gas 90seconds
Mastery: -3 Minerals -3 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 -1.8seconds per Expeditious Evolutions mastery point. Down to a maximum 60 Minerals 60 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 36seconds
Required Lair/Hive
ve
SC2 KerrAbilityEfficiency Icon
Ability Efficiency

Reduces the energy cost and cooldown of Kerrigan's abilities by 20%.

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan Level 9
Acquisition
Purchased from Evolution chamber
Hotkey E
Cost 200 Minerals 200 Vespene gas 120seconds
Mastery: -4 Minerals -4 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 -2.4seconds per Expeditious Evolutions mastery point. Down to a maximum 80 Minerals 80 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 48seconds
Required Hive
ve

Talents[]

SC2 Kerrigan AC - MutatingCarapace
Mutating Carapace

Kerrigan has 30% permanent life steal, which can temporarily grant her bonus life as she deals damage, to a maximum of +200 HP.

Folly of Man: Reduces Carapace generation from 30% of damage to 15% of damage.

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Initially available.
ve
SC2 KerrLeapingStrike Icon
Ruthlessness

Increases the damage of Kerrigan's Leaping Strike by 150 to 300 and its cast range from 6 to 12. Increases the damage of Psionic Shift from 50 to 100.

Folly of Man: Increases the damage of Kerrigan's Leaping Strike by 75 to 150 and its cast range from 6 to 12. Increases the damage of Psionic Shift from 25 to 50.

Desolate Queen: Increases the damage of Kerrigan's Kinetic Blast by 150 to 300. Increases the damage of Crushing Grip from 25 to 50.

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan level 3.
ve
SC2 KerrFury Icon
Fury

Kerrigan's attack speed increases by 10% with each attack, stacking five times up to 50%. Wears off when Kerrigan has not attacked an enemy for five seconds.

Folly of Man: Kerrigan expends stacks of Fury while using Leaping Strike or Psionic Shift, striking nearby enemies for 50 damage and stunning them from 3 seconds within a range 10. Heroic units only takes damage.

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan Level 10.
ve
SC2 Kerrigan AC - QueenofBlades
Queen of Blades

Increases Kerrigan's energy regeneration by 50%.

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan Level 15.
ve

Army Composition[]

Units and Structures[]

Kerrigan has access to the following units and structures:

Icon Unit Details Production Damage
1. Zergling Default

Zergling Raptor Kerrigan

Zergling Fast melee unit.

Can attack ground units.
(Evolves to Raptor strain at level 12. Leaps over obstacles and onto targets from range. Deals increased damage.)

50 Minerals 1 Control
for 2 zerglings.
Vs Air: N/A
Vs Ground: 10 DPS
1. Queen Default Queen Defensive unit. Can use Spawn Larva, Spawn Creep Tumor and Transfusion. Moves much faster on creep.

Can attack ground and air units.

150 Minerals 2 Control Vs Air: 9 DPS
Vs Ground: 8 DPS
Vs Ground Armored: 12 DPS
1. Hydralisk Default

Hydralisk Lurker Kerrigan

Hydralisk Ranged attacker.

Can attack ground and air units.
(Evolves to Lurker strain at level 5. Can morph into a lurker)

100 Minerals 50 Vespene gas 2 Control No Frenzy: 14 DPS
With Frenzy: 29 DPS
Mutalisk Brood Lord Kerrigan Mutalisk Air unit. Bounces its shot to strike multiple targets. Can morph into a Brood Lord.

Can attack ground and air units.

100 Minerals 100 Vespene gas 2 Control 5.92 DPS

With Vicious Glaive and Severeing Glaive: 35.52 DPS

Brood Lord Kerrigan Brood Lord Flying heavy-assault unit. Shoots Broodlings at its target. A Broodling is a small creature that can attack ground units.

Can attack ground units.

Mutalisk cost +150 Minerals +150 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 +2 ZergSupply SC2 Icon1 =
250 Minerals 250 Vespene gas 4 Control
Vs Air: N/A
Vs Ground, neglecting broodlings: 16.00 DPS
1. Ultralisk Default

Ultralisk Torrasque Kerrigan

Ultralisk Heavy assault beast. Has an area-damage cleave attack.

Can attack ground units.
(Evolves to Torrasque strain at level 14. When killed, can be revived.)

300 Minerals 200 Vespene gas 6 Control Vs Air: N/A
Vs Ground: 41 DPS
1. Overseer Default Overseer Detector. Advanced aerial observer. Maintains the unit cap set by the Overlord Overlord cost (100 Minerals Provides 8 Control) +50 Minerals +50 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 =
150 Minerals 50 Vespene gas Provides 8 Control
Vs Air: N/A
Vs Ground: N/A
1. Lurker Default Lurker Anti-ground ambusher. Has a spine attack that damages all enemy units in its line to fire. Must burrow to attack.

