Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
Credit Usage and Upgrade Guide
Guide written by rossmacdaddy (SC2 - ArchAvis)
for distribution on GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com)
Version 1.10
I. Introduction [01.INTR]
II. Armory Upgrades [02.ARMO]
A. Base Upgrades [2A.BASE]
B. Infantry Upgrades [2B.INFA]
C. Vehicle Upgrades [2C.VEHI]
D. Starship Upgrades [2D.STAR]
E. Dominion Upgrades [2E.DOMI]
III. Mercenary Contracts [03.MERC]
IV. Laboratory Research [04.LABO]
A. Protoss Research [4A.PROT]
B. Zerg Research [4B.ZERG]
V. Recommendations [05.RECO]
A. Armory Upgrades [5A.ARMO]
B. Mercenary Contracts [5B.MERC]
C. Laboratory Research [5C.LABO]
VI. Frequently Asked Questions [06.FREQ]
The purpose of this guide is to help Starcraft II campaign players make good
choices on how to spend their limited credits in the Wings of Liberty Campaign.
As with any FAQ, these suggestions are my opinions and nothing more. After
repeated playthroughs of the campaign, I've come to realize which upgrades are
helpful, and which are mostly garbage.
If you haven't played the campaign, here is the first thing you should know -
the credits you earn in the Wings of Liberty Campaign are not enough to
purchase all of the upgrades available to you. Here are the totals:
2,030,000 from mission rewards and bonus objectives (includes secret mission)
220,000 from excess research points sold to Mobius
2,250,000 maximum credits per campaign playthrough
Bunker
Projectile Accelerator 40,000 credits
- Bunkered units get +1 range
Neosteel Bunker 50,000 credits
- Bunkers gain 2 additional capacity
Missile Turret
Titanium Housing 50,000 credits
- Turrets gain +75 max life
Hellstorm Batteries 80,000 credits
- Turrets fire second volley of missiles for splash damage
SCV
Advanced Construction 60,000 credits
- Multiple SCVs can build structures faster
Dual-Fusion Welders 80,000 credits
- SCV repair twice as fast
Terran Building
Fire-Suppression System 90,000 credits
- Structures auto extinguish fire and repair to 50% life
Orbital Command Center 125,000 credits
- Enables use of Scanner Sweep and Calldown: MULE abilities
TOTAL FOR BASE UPGRADES 575,000 credits
B. Infantry Upgrades [2B.INFA]
Marine
Stimpacks 50,000 credits
- Marines take damage / Fire and move 50% faster for 15 seconds
Combat Shield 60,000 credits
- Marines start with +10 more max life
Medic
Advanced Medic Facilities 60,000 credits
- Medics no longer require the Tech Lab add-on
Stabilizer Medpacks 105,000 credits
- Medics heal targets 25% faster and use 33% less energy
Firebat
Incinerator Gauntlets 40,000 credits
- Firebats gain a 40% larger area attack
Juggernaut Plating 85,000 credits
- Firebats gain +2 armor
Marauder
Concussive Shells 70,000 credits
- Marauder attack slows all units in target area
Kinetic Foam 90,000 credits
- Marauders gain +25 max life
Reaper
U-238 Rounds 60,000 credits
- Reapers gain +1 range and get +3 damage to light armor
G-4 Clusterbomb 75,000 credits
- Enables use of anti-personnel charge with a large blast radius
TOTAL FOR INFANTRY UPGRADES 635,000 credits
C. Vehicle Upgrades [2C.VEHI]
Hellion
Twin-Linked Flamethrower 40,000 credits
- Doubles width of the Hellion's flame attack
Thermite Filaments 60,000 credits
- Hellions do an additional +10 damage to light armor
Vulture
Cerberus Mine 50,000 credits
- Increases mine blast and trigger radius by 33%
Replenishable Magazine 60,000 credits
- Vultures can replenish mines for 15 minerals
Goliath
Multi-Lock Weapons System 50,000 credits
- Goliaths can fire both weapons simultaneously
Ares-Class Targeting System 80,000 credits
- Goliaths gain +3 missile range and +1 cannon range
Diamondback
Tri-Lithium Power Cell 75,000 credits
- