Abathur, Swarm Evolution Master, is a commander who specializes in upgrading and evolving Zerg strains. By harvesting the Biomass of his fallen enemies, he seeks to create a highly efficient Zerg army spearheaded by his fearsome Ultimate Evolutions. Once on the field, these monstrous juggernauts dwarf even the most powerful units in the game. His units also gain health, energy regeneration, attack speed, and life leech with each point of Biomass gathered, compounding their effectiveness as the game drags on and granting Abathur the potentially strongest late-game army out of any commander. However, effective use of this commander requires a lot of knowledge and practice in order to get the most out of his Toxic Nests and Ultimate Evolutions.

Strengths

Pushing Ability: Between his Ultimate Evolutions, Toxic Nests, and the Viper’s crowd control abilities, Abathur has a series of powerful tools at his disposal that allow him to push through heavily-fortified bases. At the peak of his power, it is rare that any enemy base or army can stand in his way.



Durability: When reinforced with 100 Biomass, each of Abathur’s units can possess up to 400% of its original HP, as well as restore 100% of its weapon damage dealt as life. When paired with the healing abilities provided by Swarm Queens and Mend, Abathur’s entire army becomes almost indestructible even when pitted against the strongest of enemies. With good micro, you can possibly go the entire game without losing a single unit.



Global Presence: Intelligent placement of Toxic Nests allows you to clear almost every ground unit from attack waves. This coupled with the Brutalisk’s Deep Tunnel ability on a 10s cooldown—usable anywhere on the map even without vision—allows you to intercept every enemy attack wave effortlessly even while the rest of your army is pushing objectives.



Resource Independence: Abathur’s units depend more immediately upon access to Biomass than upon how much supply he can field. In many cases, Abathur is better off with a small group of highly Biomass-fed units than on a larger group of weaker units. For this reason, Abathur can afford to go without expanding at all, which can be a strength on certain mutators or a boon to some allies.







Weaknesses

Dependence on Biomass: Abathur is almost completely dependent on Biomass in order to snowball. In the early game, fast generation of Biomass is essential for Abathur to evolve his six Ultimate Evolutions as soon as possible. Thereafter, his core army units are highly dependent on Biomass in order to attain greater survivability and damage output. While a helpful ally can assist Abathur in generating extra Biomass from enemy units, this important resource can just as easily be denied by an ignorant ally.





As all units are viable under certain circumstances, it is difficult to list every possible combination of units. As such, only the most commonly used compositions are listed. It is assumed that the six Ultimate Evolutions are evolved as quickly as possible in each of the listed compositions unless otherwise stated. Additionally, up to two Vipers and up to eight Devourers can be added onto any composition as situational unit choices that can effectively counter dangerous ground and air units, respectively—it is highly recommended to add them to your army as according to the ground or air prevalence of the enemy composition.In this composition, Mutalisks are the primary damage dealers and they form part of an extremely potent late-game army that excels against all ground and air units, especially when laden with Biomass. However, they are extremely squishy and vulnerable when sent into battle without Biomass. As such, you should place emphasis on keeping these precious units alive. Up to eight Swarm Queens are added primarily for healing the Ultimate Evolutions, but you should consider getting as few Swarm Queens as is necessary to keep your army alive, so as to not deprive gas and Biomass from your Mutalisks.Devourers excel against air units and air-targetable objectives, and as such this composition is effective on maps featuring air-targetable objectives and large numbers of capital ships, such as the Void Shards on Rifts to Korhal or Void Slivers on Scythe of Amon. Swarm Queens add anti-ground DPS to your army, and are important for healing your Ultimate Evolutions. It is worth noting that this composition does not by any means excel in damage against ground units and structures—use it only for specific purposes.While Mutalisks outperform Guardians in most situations, Guardians can still be effective when defending against large numbers of ground units, most commonly found on Dead of Night and Miner Evacuation, where the superior range of Guardians allow them to attack constantly without the need for movement. Up to eight Swarm Queens are added to keep the Brutalisks alive as they will have to absorb large amounts of damage.Ravagers are cheap and do not depend on Biomass for their Corrosive Bile ability. This makes them effective in situations where you face a shortage of Biomass or gas. Additionally, they fare well against the Zerg Swarmy composition which comes with large numbers of Scourge that are a threat to any air unit. However, this composition does not snowball effectively into the late game, as the massive size of the Ravagers decreases their DPS-density. Swarm Queens should be added to enhance the survivability of your Ultimate Evolutions and Ravagers.Swarm Hosts have excellent DPS and can prevent the enemy from advancing by flooding them with high-HP targets, but only when laden with Biomass. They are easy to mass, and the Deep Tunnel ability allows them to teleport to any part of the map with vision, which can be granted by clever placement of Toxic Nests, Creep Tumors or Deep Tunneling Brutalisks who, unlike Swarm Hosts, do not require vision. Spawned Locusts have short life spans, short range, and are erratic in their targeting behavior—they will often waste time moving around rather than attacking the nearest enemy. It is thus difficult to use this composition for assaulting enemy bases or moving objectives such as Trains unless you intend to control all the Locusts manually. In practice, Swarm Hosts are found to only be optimal on Temple of the Past, but they are also a good choice on certain mutations, as they can bring you victory through attrition.

