I have to say, growing Zerg buildings give me the creeps. The first time I started one I just thought eeeewwwwwww. Wonderful concept though. The Zerg are one of the most commonly used races and in many ways are strikingly different from the other two races. The speed at which they can establish themselves often overwhelms the ill-prepared. Read on...

Zerglings

Two for the price of one. They're cheap, cover ground fast, and are small enough to surround and overwhelm lone enemy units superior to themselves. That's basically the key to using Zerglings successfully; numbers. As well as their use as mobs, sending individual Zerglings out to find the enemy or watch over new base sites is an important part of effective Zerg use.

Hydralisks

If you can get a serious crowd of these things together, I'm talking about 24 or so, you'll probably win the game. Even without upgrades, a crowd of these things will make mincemeat out of most enemies. Quite why that is I'm not sure. Their range isn't huge, and the damage they do is only moderate, but their lack of size allows for a great deal of firepower to be focused in a very small area. That does make them vulnerable to explosive attacks from tanks and psionic storm attacks, but otherwise they can protect themselves from air and ground attacks with remarkable efficiency. Send in Zerglings first to stop the enemy focusing on the Hydras, and you'll do very well. Strangely I never seem to bother with burrowing as an upgrade, but if you're the ambushy type you may want to consider it!

Ultralisks

Organic tanks, basically. They've very tough hit points wise, and their attack is equally strong although limited in range and restricted to ground targets. Having said that, if you can get a half dozen of these monsters together, they'll take a lot of killing. They should be able to charge down High Templars hitting them with Psi Storms, especially if you've upgraded their armour. Very expensive to build but potentially devestating.

Defilers

Nasty pieces of work. Their most useful ability needs researching, namely the Plague. If you hit Protoss buildings with it, their shields stay up but the structure gets degraded and unlike Terran buildings, they can't be fixed. Also, if you distract a Terran player elsewhere and do a Plague hit, his buildings may burn down before he manages to do something about it. In fact, the Plague effect lasts for a while, so even if a SCV starts repairing, if you can destroy it, the building will still go down. The Dark Swarm is useful for protecting groups of unit from attack; it's actually better than cloaking in many respects. The only snag with all this is that the Defiler doesn't have any standard attack capability and isn't particularly well hard. Very much a special forces unit.

Infested Terran

If you can get some of these together, then congrats. Seriously effective against groups of low level troops, but they can be destroyed before they hit home of course. A common tactic is for a Terran partner to have built a Command Centre just for you, so that your Queen can infest it. If that Terran partner can then slap a Defence Matrix onto your Infested Terrans, you have a very effective suicide bomber. As with a demoralising nuke hit that kills a big force, I've known people to quit if they have a CC infested. Another plus is that an infested CC heals itself like any other Zerg building, making it that much tougher.

Mutalisk/Guardian

Mutas are the basic Zerg air unit. They're moderately expensive and very vulnerable as individual units. Group them, and their ricocheting attacks combined become quite effective. Even Zealots will go down to a group of Mutas fairly quickly if they don't have anti-air backup. Mutas also target airborne foes, but unlike Wraiths and Scouts, their aerial attack isn't greatly in excess of their ground attack. Mutas are best in a support role for Hydras against air attacks, or against a Protoss player who's gone for Zealots and Reavers to the exclusion of all else. A few Mutas can quickly nail probes. Their speed also allows them to be useful if expensive scouts.
Guardians are the mutated, ground attack only version of the Mutas. The total cost of a Guardian is the mutation from Lair to Hive, then the mutation from Spire to Greater Spire, and finally the mutation of a Muta to Guardian for 50 minerals and 100 gas. In effect the Guardian costs 150 minerals and 200 gas, but is well worth it. Although they're slower than standard Mutas, and have no anti-air capacity, they outrange every defensive emplacement going if you hold them at the right range. If you attack them in they tend to put themselves in harm's way. A large group of Guardians with sufficient backup can tear an enemy base to shreds very quickly. By far the best way to gain entry to a Terran's fortified base.