Can attack ground units.

(Unlocks at level 5)

Hydralisk cost +50 Minerals +100 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 +1 ZergSupply SC2 Icon1 =
150 Minerals 150 Vespene gas 3 Control
10 DPS
Vs Armored: 15 DPS
Spine Crawler Kerrigan Spine crawler Anti-ground mobile creep-bound defensive structure.

Can attack ground units.

Drone cost (50 Minerals 1 Control) +100 Minerals -1 ZergSupply SC2 Icon1 =
150 Minerals 
13.51
Vs Armoured: 16.22 DPS
Spore Crawler Kerrigan Spore crawler Anti-air mobile creep-bound defensive structure.

Can attack air units.

Drone cost (50 Minerals 1 Control) +75 Minerals -1 ZergSupply SC2 Icon1 =
125 Minerals 
Vs Air: 17.44
Nydus Network Kerrigan

Nydus Worm Kerrigan Nydus Worm Omega Kerrigan

Nydus network Structure which allows friendly ground units to instantly travel to any other Nydus Network or Nydus Worm owned by the player.

(Evolves to Omega network strain at level 8. Detector: Friendly ground units use the Omega Network to instantly travel to any other Omega Network or Omega Worm owned by the player.)

Drone cost (50 Minerals 1 Control) +150 Minerals +200 ZergVespene SC2 Game1 -1 ZergSupply SC2 Icon1 =
200 Minerals 200 Vespene gas 
Vs Air: N/A
Vs Ground: N/A

Talent Progression[]

Kerrigan acquires the following talents as she levels up.

SC2 Kerrigan AC - MutatingCarapace
Mutating Carapace

Kerrigan has 30% permanent life steal, which can temporarily grant her bonus life as she deals damage, to a maximum of +200 HP.

Folly of Man: Reduces Carapace generation from 30% of damage to 15% of damage.

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Initially available.
ve

Deals 100 damage to enemies in a large area (radius 27) around Kerrigan and stuns them for 10 seconds.

Reveals cloaked and burrowed units and structures.

Heroic units are slowed instead of stunned.

Folly of Man: Reduces the Immobilization Wave damage from 100 to 50.

Usage
Hotkey D
Cooldown Coolup: 600 seconds

Cooldown: 180 seconds

144 (with Ability Efficiency) seconds
Notes

Mastery: +3.33 (+1.665 with Folly of Man) ability damage per Immobilization Wave Increased Damage mastery point. Up to a maximum 200 (100 with Folly of Man) ability damage

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan Level 2.
ve
SC2 KerrLeapingStrike Icon
Ruthlessness

Increases the damage of Kerrigan's Leaping Strike by 150 to 300 and its cast range from 6 to 12. Increases the damage of Psionic Shift from 50 to 100.

Folly of Man: Increases the damage of Kerrigan's Leaping Strike by 75 to 150 and its cast range from 6 to 12. Increases the damage of Psionic Shift from 25 to 50.

Desolate Queen: Increases the damage of Kerrigan's Kinetic Blast by 150 to 300. Increases the damage of Crushing Grip from 25 to 50.

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan level 3.
ve
SC2 Zagara AC - ZerglingUpgrades
Spawning Pool Upgrade Cache

Unlocks additional zergling upgrades on the spawning pool.
Zerglings gain +10 maximum life.
Zergling attacks reduce their target's armor to 0 for 10 seconds.

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan level 4.
ve
SC2 Kerrigan AC - UnlockLurker
New Unit: Lurker

Allows hydralisks to morph into lurkers. Requires a lurker den.

Area-damage ambusher. Must burrow to attack.

Can attack ground units.

Usage
Notes

Replace default skin Icon Zerg Hydralisk to lurker strain IconLurkerStrain

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan level 5.
ve
SC2 Kerrigan AC - HydraliskUpgrades
Hydralisk/Lurker Upgrade Cache

Unlocks additional hydralisk and lurker upgrades on the hydralisk den and lurker den.
• Increases hydralisks' life by 20, for a total of 100.
• Unlocks hydralisk's Frenzy ability, which increases their attack speed by 50% for 15 seconds.
• Increases lurkers' attack range by 3, for a total of 12.

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan level 6.
ve
SC2 KerrMalignantCreep Icon
Malignant Creep

Friendly ground units gain 30% attack speed and regenerate 1 hit point per second while on creep. Creep tumors spread creep faster (from 0.45 to 0.225) and farther (from 10 to 13).
Passive: Kerrigan's Creep bonuses applies to all creep, including Stukov's automatic creep spread.