Calldown and Unit Overview

Calldowns

20s (up to 14s with mastery) cooldown. You begin with an initial 5 charges at the start of each game, and can store up to 5 charges (35 with full mastery). Toxic Nests function as Abathur’s minefields, and are completely undetectable by the enemy, although not invulnerable—area damage can destroy them. Should any ground enemy come near, they will explode for 125 (up to 200 with mastery) damage to all ground enemies within a 1.5 range radius. By default they will be triggered by any ground enemy unit, but you can disable their autocast and manually detonate them to achieve greater results. Furthermore, enemies damaged by Toxic Nests will drop 50% additional Biomass on death and have their attack- and movement speeds slowed by 75% for 2s. This makes them essential for generating additional Biomass for your army. Each Toxic Nest takes 15s (down to 6s with Structure Morph and Evolution Rate mastery) to morph and is vulnerable to attacks while morphing. Toxic Nests have a 50% chance to respawn, unless killed during their initial morph time. Once morphed, they will generate Creep in an area around them, which is a feature that can be useful for spreading Creep for your Spine- and Spore Crawlers in the early game. You should not use Toxic Nests as a primary means of spreading Creep, but they can be useful to grant your Swarm Queens a source of Creep on which they can use their Creep Tumor ability. Toxic Nests are greatly enhanced by Abathur’s masteries, and their effects are further elaborated upon in the Masteries section. Also, refer to the Toxic Nest Luring section for tips on placing Toxic Nests. 20s (up to 14s with mastery) cooldown. You begin with an initial 5 charges at the start of each game, and can store up to 5 charges (35 with full mastery). Toxic Nests function as Abathur’s minefields, and are completely undetectable by the enemy, although not invulnerable—area damage can destroy them. Should any ground enemy come near, they will explode for 125 (up to 200 with mastery) damage to all ground enemies within a 1.5 range radius. By default they will be triggered by any ground enemy unit, but you can disable their autocast and manually detonate them to achieve greater results. Furthermore, enemies damaged by Toxic Nests will drop 50% additional Biomass on death and have their attack- and movement speeds slowed by 75% for 2s. This makes them essential for generating additional Biomass for your army. Each Toxic Nest takes 15s (down to 6s with Structure Morph and Evolution Rate mastery) to morph and is vulnerable to attacks while morphing. Toxic Nests have a 50% chance to respawn, unless killed during their initial morph time. Once morphed, they will generate Creep in an area around them, which is a feature that can be useful for spreading Creep for your Spine- and Spore Crawlers in the early game. You should not use Toxic Nests as a primary means of spreading Creep, but they can be useful to grant your Swarm Queens a source of Creep on which they can use their Creep Tumor ability. Toxic Nests are greatly enhanced by Abathur’s masteries, and their effects are further elaborated upon in thesection. Also, refer to thesection for tips on placing Toxic Nests.

120s cooldown. Begins with an initial 3 charges at the start of the game, and can store up to 3 charges. Each charge instantly heals all friendly units and structures on the map for 100 health, plus an additional 50 (up to 200 with mastery) health regenerated over the next 10s (up to 40s with mastery).



Use it to keep your army alive, especially the early Roach or Mutalisk that you intend to evolve into an Ultimate Evolution, as well as to assist your ally. As the healing amount is a flat number, it helps a lot with keeping low-HP units alive, but it is of limited use to your Ultimate Evolutions. Instead, pull the heavily-wounded Ultimate Evolutions back while using Swarm Queens to heal them. 120s cooldown. Begins with an initial 3 charges at the start of the game, and can store up to 3 charges. Each charge instantly healsfriendly units and structures on the map for 100 health, plus an additional 50 (up to 200 with mastery) health regenerated over the next 10s (up to 40s with mastery).Use it to keep your army alive, especially the early Roach or Mutalisk that you intend to evolve into an Ultimate Evolution, as well as to assist your ally. As the healing amount is a flat number, it helps a lot with keeping low-HP units alive, but it is of limited use to your Ultimate Evolutions. Instead, pull the heavily-wounded Ultimate Evolutions back while using Swarm Queens to heal them.

