Complete the "Whispers of Doom" mission on hard difficulty without Zeratul suffering life damage.
Brent says...
The "Merely A Flesh Wound" Achievement is appropriately hard to get. The first part of the mission will go very slowly, and then you will truly be making a mad dash for the finish at the end.
From the start of the mission, you need to play extremely cautiously with Zeratul. While taking out the enemies is usually no real challenge until about halfway through the mission, making sure Zeratul only takes shield damage is harder than you'd think. Here's the fight-by-fight guide for succeeding.
The first group of zerg don't even have a detector handy, just a few zerglings, a hydralisk, and a spine crawler. Kill whatever doesn't burrow and move forward using your newfound blink.
The second "fight" is even more of a joke than the first. Roach, hydralisk, spore tumor, then blink forward once more.
After blinking past or destroying the rocks, you come across the first use of void prison. Just command Zeratul to use void prison on the spore crawler and go to town, he will only take one or two shots from the hydralisks.
The fourth fight is trickier because you meet Zeratul's first ultralisk for this mission. The beast is accompanied by two burrowed zerglings for an added surprise. The safest way to do this is to void prison the spore crawler and then kill the hydralisk, zerglings, and run back out. Then use void prison one more time on the ultralisk to kill it. This tactic may be overly cautious this early, but is the kind of thinking you need later.
On the fifth fight, it is actually safe to simply use void prison on the spore crawler and blink across as long as you kill the roach first. To stay in the mindset, though, kill the spore crawler first.
The sixth fight is easy once more. Void prison the vverseer, blink across, and kill the four hydralisks.
After retrieving the first fragment of the prophecy, continue moving Zeratul forward and prepare void prison for use. Do not use it on the overseer, use it on one of the mutalisks. Zeratul will not fall below half shielding, so use the stalkers to mop up.
Move forward but remain out of range for the eighth fight. Ignore the uppity stalker's advice, and use the tactic you've used before. Void prison the overseer and immediately blink Zeratul into the hydralisks. He will dispatch them in plenty of time, and your valuable stalkers will retain their own shields and hit points as well. Kill the overseer and move forward.
Fight nine is the real training for future fights. The mutalisks fall out of sync in their patrolling, so be patient. Use void prison when you are able to have a single flyer alone and away from the spine crawlers, then use the stalkers to take it out. Even if you accidentally pull the other mutalisks, you will be fine as long as the spine crawler is out of range. Once all shields are at maximum again, it's time to pull a different maneuver than before: stand Zeratul at the edge of the spore crawler's detection radius, blink towards the detector, and void prison. You must be fast to make sure Zeratul doesn't do something suicidal. With the detector out of the picture, it is now cake to use Zeratul to destroy the spine crawler and ultralisk at no risk.
Save the game. Seriously. If you are unlucky, the coming pair of brood lords will spoil your Achievement, or at least make it much harder to move forward by killing a stalker or three. Before moving forward, save the game, and then proceed carefully. The moment a single brood lord attacks, retreat and draw it away so your stalkers are standing at the stalagmites. Use Zeratul to void prison the brood lord and vaporize it with the stalkers. Wait for shields again, then move to the top of the ramp so your stalkers shoot at the overseer. If you do get the second brood lord, immediately fall back the same way and repeat the first kill. Otherwise, just take out the overseer and fall back with the stalkers. Take down whichever of the three fliers remains, then repeat the Zeratul-void-prison-the-spore-crawler-and-lay-waste-with-impunity trick.
Move forward with all units again, but make sure the stalkers are leading. When Zeratul announces the aerial attack, just keep everyone in place. Save your void prison for the ultralisk, and the worst you will end up with is one or two stalkers going to the yellow. This is another excellent save point.
Pick up the fifth stalker across the chasm and move so you are standing just at the top of the ramp. Carefully repeat the tactic of drawing out the brood lord by attacking the nearest overseer. Pull back, void prison, and you are able to take down the brood lord, first overseer, and mutalisks without life damage. Now that there is only one patrolling overseer, Zeratul is free to blink on down and carefully dispatch spine crawlers when undetected. Use the hold position command after each kill to ensure safety. Once the spine crawlers are down, take out the overseer and have Zeratul dispatch the hatchery alone. If the stalkers are nearby, they will take heavy damage from the broodlings.
