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- Commander blurb(src)
Nova Terra is a commander in Co-op Missions introduced in Patch 3.7. She takes the field with a hero unit, and has the ability to blink, shield herself and call down nuclear strikes against her enemies.[1] Her army consists of elite special ops units that deploy instantly and have more hit points, but have substantial resource costs over normal units.
Overview[]
Nova has simplified base and production when compared to other commanders - much of the player's focus will be on combat. She does not require supply depots, and only one of each production facility is available. Her army has a supply cap of 100, and her combat units are called down to the battlefield instantly, without any construction time. Nova herself has high burst damage, but is relatively fragile, and relies on stealth and gadgets to be effective. Part of her covert ops theme is "having all the right toys at the right time." Nova has two different equipment sets and can adapt to any situation by swapping between them on the field.[2]
Nova can only produce one barracks, one factory, and one starport. Each functions the way a mercenary compound does, dropping units onto the field. The units are expensive and generally arrive in batches (for instance, Nova can summon four elite marines). When a unit-producing structure is first created, it has one charge of each unit, and store up to five charges.
Info[]
- Recommended for experienced players
- Control Nova and her army of elite units
- Use advanced tech to sustain and support your forces
Mastery[]
- Power Set 1
- Nuke and Holo Decoy Cooldown: -3 sec – -90 sec
- Griffin Airstrike cost: -10 minerals – -300 minerals (down to a minimum of 700
)
- Power Set 2
- Nova Primary Ability Improvement: +1.67% – +50% (applies to the damage dealt of Snipe, Penetrating Blast, and Sabotage Drone, as well as the shielding of Blink)
- Unit Attack Speed: +0.5% – +15%
- Power Set 3
- Nova Energy Regeneration: +1% – +30%
- Combat Unit Life Regeneration: +0.2 – +6 life/every second (after being out of combat for 10 seconds)
Prestiges[]
- Level 1 – Soldier of Fortune
- Advantage: Factory and Starport no longer have tech requirements. Unit charges accrue 100% faster for the first production structure built.
- Disadvantage: Unit charges accrue 50% slower for the second and third production structures built.
- Level 2 – Tactical Dispatcher
- Advantage: Tactical Airlift cooldown reduced by 75%.
- Disadvantage: Griffin Airstrike cooldown increased by 300%.
- Level 3 – Infiltration Specialist
- Advantage: Nova gains permanent Super Cloak. Her abilities have a 50% increased radius and a 50% reduced cooldown.
- Disadvantage: Nova cannot switch to her Combat Suit and loses Super Cloak for 4 seconds upon attacking or using Snipe.
Game Unit[]
Nova is able to switch between Assault Mode and Stealth Mode as a hero unit, changing her weapons and abilities. In Assault Mode she is more suited for frontal combat, wielding a hellfire shotgun and wearing a damage-absorbing phase reactor suit. Her Stealth Mode abilities are geared towards infiltration and subterfuge, equipping her with a C-20A rifle, tactical stealth suit, ghost visor, and sabotage drone. This allows her to infiltrate the enemy base ahead of her army and take out critical enemy forces before her army commits to an engagement.[2]
Nova takes 4 min to spawn at her base. If Nova is ever killed, she will respawn 90 seconds later at the player's primary command center.
Abilities[]
Stealth Mode[]
Deals 200 damage to target enemy unit.
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Nova is permanently cloaked.
Infiltration Specialist: Nova gains permanent Super Cloak that ignores detectors. Nova loses Super Cloak for 4 seconds upon attacking or using Snipe.
Sends a sabotage drone to target location. The sabotage drone can root, becoming immobile, and ten seconds later explodes, dealing 200 damage (+200 vs structure) to ground enemies within a radius 4.
Infiltration Specialist: Increases the Sabotage Drone splash radius from 4 to 6 and reduces cooldown by 50%.
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Calls down a nuclear strike to target area after 5 seconds, dealing 600 damage to all enemies within a radius 8.
