Near the end of the Second Great War, Sky Fury Squadron fought in defense of Augustgrad during the Swarm's invasion of Korhal. The squadron, along with the Night Wolves, attempted to stop Sarah Kerrigan from destroying the planet's Drakken defense network.[3] Later, Sky Fury Squadron fought in defense of the Korhal Palace itself against the zerg and Raynor's Raiders. At one point, Mengsk personally ordered Sky Fury Squadron to destroy the Hyperion, but they failed. Ultimately the Swarm and the Raiders triumphed over the Royal Guard and ended Mengsk's reign.[1]
This article or section contains information derived from Co-op Missions, and should not be considered part of the official StarCraft storyline.
In the alternate timeline where Arcturus Mengsk survives the Second Great War, Sky Furies were deployed alongside the Royal Guard to combat the forces of Amon.[4]
Vikings gain +2 missile range and +1 cannon range.
Bellerephon offers an improved loadout for the viking that adds a longer-range anti-air missile. An improved gatling cannon has also been added for increased range in ground assaults.[5]
Sky Furies are a variant of Vikings built by Arcturus Mengsk in Co-op Missions. They are powerful anti-atr and anti-ground attack that does large amounts of damage to massive units. They can be upgraded to temporarily have 50% increased damage upon transforming at Rank 2, and at Rank 3 can evade attacks in the air and move into the air upon taking fatal damage when in assault mode.
Sky Furies cannot heal themselves, so having Dominion troopers turn into Dominion laborers between battles to repair them will aid greatly in their survivability.[4]
Upgrades and Abilities
Royal Guard of the Dominion
Killing enemy units grants experience to nearby Royal Guards. If there are no nearby Royal Guards when an enemy is killed, the experience is instead split between all Royal Guards in the mission. Experience allows the unit to gain Rank, which improves its damage, armor, health and unlock new abilities or passive bonuses.
Rank 1: Deals bonus damage to Massive targets.
Rank 2: Gain the Tactical Realignment ability.
Rank 3: Gain the Evasive Maneuvers and Phoenix Protocol abilities.
Principal Proletariat: Increases the gained experience by 100%.
Usage
Passive
Notes
The leveling up mechanics works as follows:
When an enemy unit is killed, 100 (200 with Principal Proletariat) experience per supply cost of the unit killed is "dropped".
If the unit is a non-Heroic unit with 0 supply cost, it will drop no experience.
If the unit is a Heroic unit with 0 supply cost, it will drop 800 (1600 with Principal Proletariat) experience.
Dropped experience is equally split among all eligible units (Royal Guard, not at max rank) within 15 range of the unit killed.
If there are no eligible units within 15 range of the unit killed, all eligible units on the map get an equal split of the dropped experience.
Once a Royal Guard unit has reached maximum rank, it is removed from the pool of eligible units so as to not waste experience.
Mastery: +0.5 (+1 with Principal Proletariat) experience per supply (+4 (+8 with Principal Proletariat) experience on Heroic unit with 0 supply cost) per Royal Guard Experience Gain Rate mastery point. Up to a maximum 115 (230 with Principal Proletariat) experience per supply (920 (1840 with Principal Proletariat) experience on Heroic unit with 0 supply cost).
Royal Guards increase Imperial Support based on their supply cost and Rank. Each point of Imperial Support generates 1 Imperial Mandate every 240 seconds.
Usage
Passive
Notes
Imperial Support=100% for Royal Guard's Supply. Depending on the Rank level, the number of Imperial Support increases by x1.5 (Rank 1), x2 (Rank 2) or x2.5 (Rank 3). Mastery: +1% of Imperial Support per Royal Guard Support mastery point. Up to a maximum +30%.
Campaign Acquisition
Unlock
Reach Mengsk Level 5.
Acquisition
Unranked
Effect
Mandate every 240 Mastery: Mandate every 240 per Royal Guard Support mastery point. Up to a maximum Mandate every 240
Rank 1
Effect
Mandate every 240 Mastery: Mandate every 240 per Royal Guard Support mastery point. Up to a maximum Mandate every 240
Rank 2
Effect
Mandate every 240 Mastery: Mandate every 240 per Royal Guard Support mastery point. Up to a maximum Mandate every 240
Rank 3
Effect
Mandate every 240 Mastery: Mandate every 240 per Royal Guard Support mastery point. Up to a maximum Mandate every 240
When this unit takes fatal damage, the Sky Fury transforms into Fighter Mode and temporarily gains a barrier that absorbs 400 damage for 15 seconds. Can only occur once every 90 seconds.
The Sky Fury was designed in Co-op Missions in reference to the Heart of the Swarm opening cinematic, where a Viking lands to fight an ultralisk only to be crushed. According to Co-op director Kevin Dong, the Sky Fury's bonus vs massive was designed to make it powerful vs ultralisk as a means to "redo" that part of the cinematic.[6]