Supreme is the third and final Zerus mission in Heart of the Swarm.[1]
Background[]
Sarah Kerrigan intended to unite all the packs of Zerus. She gained the assistance of Dehaka and Zurvan the Ancient One in her quest.
She defeated pack leaders Yagdra, Kraith and Slivan in turn, when Zurvan turned against her. She eventually defeated him too, taking command of the primal zerg.
Aftermath[]
Upon Kerrigan's return to the Koprulu Sector, she received a communication from Arcturus Mengsk. He declared that Jim Raynor was in fact alive, but would be executed if Kerrigan brought her Swarm anywhere near him.[2]
Walkthrough[]
Kerrigan has a completely new set of abilities in this level. Leaping Strike deals heavy damage to one target, and can be targeted on empty ground to allow Kerrigan to leap over pits. Her second ability, Psionic Shift, deals damage to enemies in a line as Kerrigan charges through them. Early in the level the player will find the first of four ancient xel'naga relics. Each of the relics recovered in the mission rewards a bonus Kerrigan level. After retrieving the first relic the player will find primal roaches under Dehaka's command fighting hydralisks. When the hydralisks are slain the roaches come under the player's control, and Kerrigan will acquire the Mend ability to heal herself and nearby allies. In the pool area after finding the roaches, the player can find the second xel'naga relic on a cliff in the north-west corner. After leaving the pool area the player will encounter more roaches of Dehaka, enough to give them six (any roaches that died will have replacements provided here).
The player now faces Yagdra, the first pack leader. Yagdra will attack the player several times, then burrow and resurface somewhere else. When he burrows he leaves eggs that will hatch into primal zerg shortly, Kerrigan's Psionic Shift can kill the smaller eggs instantly, the larger eggs have more health and will survive. Yagdra has two attacks, he will shoot a spray of acid, the target area denoted by crosshairs, or he will spit a continuous stream of acid, turning towards Kerrigan to aim. The player should attack, move to avoid Yagdra's attack, stop to attack again, and repeat until he burrows. At this time Kerrigan can use Psionic Shift to kill most of the eggs before Yagdra resurfaces, and when he does the player can press their attack. Leaping Strike helps to quickly close the distance and deal more damage. With Yagdra dead the player moves to the next part of the level to deal with Kraith.
In this area the player finds several hydralisks from Dehaka to join them, and shortly after a large mass of eggs belonging to Kraith's pack. The player should use Kerrigan's Psionic Shift to quickly destroy the eggs while the other zerg attack from afar. The largest eggs hatch into ultralisks, so the player should focus them down first. The small eggs hatch into zerglings, hydralisks, or roaches, easily dispatched with the player's superior numbers. After this the player will find the third xel'naga relic near four large eggs, destroy them before claiming the relic. As the player moves through the next area, primal zerg emerge from the caves and break down the rock formations to attack. After this the player will find more of Dehaka's pack, replacing any lost units until the player has four hydralisks and six roaches.
The player now fights Kraith. He will use an area-of-effect attack to deal continuous damage and turns to aim at the player's units. After this he will turn to charge at the player's units, his path represented by a red cursor. Kraith's charge deals heavy damage to any unit in his path, and when he runs he will hit the wall of his lair, dropping zerglings to aid him. He repeats this pattern over and over. Kerrigan should use Psionic Shift to destroy the zerglings while the roaches and hydralisks focus on Kraith. His attack deals continuous damage, so the player does not need to rush to avoid it, and Kerrigan's Mend can partially counterattack its damage.
