When was starcraft 2 heart of the swarm release

Kerrigan was then contacted by Mengsk, who told her Raynor was alive and if she attacked the Dominion he would kill her. Kerrigan could not sense Raynor, but swore to find him. The group met with Mira Han who had him in custody, but refused to give him up. Kerrigan raided the vessel and found Jim. Sadly, he believed that she had re-infested herself as he left the ship. Kerrigan agreed to help Stukov, and boarded the platform, infesting the marines guarding it. Kerrigan destroyed the Hybrid dominators he sent to assault her, and pushed further into the xel'naga ruins the base was built on.

Stukov set about commanding the swarm to deactivate the xel'naga shrines powering Narud, allowing Kerrigan to push his null zone back at him. He was wounded, but not killed. After a close battle, Kerrigan slew Narud, but he told her of the fallen xel'naga Amon and his return. She was rescued by Zagara, who commanded the swarm while she recovered.

Kerrigan swore that after she killed Mengsk, she would face Amon. Kerrigan then began her final assault on Korhal to kill Mengsk, bringing her broods in for the final battle. Valerian told Kerrigan to set her brood down outside the city so he could evacuate the civilian population, to which Kerrigan reluctantly agreed. Korhal's orbital defenses were heavy, and destroyed millions of zerg upon entry.

Kerrigan engineered bile launchers that were able to destroy Korhal's defense network. Dehaka lead the primal zerg unconnected to the hive mind to destroy the power generators on the platform, allowing Kerrigan to destroy the weapon.

Jim Raynor moved in with the Hyperion to support Kerrigan's forces. After fighting their way through his elite guard, Kerrigan entered the palace herself to kill Mengsk.

Raynor was close behind, and crushed Mengsk's control device. Without his artifact, Kerrigan sent a psionic pulse through Mengsk, killing him. Kerrigan thanked Jim, then mobilized her broods to face Amon as Jim watches Kerrigan flies off. A few updates have been made to the game's graphics engine, including upgrades to the look and behavior of zerg creep , as well as some changes that allow Blizzard artists to better showcase the worlds in the game.

However, Blizzard intends for the expansion to have the same minimum hardware requirements as Wings of Liberty. Main and gas-extracting structures now display by passing the cursor the number of workers related to it.

Heart of the Swarm has 20 main missions and 7 optional evolution missions. A canon choices are the default in regards to the events of Wings of Liberty , but the game reflects player choices. The campaign operates similarly to an RPG, in which Kerrigan is focused on increasing her personal power through mutations. Zerg armies protect her as she garners this power. The campaign features a branched storyline structure. Missions cannot be skipped, but their order can be changed.

The missions of the game are intended to have a different feel than those in Wings of Liberty. In the first game of the trilogy, the zerg were rarely engaged directly and instead, it was about Raynor side-stepping them while completing his objectives. In Heart of the Swarm , the missions are more offensive in nature, such as preventing anyone from escaping an invaded planet. It is intended that character lines will be altered slightly based on context—not new scenes, but ones that will be contextually appropriate.

There is little use for air-to-air units in the campaign. A full listing of the single player campaign missions can be found at Heart of the Swarm missions. Kerrigan can increase her stats in a manner similar to Warcraft III , but not to the same extent. Unlike Raynor, Kerrigan is a creature of power that leads her army from the front and unlike Wings of Liberty , the mission isn't over if she dies. Kerrigan is able to revive at the nearest hatchery if she is killed, allowing players to use her aggressively.

Kerrigan initially starts out looking very human and armed with a gun, though she can control zerg forces. Each battle focus allows Kerrigan to have a certain set of special abilities. Regarding the evolution pit mechanic Dustin Browder said "we are trying to focus the player on finding new DNA from exotic and strange creatures around the sector so that you really feel like the key to zerg success is finding and infesting the immense, deadly monsters that live on the most savage planets in the galaxy.

Mini-missions are available when a unit split is available. The evolution missions allow the player to use both types of units, enabling the player to make an educated choice by the end of it. There are 14 or so short skirmishes far from the standard missions. In one example, zerglings can be upgraded into raptors by absorbing the genetics of leaping creatures, while the alternative is to absorb a strain of feral zerg that have developed swarmlings.

There are new multiplayer units for each of the three playable races. Units, which were cut from multiplayer, make their appearances in the campaign mode. According to Dustin Browder , the terrans have "enough stuff already" and as such, it is difficult to know what to do with them. At BlizzCon , three new terran units were revealed—the warhound , the shredder and the hellbat. As of June , the widow mine , which could attack both air and ground units, was introduced.

As of September , during the beta, the warhound was removed. A general theme for terran units in the expansion is that they are more high-tech than units in previous installments. At BlizzCon , the viper and swarm host were added to the Swarm, [76] while the overseer was said to be removed from multiplayer. The protoss were to gain three new units—the oracle , the replicant and the tempest , [76] while the mothership and carrier were to be removed from multiplayer games.

A general goal of protoss development in the game is to give them more aerial firepower. Blizzard planed on adding "drawing" functionality for referees in Heart of the Swarm, but this was not available in the final game. From a multiplayer standpoint, Heart of the Swarm is an expansion, not a sequel.

It has a separate ladder from Wings of Liberty. Heart of the Swarm will have the same e-sports focus as Wings of Liberty. The expansion added a leveling system, introducing a system of leveling and rewards.

In this system, experience is earned while playing matchmaking and custom games. XP is given in accordance with race played, given at the end of the match, and is earnt through each unit built and destroyed. Levels range from 1 to 20 for each race. Bonus XP can also be earnt.

Each level gifts the player with a new decal or portrait. These levels have a net total; by reaching level 20 for each race, a player has a net total level of 60 for instance. A clan system was added into the game. Blizzard's storyboard team was already working on Heart of the Swarm while Wings of Liberty ' s gameplay was refined.

As of March Dustin Browder expected Heart of the Swarm to finish development in approximately one year. In October , Blizzard began releasing preview art of new units. As of May , Blizzard announced plans to include the following functionalities in Heart of the Swarm :. The beta test went live September 4, However, there was a lot of multiplayer work, UI, art and debugging to work on.

The game was released on March 12, Because of feedback from Wings of Liberty players, Heart of the Swarm received larger map sizes. Browder was open to the idea of the defiler being playable in the campaign, but was more reserved about the devourer. Special pages. Printable version. Permanent link. Page information. Browse SMW properties. Blizzard Entertainment. This is a legacy bracket! Please use the new bracket instead. Filed under: Shopping PC Windows.

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