Co-op Commander Guide: Zeratul Text by TL.net ESPORTS Graphics by Kat











Overview - Army Compositions - General Tips - Build Orders - Masteries - Collecting Artifacts - Commander Synergies - Map-Specific Tips - Replays

Overview

Zeratul, Dark Prelate of the Nerazim, leads an elite force of Protoss warriors enhanced with Xel’Naga technology. Zeratul takes to the field as a cloaked hero unit, and must use his Prophetic Vision throughout the game to search for Xel’Naga Artifact Fragments. Each Artifact Fragment collected by Zeratul unlocks powerful topbar abilities and upgrades for his army. Unlike other commanders, Zeratul is able to customize his top bar abilities, progressively choosing each as he collects more Artifact Fragments. This flexibility, coupled with his expensive but durable army, allows Zeratul to tackle almost any situation head-on and walk away unscathed.



Zeratul, Dark Prelate of the Nerazim, leads an elite force of Protoss warriors enhanced with Xel’Naga technology. Zeratul takes to the field as a cloaked hero unit, and must use his Prophetic Vision throughout the game to search for Xel’Naga Artifact Fragments. Each Artifact Fragment collected by Zeratul unlocks powerful topbar abilities and upgrades for his army. Unlike other commanders, Zeratul is able to customize his top bar abilities, progressively choosing each as he collects more Artifact Fragments. This flexibility, coupled with his expensive but durable army, allows Zeratul to tackle almost any situation head-on and walk away unscathed. Strengths

Simplified Macro: Zeratul can expand before the 2:00 mark with the Zoraya Legion on most maps. He also has access to free, automated Ancient Assimilators, leading to extremely fast two-base saturation. In addition, Zeratul gets free, instant upgrades by collecting Xel’Naga Artifact Fragments. Since he gains access to all upgrades for free, Zeratul can mix and match any unit types to best counter the enemy. The ease of managing Zeratul’s macro allows him to better focus on advancing through the map and searching for Artifact Fragments.



Adaptable Top Bar: Zeratul’s top bar abilities can be selected to fit the needs of the mission, letting you both choose your intended playstyle and select countermeasures to important threats. Between the short cooldown of Zeratul’s Legendary Legions and the longer cooldown but greater impact of his Artifact calldowns, Zeratul always has an answer to any enemy that might threaten him.



Global Map Presence: Zeratul’s Void Arrays offer his army nearly unlimited mobility around the map, as he can redeploy his entire army between attack and defense almost instantly. His Watchers can provide vision of all critical areas on each map when deployed, enabling him to project Tesseract Cannons and Monoliths to assault enemy bases or intercept attack waves at his leisure. Zeratul himself can summon his Void Seeker to move to any spot anywhere on the map, even without vision. While this requires some planning and map knowledge, the rewards are great.



Weaknesses

Dependance on Artifact Fragments: Much of Zeratul’s power as a commander comes from collecting Artifact Fragments. Many of his units are at a disadvantage until sufficient Artifact Fragments have been collected. If Zeratul falls behind on collecting Artifact Fragments and is forced to engage the enemy with his army, he may suffer considerable losses. Since each successive Artifact Fragment is timegated based on when you last collected one, it is crucial that you do so immediately, as you will otherwise fall behind.















Suggested Unit Compositions

Zeratul has a variety of playstyles available. Since Zeratul doesn’t need to research upgrades for his units, he can mix and match unit types freely. For any of Zeratul’s unit compositions except Mass Tesseract Cannon, you will want 2-4 Void Arrays to provide mobility, as well as a few Watchers for both map vision and detection.





Universal Damage - Ambusher/Shieldguard (+ Void Templar or Enforcer)

This is Zeratul’s best composition for dealing damage quickly. Ambushers with a few Shieldguards form the core of your army, and in some situations can be the entirety of your army. The focus of this build lies in taking advantage of the Ambusher’s powerful weapon damage and on using its Blink to both deal damage and avoid it.

You can add a few Void Templar for ground splash damage if needed. Abrogators are an alternate choice to Void Templar if you are not confident in your micro or prefer an “a-move” army.

Enforcers can be added when facing primarily air enemies. However, most air units will be covered by Ambushers already.





Riskless Projection - Mass Tesseract Cannon (+ Shieldguard)

This is a very safe and consistent style for Zeratul, if a little slow. Since Zeratul is able to project his Tesseract Cannons around the map after collecting his second Artifact Fragment, this composition allows for rock-solid defense at home while providing a disposable “army” that can be deployed anywhere on the map—which is particularly useful for many mutations. It also allows you to bypass enemy encampments and move instantly across the map by using vision provided by Watchers, enabling special strategies such as reverse-clearing Scythe of Amon. You should choose the Tesseract Matrix passive ability with this playstyle.

Shieldguards are helpful as a support unit for your Tesseract Cannons at home. Keep a few near your Cannons to replenish their shields quickly between engagements.





Slow but Indomitable - Enforcer + Shieldguard + Abrogator

This composition consists mainly of Enforcers with a few Shieldguards for sustain and optionally a few Abrogators for ground splash damage. This composition has less damage output and takes a while to build up, but is very durable, particularly once the third Artifact Fragment is collected. Once fully assembled, this army can “a-move” to victory with few losses, especially when supported by calldowns. A good option for some mutations, but otherwise generally outclassed by other builds.

While this comp isn’t great at pushing into enemy bases due to its lower single target damage and poor mobility, the area damage, range, and survivability it provides can be good for defensive maps like Void Launch.





Void Fury - Mass Void Templar (+ Tesseract Cannon)

With Void Templar, Zeratul is able to eviscerate ground armies and structures with ease. When massing Void Templar, the second Artifact Fragment is critical, giving you access to both the Void Templar’s Void Fury and the top bar passive Void Blink, enabling your Void Templar to blink every four seconds, slicing through groups of enemies for massive damage. This strategy is particularly powerful on Dead of Night, but is also effective on any map when faced with heavy ground enemy compositions.

As you start floating minerals, warp in Tesseract Cannons to support your Void Templar out in the field with detection and anti-air. Zeratul has a variety of playstyles available. Since Zeratul doesn’t need to research upgrades for his units, he can mix and match unit types freely. For any of Zeratul’s unit compositions except Mass Tesseract Cannon, you will want 2-4 Void Arrays to provide mobility, as well as a few Watchers for both map vision and detection.This is Zeratul’s best composition for dealing damage quickly. Ambushers with a few Shieldguards form the core of your army, and in some situations can be the entirety of your army. The focus of this build lies in taking advantage of the Ambusher’s powerful weapon damage and on using its Blink to both deal damage and avoid it.You can add a few Void Templar for ground splash damage if needed. Abrogators are an alternate choice to Void Templar if you are not confident in your micro or prefer an “a-move” army.Enforcers can be added when facing primarily air enemies. However, most air units will be covered by Ambushers already.This is a very safe and consistent style for Zeratul, if a little slow. Since Zeratul is able to project his Tesseract Cannons around the map after collecting his second Artifact Fragment, this composition allows for rock-solid defense at home while providing a disposable “army” that can be deployed anywhere on the map—which is particularly useful for many mutations. It also allows you to bypass enemy encampments and move instantly across the map by using vision provided by Watchers, enabling special strategies such as reverse-clearing Scythe of Amon. You should choose the Tesseract Matrix passive ability with this playstyle.Shieldguards are helpful as a support unit for your Tesseract Cannons at home. Keep a few near your Cannons to replenish their shields quickly between engagements.This composition consists mainly of Enforcers with a few Shieldguards for sustain and optionally a few Abrogators for ground splash damage. This composition has less damage output and takes a while to build up, but is very durable, particularly once the third Artifact Fragment is collected. Once fully assembled, this army can “a-move” to victory with few losses, especially when supported by calldowns. A good option for some mutations, but otherwise generally outclassed by other builds.While this comp isn’t great at pushing into enemy bases due to its lower single target damage and poor mobility, the area damage, range, and survivability it provides can be good for defensive maps like Void Launch.With Void Templar, Zeratul is able to eviscerate ground armies and structures with ease. When massing Void Templar, the second Artifact Fragment is critical, giving you access to both the Void Templar’s Void Fury and the top bar passive Void Blink, enabling your Void Templar to blink every four seconds, slicing through groups of enemies for massive damage. This strategy is particularly powerful on Dead of Night, but is also effective on any map when faced with heavy ground enemy compositions.As you start floating minerals, warp in Tesseract Cannons to support your Void Templar out in the field with detection and anti-air.















General Tips Finding Artifact Fragments quickly is critical to Zeratul’s success. Strive to do so swiftly, and learn the quirks and landmarks of each playable map to optimize your speed. Refer to the Collecting Artifact Fragments section below.



In order to receive Zeratul’s free unit upgrades, you must own the associated tech structure. These include the Core Forge, the Constructs Bay, and the Void Shrine. Should the tech structure be destroyed, your units lose their respective upgrades. It can be easy to forget about warping in the Constructs Bay, as it is not a prerequisite for Watchers, Enforcers, or Void Arrays.



When using Void Arrays, place one at home and rally your production structures to it. Keep the other one with your army, and optionally place two more around the map at strategic locations. Some maps may require more or less Void Arrays than others. Void Arrays are cheap and more than repay their value by giving your army global map presence—better to make too many than too few.



Even if you’re not going for a Tesseract Cannon build, they still make a great mineral dump in the mid-to-late game. It can be useful to build 6-10 in the mid-game to supplement your army. Project a few Cannons in to clean up a base after you destroy the defenses, or use them to intercept an attack wave.



Once you have secured all three Artifact Fragments, you can deploy a few Watchers around the map. Their upgraded vision radius when deployed is extensive, so a few Watchers can provide vision of nearly the entire map. This can be especially helpful when using a mass Cannon build, letting you choose the angle from which you attack.



Make active use of Zeratul to destroy small enemy encampments. In the early game, you can often destroy any detectors outright, leaving the remaining defenders helpless.



Zeratul’s Shadow Cleave ability can be used while moving, and even during Prophetic Vision. Combined with his Blink, it is a powerful tool that can be used to decimate groups of weaker enemies.



Any of your units can pick up Artifact Fragments, not just Zeratul. It is worth sacrificing anything in order to retrieve a hard-to-get Artifact Fragment, so don’t be shy about sacrificing Zeratul if it will gain you an Artifact Fragment. Try to avoid letting Zeratul die when Prophetic Vision is about to become available, or if you haven’t yet located an active Artifact Fragment. It takes Zeratul 60 seconds to revive, and you’ll be unable to find subsequent Artifact Fragments while he is in stasis, which can seriously set you back.



