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- Commander blurb(src)
Abathur is a selectable commander in the Co-op Missions mode of Legacy of the Void. As the evolution master of the zerg, Abathur has been constantly spinning new essences to chase an ever changing vision of perfection. Unlike the other zerg heroes, he is not controllable in the field as a hero unit, but through his unique biomass evolutionary mechanics, he can mutate powerful zerg breeds to overwhelm enemies.
Abathur is available for purchase at $4.95 USD.[1]
Overview
Info
- Recommended for players of all skill levels
- Evolve your army by collecting Biomass from fallen enemies
- Morph powerful Brutalisk and Leviathan units
Mastery
- Power Set 1
- Toxic Nest Respawn Chance: +2% – 60%
- Mend Heal: +1% – 30%
- Power Set 2
- Symbiote Carapace Absorption: +1% – 30%
- Biomass Recovery Chance: +1% – 30%
- Power Set 3
- Toxic Nest Maximum Charges: +1 – 30
- Structure Morph and Evolution Rate: -2% – 60%
Calldown Abilities
Places a hidden explosive mine which spreads creep and damages enemies which walk on them. Can store up to 5 charges.
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Heal all allied units with a burst heal for 100 health and heals 5 health per second for 10 seconds. Affects units of all type including buildings.
Improved Mend: Mend can store up to 3 charges.
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Upgrades
Enemies damaged by Toxic Nests drop 50% additional Biomass; also slow those enemies attack and movement speeds by 75% (20% for heroic units) for 5 seconds. Toxic Nests have a 50% chance to respawn on death.
Enemy Drops Double Biomass Chance Mastery: Enemies can drop double biomass with a chance of 1.5% per mastery point.
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Mend can store up to 3 charges and its cooldown is reduced by 30 seconds.
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Army
Units
Abathur has access to the following units and structures:
| Icon | Unit | Details |
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Swarm Queen | Powerful support unit ideal for zerg defense. Can spawn Creep Tumor and use Rapid Tranfusion. |
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Roach | Armored ranged attacker. Assault unit with high health and average damage. (Evolves to vile roach breed at level 14) |
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Ravager | Ranged artillery. Can use Corrosive Bile. Evolves from Roach. |
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Swarm Host | Burrowed siege attacker. Spawns Locusts. |
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Mutalisk | Aerospace assault flyer. Bounces its shot to strike multiple targets. |
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Overseer | Spellcaster mutation of the Overlord. Works as a detector and has numerous special abilities. |
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Guardian | Long-range anti-ground flyer. Evolves from Mutalisk. |
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Devourer | Powerful anti-air flyer. Can use Corrosive Acid. Evolves from Mutalisk. |
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Viper | Aerospace assault caster. Able to manipulate battlefield conditions. Can use Parasitic Bomb, Consume, Blinding Cloud, and Abduct abilities. (Unlocks at level 8) |
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Brutalisk | Evolves from ground units; terrestrial heavy assault unit. Cannot have more than 3 at the same time. (Unlocks at level 2; a ground zerg requires 100 stacks of biomass to transform) |
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Leviathan | Evolves from air units; aerospace heavy assault unit. Cannot have more than 3 at the same time. (Unlocks at level 2; a air zerg requires 100 stacks of biomass to transform) |
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Spine Crawler | Anti-ground mobile creep-bound defensive structure. |
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Spore crawler | Anti-air mobile creep-bound defensive structure. |
Progression
Abathur acquires the following talents as he levels up.
Abathur's units gain increased life, attack speed, and energy regeneration by collecting Biomass from fallen enemies.
- Roaches do not cost vespene gas.
- Larvae spawn at an increased rate.
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Unlocks the ability for ground units with 100 stacks of Biomass to evolve into Brutalisks. Air units with 100 stacks of Biomass evolve into Leviathans.
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Enemies damaged by Toxic Nests drop 50% additional Biomass; also slow those enemies attack and movement speeds by 75% (20% for heroic units) for 5 seconds. Toxic Nests have a 50% chance to respawn on death.
Enemy Drops Double Biomass Chance Mastery: Enemies can drop double biomass with a chance of 1.5% per mastery point.
