EPTI can’t express how happy I am to finally see Legacy of the Void released, to witness the end of the StarCraft 2 saga, to see my childhood completed at last! I thank Blizzard for delivering endless years of epic experiences and for being a huge part of my life since I was a 6-year old kid, happily clicking on the boats, making the captain seasick, in Warcraft II. What a long way we have all come!
The Legacy of the Void campaign delivers, and if there’s one thing I think we can all agree on, is that Blizzard got brutal difficulty right: it was TOUGH! There were so many times when I just got overwhelmed at what the enemies threw at me! And then I learned that, just like in Heart of the Swarm, there are mastery achievements…
Back in HotS, I challenged myself to start a fresh campaign run, no master archives, and finish the achievements all on brutal difficulty. They weren’t easy, and creativity was required to finish many of them. I look back doing them with fond memories. My youtube playlist for HotS brutal masteries is found here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG7aqFk2te3okWGHbXAPe6V3gIgPvDvqT
Now, in Legacy of the Void, I would challenge myself again to pull off all the masteries from a fresh campaign run. At times, it looked impossible, but I would never stop believing there was a way. This log will cover what I experienced mission by mission. I will update this as I upload more videos.
LotV brutal mastery playlist is here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG7aqFk2te3pATX-3Dih-oUIRZESlwJan
Mastery 1: Oblivion Awaits (Mission: For Aiur!)
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Objective: Destroy all the feral zerg in under 10 minutes.
Comments: The annoying thing about this mastery is that you also have to destroy the egg doodads on top of everything. They count as feral zerg. I was actually very frustrated not knowing about that, wondering why the hell the achievement wouldn’t trigger. Other than that, employ the ultimate strategy: F2-A!
Difficulty: Easy
Comments: The annoying thing about this mastery is that you also have to destroy the egg doodads on top of everything. They count as feral zerg. I was actually very frustrated not knowing about that, wondering why the hell the achievement wouldn’t trigger. Other than that, employ the ultimate strategy: F2-A!
Difficulty: Easy
Mastery 2: We Move Unseen (Mission: The Growing Shadow)
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Objective: Destroy a hatchery or lair within 6 minutes of reclaiming your nexus.
Comments: Micro like a god!
Difficulty: Medium, since this is simply restartable should you fail.
Comments: Micro like a god!
Difficulty: Medium, since this is simply restartable should you fail.
Mastery 3: Adun Toridas! (Mission: The Spear of Adun)
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Objective: Destroy all enemy buildings.
Comments: Since there’s no time requirement, it’s just a matter of building a large enough blink stalker ball to beat everything. In my opinion, the actual achievements for this (win in under 15 minutes) is way tougher and more interesting!
Difficulty: Medium, though probably not so interesting…
Comments: Since there’s no time requirement, it’s just a matter of building a large enough blink stalker ball to beat everything. In my opinion, the actual achievements for this (win in under 15 minutes) is way tougher and more interesting!
Difficulty: Medium, though probably not so interesting…
Mastery 4: Plat Trick (Korhal Mission 1: Sky Shield)
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Objective: Secure three platforms within 80 seconds of each other.
Comments: Here’s where things finally start getting interesting! Starting off with only orbital strike and deploy pylon definitely made this considerably more challenging! I honestly believe that if I went to Shakuras first, there would be absolutely no way I’d be able to achieve the masteries on that planet. They’re insane without an optimal setup!
Once again, blink stalkers save the day! I always knew they beat everything after watching the pros play...
Difficulty: Hard
Comments: Here’s where things finally start getting interesting! Starting off with only orbital strike and deploy pylon definitely made this considerably more challenging! I honestly believe that if I went to Shakuras first, there would be absolutely no way I’d be able to achieve the masteries on that planet. They’re insane without an optimal setup!
Once again, blink stalkers save the day! I always knew they beat everything after watching the pros play...
Difficulty: Hard
Mastery 5: Disruption Junction (Korhal Mission 2: Brothers in Arms)
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Objective: Destroy 55 enemy structures during a single disruption.
Comments: That… is a lot of structures in such a short amount of time! Fortunately, there’s no time limit on this one, so I was free to max out on immortals to go for the grand run. It’s important to split off into 2 groups to cover as much area! It’s absolutely not doable without two squads attacking simultaneously!
Difficulty: Medium
Comments: That… is a lot of structures in such a short amount of time! Fortunately, there’s no time limit on this one, so I was free to max out on immortals to go for the grand run. It’s important to split off into 2 groups to cover as much area! It’s absolutely not doable without two squads attacking simultaneously!
Difficulty: Medium
Mastery 6: A Royal Thrashing (Shakuras Mission 1: Amon’s Reach)
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Objective: Free all the launch bays without destroying any void thrashers.
Comments: Simply put, that means you have an insanely low time limit to finish this level. And this definitely would not be possible without solar lance, which is why I went to Korhal first! Even so, this was not easy! I had to constantly take considerable risks, minimize losses as much as possible, and forge a path as fast as I could. Succeeding took quite some practice, but victory couldn’t be sweeter!
Difficulty: Very Hard
Comments: Simply put, that means you have an insanely low time limit to finish this level. And this definitely would not be possible without solar lance, which is why I went to Korhal first! Even so, this was not easy! I had to constantly take considerable risks, minimize losses as much as possible, and forge a path as fast as I could. Succeeding took quite some practice, but victory couldn’t be sweeter!
Difficulty: Very Hard
Mastery 7: Anvil of Will (Shakuras Mission 2: Last Stand)
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Objective: Keep the temple alive until 2.2 billion zerg are on Shakuras.
Comments: Holy @#$%! This is the one. This is where dreams come true or go bursting into flames. There would be no going further as decreed by my own challenge! Let me tell you what this experience was like: failure, failure, failure! I spent nearly a whole week raising my heart rate every time I got closer to the fabled 2.2 billion, and tasting despair when I just couldn’t quite make it.
I had to go back to the Spear of Adun many times and try out all kinds of different configurations. And then I realized the key is Nexus Overcharge. Nexus cannons backed by shield batteries are by far the most formidable wall ever. Even so, victory would not come easy. For more than 30 minutes, I had to keep a clear head, even when alerts were blaring on 5 corners of the base at every single moment. And when the dust finally settled, I knew nothing was impossible anymore.
Difficulty: Bat@#$% insane! You will be broken hard until you have no more tears to shed!
Comments: Holy @#$%! This is the one. This is where dreams come true or go bursting into flames. There would be no going further as decreed by my own challenge! Let me tell you what this experience was like: failure, failure, failure! I spent nearly a whole week raising my heart rate every time I got closer to the fabled 2.2 billion, and tasting despair when I just couldn’t quite make it.
I had to go back to the Spear of Adun many times and try out all kinds of different configurations. And then I realized the key is Nexus Overcharge. Nexus cannons backed by shield batteries are by far the most formidable wall ever. Even so, victory would not come easy. For more than 30 minutes, I had to keep a clear head, even when alerts were blaring on 5 corners of the base at every single moment. And when the dust finally settled, I knew nothing was impossible anymore.
Difficulty: Bat@#$% insane! You will be broken hard until you have no more tears to shed!
Mastery 8: Unrestricted Access (Glacius Mission: Forbidden Weapon)
Coming soon!