Infiltration Specialist: Increases the Tac Nuke Strike splash radius from 8 to 12 and reduces cooldown by 50%.
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Increases Nova's movement speed and allows her to use Penetrating Blast and Blink.
Stance Dance: Nova deals 100% additional damage for 5 seconds after activation.
Equips Nova to attack ground units within a wide arc.
Infiltration Specialist: Assault Mode is unavailable.
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Assault Mode[]
(Unlocks at level 3, unavailable with Infiltration Specialist)
Deals 50 damage (+50 vs light) to all enemies in a frontal cone.
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Nova teleports to a targeted location and gains a temporary 200 points shield. Can store up to 3 charges, recovers a charge every 8 seconds.
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Nova spawns a Holo Decoy at target point. The Holo Decoy is invincible, cannot be controlled and automatically seeks out and attacks enemy units. Holo Decoy's normal attacks deal 100 damage and can use dashing attack that deals 50 area damage.
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Permanently cloaks Nova and allows her to use Snipe and Sabotage Drone.
Stance Dance: Nova is invulnerable to damage for 5 seconds after activation.
Equips Nova to attack air and ground units.
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Upgrades[]
Researched[]
Nova becomes a detector and reveals cloaked and burrowed units in her sight radius. Allows Nova to see enemy units within 20 radius in the fog of war.
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Basic
With Research and Development
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Increases Nova's HP regen rate by 5.
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Basic
With Research and Development
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Nova recovers 25 energy when killing an enemy unit with Snipe.
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Basic
With Research and Development
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Penetrating Blast has +2 range.
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Basic
With Research and Development
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Talents[]
Unlocks the ability to swap between two equipment loadouts in the field. Nova gains access to different abilities and a different weapon with each loadout.
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Unlocks Nuclear Strike ability for Nova in Stealth Mode and Holo Decoy ability in Assault Mode.
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Reduces the cooldown of Stealth Mode and Assault Mode by 15 seconds. Nova gains maximum energy when switching modes.
Switching to Stealth Mode grants temporary invulnerability and switching to Assault Mode grants a temporary bonus to damage dealt (100%).
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Calldown Abilities[]
Provides friendly units with shields that absorb up to 200 damage. Lasts for 60 seconds. Can store up to 3 charges.
Military Hardware: Reduces the Defensive Drone cooldown by 30 seconds and allows up to 5 charges to be stored.
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Call the Griffin to strafe an area and drop bombs, dealing 500 damage to enemy ground and air units in the area (within length 18 and width 6) after a brief delay.
Tactical Dispatcher: Increases the Griffin Airstrike cooldown by 300%.
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Load all allied units in target area into Griffin, then immediately transport them to second target area.
Tactical Dispatcher: Reduces the Tactical Airlift cooldown by 75%.
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Instantly revives Nova at the target location. Resource cost is determined by the amount of time remaining.
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Talents[]
Nova's Defensive Drone calldown stores 2 additional charges and has its charge cooldown reduced by 30 seconds.
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Army Composition[]
Units and Structures[]
Nova has the following units and structures unique to her.
| Icon | Unit | Details | Production | Base Statistics: |
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Elite marine | Elite all-purpose infantry.
Can attack ground and air units. |
600  4  300 charge cooldown |
Life: 150 / Armor: 0 MS: 2.25
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Marauder commando | Elite heavy assault infantry.
Can attack ground units. |
500 130  4 300 charge cooldown |
Life: 350 / Armor: 1 MS: 2.25
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Spec ops ghost | Elite sniper. Can use Snipe and is permanently cloaked. Can be upgraded to use EMP Rounds.
Can attack ground and air units. |
1000 500 4 300 charge cooldown |
Life: 250 / Armor: 0 MS: 2.25
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Hellion and Hellbat ranger |
Hellion: Elite fast scout. Has a flame attack that damages all enemy units in its line of fire. Can transform into a close range combat unit. Hellbat: Elite close range combat unit. Deals damage in a small frontal cone. Can transform into a fast scout unit. Can attack ground units. |
500 4 300 charge cooldown |
Hellion mode: Life: 300 / Armor: 0
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Strike goliath | Elite heavy-fire support unit.