Units and Buildings



Vs Air: 25.00 DPS

Vs Ground(Frontal Cleave): 20.00 DPS



An Ultimate Evolution that evolves from any ground unit with 100 Biomass collected. You are limited to a maximum of 3 Brutalisks at any time. Preferably, they should be evolved from Roaches, which are the cheapest ground units available to Abathur. As each Brutalisk comes with 1500 HP and 2 base armor, they make for incredibly tanky units that function as a shield for your ground units. Make sure to support them with Swarm Queens to keep them healthy. Brutalisks also provide superior mobility to Abathur, having access to a Deep Tunnel ability with only a 10s cooldown, which allows them to teleport to any part of the map even without vision. In combination with well-placed Toxic Nests, this will allow you to handle attack waves in most situations without having to divert the attention of your primary army. Notably, Brutalisks perform very well on Infested maps by providing a solid ground presence and splash damage with their anti-ground attacks, which function as a large frontal cleave—very useful against clumped-up Infested units. An Ultimate Evolution that evolves from any ground unit with 100 Biomass collected. You are limited to a maximum of 3 Brutalisks at any time. Preferably, they should be evolved from Roaches, which are the cheapest ground units available to Abathur. As each Brutalisk comes with 1500 HP and 2 base armor, they make for incredibly tanky units that function as a shield for your ground units. Make sure to support them with Swarm Queens to keep them healthy. Brutalisks also provide superior mobility to Abathur, having access to a Deep Tunnel ability with only a 10s cooldown, which allows them to teleport to any part of the map even without vision. In combination with well-placed Toxic Nests, this will allow you to handle attack waves in most situations without having to divert the attention of your primary army. Notably, Brutalisks perform very well on Infested maps by providing a solid ground presence and splash damage with their anti-ground attacks, which function as a large frontal cleave—very useful against clumped-up Infested units.



Vs Air: 24.00 (40.00 vs massive) DPS

Vs Ground: 33.33 DPS



An Ultimate Evolution that evolves from any air unit with 100 Biomass collected. You are limited to a maximum of 3 Leviathans at any time. Preferably, they should be evolved from Mutalisks, which are the cheapest air units available to Abathur. Each Leviathan comes with 1000 HP and 2 base armor, and though they have a smaller health pool than a Brutalisk, each Leviathan proves to be much more survivable due to its immunity to anti-ground attacks. As such, they will make up your primary pushing force, while Brutalisks handle safer tasks like destroying objectives or cleaning up stragglers. However, a Mutalisk requires additional tech as compared to a Roach, so you will have to plan carefully on how many Brutalisks you wish to make before the Leviathans. Leviathans also lack the Brutalisks’ Deep Tunnel, meaning their mobility is limited and thus require smarter routing for maximum effectiveness. Leviathans can attack with both of its weapons while moving. An Ultimate Evolution that evolves from any air unit with 100 Biomass collected. You are limited to a maximum of 3 Leviathans at any time. Preferably, they should be evolved from Mutalisks, which are the cheapest air units available to Abathur. Each Leviathan comes with 1000 HP and 2 base armor, and though they have a smaller health pool than a Brutalisk, each Leviathan proves to be much more survivable due to its immunity to anti-ground attacks. As such, they will make up your primary pushing force, while Brutalisks handle safer tasks like destroying objectives or cleaning up stragglers. However, a Mutalisk requires additional tech as compared to a Roach, so you will have to plan carefully on how many Brutalisks you wish to make before the Leviathans. Leviathans also lack the Brutalisks’ Deep Tunnel, meaning their mobility is limited and thus require smarter routing for maximum effectiveness. Leviathans can attack with both of its weapons while moving.



20.00 DPS (40.00 with mastery)



A creature that permanently attaches itself to a larger host—either a Brutalisk or Leviathan, granting them two additional autocast abilities. The first ability is the Shell, which provides the Ultimate Evolution with a 200 HP shield (400 HP with full mastery), lasting 8 seconds and providing a taunt effect on nearby enemies when initially triggered. With a cooldown of 20s, this ability can mitigate significant incoming damage if you actively micro your Ultimate Evolutions to take turns tanking incoming damage. Next, the Stab ability equips its host with an additional attack that deals 20 damage every 1s (increased to 40 damage with Symbiote Ability Improvement mastery for a total of 40 DPS) to the nearest enemy within a range of 6. The Symbiote attacks its target automatically even while its host is moving—this enables Ultimate Evolutions to kite enemies while dealing significant amounts of damage at the same time, making it highly beneficial to micro these units separately from your army. While the basic attacks of the Ultimate Evolutions are somewhat unimpressive, the DPS provided by the Symbiote Stab ability more than makes up for it, especially when you have significant mastery points available. Interestingly, the attack range of Symbiote Stab is out-ranged by that of the anti-air attacks of the Ultimate Evolutions, meaning that the Symbiote will be left out of Stab range if you simply A-move your Brutalisks against air-targetable objectives such as Void Thrashers. A creature that permanently attaches itself to a larger host—either a Brutalisk or Leviathan, granting them two additional autocast abilities. The first ability is the Shell, which provides the Ultimate Evolution with a 200 HP shield (400 HP with full mastery), lasting 8 seconds and providing a taunt effect on nearby enemies when initially triggered. With a cooldown of 20s, this ability can mitigate significant incoming damage if you actively micro your Ultimate Evolutions to take turns tanking incoming damage. Next, the Stab ability equips its host with an additional attack that deals 20 damage every 1s (increased to 40 damage with Symbiote Ability Improvement mastery for a total of 40 DPS) to the nearest enemy within a range of 6. The Symbiote attacks its target automatically even while its host is moving—this enables Ultimate Evolutions to kite enemies while dealing significant amounts of damage at the same time, making it highly beneficial to micro these units separately from your army. While the basic attacks of the Ultimate Evolutions are somewhat unimpressive, the DPS provided by the Symbiote Stab ability more than makes up for it, especially when you have significant mastery points available. Interestingly, the attack range of Symbiote Stab is out-ranged by that of the anti-air attacks of the Ultimate Evolutions, meaning that the Symbiote will be left out of Stab range if you simply A-move your Brutalisks against air-targetable objectives such as Void Thrashers.



