Terran Unit and Building List

[source: ign.com]

Below you'll find all the units and structures currently available to the Terran faction, StarCraft's human race. A few of their traditional characteristics include the ability for several base structures to lift off the ground and fly through the air on rockets to safer locations, nuclear strikes, and defensive Barracks garrisoned by Marines. Though you'll see familiar units like the Siege Tank and Battlecruiser, a few additions like the Thor walking tank and transforming Viking make things feel new. On a few structures you'll be able to build add-ons that open up different research or unit production options.Brood War fans will notice an absence of Medics, something Blizzard is still considering. As it stands, the Medivac Dropship is the only unit capable of healing infantry. Like in StarCraft, mechanical units can be repaired by SCVs, the Terran build unit and resource collector.

Basic StructuresCommand Center – Primary base where SCVs return minerals and vespene gas. Can store up to five SCVs in case of attack. Can be upgraded to a Planetary Fortress (requires Engineering Bay) or Surveillance Station (requires Shadow Ops). Produces SCVs. Can lift off the ground.Planetary Fortress – Upgraded version of the Command Center with more armor and a large turret on the structure's top. Can lift off the ground.Surveillance Station – Upgraded version of the Command Center with increased range of sight and Scanner Sweep ability (reveals area of the map / hidden units). Can lift off the ground.

Supply Depot – Increases the number of units you can have out on the field. Can be raised or lowered to let units pass.Refinery – Built on vespene gas deposits to allow for harvesting.Barracks – Produces Marines, Marauders, Ghosts, and Reapers. Can be upgraded with Reactor add-on (allows for an additional build queue) or Tech Lab. In the lab add-on you can research Stim Pack (causes damage to unit but temporarily speeds movement and attack) and Combat Shield (blocks an initial attack made against Marines). Can lift off the ground.Engineering Bay – Offers upgrades for infantry armor and weapons.Missile Turret – Air defense structure. Also works to detect hidden units.Bunker – Defensive structure that can be garrisoned by four infantry units, giving them a slight range bonus.Sensor Tower – Expands your range of view on the map. Detects hidden units.
Advanced StructuresShadow Ops – Unlocks Ghosts at the Barracks. Contains research options for Ghost such as EMP (lets Ghost damage shields and energy reserves of enemies) and Personal Cloaking (requires a Starport, lets Ghosts turn invisible to units without detection while energy lasts). Can also be armed with a Nuke (requires Starport), which does 400 damage to enemies and 1000 damage to structures in a large radius.Factory – Builds Jackals, Siege Tanks, and Thors. Can be upgraded with Reactor (adds a build queue) or Tech Lab. In the lab you can research the Siege Tanks' Siege Mode ability. Can lift off the ground.Merc Haven – Lets you train Reapers at Barracks.Armory – Contains upgrades for vehicles (vehicle plating, vehicle weapons) and ships (ship weapons, ship plating).Starport – Air unit production structure. Builds Vikings, Medivac Dropships, Banshees, Nomads, Battlecruisers. Can add-on Reactor (one additional production queue) or Tech Lab. At the lab can research Cloaking Field (lets Banshees cloak) or Mine Drone (lets Nomads build cloaked spider mine defenses). Can lift off the ground.Deep Space Relay – Lets you build Battlecruisers at the Starport.
UnitsSCV – Terran build unit. Harvests resources and can repair mechanical units. Has a weak attack. Light armor.Marine – Basic infantry unit, attacks air and ground targets. Can use Stim Pack and Combat Shield abilities once researched at an add-on Tech Lab. The shield actually becomes visible on the unit – it's not a toggle ability. Light armor.Marauder – Attacks ground targets. Large infantry unit that blasts out concussion grenades, slowing enemies. Can use Stim Pack. Light armor.Ghost – Infantry unit capable of attacking ground and air units. Can Snipe, activate a personal cloaking field, trigger EMP blasts, and call down Nuclear Strikes. Light armor.

Reaper – Infantry unit that attacks with guns and throws timed mines. Can attack ground units. These guys can also hop between different tiers of land, meaning they don't have to look for ramps. Light armor.Jackal – Vehicle capable of attacking ground units. Resembles a futuristic bike. Moves fast, and has a flame attack that damages all units within its cone of fire. Armored unit.Siege Tank – Vehicle capable of hitting ground targets. Has a fast-firing main cannon. Once upgrade to siege mode, range of fire increases and it does area of effect damage, but unit must remain immobile. Armored unit.Thor – Massive walking tank capable of hitting air and ground targets. When near death will immobilize, but can be built back to full functionality with repairs. Armored unit.Viking – Strong air-to-air attack flying unit. Can be put into assault mode, which drops it to the ground, turning it into a bipedal mech. It can then only attack ground units. It can be switched between modes rapidly, and can go back and forth as many times as you please. Armored unit.Medivac Dropship – An air transport unit that can heal non-mechanical units. This heal can be set to auto-cast. Armored unit.Nomad – Flying detector unit capable of creating auto-turrets and spider mine drones (with Tech Lab upgrade). Both these structures build rapidly on the battlefield. Armored unit.Banshee – Flying unit capable of attacking ground targets. Can cloak. Armored unit.Battlecruiser – Massive flying assault craft capable of striking air and ground targets. Once constructed, the unit can be specialized for either the Yamato Gun (single blast for 260 damage) or Plasma Turrets (does area of effect damage to targets on the ground over a period of time). Specialization is permanent per unit. Armored unit.

Read full article: Terran Unit and Building List

Star Craft II Zerk - Mutalisk

Mutalisk
Type: Medium Attack Flyer
Core Genus: Mantis Screamer
Primary Attack: Glave Wurm



[source:starcraft2.com ]

The mutalisk has been little changed from its original form, the roving mantis screamer of the desolate Dinares sector. In their original forms these creatures were capable of atmospheric and deep-space flight, although how they accomplished such a feat is poorly understood. Apparently they were even capable of migrating between stars, presumably while in some kind of larval form.

Proof of this amazing interstellar capability can be observed from the towering aeries of the mantis screamers that are a common sight on lifeless worlds across several star systems. Most such nests are empty and abandoned now that this highly successful and adaptable species has been infested by the zerg and evolved into mutalisks.

Conversely powerful air defenses have succeeded in keeping mutalisks at a distance, for the creatures are limited in vitality. However, they remain agile and dangerous opponents. A mutalisk can attack foes both in the air and on the ground by expelling a glave wurm: a voracious symbiote that can rapidly strike at several opponents as it explosively disintegrates. In large numbers or against weak defenses, mutalisks will always be a deadly threat.