Micro your units during combat to prevent them from dying. As expensive elites, Zeratul’s units benefit greatly from relying on innate Protoss shield regeneration to rotate and spread out damage among different targets, and Enforcers can fully heal themselves at three Artifact Fragments every 60 seconds.



Unlike classical Protoss structures, Zeratul’s structures don’t need Pylon power to be warped in. This is primarily handy for Tesseract Cannons. A minor benefit can also be gained on certain maps with contested expansions, where you may wish to warp in your production structures at the expansion in order to be better able to defend that base going forward via the Void Array you will have nearby, without having to purchase another set of Void Arrays.

















Calldowns

Uniquely among all commanders, Zeratul is able to customize his top bar powers. Each selection will be permanent for the rest of the mission. Zeratul starts the game with Tier 1 available, and each subsequent Tier become available as he collects Artifact Fragments.



Tier 1: Legendary Legions

Available from the start of the game, Zeratul’s Legendary Legions cost 500 minerals to summon (down to 350 with mastery). With a cooldown of only 120 seconds, they can be an invaluable addition to his army, enabling him to overcome tougher challenges without having to suffer army losses. They can be used both defensively and offensively, and are often used to expand early on in the game. Legendary Legions can’t be controlled directly, but they can be ordered to attack-move in any direction via the top bar. Legendary Legions take 2 seconds to warp in and last for 60 seconds.



Telbrus: 19.20 DPS

Zealot: 13.33 DPS



Summons Telbrus and a squadron of 6-10 Zealots, depending on Artifact Fragments owned.



Telbrus starts with 80 health & shields and 300 energy, and gains an additional 100 shields and energy for each Artifact Fragment collected. He comes with an enhanced Psionic Storm ability, dealing 112 damage in a radius of 2 over 4 seconds (3 second cooldown). At three Fragments collected, he gains the Feedback ability, draining all energy from an enemy target and causing 1 damage per point of energy (10 second cooldown).



Zealots are identical to those used by Artanis, and make use of the Whirlwind ability, dealing 10 damage per second to enemies within a radius of 1.5 for 3 seconds (10s cooldown). At three Fragments collected, they gain the Charge ability.

Telbrus Legion is the weakest choice for this row. The Legion’s effective DPS is lowered by the fact that most of it is dealt by melee-range Zealots. While they are effective against swarms of light enemies, you will rarely face any light enemies that are enough of a threat to be worth countering. Telbrus Legion is simply less versatile than the other two Legions, and is overall an inferior choice.

Summons Telbrus and a squadron of 6-10 Zealots, depending on Artifact Fragments owned.Telbrus starts with 80 health & shields and 300 energy, and gains an additional 100 shields and energy for each Artifact Fragment collected. He comes with an enhanced Psionic Storm ability, dealing 112 damage in a radius of 2 over 4 seconds (3 second cooldown). At three Fragments collected, he gains the Feedback ability, draining all energy from an enemy target and causing 1 damage per point of energy (10 second cooldown).Zealots are identical to those used by Artanis, and make use of the Whirlwind ability, dealing 10 damage per second to enemies within a radius of 1.5 for 3 seconds (10s cooldown). At three Fragments collected, they gain the Charge ability.Telbrus Legion is the weakest choice for this row. The Legion’s effective DPS is lowered by the fact that most of it is dealt by melee-range Zealots. While they are effective against swarms of light enemies, you will rarely face any light enemies that are enough of a threat to be worth countering. Telbrus Legion is simply less versatile than the other two Legions, and is overall an inferior choice.

Zoraya: 18.00 (30.00 vs armored) DPS (initial)

Zoraya: 58.00 (96.00 vs armored) DPS (sustained)

Void Ray: 12.00 (20.00 vs armored) DPS (initial)

Void Ray: 12.00 (32.00 vs armored) DPS (sustained)



Summons Zoraya and a squadron of 4-6 Void Rays, depending on Artifact Fragments owned.



Zoraya starts with 300 health and 200 shields, and gains another 100 shields for each Artifact Fragment owned. Zoraya’s Prismatic Beam gains massive benefit from ramping up, increasing her damage even against non-armored enemies.



Zoraya’s range is 8, compared to the 6 of her comrades, so she will often end up at the rear of the Legion. Make sure to protect her.



Void Rays are identical to those used by Vorazun. With all Artifact Fragments found, both Zoraya and her Void Rays gain Prismatic Range, increasing their weapon range by up to 3 as their weapons charge up.



This is the safest all-round choice among the Legendary Legions. As detailed in the Build Order section, the Zoraya Legion can help you expand very quickly. Furthermore, the Legion provides a high level of damage output at range and should be used frequently throughout the game to help you push into enemy bases or defeat a difficult attack wave without taking losses of your own.



When facing a smaller enemy attack wave, the Legion may be able to defeat it alone. However, against a powerful enemy army, don’t use the Legion as a throwaway—Void Rays are not good tanks, and if they die quickly, you will lose much of the timed DPS that you purchased. Use the Legion either with your army or with another calldown to decisively win the battle, while avoiding losses of your own. Summons Zoraya and a squadron of 4-6 Void Rays, depending on Artifact Fragments owned.Zoraya starts with 300 health and 200 shields, and gains another 100 shields for each Artifact Fragment owned. Zoraya’s Prismatic Beam gains massive benefit from ramping up, increasing her damage even against non-armored enemies.Zoraya’s range is 8, compared to the 6 of her comrades, so she will often end up at the rear of the Legion. Make sure to protect her.Void Rays are identical to those used by Vorazun. With all Artifact Fragments found, both Zoraya and her Void Rays gain Prismatic Range, increasing their weapon range by up to 3 as their weapons charge up.This is the safest all-round choice among the Legendary Legions. As detailed in thesection, the Zoraya Legion can help you expand very quickly. Furthermore, the Legion provides a high level of damage output at range and should be used frequently throughout the game to help you push into enemy bases or defeat a difficult attack wave without taking losses of your own.When facing a smaller enemy attack wave, the Legion may be able to defeat it alone. However, against a powerful enemy army, don’t use the Legion as a throwaway—Void Rays are not good tanks, and if they die quickly, you will lose much of the timed DPS that you purchased. Use the Legion either with your army or with another calldown to decisively win the battle, while avoiding losses of your own.

Serdath: 15.42 DPS in a radius of 1

Dark Archon: 10.28 DPS in a radius of 1



Summons Serdath and a squadron of 3-5 Dark Archons, depending on Artifact Fragments owned.



Serdath possesses 50 health, 400 shields, and 300 energy, and gains another 100 shields and energy for each Artifact Fragment owned. This allows Serdath to continue using his abilities throughout his duration, but he must be kept alive in order to do so, as both of them have a cooldown of 15.



Serdath and his Dark Archons come with the Mind Control ability, enabling them to control one enemy. They will target any enemy unit that is 3 supply or greater, and the mind-controlled unit will self-destruct after 120 seconds. Dark Archons only have enough energy to Mind Control one target, while Serdath can manage two to three. The Steadfast Reinforcements passive will not allow Dark Archons to regenerate enough energy to cast Mind Control a second time.



Dark Archons are similar to those used by Vorazun, but do not have Confusion. Instead, with all Artifact Fragments found, Serdath and his Dark Archons gain the Maelstrom ability, which stuns enemies within a radius of 2 for 3 seconds.



Even without accounting for Mind Control or Maelstrom, Serdath Legion is by far the most durable Legion, standing at a combined hitpoint total of 1530 to the Telbrus’ 1060 without any Artifact Fragments. Serdath Legion is perfect for throwing right on top of a group of enemies to draw fire away from your army, and can completely disarm even powerful enemy armies.



Serdath Legion is the best choice for longer maps and difficult mutations, where turning high tech enemies against each other is a better option than merely dealing damage to them. However, many maps with contested expansions practically require Zoraya Legion for a speedy expansion.



Don’t use Serdath Legion to expand—if you choose Serdath Legion, open with the Ambusher Expand, as seen under the Build Orders section. One exception to this rule is on Miner Evacuation, where Serdath Legion can successfully claim the expansion with one cast, while Zoraya cannot. Refer to the Map-Specific Tips section for more information. Summons Serdath and a squadron of 3-5 Dark Archons, depending on Artifact Fragments owned.Serdath possesses 50 health, 400 shields, and 300 energy, and gains another 100 shields and energy for each Artifact Fragment owned. This allows Serdath to continue using his abilities throughout his duration, but he must be kept alive in order to do so, as both of them have a cooldown of 15.Serdath and his Dark Archons come with the Mind Control ability, enabling them to control one enemy. They will target any enemy unit that is 3 supply or greater, and the mind-controlled unit will self-destruct after 120 seconds. Dark Archons only have enough energy to Mind Control one target, while Serdath can manage two to three. The Steadfast Reinforcements passive will not allow Dark Archons to regenerate enough energy to cast Mind Control a second time.Dark Archons are similar to those used by Vorazun, but do not have Confusion. Instead, with all Artifact Fragments found, Serdath and his Dark Archons gain the Maelstrom ability, which stuns enemies within a radius of 2 for 3 seconds.Even without accounting for Mind Control or Maelstrom, Serdath Legion is by far the most durable Legion, standing at a combined hitpoint total of 1530 to the Telbrus’ 1060 without any Artifact Fragments. Serdath Legion is perfect for throwing right on top of a group of enemies to draw fire away from your army, and can completely disarm even powerful enemy armies.Serdath Legion is the best choice for longer maps and difficult mutations, where turning high tech enemies against each other is a better option than merely dealing damage to them. However, many maps with contested expansions practically require Zoraya Legion for a speedy expansion.Don’t use Serdath Legion to expand—if you choose Serdath Legion, open with the Ambusher Expand, as seen under thesection. One exception to this rule is on Miner Evacuation, where Serdath Legion can successfully claim the expansion with one cast, while Zoraya cannot. Refer to thesection for more information.

Tier 2: Crowd Control

Available after Zeratul retrieves the first Artifact Fragment, Zeratul’s Tier 2 top-bar abilities enable him to control the battlefield in different ways. Each ability has a cooldown of 180 seconds (down to 150 with mastery).



The Stasis Beam fires from the Artifact Reserve in a straight line with a width of 4 across the entire map. Any enemy unit caught in its path will be put into stasis for 15 seconds. Units in stasis can’t move or attack, but are impervious to all harm.



While a stasis field can be useful for cutting an attack wave in half, the lengthy cooldown and finicky targeting of the ability leaves a lot to be desired. It is generally less impactful and versatile than the other abilities and is not recommended.

