Miner Evacuation

Miner Evacuation is a Co-op Missions scenario, based on the mission "Night Terrors" in Nova Covert Ops, that was added in Patch 3.8. It involves the evacuation of a Kel-Morian Combine planet that has been overrun with infested terrans. Guildmaster Debra Greene tasks allied commanders with saving the shuttles as they launch, and defend them before they are overrun. There will be nine total areas the shuttles can launch from, but only seven will launch per match, forcing a different play experience each map.^[1]

Background[]

	This article or section contains information derived from Co-op Missions, and should not be considered part of the official StarCraft storyline.

During the End War, a Kel-Morian Combine mining colony came under attack by infested terrans and hybrids under the control of Amon. During the initial attack, a blightbringer killed a great number of miners, and the Umojan Protectorate eradicators the Combine gifted the miners went haywire. Allied commanders were tasked by Guildmaster Debra Greene with defending the evacuation shuttles as they left the planet with the remaining miners. However, activating the engines of the ship attracted the infested, and they had to be defended as they got off the ground. During the battle, the blightbringer and the eradicators showed themselves, and Greene requested that the commanders destroy them. The commanders were successful in defending the transports and evacuating the survivors.^[2]

Gameplay[]

This mission has players defending five transports as they begin to evacuate the planet. When activating, the transports will attract waves of infested, which will come at multiple angles. This necessitates both players defending the various attack paths to prevent the transport from being overrun. Be wary of Volatile Infested, as they explode on contact for great damage, making them a serious threat to swarms of melee units, such as Zerglings. Much like "Chain of Ascension," the player's expansion is behind an enemy base, located near a transport, and (on harder difficulties) is guarded by a group of HERCs and infested mercenaries. The base must be cleared out for players to unlock their full economy.

Players must stand next to the ship for 10 seconds to activate them, though after a time the ships will activate themselves. Amon's forces will also send attack waves at the ships even when they are not activating, and this will be given as a warning on the minimap. Usually these are in the form of waves of enemy transports.

Early on, the bonus objective of killing blightbringer and the eradicators will present itself, but will be on a short timer. Both bonus objectives automatically trigger when a player moves a unit close enough. Blightbringer will summon infested terrans, put down a caustic pool that damages and slows in an area and burrow, while the two eradicators with randomly fire ahead of them in straight lines. Players should take care not to devote too many forces to fighting their way to these bonus objectives, as attack waves on the transports will come often. The enemy will also send ground transports against the player, which when destroyed will summon enemy Death Heads.

This mission can be best achieved with either a mobile force able to push through lanes of attack and reinforce all lanes, or a more stationary ranged force like Swann's siege tanks. As the map involves moving around from transport to transport, commanders such as Karax possess a slight disadvantage, as static defense will only serve to help for one transport.^[2]

Dehaka will also struggle at first due to normal infested giving out no essence. Dehaka players will be relying on the Aberrations and Infested Marines that spawn as well as the attack waves sent to snipe the transports in order to level Dehaka.

It's worth noting that on Brutal difficulty the first ship that will launch is NOT situated next to the Commander's starting location. This will force them to macro less in order to get to the ship before the panicked launch. The ship will be destroyed within seconds as the infested defenses near it will also aggro on it before the infested waves or Amon's forces even spawn.

Mutators[]

The following mutators have been applied to Miner Evacuation.

• Fire in the Hole
• Of Mines and Miners
• Timely Reinforcements
• Endless Sparkles
• Burning Evacuation
• Wheel of Misfortune
• Safety Violation
• Chilling Adaptation
• Death from Below
• Charnel House
• Out of Sight
• Cremation

Quotations[]

See: Miner Evacuation Quotations

Trivia[]

• The cyclones that spawn alongside the eradicators have the MULE portrait, in order to show that they are the variant piloted by an AI.
• According to data in the Galaxy Map Editor, in earlier versions of the map, the infested would be hostile to Amon's Forces and could destroy incoming attack waves.

References[]