This Starcraft 2 Path of Ascension challenge guide will
show you exactly how to unlock the gold medal by losing 10 units or less on this task.
This challenge gives faces players with 3 "rounds" of action, each round giving the Protoss player a large army
to split up to take on 3 smaller groups of enemies while protecting a Pylon.
Three rounds of 3 obstacles leads to 9 encounters. You cannot lose any Pylons and you must lose 10 units or less
to earn the gold medal.
Getting a perfect score on all the obstacles (no units lost) is challenging, but you should have no trouble at
all losing less than 10 units with the strategies outlined here.
Path of Ascension Gold Medal Video Walkthrough
This video walkthrough demonstrates exactly how to split up your army but more importantly control your units in
order to beat Path of Ascension. Under the video, specific instructions are given which show you how to split up
your army for maximal efficiency.
Step by Step Path of Ascension Strategy Guide
Round 1:
Top Left: Send all Stalkers here. Place your Stalkers in a line from left to right so that
each Hellion attack only hits 1 Stalker. If your Stalkers get low on HP, use Blink to escape and keep that
Stalker safely hidden. You will likely have to pull back 2-3 Stalkers but you should lose zero units here.
Top Right: 3 Colossus, 1 Sentry. At the thin part of the map, you will want to use your
Sentry to drop 4 Force Fields (see video), blocking the entrance off completely. Your 3 Colossus will then
safely sit back and blast through the Marines. Zero units lost.
Bottom Right: 2 Colossus + Zealots. The trick here to losing no units is to let your
Colossus soften up the Marauders as much as possible before your Zealots rush in. Group of your Zealots by the
Pylon and let your 2 Colossus sit up against the Force Field. Let the Colossus get 1-2 shots off, then run them
towards your Zealots. Stop after a second and attack again, then run for the Zealots. The Marauders should be
halfway dead by the time the Zealots get to them, at which point they should be able to swarm them with at a
max 1 Zealot lost.
Round 2:
Top Left: 6 Carriers. Make sure your Carriers are spread out so they do not get all
destroyed by the Thors. Let your Carriers attack whatever Thor they can - it is better to not Focus Fire and
not have your Carriers clumped up. Each time a Carrier hits about 150 HP, you will have to pull it away and
hide it by the Pylon. You will likely pull all of your Carriers out of the fight except 1 or 2. You should not
lose any units here.
Top Right: 2 Void Rays + All Immortals. Push up with your Void Rays and Immortals as soon
as the match starts. Let your Void Rays start working on the tanks. They will not deal much damage to the tanks
until they get a charge. What you want to do is buy some time for the Void Rays. You can do this by pushing up
with your Immortals. The Siege Tanks will go into Siege Mode. When they do, run away with your Immortals. The
whole time while the tanks are going in and out of Siege Mode your Void Rays will be tearing them up. Once the
tanks move towards the Pylon again you can stop and attack them with your Immortals. You should not lose any
units here.
Bottom Right: 1 Carrier, 1 Templar, 4 Void Rays. This portion does require a bit of micro
not to lose any units, but you should save everything with this strategy. Place the Carrier in front of all of
your units. It will be the initial tank. When the Battlecruisers engage the Carrier, use your High Templar's
Feedback ability on all the Battlecruisers and then run it to safety. Meanwhile, send your Void Rays in to kill
the Battlecruisers. Shortly after the Void Rays engage, run your Carrier away in order to save it. You will
likely have to run 1-2 Void Rays away too if all 3 Battlecruisers attack the same target. You should lose no
units here.
Round 3:
It took me awhile to figure out how to do Round 3 with absolutely zero casualties. The video shows a slightly
different approach that usually results in a couple. This strategy can be used by the perfectionist that wants a
perfect score (even though you get no credit for zero deaths, just 10 or less):
Top Left: All Stalkers, 2 Archons. Let the Archons lead. Pull back each Archon when it is
at about 100 shields remaining. Blink away any Stalkers that lose their shields as well. You will likely have
to pull back both Archons as well as 2 Stalkers to not lose any units.
Top Right: 2 Archons, 1 Sentry, 1 High Templar. While it is easy to use your Colossi here,
the trick to losing zero units in Round 3 is this combination here. What you want to do is use Force Fields to
block off the choke point and when all the units are grouped up you can use Psionic Storm. Place the storm
right in the center of the unit clump, let it run its duration, and then use your second one in the same spot.
This will kill all the Reapers and half the Hellions with the remaining ones weakened. Let your Archons sit
back out of range while this is happening. When the Force Fields come down you should be hiding your Templar
and Sentry and letting the Archons finish off the weakened Hellions. No units lost.
Bottom Right: 3 Colossi, Immortals, Zealots, Phoenix. This one requires good micro to keep
every unit alive. When the match starts, run in with your Phoenix and pick up 2 Marauders while the 2 remaining
Phoenix DPS them down. Your Colossi should be in the front and should slowly kite back the enemy units while
killing the Marauders. When the tanks go into Siege Mode, back up out of their range. When they go back into
tank mode, push up and attack them with your Colossi. When they morph back into siege mode, run away. Do this
until you run out of room. At this point, rush in with your Zealots and Immortals. Use your Phoenix to pick up
4 Siege Tanks in the back just to take them out of the fight temporarily. This should only result in 2-3
casualties max, if not 0.
You may lose a Zealot in the first round, but the second round is easy to get perfect on and you should only use
a couple units max in the third round. Getting the gold medal is a cinch with these strategies!