The Stasis Beam fires from the Artifact Reserve in a straight line with a width of 4 across the entire map. Any enemy unit caught in its path will be put into stasis for 15 seconds. Units in stasis can’t move or attack, but are impervious to all harm.While a stasis field can be useful for cutting an attack wave in half, the lengthy cooldown and finicky targeting of the ability leaves a lot to be desired. It is generally less impactful and versatile than the other abilities and is not recommended.

3.33 DPS to targets within a radius of 3



Deploys a Tesseract Monolith anywhere with vision. Stores up to three charges and initially comes with two Monoliths available for placement when you collect the first Artifact Fragment.



Monoliths are permanent. Each Monolith has 200 health and 200 shields and have access to the same abilities as the Tesseract Cannon. Tesseract Monoliths are detectors.



The Monolith attacks every three seconds with a Staggering Blast, which stuns enemies in an area of effect for 1 second. Although its damage output is low, the stun is an effective method of crowd control. With a range of 13, a nearby Monolith can enable your units or Cannons to destroy the enemy with minimal damage taken.



The Shade Projection ability, which is unlocked with the second Fragment, allows a Monolith to project itself to a target location, transferring its weapon and current shield value and disabling the origin structure for the duration. Projections take 5 seconds to come online and last for 60 seconds. Once the Projection is destroyed or manually cancelled, the Shade Projection ability will start a 60 second cooldown.



The Shade Barrier ability, which is unlocked with the third Fragment, autocasts when the Monolith takes damage, causing it to absorb up to 100 damage. The barrier lasts for 10 seconds, and has a cooldown of 60 seconds.



Tesseract Monoliths are an excellent choice for missions where you need to defend a smaller area, such as Dead of Night or Miner Evacuation. They will often be your preferred option if you are playing a Cannon build.

Deploys a Tesseract Monolith anywhere with vision. Stores up to three charges and initially comes with two Monoliths available for placement when you collect the first Artifact Fragment.Monoliths are permanent. Each Monolith has 200 health and 200 shields and have access to the same abilities as the Tesseract Cannon. Tesseract Monoliths are detectors.The Monolith attacks every three seconds with a Staggering Blast, which stuns enemies in an area of effect for 1 second. Although its damage output is low, the stun is an effective method of crowd control. With a range of 13, a nearby Monolith can enable your units or Cannons to destroy the enemy with minimal damage taken.The Shade Projection ability, which is unlocked with the second Fragment, allows a Monolith to project itself to a target location, transferring its weapon and current shield value and disabling the origin structure for the duration. Projections take 5 seconds to come online and last for 60 seconds. Once the Projection is destroyed or manually cancelled, the Shade Projection ability will start a 60 second cooldown.The Shade Barrier ability, which is unlocked with the third Fragment, autocasts when the Monolith takes damage, causing it to absorb up to 100 damage. The barrier lasts for 10 seconds, and has a cooldown of 60 seconds.Tesseract Monoliths are an excellent choice for missions where you need to defend a smaller area, such as Dead of Night or Miner Evacuation. They will often be your preferred option if you are playing a Cannon build.

Summons an invulnerable Void Suppression Crystal that slows the movement and attack speed of enemy units within a radius of 10 by 70% and disables enemy structures. The Void Suppression Crystal is controllable and lasts for 30 seconds. If left uncontrolled, the Void Suppression Crystal will automatically seek out nearby enemy units.



The Void Suppression Crystal is excellent for breaking into enemy bases, as it renders both static defenses and enemies in a larger area harmless. Use it for maps where you need to push against a fortified enemy base, such as on Chain of Ascension or Scythe of Amon. It is particularly potent if you can time it to both hit an incoming attack wave and be used to subsequently push into a nearby base.



The sheer value that the Void Suppression Crystal offers makes it generally the best all-around choice. This is only all the more true in mutations, where Tesseract Monoliths are at a greater risk of being destroyed by the enemy.

Summons an invulnerable Void Suppression Crystal that slows the movement and attack speed of enemy units within a radius of 10 by 70% and disables enemy structures. The Void Suppression Crystal is controllable and lasts for 30 seconds. If left uncontrolled, the Void Suppression Crystal will automatically seek out nearby enemy units.The Void Suppression Crystal is excellent for breaking into enemy bases, as it renders both static defenses and enemies in a larger area harmless. Use it for maps where you need to push against a fortified enemy base, such as on Chain of Ascension or Scythe of Amon. It is particularly potent if you can time it to both hit an incoming attack wave and be used to subsequently push into a nearby base.The sheer value that the Void Suppression Crystal offers makes it generally the best all-around choice. This is only all the more true in mutations, where Tesseract Monoliths are at a greater risk of being destroyed by the enemy.

Tier 3: Passive Enhancements

Available after Zeratul retrieves the second Artifact Fragment, Zeratul’s Tier 3 top-bar choice grants him one out of three passive enhancements that are each an enabler for certain playstyles.



Increase the duration of Zeratul’s Legion and Avatar calldowns by 50%, raising their duration to 90 seconds.



In order to gain any benefit from this passive, you will want to protect your calldowns and move them with your army rather than simply throwing them away to trade with the enemy. As Serdath rapidly runs out of energy, and Telbrus charges forward to die, this makes Zoraya the best combination with this passive, letting you fight alongside Zoraya near-constantly. The ability is wasted if they die before the normal 60-second timer.



Note also how Steadfast Reinforcements interact with Avatars. If you’re choosing the Avatar of Form, you’re probably doing so with the intent of having it fight an enemy on its own, which will often result in the Avatar’s death before its duration expires. Conversely, the Avatar of Essence should always last for its full duration, and will keep its full buff active on your troops for an additional 30 seconds, which is huge.



A good default choice unless you are planning to build mainly Tesseract Cannons or Void Templar.

Increase the duration of Zeratul’s Legion and Avatar calldowns by 50%, raising their duration to 90 seconds.In order to gain any benefit from this passive, you will want to protect your calldowns and move them with your army rather than simply throwing them away to trade with the enemy. As Serdath rapidly runs out of energy, and Telbrus charges forward to die, this makes Zoraya the best combination with this passive, letting you fight alongside Zoraya near-constantly. The ability is wasted if they die before the normal 60-second timer.Note also how Steadfast Reinforcements interact with Avatars. If you’re choosing the Avatar of Form, you’re probably doing so with the intent of having it fight an enemy on its own, which will often result in the Avatar’s death before its duration expires. Conversely, the Avatar of Essence should always last for its full duration, and will keep its full buff active on your troops for an additional 30 seconds, which is huge.A good default choice unless you are planning to build mainly Tesseract Cannons or Void Templar.

Decreases the cooldown of Shade Projection by 50%, from 60 to 30 seconds. Increases the damage absorbed by Shade Barrier by 100%, from 100 to 200 damage.



Applies to both Tesseract Cannons and Tesseract Monoliths. It is your passive of choice if you are running a Mass Cannon build, letting each Cannon get back into the fight that much sooner and enabling each of them to last longer.

The cooldown of Shade Barrier is not reset when a new projection is summoned.



Make sure to manually cancel any projections that aren’t fighting anything in order to reposition them sooner.



Note that the shields that Cannon and Monolith projections are summoned with are taken directly from the projecting structure, and return that value to it once the projection is destroyed or expires. When using this passive, your Cannons will need Shieldguards to restore their lost shields if you want them to be in fighting shape for the next wave of projections.

Decreases the cooldown of Shade Projection by 50%, from 60 to 30 seconds. Increases the damage absorbed by Shade Barrier by 100%, from 100 to 200 damage.Applies to both Tesseract Cannons and Tesseract Monoliths. It is your passive of choice if you are running a Mass Cannon build, letting each Cannon get back into the fight that much sooner and enabling each of them to last longer.The cooldown of Shade Barrier is not reset when a new projection is summoned.Make sure to manually cancel any projections that aren’t fighting anything in order to reposition them sooner.Note that the shields that Cannon and Monolith projections are summoned with are taken directly from the projecting structure, and return that value to it once the projection is destroyed or expires. When using this passive, your Cannons will need Shieldguards to restore their lost shields if you want them to be in fighting shape for the next wave of projections.

Reduces the cooldown of Zeratul and his units’ Blink abilities by 50%.



While nice to have for Zeratul, the real benefit of this passive lies with Void Templar, whose Void Fury ability allows them to deal high amounts of area damage each time they Blink. You should opt for this passive only when you are specifically planning to use Void Templar. In a situation where Void Templar are ideal, Void Blink can be incredibly powerful.



Although it seems like a great benefit for Ambushers, their Vengeance of the Void ability has an internal cooldown of 8 seconds, which is unaffected by the passive. Even so, it increases their mobility when microed.



Can also be a good situational choice if you simply want to micro Zeratul more, providing him amazing mobility.

Reduces the cooldown of Zeratul and his units’ Blink abilities by 50%.While nice to have for Zeratul, the real benefit of this passive lies with Void Templar, whose Void Fury ability allows them to deal high amounts of area damage each time they Blink. You should opt for this passive only when you are specifically planning to use Void Templar. In a situation where Void Templar are ideal, Void Blink can be incredibly powerful.Although it seems like a great benefit for Ambushers, their Vengeance of the Void ability has an internal cooldown of 8 seconds, which is unaffected by the passive. Even so, it increases their mobility when microed.Can also be a good situational choice if you simply want to micro Zeratul more, providing him amazing mobility.

Tier 4: Avatars

Available after Zeratul retrieves the third Artifact Fragment, Zeratul’s Tier 4 top-bar abilities enable him to summon a powerful Xel’Naga Construct to the battlefield. Both Avatars have a cooldown of 300 seconds (down to 240 with mastery), last for 60 seconds, and have 2,800 HP.



20.00 DPS

Xel’Naga Charged Crystal: 8.00 DPS



Summon Charged Crystals: Marks a target area on the ground. After 2 seconds, the Avatar of Form deals 100 damage and summons 10 Xel’Naga Charged Crystals at the target location. Charged Crystals have 100 health and have a 10% chance to cast a miniature Psionic Storm with each attack, dealing 40 damage to enemy units in a radius of 0.75 over 4 seconds. They last for 60 seconds (90 with Steadfast Reinforcements). 30 second cooldown.



Psionic Gale: Deals 160 damage over 4 seconds to all enemy units in a radius of 2.3. 10 second cooldown.



Psionic Blast: Deals 500 damage to a target unit after charging up for 3 seconds. 10 second cooldown.



Although all of the above abilities are on autocast by default, you may want to take them off of autocast if you can spare the attention, so that you can manually target them where they will do the most damage.



The Avatar of Form is generally less powerful than the Avatar of Essence, but it can be a decent choice if all you want is a calldown that can act independently from your main army. However, if you are skilled at using Void Arrays, you shouldn’t ever need to.

