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Trouble in Paradise is the fourth mission of the Nova Covert Ops campaign, and the first mission of the second mission pack.

History[]

Heroes[]

"Reports are coming in from major population centers. They detail extensive damage, and high casualties."

- Reigel(src)

After Agent Nova Terra discovered the Defenders of Man's plans to use psi-emitters to lure the feral zerg to civilian worlds, Nova set a course for Tyrador IX to try to prevent its destruction. However, the Defenders of Man beat Nova there, and using a viking with a loaded psi-emitter, the Defenders of Man lured the zerg to the planet. The zerg hit the undefended resort world, causing extensive casualties. Dominion forces on the planet were outnumbered, and all evacuation attempts were unsuccessful.

Nova and her Covert Ops Crew arrived, and surveyed the situation. They realized they could not evacuate the population on their own, but noticed that the Defenders of Man fleet was inbound to evacuate the population and claim themselves as heroes. Nova planned to first assault the zerg position, then deal with the Defenders of Man.[1]

Mission[]

"I am Ji'nara, First Ascendant of the Tal'darim. Our Highlord has charged me with the eradication of the Defenders of Man. Do not interfere!"
"That's a tempting solution, but any assault on the Defenders' position will surely kill the civilians. Evacuation is impossible."

- Ji'nara and Reigel(src)

Nova and a group of banshees landed on the planet, while Reigel established a base near their position. Reigel noted that warp signatures were detected, and speculated that it may be zerg reinforcements. Meanwhile, a massive amount of civilians evacuated to a stadium near the Defenders of Man's position, fortifying themselves in the structure. Nova stated that they had to destroy the zerg to prevent the civilians from being killed.

Nova and her banshees attacked the nearby zerg hatcheries, attempting to soften up the zerg on the surface before more forces arrived. However, it turned out that the warp signatures were not zerg, but rather the Tal'darim Death Fleet. They arrived, blasting through the zerg and fortifying a position on the surface. First Ascendant Ji'nara announced her intention to destroy the Defenders of Man, and told the Dominion not to interfere. While willing to let the Defenders be destroyed, Reigel knew that the Tal'darim's attack would surely kill the civilians, and that Nova had no choice but to protect the Defenders of Man and destroy the mothership. However, it was being shielded by nearby shield projectors. Nova gathered her forces and prepared to assault the projectors.

VoidRayMothership SC2-NCO Cine1

The Death Fleet arriving at Tyrador IX

Reigel meanwhile noticed strange mutations in the remaining zerg in the area, and requested the Nova destroy the remaining hatcheries so he could study them. Also nearby was a strange Tal'darim fleet beacon emitting an unusual power source, which Reigel also requested Nova destroy so he could research.

Nova destroyed the four projectors shielding the mothership. Enraged, Ji'nara sent her mothership at Nova's position. However without the shield projectors it was vulnerable to terran weaponry, and Nova and her forces were able to destroy it. With the mothership destroyed, the Defenders of Man were able to rally again and engage the last of the zerg; evacuation could resume. Nova mournfully reflected that the Defenders of Man would get all the credit for the evacuation, but Reigel stated while true, she saved thousands of lives, and he would inform Emperor Valerian Mengsk of what had been done.[2]

Walkthrough[]

Starcraft_2_NOVA_COVERT_OPS_-_Trouble_in_Paradise_-_Brutal_Guide_-_All_Achievements_(Mission_4)

Starcraft 2 NOVA COVERT OPS - Trouble in Paradise - Brutal Guide - All Achievements (Mission 4)

The first section of the mission revolves around clearing out zerg hatcheries using an array of cloaked units. Permanent banshee cloak, Nova's C-20A rifle, Nova's range upgrade and Nova's permanent cloak are all helpful for this section, as they allow Nova to pick off spore crawlers from out of their detection range and snipe overseers. During this section, the player will be given a nuke, which can be used to pick off heavy pockets of resistance. Otherwise, the player may go for Monomolecular Blade and Stim Infusion for maximize damage output and mobility, allowing her to make quick work of spine crawlers, and may go for a separate hatchery while her banshees take care of another. Her force can no longer reach overseers however, so they must be positioned carefully.

The amount that the base is cleared will make zerg attacks lighter in the second section, as well as make the bonus objective of clearing zerg hatcheries easier.

Shield Projectors[]

The second section is quite complicated, as it involves rapidly clearing each of the four shield projectors before the mothership is able to charge up and attack the Defenders of Man. The objectives are all buildings with photon cannon defenses nearby, and are quite spread out. Therefore, striking a balance between speed and efficiency is key: Banshees and siege tanks are both quite suited to accomplishing the task. It is unnecessary to support the defender forces as the mothership is virtually indestructible when active, and the defenders will attack your forces too.

Meanwhile, the player must establish their economy (comprising SCV production for extra resources, more production structures and upgrades), and finally also defend the base from attacks from both zerg ground forces and protoss vehicles. The mission requires a lot of firepower and it can be a lot of pressure to produce it in such a short timeframe and with limited income from a single base.

The protoss force will send an attack wave after each projector is down. Nova's Pulse Grenade will deal great damage to them, as well as prevent any warp-in attempt from warp prisms. In higher difficulties, these attack waves will have capital ships such as void rays and tempests that wreck static defenses without any additional support units.

