Salvation is a mission in the campaign of Legacy of the Void. It is the sixth Aiur mission, the third of the Return to Aiur storyline, and the last mission in the main Legacy of the Void campaign.
History[]
Path of the Warrior[]
- Artanis(src)
After the destruction of Amon's host body, only the Khala kept his presence attached to the material universe. Artanis gathered his forces for one last stand, where they would defend the Keystone as it charged to extract Amon from the Khala. Before the troops, Artanis told them that their prejudice must be a thing of the past, and that they must all stand united if they are to defeat Amon.[1]
Mission[]
- Amon(src)
Around the Keystone, the Daelaam set up a defensive perimeter as the Amon's zerg descended on them. Matriarch Vorazun and her Nerazim took up the northern approach, Highlord Alarak and his Tal'darim covered the west, and Phase-smith Karax with a contingent of Purifiers held the south entrance. Grand Preserver Rohana and Talandar supported their defense from the Spear of Adun.
As the battle went on, the Golden Armada, commanded by a possessed Executor Selendis, arrived. They engaged both the main Keystone site and the Spear of Adun, slowly picking away at it and destroying its weapons and support systems, leaving the Spear of Adun unable to assist. Artanis had no other choice but to destroy his own brethren in order to defend the Keystone.
Despite facing overwhelming numbers the Daelaam held until the Keystone was charged, though they began to crumble. Artanis then ordered all forces to fall back to the Keystone.[2]
Legacy[]
Artanis personally mounted the defense of the Keystone, and an Amon-possessed Selendis came to meet him in one-on-one combat. The Keystone activated, temporarily purging Amon from the Khala. Artanis shouted to the redeemed Templar to sever their nerve cords to free themselves from Amon, as Amon began to break free from the Keystone. Though Selendis questioned on what they would become without the Khala, Artanis simply said they would be free. With that Selendis was the first to sever her nerve cords. Her warriors and all other Khalai soon followed. The Keystone then collapsed, unable to hold Amon, and with nothing to hold his consciousness, Amon was forced back into the Void.
Later, Artanis stood over the grave of Dark Prelate Zeratul and returned his warp blade, thanking him for the salvation he brought them. Artanis stated he would bring the dream of a unified protoss to bear, and forge a new society. A city was shown being rebuilt, containing both Khalai and Nerazim structures.[3]
After the conflict, Karax received a transmission from Ulnar. Artanis realized that it had to be Sarah Kerrigan.
Walkthrough[]
In this mission, the player spawns in the center, and is assailed by zerg and protoss forces constantly. The player must hold out until the keystone charges, but does not have the artifact pulse as in All In. The goal of this mission should be to keep the allied bases up for as long as possible, while making an air armada to combat the various pushes.
Destroyers will be invaluable, as their area of effect attack will burn through waves of attackers. Use Chrono Boost to boost out upgrades, but do so quickly as that will be the first system to be disabled. As soon as the army is maxed out, minerals should be spent on a grid of photon cannons, shield batteries, and khaydarin monoliths to defend each base. Try to not block one's allies' units with them, but put them in a position where they can support. Be equal in distribution, as well, as all sides will be attacked with equal fervor. Along with the static defense, one good strategy for mobile units is to specialize in air units (carriers and void rays / destroyers), both because of Golden Armada attacks, as well as the fact that your allies have mainly ground units.
As the Keystone is charged, each of the Spear of Aduns solar core subsystems will fall one by one, from left to right (passive subsystems, like Warp Harmonization and Reconstruction Beam, are not affected). This makes the mission much more difficult, so choices on the Spear of Adun must be considered carefully, especially the ultimate ability - Time Stop will work miracles here, especially when the Golden Armada arrives to assault in force.
The representative heroes defending each side (Alarak, Karax and Vorazun) will likely fall in the later stages and cannot be revived, especially on harder difficulties, but no penalty will be suffered for their losses (aside from Alarak complaining if the Tal'darim base is overrun). However, each side will take considerably longer to gather its own warriors for defense, so support is paramount. While the zerg will attack constantly, the Golden Armada will come in waves.