You are now free to claim the second fragment of the prophecy and claim your sixth stalker. The following fight seems like a rerun, but the terrain and patrol pattern necessitate a different strategy. For number thirteen, destroy the rocks blocking the path but keep the stalkers well out of range of enemies. Move Zeratul south when the overseer patrols west, and hold position south of the spine crawlers. Zeratul is able to dispatch them both when the overseer is westerly, then rejoin the stalkers at yet another gap. But wait! Before engaging the flyers, take out another ultralisk. Kerrigan planted this one in the ground, and the best way to draw it out is to carefully move a stalker forward when none of the attack flyers are northerly. Let it take a potshot at the rising ultralisk, then blink back to its companions. One void prison later, you are free to take out the fliers when you are able to void prison the brood lord.
Your fourteenth encounter requires exact placement of the stalkers and use of blink, because here comes the Explody Patrol's newest recruits. Leave Zeratul at the bottom of the ramp and use hold position after you save the game. Move the stalkers so they occupy the northwesternmost space on your side of the chasm from the little buggers, and allow them to have a freeshoot. As soon as one of the annoyances comes around the bend and starts moving northward towards your stalkers, blink them directly southwest across the chasm. Move them as far southwest as they can go without blinking and wait for the patrol. It will come dangerously close again right as blink is back. Hop back to their original position and pick of the remainder from safety.
The next fight is at first glance a single overseer. Don't be fooled, because there are two hydralisks and over eight zerglings burrowed there. Use a single stalker to move forward until zerg start popping up, then blink back to your companions. If a hydralisk comes, use void prison. Repeat until no more zerg pop up, then kill the overseer. Save the game (yes, again).
Move forward up the ramp, but keep the void prison ability queued while doing so. Hit a forward spine crawler with it and then use the attack command to individually kill other crawlers with everything you've got. This will allow you to kill three if not four of the things before forging ahead. If you have done this properly, you are able to use the ridge to travel north above the creep, void prison a spine crawler, and have your stalkers blast it to smithereens. Even if you only killed three or, heaven forbid, two crawlers, it is still possible to move forward safely using this tactic. Void prison a spinecrawler your stalkers can attack without being attacked by another spine crawler, then kill it. Remove the spore crawler once it is safe to do so from the north. Repeat this until they are all dead, then annihilate the overseer.
The next event is really three fights chained together, because of your new allies. Pick up the two fresh stalkers that warp in, and move forward a safe distance behind the zealots. Void prison the ultralisk, and then support the karass exactly as he asks you to: have the stalkers take out the fliers, using void prison on a brood lord. Then get to the high ground and let the stalkers rain death on the tunneling zerg, using void prison once more on whichever nydus worm is convenient. Since you're such a wonderful person, you should get to void prison another ultralisk too!
Stalker casualties are likely by this point, but you should have at least five remaining. Select Zeratul and all the stalkers, and retrieve the third piece of the prophecy. With Zeratul leading, you are now racing for the finish line. Do not attack for anything. Using only the move command, keep all controllable units moving forward. Each stalker is a decoy target for the zerg to attack, but they spawn behind you with lightning speed. This means trying to have any or all stalkers fight is suicidal for Zeratul. Use void prison if you can on a detector near the end to keep Zeratul from being targeted. As you near the final platform, there will be two rock formations blocking your path. Destroy the first one, blink past the second, and use move again to get everyone to the void stalker beacon. If you fail, simply retry the race from that last autosave until you succeed.
Objectives
Main Objective | Bing Zertaul to each Xel'Naga shrine (3)
Main Objective | Zeratul must survive
Through this mission you'll be controlling Zeratul and the protoss. Zeratul's got some unique abilities that'll come in handy, such has his never-ending cloak. As long as there's no spore crawler or overseer nearby, Zeratul is invisible to the enemies and can hack 'em away without fear. Try it out on the first batch of zerg just ahead, and then use Zeratul's blink ability to warp across the chasm ahead and continue north.
Be prepared to blink across another chasm and attack a pile of rubble to destroy it and clear your path (alternately, Zeratul can blink through the rubble). As you turn south, watch for a spore crawler that'll detect Zeratul and allow the zerg enemies to attack him. Target the spore crawler with the void prison from afar and Zeratul will automatically rush at the target to stun it. Attack the crawler while it's stunned to destroy it and then clean up the rest of the enemies.
A bit further ahead, you'll come to another spore crawler with an ultralisk as backup. As before, target the spore crawler with void prison from afar to stun the crawler and destroy it. With the spore crawler killed, you should have no problem taking out the ultralisk. Further north, you'll have to combine Zeratul's skills. Hit the spore crawler across the chasm with void prison and then blink to the other side of the gap to destroy the spore crawler before void prison wears off.