Read full article: Star Craft II Zerk - Mutalisk

Star Craft II Zerk second look

[source:gamereplays.org]

"It’s official, and the zerglings are out of the bag. Following closely on the heals of yesterday’s zerg announcement, we’ve got more juicy details on the third faction in Starcraft 2. Like the Protoss and Terrans, the Zerg are a mix of familiarity and significant differences. While virtually all of the staple units remain intact, there are some new additions and changes to the tech tree which fundamentally alters the way the Zerg are played."

Units & Tech tree (values follow this format: minerals-gas-food-build time):

Drone 50-x-1-16

Overlord 100-x-x-25

Zergling 50-x-1-23 (comes in pairs) - Requires Spawing Pool

Roach 75-25-1-23 - Requires Roach Den

Hydralisk 100-50-2-23 - Hydralisk Den

Morph to Lurker 25-75-33 - Deep Warren (upgrade from Nydus Warren)

Nydus Worm 100-100-2-33 - Nydus Warren

Infestor 100-100-2-33 - Nydus Warren

Mutalisk 100-100-2-33 - Spire

Morph to Swarm Guadian - unknown

Corruptor 150-100-2-40 - Spire

Ultralisk 300-200-4-70 - Ultralisk Cavern

Queen Limit 1 - 150-x-x-25 - Spawning Pool.

The QueenThe most notable difference to the Zerg of Starcraft 2 when compared to the original Starcraft, is how creep, defenses, and the Queen work. To start with, the Queen is completely and radically different. She has a build limit of one, is available very early on in the tech tree, and is the primary means by which creep and defenses are built. She builds defenses and creep by laying eggs, much in the same way a Protoss drone initiates the warp in sequence of a building it wants to construct. First is the Creep Tumor, which is more like a Creep(y) Eyeball that is embedded in the ground and looks around frantically (possibly because that‘s what strange eyeballs do, but probably because it acts as a stealth detector (unfortunately we didn‘t have a chance to test this theory). The Creep Tumor has one function: extend the creep. It’s also stealth, which helps it survive since it’s so fragile and totally defenseless. The next thing the Zerg Queen can do is lay Zerg’s primary defense: the Swarm Cluster. This is basically a battery of tubes that launch suicidal bug-like things at approaching enemies. They are high DPS, but have very low health and a relatively limited range. The limited range, however, is by design. The Queen can also lay a Shrieker, which is a small tower that does what its name implies: goes mental and starts shrieking when there are nearby enemy units. What this is does is effectively extends the range of a Swarm Cluster to anywhere inside of that Shrieker’s radius. So by positioning the Shrieker carefully, a player can basically double the range of the Swarm Cluster (as it will attack as far as the opposite side of the Shrieker’s radius). This effectively means Zerg’s defenses have directional range, depending on the layout of the Shriekers. But wait, there’s more. The queen has features and abilities that makes it the closest thing to a hero unit that Starcraft has ever had. She’s also capable of “teleporting” around the creep to any building placed on it. So if she’s by your hatchery, and one of your expansions is under attack, you can instantly “warp” her near a building at that location. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to test whether the creep needs to be connected in order for it to work. The Queen can also give Zerg buildings defensive weapons in the form of four small bugs that fly around the top it, allowing it to attack nearby enemy units. She can also cast poison creep in a small area, and she can be evolved into larger and scarier versions as you climb the tech tree. While the Queen sounds like a Warcraft 3 hero, she’s not. She’s incredibly weak, and can’t level up through experience. Her role is mainly defensive, though we can expect to see her used in some creative cheese, Starcraft 2 style.

Other Gameplay NotesThere are some minor tweaks to the gameplay, not just for zerg, but also for all the factions. Unlike in Starcraft 1, where money wasn’t spent until the drone started morphing into the structure it was instructed to, the cost of a structure is now deducted immediately after the location of the structure is chosen. While minor, it’s one of many small changes made to make the gameplay a bit more accessible to casual players. The Zerg Tech tree has also undergone some changes. The Hydralisk den now requires a Lair in order to be built. To compensate, Roaches have effectively replaced the Hydralisk as the more advanced tier-1 (T1) unit. However, Roaches are not anti-air, which leaves Zerg without a mobile T1 anti-air unit. The tech tree, units, and their corresponding upgrades overall makes it a bit harder for Zerg to adapt on the fly as easily as it could in Starcraft 1. The lack of of a T1 anti-air unit means the only way to respond to air units is quick tech to Lair and then either Spire for Mutalisks, or Hydralisk Den for Hydralisks. Because of this, the tech tree has not been locked down yet. Dustin Browder still wants to play around with moving Banelings to T2, and Hydralisks back down to T1. This is of course all part of Blizzard’s obsessive compulsive desire to test, re-test, and test again to get a proper feel about which option is the best to go with.

Read full article: Star Craft II Zerk second look

Star Craft II Zerk first look

[source: ign.com]



Dustin Browder, lead designer on Star Craf II, took the stage at Blizzard's studio in Irvine, California to present the Zerg race to North American and European game media, giving us a brief overview of what's new and what's changed. While no storyline details were really revealed, the start of the trailer we were shown featured a voice over by Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades, exclaiming, "We are the swarm" and "We are becoming much, much more." We'll have to wait to find out exactly what that means in terms of narrative.

So far, the following units are confirmed for StarCraft II's Zerg race. Blizzard pointed out that since StarCraft II is still pre-alpha, most things are subject to change.

Hydralisk
Lurker
Zergling
Baneling
Overseer
Overlord
Queen
Drone
Larva
Roach
Nydus Worm
Infestor
Mutalisk
Corruptor
Ultralisk

