Phantoms of the Void is the third and final Skygeirr Station mission in Heart of the Swarm.
Background[]
Sarah Kerrigan and Alexei Stukov pursued Doctor Emil Narud to the lowest levels of Skygeirr Station, liberating several ultralisk specimens along the way. At the bottom, they discovered the station was built atop a large xel'naga temple, itself surrounded by many lesser temples. The temple complex was guarded by Tal'darim and hybrid.
Kerrigan and Stukov soon came across the carcass of a captive ultralisk. Abathur used the creature's essence to revive it and re-integrated the ultralisk strain into the Swarm. After clearing out a small detachment of Tal'darim, the Swarm established a forward base at the edge of the temple.
Narud drove a null zone at Kerrigan, forcing her to concentrate on holding back the null zone. Narud drew power from the lesser temples and the null zone slowly advanced on Kerrigan. With Kerrigan occupied, Stukov led the Swarm's forces against Narud's Tal'darim and hybrid troops. Eventually, he deactivated the lesser temples, enabling Kerrigan to drive the null zone back onto Narud.[1]
Shifting Perspectives[]
Narud was severely weakened and retreated into the main temple. Kerrigan pursued him inside alone. There, she confronted Narud, who taunted her about Amon's return. When Kerrigan retorted that Amon was dead, Narud appeared before her in the form of Jim Raynor. Quickly seeing through the charade, Kerrigan attacked Narud. Initially, Kerrigan had the upper hand, until Narud switched to the form of Kerrigan's human self. Distracted, Kerrigan let her guard down momentarily, allowing Narud to impale her through the chest with a red psi-blade. Though severely wounded, Kerrigan used her remaining strength to stab Narud with her razor wings. Fatally injured, Narud seemingly died, but not before whispering to Kerrigan that Amon lived once more and that she would see him soon.[2]
Kerrigan fell unconscious, but was rescued by Broodmother Zagara, who returned her to the leviathan and healed her. Once awake, she informed the others of Amon's return.[3]
Walkthrough[]
Narud, powered up, uses a null zone
The main objective of the mission is to disable the temples before the null zone reaches Kerrigan; the mission ends in failure if the null zone reaches her. Kerrigan is unusable during the mission, but any passive abilities she has continue to work. Stukov is playable in her place; like Kerrigan, he regenerates at the starting hatchery when killed. Bring Stukov to each temple's beacon to start the deactivation timer. During this time Stukov is immobilized but may use his abilities, and he will be attacked by enemy units spawned-in at the enemy's bases.
There is an expansion directly east of the starting base; take it quickly. This may help to produce the ultralisk - introduced in this mission - in numbers. The main enemy is protoss, and attacks with both ground and air units. Be prepared to handle archons, carriers, and void rays. Use Stukov's Corrosive Blast when deactivating temples; it reduces a target's armor and is very useful against hybrid and other single powerful units. Infestors are also useful on taking control of the protoss carriers and immortals that threaten the ultralisks.
The optional objective it to find and destroy three xel'naga crystals. The first crystal is located near the expansion east of the starting base. The other two are near the temple in the far north-west corner of the map; one crystal is south of it, and the other us further east near Narud's position.
It is unnecessary to destroy the protoss bases in the north and south-east. Enemy units spawn at the bases to attack Stukov at the temples; spawning continues even if the bases are destroyed.
Videos[]
Achievements[]
 Phantoms of the Void
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| Points |
10 |
| Criteria |
Complete the “Phantoms of the Void” mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign. |
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 Stukov Strikes Back
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| Points |
10 |
| Criteria |
Don’t let Stukov die in the “Phantoms of the Void” mission. |
| Notes | |
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The achievement name is a reference to the film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. | |
| Edit | |
 The Phantoms Menaced
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| Points |
10 |
| Criteria |
Kill 2 Hybrid within 20 seconds of each other in the “Phantoms of the Void” mission on Normal difficulty. |
| Notes | |
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The achievement name is a reference to the film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. | |
| Edit | |
 No-Toss
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| Points |
10 |
| Criteria |
Destroy all Protoss structures in the “Phantoms of the Void” mission on Hard difficulty. |
| Edit | |
 Eat, Love, Then Pray
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| Points |
10 |
| Criteria |
Destroy all Protoss structures before activating a 4th Temple in the "Phantoms of the Void" mission on Normal difficulty. |
| Notes | |
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A reference to the novel, film and common saying "Eat, Pray, Love." | |
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Notes[]
In earlier versions of the mission, the objectives were different: hybrid appeared and used the temples to channel their energies towards Narud, empowering him to fight Kerrigan and push the null zone towards her faster; the player could kill these hybrid to stop this. In reverse, the player could use queens to channel energy from psionic crystals towards Kerrigan to allow her to push the null zone back faster.
It was also intended that the swarm host would feature in this mission.[4]
References[]
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Heart of the Swarm, Phantoms of the Void (in English). 2013-03-12.
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: Shifting Perspectives (in English). 2013-03-12.
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cutscenes: Skygeirr Station Missions (in English). 2013-03-12.
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Map Editor. (Activision Blizzard) (in English). March 12, 2013