Can attack ground and air units. |
750 250 4 300 charge cooldown |
Life: 450 / Armor: 1 MS: 2.25
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Heavy siege tank | Enhanced heavy tank. Can switch into Siege Mode to provide long-range artillery support. Can be upgraded to use Spider Mines.
Can attack ground units. |
800 600 6 300 charge cooldown |
Life: 400 / Armor: 1
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Raid liberator | Elite stationary defender. Deals heavy single target damage to ground unit. Can switch into Fighter mode to provide air support.
Fighter mode: Can attack air units. Defender mode: Can attack ground units. |
750 750 6 300 charge cooldown |
Life: 450 / Armor: 0
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Raven Type-II | Prototype aerial support unit. Can use Railgun Turret, Bio-Mechanical Repair Drone and Predator Missiles. | 100 200 2 300 charge cooldown |
Life: 350 / Armor: 1 MS: 2.25 |
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Covert banshee | Improved tactical-strike aircraft. Can be upgraded to permanently cloaked.
Can attack ground units. |
700 375 6 300 charge cooldown |
Life: 350 / Armor: 0 MS: 2.75
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Railgun turret | Automated defensive turret. Damages all enemy units in a straight line.
Can attack ground units. |
200 25 |
Life: 400 / Armor: 1
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Missile turret | Anti-air defensive structure.
Can attack air units. |
100 25 |
Life: 250 / Armor: 0
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Talent Progression[]
Nova acquires the following talents as she levels up.
Nova has a 100 supply maximum, but her units and structures have increased life, deal additional damage, and are resistant to stun effects. Trained units are instantly deployed onto the battlefield.
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Call the Griffin to strafe an area and drop bombs, dealing 500 damage to enemy ground and air units in the area (within length 18 and width 6) after a brief delay.
Tactical Dispatcher: Increases the Griffin Airstrike cooldown by 300%.
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Unlocks the ability to swap between two equipment loadouts in the field. Nova gains access to different abilities and a different weapon with each loadout.
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Unlocks infantry upgrades at the tech lab.
- Elite marines can use Super Stimpack, healing them over time and increasing attack and movement rates.
- Marauder commandos can use Magrail Munitions, gaining a secondary attack that deals additional damage.
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Load all allied units in target area into Griffin, then immediately transport them to second target area.
Tactical Dispatcher: Reduces the Tactical Airlift cooldown by 75%.
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Unlocks factory unit upgrades at the tech lab.
- Hellbat can leap towards enemy units, stunning them on impact.
- Heavy siege tanks gradually gain range in siege mode over time.
- Strike goliaths stun mechanical air units they attack.
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Nova's refineries upgrade to automated refineries.
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Unlocks upgrades for Nova at the ghost academy and spec ops ghosts at the tech lab.
- Increases Nova's HP regeneration.
- Snipe fires two additional shots.
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Unlocks Nuclear Strike ability for Nova in Stealth Mode and Holo Decoy ability in Assault Mode.
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Unlocks upgrades for air units at the tech lab
- Covert banshees can use Rocket Barrage, dealing area damage to ground units.
- Raid liberators transform to and from defender mode faster.
- Liberator can attack structures while in defender mode.
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Upgrades research time and resource costs are halved. Does not affect weapon and armor upgrades.
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Unlocks upgrades for the raven Type-II at the tech lab
- Allows the raven Type-II to store up to three charges for its abilities.
- The raven Type-II's Bio-Mechanical Repair Drones heals faster and cloaks units it heals.
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Nova's Defensive Drone calldown stores 2 additional charges and has its charge cooldown reduced by 30 seconds.
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Unlocks upgrades for Nova at the ghost academy.
- Upon killing an enemey with snipe, Nova recovers 50% of the energy used to cast it.