Marks a target area on the ground. After 2 seconds, the Avatar of Form deals 100 damage and summons 10 Xel’Naga Charged Crystals at the target location. Charged Crystals have 100 health and have a 10% chance to cast a miniature Psionic Storm with each attack, dealing 40 damage to enemy units in a radius of 0.75 over 4 seconds. They last for 60 seconds (90 with Steadfast Reinforcements). 30 second cooldown.Deals 160 damage over 4 seconds to all enemy units in a radius of 2.3. 10 second cooldown.Deals 500 damage to a target unit after charging up for 3 seconds. 10 second cooldown.Although all of the above abilities are on autocast by default, you may want to take them off of autocast if you can spare the attention, so that you can manually target them where they will do the most damage.The Avatar of Form is generally less powerful than the Avatar of Essence, but it can be a decent choice if all you want is a calldown that can act independently from your main army. However, if you are skilled at using Void Arrays, you shouldn’t ever need to.

20.00 DPS



Devolution Wave: Transforms all non-heroic enemy units within a radius of 10 around the Avatar of Essence into a lower evolutionary form. 20 second cooldown.



Evolution Aura: Friendly units within a radius of 10 of the Avatar of Essence will continuously evolve, gaining attack speed and damage reduction. Every 15 seconds, affected units will receive a buff that increases attack speed by roughly 25% and damage reduction by roughly 15%, up to a maximum of 4 stacks, for a benefit of 100% and 60%, respectively. If a unit with one or more stacks of this buff are not within range of the Avatar of Essence for 15 seconds, one stack of the buff is lost.



Devolution Wave effectively functions in a similar fashion to Transmutation, degrading each affected unit into a lower tech tier according to



Evolution Aura can turn any army into an unstoppable force. It takes a while for the buff to ramp up, so you should plan when to summon the Avatar ahead of time, as you’ll only be at the full 4 stacks for a brief time. A fully evolved endgame army is one of the single most powerful effects you can achieve in all of Co-op, making the Steadfast Reinforcements passive particularly worthwhile to extend the duration you are at full stacks.

Transforms all non-heroic enemy units within a radius of 10 around the Avatar of Essence into a lower evolutionary form. 20 second cooldown.Friendly units within a radius of 10 of the Avatar of Essence will continuously evolve, gaining attack speed and damage reduction. Every 15 seconds, affected units will receive a buff that increases attack speed by roughly 25% and damage reduction by roughly 15%, up to a maximum of 4 stacks, for a benefit of 100% and 60%, respectively. If a unit with one or more stacks of this buff are not within range of the Avatar of Essence for 15 seconds, one stack of the buff is lost.Devolution Wave effectively functions in a similar fashion to Transmutation, degrading each affected unit into a lower tech tier according to this list Evolution Aura can turn any army into an unstoppable force. It takes a while for the buff to ramp up, so you should plan when to summon the Avatar ahead of time, as you’ll only be at the full 4 stacks for a brief time. A fully evolved endgame army is one of the single most powerful effects you can achieve in all of Co-op, making the Steadfast Reinforcements passive particularly worthwhile to extend the duration you are at full stacks.



Hero and Unit Overview



Zeratul

66.67 (96.15 with mastery) DPS



Zeratul is a stealthy hero who can dish out immense damage, although he is not capable of destroying large encampments by himself. The area damage of his Shadow Cleave can be combined with Blink to destroy groups of weaker enemies before vanishing into the shadows. Zeratul can destroy smaller attack waves and encampments by himself, often leaving the enemy unable to retaliate by disposing of any detection first.



In the early game, Zeratul’s most important responsibility is collecting Artifact Fragments. You should use Prophetic Vision to look for the next Fragment as soon as it becomes available. Collecting Fragments will not only strengthen your army and open up new choices for your topbar, but also start the timer towards the next Fragment. See the Collecting Artifact Fragments section below for more details.

Zeratul is a stealthy hero who can dish out immense damage, although he is not capable of destroying large encampments by himself. The area damage of his Shadow Cleave can be combined with Blink to destroy groups of weaker enemies before vanishing into the shadows. Zeratul can destroy smaller attack waves and encampments by himself, often leaving the enemy unable to retaliate by disposing of any detection first.In the early game, Zeratul’s most important responsibility is collecting Artifact Fragments. You should use Prophetic Vision to look for the next Fragment as soon as it becomes available. Collecting Fragments will not only strengthen your army and open up new choices for your topbar, but also start the timer towards the next Fragment. See thesection below for more details.

Zeratul is permanently cloaked. He becomes immune to damage for 0.5 seconds after being attacked. Cannot occur more than once every 5 seconds.



Enemies will be unable to attack Zeratul while he is invulnerable, and will ignore him entirely for the short duration. Be aware of Zeratul's temporary invulnerability—for instance, Blinking into a group of Banelings and using Shadow Cleave is more harmful to the Banelings than it is to Zeratul, but only for a brief moment.

Zeratul is permanently cloaked. He becomes immune to damage for 0.5 seconds after being attacked. Cannot occur more than once every 5 seconds.Enemies will be unable to attack Zeratul while he is invulnerable, and will ignore him entirely for the short duration. Be aware of Zeratul's temporary invulnerability—for instance, Blinking into a group of Banelings and using Shadow Cleave is more harmful to the Banelings than it is to Zeratul, but only for a brief moment.

Deals 100 damage to enemies within a range of 3. Has a cooldown of 12 seconds.



Combine it with Blink to instantly deal damage to the largest crowd of enemies within range, or walk up to them normally, use the ability, and then escape with Blink before they can retaliate.

Deals 100 damage to enemies within a range of 3. Has a cooldown of 12 seconds.Combine it with Blink to instantly deal damage to the largest crowd of enemies within range, or walk up to them normally, use the ability, and then escape with Blink before they can retaliate.

Teleports Zeratul to a location within a range of 8. Has a cooldown of 8 seconds.

Teleports Zeratul to a location within a range of 8. Has a cooldown of 8 seconds.

Transports Zeratul to a target location. Has a cooldown of 120 seconds.



This can be used to transport Zeratul anywhere on the map, even without vision. In the early game and mid game, it should be used to collect Artifact Fragments as quickly as possible. Later in the game, it can be used for the sake of its global mobility or to provide vision for Shade Projections and calldowns.

Transports Zeratul to a target location. Has a cooldown of 120 seconds.This can be used to transport Zeratul anywhere on the map, even without vision. In the early game and mid game, it should be used to collect Artifact Fragments as quickly as possible. Later in the game, it can be used for the sake of its global mobility or to provide vision for Shade Projections and calldowns.

Shows the location of or unearths a hidden Xel’Naga Artifact Fragment. Has a cooldown of 10 seconds while an Artifact Fragment is on the map, or a cooldown of 180 (120 with mastery) seconds after a Fragment has been recovered.

Shows the location of or unearths a hidden Xel’Naga Artifact Fragment. Has a cooldown of 10 seconds while an Artifact Fragment is on the map, or a cooldown of 180 (120 with mastery) seconds after a Fragment has been recovered.

Upon finding all three Artifact Fragments, Zeratul gains 100 additional shields, 25 increased Shadow Cleave damage, and can store 3 charges of Blink.

Upon finding all three Artifact Fragments, Zeratul gains 100 additional shields, 25 increased Shadow Cleave damage, and can store 3 charges of Blink.

Units and Structures

Zeratul’s units gain new abilities and upgrades as Artifact Fragments are collected. You will gain all of these upgrades over the course of a normal game, but many of them are critical to your army’s survival. Collect Fragments as quickly as possible to increase your army’s power and durability.



18.06 DPS (25.00 vs armored)



Ambushers should be the core of your army in most missions. They are all-round units with high damage but low health, and are able to deal with most types of enemy threats on their own. The Vengeance of the Void upgrade is crucial, enabling them to deal high burst damage by blinking en masse.



It is acceptable to have an army of only Ambushers, but you will often want to support them with a few Shieldguards to provide sustain. Ambushers are mineral heavy and gas light, while Shieldguards are mineral light and gas heavy, making it a cheap investment to supplement your Ambushers with.



Ambushers are only slightly more durable than regular Stalkers, while being significantly more expensive. However, their Predictive Blink ability lets them escape sustaining fatal damage by automatically Blinking them to safety when they take health damage. Despite this in-built feature, it is preferable to Blink an endangered Ambusher away before it takes damage to its health. In this way, Ambushers naturally synergize with Shieldguards and Enforcers—you can rely on the Ambusher’s shields to mitigate incoming damage, and restore it with Shieldguards, and on Enforcers ending up at the front of an army as Ambushers Blink away, letting them tank the brunt of the incoming damage for the fragile Ambushers.



Mass Blink your Ambushers away from dangerous enemies to take advantage of Vengeance of the Void. The Void Apparitions that Ambushers leave behind when Blinking have perfect targeting, have longer range than their auto attack, and will not overkill enemies with focused fire if other targets are available, making them extremely efficient at dealing a large chunk of burst damage to groups of enemies. If you’re fighting a tough enemy, simply disengage with Blink, then re-engage after 8 seconds to hit them with another barrage of ultra-efficient lasery death. Repeat as necessary to win any battle with minimal risk to your army.



First Fragment - Predictive Blink: Allows the Ambusher to teleport to a nearby target location within a range of 8. Ambushers will automatically teleport to safety once their hulls have been breached. 8 second cooldown.



Second Fragment - Vengeance of the Void: Blinking leaves behind a Void Apparition that attacks an enemy within a range of 9 once for 200% of the unit’s weapon damage. Cannot occur more than once every 8 seconds.



Third Fragment - Phase Battery: Allows Ambushers to store up to 3 charges of Predictive Blink and regain a charge every 8 seconds.