Passive ability.

Malevolent Matriarch: Friendly ground units gain 60% attack speed and regenerate 2 hit points per second while on creep. Creep tumors spread creep faster (from 0.45 to 0.15) and farther (from 10 to 16).

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan level 7.
ve
SC2 Kerrigan AC - OmegaWorm
Omega Worm

Upgrades the nydus network to the omega network, which summons omega worms.

Omega worms cost no resources, spawn anywhere, detect cloaked or burrowed units, generate instant creep, unload units instantly, and can be used by allies.

Passive ability.

Usage
Notes

Affects Abathur's Nydus Network.

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan level 8.
ve
SC2 Kerrigan AC - KerriganUpgrades
Kerrigan Upgrade Cache

Unlocks additional upgrades for Kerrigan on the evolution chamber.
• Upgrades Kerrigan's attacks to deal normal damage to her target and then jump to additional nearby enemies.
• Reduces Kerrigan's ability cost and cooldowns by 20%.

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan level 9.
ve
SC2 KerrFury Icon
Fury

Kerrigan's attack speed increases by 10% with each attack, stacking five times up to 50%. Wears off when Kerrigan has not attacked an enemy for five seconds.

Folly of Man: Kerrigan expends stacks of Fury while using Leaping Strike or Psionic Shift, striking nearby enemies for 50 damage and stunning them from 3 seconds within a range 10. Heroic units only takes damage.

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan Level 10.
ve
SC2 Kerrigan AC - SpireUpgrades
Spire Upgrade Cache

Unlocks additional mutalisk and brood lord upgrades on the spire and greater spire.
• The mutalisk's attack no longer decreases in damage with each subsequent bounce.
• Increase the brood lord's movement speed by 75%.

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan level 11.
ve
SC2 Kerrigan AC - UnlockRaptor
Zergling Evolution: Raptor

Evolves Kerrigan's zerglings into the raptor strain.

Fast melee unit. Leaps over obstacles and onto targets from range. Deals increased damage.

Can attack ground units.

Usage
Notes

Replace default skin Icon Zerg Zergling to raptor strain IconRaptorStrain

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan level 12.
ve
SC2 Kerrigan AC - UltraliskUpgrades
Ultralisk Upgrade Cache

Unlocks additional ultralisk upgrades on the ultralisk cavern.
• Unlock the ultralisk's Burrow Charge ability. The ultralisk burrows and charges at an enemy unit.
• Upgrade ultralisks' attacks to self-heal for 40% of damage dealt.

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan level 13.
ve
SC2 Kerrigan AC - UnlockTorrasque
Ultralisk Evolution: Torrasque

Evolves Kerrigan's ultralisks into the torrasque strain.

Heavy assault beast. Has an area-damage cleave attack. When killed, can be revived after 10 seconds, once every 60 seconds.

Can attack ground units.

Usage
Notes

Replace default skin Icon Zerg Ultralisk to torrasque strain IconTorrasqueStrain

Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan level 14.
ve
SC2 Kerrigan AC - QueenofBlades
Queen of Blades

Increases Kerrigan's energy regeneration by 50%.

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan Level 15.
ve

Strategies[]

Kerrigan is a versatile commander, in terms of build, positioning, role, army composition, that overall contribute to mutator resilience. Players can choose between hero build and army build; the troops can quickly reposition using omega network; players can defend with lurkers or attack with ultralisks; players can have different army composition, like cheap vs expensive army, ground vs air army, melee vs ranged army, stealth units, or even moving towers supported by queens.

Mastery Strategies[]

Power Set 1: Kerrigan Attack Damage

☀Kerrigan Attack Damage (+1 damage per level, up to +30)
  • Non-Fury: 60.67 DPS (with full Mastery)
  • Fury: 91.00 DPS (with full Mastery)
Full points in attack damage significantly increases Kerrigan's effectiveness vs. air units, which are Kerrigan's greatest weakness. Energy Regeneration is better against certain ground enemy compositions, but this options requires more Kerrigan micro to achieve the same results. Alternatively, certain splits can be taken to offset Kerrigan's energy drain while giving her enough damage to efficiently kill air units. 22/8 hits a breakpoint that lets her 3-shot early Banshees, 28/2 lets her 3-shot Mutalisks, while 8/22 lets her reliably two-shot Mutalisks and 3-shot Liberators.
The Desolate Queen prestige should always use Energy Regeneration as this prestige makes her much more energy-hungry and can hit air units with its abilities.