- Increases range of Penetrating Blast.
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Reduces the cooldown of Stealth Mode and Assault Mode by 15 seconds. Nova gains maximum energy when switching modes.
Switching to Stealth Mode grants temporary invulnerability and switching to Assault Mode grants a temporary bonus to damage dealt (100%).
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Strategies[]
Nova is a micro-intensive commander with a variety of units that have a particular utility in battle. She cannot field the large armies of other commanders, but makes up for it with small numbers of powerful units. Her macro mechanics are simplified with her unit-building structures limited to 1 each and her supply cap set at 100, so players can tech up and upgrade at their own pace without worrying about getting supply blocked or having enough structures to build their army quick enough. Their attention will be focused more on controlling Nova's hero unit and her army, as she and her units have several activated abilities that can make all the different in battle.
Mastery Strategies[]
Power Set 1: Griffin Airstrike Cost
- ☀Griffin Airstrike cost: -10 minerals - 300 minerals (down to a minimum of 700 minerals)
- Even with all 30 points sunk into reducing their cooldown, Nuke and Holo Decoy have a cooldown of several minutes. By contrast Griffin Airstrike can do just as much damage as them and has a rather short cooldown.
Power Set 2: Unit Attack Speed
- ☀Unit Attack Speed: +0.5% - 15%
- Nova's army benefits greatly from the attack speed increase. However, for those who enjoy hero unit micro, combining Primary Ability Improvement with Nuke and Holo Decoy cooldown and Energy Regen can be viable. Alternatively, putting 8 points in Primary Ability Improvement allows Nova's Snipe to kill carriers and propagators with a single bar of energy and kill brood lords with a single Snipe.
Power Set 3: Combat Unit Life Regeneration
- ☀Combat Unit Life Regeneration: +0.2 - 6 life/every second after being out of combat for 10 seconds
- Nova is rarely strapped for energy unless the player is recklessly spamming Snipe and Penetrating Blast. By giving her combat units passive regeneration their durability is remarkably improved, saving the player resources required to replace them and, if they wish, allowing them to forego ravens which are otherwise their only way to heal damaged units.
Prestige Strategies[]
Soldier of Fortune makes Nova's army more specialized, allowing her to easily mass units from one structure in exchange for less ability to mass units from the other two. It is important to scout the enemy early to identify their unit composition and make an informed decision about what type of army will best suit the mission at hand. A consideration is that even with the increased speed to accrue charges on Nova's factory and starport, those units are still more expensive than her barracks units and come in smaller numbers, so going for a factory or starport first can force Nova into a later-game build. However, her structures all begin with one unit charge ready, so this will not harm her early game presence too much; the player will just need to be more mindful of avoiding losses. This prestige is all about the player's ability to make a judgment call on what units they will need for the mission and using them well. A note is that if Nova is partners with a protoss ally, they can use Chrono Boost on her secondary structures to off-set the penalty of this prestige.
Tactical Dispatcher allows Nova to make more liberal use of the Griffon to relocate armies, but its bombardment has a much longer cooldown. With no topbar ability to take care of enemy attack waves directly, Nova and her army must be the response, and move into position to defend as needed. A benefit is that due to the increased cooldown on the Griffon's bombardment, Nova can her use third mastery to instead reduce the cooldown of Nuke and Holo Decoy, which can be just as effective as the bombardment for taking care of masses of enemies, though they require more care to use. This prestige is most useful on maps where mobility is required and the player can use their ability to move units around the map to maximum effectiveness. On missions where heavy enemy resistance is expected, the lack of bombardments can hurt, especially if Nova's army is ill-equipped to handle large attack waves and her Nuke and Holo Decoy are on cooldown.
Infiltration Specialist gives Nova "super cloak", meaning she cannot be detected at all. Appropriately this makes Nova the ultimate infiltrator, able to go anywhere she likes without fear as long as she does not attack the enemy. She is only invisible, not invincible, so she should avoids environmental hazards from Mutators, and the lava surges on "The Vermillion Problem". The downside of the prestige is that Nova is much less useful in fights due to not being able to switch to Assault Mode, and her army must be able to stand on their own without her. This prestige is most useful on missions where Nova can use her enhanced stealth to scout enemy positions and cripple them with calldowns and Sabotage Drones, which have increased potency and can be used more often. It is less useful on defensive missions where the player will not often venture out of their base and/or there is little need to scout the enemy.
Ghost reporting[]
Nova is a critical part of her army's success. In Stealth Mode she can scout ahead of her army, use Snipe and Sabotage Drones to soften up enemy positions before attacking, and call down nukes to wipe out heavily entrenched positions; in Assault Mode she is a frontline attacker who can tank damage with Blink shields and take down large numbers of enemies with splash damage from Penetrating Blast and Holo Decoy. Nova is not as durable as other hero units, so the player must keep an eye on her to avoid fights she can't win and maximize her DPS output by using her abilities well. As always when using cloaked units, prioritize taking out enemy detection so Nova can safely move forward in Stealth Mode, and try to avoid frontline fights with powerful units that have innate detection, most obviously hybrid. The greatest danger to Nova will come from air units which the Assault Mode shotgun, Penetrating Blast, and Sabotage Drone cannot harm, so if Snipe is not able to thin out their numbers, she should retreat rather than engage alone.
If she falls, the player can revive Nova instantly for a mineral cost, but doing so repeatedly is very costly, and if the player is in a position that Nova was overrun, the money would likely better be spent on a bombardments from the Griffon or reinforcing her army. However, this is not a concern in the lategame once Nova is maxed out and the player can bank up a cache of minerals. The cost to revive Nova lowers as her respawn timer counts down, and within the last several seconds the cost is negligible. At this time it is beneficial to use a small handful of minerals for the convenience of respawning Nova on the frontlines, rather than at the player's base and walking her back.
The right woman for the job[]
Nova's streamlined tech tree makes her a very easy commander to play from a macro perspective. The player only needs one each of their unit producing structures and has no need for supply depots, so once they have saturated their mineral lines and have their upgrade structures built, they do not need to worry about base management anymore and can focus on controlling Nova's army. The player should avoid taking losses in the early game, when her units are expensive, slow to replace, and lack upgrades. Usage of Nova's hero unit to support them is a must.
As the game goes on, the player will have their economy going strong, their tech tree will be filled, and most unit-specific upgrades they need will either be rersearched already or can be readily researched. At this point Nova is extremely powerful, as her buildings will continue to store charges for calling in units, letting her quickly reinforce her numbers with any kind of unit she likes. Due to her lowered supply cost, she cannot get as large an army as other commanders and her units are most effective when working together. The player's knowledge of the mission and the enemy AI is key, as Nova's units each have a specific niche use in her army composition and they should choose their units properly to counter the challenges at hand.
Paint the target[]
Several of Nova's units have activated abilities that requires more micromanagement to maximize their potential, particularly ghosts, siege tanks, banshees, liberators, and ravens. The player's ability to control these units in battle and use their activated abilities will heavily influence how efficiently they can engage the enemy. Nova's army overall has plenty of anti-ground firepower with siege tanks, banshees, and liberators, but air units are more of a challenge, so the raven's predator missiles will be the player's primary means of dealing with an overwhelming enemy air presence.
If the player is not able to micro Nova's units, it is still perfectly viable to use her as a "deathball"-type commander with a large force of marines, marauders, hellbats, and goliaths. These units have passive abilities or auto-casting on them, so the player can just use them to attack and focus on controlling Nova. Ghosts can also be added to the mix, since their Snipe and Triple Tap are also auto-cast, and the player can make use of their EMP as needed.