If that list means nothing to you, we'll try and fill you in. One of the more notable changes about the Zerg is the elimination of their traditional base defenses. No longer will drones construct air and ground type defense structures. Instead, the whole system will be overseen by the retooled Queen unit.
A single Queen can be built from your hatchery as soon as a drone sets up a spawning pool, a tier one structure that allows for Zerglings to spawn. The Queen is a menacing unit to begin with, but will become more so when you increase her physical size by upgrading your hatchery to tiers two and three. Along with the imposing physical growth, the Queen gains new skills with each tier upgrade. Initially she functions as a basic base defense unit, able to attack air and ground units. She can drop creep tumors into the ground to extend the Zerg's filthy ground slime, lay clutches of eggs in creep that hatch and attack when the base is in danger, and drop down structures called Shriekers that work to detect enemy units and extend the range of the defenders that spawn from the eggs.After upgrading your base she gets even more powerful, gaining the ability to create toxic creep, which does damage over time to defenders, and she can instantly heal structures for several hundred hit points and spawn base-defense insects. She'll also get an instant-travel ability that allows her to burrow instantly to any part of the map covered in creep, letting her quickly travel to the aid of any base expansion. There is about a 15 second cooldown on this ability, however, so it can't be spammed.Overlords, a floating Zerg unit that determines unit cap, no longer have transport or detection abilities. Transport is now given the responsibility of Nydus Worms, and Overlords need to be upgraded to Overseers to detect. After the upgrade, Overseers gain an increased detection range the longer they remain still. As for Overlord abilities, they can generate creep as well as slime and thereby disable a resource node or observation tower.As far as new units go, we've so far got some hands-on time with the Roaches, which are ground units with a remarkably quick regeneration rate and are capable of attacking land and air. With a group of only six we were able to take down several Terran Thors (massive walking tanks) without a single unit loss. It seems Roaches can be defeated only through concentrated fire, and even then attackers still have to contend with their burrowing ability.Then there's the Corruptor, an air-to-air unit that can turn any unit it attacks into a friendly. With a group of these together it's possible to quickly corrupt units like Terran Battlecruisers and Protoss Motherships. On the ground, units called Infestors can move while burrowed, allowing them to sneak into enemy bases, pop up, and blast corrupting bile at enemy structures. Once a structure such as a Terran barracks is corrupted, it'll start churning out infested Marines until the ability times out.As seen before, players can also mutate Zerglings into Banelings, which are basically suicide units that perform kamikaze runs into opposing bases or burrow, essentially functioning as land mines. The Ultralisk, a massive Zerg melee unit, has been tweaked in the sequel, now possessing the ability to burrow. Its monstrous mandible blade attacks now do area damage as well, making it even more deadly. And that's it for now. We'll have more on how the Zerg, Protoss, and Terran factions have changed in this latest StarCraft II build as we continue to play at Blizzard's studio.

Read full article: Star Craft II Zerk first look

StarCraft 2 Statue Available for Preorder now!

[source: fatwallet.com]

This is not really a great deal, but this is a deal for the StarCraft fan out there.

The statue cost $249.99 + shipping (around $25-30)
it will be ship from their US warehouse in October 2007

It is limited and first-come, first-served. After all preorder is full, there will be waiting list too.

https://us.blizzard.com/sc2collectible/starcraft2/menu.html

[source: starcraft2.com]

Tychus Findlay Limited Edition Statue

Worldwide Announcement Exclusive
Estimated Ship Date: October 2007
Limited Edition
Price: $249.99
Limit One Per Customer

Status: IN-STOCK. PRE-ORDER NOW!

To commemorate the announcement of the highly anticipated StarCraft II, Blizzard Entertainment is proud to present the Tychus Findlay Limited Edition Statue. This collector's item is a product of a collaboration between Blizzard Entertainment's famous cinematics team and the incredible sculpting of Sideshow Collectibles. Players can now own a piece of StarCraft history with this highly detailed, 18-inch tall statue of Terran Marine Tychus J. Findlay standing atop a freshly dispatched Hydralisk. Cast in high-quality polystone and hand painted to exacting standards, the power of the Terran Marine Corps stands triumphantly in this beautiful museum-quality piece.

Pre-Order Notice: A valid credit card is necessary for pre-order. Credit cards will not be charged until product is ready to ship.

Questions? Please consult our FAQ.

---
Product Specifications (Approx.)
15" W (381 mm), 18" H (457.2 mm), 12" D (304.8 mm).
Weight: 17 lbs. (7.71 kg).

Read full article: StarCraft 2 Statue Available for Preorder now!

StarCraft 2's Gameplay Balance

The evolution of Blizzard's RTS mechanics.

[source: ign.com]

There sure are a lot of panel discussions at Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational 2007 in Seoul, South Korea, and they're all focused on StarCraft 2. In fact there's so much buzz about StarCraft 2 you may forget the traditional focus of this event, mainly the high-intensity professional StarCraft and WarCraft 3 tournaments. This time the panel's focus was specifically on gameplay elements, and featured Vice President of Game Design Rob Pardo, Senior Game Designer Dustin Browder, and Creative Director Andy Chambers.

Pardo kicked things off by tracing Blizzard's RTS history. WarCraft II was the root of Blizzard's competitive RTS game experience, as it was one of the earliest to go online. When StarCraft came out, it was the first that Blizzard did to feature three truly asymmetrical factions. Then it was WarCraft III's turn, which Pardo explained as a drastic departure from the gameplay underlying StarCraft. It slowed the pace of gameplay, focused battles on smaller numbers of units, introduced more RPG elements, powerful heroes, and more micro-management of unit abilities.

With StarCraft 2, "we're really going back to our roots," says Pardo. By this he means the sequel will be more StarCraft, more focused on fast-paced gameplay and lesser amounts of micromanagement, rather than an evolution of the WarCraft 3 formula. There won't, for instance, be anything approximating WarCraft 3's "creeping," whereby players hacked away at NPCs on the map to increase hero experience levels and acquire items. Unit abilities in StarCraft 2 are largely automated, and there will still be a focus on proper resource management, at least to a greater extent than in WarCraft 3.



One of Blizzard's primary design goals with StarCraft 2 was to cater to professional gamers' demands. "A lot of the concepts we put into the unit design [in StarCraft 2] is so there's skill differentiation," says Pardo. By this he means that truly skilled players will be able to absolutely crush those of lesser ability. This differs from WarCraft 3, says Pardo, in that skill level had a lesser impact on the game's outcome, or at the very least prolonged games featuring players of widely varying skill levels.

Though few details are available at this point, Pardo says Blizzard is aiming to, "provide a great solo experience." He continued with, "We're really going to focus in on the story; we have a lot of new ideas for how the campaign unfolds." Andy Chambers filled us in a little more during the question and answer session by saying Mengst's Terran Dominion would act as the main Terran force, "Raynor's been having some adventures," and the Xel'naga will have, "a rather epic tale for StarCraft 2." He went on to say, "A lot of those plot elements [in Brood Wars] get played out to their fullest extend in SC2" says Andy Chambers. The interesting point is the implications of the final secret mission in Brood Wars and the mention of a Protoss-Zerg hybrid race. Note that there will only be three playable races in StarCraft 2, the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg, and the storyline takes place four years after the original.

