While this mission may seem difficult at first, with a
sound strategy, it is actually very easy.
The key method for winning this fight is to produce units which cannot easily be killed by ground units. In this
case, we will start with mostly Dark Templar and transition into air.
Below, you will find a step-by-step guide for dominating this mission so that you can finally beat this mission
on Brutal mode!
I have also included a video guide at the bottom demonstrating this strategy. This will help give you
an idea of how to set up your "wall" as the text description may be a bit hard to imagine.
Step-by-Step In Utter Darkness Brutal Guide
As soon as the mission starts, start training Probes. You will want to train about 7 Probes at each Nexus
and rally them to minerals.
Next, build some two Gateways (you already have two), giving you four total.
Starting now and throughout the match, research ground +1 weapons (until you hit +3) and get both weapons
and armor upgrades for air units.
Next, build a Gateway to wall off the front entrance to your base. Stick Zealots in the "cracks" and press
the "H" key to "hold" your units in place. This will ensure a wall that no Zerglings or ground units can run
through.
Use your Templar to Psionic Storm units massing up at your wall, and have your Colossi wipe them out as
they gather at the front of your base. Use your Phoenix to clear out any air units.
Next, train large quantity of Dark Templar and use them to "wall" off your base. You will need about 30
total. You should have a line like this at each entrance:
You basically place all the Dark Templar in a line, then press the "H" key to hold them in place. Make sure
they are all standing shoulder to shoulder. This will prevent any ground units from getting into your base and
is highly effective.
Up until about 700 kills, the Zerg player does not use any detection, so your wall will hold off any ground
units.
Once you get enough Dark Templar to wall off your base, switch over to Void Rays. Use your extra minerals
to place cannons all over the top of your base.
Once you hit around 700 kills, the enemy will start adding an Overseer in some waves. Use your fleet of
Phoenix and Void Rays to seek these out and kill them before they get too close.
If the Overseers get too close, your wall will fall and you will lose the match. Save every 100 kills, so
if you miss and Overseer and your wall falls, you can load the match and grab the Overseer before it is too
late.
Just keep this up until about the 1700 kill mark. At this point, waves start coming faster and it becomes
very difficult to keep up with all of the Overseers. At this point, retreat to your base.
It will take awhile for the computer to finish off all of your buildings. Use this time to construct a lot
of Pylons and Cannons (you will lose a lot of supplies from your Pylons in your main getting killed.
Keep Dark templar on each entrance to your base. They do not have to form a wall, but keep them alive by
picking off detection with your air units.
Switch over from Void Rays to Carriers. Once the Mothership comes out, Carriers + the Mothership are very
difficult for the computer to fight against.
The kills from 1700 to 2500 add up very quickly and you should have no problem getting this achievement
once you hit the Carriers stage.
Make sure you set your Carriers to auto-cast building new interceptors (right click the icon). This will
keep your Carriers going strong.
Once you are in your main base, use your few remaining Void Rays and Phoenix to pick off Overseers as they
come in, but do not worry about the Templar Wall. The kills will add up very quickly and 2500 should be no
problem.
You can use extra resources to build more cannons, but it is not as crucial as killing detectors so your
Dark Templar can chew up all the ground units.
In Utter Darkness Brutal Video Walkthrough
The video guide below will make this mission much easier to complete. You can easily get to 3000+ kills on
Brutal mode with the strategy unveiled in the video below:
Part 1
Part 2
In Utter Darkness Brutal Guide Conclusion
The toughest part by far is from ~700 to 1500 kills when you have to be very cautious of detection. Make sure
you save every 100 kills so you can load the game if you fail and this Starcraft 2 mission becomes very
easy.
