A lot of people have been asking me about the single player campaign and what decisions I made for Zerg and Protoss research while trying to beat the game in brutal mode. First of all, I must say that taking on Brutal mode in Starcraft 2 is not an easy task, to say the least. I’m going to show you what, in my opinion, is the best research path to follow when trying to conquer a brutal difficulty.
Protoss Research:
Tier 1– The choice is between Ultra Capacitors, which grant 5% more attack speed when upgrading weapons (and applies to both the Armory and Engineering Bay), and the Vanadium Plating, which grants 5% health in addition to armor upgrades (also applies to the Armory and engineering bay). Like I said before, the best defense is a good offense and I found that going with the Ultra-Capacitors proved to be more beneficial. The health boost seems good, but once you’ve upgraded Stabilizing Medpacks for medics and Advanced Heal AI for medics, I didn’t see the point in extra HP.
Winner: Ultracapacitors
Level 2: The second choice is between Orbital Depots, which allows you to place Supply Depots instantly, and Micro-Filtration, which allows you to collect vespene gas 25% faster and also applies to Automated Refineries. While orbital shells seem fast and efficient, the only serious use I could see is making a quick wall out of them. Now I’m guessing that since you’ve come this far, you’ve gotten used to building supply depots as needed and most of the more difficult missions actually max out your supply early on, making this upgrade almost worthless. However, I’ve found microfiltering to be the best option simply because it allows you to take out the big guns and get upgrades faster on missions.
Winner: Micro-Filtration
Level 3: The third choice is between the Automated Refinery, which allows Refineries to no longer need SCVs to collect gas, and the Command Center Reactor, which allows you to train 2 SCVs at once. I’ve seen people go for both options, but I feel like the Automated Refinery takes the cake. I don’t see the point of training 2 SCVs at once when you could have the refinery automated and be able to build 6 less SCVs per base. Granted, you’ll be able to increase your economy at a faster rate, but isn’t that what MULEs are for once you’ve upgraded Orbital Command?
Winner: Automated Refinery
Level 4: The fourth option is between Raven and Science Vessel. Now I’ve seen the power of Ravens versus Zerg and they can be absolutely devastating, but I don’t think this can even come close to competing with Science Vessel. The Science Vessel’s abilities greatly exceed those of the Raven. Being able to heal your ships and vehicles, as well as gain access to Irradiate (which is pretty much the Terran version of Fungal Growth) is way better than being able to drop auto turrets and homing missiles. The Science Vessel is the serious and obvious choice.
Winner: Science Ship
level 5: The final choice is between Tech Reactor, which combines Tech Lab and Reactor into one simple addon, and Orbital Strike, which allows the barracks units to drop the pod at the barracks rally point. When it comes to Orbital Strike, there is one keyword you should pay attention to: barracks units. Had this applied to Factories and Spaceports as well, I’d understand taking it, but being able to just drop 2 Marines or Marauders or Medics at the rally point is worthless at this stage of the game when you’ll most likely be building most of your Starport strike force. The Tech Reactor simplifies everything and allows you to pump everything you can build quickly and efficiently.
Winner: Tech Reactor