Pardo highlighted a number of bullet points for design goals in the new game, mainly speed, saying the longest a StarCraft 2 match should take is around 20 minutes. Blizzard is emphasizing each races significantly different play styles, though they won't yet reveal how the Terran and Zerg can hope to counter the impressively powerful abilities of the Protoss' Mothership. Specific attention was paid to low-level tech tree abilities, as Pardo explained Blizzard has taken steps to expand the available options and make early-game mechanics more varied.



One small gameplay difference revealed during the panel was how unit positioning is affected by the fog of war. Now when one unit attacks another from higher ground, the fog of war surrounding the higher unit is no longer automatically revealed, meaning the unit at the lower position can't return fire. Obviously this makes having high ground positioning much more valuable. It affects mechanics for new units like the Protoss Stalker, who can blink forward and traverse differences in terrain height. They can't, however, hop up to a higher ledge if the fog of war at their destination has yet to be revealed. This can be rectified by flying in an air unit to push back the fog a bit, letting the units to blink up to the ledge and assault whatever lies beyond - an excellent tactic for surprise attacks. The Stalker blink ability is also useful for kiting enemies, which was demonstrated with a group of them blinking around zealots and blowing them to bits.

Dustin Browder explained a few more unit specifics. He again explained the Protoss Immortal's ability to put up near-impenetrable shields when under heavy fire, such as that from siege tanks, yet being vulnerable to weak attacks that won't activate their shields. The Immortal is designed to be a slow moving unit, so they're not skilled at escaping an attack. Though they possess heavy armor, their maneuverability is a severely limiting factor when fighting Zealots, Marines, or Zerglings.

Explained again were the mechanics of the Protoss Pheonix, which can perform an overload attack to shoot out multiple energy blasts. After the attack the unit is rendered inert for a short while, meaning careful implementation of the overload is required. Finally he demonstrated an advanced use of the Protoss' warping ability, which can be done within phase fields surrounding Pylons or the new Phase Prisms. He warped a few Zealots to cut off an enemy's advance into his base, trapping the invaders between the units and a structure. He followed up by warping in Stalkers to pepper the enemy with laser fire from behind a barrier row of Pylons.

There was no date announced for the eventual StarCraft 2 beta, but Pardo said they'll eventually take applications for play and accept a certain percentage. A number of professional StarCraft gamers will also be specifically invited. In response to a question from the audience, Browder noted, "we have no plans at this time for naval combat." Yes, naval combat in space…

We'll have more as soon as we can.

Read full article: StarCraft 2's Gameplay Balance

Immortal

Race: Protoss
Type: Ranged Assault Support Walker
Hitpoints: 240
Shields: 100

[source: starcraft.wikia.com]

The Protoss Immortal is a powerful cybernetic warrior formed from crippled warriors.

Before the loss of Aiur, veteran Protoss warriors who had been crippled in battle could volunteer to continue their service by being transplanted into Dragoon exoskeletons. Now, the Dragoons of the past are all but gone. The sacred shrine that was dedicated to the creation of the Dragoons was infested by the Zerg.

The remaining Dragoons have been transformed into Immortals. They are outfitted with twin phase disruptors as their primary attack form; Immortals give critical fire support to legions of Zealots. Their specially hardened energy shields only activate when struck by powerful attacks, but can render the damage of even a Siege Tank irrelevant - unfortunately, this leaves them more vulnerable to the pinprick attacks of lesser foes.

Quotes
# I return to serve.
# It is destined.
# There shall be a reckoning.
# I feel your presence.
# Our cannons shall sing.
# We march to victory.

Read full article: Immortal

Zerg

[source: wikipedia.org]

The Zerg are a vaguely insectoid race in the StarCraft universe. The Zerg are separated into a number of broods that are named after monstrous mythological beasts, almost always from Norse mythology. Each brood serves a specific purpose and is controlled by a Cerebrate that is physically incapable of disobeying the Overmind who rules over the Zerg as the leader of the Swarm.
Due to the Zerg's unique use of overwhelming numbers of relatively weak units, rather than smaller numbers of stronger units, the term "to Zerg", (verb) "Zerg Rush" or "Zerging" is the act of using mass numbers to achieve an objective. Furthering this usage of "zerg" is a tactic used by players controlling the Zerg race. Players controlling the Zerg race are able to create massive numbers of "Zerglings", the initial offensive unit, far quicker than most players of other races can produce enough units to counter the "Zergling Rush". It has become widely accepted in a variety of other games, including Planetside, Warcraft III, World of Warcraft, Dark Age of Camelot, World War II Online and other multiplayer games.

Gameplay

The Zerg are played far differently than the Terran or Protoss in StarCraft. Instead of workers constructing buildings (the Terran's method of construction) or the workers warping them in (the Protoss's method of construction), the Zerg gatherer, the Drone, morphs into the soon-to-be structure and it constructs (or perhaps more accurately, grows) the building over a short period of time. The Drone is lost in the process which is unique among the races in the StarCraft universe. When the Zerg need more "control" in order to create more units, they build an Overlord, a unit, instead of a building. In order to build units, a Zerg player must go to a Hatchery controlled by him or her and select a Larva and change into a certain type of unit. After picking the unit to transform into and paying the corresponding amount of resources, the Larva changes into an egg in which, after a short time, the new unit will hatch for service in the Swarm. The Zerg's most popular military strategy is to build far more units than your opponent and overwhelm the enemy with large numbers of weaker units, instead of smaller numbers of stronger units.

History

The history of the Zerg in the StarCraft universe began when the ancestral Zerg species was discovered on the irradiated, unstable planet of Zerus, by the ancient and mysterious Xel'Naga civilization, shortly after they had abandoned the Protoss on Aiur as a failure. The ancestral Zerg organisms were small and weak larva-like creatures, but they contained the purity of essence sought by the Xel'Naga race, being capable of surviving and thriving in a staggering variety of environmental conditions.
With the help of Xel'Naga's gifts of proto-genetic manipulations, the Zerg survived the horrendous firestorms of their world and thrived. As the Xel'Naga pushed their development, they eventually began to develop the ability to burrow into the spinal columns of some stronger creatures on Zerus, parasitically merging with their nervous systems. These new bodies would then be used to manipulate their surroundings as the old bodies once did. The Zerg began to assimilate the genetic strains and processes of these host animals. However, as the Zerg had an undeviating drive to consume only the most advanced species they encountered, they eradicated lesser, weaker species. The Xel'Naga were surprised to find how quickly the Zerg could steer the evolution of their host creatures. Some of the things the Zerg developed in their hosts were armor-piercing spines, razor-sharp limbs, acid attacks, upgrades, and ultra-dense carapaces within only a few generations of controlling new species.
Wary of the chaotic infighting that had enveloped the Protoss, the Xel'Naga created the Overmind, an enormous brain-like entity, to bring order to the Zerg. At first it was only a semi-sentient entity created from the instincts and collective sentience of the Zerg, but it quickly evolved.
The Overmind did not directly communicate orders to its minions. As new species were added to the Swarm, it began to relay orders through Cerebrates, giant versions of the Zerg larvae acting as subordinates to it. Orders were relayed through Overlords, which were then given queens to allow for the Zerg to operate in the most efficient manner possible.