Power Set 2: Combat Unit Vespene Gas Cost / Immobilization Wave Damage

☀Reduced Combat Unit Vespene Gas Cost (-1% per level, up to -30%)
☀Augmented Immobilization Wave (+3.3% damage per level, up to +100%)
Immobilization Wave damage is usually the better choice in most maps. At full mastery it deals 200 damage which is sufficient to kill most units, especially against Zerg. With only a 144 second CD (after upgrades), it is an extremely powerful ability - using Immobilization Wave, popping an Omega Worm, and then unloading your army will guarantee the entire area is swiftly cleared.
Kerrigan's mineral dump are slightly inferior to units costing gas. Hence 30 points in vespene gas mastery would greatly reduce the situation that kerrigan would need to pick the lesser alternative of mineral dumping.
For optimization, a 19/11 split in Immobilization/Vespene Gas masteries are ideal for a mass Ultralisk/Hydralisk build. This split provides you with a 163 damage AOE nuke, hitting a breakpoint that lets you one-shot key units such as Banshees, Stalkers, Swarm Hosts, and siege tanks. Other useful splits include 13/17 and 25/5 to get over 140 and 180 damage, respectively. Note that 1 point above the apparent threshold is necessary due to a rounding error in the damage calculation.

Power Set 3: Primary Ability Damage and Attack Speed Mastery

☀Expeditious Evolutions (-2% time and cost per level, up to -60%)
Faster and cheaper upgrades for Kerrigan and her army works great, no matter what the strategy is; Ability Efficiency's 200 Minerals 200 Vespene gas 120 seconds upgrade at full points becomes 80 Minerals 80 Vespene gas 48seconds! It allows the player to fully "double upgrade" everything, including all tech paths at an accelerated rate and for a much cheaper cost. This mastery can always immediately queue up all research once the tech structure is ready, making your army stronger earlier in the game, while Kerrigan's damage is powerful enough to clear most maps into the early and mid game. Note that 1 point in Primary Ability Damage is needed to two-shot Lurkers with Psionic Shift due to their health regeneration.

Prestige Strategies[]

With Malevolent Matriarch, Kerrigan cannot move her army around the map as quickly anymore, so she is more reliant on spreading creep to improve her mobility. Queens can move at full speed off-creep and plant tumors anywhere, allowing them to do so as enemies close in and the player prepares to engage, granting Kerrigan's army the creep bonuses during the battle. This ability also allows queens to spread creep faster and easier since they do not need to wait for it to expand from other tumors. Since the player can now bring queens with their normal army, their Transfusion can improve the staying power of Kerrigan's army in large battles, healing her ultralisks and brood lords, and Kerrigan herself if needed. This prestige is difficult to use on maps where the enemy will have a large presence of detectors to push back the creep, and approaching armies with hybrid detectors in particular. Kerrigan will also be slower to retreat from battle and react to ambushes without her Omega Worms to provide instantaneous transportation. Since air units do not benefit from creep, this prestige naturally has little effect on Kerrigan's air units, though Kerrigan herself will still benefit from the creep spread. Maps that are inhospitable to ground-based armies may lessen the appeal of this prestige, and if the player is being defensive or objective points are close together, the benefit of increased creep spread is moot and the prestige acts as a raw buff to Kerrigan's army.

Folly of Man gives Kerrigan terrific burst damage on her abilities. Leaping Strike and Psionic Shift can kill larger groups of enemies, and the loss of Fury will be negligible since Kerrigan attacks swiftly already, letting her rebuild her stacks and recast her abilities in rapid succession. Kerrigan excels at fighting groups of enemies that will be decimated by her abilities, but she can be vulnerable to units with powerful single-damage abilities and attacks, such as reavers, battlecruisers, tempests, and hybrids. The player should be mindful of the enemy unit composition and use Leaping Strike to take down targets of opportunity before they can hurt Kerrigan too severely. To use this prestige more effectively, that players should allocate Kerrigan's first mastery to attack damage, since she will need to attack more to stack charges. Allocating points in her third mastery set to increase Kerrigan's attack speed may also be beneficial for letting her builds Fury more quickly, letting her unleash more powerful Fury blasts more frequently. This prestige also means the player should be more proactive in using Kerrigan and keep her on the frontlines, since she is the most powerful tool in their arsenal by far and leaving her idle wastes her Fury stacks.