This mission requires constant spending of money, and getting to max supply as quickly as possible. The leftward free expansion, by the Nerazim side, must be taken immediately after the mission starts, and warp assimilators are recommended to both extract substantial amounts of vespene gas and avoid having to build workers all the time. Resources will be plentiful, so multiple production structures will be useful for replacing any lost forces.
On Brutal, this mission can be particularly daunting. It is recommended to place as many photon cannons as possible on the open ground near the allied bases; even if they are easily destroyed by reavers and tempests, they will buy precious time. Additionally, a combination of Nerazim dark templars and corsairs can hold each ramp for a considerable time; the corsairs can both chase off or kill detectors, while also using Disruption Web to let dark templar kill enemy units with impunity, even if detected. A force of void rays or destroyers should be kept in a control group to deal with Golden Armada forces, as corsairs are ineffective against capital ships. A Tal'darim mothership may be also useful for this mission, as its black hole ability can stop entire masses of enemies in their tracks. However, the player must treat their mothership with care, as losing it will be costly in both resources and time needed to replace it. For this reason, a mothership should be accompanied by a group of void rays or other support units.
Dark archons are also another powerful option. Mind Control can be used to eliminate the threat of the larger air waves of the Golden Armada, as all except the mothership can be taken. Considering the Golden Armada has quite a few tempests, colossi, immortals, carriers and more, taking control of even one will grant at least a substantial meat shield. Taking control of multiple units at once can help decimate their attack wave, and supply you with units for only a cost of 100 energy. Mind controlled units do not count towards the total supply, allowing freedom to either spawn more dark archons or reinforce with a larger force behind it. Confusion can be used to force units into attacking each other, reducing the threat for ten seconds. This is especially useful when ultralisks join the fight since they cannot be controlled, but can be forced to infight with smaller enemies.
In terms of solar core configuration, the Guardian Shell ability can be extremely helpful on Brutal, keeping critical units alive against hard-hitting enemies like tempests and reavers. Matrix Overload can also help out by letting your forces rapidly reposition themselves and fight more effectively, though it requires that you place a large number of pylons around your base. Reconstruction Beam is not advised on Brutal, as it simply will not be able to keep up with all the damage you will suffer from all sides, and won't save your units from being bursted down by tempests or reavers.
It also helps greatly to make use of Karax's passive ability 'Master Phase-smith' by building a single gateway, stargate or robotics facility in close proximity to Karax allowing units to be produced 900% faster. Sadly this will not work for forges or cybernetics cores, so Karax won't be able to speed up your upgrades.[2]
Achievements[]
Salvation | |
Points | |
Criteria |
Complete “Salvation mission in the Legacy of the Void campaign. |
Edit |
Fully Khalabrated | |
Points | |
Criteria |
Don’t lose any allied Protoss Nexuses in the “Salvation” mission on Normal difficulty. |
Edit |
Daelaams to the Slaughter | |
Points | |
Criteria |
Use the Spear of Adun to damage or disable 20 Golden Armada ships in the “Salvation” mission. |
Edit |
Creep Sea Fishing | |
Points | |
Criteria |
Kill the Brutalisk in the “Salvation” mission on Hard difficulty. |
Edit |
Big Spear Diplomacy | |
Points | |
Criteria |
Complete the "Salvation" mission without using the Spear of Adun on Normal difficulty. |
Notes | |
A reference to the foreign policy ideology of "Big Stick Diplomacy." | |
Edit |
Trivia[]
- Artanis's speech before the level takes several lines from the speech he gave in the alternate future in "In Utter Darkness."[4]
References[]
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: The Path of the Warrior. (in English). 2015.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Legacy of the Void, Salvation (in English). 2015-11-10.
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: Liberation and Legacy. (in English). 2015.
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. [[StarCraft II]. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, In Utter Darkness (in English). 2010-07-27.