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The swarm guardian appears in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty as a mini-boss in level 2 of the Lost Viking arcade game.[1]

Development[]

The following section contains information from a previous version of StarCraft II which is no longer valid.

The swarm guardian was a zerg unit set to appear in StarCraft II. It was replaced by the brood lord.[9]

Overview[]

The swarm guardian functioned much like the original guardian as a siege unit,[10] possessing a long range attack.[11]

They look like a mutalisk laid out flat with its tail section behind it. Their bodies are made up of a total of five individual sections. The front section consists of the head and multiple appendages, maintaining the general appearance of the original crab-like guardian. There are three middle sections similar to the three rib-like claws that appear on the midsection of the mutalisk. Lastly a tail section which has four small spikes pointing backwards like those at the end of the mutalisk's tail.[12] They move with a breaststroke-like swimming motion through the air.[13] They are also much larger than their original counterparts, being only slightly smaller than a battlecruiser.

Game Unit[]

SwarmGuardian SC2 Game4

The swarm guardian attacking

The swarm guardian was similar to the original guardian, acting like a siege unit.[14]

Spawning[]

When a swarm guardian attacked, it produced broodlings[8] which lasted only a few seconds. The broodlings are very weak[14] but a large number could be quickly created, forcing an enemy to retreat.[15] They spawned when buildings were attacked as well.[16]

Spawning Development[]

The swarm guardian used to spawn swarms with every attack. Swarms could "soak up" damage.[7]

Upgrades[]

Acquisition
Purchased from
Level 1
Cost 100 Minerals 100 Vespene gas 160seconds
Level 2
Cost 175 Minerals 175 Vespene gas 190seconds
Required Lair
Level 3
Cost 250 Minerals 250 Vespene gas 220seconds
Required Hive
ve

Increases armor of zerg air units.

Acquisition
Purchased from
Level 1
Cost 100 Minerals 100 Vespene gas 160seconds
Effect +1 armor
Level 2
Cost 175 Minerals 175 Vespene gas 190seconds
Required Lair
Effect +1 armor
Level 3
Cost 250 Minerals 250 Vespene gas 220seconds
Required Hive
Effect +1 armor
ve

References[]

  1. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Lost Viking (in English). 2010.
  2. 2.0 2.1 StarCraftZine. 2008-10-18. StarCraftZine.com. StarCraft Zine. Accessed 2008-12-08.
  3. 2010-02-28, StarCraft II Beta Game Images. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed on 2010-06-02
  4. 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 StarCraft Legacy staff. 2009-04-04. Zerg Unit Stats. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2009-05-09.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 StarCraft Legacy staff. 2008-03-11. Zerg - Units. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2009-06-23.
  6. 6.0 6.1 StarCraft Legacy staff. 2009-04-04. Zerg Unit Information. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2009-06-23.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Karune. 2008-08-18. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 43. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-08-18.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Yup, all Zerg buildings (not including defenses) when destroyed, will produce a handful of broodlings (which have a timed life).

    Any player plowing through a Zerg base should always remember to keep moving their units around to take the least amount of damage from these broodlings.

    Swarm Guardians still produce broodlings as well, when they strike a unit or building.
    Karune. 2008-09-25. Karune: Spawning Pool. Guardians & Broodlings. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-09-25.
  9. Dustin Browder, Lipton, Karune. 2009-04-22. The Official STARFEEDER Starcraft 2 Q&A. Starfeeder. Accessed 2009-04-22.
  10. Medievaldragon. 2008-03-10, StarCraft II-Zerg Unveiled. Blizzplanet. Accessed on 2008-03-10
  11. Karune. 2008-04-08. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 34. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-04-08
  12. IGN Screenshot 2008-6-28, IGN Screenshot of 7 Swarm Guardians IGN Accessed 2008-6-28
  13. mncast. 2008-3-10, mncast video: the Swarm Guardian is seen at 2:40. mncast. Accessed 2008-3-10
  14. 14.0 14.1 The Swarm Guardian is similar to the original Guardian, acting as a flying long range siege unit. In addition, the attacks also spawn Broodlings upon hitting the target, which do additional damage to the enemy, lasting only a few seconds. Karune. 2008-05-22. Re: guardians? Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-05-22.
  15. To clarify, the Guardian's attack does not add a DoT (Damage over time) on the targeted unit. The targeted unit will take damage from the attack and then two Broodlings will spawn adjacent to that targeted unit every time the Guardian attacks. Each Broodling acts as an independent unit, controllable, and killable. Over a few seconds, the Broodlings will die on their own. With just a few Swarm Guardians, you can create an army of Broodlings upon your enemy in mere seconds. Nonetheless, these Broodlings do little damage and have little hit points - but with enough, it will definitely force your enemy to retreat. Karune. 2008-05-22. Re: guardians? Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-05-22.
  16. They spawned when the swarm guardian attacked buildings as well. Karune. 2008-05-22. Re: guardians? (page 2) Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-05-22.
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