A lot of people have been asking me about the single-player campaign and what decisions I made for the Zerg and Protoss research when I tried to beat the game brutally. First of all, I have to say that taking on Brutal mode in Starcraft 2 is not an easy task, to say the least. I’m going to show you what is, in my opinion, the best research path to follow when trying to conquer a brutal difficulty.
Zerg Research:
Tier 1: The first option is between Shrike Turrets, which places an automated turret in each Bunker (which basically deals the damage of an additional Marine) or Fortified Bunkers, which is an extra life of +150 in each Bunker. Personally, I chose Shrike Turrets simply because the best defense is good offense and I generally keep extra SCVs around my defensive wall for quick repairs and once you have the Dual-Fusion Welders upgrade, the extra hit points are a complete waste of technology. Having 2 bunkers (upgraded with the Neosteel bunker) with Shrike turrets increases the damage of 14 marines, which is approximately 84 DPS or damage per second. That’s a good defense against Bunkers being able to take a beating longer.
Winner: Shrike Turrets
Level 2: The second option is between the Turret of Doom and the Planetary Fortress, which equips a Command Center with Twin Ibiks Cannons that do 40 splash damage at a decent range and increase armor by 3, which is actually a higher amount. than 3 sounds. To me, the Turret of Doom, which actually does massive area damage, is a complete and utter gimmick. The defense provided by these turrets is completely overshadowed by the damage from the fully upgraded bunkers with some siege tanks behind them. It’s the same tactic I used in Starcraft 1 and I used the exact same tactic in Starcraft 2. If something isn’t broken, why fix it? The Planetary Fortress is a great addition to any defensive wall and, in particular, I found it very useful in the final All In mission, as well as others.
Winner: Planetary Fortress
Level 3: The third option is between the Hercules-class freighter and the Predator. I had a hard time making up my mind here because with the techniques I use both are almost useless, but since you have to choose one, I would go with the Hercules. Honestly, I have no idea how they expected you to use the Predator because when you research it, you’re generally using air units for most of what’s left in the campaign. At least with the Hercules it makes missions like The Moebius Factor 10 times easier and is also perfect for leaving your medic / marauder / marine squads behind enemy lines without risking losing any units if destroyed.
Winner: Hercules
Level 4: The fourth option is between Cell Reactor, which causes specialized units to start with +100 Energy and receive an additional +100 Energy when spawned, and Regenerative Biosteel which allows their ships and vehicles to slowly recover life. While Cellular Reactor seems like an amazing option, most of the levels are not time-restricted and if you have a certain amount of patience (which you obviously have or wouldn’t even dream of taking this game down in a brutal way) it doesn’t become that useful. Regenerative Biosteel keeps your units in battle longer and allows you to return faster, especially when combined with Science Vessels.
Winner: Regenerative Biosteel
Level 5The final choice between Psi-Disrupter (which constantly slows all nearby Zerg by 50% within its radius) and the Hive Mind Emulator (which allows you to permanently mentally control any Zerg unit) is a matter of preference personal. However, I found that the Psi-Disrupter is the biggest asset in slowing down the zerg to take an extreme beating from my super bunkers and siege tanks and stopping them before they actually reach me is, in my opinion, much bigger to control a single Ultralisk or Broodlord. Or whatever you want except Kerrigan, of course. The Hive Mind emulator requires additional micro skills that I was not willing to waste when dealing with the harshness and speed of brutal difficulty.
Winner: Psi-Disrupter