Expansion

The Overmind began to think of its future. In order to continue finding new species to assimilate, it needed to leave Zerus and travel to new worlds. Extending its senses into space, it discovered enormous space-faring organisms. It lured them to Zerus with its psychic abilities and assimilated them into the Swarm as the Zerus races had been. Soon all the Zerg had the ability to travel between worlds with reinforced carapaces to counter the vacuum of space. The Xel'Naga considered this a triumph. The Zerg had not only overcome their weaknesses, but had also retained the purity of their terrible overriding essence.
The Overmind extended itself further into space, becoming aware of the Xel'Naga Worldships in orbit above Zerus. The Overmind then had its psionic link with the Xel'Naga severed — the Overmind effectively hid itself from their view.
The Overmind sent its minions into space, attacking the unsuspecting Xel'Naga. The hapless Xel'Naga tried to pull away from the planet. Despite the ancient race's best efforts, it was overwhelmed as the Zerg crashed into the hulls of its ships, destroying them. Within a few hours the Zerg had laid waste to the Xel'Naga fleet. The greater whole of the Xel'Naga was consumed by the raging, genetic whirlwind of the Zerg, and the Overmind gained their knowledge and insights. Processing thousands of sentient beings into itself caused the Overmind to grow much more powerful. It learned the secrets of the sacred Khaydarin Crystals, and began to incorporate the energies of these Crystals into its own. Through the knowledge gained from the Xel'Naga, the Overmind was able to increase the level of sentience in many of the higher Zerg strains, while still keeping them fully under its control, ironically helping to achieve the goal of the Xel'Naga that it destroyed.
The Overmind dissected the memories of the Xel'Naga experiments with the Protoss, learning of the failure, success, and the great benefit in assimilating such powerful race. The Zerg then devoted their energies to seeking out the powerful Protoss in the hope of absorbing them into the Swarm, uniting purity of form and of essence to create amazing possiblities for development and evolution of the Zerg.

The Determinant

The Zerg did not know the exact location of Aiur, homeworld of the Protoss, but they were able to travel towards it, adding new species (such as the Mutalisk, Hydralisk, Lurker, and Zergling) to the Swarm from various planetary genepools along the way. However, the Overmind despaired; how could it defeat the Protoss with their powerful psionic abilities, when its own were so limited? This question was soon to be answered.

In the shadow of the Protoss lay the Koprulu Sector, a patch of space inhabited by the Terrans. This species had been discovered by Zerg deep space probes. Normally the Zerg would not be interested in such a weak species, but they exhibited a powerful psionic potential. Their probes discovered Terran living on over a dozen worlds.
The Zerg slowly made their way towards the Terran worlds, infesting multiple planets and slowly evolving due to exposure to raw vespene gas. The journey lasted for sixty years, but eventually the massive, extended Zerg Swarm reached the outskirts of the Koprulu Sector. According to StarCraft: Uprising, the Zerg infested a number of Fringe Worlds upon their arrival. The Overmind first subtly infested the surface of the Terran Confederacy colony of Chau Sara with Hive Spores. Then it sent its minions down to the surface to infest the Terran themselves. The Terran were defeated and largely enslaved or killed.
The Zerg were surprised at the Terran response, and were defeated by a sudden attack by the Protoss, led by Executor Tassadar. The Overmind told its minions not to fight back, in order to observe Protoss attacking for the first time. The attack sterilized all life on the surface of Chau Sara, effectively ending the Zerg infestation.
The Terrans did not warn their compatriots on other worlds, enabling the Zerg to infest Mar Sara virtually unopposed. It is at this point that the StarCraft game begins.

New Units

As with the Terran and Protoss, the Zerg gains new units in StarCraft: Brood War.

• Lurker- Evolved from the Hydralisk, the Lurker is a large insectoid creature that attacks with a row of subterranian spikes, causing linear splash damage. Two unique features about Lurkers are that they have the burrowing ability without the player needing to research it first, and that they attack from underground, making them a very ideal as a ground-based defensive unit.


• Devourer- Available as a secondary evolution for the Mutalisk (the other being the Guardian), Devourers are air-to-air units that attack with acid spores. Though slow-firing, the acid spores cause targets to take more damage and have a slower fire rate. Acid spores can also be "stacked", with a single enemy unit having up to as many as nine spores.

Plot advancement in StarCraft

As Episode I begins, The Zerg have infested Mar Sara and are killing the native Terrans. They conquer the planet, but the Protoss fleet under the Executor, Tassadar, destroyed all life on it. Though the Zerg were used by the Confederacy to attack disloyal worlds, the Sons of Korhal turned it against them by using Psi Emitters to attack the Confederate capital world of Tarsonis itself. During the attack, they take Sarah Kerrigan to infest her and turn her into Infested Kerrigan. This ends the Zerg participation in I.
In Episode II, the Zerg take the Crysalis that holds Infested Kerrigan to the planet Char where it hatches. After this, the Zerg destroy most of Tassadar's forces and invade the Protoss homeworld of Aiur. After taking Xel'Naga crystals and gaining a strong foothold on the planet, Episode II ends.
In the final part of StarCraft, Episode III, the Zerg begin to lose ground. They are halted in their advance and have Tassadar and the Dark Templar escape their custody on Char. After this, two of their Cerebrates are killed and next, the Overmind itself. With the death of the Overmind, Episode III and StarCraft completes itself and goes on to StarCraft: Brood War.

Plot advancement in StarCraft: Brood War

The Zerg were originally controlled by the Overmind, who was destroyed by the Protoss, Tassadar (at the cost of his own life) at the end of StarCraft Episode III.
By Episode IV, it was revealed that the Zerg had formed a new, young Overmind on Char, the adopted Zerg homeworld, but it was captured by the United Earth Directorate in Episode V. In Episode VI, the final act to date, Infested Kerrigan, the self-claimed Queen of Blades, a former Terran Ghost telepath soldier who had been infested (transformed) into a Zerg/Terran Hybrid, had the second Overmind killed and claimed leadership over the entire Zerg Swarm.
With the Terran Dominion decimated, the expeditionary fleet of the United Earth Directorate destroyed, the Protoss home world Aiur conquered by the Zerg with the survivors fleeing to Shakuras, and every Zerg under Infested Kerrigan's command, the Zerg currently stand as masters of the StarCraft universe.

