Planetfall is the first of the final three Korhal missions of Heart of the Swarm.
Background[]
Sarah Kerrigan's invasion of Korhal ran into an immediate problem; the Korhal defense network, which destroyed most of her drop pods.[1]
Kerrigan herself slipped onto the surface, and, surrounded by Dominion forces, fought to establish safe landing zones for the bile launchers which would then be used to destroy the defense network.
She also destroyed the Augustgrad Gates which allowed Zagara's forces to enter the city itself.
Walkthrough[]
The objective of this mission is to establish five bile launchers to break the Dominion's orbital defenses from the ground. The launchers will land on Korhal in drop pods and must be defended until the player has five. If three launchers are destroyed, the mission is lost. When the launchers land, a handful of zerg and a creep tumor will spawn with them, but they will not be enough to defend the cannon alone.
North-west of the player's starting base is a light Dominion base near a mineral patch, if the player desires an expansion. A bile launcher will eventually land at this location, so it should be cleared out anyway. As the launchers land, Mengsk will dispatch elite Dominion strike forces to destroy them. Between the landing of the launchers, the player should focus on building up their forces and driving the Dominion back from the map to allow them to secure the bile launcher landing sites before they land. Once five bile launchers are fully constructed and all Dominion bases are destroyed, the mission is won.
While attacks are light against the bile launchers, it is important to not get blindsided by an attack wave and lose one. A large strike force to clear out the bases can be complimented by a small highly mobile force of units like creeper swarm hosts to burrow to an area that needs immediate defense. Adding in a small number of infestors can allow the player to take control powerful units such as Blackhammers and Pride of Augustgrad battlecruisers.
For the achievement "Crash the Party", it should be noted that there are missile turrets in otherwise inaccessible areas that will require a small force of air units to reach. Alternatively, the player can use units that can scale cliffs, such as raptor zerglings.
As optional objectives, the player can destroy three gates deeper into Augustgrad to allow Zagara's forces to infiltrate the city. This does not, however, produce any reward.
Videos[]
Notes[]
There are large defensive cannons around the map that cannot be attacked. When the bile launchers land they will launch long-range attacks on these cannons, tying into the mission's story background that the bile launchers are to be used to destroy the Dominion's orbital defenses.
Achievements[]
Planetfall | |
Points | |
Criteria |
Complete the “Planetfall” mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign. |
Edit |
Fully Operational | |
Points | |
Criteria |
Don’t lose a Bile Launcher in the “Planetfall” mission. |
Edit |
Death Start | |
Points | |
Criteria |
Destroy 3 Augustgrad Gates before the 5th Bile Launcher lands in the “Planetfall” mission on Normal difficulty. |
Edit |
Crash the Party | |
Points | |
Criteria |
Destroy all Dominion structures in the “Planetfall” mission before the 5th Bile Launcher lands on Hard difficulty. |
Edit |
Salivary Conditioning | |
Points | |
Criteria |
Destroy 20 Dominion structures in the "Planetfall" mission before the 3rd Bile Launcher lands on Normal difficulty. |
Edit |
References[]
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Heart of the Swarm, "Planetfall" (in English). 2013-03-12