Desolate Queen exchanges Kerrigan's Leaping Strike and Psionic Shift abilities for Kinetic Blast and Crushing Grip from the start of the Heart of the Swarm campaign. Kinetic Blast is a powerful single attack, equivalent to a Yamato Gun blast with no charge time or cooldown, and with her energy regeneration mastery Kerrigan can use Kinetic Blast almost as often as she attacks normally. Crushing Grip's major utility advantage over Psionic Shift is that it can stun enemies for a few seconds, rendering them vulnerable to Kerrigan's army if they would survive Psionic Shift. Kinetic Blast and Crushing Grip are able to affect air units, helping to improve one of Kerrigan's biggest weaknesses and allowing her to engage enemy fleets more safely. Kerrigan's major weakness now is that she has no easy means of escape from battle and is vulnerable to getting caught out of position, particularly by melee units that can surround and trap her. She also has much weaker area damage without Psionic Shift, as Crushing Grip has a much smaller area of effect, deals less damage, and costs more Energy. Kerrigan will need her army to support her more, and she can focus down and stun powerful enemies with Kinetic Blast and Crushing Grip while her army attacks. The improved Assimilation Aura makes it easier to afford expanding Kerrigan's army, so the player should remember to use it before large engagements to reap the benefits.

One Woman Army[]

Kerrigan takes the field herself as a hero unit, and is very powerful. She has high health, high attack damage, frequent spells, high regeneration, high mobility. She alone may be enough to finish the entire game. The hero can solo the first 10 minutes, which can buy time to max out economy, upgrade tech and get a sizable army. Later on, she can cover the deficiencies of her army, like anti-air, tanking or crowd control.

Her leaping strike is best used to rapidly destroy hybrids and other similarly powerful enemy units and the leaps can also be used to travel quickly, while psionic shift provides area damage against swarms of ground units. Assimilation Aura provides extra resources and its efficiency will improve as the difficulty increases because there are more enemies; Assimilation Aura has short cooldown, so it should be used frequently, especially when engaging large numbers of enemies. Immobilization wave will allow her and her ally to attack enemy bases or face dangerous waves safely; it also has a short cooldown time of 3 minutes (with improved capacity efficiency, it will only have a cooldown of 2:24 minutes) so it can be used frequently.

As Kerrigan levels up, more abilities and upgrades become available to her, some requiring mutating at the evolution chamber. All of these should be mutated as resources allow, since good use of Kerrigan is critical to success.

Extra resources can be dumped into omega network, to provide more teleportation point for Kerrigan, and to buy time against an army when Kerrigan is unavailable. Queens, following Kerrigan, in worms or back in base, can be used to heal Kerrigan,

I Am The Swarm[]

The army should snowball into a sizable army before using them to engage enemy. Small army, and especially zerglings, would suffer from high attritions, which delay the army from accumulating into one that can easily crush the enemy. Kerrigan has several strong army compositions, among which is Ultralisk-Hydralisk, Mutalisk-Zergling, Lurker-Hydralisk.

Ultralisk-hydralisk is a very versatile army. The Ultralisks can tank for the Hydralisk, while the Hydralisks deal the damage. With Ultralisks tanking, Kerrigan can risk directly unloading her army into enemy. The Ultralisks are very good tankers with revival, life leech, and burrow charge. Zerglings can be added as a mineral dump, especially with Shredding Claws, to help boost the damage. This ground army can use Kerrigan's creep for healing and damage, and to teleport using Omega Worm. The first Ultralisk should first be produced around 9 minute, while the initial enenmies are covered by Kerrigan.

Mutalisks are another powerful option, as they are highly mobile and their upgrades give them high multi-targets damage. A swarm of upgraded Mutalisks can quickly destroy attack waves and bases alike, however they are fragile and vulnerable to splash damage, so they require intensive micro-management. Zerglings, or Queens, can be used as a mineral dump.

Lurkers can be used for defence, especially for maps like Miner Evacuation and Dead of Night. Hydralisks may be added to the army for extra anti-air damage in Miner Evacuation. Queens, spore crawlers and spine crawlers can be used as mineral dumps.

Broodlords can be a situational alternative for Ultralisks.

We Are Everywhere[]

Omega Worms are among the defining strength of Kerrigan. Omega Worm provides near instant teleportation, without cooldown, for Kerrigan's ground army. This reduce the necessity of splitting the army, allowing a greater concentration of forces to overwhelm the enemy with less casualties. Kerrigan's allies can use the Omega Worms as well. Building at least one Omega Network at each base is recommended. Hatchery and allies production structures can be rallied to Omega Network to rapidly reinforce the frontline.

Omega Worms also provide vision and is a durable meatshield with 1000 HP, supporting the strategy of mobile defence. Omega Worms serve as Detectors, letting Kerrigan forgo the more vulnerable Overseers.

Omega Worms provide Malignant Creep right at the battlefield, obsoleting the use of queen to spread creep. Units in Omega Worms also heal as though as they are on Malignant Creep.

Your Queen Is Under Attack[]

Kerrigan may have problem surviving the first 4 minutes and may need to rely on ally. Kerrigan's towers are relatively weak compared to Karax or Swann. She may also be lacking in anti-air.

