Maw of the Void is a StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty mission. Raynor's Raiders tried to collect an artifact from a xel'naga worldship populated by the Tal'darim.[1]
History
Background
Raynor's Raiders were hired by Valerian Mengsk to retrieve another xel'naga artifact from the Tal'darim.
The Mission
This time, the Tal'darim had the assistance of a xel'naga worldship, which was protected by rip-field generators. These dealt damage to any unshielded creatures and vehicles. The Raiders attacked the first rip-field generator with their newly acquired Minotaur-class battlecruisers. They then set up a base and prepare to attack the vault.
As the second rip-field generator was destroyed the Dark Templar contacted Raynor about the Tal'darim imprisoning them and the bonus objective was to liberate all four prisons.
The Tal'darim executor's own mothership assisted in the defense after the third rip-field generator was destroyed. The Raiders assaulted the mothership and worldship, succeeding in liberating the artifact, and resulting in the mothership's destruction killing the executor in the process. Several bands of dark templar were also freed; captives of the Tal'darim.[1]
Bar Fight
The alliance between the Raiders and the Dominion caused dissent amongst the rebels. While Raynor saw it as an alliance of convenience, some of the crew believed they had been sold out. A drunk Tychus Findlay fanned the flames by agreeing that Raynor could not be trusted. The rebel leader was forced into a brawl with Findlay in Hyperion's cantina. Although the fully armored ex-convict threw tables and the jukebox, Raynor won through superior agility. Raynor convinced his disgruntled crew that the zerg were just as much a threat to terran freedom as the Dominion was, and faith in his leadership was restored. Raynor then demanded that Findlay fix the jukebox.[2]
| The next article in this series is Gates of Hell. |
Gameplay
A significant portion of the map is covered by an HP-draining aura, produced by rip-field generators. Units with active plasma shields are unaffected; this favors the protoss defenders. Researching bio-steel (accessed via the zerg tech tree) can be useful in offsetting the aura's damage; it won't cancel out the aura, but it will slow the effect somewhat.
Battlecruisers have the health to sortie into the aura; a fleet provides adequate firepower. Withdraw ships for repair before they are destroyed by enemy fire or by the aura. Science vessels make it easier to keep the fleet repaired in the field; SCVs are too fragile to enter the rip-fields.
The dark templar may be freed to add shielded units to the army. Clearing the photon cannons with yamato cannons allow the dark templar to provide ground support to the fleet. Dark templar are useful in destroying field generators that lack detectors nearby, but keep in mind that should their shields be depleted, dark templar start taking damage just like any terran unit. When the enemy mothership arrives stay out of its range. Wait for it to near the edge of the rip-field and strike it with yamato cannons. This will cause it to retreat. Do not engage directly with battlecruisers until it is almost dead. Initially, warp prisms are used to power some of the photon cannons. These prisms are used as transports as other prisms are lost. This will leave the cannons unpowered.
Enemy attacks will escalate to carriers and colossi. Both overmatch bunkers and marines, and the former may attack out of range of missile turrets. Reinforce the defenses with siege tanks and air units.
Achievements
 Maw of the Void
| |
| Points |
15 (Artifact Mission) |
| Criteria |
Complete all objectives in the "Maw of the Void" mission. |
 I Have The Power
| |
| Points |
10 (Artifact Mission) |
| Criteria |
Destroy all rip-field generators in the "Maw of the Void" mission on Normal difficulty. |
 Master of the Universe
| |
| Points |
10 (Artifact Mission) |
| Criteria |
Complete the "Maw of the Void" mission without losing a unit inside the Rip Field on Hard difficulty. |
Trivia
The achievements of this mission appear to reference the He-Man franchise.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Maw of the Void (in English). 2010-07-27.
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: Bar Fight. (in English). 2010.