Griffon ready for boarding[]
Unlike other commanders, Nova's topbar abilities cost minerals to use. Defensive drones are excellent in the early game for supporting her growing army and holding a defensive position, and can be used when the player attacks as well. Most enemy units will ignore the defensive drone and attack Nova and her army, unless the defensive drone is the only thing they can attack, so the drone will be safe most times. The Griffon's bombardment ability is very expensive, but very powerful, and can kill most normal enemies over a large area of effect. Since enemy attack waves always come from the same position and the player can often guess where they will attack to, the Griffon can be positioned to lead the target and bombard them all as they move right through its line of fire.
The Tactical Airlift calldown is Nova's primary tool for quickly moving her army across the map. Most of her units are on the slower side, so it is very useful to quickly cut off enemy attack waves and support an ally in a different position. The airlift can also be used defensively to save Nova's unit's from a losing battle and retreat. It is not very costly and has a fairly short cooldown, so the player should not hesitate to use it if they feel they need it.
Another important consideration is that the Griffon works on all allied units, not just Nova's, so the player can use its mobility to give the same benefits to their allies. If their ally has units that are slow to move and/or expensive to replace, using Tactical Airlift to help them can make things easier for both players. Though as a matter of courtesy, the player should be respectful to their ally in these circumstances and be mindful of how and when they are relocating their army. An ally may not appreciate their army being plucked off the map and dropped somewhere else, even if it is for their benefit, and it can be disorienting for any player to suddenly lose control of their army even for just a moment.
Synergies[]
Protoss Commanders[]
All Protoss commanders can use Chrono Boost to accelerate the cooldowns on Nova's unit producing structures, allowing her to produce multiple squads of the same type more often.
Alarak synergizes moderately with Nova, as her small army won't give him nearly as much power when he uses Empower Me. Nova can cover for Alarak's anti-air, but neither one is truly strong at defenses (since Alarak's Structure Overcharge has cooldowns on its charges). Both can transport their units quickly across a map using a combination of Nova's Tactical Airlift and Alarak's Death Fleet, creating some redundancy. Alarak's havocs can extend the range of Nova's army and, if microed, can keep them safe from harm with forcefields, while Nova's ravens can heal Alarak's units as needed.
Artanis has decent synergy with Nova, as his Guardian Shield and Shield Overcharge help a great deal in keeping Nova's expensive army alive. Nova can provide better anti-air than Artanis' dragoons, and the two can ravage bases with their abilities if Nova acts as a spotter. Nova's airlift isn't the most helpful to Artanis since he can deploy a power field to any location he wishes.
Vorazun is a perfect match for Nova, with her Strike from the Shadows passive boosting Nova's damage and that of her ghosts, banshees, and any units cloaked by her healing drones. Black Hole can set up Nova's airstrikes, nukes, banshees and ravens for area damage, and Emergency Recall will save any of her costly cloaked units from death. In return, Nova can heal Vorazun's units with her ravens and provide better ground-to-air damage than Vorazun's stalkers are capable of doing. Heavy siege tanks in a dark pylon field in numbers should be almost unstoppable against ground forces given more range than any unit in the whole game and spider mines for proximity foes trying to destroy the dark pylon.
Karax is an effective teammate for Nova. His strong static defenses mean that Nova can focus on securing enemy positions while Karax focuses on holding ground. Combining Karax's Spear of Adun calldowns with Nova's airstrike and/or nuke can quickly decimate a fortified position. As they both have relatively expensive units, Reconstruction Beam, defensive drones, and ravens are invaluable for increasing the longevity of units from both commanders. Finally, Nova greatly benefits from the increased research speed and faster cooldown-rate of her facilities granted by Chrono Wave.
Fenix works well with Nova. Of all commanders, he benefits the most from defensive drones, as it can protect his praetor armor or a small number of champion units and help hold back attack waves of enemy attackers. Both are high damage armies, and both recall and airlift give both armies high mobility. Nova's airstrike and nuke makes up for Fenix's lack of offensive calldowns on heavy enemy waves, while the solarite dragoon can also serve as a more consistent burst damage that allows Nova to spend more minerals on constructing her army.