Synergies[]

Kerrigan is a relatively supportive commander, providing attack speed and life regeneration through Malignant Creep, providing mobility through Omega Worms, providing about 1500-3000 resources (on Brutal) through Assimilation Aura and stunning through Immobilization Wave.

Protoss Commanders[]

Artanis plays excellent with Kerrigan. Shield Overcharge and Guardian Shell greatly increase the survivability of Kerrigan's army, especially more towards light units like Zerglings, to the point that Zerglings are possibly superior to Ultralisks. However, Shield Overcharge is not applied to units inside Omega Worms when Shield Overcharge is cast. Kerrigan's Omega Worms give Artanis' normally poor mobility a huge boost, and her creep allows his damaged units to regenerate health.

Karax can be an effective teammate for Kerrigan. Chrono Boost accelerates the mutation speed of Kerrigan's higher-tier units and the many upgrades they need to be effective. He can buff Kerrigan's army attack speed with energizers, but they require extra management following her army through the network. Karax can defend with better towers while Kerrigan handles the complementary offensive role.

Vorazun is an effective teammate for Kerrigan. Black Hole can set up enemies for Kerrigan's Psionic Shift, and they can stagger Time Stop and Immobilization Wave for a prolonged stun of enemies. Vorazun buffs Kerrigan's Lurkers with 15% more damage and revival.

Alarak is an effective teammate for Kerrigan. Alarak's Structure Overcharge may help Kerrigan with clearing her expansion rock and also defending the waves, especially the first wave. Alarak provides Kerrigan with more area-of-effect damage through ascendants. Kerrigan's has better regular ground army to complement Alarak's spellcasters or air army. Furthermore, Havoc increase the army attack range and damage to select enemies but Havoc has problem following Kerrigan's army through the Omega Worms. Together, Kerrigan and Alarak can decimate enemies as hero units, especially when both are level 15 at which point all of their ability cool-downs are either super fast or nonexistent. Omega Worms serve as structure on the battlefield for Alarak to overcharge. Omega Worms also help provide Alarak with mobility.

Fenix and Kerrigan have mediocre synergy. While the resource boon helps Fenix, the larger gate for Fenix's army is usually the time it takes for him to construct an army. Both have a strong early game and rely on hero units to take early waves. The benefits of Fenix's recall overlap with Kerrigan's ability to use omega worms for full map mobility. In the late game, the two armies work great, and Ultralisks are able to soak damage while Fenix's larger army of colossi, carriers and adepts or immortals can choke up enemy attacks. Immobilzation wave allows Fenix to push into tough positions and wipe them out with ease.

Terran Commanders[]

Raynor is an effective teammate for Kerrigan. Raynor's infantry forces mesh well with Kerrigan's Ultralisks, who can burrow charge past Raynor's infantry to reach targets, and Ultralisks provide damage tanking to defend Raynor's fragile marines. Raynor further has medics to heal Kerrigan and her brood. Omega worms greatly increase Raynor's infantry mobility, though his air units do not benefit from this. Omega Worms reduce Raynor's need to call down scans, freeing up orbital energy for more MULEs.

Swann can be an effective teammate for Kerrigan. Swann may take on the defensive role while Kerrigan focus more on attack. When defending along with Swann, Omega Worms can serve as the meatshields and spotter, while providing Malignant Creep for SCVs and tanks; Lurkers can also stack beneath the tanks.

Swann's vespene harvesters can be invaluable, allowing Kerrigan to upgrade and train mutalisks in large numbers. Kerrigan's Assimilation Aura can provide Swann with much needed mineral in the early-game.

While Kerrigan's Omega Worms can help Swann's slow army reach the front lines much more quickly, Swann may still want to drop Sieged Siege Tank from Hercules instead. Omega Worms are a cheaper and more reliable detector than Swann's Science Vessels.

Nova is an effective teammate for Kerrigan. as her Assimilation Aura will let her give Nova precious resources to get off the ground. Her Malignant Creep can also help Nova's army in sustaining themselves, while Kerrigan's Ultralisks tank damage for Nova's troops. Kerrigan's Omega Worm may spot and stall for Nova's airstrikes and nukes. Nova can provide Kerrigan with portable detection when Kerrigan's Omega Worm is on cooldown. Nova's defence drone can greatly help Kerrigan with enemies she normally cannot handle alone.

Han and Horner and Kerrigan have moderate synergy. Han and Horner's Mag Mines should be able to defend, especially the first wave. Kerrigan's hero is relatively strong the first 10 minutes, allowing Han and Horner to shoot from behind her. Kerrigan's assimilation aura also allows Han and Horner to start deploying Horner's air units quicker, allowing him to transition into the late game faster. Kerrigan's frail units may die often, ensuring that she can take advantage of Han and Horner's scrap resources from killed friendly units often. Omega Worms give some power to Han's mercenaries, but as most of Horner's forces are air and have a tactical jump, it doesn't do as much for Han and Horner as other commanders.

