A Guide to Starcraft: How to Complete Zerg Missions 6 and 7
Mission Six: The Dark Templar
Objectives:
Exterminate the Protoss Intruder
Patient defense and upgrades are the key here. The Protoss base lies across a heavily fortified area that is highly resistant to rush assaults. Build up your forces (2 squads of Hydralisks, 2 squads of Mutalisks plus as many Zerglings as you can crank out) and upgrade them fully before sending them in. Bring Kerrigan along and use her Psionic Storm ability to lay waste to your enemies.
Build as many Sunken and Spore Colonies around as you can. The Protoss like to rush early with Dragoons and Zealots, so it is important to have this defense in place early.
NOTE: You now have access to Guardians; the evolved form of Mutalisks. Their damage and hit points are greatly increased at the expense of Air-to-Air attacks; Guardians can only attack ground targets. Never transform all of your Mutalisks into Guardians. Make sure to leave at least half of them Mutalisks.
Moving east will reveal a secondary mineral cache, which will be helpful. Bring your main assault force forward to secure it. There is also a smaller resource cache to the south which is guarded by Dragoons and Reavers. Send some Guardians to eliminate them. This allows you a third base from which to harvest resources.
Send your assault force to the east when you are ready. 12 Mutalisks, 12 Hydralisks and 12 Guardians are adequate to decimate the Protoss completely. Bring in some additional Guardians to speed up the job. The mission ends with the destruction of the last Protoss building.
Mission 7: The Culling
Objectives:
Eradicate every last remnant of the Garm Brood
Send your units down the path to the first outpost. Destroy it quickly and move on. Eradicate the enemy base quickly and set up. Defense is crucial, since you will have little in the way of resources. Every building must be protected. Do not send your forces out to attack until your base is well-fortified.
TIP: Do not use Defilers for this mission. They are too resource-intensive and do not provide enough flexibility to be really useful in this mission. They work great against Terran and Protoss forces though.
Send 24 Hydralisks west to take out the next outpost. Support them with Mutalisks/Guardians. Destroy the Sunken Colonies before you send your Hydralisks in. Take the western base and set up again. This will be a tremendous help with resrouces. Make sure this base is also well-defended.
Continue north and destroy the third base. If your forces are in good enough shape, you can delay setting up here and continue on the main base. Do not assault the main base with any less than 24 Hydralisks, 12 Mutalisks and 24 Guardians. Doing so will mean you will probably have to make multiple attempts to destroy the base. Bringing a full force in however, will mean you can take it in a single sweep. Decimate the Garm Brood and destroy everything to complete the mission.
Mission 8: Eye for an Eye
Objectives:
Destroy the Protoss base
Let no Dark Templar escape
There are three beacons, each of which is an escape point for Dark Templar. Move an Overlord to each beacon to spot the Dark Templar (they are permanently cloaked.) Send the two Ultralisks to two beacons and surround each of them with Hydralisks. Bring one or two more Overlords to each beacon as soon as you can; you will need a backup if one dies.
NOTE: These beacons must remain heavily guarded by an Overlord and heavy ground forces at all times. If a single Dark Templar escapes and reaches a beacon, the mission is over. It is advisable to save your game at regular intervals here to avoid having to restart the entire mission.
Use the multiple Hatcheries to send Drones to the main base. Get your resources running smoothly, then begin building Hydralisks and Mutalisks. Surround the beacons with Sunken Colonies as soon as you are able. This will further decrease the chance of a Dark Templar escaping. Make sure you save the game at least a couple times here. If a single Dark Templar escapes, you lose.
Send your Hydralisks and Mutalisks (at least 12 of each) to the northwest. Destroy the base there to make things easier. Set up a new base here. Once you save up some resources, begin producing more Ultralisks. Have at least 2 patrolling each beacon before you utilize them for assault.
Build 12 Mutalisks and 12 Guardians. This, along with your remaining Hydralisks and Ultralisks, is your main assault force. Send it around the map and destroy all the Protoss you find. Send your Ultralisks in first, followed by the Hydralisks and the flyers. Give the units some time to regenerate between each base. The mission ends when the last building is destroyed. Make sure you destroy any Reavers first, as they can annihilate your ground forces in very little time. Fortunately, they are highly vulnerable to air assault.
Mission 9: The Invasion of Aiur
Objectives:
Bring a Drone to the Khaydarin Crystal Formation
Set up Sunken and Spore Colonies as soon as possible. Keep your units on hand for base defense until you are ready to set out with a huge attack force. The Protoss are pulling out all the stops, so you can expect assault from Zealots, Dragoons, Reavers and now Carriers.
TIP: When fighting carriers, have your units target the carrier specifically, otherwise they may waste their time with the fighters.
Send as many troops as you can spare to the east. You will find another resource cache, which will be essential later on. You may not need it in the beginning, but taking it early is easier than taking it later. Build your main assault force here. Make sure to craft a strong defense of your second base; you will need it.
Build up your attack force. You will need at least 12 (preferably 24) Guardians, 12 Mutalisks and as many Hydralisks and Ultralisks as you can spare. Head east, then south. This gives you the most direct path to the Crystal Formation. Don’t send a drone just yet though. Put four Drones in four Overlords and leave them aside for now.
Continue working your way south through the Protoss forces until a large path has been cleared to the Crystal Formation. Once most of the enemy forces are occupied, bring your Drone-carrying Overlords to the Crystal Formation and have them dislodge the Drones. Having multiple Drones at the site ensures success. Once one of them reaches the Crystal, the mission is complete.
Mission 10: Full Circle
Objectives:
Destroy the Protoss Temple
The keys to this mission are resource management and choosing your battles. There are four Protoss bases: one to the west, one to the east, one around the temple and one to the north of the temple. Do not bother attacking the northern temple; you just need to destroy the temple, not all Protoss forces.
Begin by creating a lot of Drones (12+) to harvest resources. Gather as much as you can as fast as you can. Build a very heavy defense around your base; this is critical. The Protoss outnumber you heavily, making a good defense is essential in the early stages of the mission. Judicious application of upgrades can give you a good advantage. Only research the upgrades you know you will use. If you don’t use Zerglings much, don’t bother upgrading them. If you don’t use Defilers much, don’t even build a Defiler Mound. Use the resources instead to build and upgrade the units you do use.
Build Hydralisks, Mutalisks, Ultralisks and Guardians, in that order. Use them to attack the western base, then the eastern. Take the resource caches and set up secondary bases around them. Build good defenses (not necessarily gigantic defenses, but good ones) and continue building up your main assault force.
Build 24 Zerglings in addition to your main assault force. This is your “decoy force.” Send them in ahead of the main assault and let them get chewed up. While they are being torn apart, send your main attack force of Hydralisks, Mutalisks, Ultralisks and Guardians in for the kill. Eliminate Carriers, Reavers and Photon Cannons first. Then concentrate on Scouts, Dragoons and Zealots.
Continue pounding the Protoss until you have opened up a large enough hole in the main base to allow access to the Temple. Send part of your main assault force (at least four Guardians and an Ultralisk) to attack the temple while the rest of your troops continue to decimate the base. Keep units coming throughout the attack; your loses will most likely be high not due to your own fault but to the shear weight of enemies facing you. Keeping your units restocked with troops is imperative to the mission. It is advisable to build a couple extra Hives to keep production up. Once the temple is destroyed, the Zerg campaign is complete.