Terran Commanders[]
Raynor is the polar opposite of Nova, relying on a strong economy and a large number of standard units as opposed to a small focused army. However, due to Raynor's use of medics to heal both biological and mechanical units, Raynor can aid with sustaining Nova's army while Nova can aid Raynor's units with defensive drones and the ability to move his large army around the field with tactical airlifts.
Swann has decent synergy with Nova, with his vespene harvesters providing Nova much-needed gas to afford her costly units, especially liberators, ghosts and siege tanks. His static defenses also cover for Nova's poor defenses, allowing her to devote herself to offensive pushes. Additionally, Swann's laser drill can contribute to Nova's base-wrecking play.
Han and Horner and Nova have moderate synergy. Both have armies designed to take a beating, and Horner's fleet is composed of powerful, but difficult to replace units much like Nova's. However, Horner's fleet and Nova's units cover different roles. Han's units meanwhile can provide a screen for Nova's smaller unit amount, but their large numbers mean they don't benefit all that much from defensive drones. However, both have powerful calldowns, with Nova's airstirike regularly being up while Han and Horner can save theirs for key situations. Horner's strike fighters can benefit from enemies detected with Nova's ghost visor, albeit without the unit identification capabilities of imaging radar. Furthermore, they can spot enemies in the fog of war for Nova's siege tanks or snipe and destroy detectors allowing them to clean up positions with a smaller force of cloaked units. However, both have a lack of powerful defensive options, especially on pure defense maps.
Tychus are working quite well, as both have good early and late game presence, Findlay may be better at covering ground as as he has maximum of 3 transport charges which don't cost minerals, but he has much longer cooldowns. Nova can protect the outlaws with her defensive drone, in exchange for Morales and Rattlesnake's very good healing, thanks to that Nova don't have to build Ravens for healing her units. In terms of army structure, both field small armies, with Tychus' forces being more of a small group of hero units rather than an army, making it difficult for situations in which a large and flexible force would be helpful. As Nova has siege tanks with their mines and missile turrets (which are detectors), on defense maps like Dead of Night or Temple of the Past Nova will be the one to place stationary defense. Both Heaven's Devils and Nova's Forces have detection of many means, including Ravens, upgraded Fixers and Nova herself, and it is said before, with Devils' auto turrets and Nova's missile ones. Nova also fits Findlay with her powerful calldowns like nuke or Griffin Airstrike, when the outlaws only have their Odin, which is very powerful, but has a cooldown of 6 minutes that even with all points sunken into Odin cooldown mastery stil recharges 4 minutes.
Zerg Commanders[]
Kerrigan has good synergy with Nova, 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 itself, while Kerrigan's zerglings and ultralisks tank damage for Nova's troops. The creep can also help Nova by providing vision, letting her use airstrikes and nukes more easily. Immobilization Wave can set Nova up for a nuke, and Nova can provide detection so that Kerrigan doesn't have to get overseers. Kerrigan's Nydus Worms create some redundancy with Nova's Tactical Airlift.
Zagara doesn't have great synergy with Nova, as the two combined field small armies and Zagara doesn't help in keeping Nova's troops alive. However, Zagara's army can attack a position earlier, giving Nova a chance to plan ahead and target-firing down detectors and dangerous enemies. Both are strong at destroying bases, and Zagara can constantly apply pressure with her rapidly-respawning armies while Nova recovers if she suffers a big loss.
Abathur has decent synergy with Nova, with his Mend and Swarm Queens providing excellent healing for her army. Abathur's very tanky units can absorb damage for Nova's forces, allowing her to make use of longer-ranged units like ghosts and siege tanks. Nova also compensates for Abathur's lack of destructive abilities via her nukes and sabotage drones.