Vs Air: 9.00 DPS

Vs Ground: 8.00 (12.00 vs armored) DPS



Provides healing support for your army via the Rapid Transfusion ability, which defaults to auto-cast. While most of Abathur’s army units can be kept alive by the well-timed use of Mend, this may not be sufficient to keep the high-HP Ultimate Evolutions alive without the support of Swarm Queens. In addition, they can place Creep Tumors on existing Creep, which can be initialized by a Toxic Nest. You can quickly spread Creep with a group of Swarm Queens which can be useful for maps that require you to move ground units between certain areas quickly, such as on Temple of the Past or Mist Opportunities. It is worth noting that Biomass increases energy regeneration significantly, which benefits Swarm Queens especially. Additionally, the Bio-Mechanical Transfusion upgrade is very handy, as it improves the healing rate of Rapid Transfusion by 40% and allows mechanical units/buildings to be healed as well. Conversely, it is unnecessary to research the Incubation Chamber upgrade that allows you to morph two Swarm Queens at once unless you intend to morph a significant number of these units. Provides healing support for your army via the Rapid Transfusion ability, which defaults to auto-cast. While most of Abathur’s army units can be kept alive by the well-timed use of Mend, this may not be sufficient to keep the high-HP Ultimate Evolutions alive without the support of Swarm Queens. In addition, they can place Creep Tumors on existing Creep, which can be initialized by a Toxic Nest. You can quickly spread Creep with a group of Swarm Queens which can be useful for maps that require you to move ground units between certain areas quickly, such as on Temple of the Past or Mist Opportunities. It is worth noting that Biomass increases energy regeneration significantly, which benefits Swarm Queens especially. Additionally, the Bio-Mechanical Transfusion upgrade is very handy, as it improves the healing rate of Rapid Transfusion by 40% and allows mechanical units/buildings to be healed as well. Conversely, it is unnecessary to research the Incubation Chamber upgrade that allows you to morph two Swarm Queens at once unless you intend to morph a significant number of these units.



8.00 (12.00 vs light) DPS



A durable unit lacking in damage output. As such, it does not benefit much from Biomass compared to more expensive units. Being a short-ranged unit, Roaches have a tendency to collect Biomass ahead of more deserving units, so it is best not to morph an excessive number of Roaches, or even any at all beyond your initial three used for evolving Brutalisks. With Vile Strain unlocked, Roaches will slow enemies attack and movement speeds by 75% with every attack, but this effect is often redundant in actual battles due to the superior crowd control offered by the Viper’s Disabling Cloud ability. Against large numbers of light units or structures, such as on Dead of Night or Miner Evacuation, Roaches can be effective when upgraded with Hydriodic Bile, giving them bonus damage vs light. Other upgrades can be situationally useful if you plan on using Roaches in large numbers; otherwise, they should be skipped. It is often a choice between the static Spine/Spore Crawlers and the mobile Roaches as a mineral dump, depending on whether defensive or offensive strength is needed.



Roaches gain additional armor with Biomass, up to +5. Additionally, their Adaptive Plating research provides an additional +6 armor while the Roach is under 50% health. This makes a Biomass-fed Roach incredibly tanky against smaller attacks. Given enough time, a single Roach can single handedly destroy small armies. However, this isn’t a particularly useful benefit compared to the alternative uses of Biomass. A durable unit lacking in damage output. As such, it does not benefit much from Biomass compared to more expensive units. Being a short-ranged unit, Roaches have a tendency to collect Biomass ahead of more deserving units, so it is best not to morph an excessive number of Roaches, or even any at all beyond your initial three used for evolving Brutalisks. With Vile Strain unlocked, Roaches will slow enemies attack and movement speeds by 75% with every attack, but this effect is often redundant in actual battles due to the superior crowd control offered by the Viper’s Disabling Cloud ability. Against large numbers of light units or structures, such as on Dead of Night or Miner Evacuation, Roaches can be effective when upgraded with Hydriodic Bile, giving them bonus damage vs light. Other upgrades can be situationally useful if you plan on using Roaches in large numbers; otherwise, they should be skipped. It is often a choice between the static Spine/Spore Crawlers and the mobile Roaches as a mineral dump, depending on whether defensive or offensive strength is needed.Roaches gain additional armor with Biomass, up to +5. Additionally, their Adaptive Plating research provides an additional +6 armor while the Roach is under 50% health. This makes a Biomass-fed Roach incredibly tanky against smaller attacks. Given enough time, a single Roach can single handedly destroy small armies. However, this isn’t a particularly useful benefit compared to the alternative uses of Biomass.