Zerg Control

All Zerg are directly subject to the will of the Overmind. In fact, it is a biological impossibility for them to oppose its directives. Only Cerebrates, Infested Kerrigan, and possibly Overlords and Queens, have sentience, and control individual armies (called Broods), using Overlords as lieutenants to directly control the warriors and workers. The lesser Zerg minions are wholly dependent upon the Cerebrates and the Overlords for order. Should a Cerebrate die, its brood may run amok; the animalistic natures of individual Zerg emerge. When an Overlord dies, a Zerg player loses control points and must create more Overlords to replace the loss. Without these control points, additional Zerg units cannot be built until existing units die or more Overlords are created. Even Zerg buildings are living organisms and aren't built but grown. They act as organs in the body of the Zerg Hive Cluster.
Though Zerg are incapable of disobeying their masters, their masters can change. When the Overmind died, the Cerebrates had freedom to do as they please. Though the Cerebrates themselves chose to remain loyal to Daggoth, Infested Kerrigan did not and fought with the Cerebrates for control over the Zerg. However, the minions under each Cerebrate were completely loyal to it and followed all orders even to fight another Zerg.
Zerg's broods are mostly named after Norse mythological monsters (Jormungand, Garm, Surtur, etc.). However, at least two broods have been named from another source. The Leviathan Brood was named after the Leviathan, a Hebrew mythological sea monster and the Grendel Brood was named after Grendel, the evil monster in the epic poem, Beowolf.

Comparison of Zerg to Other Fictional Species

The Zerg share many characteristics to many species in science fiction novels or other computer games. The Zergs' design is most likely based on Tyranids in the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000 which has been around since 1987. They bear strong resemblances in physical form, intelligence, hostility, and hierarchical authority, with the xenomorphs from the Alien film series. They share many characteristics with the Borg of Star Trek in that they roam the galaxy assimilating species they encounter into themselves. Lastly they share a hive mind ruled by the Overmind, much like the Borg Queen, as well as the Formics from Ender's Game.

Read full article: Zerg

Starcraft 2: Q&A, Unit Preview

[source: insidemacgames.com]

Gamespot and IGN recently released new articles focusing on Blizzard Entertainment's upcoming StarCraft 2. The Gamespot feature covers a Q&A with some of the Blizzard team, while the IGN article offers a run down of the currently known units.

From Gamespot:

Other questions involved the status of Battle.net, Blizzard's proprietary multiplayer service. While the Blizzard representatives said that yes, the venerable system is due for a needed upgrade, they declined to get into specifics. According to Mike Morhaime, president and co-founder of the company, Blizzard is planning a massive upgrade to the system to support the release of StarCraft II, as the game was designed primarily as a multiplayer title. In fact, the single-player game has not had much beyond theoretical work completed on it. They also declined to answer whether this upgraded Battle.net service would start charging a subscription fee.
In response to a question about the game's storyline, Chris Metzen said that while the company is certainly invested in the storyline and wants to push it forward, the team's initial focus on multiplayer precludes much work being done on the single-player experience until the last year or two of development. He also said, however, that players should expect to see the next chapters of many of their favorite characters such as Jim Raynor, Kerrigan and Zeratul.
One burning question that Rob Pardo was eager to squelch concerned the long-rumored fourth race (the Xel'Naga or the Zerg/Protoss hybrids hinted at in the first game). He stated in no uncertain terms that there will be no fourth race in StarCraft II. The game will contain the Human, Zerg and Protoss factions and the team is completely focused on getting them as asymmetric yet balanced as possible. The game will also ship with a powerful map editor and should be even more moddable than the first.

From IGN:

Immortal: This unit activates a near impenetrable shield when under heavy arms fire. During the demonstration at WWI, Blizzard showed how Terran siege tanks were nearly powerless against Immortals, since their heavy tank blasts activated the shields. As a contrast, Terran Reapers' small arms fire made quick work of these guys.
Colossus: Think of the recent film War of the Worlds and you'll have a good idea of how this new unit looks. Their long legs allow them to easily traverse tiers of land. Equipped are a set of dual lasers that can make quick work of smaller, poorly armored units such as Zerglings.

Read full article: Starcraft 2: Q&A, Unit Preview

Tychus Findlay Limited Edition Starcraft 2 Statue

[source: irserious.com]

Action figures were sooo yesterday. For Starcraft 2, Blizzard, with the help of Sideshow Collectibles, is offering an 18-inch statue of the terran marine - Tychus Findlay. This isn’t some cheap plastic model though. The final statue is expected to weigh in at a whopping 17 lbs! and will sale for $249.99. It isn’t available yet, but on Blizzard’s website, it lists the ship date as October 2007.

To commemorate the announcement of the highly anticipated StarCraft II, Blizzard Entertainment is proud to present the Tychus Findlay Limited Edition Statue. This collector’s item is a product of a collaboration between Blizzard Entertainment’s famous cinematics team and the incredible sculpting of Sideshow Collectibles. Players can now own a piece of StarCraft history with this highly detailed, 18-inch tall statue of Terran Marine Tychus J. Findlay standing atop a freshly dispatched Hydralisk. Cast in high-quality polystone and hand painted to exacting standards, the power of the Terran Marine Corps stands triumphantly in this beautiful museum-quality piece.

Start saving your pennies now boys and girls.

Read full article: Tychus Findlay Limited Edition Starcraft 2 Statue

Protoss

[source: starcraft.wikia.com]

The Protoss are a race technologically advanced and rely on psionic abilities and cybernetics in battle. They are the primary opponents of the Zerg. The Protoss are highly religious and follow a strict code known as the Khala. The Protoss have mastered their psionic powers, and are currently engaged in a devastating war with the Zerg. They have also had to deal with civil wars within their ranks.
Protos in Greek means 'first'. This name is supposedly given because the Protoss were the first semi-successful Xel'Naga creation. They (the Protoss) were later deemed a failure by the greater species, leading to the engineering of the Zerg.
In StarCraft online culture, the Protoss are often referred to simply as Toss (or Pro by some Korean players); amongst more experienced players, it's usually abbreviated to simply P.