Stukov and Nova, in spite of functioning as exact opposites, complement each other fairly well. As with most terran commanders, Stukov can help form a buffer from Nova's high damage units, while Nova's army can take out key area of effect targets that may deal heavy damage to Stukov's forces. Nova and her elite marines can serve as the early game anti-air Stukov lacks while "Infest Structure" can aid in early game attacks. Nova's mobility with her Griffin transportation can allow her to take key targets while Stukov pushes using waves of infested, while the Apocalisk and the Aleksander can aid in pressuring key targets or supporting a position Nova is struggling to take. Stukov rarely needs his expansion's geysers, providing Nova with a much-needed source of extra gas to fuel her late-game power. Finally, Nova can provide early-game mobile detection, one of Stukov's biggest weak points.
Dehaka and Nova overlap in a lot of ways, but are still powerful. Both have a powerful hero unit that can reliably function against group of light enemies or single big enemies, and both have powerful global presence and armies usually on the smaller side (albeit Nova's much smaller). However, Nova's tactical airlift ability can move Dehaka's units around the map, whereas Dehaka, his wurms, creeper hosts and Glevig are the only units that can deep tunnel in Dehaka's forces. However, this means both players can be anywhere they need to be, with Dehaka's main army working with Nova and tying up enemies while Dehaka and his calldowns can be in another place. Nukes and holo decoys also allow Nova to clear a landing area for Dehaka's forces to push or deep tunnel into.
Quotations[]
Achievements[]
Gameplay[]
 Drone It Out
| |
| Points |
10 |
| Criteria |
Absorb 10,000 damage for your ally with Nova's Defensive Drone in Co-op Missions. |
| Edit | |
 Air Raid
| |
| Points |
10 |
| Criteria |
Deal 50,000 damage with the Griffin Airstrike in Co-op Missions. |
| Edit | |
 Cloak and Dagger
| |
| Points |
10 |
| Criteria |
Deal 200,000 damage with Nova while she is in Stealth Mode. |
| Edit | |
 Riding Shotgun
| |
| Points |
10 |
| Criteria |
Deal 200,000 damage with Nova while she is in Assault Mode. |
| Edit | |
 Dominion Agent
| |||
| Points |
20 | ||
| Criteria |
Complete all the Commander Nova achievements. | ||
| Rewards |
| ||
| Edit | |||
Levels[]
 Nova: Level 5
| |
| Points |
10 |
| Criteria |
Reach level 5 with Dominion Ghost Nova in Co-op Missions. |
| Edit | |
 Nova: Level 10
| |
| Points |
10 |
| Criteria |
Reach level 10 with Dominion Ghost Nova in Co-op Missions. |
| Edit | |
 Nova: Level 15
| |
| Points |
10 |
| Criteria |
Reach level 15 with Dominion Ghost Nova in Co-op Missions. |
| Edit | |
Development[]
When designing Nova as the next commander, the developers knew that she had to be a hero on the field. It was also decided to be a focus of her army composition. The theme of covert ops played a big part of her design (ghosts, nukes, stealth, gadgets), along with the concept of a small but powerful army of elite units, helping bring the feel of espionage.[2]
Data in the Galaxy Editor points to Nova also having access to reapers, cyclones, medivacs, bunkers and orbital commands, and being able to build regular versions of some of her elite units in early stages of development. There is also data indicating that she would have been able to summon an Odin to the field at some point in development. Unused equipment includes a penetrator round, stun grenades, stimpacks for Nova, a monomolecular blade, a psi rifle, pulse grenades, a weapon named the Invictus Longshot, a defensive matrix ability, smoke grenades, the ability to summon drones that stunned enemies, and the ability to unequip all weapons.[3]
Trivia[]
- Nova's units each have individual randomized names attached to them in place of a kill count rank. These units are given ranks depending on which unit they are.
References[]
Blizzard Entertainment. Co-op Missions. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Nova Terra (in English). 2018.
- ↑ 2016-10-03, StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void Patch 3.7 Overview . Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2016-10-03
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2016-10-13, Patch 3.7 Preview: New Co-op Commander Nova. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2016-10-15
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void Map Editor. (Activision Blizzard) (in English). November 10, 2015