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Your Emperor calls on you to serve
Arcturus Mengsk is asking every able-bodied citizen to commit themselves completely to the defense of all we hold dear. For some time, our beautiful worlds have been under attack from enemies at all sides: the zerg vermin that want to consume us; the invading protoss who serve their own sinister, alien agenda; and worst of all, the human traitors who have cast their lot with anti-Dominion terrorists. While those threats will be dealt with in time, for now we must focus our efforts on rooting out the true enemy that lurks in the shadows.
Your time to show your complete and total dedication to the Dominion and your Emperor is at hand! Glory awaits!
Arcturus Mengsk Is Taking Control
Control the battle with an iron fist as Arcturus Mengsk, the newest Co-Op Commander for StarCraft II. Using conscripted laborers and troopers, Mengsk can put immediate pressure on his enemies and cement his power in the early game. Long-range artillery and “inspirational” broadcasts help Mengsk project his force across the battlefield, and his elite Royal Guard units grow in strength as they gain experience from battle, enhancing their ability to serve their emperor.
Feed an endless stream of cheap troopers into the meat grinder, softening your enemies for your Royal Guard to go in for the kill. When a fallen trooper drops their weapon upon their death, another will pick it up and resume the inexorable march toward victory.
Instead of energy, Mengsk uses a resource called Imperial Mandate, which you generate by training and ranking up the Royal Guard. Alternatively, Mengsk’s Imperial Witness can broadcast a message of indoctrination, which instills loyalty to Mengsk in your Troopers, in turn generating even more Imperial Mandate. And as his Imperial Mandate grows, Mengsk gets access to even more powerful and controversial abilities.
Should the need arise, Mengsk can unleash Nuclear Annihilation on his foes, raining atomic bombs on the battlefield, leaving nothing but ashes.
INFO UNITS UPGRADESArcturus Mengsk
Emperor of the Dominion- Recommended for experienced players
- Conscript a large disposable army of Dominion Troopers
- Control and level up the Royal Guard, your personal elite fighting force
Design Philosophy
As one of the most iconic characters in StarCraft lore, our goal with Mengsk was to capture the duplicity and ruthlessness he’s displayed throughout his lifetime in the franchise.
Though Mengsk talks a big game about unity and “the common good,” it is merely a ruse meant to get the common people to do his bidding. We believe this is best captured by the cost of Trooper weapons, which are significantly more expensive than the Troopers themselves. This, combined with the mechanic of Troopers being able to pick up dropped weapons, helps to demonstrate that Mengsk doesn’t really care about his people—it’s their expensive weaponry is that he values.
Meanwhile, Mengsk also has an upper echelon of elite soldiers he keeps close to his chest: his Royal Guard, who rank up and grow more powerful with experience. Because Troopers have high mineral costs and Royal Guards have high gas costs, these two unit classes are designed to be used together, and are most effectively utilized by players who can control them in tandem.
As the head of the most prominent bastion of Terran military power in the Koprulu Sector, we felt Mengsk was best suited to embody the iconic real-time strategy concept of an entrenched commander who plays to win at all costs, with mechanics like picking up weapons, fighting within bunkers, ranking up, and artillery.
Co-op Commanders in the past have traditionally relied on either powerful heroic units or impactful calldowns to defend early waves. To change up the formula with Mengsk, we borrowed two ideas from Warcraft III: the Human Peasant’s Call to Arms ability, which inspired the Dominion Laborer’s Call to Arms, and the Orc Burrow’s Battle Stations ability, which translated into Mengsk’s Supply Bunkers. With these two abilities combined, we feel we’ve provided players with powerful tools to defend initial waves with workers alone, while at the same time reinforcing the gameplay fantasy we’re going for.
To Victory
Look for Arcturus Mengsk in-game and in the Blizzard shop!
Dominion LaborerBasic worker unit. Can gather resources, build structures, and repair. Can switch to a Trooper suit.
Can attack ground units. Dominion Trooper
General-purpose infantry. Can be outfitted with weapons for different combat situations. Can switch to a Laborer suit.
Can attack ground and air units. Imperial Intercessor
Air transport. Heals nearby biological units. Can use Ignite Afterburners. Imperial Witness
Aerial support unit. Can use Enable Patriot Mode to Indoctrinate nearby allies.
Detector Aegis Guard
Royal Guard heavy assault infantry.
Can attack ground units. Emperor's Shadow
Royal Guard specialist. Can use Pyrokinetic Immolation and EMP Blast. Can call down Tactical Missiles built at the Royal Academy.