10.00 DPS



An artillery unit evolved from the Roach whose effectiveness is heavily dependent on player micro. With research completed, its Corrosive Bile ability deals 80 damage to enemies in a small radius, on a 10s cooldown (down to 5s with Biomass). Damage dealt with Corrosive Bile will return life to the Ravager via Biotic Leech, which makes it able to heal up on demand. This ability makes a smaller team of Ravagers extremely resource-efficient, and can be used to both poke at a stronger enemy force and brawl with tighter groups of enemies. While the Ravager does not have an anti-air attack, its Corrosive Bile is able to damage both air and ground targets. It is possible to skip detection entirely by relying on this ability to take out cloaked enemies. If you are massing Ravagers, it can be useful to have their ability on Rapid-Fire, allowing you to bombard a large area quickly—instructions on how to set up Rapid-Fire are available online. Although Ravagers are not the fastest or most aggressive unit type in Abathur’s arsenal, they are sturdy and resource efficient, are not cursed with the armored tag, and are easy to mass in numbers. However, they tend to clog up the ground with their massive size, preventing any units at the back from engaging. You can stutter-step to mitigate this weakness, but be aware that no other ground army takes up as much space on the ground as a force of Ravagers. Large groups of Ravagers can be situationally good when faced with a shortage of Biomass and/or resources. An artillery unit evolved from the Roach whose effectiveness is heavily dependent on player micro. With research completed, its Corrosive Bile ability deals 80 damage to enemies in a small radius, on a 10s cooldown (down to 5s with Biomass). Damage dealt with Corrosive Bile will return life to the Ravager via Biotic Leech, which makes it able to heal up on demand. This ability makes a smaller team of Ravagers extremely resource-efficient, and can be used to both poke at a stronger enemy force and brawl with tighter groups of enemies. While the Ravager does not have an anti-air attack, its Corrosive Bile is able to damage both air and ground targets. It is possible to skip detection entirely by relying on this ability to take out cloaked enemies. If you are massing Ravagers, it can be useful to have their ability on Rapid-Fire, allowing you to bombard a large area quickly—instructions on how to set up Rapid-Fire are available online. Although Ravagers are not the fastest or most aggressive unit type in Abathur’s arsenal, they are sturdy and resource efficient, are not cursed with the armored tag, and are easy to mass in numbers. However, they tend to clog up the ground with their massive size, preventing any units at the back from engaging. You can stutter-step to mitigate this weakness, but be aware that no other ground army takes up as much space on the ground as a force of Ravagers. Large groups of Ravagers can be situationally good when faced with a shortage of Biomass and/or resources.



16.67 DPS



Releases 2 Locusts, which last 12s, every 15s (down to 7.5 with Biomass). At 100 Biomass, both the HP of the Swarm Host and that of its Locusts are quadrupled, while the Spawn Locusts cooldown and Locust’s attack cooldown are halved. This results in a 4x DPS increase at full Biomass, as compared to Abathur’s other units whose DPS are only doubled. As such, Biomass is highly effective on these units, transforming them into fearsome assault units capable of spawning entire armies of Locusts. However, Swarm Hosts are an impractical choice in most games and their effective DPS is much lower due to the short duration and attack range of the Locusts, which also have a tendency of being blocked by other Locusts, which waste time moving around rather than attacking the closest target. At the same time, the Locusts provide an extremely tanky, free damage sponge that can provide sustainable defense and offence in situations that other units would find troublesome. They can perform the job that Stukov’s Bunkers or Stetmann’s Infestors do in halting an enemy in place with a flood of free units, but with greater effectiveness, though this requires that sufficient Swarm Hosts are at full Biomass.



Researching the Deep Tunnel ability is extremely useful, as it allows your Swarm Hosts to teleport to any visible part of the map every 30s (cooldown unchanged by Biomass) on a 2 second cast time, which is useful for gathering any dropped Biomass or intercepting enemy attack waves. The Pressurized Glands upgrade allows the Locusts to attack air units as well and should be researched if necessary. Releases 2 Locusts, which last 12s, every 15s (down to 7.5 with Biomass). At 100 Biomass, both the HP of the Swarm Host and that of its Locusts are quadrupled, while the Spawn Locusts cooldown and Locust’s attack cooldown are halved. This results in a 4x DPS increase at full Biomass, as compared to Abathur’s other units whose DPS are only doubled. As such, Biomass is highly effective on these units, transforming them into fearsome assault units capable of spawning entire armies of Locusts. However, Swarm Hosts are an impractical choice in most games and their effective DPS is much lower due to the short duration and attack range of the Locusts, which also have a tendency of being blocked by other Locusts, which waste time moving around rather than attacking the closest target. At the same time, the Locusts provide an extremely tanky, free damage sponge that can provide sustainable defense and offence in situations that other units would find troublesome. They can perform the job that Stukov’s Bunkers or Stetmann’s Infestors do in halting an enemy in place with a flood of free units, but with greater effectiveness, though this requires that sufficient Swarm Hosts are at full Biomass.Researching the Deep Tunnel ability is extremely useful, as it allows your Swarm Hosts to teleport to any visible part of the map every 30s (cooldown unchanged by Biomass) on a 2 second cast time, which is useful for gathering any dropped Biomass or intercepting enemy attack waves. The Pressurized Glands upgrade allows the Locusts to attack air units as well and should be researched if necessary.