In this third area, any lost units will be replaced by more members of Dehaka's pack, and they will be joined by a primal ultralisk. The primary enemies throughout this area are creepers. They move slowly and do not attack, but when approached shudder and explode a few seconds later. Kerrigan's Psionic Shift will kill them instantly, so the player should move slowly and let her clear out the area, as creepers are very much like banelings and can wipe out the player's forces with only a few detonations. After the first batch of creepers, Kerrigan can use Leaping Strike to reach a new area in the north-east. This area has several ravasaurs, powerful enemies with siege-range attacks. Defeating them and traversing the cliffs finds the final xel'naga relic. After an encounter with more primal zerg, the player will find a watery valley full of creepers with ravasaurs attacking from cliffs. The player should first send Kerrigan up the cliffs with Leaping Strike to clear out the ravasaurs, then use her to clear out the creepers and advance the rest of their forces behind her. At the end of the valley the player will fight a large number of primal zerg. Any lost forces will be replenished by Dehaka, and the player can confront Slivan.
Slivan's only attack is a ranged area-of-effect acid attack. The far more pressing danger is the continuous stream of creepers she spawns, filling the area. Ravasaurs also spawn from the grass around the area. The player should have their normal zerg attack Slivan while Kerrigan uses Psionic Shift to clear out as many creepers as she can. Note that all of Silvan, creeper and Ravasaurs's attacks can be dodged, so you can ignore them all after your units dies, focusing on leap and autoattack and just dodge the attacks. Thus the fight with Slivan can take some time or be the fastest (a focused attack on her with Kerrigan clearing creepers on brutal will have her dead in under 50 seconds), depending on how good the player is at diving and microing their units. As an upside, Slivan has much less health than Yagdra or Kraith, so once the player has the opening to attack, she will fall much quicker than them. On the downside, all supporting zerg are likely to be lost on the harder difficulties, although Slivan can still be taken down by Kerrigan alone provided she dodges the acid and Banelings.
Once Slivan is dead, Zurvan will surface, destroying the area and leaving the player's forces on a cliff in front of him. Any lost units will be replaced once more. Zurvan has two main attacks. He will lash his tentacles over the platform, marked by red lines where they will strike, and he will disgorge primal zerg to attack. The player should move their units in a kiting strategy, attacking while moving to maximize damage to Zurvan and minimizing losses. Zurvan has much more health than the other pack leaders, so he will take a long time to kill. When low on health Zurvan will rise up and use only one attack for the rest of the fight, exhaling a cone of lightning over the area. This causes heavy damage to units caught in it, and leaves sparks on the ground that further damage nearby units. At this point the player's normal forces will likely be killed, but Kerrigan alone will be powerful enough to finish off Zurvan.
Videos[]
Notes[]
- In the area before the fight with Kraith, the player can find Dehaka's severed arm in a side-passage as an easter egg. The description wryly notes that whatever creature that tore it from him left it behind, so he must not be very appetizing.
- The music that plays during the fight against Zurvan is taken from the reveal trailer that showed the zerg race for Wings of Liberty.
- According to Blizzard artist Phill Gonzales, this mission took a large toll on the development team, who initially had planned more distinct models for bosses like Slivan,[3]
- Furthermore, the Swarm Host had been introduced in the previous mission, although one might normally expect it to instead appear after this mission when Kerrigan absorbs Slivan's essence.
Achievements[]
Supreme | |
Points | |
Criteria |
Complete The “Supreme” mission in the Heart of the Swarm campaign. |
Edit |
Endangered Species | |
Points | |
Criteria |
Kill 300 enemy units with Kerrigan in the “Supreme” mission. |
Edit |
Queen of the Jungle | |
Points | |
Criteria |
Complete the “Supreme” mission without letting Kerrigan drop below 100 life on Normal difficulty. |
Edit |
Whose Queen Reigns Supreme? | |
Points | |
Criteria |
Complete the “Supreme” mission in less than 12 minutes on Hard difficulty. |
Edit |
Sudden Extinction | |
Points | |
Criteria |
Kill every Primal Zerg leader, including Zurvan, in less than 150 seconds each in the "Supreme" mission on Normal difficulty. |
Edit |
References[]
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Heart of the Swarm, Supreme (in English). 2013-03-12.
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cutscenes: Leviathan (in English). 2013-03-12.
- ↑ PhilGonzo Deviantart. Zerg Swarm Host Devinaart.com. April 20, 2019