Can attack ground and air units. Shock Division
Royal Guard heavy tank. Can switch into Siege Mode to provide long-range artillery support.
Can attack ground units. Blackhammer
Royal Guard heavy assault mech. Can use Overwatch Mode.
Can attack ground and air units. Sky Fury
Durable Royal Guard support flyer. Loaded with strong anti-capital air missiles. Can switch into Assault Mode to attack ground units.
Can attack air units. Pride of Augustgrad
Powerful Royal Guard warship. Can use Yamato Cannon and Tactical Jump.
Can attack ground and air units. Earthsplitter Ordnance
Randomly bombards near a target location, dealing damage to ground units in the area. Enables Contaminated Strike from the top panel. Law and Order
Mengsk conscripts Dominion Laborers instead of SCVs to work and Dominion Troopers instead of Marines to fight. His Royal Guard units can level up, gaining new abilities and improvements to existing abilities. Expanded Arsenal
Allows Troopers to equip Flamethrowers and Rocket Launchers. New Unit: Earthsplitter Ordnance
Randomly bombards near a target location, dealing damage to ground units in the area. Enables Contaminated Strike from the top panel.
Can attack ground units. Contaminated Strike
Unlocks the ability to launch experimental payloads, fired from your Earthsplitter Ordnance randomly near a target area. Activate Contaminated Strike from the top panel. Unquestioned Authority
Imperial Mandate generates more quickly based on the supply count and ranks of your Royal Guard. Indoctrinated Laborers and Troopers also increase Imperial Mandate generation. Unlocks the Amplified Airwaves upgrade, which doubles Imperial Mandate generation from Indoctrinated Laborers and Troopers (Researched at the Fusion Core). Engineering Bay Upgrade Cache
Unlocks the following upgrades at the Engineering Bay:
- Allows Laborers and Troopers to switch modes directly on the battlefield.
- Further increases the range of units within Supply Bunkers by +1.
- Increases the range of the Earthsplitter Ordnance's Bombardment ability by +10.
Dogs of War now deploys additional Mutalisks and Ultralisks at higher Imperial Mandate levels. Primary Royal Guard Upgrade Cache
Unlocks the following upgrades:
- Allows Aegis Guard to slow enemy units with their attack (Researched at the Royal Academy).
- Allows Shock Division in Siege Mode to fire at enemy air units while picked up by an Imperial Intercessor (Researched at the Armory).
- Increases the movement speed of Sky Furies (Researched at the Fusion Core).
Royal Guard heavy assault mech. Can use Overwatch Mode.
Can attack ground and air units. Nuclear Annihilation
Unlocks the ability to call down a rain of Tactical Missiles followed by a Nuclear Missile. Activate Nuclear Annihilation from the top panel. Psychoactive Payload
Contaminated Strike now Fears enemy units on impact, causing them to run around in panic. New Unit: Pride of Augustgrad
Powerful Royal Guard warship. Can use Yamato Cannon and Tactical Jump. Built from the Starport.
Can attack ground and air units. Complete Annihilation
Increased the number of Tactical Missiles dropped by Nuclear Annihilation from 20 to 40. Advanced Royal Guard Upgrade Cache
Unlocks the following upgrades:
- Allows Emperor's Shadows to fire Tactical Missile Strikes without channeling (Researched at the Royal Academy).
- Blackhammers grant 3 armor to units positioned beneath them. (Researched at the Armory).
- Pride of Augustgrads grant +1 attack range to nearby friendly ranged ground units. (Researched at the Fusion Core).
Royal Guard units can now attain Veterancy: Rank 3, gaining the following abilities:
- Aegis Guards can greatly increase their attack speed.
- The Emperor's Shadow's Pyrokinetic Immolation causes an explosion when the target dies. Units take Feedback damage from the Emperor's Shadow's EMP Blast.
- Increases the Shock Division's attack's area of effect radius in Siege Mode.
- Increases the attack speed of Blackhammers in Overwatch Mode.
- Grants Sky Furies with a chance to evade enemy attacks in Fighter Mode. When Sky Furies take fatal damage in Assault Mode, they transform to Fighter Mode and gain a barrier.
- Allows the Pride of Augustgrad's Yamato Cannon to fire three times in rapid succession.
Drop a Supply Bunker filled with unfortunate Troopers souls to man it. Contaminated Strike
Launch experimental payloads, fired from your Earthsplitter Ordnance randomly near a target area. Dogs of War
Deploy enthralled Zerg that will seek out and attack nearby enemy units. Nuclear Annihilation
Call down a seemingly endless barrage of Tactical Missiles followed by a Nuclear Missile. This is just a punk rock song.