Protoss Research
The next obstacle is an overseer which, like a spore crawler, will ruin your cloaking. Hit the overseer with void prison and blink across the chasm, but afterward you'll want to target the zerg hydralisk units and kill them before void prison wears off since Zeratul has no anti-air attacks. Step into the glowing circle in front of the Xel'Naga shrine ahead to get some research and open the path to the north.
When you run into the next overseer you'll get a handful of protoss stalkers added to your posse. Hit the overseer with void prison to keep Zeratul from getting hurt and order the stalkers to shoot down the mutalisks. Blink your crew across the chasm to the west and use the stalkers to take out the overseer and hydralisks ahead.
After turning southwest, you'll want Zeratul to take out the spine crawler before moving your stalkers in close. Use blink to get behind the spine crawler without having to cross into the detection radius of the spore crawler further south. After that you can move your stalkers in to shoot down the flying zerg. Further down the path you'll run into some brood lords. Use Zeratul's void prison to hold once brood lord at a time while the stalkers shoot it down.
Bonus Objective | Destroy zerg hatcheries (3)
Zerg Research
After warping across another couple of chasms, you'll have to defend against an air raid. Tag the overseer with void prison to keep Zeratul from getting hit and allow the stalkers to take out the mutalisks. A couple of new stalkers will warp in to replace any you've lost. Take the lot south and you'll soon run into the first of three zerg hatcheries in the stage. Move Zeratul in close when the overseer moves away to blink down and destroy the spine crawlers. With the spine crawlers destroyed, move the stalkers in to shoot down the overseer and then allow Zeratul to take out the zerg hatchery by himself. Once destroyed, the hatchery releases and bunch of zerg broodlings that Zeratul can kill off without taking damage.
Protoss Research
The next Xel'Naga shrine is just ahead to the west and stepping into it should restore all of your units' health. After rounding a corner ahead, you can move Zeratul in as the overseer moves away to take out the spine crawlers. With the spine crawlers wasted, move the stalkers in just close enough to get the attention of one mutalisk at a time. Using this tactic you should be able to clear the skies without taking much damage.
The camera will cut away to show some zerg banelings scurrying toward you. You need to act quickly to avoid losing lots of stalkers, so before the camera even pans back to your units move them to the centralized ledge so your stalkers can shoot down the banelings as they circle the walkway around them. If the banelings still get close to you, you can blink the stalkers across the chasm for some breathing room. Don't sweat the spore crawler that can detect Zeratul. There's no threat.
Zerg Research
The main path leads north, but turn south instead. There's a chasm you can blink across and beyond it is a second zerg hatchery. Send Zeratul in to hit the spine crawler with void prison and destroy it. You'll want the stalkers to take out the overseer for you but be ready to fight off an ultralisk that crops up first. As before, move the stalkers away while Zeratul takes out the hatchery so that the spawning zerg broodlings don't chew away at your health.
Backtrack and head north, ready to attack the batch of walking spine crawlers before they burrow into the ground. You can't kill 'em all, but you should be able to leave just a couple that Zeratul can take out without stepping into the overseer's detection ring. Not much further ahead, you'll meet up with more protoss forces. You're still limited to controlling your core crew.
We suggest using void prison on the ultralisk that challenges the protoss right away. The spine crawlers further west will mostly be concerned with the other protoss dudes so you can attack them safely, though save your stalkers' attention for the flying mutalisks. When the choke point is clear, send your stalkers to the ledge overlooking the open area to the west. They'll help clear out the nydus worms that appear.
Zerg Research
Don't step into the glowing circle in front of the last shrine just yet. It'll kick off an unstoppable sequence that won't allow you to get the final zerg hatchery. Instead, gather your troops near the now-cleared choke point and blink up to the platform above. You'll have to blink again across a chasm to the south where you'll find the zerg hatchery. Move Zeratul in and hit the spine crawler with void prison so you can kill it. Retreat to let the stalkers shoot down the roaches before taking out the overseer to allow Zeratul to finish off the hatchery without getting attacked.
Main Objective | Escape to the void seeker
Protoss Research
You'll have to blink back down to the main ground level to continue north to the Xel'Naga shrine. Reaching the shrine triggers an event during which you must run. Do not stop to fight anything, and do not worry about your stalkers. You need to get Zeratul through this. Follow the main path and use your crew to destroy the first obstacles in your way. Things get increasingly hectic near the end of your run. Hit the chasing ultralisk with a void prison and use blink to warp through the last obstacle, rather than waiting to destroy it. (If you're going for the "Stalker Delight" Achievement, don't blink through the last obstacle, but you risk more damage to Zeratul.)