Scourge

Suicidal anti-air nutters. If the game's gone on a while you need to start thinking about these, because short of tip-toeing a group of Hydras up to a Carrier or Battlecruiser while it's not looking you're not going to be able to take down the other races' big aircraft without them. You get 2 to a Larva which allows for a big crowd to form very rapidly. To be effective against Carriers you need to target them manually, otherwise they'll just throw themselves at the Carriers' Interceptors. Again, a nice way to demoralise an enemy because the big ships are expensive and slow to be built.

Queens

Arguably the most valuable function of a Queen is the Parasite ability. This can open up the vistas of an enemy base to you and your allies, and the only way the enemy can prevent this is by killing the unit or moving it somewhere less revealing. Very useful if the enemy's on high ground and a Siege Tank can't see structures which are actually in its range. Parasiting a nearby unit will allow the Tanks to open up. The Queen's Broodling ability is also useful as it can destroy a unit like a Siege Tank in one shot, although energy limitations apply. I've never really found the Ensnare function to be of practical use, altough it can be used to "illuminate" cloaked craft. As described under Infested Terran, the Queen can also take over Terran CCs if the opportunity presents itself.

Overlords

Last but not least are the Zerg supply units, drop ships and mobile detectors all rolled into one. This may seem like a good thing, but it means that if one is killed you might not be able to produce more units, or lose some units, or lose some of your cloaked unit detection ability. Until upgraded they're lumbering targets. The Zerg are the only race whose supply points are mobile in this way, and it's both a strength and weakness of the race. It means that there's more at stake when using them in the field for detection purposes. Still, this versatility means that they can move with Scourges and allow them to target cloaked Wraiths they encounter before they drop any troops they may be carrying. Consider upgrading speed and getting the ability to carry troops early on.

General

Hydras are very versatile units, when speed and range upgraded, but you'll need very efficient mineral collection to keep churning them out, and more than one hatchery will help a lot. Keep them moving in groups, and even in confined spaces they should hold their own pretty well. Use Zerglings as scouts, and advance troops; if you have surplus minerals, consider churning out a couple of dozen for emergency use. If you're playing Zerg, you should watch out for Tanks and Reavers, because they'll rip groups to shreds if you're not careful. High Templars are also extremely dangerous and should be treated with respect. However, they can only cast a couple of Psi Storms before their energy runs out, so it may be worth pressing an attack if there're only a couple. Also, Psi Storms are not automatic; High Templars won't defend themselves with them. The enemy is only human, and he may not be able to sort himself out fast enough to use what he has efficiently. The Zerg should aim to attack hard and fast as a swarm. After all, it's in their nature. If you're in a "dig in and wait" game, consider the strategic use of Parasites and Defilers. Queens fly very quickly and can often get in and get out of an enemy base without being killed, while using Defilers and Plague will either mortally wound buildings and troops or at least cost your opponent resources to repair or replace them. Not so useful against Zerg units and structures of course. If you're up against another Zerg, you may want to consider a rather interesting strategic use for the Nydus Canal. You see, you can build the exit of a Canal on an opponent's Creep, if it's illuminated. I remember my surprise when I suddenly found my base swarming with Hydras which hadn't come in by the front entrance! Tricky to do in a crowded base because a unit's likely to spot the new building and start to attack it. A Sunken Colony would also attack it, so care is needed. Finally, remember that Zerg units do heal over time, so it may be worth withdrawing having hit your target in order to recuperate.

Brood War

Some new breeds have been developed. The Lurker is a mutation of the common Hydralisk. It can only attack when buried, but is effectively cloaked once it is of course. It fires subterranean spikes a reasonable range, in a straight line. Effective in numbers against massed ground troops. Devourers are a new Mutalisk mutation, giving the Zerg a new air-to-air unit. They fire acid spores which degrade unit performance, cause damage and have a splash element to their damage. Like all air to air units, only effective in numbers really. I think the Ultralisk also gets new enhancement potential. All in all Zerg tactics remain unchanged; Hydra rushing is still standard, but the Lurkers cause problems for the Terrans in particular who lack a cheap decloaker device.

For the Overmind!

Last updated 31 January 2002