5.92 (11.84 vs armored) DPS

Including 5 bounces: 14.47 (26.97 vs armored) DPS



A core offensive unit of Abathur’s army, the highly-mobile Mutalisk provides the most formidable deathball in Abathur’s arsenal, equally capable against air or ground enemies. Biomass is especially valuable on the Mutalisk, massively enhancing its survivability and already high DPS. Try to use Mutalisks to collect Biomass ahead of other units. When the Sundering Glaive and Vicious Glaive upgrades are researched, the Mutalisk gains a devastating attack that overwhelms most clumped-up armies easily, especially against armored units. Rapid Regeneration allows your Mutalisks to heal up while out of combat, but this is optional when Mend, Biotic Leech and the Swarm Queen’s Rapid Transfusion already provide ample ways of regaining lost health. Bear in mind that Mutalisks are extremely fragile when forced into combat without Biomass, and when facing anti-air or anti-light foes such as Scourge, Phoenixes, Thors, High Templar and Hybrid Dominators.



In order to avoid losing the expensive Mutalisks, you can rally newly-spawned Mutalisks to collect Biomass before adding them to your army. This way, the Biomass-filled Mutalisks in your combat army will be able to survive well on their own, at the expense of some DPS since there will always be a flock of Mutalisks without Biomass that are not yet combat-worthy. The alternative is to spread the Biomass more evenly across your Mutalisks and have them join combat even before they reach maximum Biomass—however, you will need to pay more attention in order to keep these Mutalisks alive, possibly by using the Ultimate Evolutions to tank, Vipers to disable enemy defenses, using Mend reactively, and actively pulling back your Mutalisks should they run into danger.

A core offensive unit of Abathur’s army, the highly-mobile Mutalisk provides the most formidable deathball in Abathur’s arsenal, equally capable against air or ground enemies. Biomass is especially valuable on the Mutalisk, massively enhancing its survivability and already high DPS. Try to use Mutalisks to collect Biomass ahead of other units. When the Sundering Glaive and Vicious Glaive upgrades are researched, the Mutalisk gains a devastating attack that overwhelms most clumped-up armies easily, especially against armored units. Rapid Regeneration allows your Mutalisks to heal up while out of combat, but this is optional when Mend, Biotic Leech and the Swarm Queen’s Rapid Transfusion already provide ample ways of regaining lost health. Bear in mind that Mutalisks are extremely fragile when forced into combat without Biomass, and when facing anti-air or anti-light foes such as Scourge, Phoenixes, Thors, High Templar and Hybrid Dominators.In order to avoid losing the expensive Mutalisks, you can rally newly-spawned Mutalisks to collect Biomass before adding them to your army. This way, the Biomass-filled Mutalisks in your combat army will be able to survive well on their own, at the expense of some DPS since there will always be a flock of Mutalisks without Biomass that are not yet combat-worthy. The alternative is to spread the Biomass more evenly across your Mutalisks and have them join combat even before they reach maximum Biomass—however, you will need to pay more attention in order to keep these Mutalisks alive, possibly by using the Ultimate Evolutions to tank, Vipers to disable enemy defenses, using Mend reactively, and actively pulling back your Mutalisks should they run into danger.



15.00 DPS



A long-ranged anti-ground siege unit morphed from the Mutalisk. Guardians are generally less effective than a flock of well-microed Mutalisks, having lower anti-ground DPS by most metrics and lacking in anti-air capabilities, as well as being stuck with a slow-firing weapon that is prone to overkill. However, they can make up for it with their long range and high survivability. Having a base range of 9, they are able to outrange most enemy units and will often be shielded by other units in your army. They can also be upgraded to a range of 12, but this upgrade is not essential as Guardians already possess great range. It is rare that any Guardian is endangered, making it an effective anti-ground unit for newer players and a good choice in any situation where it is hard to keep Mutalisks alive. Due to their superior range, Guardians are also highly viable when defending against constant streams of non-armored ground units, particularly on Miner Evacuation and Dead of Night. They are also useful on maps with less Biomass, such as on The Vermillion Problem. It is possible to use Mutalisks to collect Biomass first before morphing them into Guardians. In most situations, it is often a decision between Mutalisks and Guardians as your anti-ground unit of choice, but it is recommended for more experienced players to learn to deal with the shortcomings of Mutalisks, which are more efficient in both DPS and utility when able to be kept alive. A long-ranged anti-ground siege unit morphed from the Mutalisk. Guardians are generally less effective than a flock of well-microed Mutalisks, having lower anti-ground DPS by most metrics and lacking in anti-air capabilities, as well as being stuck with a slow-firing weapon that is prone to overkill. However, they can make up for it with their long range and high survivability. Having a base range of 9, they are able to outrange most enemy units and will often be shielded by other units in your army. They can also be upgraded to a range of 12, but this upgrade is not essential as Guardians already possess great range. It is rare that any Guardian is endangered, making it an effective anti-ground unit for newer players and a good choice in any situation where it is hard to keep Mutalisks alive. Due to their superior range, Guardians are also highly viable when defending against constant streams of non-armored ground units, particularly on Miner Evacuation and Dead of Night. They are also useful on maps with less Biomass, such as on The Vermillion Problem. It is possible to use Mutalisks to collect Biomass first before morphing them into Guardians. In most situations, it is often a decision between Mutalisks and Guardians as your anti-ground unit of choice, but it is recommended for more experienced players to learn to deal with the shortcomings of Mutalisks, which are more efficient in both DPS and utility when able to be kept alive.