As mentioned, the objective structures can be safely destroyed with a ground strike led by a few siege tanks – with Nova and some marines (with Super Stimpaks for survivability) providing AA cover and support. As they outrange photon cannons and other defenses, they can easily clear each of the outposts and get the job done simply. Once production is established at the base, switching to goliaths will prove to be more useful later in the mission. A good equipment choice for this is Jump Jets for the tanks, which can help get them in range quicker and cut out the hassle of safe repositioning once the cannons are destroyed, but Internalized Tech Module may be helpful for aggressive macro players. The main disadvantage of this strategy is the slow speed to siege up and also to move the supporting force; it is important to leave some tanks behind to defend.

Alternatively, a more versatile Banshee strike force escorted by Nova may prove faster at picking off the projectors from the right angle, but they are much more vulnerable due to plentiful detection, including oracles which have a new detection mechanic, sending out a pulse that decloaks units. However, by destroying the target quickly and with sufficient micro of damaged aircraft, the Banshees can survive and be repaired.

Meanwhile, as the player builds their base, it will be vital to establish solid defenses such as supply depot walls (below the ramp if possible) and bunkers to prevent disruptions. Produce some Missile Turrets to the northeast side, and make ghost academies with extra resources as nukes will be helpful in clearing out clusters of Tal'darim. Choosing the right production addons will be essential to producing units efficiently and on time.

Bonus objective[]

This involves destroying the fleet beacon at the bottom right of the map on an island. While it appears to be inaccessible, there is a narrow strip of shallow water that leads from the southeastern shield projector to the island that ground units can walk over (this is noted in the scrollable map during the mission briefing). Due to the heavy detection and anti-air defenses, it is either recommended that this island be attacked with goliaths and marines or a force of well microed banshees. Timing during the mothership's attack is usually much more tight, so the player may focus on destroy all projectors first to trigger the final fight, as the mothership will take some time to come at the player's base, before attempting to go for the bonus objective.

Final objective[]

When the Tal'darim mothership attack the player's base, it will use a high damage line attack, as well as launch interceptors similar to a carrier. In addition, it can detect and warp in ground units. Marines and goliaths are useful against them, and should be built en masse before the final shield projector is destroyed. Nova with a range upgrade can attack the mothership from outside of its detection range, but does little damage to it. In desperation, using nukes on the mothership is also effective, as when it moves over the player's base it will often remain in one place. After the mothership is destroyed, the mission is over.[2]

If the last projector is destroyed while the mothership is active, it will change course toward the player's base right away, Otherwise it will spawn outshore right under the base of the Defenders of Man.

Achievements[]

For What Motherships? achievement, the player can choose to not use the nuke provided by Reigel during the first part of the mission, which will allow Nova to have nuke available immediately for the second part. From then on, multiple nukes should be prepared to partially soften defenses around the shield projector. At Hard difficulty, enemy forces does not have good usage of observers, so multiple banshees can charge in to finish the shield projector while dodging detection pulse from oracles. It is advised to destroy all enemy hatcheries during the first part of the mission so the player can focus on countering attack waves from the Tal'darim and eventually their mothership.

Achievements[]

TroubleParadise SC2-CovOps AchieveIconComplete Trouble in Paradise
Points

10 Achievement SC2 Game1

Criteria

Complete the “Trouble in Paradise” mission in Nova: Covert Ops.

Edit
TroubleParadise SC2-CovOps AchieveIcon1 Somebody Call For An Exterminator?
Points

10 Achievement SC2 Game1

Criteria

Destroy at least 3 hatcheries before zerg reinforcements arrive in the "Trouble in Paradise" mission.

Edit
TroubleParadise SC2-CovOps AchieveIcon2 Paradise Not Lost
Points

10 Achievement SC2 Game1

Criteria

Prevent the Defenders of Man from losing more than 20 structures in the "Trouble in Paradise" mission on Normal difficulty or higher.

Edit
TroubleParadise SC2-CovOps AchieveIcon3 What Mothership?
Points

10 Achievement SC2 Game1

Criteria

Complete the "Trouble in Paradise" mission without letting the Tal'darim mothership fully power up on Hard difficulty or higher.

Edit
NCO10 SC2AchiveImage Someone Called for an Exterminator
Points

10 Achievement SC2 Game1

Criteria

Destroy all 6 Hatcheries before Zerg reinforcements arrive in the "Trouble in Paradise" mission in Normal difficulty.

Edit

Notes[]

  • Various destroyed billboards around the zerg hatcheries contain images from the Maximum Novadrive April Fools page.[3]
  • This mission mirrors and contains references to the Wings of Liberty terran mission Safe Haven, which involved destroying the energy sources that power the protoss mothership before it destroyed terran encampments, before having to destroy the mothership itself.
  • The briefing screen is the first of the series to be scrollable, allowing the player to pan and look around the map before deploying into the game.
  • This is the only mission of Nova Covert Ops where the Defenders of Man use marines rather than troopers.

References[]

  1. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: Heroes. (in English). 2016.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Nova Covert Ops, Trouble in Paradise (in English). 2016-08-02.
  3. Maximum Novadrive. Battle.net, accessed on 2016-04-01
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