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Unlocks the following upgrades at the Roach warren:
• Roaches gain +3 armor when under 50% life.
• Increase the damage of Ravager's Corrosive Bile ability by 20.
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Mend can store up to 3 charges and its cooldown is reduced by 30 seconds.
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Unlocks the following upgrade at the Evolution chamber
• Allow Hatcheries, Lairs and Hives to birth two Swarm Queens simultaneously.
• Allow the Swarm Queen's Rapid Transfusion ability to heal biological and mechanical units.
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When killed, your units have a 50% chance to drop all their Biomass.
Essence Hoarder: Increases the Biomass Recovery chance from 50% to 100%.
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Flying caster. Able to manipulate battlefield conditions. Can use Parasitic Bomb, Consumption, Disabling Cloud, and Abduct abilities.
Can attack air units.
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Unlocks the following upgrades at the Infestation pit:
• Unlock the Swarm host's Deep Tunnel ability, which allows it to quickly burrow to a target location.
• Unlock the Viper's Paralytic Barbs ability, which increases the stun duration of Abduct.
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Brutalisks and Leviathans gain Symbiotes that follow them, attacking enemies and protecting their host with the Carapace ability.
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Unlocks the following upgrades at the Spire and Greater spire:
• Increase the Guardian attack range.
• Enable the Devourer's attacks to deal area damage.
• Upgrade the Mutalisk's attacks to deal 100% bonus damage to armored units.
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Enemy units have a chance to spawn friendly Locusts upon death.
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Upgrades Abathur's Roaches to the Vile Strain.
Assault unit. Regenerates life quickly while burrowed. Attacks debilitate the target, slowing its attack and movement speeds.
Can attack ground units.
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Abathur's units heal themselves for 1% of the damage they deal per stack of Biomass they possess.
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Strategy
Zerg-strategy is all about churning out insane numbers of fast, cheap, disposable units. You just keep the flood coming and win through sheer attrition. But by Zerg standards, Abathur’s units tend to be big, slow-moving--and expensive--juggernauts, having more in common with those of Artanis than other zerg commanders.
This impression is further reinforced by Abathur’s core mechanic: biomass. All enemy units drop biomass when killed, and Abathur’s combat units can collect it to grow more powerful. If they consume enough biomass, they will eventually evolve into an ultimate form. Ground units become brutalisks, and air units leviathans. This further encourages Abathur to keep his units alive for as long as possible. Losing a unit costs you not only the resources you spent on creating it, but all the biomass they’ve collected.
- Recommended masteries
Power Set 1: Toxic Nest Respawn Chance.
- Full points translates into better healing through Biotic Leech. Biomass is a critical resource for Abathur.
Power Set 2: Biomass Recovery Chance.
- Full points in in Symbiote Carapace Absorption gives you 60 extra hp -- on a unit that already has 1.7k hp. Just build queens and save your biomass.
Power Set 3: Structure Morph and Evolution Rate.
- Full points offsets weak initial startup: 24 second expansion and faster upgrades. Get maxed 3/3 upgrades before 12 minutes.
Ramp Up
- Great
- Production capacity utilization required until critical mass achieves full potential.
Slow startup initially; as soon as you get the first brutalisk, you are set for the rest of the mission. Abathur's main selling point is that he can ramp up into the undisputed best potential army in the game. How good he is on any given Mutators-map entirely depends on how fast he gets there. Unfortunately, there are many mutators that inhibit Abathur early on by preventing Toxic Nests from achieving their full potential.
In the early game, relying on toxic nests for defense is a crucial step towards getting a strong start in production. From level 3, Virulent Nests doubles the biomass from units killed by toxic nests, so Abathur wants to lure enemies into his nests whenever possible. Once the foe is dead, a single roach or mutalisk should be sent to collect all the biomass, with the goal of getting the first brutalisk or leviathan quickly. One brutalisk is better than several slightly-buffed roaches.