10.00 (15.00 vs armored) DPS



A powerful anti-air unit morphed from the Mutalisk, becoming a true menace when upgraded with the Corrosive Spray research, which enables its attacks to deal splash damage in a small radius, which renders the Devourer itself extremely durable when fighting multiple enemies, due to Biotic Leech. Against enemy air compositions, Devourers often prove to be the single most powerful anti-air option available to any commander, with just 6 Biomass-fed Devourers being capable of bringing down practically any amount of enemy air units. If you are not facing enemy air compositions however, it is unnecessary to add Devourers to your army if you already have Ultimate Evolutions and/or Mutalisks, as their anti-air capabilities are more than enough to deal with stray air units. The Corrosive Spray upgrade may be skipped if you are primarily using Devourers to assault enemy bases, where air units typically do not clump up. As a bonus, Devourers are equipped with the Corrosive Acid autocast ability. Each cast of Corrosive Acid reduces armor by 3 and attack speed by 16.66% of all enemy units within a small radius, with a cooldown of 45s and a maximum of 3 stacks. Even if no anti-air is needed, it may still be useful to add a few Devourers to augment the Mutalisks’ DPS, which benefit particularly from armor reductions. This can be particularly useful against objectives such as Trains.

A powerful anti-air unit morphed from the Mutalisk, becoming a true menace when upgraded with the Corrosive Spray research, which enables its attacks to deal splash damage in a small radius, which renders the Devourer itself extremely durable when fighting multiple enemies, due to Biotic Leech. Against enemy air compositions, Devourers often prove to be the single most powerful anti-air option available to any commander, with just 6 Biomass-fed Devourers being capable of bringing down practically any amount of enemy air units. If you are not facing enemy air compositions however, it is unnecessary to add Devourers to your army if you already have Ultimate Evolutions and/or Mutalisks, as their anti-air capabilities are more than enough to deal with stray air units. The Corrosive Spray upgrade may be skipped if you are primarily using Devourers to assault enemy bases, where air units typically do not clump up. As a bonus, Devourers are equipped with the Corrosive Acid autocast ability. Each cast of Corrosive Acid reduces armor by 3 and attack speed by 16.66% of all enemy units within a small radius, with a cooldown of 45s and a maximum of 3 stacks. Even if no anti-air is needed, it may still be useful to add a few Devourers to augment the Mutalisks’ DPS, which benefit particularly from armor reductions. This can be particularly useful against objectives such as Trains.



6.67 (10.00 vs massive) DPS



A flying spellcaster with unparalleled crowd control abilities. The Viper provides both target isolation and nullification of enemy ground forces. Its Disabling Cloud ability (75 energy, 10s duration) renders affected enemies incapable of any retaliation by disabling both their autoattack and spellcasting ability as well as slowing them by 50%, thus allowing your army to trample even the most heavily defended bases with impunity. Its Abduct (25 energy) can be used to single out high priority targets to be focus-fired, dragged into Toxic Nests, or simply stunned. The nature of their abilities and high resource costs mean that you rarely need to morph more than two Vipers in a standard game. Skilled use of these units can render your army invincible, but strategies involving them are not the swiftest road to victory. However, they can be critical to success in mutations.



A typical base push with two Vipers supporting your army will involve casting several Disabling Clouds to cover enemy static defenses, as well as anywhere enemy units clump up. This is followed up by using Abduct on high-priority backline units such as Carriers or Siege Tanks, placing them in the midst of your army. This will render all enemy forces either harmless or dead within moments of engagement.



The Viper’s third ability, Parasitic Bomb (125 energy), deals 90 damage over 10s to an air target and any other nearby air units. This damage stacks, and can be significant if several casts are comboed such as by using Consume.



Vipers can cast Consumption (10s cooldown) on your own units to replenish lost energy. This converts up to 75 HP from the target into 150 energy for the Viper, but the Viper will never drain more energy than it needs. Consumption is best used on backline units with readily available access to healing, such as Overlords, Swarm Queens and Guardians. Ultimate Evolutions are untargetable by Consumption. Damage dealt by Consumption can kill the target.