Ambushers should be the core of your army in most missions. They are all-round units with high damage but low health, and are able to deal with most types of enemy threats on their own. The Vengeance of the Void upgrade is crucial, enabling them to deal high burst damage by blinking en masse.It is acceptable to have an army of only Ambushers, but you will often want to support them with a few Shieldguards to provide sustain. Ambushers are mineral heavy and gas light, while Shieldguards are mineral light and gas heavy, making it a cheap investment to supplement your Ambushers with.Ambushers are only slightly more durable than regular Stalkers, while being significantly more expensive. However, their Predictive Blink ability lets them escape sustaining fatal damage by automatically Blinking them to safety when they take health damage. Despite this in-built feature, it is preferable to Blink an endangered Ambusher away before it takes damage to its health. In this way, Ambushers naturally synergize with Shieldguards and Enforcers—you can rely on the Ambusher’s shields to mitigate incoming damage, and restore it with Shieldguards, and on Enforcers ending up at the front of an army as Ambushers Blink away, letting them tank the brunt of the incoming damage for the fragile Ambushers.Mass Blink your Ambushers away from dangerous enemies to take advantage of Vengeance of the Void. The Void Apparitions that Ambushers leave behind when Blinking have perfect targeting, have longer range than their auto attack, and will not overkill enemies with focused fire if other targets are available, making them extremely efficient at dealing a large chunk of burst damage to groups of enemies. If you’re fighting a tough enemy, simply disengage with Blink, then re-engage after 8 seconds to hit them with another barrage of ultra-efficient lasery death. Repeat as necessary to win any battle with minimal risk to your army.Allows the Ambusher to teleport to a nearby target location within a range of 8. Ambushers will automatically teleport to safety once their hulls have been breached. 8 second cooldown.Blinking leaves behind a Void Apparition that attacks an enemy within a range of 9 once for 200% of the unit’s weapon damage. Cannot occur more than once every 8 seconds.Allows Ambushers to store up to 3 charges of Predictive Blink and regain a charge every 8 seconds.

12.00 DPS

12.00 SPS



Shieldguards are a valuable support unit in Zeratul’s army. They are able to recharge the shields of all your units and buildings. When massing Ambushers, 4-6 Shieldguards can greatly increase your army’s survivability. Their Reflection Shield can also reflect 50% of projectiles back to attackers later into the game.



When massing Tesseract Cannons, it is helpful to warp in a few Shieldguards to recharge the Cannons shields at home, restoring them to full functionality between casts of Shade Projection.



Despite being a Sentry variant, Shieldguards are deceptively hardy combatants. They don’t so much need the protection of other units as those units need the protection of the Shieldguard.



First Fragment - Shield Recharge: Allows the Shieldguard to recharge the shields of friendly Protoss units. Restores 4 shields per 1 energy.



Second Fragment - Eclipse Protocol: Increases the Shieldguard’s energy regeneration by 100%.



Third Fragment - Reflection Shield: Allows the Shieldguard to create an aura that reflects 50% of all projectiles back to enemy attackers. Lasts for 15 seconds, with a 60 second cooldown. These shields each have a separate chance to reflect any given projectile, so if a projectile makes it through the first shield, the second shield still has a 50% chance of reflecting the projectile, and so on. Can be toggled to autocast, causing the Shieldguard to automatically cast it when a nearby ally is attacked by a projectile weapon.

Shieldguards are a valuable support unit in Zeratul’s army. They are able to recharge the shields of all your units and buildings. When massing Ambushers, 4-6 Shieldguards can greatly increase your army’s survivability. Their Reflection Shield can also reflect 50% of projectiles back to attackers later into the game.When massing Tesseract Cannons, it is helpful to warp in a few Shieldguards to recharge the Cannons shields at home, restoring them to full functionality between casts of Shade Projection.Despite being a Sentry variant, Shieldguards are deceptively hardy combatants. They don’t so much need the protection of other units as those units need the protection of the Shieldguard.Allows the Shieldguard to recharge the shields of friendly Protoss units. Restores 4 shields per 1 energy.Increases the Shieldguard’s energy regeneration by 100%.Allows the Shieldguard to create an aura that reflects 50% of all projectiles back to enemy attackers. Lasts for 15 seconds, with a 60 second cooldown. These shields each have a separate chance to reflect any given projectile, so if a projectile makes it through the first shield, the second shield still has a 50% chance of reflecting the projectile, and so on. Can be toggled to autocast, causing the Shieldguard to automatically cast it when a nearby ally is attacked by a projectile weapon.

49.59 DPS



Void Templar are cloaked melee warriors with a large shield pool and a Blink ability. With the Void Fury upgrade, they become Zeratul’s greatest source of burst area damage, as each Void Templar is able to deal 50 damage to all ground enemies in a line by Blinking through them. An army of 6-8 of Void Templar is able to completely eliminate attack waves with a single Blink.



When facing primarily ground enemies, you can mass Void Templar. Otherwise, you may want to have either Tesseract Cannons or Ambushers at the ready to handle air units while the Void Templar eliminate all ground targets.

If you are building more than just a few Void Templar, it is helpful to select the Void Blink passive ability after you collect the second Artifact Fragment. This allows Void Templar to Blink every 4 seconds, doubling the potential of their Void Fury damage.



Since most of their health pool are shields, they benefit greatly from having a few Shieldguards nearby. However, they often tend to leave the Shieldguards behind during combat.



Void Templar in the same control group as Zeratul will Blink when he does. A handful of Void Templar can be a reasonable addition to follow Zeratul into battle if you are having issues keeping Zeratul safe. This should only be done later into the game when your army is nearly maxed out, as they are expensive and will inevitably get worn down and killed off.

Void Templar are particularly useful on Dead of Night, where groups of Void Templar can cleave through both Infested and Infested structures.



First Fragment - Blink: Allows the Void Templar to teleport to a nearby target location within a range of 11. Has a cooldown of 8 seconds.



Second Fragment - Void Fury: When the Void Templar Blinks, it will deal 50 damage to units within a width of 2 that are caught in its path.



Third Fragment - Back to the Shadows: When the Void Templar takes fatal damage, it retreats to the Void, becoming invulnerable and regenerating all of its health and shields over 10 seconds. Has a cooldown of 180 seconds.

Void Templar are cloaked melee warriors with a large shield pool and a Blink ability. With the Void Fury upgrade, they become Zeratul’s greatest source of burst area damage, as each Void Templar is able to deal 50 damage to all ground enemies in a line by Blinking through them. An army of 6-8 of Void Templar is able to completely eliminate attack waves with a single Blink.When facing primarily ground enemies, you can mass Void Templar. Otherwise, you may want to have either Tesseract Cannons or Ambushers at the ready to handle air units while the Void Templar eliminate all ground targets.If you are building more than just a few Void Templar, it is helpful to select the Void Blink passive ability after you collect the second Artifact Fragment. This allows Void Templar to Blink every 4 seconds, doubling the potential of their Void Fury damage.Since most of their health pool are shields, they benefit greatly from having a few Shieldguards nearby. However, they often tend to leave the Shieldguards behind during combat.Void Templar in the same control group as Zeratul will Blink when he does. A handful of Void Templar can be a reasonable addition to follow Zeratul into battle if you are having issues keeping Zeratul safe. This should only be done later into the game when your army is nearly maxed out, as they are expensive and will inevitably get worn down and killed off.Void Templar are particularly useful on Dead of Night, where groups of Void Templar can cleave through both Infested and Infested structures.Allows the Void Templar to teleport to a nearby target location within a range of 11. Has a cooldown of 8 seconds.When the Void Templar Blinks, it will deal 50 damage to units within a width of 2 that are caught in its path.When the Void Templar takes fatal damage, it retreats to the Void, becoming invulnerable and regenerating all of its health and shields over 10 seconds. Has a cooldown of 180 seconds.

13.79 (34.48 vs armored) DPS vs Ground

18.35 (45.87 vs armored) DPS vs Air



As Zeratul’s most expensive unit, Enforcers are slow to ramp up, but once amassed, they become a nearly-unstoppable force. Much of their power comes into play only after multiple Fragments have been collected. The Force Cannon upgrade makes them a vital addition to Zeratul’s anti-air arsenal, and Eternity Barrier makes them extremely durable.



Due to their prohibitive costs and low damage output per resource, Enforcers are best used in smaller numbers later into the game. They are excellent tanks for your other units, but aren’t ideal as damage dealers as their ground weapon is identical to that of a regular Immortal—but with 1 less range—and their anti-air weapon loses efficiency if too many Enforcers are constantly shoving enemies back. In most cases, it is always best to back up Enforcers with Ambushers and Shieldguards.



Even if you are playing a build that focuses on Ambushers, it can be useful to add in a single Enforcer, since it will naturally draw enemy fire to itself instead of your other units when your Ambushers Blink back.



Against non-light enemy air compositions such as Sky Terran, you want a larger number of Enforcers to complement your army. Their ability to knock back enemy air units gives your other units more time to deal damage to attack waves without taking fire themselves.



First Fragment - Barrier: Allows the Enforcer to absorb 100 damage. Lasts for 10 seconds. Has a cooldown of 60 seconds. Autocasts once shields are depleted.



Second Fragment - Force Cannon: Allows the Enforcer’s anti-air weapon to knock back enemy air units, dealing 50% of its damage to units within a 3 wide, 5 deep rectangle behind the target to enemies caught in the path of the blast.



Third Fragment - Eternity Barrier: Increases the damage absorption of the Enforcer’s Barrier by 300% and causes it to fully repair its hull damage.

As Zeratul’s most expensive unit, Enforcers are slow to ramp up, but once amassed, they become a nearly-unstoppable force. Much of their power comes into play only after multiple Fragments have been collected. The Force Cannon upgrade makes them a vital addition to Zeratul’s anti-air arsenal, and Eternity Barrier makes them extremely durable.Due to their prohibitive costs and low damage output per resource, Enforcers are best used in smaller numbers later into the game. They are excellent tanks for your other units, but aren’t ideal as damage dealers as their ground weapon is identical to that of a regular Immortal—but with 1 less range—and their anti-air weapon loses efficiency if too many Enforcers are constantly shoving enemies back. In most cases, it is always best to back up Enforcers with Ambushers and Shieldguards.Even if you are playing a build that focuses on Ambushers, it can be useful to add in a single Enforcer, since it will naturally draw enemy fire to itself instead of your other units when your Ambushers Blink back.Against non-light enemy air compositions such as Sky Terran, you want a larger number of Enforcers to complement your army. Their ability to knock back enemy air units gives your other units more time to deal damage to attack waves without taking fire themselves.Allows the Enforcer to absorb 100 damage. Lasts for 10 seconds. Has a cooldown of 60 seconds. Autocasts once shields are depleted.Allows the Enforcer’s anti-air weapon to knock back enemy air units, dealing 50% of its damage to units within a 3 wide, 5 deep rectangle behind the target to enemies caught in the path of the blast.Increases the damage absorption of the Enforcer’s Barrier by 300% and causes it to fully repair its hull damage.

8.33 (16.66 at second Fragment) DPS



Abrogators are a niche ground area damage unit. Their Purification Nova ability is on auto-cast by default, and they can take out large chunks of low-HP ground units in an instant. Purification Novas detonate after 3 seconds or on contact with an enemy and deals 100 damage to enemies within a radius of 1.5. The Abrogator is immobile while casting Purification Nova. Although Abrogators provide high burst damage, their damage output is not impressive, and their resource cost is high.



Mixing a few of them into your army is a good way to safely deal burst damage against weak enemies such as Zealots and Banelings, but they are not a vital part of the army, and in many cases, Void Templar are a more efficient way of dishing out area damage.