Zerg Commanders[]

Zagara can be an effective teammate for Kerrigan. Zagara's army generally deals burst damage and lacks sustainablity, which can be complemented by Kerrigan's army. Zagara's suicide army tend to be stronger in the early-game while Kerrigan's regular army takes longer to ramp up but is stronger later on; together, their army power level complement each other in the time scale of the game. Zagara can still benefit largely from Kerrigan's Malignant Creep. Mass Frenzy can also be very helpful for Kerrigan's armies, provided her army are not in the Omega Worms when casted.

Zagara can rally her Hatcheries and Baneling Nest to Omega Worm to reduce ground army reinforcement time.

Abathur is an effective teammate for Kerrigan. Abathur's Toxic Nests should be able to defend the base, especially the first wave. Malignant Creep can benefit the overall speed and performance of Abathur's army, and allow him to respond to threats faster. In late game, Abathur can provide a frontline army while Kerrigan supports from behind. Kerrigan upgrades Abathur's nydus network to Omega Network, allowing for malignant creep spread, detection, and global transportation of ground units. Abathur's Omega Network is interconnected to Kerrigan's

Kerrigan is an excellent teammate for Stukov. Kerrigan's Malignant Creep and Stukov's Infinite Creep greatly augments both forces to close greater distances. Kerrigan's Omega Worm further help Stukov with creep spread. Kerrigan's 4-10 minutes dominance allows Stukov to breeze through with less perishable marines initially. Stukov's late-game infested are a protective screen for lurkers and hydralisks. Stukov's vulnerable infested armies can be supported by stunning with Immobilization Wave or tanking with Ultralisk. Stukov may not need all his vespene geysers and may pass two of them over to Kerrigan.

Dehaka and Kerrigan are a good combination. Dehaka spawns earlier than Kerrigan, allowing her to safely focus on building up an economy while he handles the first 4 minutes. Both Kerrigan and Dehaka benefit from hunting down groups of enemies in the early to mid-game, and the resource bonus Kerrigan gives to Dehaka can help him move into strong late game gas heavy compositions. Kerrigan can give Dehaka global mobility with her omega worms, while Dehaka can also deep tunnel to clear defended areas the omega worms can't reach. The two may struggle in the first 10 minutes, when Dehaka is without his pack leaders and Kerrigan is without a strong army.

Quotations[]

See: Sarah Kerrigan Commander Quotations

Achievements[]

Gameplay[]

CoopKerrigan SC2-LotV AchieveIcon1 Walking Dead
Points

10 Achievement SC2 Game1

Criteria

Kill 50 units with Kerrigan's Leaping Strike on a single mission on Hard difficulty.

Edit
CoopKerrigan SC2-LotV AchieveIcon2 Now I Am Become Death...
Points

10 Achievement SC2 Game1

Criteria

Kill 100 units with Kerrigan in a single mission on Hard difficulty.

Edit
CoopKerrigan SC2-LotV AchieveIcon3 Make It Rain
Points

10 Achievement SC2 Game1

Criteria

Generates 50,000 resources for your ally with Kerrigan's Assimilation Aura.

Edit
CoopKerrigan SC2-LotV AchieveIcon4 In the Name of Love
Points

10 Achievement SC2 Game1

Criteria

Stun 5,000 enemy units with Kerrigan's Immobilization Wave.

Edit
CoopKerrigan SC2-LotV AchieveIconMaster All Hail the Queen
Points

20 Achievement SC2 Game1

Criteria

Complete all the Commander Kerrigan achievements.

Rewards
KerriganCoop SC2 Portrait1 Kerrigan portrait
Edit

Levels[]

Co-opExplore SC2AchiveImage Just Swarming Up
Points

10 Achievement SC2 Game1

Criteria

Reach level 5 with Sarah Kerrigan or Queen Zagara in Co-op Missions.

Rewards
Coop5Zerg DecalSC2 Coop Award: Level 5 decal
Edit
CoopLevel SC2-LotV AchieveIconKerrigan1 Kerrigan: Level 5
Points

10 Achievement SC2 Game1

Criteria

Reach level 5 with Kerrigan.

Edit
CoopLevel SC2-LotV AchieveIconKerrigan2 Kerrigan: Level 10
Points

10 Achievement SC2 Game1

Criteria

Reach level 10 with Kerrigan.

Edit
CoopLevel SC2-LotV AchieveIconKerrigan3 Kerrigan: Level 15
Points

10 Achievement SC2 Game1

Criteria

Reach level 15 with Kerrigan.