The Virulent Microbes upgrade adds +4 range to all Viper abilities, allowing Vipers to use their abilities at a greater stand-off range. It is recommended that you research this low-cost upgrade (50 minerals, 50 gas) as soon as possible to enhance their survivability. Conversely, Paralytic Barbs, which increases the Abduct stun duration from 1s to 6s, can be skipped due to abducted targets dying within seconds anyway.

A flying spellcaster with unparalleled crowd control abilities. The Viper provides both target isolation and nullification of enemy ground forces. Its Disabling Cloud ability (75 energy, 10s duration) renders affected enemies incapable of any retaliation by disabling both their autoattack and spellcasting ability as well as slowing them by 50%, thus allowing your army to trample even the most heavily defended bases with impunity. Its Abduct (25 energy) can be used to single out high priority targets to be focus-fired, dragged into Toxic Nests, or simply stunned. The nature of their abilities and high resource costs mean that you rarely need to morph more than two Vipers in a standard game. Skilled use of these units can render your army invincible, but strategies involving them are not the swiftest road to victory. However, they can be critical to success in mutations.A typical base push with two Vipers supporting your army will involve casting several Disabling Clouds to cover enemy static defenses, as well as anywhere enemy units clump up. This is followed up by using Abduct on high-priority backline units such as Carriers or Siege Tanks, placing them in the midst of your army. This will render all enemy forces either harmless or dead within moments of engagement.The Viper’s third ability, Parasitic Bomb (125 energy), deals 90 damage over 10s to an air target and any other nearby air units. This damage stacks, and can be significant if several casts are comboed such as by using Consume.Vipers can cast Consumption (10s cooldown) on your own units to replenish lost energy. This converts up to 75 HP from the target into 150 energy for the Viper, but the Viper will never drain more energy than it needs. Consumption is best used on backline units with readily available access to healing, such as Overlords, Swarm Queens and Guardians. Ultimate Evolutions are untargetable by Consumption. Damage dealt by Consumption can kill the target.The Virulent Microbes upgrade adds +4 range to all Viper abilities, allowing Vipers to use their abilities at a greater stand-off range. It is recommended that you research this low-cost upgrade (50 minerals, 50 gas) as soon as possible to enhance their survivability. Conversely, Paralytic Barbs, which increases the Abduct stun duration from 1s to 6s, can be skipped due to abducted targets dying within seconds anyway.



The standard Zerg detection unit, morphed from an Overlord. Can be upgraded to increase its movement speed, but this upgrade can be omitted unless you are facing a composition with invisible units. Group one to two Overseers with your Vipers and have these vulnerable units follow a high-HP air unit, such as a Leviathan or Guardian. Oversight mode provides 50% additional sight radius at the expense of mobility. The standard Zerg detection unit, morphed from an Overlord. Can be upgraded to increase its movement speed, but this upgrade can be omitted unless you are facing a composition with invisible units. Group one to two Overseers with your Vipers and have these vulnerable units follow a high-HP air unit, such as a Leviathan or Guardian. Oversight mode provides 50% additional sight radius at the expense of mobility.



13.51 (16.22 vs armored) DPS



The basic Zerg anti-ground defensive structure. Spine Crawlers are your most efficient means of breaking expansion Rocks at the start of the game and can be relocated to assault early objectives after this job is done. Both Mend and Swarm Queens can be used to heal these structures, so do not be afraid to use an early Mend to keep them alive when threatened. You can also Uproot a heavily-wounded Spine Crawler and move it out of harm's way. As Abathur is likely to build up a bank of excess minerals, morphing defensive structures at strategic choke points can be a good way of spending these spare resources. The basic Zerg anti-ground defensive structure. Spine Crawlers are your most efficient means of breaking expansion Rocks at the start of the game and can be relocated to assault early objectives after this job is done. Both Mend and Swarm Queens can be used to heal these structures, so do not be afraid to use an early Mend to keep them alive when threatened. You can also Uproot a heavily-wounded Spine Crawler and move it out of harm's way. As Abathur is likely to build up a bank of excess minerals, morphing defensive structures at strategic choke points can be a good way of spending these spare resources.



17.44 DPS



The anti-air variant of the Spine Crawler, coming with higher DPS and a lower resource cost. As such, it is more cost-effective to use Spore Crawlers against air-targetable objectives with high HP, such as Void Shards on Rifts to Korhal. Also, it can be useful to add some Spore Crawlers to your defense, as the combination of a few Spine Crawlers and Toxic Nests already decimates ground units. More importantly, uprooted Spore Crawlers are your best way of kiting enemy units into your Toxic Nests during the early game—just be sure that the Spore Crawler has enough creep to move around on. The anti-air variant of the Spine Crawler, coming with higher DPS and a lower resource cost. As such, it is more cost-effective to use Spore Crawlers against air-targetable objectives with high HP, such as Void Shards on Rifts to Korhal. Also, it can be useful to add some Spore Crawlers to your defense, as the combination of a few Spine Crawlers and Toxic Nests already decimates ground units. More importantly, uprooted Spore Crawlers are your best way of kiting enemy units into your Toxic Nests during the early game—just be sure that the Spore Crawler has enough creep to move around on.