Second Fragment - Nova Battery: Reduces the cooldown of Purification Nova by 50%.



Third Fragment - Cluster Nova: When a Purification Nova explodes, it generates three smaller Novas that deal 65 damage each to a single enemy unit in their path.

8.33 (16.66 at second Fragment) DPSAbrogators are a niche ground area damage unit. Their Purification Nova ability is on auto-cast by default, and they can take out large chunks of low-HP ground units in an instant. Purification Novas detonate after 3 seconds or on contact with an enemy and deals 100 damage to enemies within a radius of 1.5. The Abrogator is immobile while casting Purification Nova. Although Abrogators provide high burst damage, their damage output is not impressive, and their resource cost is high.Mixing a few of them into your army is a good way to safely deal burst damage against weak enemies such as Zealots and Banelings, but they are not a vital part of the army, and in many cases, Void Templar are a more efficient way of dishing out area damage.Reduces the cooldown of Purification Nova by 50%.When a Purification Nova explodes, it generates three smaller Novas that deal 65 damage each to a single enemy unit in their path.

Built in pairs, Void Arrays are fast-moving transports that are able to move your entire army around the map with their Wormhole ability. After collecting the second Fragment, a Void Array is able to carry your entire army with no capacity limit. Void Arrays are vital to good Zeratul play.



The best way to use Void Arrays is to warp in four of them. Place the first one in your base and rally your production structures to it. Keep another one with your army and use it to frequently bring reinforcements right onto the battlefield and regenerate the shields of your units. Position the remaining two Arrays around the map near locations where you may need your army in the future, such as near attack wave spawn points or mission objectives. In this way, reinforcements are always immediately available, and you can move your army across the map and back nigh instantly. If you plan ahead, you can outmaneuver anything on the map.



A simpler way to use Void Arrays is to warp in two, leaving one at home again for newly produced units and using the other one to ferry your army around as a transport whose cargo hold is always being filled with new units. Since Void Arrays are quite fast, this still gives your army strong mobility, but it doesn’t have the same universal presence as the first method.



Whenever you need to move a Void Array to a new position, make sure that you shift queue it commands both to move and deploy.



Second Fragment - Infinite Void: Grants the Void Array unlimited capacity.



Third Fragment - Shield Boosters: Units within a radius of 5 regenerate an additional 2 shields per second while the Void Array is deployed.

Built in pairs, Void Arrays are fast-moving transports that are able to move your entire army around the map with their Wormhole ability. After collecting the second Fragment, a Void Array is able to carry your entire army with no capacity limit. Void Arrays are vital to good Zeratul play.The best way to use Void Arrays is to warp in four of them. Place the first one in your base and rally your production structures to it. Keep another one with your army and use it to frequently bring reinforcements right onto the battlefield and regenerate the shields of your units. Position the remaining two Arrays around the map near locations where you may need your army in the future, such as near attack wave spawn points or mission objectives. In this way, reinforcements are always immediately available, and you can move your army across the map and back nigh instantly. If you plan ahead, you can outmaneuver anything on the map.A simpler way to use Void Arrays is to warp in two, leaving one at home again for newly produced units and using the other one to ferry your army around as a transport whose cargo hold is always being filled with new units. Since Void Arrays are quite fast, this still gives your army strong mobility, but it doesn’t have the same universal presence as the first method.Whenever you need to move a Void Array to a new position, make sure that you shift queue it commands both to move and deploy.Grants the Void Array unlimited capacity.Units within a radius of 5 regenerate an additional 2 shields per second while the Void Array is deployed.

Surveillance Mode: 17 (25.5 at third Fragment) vision range.



Watchers provide mobile detection for your army and are cloaked. You will often want to build a minimum of 1-2 and move-command them onto one of your army units. Watchers are able to use Void Arrays, enabling you to keep them with your army at all times.



If you are building mass Tesseract Cannons, you may want to use Watchers to act as spotters for your Cannons, letting you project them behind enemy lines to attack from a more advantageous position.



When deployed into Surveillance Mode, Watchers are unable to move but have 50% increased vision radius. With the Sensor Array upgrade in effect, deploying a few Watchers at strategic points around the map can give you and your ally vision of nearly the entire map, which is particularly useful to some other commanders. Watchers can detect enemy units within the full range of their vision radius.



Second Fragment - Gravitic Boosters: Increases the movement speed of Xel’Naga Watchers by 50%.



Third Fragment - Sensor Array: Increases the sight radius of Xel’Naga Watchers by 50%.

Watchers provide mobile detection for your army and are cloaked. You will often want to build a minimum of 1-2 and move-command them onto one of your army units. Watchers are able to use Void Arrays, enabling you to keep them with your army at all times.If you are building mass Tesseract Cannons, you may want to use Watchers to act as spotters for your Cannons, letting you project them behind enemy lines to attack from a more advantageous position.When deployed into Surveillance Mode, Watchers are unable to move but have 50% increased vision radius. With the Sensor Array upgrade in effect, deploying a few Watchers at strategic points around the map can give you and your ally vision of nearly the entire map, which is particularly useful to some other commanders. Watchers can detect enemy units within the full range of their vision radius.Increases the movement speed of Xel’Naga Watchers by 50%.Increases the sight radius of Xel’Naga Watchers by 50%.

24.00 DPS



Tesseract Cannons are elite Photon Cannons, having higher health, shields, weapon damage, and benefiting from armor, structure and weapon upgrades as Zeratul collects Artifact Fragments, and they have access to the Shade Projection and Shade Barrier abilities. However, their mineral cost is also higher.



Tesseract Cannons are a fantastic mineral dump in any game. No matter what your army composition, as soon as your supply is maxed, you should start warping in Cannons. Put your Tesseract Cannons on a control group separate from your army so you can project them onto the battlefield at a moment’s notice.



It is also viable to mass Tesseract Cannons as your primary combat unit, providing a solid and risk-free all-purpose playstyle to Zeratul in mutations. When massing Cannons, build a few Shieldguards to stay near them so that their shields replenish faster while you wait for their Shade Projection ability to come off cooldown.



Second Fragment - Shade Projection: This ability allows a Tesseract Cannon to project itself to a target location. Projections take 5 seconds to come online and last for 60 seconds. After the Projection is killed or cancelled, the Shade Projection ability will start a 60-second cooldown (30 seconds with Tesseract Matrix).



Third Fragment - Shade Barrier: This ability activates whenever a Tesseract Cannon or Projection takes damage, absorbing up to 100 damage. The barrier lasts for 10 seconds, and has a 60-second cooldown.

Tesseract Cannons are elite Photon Cannons, having higher health, shields, weapon damage, and benefiting from armor, structure and weapon upgrades as Zeratul collects Artifact Fragments, and they have access to the Shade Projection and Shade Barrier abilities. However, their mineral cost is also higher.Tesseract Cannons are a fantastic mineral dump in any game. No matter what your army composition, as soon as your supply is maxed, you should start warping in Cannons. Put your Tesseract Cannons on a control group separate from your army so you can project them onto the battlefield at a moment’s notice.It is also viable to mass Tesseract Cannons as your primary combat unit, providing a solid and risk-free all-purpose playstyle to Zeratul in mutations. When massing Cannons, build a few Shieldguards to stay near them so that their shields replenish faster while you wait for their Shade Projection ability to come off cooldown.This ability allows a Tesseract Cannon to project itself to a target location. Projections take 5 seconds to come online and last for 60 seconds. After the Projection is killed or cancelled, the Shade Projection ability will start a 60-second cooldown (30 seconds with Tesseract Matrix).This ability activates whenever a Tesseract Cannon or Projection takes damage, absorbing up to 100 damage. The barrier lasts for 10 seconds, and has a 60-second cooldown.

Uniquely among all commanders, Zeratul is able to customize his top bar powers. Each selection will be permanent for the rest of the mission. Zeratul starts the game with Tier 1 available, and each subsequent Tier become available as he collects Artifact Fragments.Available from the start of the game, Zeratul’s Legendary Legions cost 500 minerals to summon (down to 350 with mastery). With a cooldown of only 120 seconds, they can be an invaluable addition to his army, enabling him to overcome tougher challenges without having to suffer army losses. They can be used both defensively and offensively, and are often used to expand early on in the game. Legendary Legions can’t be controlled directly, but they can be ordered to attack-move in any direction via the top bar. Legendary Legions take 2 seconds to warp in and last for 60 seconds.Available after Zeratul retrieves the first Artifact Fragment, Zeratul’s Tier 2 top-bar abilities enable him to control the battlefield in different ways. Each ability has a cooldown of 180 seconds (down to 150 with mastery).Available after Zeratul retrieves the second Artifact Fragment, Zeratul’s Tier 3 top-bar choice grants him one out of three passive enhancements that are each an enabler for certain playstyles.Available after Zeratul retrieves the third Artifact Fragment, Zeratul’s Tier 4 top-bar abilities enable him to summon a powerful Xel’Naga Construct to the battlefield. Both Avatars have a cooldown of 300 seconds (down to 240 with mastery), last for 60 seconds, and have 2,800 HP.Zeratul’s units gain new abilities and upgrades as Artifact Fragments are collected. You will gain all of these upgrades over the course of a normal game, but many of them are critical to your army’s survival. Collect Fragments as quickly as possible to increase your army’s power and durability.















In-depth



The two build orders below are both strong, with a slight economical advantage for the Zoraya Expand. You will therefore usually want to use the Zoraya Expand, which is necessary to handle most contested expansions. However, opening with the Ambusher Expand is necessary if you want to use the powerful Serdath Legion to counter end game attack waves later on.



Build Order

Build Order 1: Zoraya Expand (assumes 30 points in Legendary Legion Cost mastery)

Rally Precursor to expansion area at 15 supply



Call down the Zoraya Legion at the expansion area at 15 supply



15 Ancient Nexus



Ancient Nexus 16 Passageway



Passageway Continue production of Precursors until both bases are fully saturated



Transfer 7 Precursors to your expansion when the Nexus finishes

Build Order 2: Ambusher Expand

14 Passageway



Passageway 18 Ambusher - Chrono Boost Passageway and rally to expansion Rocks



Ambusher - Chrono Boost Passageway and rally to expansion Rocks Resume Precursor production



19 Ambusher



Ambusher Return Chrono Boost to primary Nexus as soon as the second Ambusher finishes



27 Ancient Nexus



Ancient Nexus 27 Core Forge



Masteries

Power Set 1: Zeratul Attack Speed: +1.5% to +45%



Combat Unit Attack Speed: +0.5% to +15% Both masteries are useful. Combat Unit Attack Speed will provide a far greater damage boost in the late game, and it is the better choice if you aren’t planning to actively micro Zeratul. However, Zeratul already has numerous powerful options in the late game, so it can be beneficial to use this power set to strengthen his early game instead. Zeratul Attack Speed allows you to be more aggressive in the first ten minutes of the game, and it allows you to use Zeratul more effectively apart from his army. Finally, if you plan on using a mass Cannon build, Zeratul Attack Speed is the clear choice.