Versatility
- Great
- Ability to reposition and counter different Mutators compositions
If there's an enemy unit, Abathur has the counter-unit for it. Abathur has incredible utility and can snowball into an extremely powerful late-game commander with proper army-management. His unique unit loadout equips him with a variety of anti-air options including ravagers, swarm queens, mutalisks, devourers, and vipers which can all become more powerful as they accrue biomass, or even morph into terrifying units like the leviathan or brutalisk.
Besides the early-game weakness, Abathur suffers a large mobility weakness. He is the only commander without an immediate calldown, so he'll have trouble dealing with attacks on the other side of the map. Good map presence with deep tunneling Brutalisks and Swarm Hosts to teleport anywhere on the map, which enables them to respond instantly to threats; but often times it's not enough.
Diversity
- Flawless
- Amount of different combined arms build compositions that are viable
Abathur can build any army composition you want and win no matter what wave you're facing. Double larva production makes tech switching easy. Though Mutalisk-based compositions are clearly the best in the end-game, it's not always the best choice. In truth, all of Abathur's units are viable.
Abathur’s endless pursuit of perfection causes his units to become stronger as they acquire the essence of fallen foes. When playing as Abathur, any time his forces or those of an ally slay a unit, that unit will drop its biomass onto the battlefield. This biomass can be collected by Abathur's units, and as they accrue more biomass they will change in both physical appearance and strength.
Skillfulness
- Low
- Required ability to Micro/Macro amount to maximize commander's capabilities
No queen injections and creep anywhere at the press of a button means the only real problem is deciding which units get biomass. Toxic nests act as creep tumors with creep spreading
Abathur's army requires only micro for the Vipers and Ravagers; otherwise, you can 1A your way through. Try to collect all the biomass on one roach at the beginning to fast-track a brutalisk. Abathur has lots of different options, but his truly overpowered ability is the Viper's Blinding Cloud. Vespene gas should be spent on devourers/guardians and the rest of the minerals in roaches.
Durability
- Flawless
- Ability defend control points and survive Mutators foes and powers
Abathur's units just stop dying once they get enough biomass. Swarm Queens and Swarm Hosts provide solid base defense without need for automated defensive structures. Toxic nests can be used to augment defenses around the map or provide vision. Excellent sustain and damage mitigation with swarm queens, mend and blinding cloud. Siege capabilities with swarm hosts and guardians.
As the game continues, the total amount of biomass in Abathur's army can grow exponentially, but only if his troops stay alive. In the early game, Abathur's Mend ability is his main source of healing. Later, swarm queens take over as the "medics" of his army; brutalisks and leviathans have so many hit points they barely notice Mend.
Firepower
- Great
- Ability to kill Mutators foes quickly and efficiently
A murder of mutalisks is, hands down, the strongest army in the game. Insane DPS and partial splash to boot. Swarm queens and roaches provide excellent early game presence. Brutalisks and leviathans provide excellent late game presence; mainly because nothing dies.
If any unit manages to acquire 100 biomass, it will be transformed into an ultimate evolution of its former self. In this instance, ground units will evolve into brutalisks with substantial health pools and a ground-based cleave attack, while air units will transform into leviathans to wreak havoc on everything they touch. As Abathur's commander level increases, these units can become more powerful, even gaining a symbiote to help attack enemies while protecting their host with a damage absorbing carapace.
Synergies
Abathur has the following advantages:
Protoss Commanders
Alarak is a debatable teammate for Abathur. Abathur tends to have a small durable army of short-ranged units, while Alarak favors large expandable armies for Empower Me and likewise must rely on short-ranged supplicants. Further empowerment is possible with large groups of locusts. Swarm Queens can empower Alarak while also using rapid transfusion. Alarak is anti-ground army oriented, so Abathur must compensate with an effective anti-air army. Because of Alarak's insane damage output, it should be relatively easy for Abathur to harvest biomass.
Artanis is an excellent teammate for Abathur. Shield overcharge and guardian shell will made Abathur units live little longer, decreasing the chances of a unit losing its biomass, especially in the early game. Artanis can also make up for Abathur's early lack of anti-air with dragoons.
Karax is has some ability synergies with Abathur, as his chrono wave can boost his research and production which is essential to Abathur's army strength. Toxic nests work well with Karax's static defenses, and the Spear of Adun's orbital bombardment abilities can help cover Abathur from air units in the early game.