History

Aiur is one of many worlds engineered by the Xel'Naga, a race of extragalactic geneticists, obsessed with creating the perfect race, that would be marked by a distinct purity of form. The Xel'Naga, after innumerable failures to create such a race, turned towards Aiur.
They watched over a particular species of hunters and warriors and discerned that they indeed had a purity of form, as they were incredibly adaptable and had unmatched strength and speed. However, the most intriguing ability of the species is a psionic link that is shared by the entire race. This link was a form of instinctive telepathy, enabling them to communicate with one another, so that even large groups could work together efficiently.
The Xel'Naga altered them to some extent with their Khaydarin Crystals, but were content to remain unseen for many generations. The Xel'Naga felt they had achieved their goal, and gave the new race the name of Protoss, or 'the First Born'. Aiur was eventually covered by civilized Protoss, and so the Xel'Naga descended onto Aiur in order to more closely study the evolution of their charges. A Temple marks where they first set down upon Aiur.
The Xel'Naga were initially revered as gods, as the Protoss looked towards their creators with respect and a lust for knowledge. However, as the understanding and personal awareness of the young Protoss grew, they began to place greater pride in individual achievements rather than the benefit of the community. The various Tribes sought to distance themselves from one another, seeking their role not only within their immediate society, but the universe as a whole.
The tribes began to fear treachery from their masters, and in seeking to sever themselves from the rest of their race, attempted to lose the psychic link that they shared. This dissolved whatever remnants of brotherhood or unity that the Protoss had shared. Feeling that the greatest attribute of the Protoss was lost, the Xel'Naga began withdrawing from Aiur. However, the suspicious Protoss responded with an attack that destroyed a number of Xel'Naga Worldships. The Xel'Naga Worldships fended off the hasty attack and left the system. The Protoss Tribes then turned against each other, beginning the Aeon of Strife, the most devastating civil war in recorded galactic history.

The Aeon of Strife

During the Aeon of Strife, Protoss advancement slowed, and the tribes waged a massive war with each other, lasting hundreds of years. Little is known from this time, but it is known that the Protoss lost their psionic link with each other. The Aeon of Strife was the longest, most devastating civil war to ever strike any currently known species. The most famous Tribe from this time period is the Akilae Tribe, which are to this day renowned as the Protoss' finest psionic warriors.
During this time, the Protoss maintained colonies on other planets, often connected by Warp Gates, but these too quickly became gripped with the Strife.
The Protoss Tribes descended into something resembling madness as they attacked one another. One example was the Mendella Incident, where the mainly underground settlement of Mendella was deliberately flooded when another Protoss faction destroyed a nearby reservoir.

He Who Brings Order

The mystic Khas (a word meaning "He who brings order") eventually brought about the end of the Strife. He had studied the "forbidden" teachings of the Xel'Naga and unearthed the Khaydarin Crystals. With these crystals he was able to amplify the psionic link, which had submerged itself in Protoss egos, and recreate the link.
With this power, he travelled through Aiur and the other Protoss planets, teaching the Protoss he encountered to join the psionic link; this became a philosophy called the Khala. He demonstrated the powers of the Khaydarin Crystals at Gyras, where he ended the feuding by destroying the battleground. Eventually Khas reunited the majority of the Protoss, forming three castes and a new Tribe.
The very first group of warriors and students to surround him became the Ara Tribe, and joined the Judicator Caste. The other Tribes to quickly join also became members of this caste.
The next group of Tribes became the Templar Caste (the warriors), and the majority of the Protoss became the Khalai Caste (workers and artisans), ending the civil war.
The theory known as the Khala brought on the Second Age for the Protoss. The Tribal society evolved into three Castes: the Judicator Caste (led by the Conclave), the Khalai Caste and the Templar.

Rogues

Unknown to the majority of Protoss at this time, some Protoss refused to join the Khala, yet did not act on the violent emotions of the Strife. Adun and his Templar refused to exterminate them as ordered by the Protoss Conclave. Instead, Adun taught them how to hide themselves from the Conclave and to create psionic storms. The latter lesson backfired, however, as the storms could not be controlled without the discipline of the Khala. The storms spiralled over Aiur, revealing the presence of the Rogue Tribes to the Protoss.
The barely reunited tribes began to fight once more. Old vendettas and ancient prejudices were reborn as the Protoss who refused the way of Khala were branded as traitors and hunted down.
Eventually the Conclave devised a way to impose order on the Protoss once more. The Rogue Tribes were secretly placed on board a Xel'Naga Freighter and exiled from Aiur. Matriarch Raszagal, a very old Protoss and Dark Templar leader, is old enough to remember the Exile clearly. Their fate was kept a secret from the other Protoss. Eventually they became known, in legend, as the Dark Templar. These Protoss, forced to draw on cosmic energies to power their psionic abilities, severed the nerve cords that linked them to the Protoss telepathic community.

Expansion and Discovery

The Protoss conquered hundreds of worlds within their corner of the galaxy, spreading civilization to many of the more advanced races that they encountered.
The Protoss follow the Dae'uhl, aka Stewardship, of the planets once claimed by the Xel'Naga. They started supervising and protecting the lesser life forms, but rarely interfering.
When the Terrans arrived in the Koprulu Sector, colonizing over a dozen worlds within Protoss space, the Protoss observed silently. They put the humans under their Stewardship.
The Protoss suffered disastrous contact with the Zerg. The Protoss discovered Zerg probes on the edge of Protoss space and discovered their true purpose; to conquer the Protoss and absorb their psionic abilities into the gene pool. They realized that the Zerg had secretly been infesting the Terran planets, and they exterminated the first planet without warning.

The Fall of Aiur

After the destruction of the first Terran planet (Chau Sara), Tassadar would wait until the Terrans had left the planet to destroy them, but would scour the surfaces clean of all Zerg. Tassadar, the leader of the force sent to scour the planets of the Zerg, enlisted the aid of the Dark Templar on Char without the permission of the Protoss Conclave after he discovered that they could be used to defeat the Zerg. Normally, a Zerg Cerebrate, a Zerg Brood commander, would be reincarnated if slain, but the Dark Templar had the power to cut off the reincarnation power. However, when the Dark Templar, led by Zeratul, destroyed the first Cerebrate, the Zerg Overmind linked its mind with Zeratul. They exposed their secrets to each other, and as a consequence the Overmind discovered the location of Aiur. After a long battle, the Zerg finally managed to conquer the planet. Meanwhile, Tassadar was trapped on a space platform above Char, while Zeratul was captured in an installation by Infested Kerrigan, who had remained behind.
The Overmind itself landed on Aiur, but after a long, stalemated battle, several Cerebrates were slain as a distraction tactic. Taking advantage of the confusion that followed, Tassadar, with the aid of Terran forces led by Jim Raynor, combined the forces of Dark and Light Templar and sacrificed himself to destroy the Overmind. Even then, in the aftermath, most of the Protoss population (about 70%) was slain, Zerg were running loose on Aiur, and the Conclave had fallen. It is interesting to note that before the battle with the Overmind begins, the Conclave, realizing that Tassadar, Zeratul, and Jim Raynor had done much more than the Conclave could have hoped to accomplish, repented their past blind adherence to tradition. Aldaris remarks that they are the representatives of Aiur in its darkest hour.