Edit

Development[]

Patches[]

Patch 4.4.1
  • Severing Glaive: Severing Glave has been reworked.
    • Now remove the damage penalty from each bounce but will no longer increase its damage.
    • No longer provides 100% bonus damage to armored units.
Patch 4.4.0
  • Omega Worms: are now detectors.
  • Assimilation Aura: Resource Drops can now be picked up by air units.
  • Overlords: Ventral Sacs upgrade now drop their cargo if they are destroyed.
    • Pneumatized Carapace research cost decreased from 100/100 to 50/50.
      • After Pneumatized Carapace is researched, Overlord movement speed increased to 3.38, up from 1.88.
      • After Pneumatized Carapace is researched, Overlord acceleration increased from 1.0625 to 2.125.
  • Mutalisk range increased from 3 to 5.
    • Vicious Glaive: now increase each Glaive's search radius from 3 to 5. It previously increased it to 4.
    • Sundering Glaive: upgrade renamed to the Severing Glaive upgrade.
      • Severing Glaive: Each subsequent bounce of the Mutalisk's attack now deals 10% additional damage.
  • Brood Lords: now always attack with two Broodlings, up from two with the first attack and one with each subsequent attack.
    • Porous Cartilage: upgrade now increases the acceleration of Brood Lords from 1.0625 to 1.875 in addition to the current functionality.

The following mastery powers were removed:

  • Prolonged Mutating Carapace Mastery: -3.3% degeneration per level, up to -100%

Kerrigan has new mastery powers which are:

  • Primary Ability Damage and Attack Speed Mastery: +1% damage/attack per level, up to +30%
    • "Increases the damage of Kerrigan's Leaping Strike and Psionic Shift and Kerrigan's attack speed."

Developer Comments: Kerrigan is fairly well-rounded and powerful commander, but as some have noted, her Spire units may leave a bit to be desired. Though the changes for Kerrigan are few, we think they'll be especially impactful, especially for Spire players."[1][2]

Patch 3.17.0
  • Leaping Strike: no longer targets cloaked or burrowed units without detection.
  • Ultralisks: (Torrasque Strain) now benefits from Artanis' Guardian Shell before it enters its rebirth cocoon.
  • Broodlord: now benefits from Karax's Energizer Chrono Beam and Zagara's Frenzy.
Patch 3.13.0
  • Queen: Anti-air range Increased to 8 (from 7).

Developer Comments: We are adopting a multiplayer change we made from a while ago that helps Zerg Queens against air units. This should give the Queens a bit more help in trying to avoid those Liberators attacks.

Patch 3.11.0

Kerrigan has new mastery powers which are:

  • Augmented Immobilization Wave: Increases damage of Immobilization Wave
  • Expeditious Evolutions: Reduces the research time and cost for evolutions
  • Prolonged Mutating Carapace: Decreases degeneration of the shields from Mutating Carapace

The following mastery powers were removed:

  • Assimilation Aura Duration: +0.5s – 15s
  • Larva Spawn Rate: +2% – 60%
  • Reduced Kerrigan's Birth and Respawn Time: +0.5s – 15s
Patch 3.4.0
  • Malignant Creep: Gives a flat 1 life per second to everything.
  • Malignant Creep: Affects all friendly bio and mechanical ground units.

Developer Comments: This is a co-op ability that helps your allies as well as Kerrigan's units. It should now properly affect all unit types. We also increased the life gained.

Patch 3.3.0

Malignant Creep Tumor has had its sight radius slightly reduced.

Patch 3.1.3

Kerrigan's initial birth time has been reduced from five minutes to four minutes.

  • Mutating Carapace - Life steal increased from 25% to 30%.
  • Ruthlessness - Doubles the damage of Leaping Strike (from 150 to 300); doubles the damage of Psi Shift (from 50 to 100).
  • Assimilation Aura - Now costs 0 energy. Generates 100% more gas than before.
  • Immobilization Wave - Cooldown reduced from four to three minutes. The 100 damage it does is now dealt up front rather than over 10 seconds. Kerrigan is now invulnerable while casting this ability.
  • Frenzy - Hydralisk ability set to autocast by default.

Removed Traits[]

SC2 KerrLeapingStrike Icon
Ravage

Increases the damage of Kerrigan's Leaping Strike by 150, for a total of 300, and range by 6, for a total of 12.

As of Patch 3.1, replaced by Ruthlessness.

Usage
Passive
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock Reach Kerrigan level 3.
ve

References[]

Blizzard Entertainment. Co-op Missions. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Sarah Kerrigan (in English). 2018.

External Links[]

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