Vorazun has very little synergy with Abathur. Having said that, Vorazun's black hole ability can trap enemies for the area of effect damage done by many of Abathur's mid to late game units. Emergency recall also works on burrowed units, so a well timed burrow can save some of the more expensive ground units Abathur uses.
Terran Commanders
Jim Raynor has some synergy with Abathur. Abathur's mend ability can aid in large engagements when used alongside Raynor's medics. Raynor's marines can also cover Abathur's lack of early game anti-air. In mid-late game, Abathur's heavy units and high area of effect damage goes well with heavy infantry support from Raynor.
Rory Swann is another good choice for Abathur. Vespene harvesters allow Abathur to gain much needed gas for later game units and high tier research. Many of Swann's units have high range, which allows Abathur's shorter ranged, high health ground army to create a buffer between the enemy and high priority targets like siege tanks.
Zerg Commanders
It should be worth noting Kerrigan and Zagara may spawn a Queen capable of injecting Abathur's base for him, if the player is friendly and willing to part with early-game resources to help Abathur expand.
Sarah Kerrigan works well with Abathur. Kerrigan herself can cover the early game with little assistance from Abathur. This allows Abathur to spend resources on teching up rather then focusing on early game defense. Kerrigan's assimilation aura allows Abathur to gain a large resource boost. Malignant creep can benefit the overall speed and performance of Abathur's army, and allow him to respond to threats faster. In late game, Abathur can provide a frontline army while Kerrigan supports from behind.
Zagara has little to offer Abathur. Mass frenzy can serve as a useful buff, and Zagara's early units can aid Abathur's weak early game. Otherwise, Zagara's cheap expendable short range units overlap in purpose too much with Abathur's short range heavily armored army.
Achievements
Gameplay
 Toxicity
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| Points |
10 |
| Criteria |
Deal 25,000 damage with Toxic Nests on Hard difficulty in Co-op Missions. |
| Edit | |
 Morphology
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| Points |
10 |
| Criteria |
Morph 50 Ravagers, Devourers or Guardians in a single mission on Hard difficulty. |
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 Big Game
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| Points |
10 |
| Criteria |
Deal 500,000 damage with Brutalisks or Leviathans in Co-op Missions. |
| Edit | |
 Symbiosis
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| Points |
10 |
| Criteria |
Heal 50,000 life on allied units in Co-op Missions. |
| Edit | |
 Evolution Master
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| Points |
20 | ||
| Criteria |
Complete all the Commander Abathur achievements. | ||
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Levels
 Abathur: Level 5
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| Points |
10 |
| Criteria |
Reach level 5 with Evolution Master Abathur in Co-op Missions. |
| Edit | |
 Abathur: Level 10
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| Points |
10 |
| Criteria |
Reach level 10 with Evolution Master Abathur in Co-op Missions. |
| Edit | |
 Abathur: Level 15
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| Points |
10 |
| Criteria |
Reach level 15 with Evolution Master Abathur in Co-op Missions. |
| Edit | |
Development
During development, the team considered numerous different ways to make Abathur an evolution-focused commander. At one time he could have unit upgrades that went up to 10, allowing for roaches with 14 attack range and mutalisks with 500 HP. At another point biomass was a third resource exclusive to him that players would earn and spend. His Symbiote was originally a support unit that could be moved to different units to support them as it can in Heroes of the Storm where Abathur has a similar ability, but this was deemed too confusing to keep track of in large armies. There was also the option for him to have both vile and corpser-strain roaches at once.[2]
Data in the map editor suggests that Abathur would have had the evolution pit as a unique structure, similar to Karax and the solar forge. The evolution pit would have researched upgrades to Abathur's toxic nests, locusts, and the symbiote mechanic.[3]
References
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. Commander: Abathur. Battle.Net. Accessed 2016-05-23.
- ↑ 2016-05-13, Reddit Co-op Staff AMA. Reddit, accessed on 2016-05-15
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void Map Editor. (Activision Blizzard) (in English). March 12, 2013