Survival

With Zerg running loose across Aiur, Zeratul, a prominent Dark Templar leader, suggested that they flee to Shakuras, the homeworld of the Dark Templar. Despite protests from Aldaris, the leader of the Conclave, they did so. However, it was soon discovered that the Zerg had followed them there, and that they had manifested themselves around the Xel'Naga Temple. The Matriarch of the Dark Templar, Raszagal, noted that they would need two crystals, the Uraj and Khalis, containing the powers of light and dark Templar, to defeat the Zerg.
However, Sarah Kerrigan, a Terran Ghost operative that had been infested by the Zerg into a ruthless servent of the Overmind, came to them and told them that there was a new Overmind growing on the planet Char. She claimed that she was free from the Overmind's control and that she didn't want to come under its influence again. So, while they agreed to help cripple the maturation of the Overmind, Kerrigan agreed, in turn, to help with the obtaining of the two crystals.
After the two crystals had been discovered and the Overmind was crippled, Aldaris and his followers waged a civil war with the Protoss under the command of Artanis, Zeratul, Fenix, and their Terran allies (notably James Raynor). The Conclave was defeated, but Kerrigan intervened, killed Aldaris, kidnapped Raszagal, and claimed that she had been brainwashing her to do her bidding all along. The Protoss then proceeded to secure the Xel'Naga temple and combine the powers of the two crystals. This scoured the surface of Shakuras of all life, except for the ones inside the temple, and, therefore, defeated the Zerg force. Later, Zeratul had been captured by Kerrigan and offered to return Raszagal to him. However, Zeratul feared that Raszagal was still under the control of Kerrigan and killed her. Kerrigan, surprisingly, let Zeratul go.
Later on, when Kerrigan had gathered her forces above Char, the remaining Protoss under Artanis (as well as forces commanded by the United Earth Directorate and the Terran Dominion), attempted to stop Kerrigan. However, Kerrigan defeated all three forces, and the remaining Protoss, commanded by Artanis (since Fenix had been killed and Zeratul had disappeared), retreated to Shakuras to begin rebuilding their once grand civilization.

Physiology

Protoss are about three meters tall and have two glowing eyes, digitigrade legs, semi-permeable skin covered in scales, four digits on their hands (of which two are thumbs) and toes, broad chests and shoulders, and narrow waists with slim midsections. Extending back from the crown of the head, Protoss have a bony crest. Beneath it, emerging from the back of the head, are the nerve cords, allowing them to access their racial psionic gestalt. This gestalt is the basis of the Khala.
Protoss are bereft of mouths, noses, or visible ears. Two of the Protoss portraits (namely those of Aldaris and the Arbiter unit) appear to have mouths, but these "mouths" do not ever open. Though it is unknown how their senses of hearing or chemoreception operate, they are widely believed to possess such sensitivites, likely to acute degrees due to their perfected nature. They can communicate telepathically with each other, especially for long distances. Due to their nature (possibly psi-based physiology), which deviates widely from conventional biology as it is understood, illness is unheard of, and their physical resilience and capability is astounding due to the lack of limitations normally posed by typical biological processes.
A Protoss' average life expectancy is about a thousand years (see Matriarch Raszagal), Protoss under 300 years rarely have any significant political positions. Artanis, who is 262 years old, is considered young, despite his powerful military position.
Protoss blood is blue, with a slight iridescence. They also have a psionic pulse encased in a physical body. Once that body is destroyed, the psionic pulse dissipates, flaring with a pale, blue light.
As in humans, coloration is considered a sign of ethnicity, with each Protoss tribe having a specific sutly differing hue or typical pattern of markings associated with it.
The Protoss brain is similar in structure to a human brain. The most noticeable differences lie in the cerebellum, primarily in its size. The Protoss cerebellum is elongated in comparison to humans, resulting in a larger surface area which accounts for the greater cognitive abilities of the Protoss.

Protoss religion

Protoss Religion takes its roots from the wars that plagued Aiur following the retreat of the Xel'Naga. United after several years under the teachings of Khas, the Protoss began to adhere to his teachings of the "Khala", or Path to Ascension. The resulting religion bears a striking resemblance to modern day Hinduism in teachings i.e. it includes a caste-based social system, and even a group of "Untouchables" not considered part of the caste system at all (the Dark Templar). However it is more like Medieval Catholicism in how it is carried out, with a hierarchy and Zealot warriors; the Khala has a caste system and focuses heavily on the teachings of Khas and the ability of the Protoss to use Psionic powers. When Protoss warriors die it is believed that they have reached the "Khala's End."

Religious principles

• Khala ("Path of Ascension")
• Dae'Uhl ("Great Stewardship")

Religious figures in Protoss society

• Khas — A prominent figure in Protoss society, he was the charismatic and spiritual leader who brought an end to the Aeon of Strife by using ancient Xel'Naga artifacts, the Khaydarin Crystals, to unite the warring tribes by calling them into a communal telepathic matrix. The belief that this was necessary for the Protoss to survive became known as the Khala, and is followed by almost all Protoss factions. The Path of Khala is the sole and dominant religion in Protoss society, and societal rank (for example, templar, judicator) and honour are linked with Khala.


• Adun — Another well known figure in Protoss culture, he is honored by Khalai and Dark Templar alike. A powerful warrior in his time, he was charged with the extermination of the Rogue Tribes by the Conclave. Unable to bring themselves to slaughter their kin, Adun and his troops attempted to hide the heretics. Though he failed, he would be known as a saviour to the Dark Templar, and would gain similar status on Aiur after the myth of the heretics spread, revealing that he "saved" Aiur from the heretics and their "anarchist" ways. The phrase "En Taro Adun" is used by the Protoss as a formal greeting or farewell, and also serves as a battlecry, although "Adun Toridas" seems to be used exclusively by the Dark Templar.


• Tassadar — He gained a following after his heroic death in defeating the Zerg Overmind. He serves as a contemporary example of Protoss virtues, and some Templar (notably Artanis) have taken to saying "En Taro Tassadar".

Read full article: Protoss