Power Set 2 Artifact Fragment Spawn Rate: -2 to -60 seconds



Support Calldown Cooldown Reduction: -1 to -30 seconds Artifact Fragment Spawn Rate is the obvious choice here, effectively saving you 60 seconds before getting the second Artifact Fragment, and 120 seconds before getting the third Fragment. Since Zeratul gains additional calldowns and significant army power with each Fragment collected, it is very beneficial to be able to collect the Fragments at a faster rate, letting Zeratul complete his Artifact hunt and start to snowball much sooner into the game.



Support Calldown Cooldown Reduction enables more frequent use of your Tier 2 Crowd Control calldowns. The benefit gained isn’t that great, but it can be useful for longer maps where you plan to be using Monoliths extensively. This fits best with mutations which are best beaten by going slow and steady by using the free value of projected Cannons and Monoliths to claim victory.



Power Set 3: Legendary Legion Cost: -1 to -30%



Avatar Cooldown: -2 to -60 seconds The Legendary Legion Cost mastery is almost always the optimal choice. On most maps, you will want to use your Legion calldown frequently, enabling you to attack objectives more quickly and prevent losses to your expensive army. Further, the 150-mineral reduction enables a faster, less expensive expansion with the Zoraya Legion. On the other hand, while Zeratul’s Avatars are powerful, they have a five-minute cooldown and are not available until at least nine minutes into the mission. On a typical map, the Avatar Cooldown mastery might allow for one additional usage of the Avatar. Unless you have a specific plan in mind that involves timing the Avatar, you will get more value from saving on minerals on the Legendary Legion throughout the mission.



Collecting Artifact Fragments

Zeratul’s power level depends on your ability to locate Xel’Naga Artifact Fragments quickly. Each Fragment grants additional top-bar abilities as well as free, instant upgrades which make Zeratul’s army much more powerful. This includes Weapons, Shields, and Armor upgrades (levels 1-3 corresponding to Fragments 1-3), as well as Artifact Enhancements, which grant additional abilities to Zeratul’s units.



Fragment Spawn Timing

The three Fragments spawn at 4:00, 9:00, and 14:00 by default, meaning that the first Fragment is available as soon as Zeratul spawns. As soon as a Fragment is collected, a respawn timer of 180 seconds (120 with mastery) kicks off, corresponding to the cooldown of Zeratul’s Prophetic Vision ability. If the Artifact Fragment Spawn Rate mastery is used, the respawn timer changes to two minutes, and the spawn timing of the second and third Fragments change to 8:00 and 13:00.



If the spawn timing of a Fragment is reached sooner than the respawn timer would normally indicate, the shorter time is used. As an example, if Zeratul collects the first Fragment at 7:00, three minutes after becoming available, his Prophetic Vision ability will start a 60-second cooldown, since the second Fragment will spawn by 8:00 at the latest (with Mastery). On the other hand, if Zeratul collects the first Fragment at 4:15, the Fragment respawn timer of two minutes will cause the second Fragment to spawn at 6:15.



If Zeratul collects a Fragment after the subsequent Fragment has already spawned, such as by collecting the first Fragment at 9:00, then the Prophetic Vision ability will have its minimum ten-second cooldown, and he will then be able to search for the next Fragment immediately.



The most important point to remember is that the sooner you collect a Fragment, the sooner you can start the two-minute timer for the next Fragment. A good goal for a typical game is to collect all Fragments by the 9:00 mark, which means you would collect each Fragment in twenty seconds on average, shortly after 4:00, 6:00, and 8:00.



If you have trouble finding the Fragment, a circle will appear on the minimap when you use Prophetic Vision, starting 60 seconds after the Fragment spawns. You will find the Fragment in that area of the map. The circle will decrease in size twice, each time after another 60 seconds.



Fragment Locations

While the location of every Fragment is randomized, they all follow certain spawn distance parameters, with the first one always being close to your base. Each Fragment can spawn anywhere in a radial band, with each successive Fragment being a little further from your base. The below image shows possible Fragment spawn locations on Void Thrashing as an example. Locations for the first, second, and third Fragments are shown in yellow, purple, and blue respectively.







Finding Fragments Quickly

Use Zeratul’s Prophetic Vision ability as soon as it comes off cooldown. Keep an eye on how much of the cooldown is left so that you waste no time in finding the next Fragment.



The Prophetic Vision ability will show a portion of the map where the Fragment has spawned. If you currently have vision in that part of the map, you will be able to see units and buildings present there. Otherwise, you may be able to identify the point on the map from landmarks in the Vision, depending on how well you know the geography of each map. Note that if your graphics settings are too low, you will only see a dark space for the Prophetic Vision instead of seeing a spot on the map.



If you can’t immediately identify the spot on the map, use a rally point from either your Nexus or a production structure and click it carefully around the edges of the minimap. The rally line will be visible in the Vision. By watching closely, you can see when the rally line intersects the point on the map that you see in the Prophetic Vision. Once you have identified this, slowly move the rally point closer to your base until you see the end rally point. This is the area where you will find the Fragment.



If you are not immediately able to move into the area to collect the Fragment, you may want to set a camera hotkey there. Otherwise, send Zeratul to collect the Fragment. If the Fragment is far away, use the Void Seeker to transport Zeratul there quickly.



At times, the Fragment will be in the middle of an enemy base. In this case, hold down the hotkey for Prophetic Vision while Zeratul is en route in the Void Seeker. As soon as he lands, the Fragment should appear if Zeratul is close enough to it. Immediately Blink Zeratul to the Fragment so that if he is killed, you will still have the Fragment in hand. If it is the last Fragment, Zeratul will immediately get access to additional charges of Blink, which may save him from a bad situation.

Once Zeratul has revealed the Fragment, your other units can also collect it. If it looks like Zeratul may fail to collect the Fragment, spawn in a Legendary Legion on top of it before Zeratul dies. They can collect the Fragment too, and may give Zeratul time to escape.

Both masteries are useful. Combat Unit Attack Speed will provide a far greater damage boost in the late game, and it is the better choice if you aren’t planning to actively micro Zeratul. However, Zeratul already has numerous powerful options in the late game, so it can be beneficial to use this power set to strengthen his early game instead. Zeratul Attack Speed allows you to be more aggressive in the first ten minutes of the game, and it allows you to use Zeratul more effectively apart from his army. Finally, if you plan on using a mass Cannon build, Zeratul Attack Speed is the clear choice.Artifact Fragment Spawn Rate is the obvious choice here, effectively saving you 60 seconds before getting the second Artifact Fragment, and 120 seconds before getting the third Fragment. Since Zeratul gains additional calldowns and significant army power with each Fragment collected, it is very beneficial to be able to collect the Fragments at a faster rate, letting Zeratul complete his Artifact hunt and start to snowball much sooner into the game.Support Calldown Cooldown Reduction enables more frequent use of your Tier 2 Crowd Control calldowns. The benefit gained isn’t that great, but it can be useful for longer maps where you plan to be using Monoliths extensively. This fits best with mutations which are best beaten by going slow and steady by using the free value of projected Cannons and Monoliths to claim victory.The Legendary Legion Cost mastery is almost always the optimal choice. On most maps, you will want to use your Legion calldown frequently, enabling you to attack objectives more quickly and prevent losses to your expensive army. Further, the 150-mineral reduction enables a faster, less expensive expansion with the Zoraya Legion. On the other hand, while Zeratul’s Avatars are powerful, they have a five-minute cooldown and are not available until at least nine minutes into the mission. On a typical map, the Avatar Cooldown mastery might allow for one additional usage of the Avatar. Unless you have a specific plan in mind that involves timing the Avatar, you will get more value from saving on minerals on the Legendary Legion throughout the mission.Zeratul’s power level depends on your ability to locate Xel’Naga Artifact Fragments quickly. Each Fragment grants additional top-bar abilities as well as free, instant upgrades which make Zeratul’s army much more powerful. This includes Weapons, Shields, and Armor upgrades (levels 1-3 corresponding to Fragments 1-3), as well as Artifact Enhancements, which grant additional abilities to Zeratul’s units.The three Fragments spawn at 4:00, 9:00, and 14:00 by default, meaning that the first Fragment is available as soon as Zeratul spawns. As soon as a Fragment is collected, a respawn timer of 180 seconds (120 with mastery) kicks off, corresponding to the cooldown of Zeratul’s Prophetic Vision ability. If the Artifact Fragment Spawn Rate mastery is used, the respawn timer changes to two minutes, and the spawn timing of the second and third Fragments change to 8:00 and 13:00.If the spawn timing of a Fragment is reached sooner than the respawn timer would normally indicate, the shorter time is used. As an example, if Zeratul collects the first Fragment at 7:00, three minutes after becoming available, his Prophetic Vision ability will start a 60-second cooldown, since the second Fragment will spawn by 8:00 at the latest (with Mastery). On the other hand, if Zeratul collects the first Fragment at 4:15, the Fragment respawn timer of two minutes will cause the second Fragment to spawn at 6:15.If Zeratul collects a Fragment after the subsequent Fragment has already spawned, such as by collecting the first Fragment at 9:00, then the Prophetic Vision ability will have its minimum ten-second cooldown, and he will then be able to search for the next Fragment immediately.The most important point to remember is that the sooner you collect a Fragment, the sooner you can start the two-minute timer for the next Fragment. A good goal for a typical game is to collect all Fragments by the 9:00 mark, which means you would collect each Fragment in twenty seconds on average, shortly after 4:00, 6:00, and 8:00.If you have trouble finding the Fragment, a circle will appear on the minimap when you use Prophetic Vision, starting 60 seconds after the Fragment spawns. You will find the Fragment in that area of the map. The circle will decrease in size twice, each time after another 60 seconds.While the location of every Fragment is randomized, they all follow certain spawn distance parameters, with the first one always being close to your base. Each Fragment can spawn anywhere in a radial band, with each successive Fragment being a little further from your base. The below image shows possible Fragment spawn locations on Void Thrashing as an example. Locations for the first, second, and third Fragments are shown in yellow, purple, and blue respectively.Use Zeratul’s Prophetic Vision ability as soon as it comes off cooldown. Keep an eye on how much of the cooldown is left so that you waste no time in finding the next Fragment.The Prophetic Vision ability will show a portion of the map where the Fragment has spawned. If you currently have vision in that part of the map, you will be able to see units and buildings present there. Otherwise, you may be able to identify the point on the map from landmarks in the Vision, depending on how well you know the geography of each map. Note that if your graphics settings are too low, you will only see a dark space for the Prophetic Vision instead of seeing a spot on the map.If you can’t immediately identify the spot on the map, use a rally point from either your Nexus or a production structure and click it carefully around the edges of the minimap. The rally line will be visible in the Vision. By watching closely, you can see when the rally line intersects the point on the map that you see in the Prophetic Vision. Once you have identified this, slowly move the rally point closer to your base until you see the end rally point. This is the area where you will find the Fragment.If you are not immediately able to move into the area to collect the Fragment, you may want to set a camera hotkey there. Otherwise, send Zeratul to collect the Fragment. If the Fragment is far away, use the Void Seeker to transport Zeratul there quickly.At times, the Fragment will be in the middle of an enemy base. In this case, hold down the hotkey for Prophetic Vision while Zeratul is en route in the Void Seeker. As soon as he lands, the Fragment should appear if Zeratul is close enough to it. Immediately Blink Zeratul to the Fragment so that if he is killed, you will still have the Fragment in hand. If it is the last Fragment, Zeratul will immediately get access to additional charges of Blink, which may save him from a bad situation.Once Zeratul has revealed the Fragment, your other units can also collect it. If it looks like Zeratul may fail to collect the Fragment, spawn in a Legendary Legion on top of it before Zeratul dies. They can collect the Fragment too, and may give Zeratul time to escape. The two build orders below are both strong, with a slight economical advantage for the Zoraya Expand. You will therefore usually want to use the Zoraya Expand, which is necessary to handle most contested expansions. However, opening with the Ambusher Expand is necessary if you want to use the powerful Serdath Legion to counter end game attack waves later on.(assumes 30 points in Legendary Legion Cost mastery)











Synergies



























Raynor Raynor’s global vision allows both commanders to use their calldowns aggressively early in the game. Zeratul’s high mobility can cover for Raynor’s inability to move his army quickly across the map. Zeratul’s various calldowns can all be used to cover for Raynor’s fragile army by drawing enemy fire or crowd controlling threats.

Kerrigan Kerrigan’s Immobilization Wave and Zeratul’s calldowns give the commanders a lot of pushing power when used in sequence, letting them wipe out several enemy encampments without resistance. Kerrigan’s Malignant Creep provides valuable healing and increased attack speed. Between Omega Worms, Watchers, and Void Arrays, both armies have universal mobility and detection. Zeratul has powerful options that let him cover for Kerrigan’s anti-air weakness, and his Shade Projections can absorb damage for Kerrigan’s fragile army. In the early game, Kerrigan can forge ahead while Zeratul focuses on assembling his Artifact. Artanis Zeratul’s units are few and expensive. Zeratul’s Ambushers and Void Templar benefit particularly from Artanis’ Guardian Shell, being fragile units that rely on superior maneuvering to outpace the enemy—Guardian Shell can mitigate costly errors.. While Zeratul’s early game isn’t the strongest available, his powerful hero unit can still give Artanis the space he needs to ramp up his production early on, and later into the game, Zeratul’s mobile army can catch threats that Artanis’ slow army can’t respond swiftly to. Swann Zeratul’s Watchers can provide vision for Swann’s Laser Drill, letting it constantly, choose targets. Swann’s Science Vessels can heal most of Zeratul’s units. Zeratul’s mobility allows him to move back and forth across the map more readily than Swann, and Swann’s Harvesting Drones allow Zeratul to go more tech heavy. Zagara Zagara’s cheap, numerous units provide valuable cannon fodder to supplement Zeratul’s expensive army. Zeratul’s powerful army benefits greatly from Frenzy. Zeratul’s powerful anti-air enables Zagara to forego Scourge, leaving even more resources for swarms of ground units. Vorazun Vorazun provides Zeratul’s cloaked units with increased shield regeneration, extra damage, and Emergency Recall. Vorazun’s crowd-control abilities combined with Zeratul’s calldowns and army can make quick work of even the strongest enemy fortifications. Zeratul’s powerful anti-air can compensate for Vorazun’s shortcomings in that regard. Vorazun can cloak Zeratul’s Tesseract Cannons with a Dark Pylon, letting them regenerate shields without the need for Shieldguards. Karax Karax’s Repair Beam sustains Zeratul’s expensive army, and Orbital Strikes can snipe dangerous units in battle. Energizers can buff both armies. Zeratul’s high mobility compensates for Karax’s slow army. As Karax is a defensive, support commander, he appreciates Zeratul’s offensive firepower. Abathur Toxic Nests can protect both armies from attack waves. Swarm Queens and Mend provide staying power for Zeratul’s expensive units. Brutalisks are great at running interference for Zeratul’s ranged army, letting him deal his damage safely. Zeratul’s mobility lets him intercept attack waves that Abathur’s Brutalisks would struggle with on their own, allowing Abathur’s less-mobile army to stay on offense. Brutalisks can Deep Tunnel to anywhere on the map alongside Zeratul’s Void Seeker, giving them powerful offensive options. Alarak Alarak can Structure Overcharge Zeratul’s Shade Projections, providing formidable damage at no expense. Alarak’s slow-moving army appreciates Zeratul’s ability to move across the map at will. Ascendants can take out entire armies of dangerous foes instantly, leaving Zeratul’s all-purpose army to make quick work of structures and objectives. Havocs further enhance the power of Zeratul’s army. Alarak’s Mothership can make use of Zeratul’s various deployed Watchers, Void Arrays, and Tesseract Cannons to freely choose a destination to Mass Teleport to. Nova Nova’s Defensive Drones and Ravens can sustain Zeratul’s expensive army. Nova appreciates Chrono Boost for her production structures. Zeratul’s crowd control enables Nova to fight with minimal losses. Stukov Stukov’s endless armies can tank damage for Zeratul’s expensive units. Their multiple powerful unit calldowns can be used liberally to respond to threats or as part of an attack, providing constant value throughout the match. Zeratul provides the high burst damage that Stukov lacks. Void Arrays provide map-wide mobility, covering for Stukov’s slow army. Stukov can use Infest Structure on Zeratul’s Shade Projections. Fenix Conservators provide invaluable damage reduction to Zeratul’s expensive units. Void Arrays give Zeratul more sustained mobility, while the Cybros Arbiter can instantly transport both armies across the map in an emergency. Zeratul’s calldowns allow both armies to attack more aggressively. Watchers can provide vision around the map, enabling Fenix’s Suits to be warped in anywhere. Dehaka Zeratul’s hero unit and calldowns can help Dehaka engage base defences more safely during his leveling process, letting him push into bases in search for essence. Zeratul’s army mobility lets him take care of distant enemies, letting Dehaka stay focused on his own tasks. Their strong pushing power let them easily push into multiple fronts at once. Dehaka can supplement Zeratul’s Shade Projections with his hero unit and his own Primal Wurms. Han and Horner Zeratul can use Shade Projections to intercept an attack wave, buying valuable moments for Han’s Mag Mines to arm and fire on the enemy. Watchers provide vision for both commanders, letting Han and Horner make devious use of their various calldowns. Tychus Tychus’ aggression provides Zeratul with plenty of time to locate his Artifact Fragments, should he need it. Zeratul’s Watchers can provide map-wide vision, allowing Tychus to travel anywhere at will with Medivacs, or even drop the Odin in the middle of a base to launch its nuke. Zeratul is also well-equipped to deal with bursty enemy compositions like Reavers, which can be deadly to an unprepared Tychus, and Tychus can shut down certain enemies that threaten Zeratul. Tychus provides healing for Zeratul’s army, but only Ambushers and Abrogators really need it to any extent. Zeratul’s static defenses can keep things safe at home, which Tychus benefits from.



Map-Specific Tips



























Chain of Ascension Suggested top bar: Zoraya Legion, Void Suppression Crystal, Steadfast Reinforcements, Avatar of Essence



Use the Zoraya Legion to clear out your expansion before building a Passageway. Melee ground units such as Zealots and Zerglings may run away from the Zoraya Legion, but you can use your Precursor to lure them into attack range.



Start out with Ambushers and Shieldguards. As long as you aren’t facing an air composition, you can add Void Templar later in the mission for burst damage against Hybrid waves.



Void Arrays are especially helpful on this map. They can be stationed near Ji’nara and near the next Hybrid spawn point so that you can move your army back and forth easily. Optionally, you can add an additional set of Void Arrays, to be placed in the side lanes to intercept attack waves.



Ambushers can easily take out Slayn Elementals with the damage and mobility afforded by their Blink ability.



Use your top bar abilities on Hybrid spawns. Try to have the Avatar of Essence ready for the final Hybrid spawn to buff your army while devolving the large number of enemies that will spawn.



Cradle of Death Suggested top bar: Zoraya Legion, Void Suppression Crystal, Steadfast Reinforcements, Avatar of Essence



Ambushers and Shieldguards are the best choice for army composition here.



You can fast expand on this map by using the Zoraya Legion to kill the two Constructs at the expansion area. However, getting it right is tricky and is not recommended unless you have practiced it, as it involves carefully maneuvering both your Truck and the Zoraya Legion. The alternative is to wait until Zeratul spawns, immediately collect the first Artifact, and then attack the expansion area with Zeratul and the Zoraya Legion.



Cradle of Death features lots of movement between your objectives and base. Zeratul’s Void Arrays can trivialize these trips. Station a Void Array in an area you will be headed to next so that it is already there when you need it.



Use the Void Suppression Crystal when pushing into the main objective areas. You should also plan on calling down the Zoraya Legion each time you enter a main objective area.



The terrain on Cradle of Death is particularly homogenous, making it difficult to locate Artifact Fragments. If you’re having trouble locating a Fragment, fall back on sweeping the minimap with a production structure’s rally point while watching Zeratul’s Prophetic Vision.



Dead of Night Suggested top bar: Telbrus Legion, Tesseract Monolith, Void Blink, Avatar of Form



Mass Void Templar is the most efficient composition on this mission. Combined with Void Blink, Void Templar have outstanding damage output against both Infested and Infested structures, and there are few air enemies to worry about on this map.



A handful of Tesseract Cannons and Monoliths can handle most of the defense at your base. Keep a few Shieldguards nearby. This will enable you to continue attacking at night with your Void Templar.



The Telbrus Legion has a niche on this map. While Zoraya is better at attacking enemy encampments, and Serdath is better for base defense, Telbrus are good at destroying Infested structures, Broodlings, and Infested. They’re an effective force when used to clean up.



The Serdath Legion can work wo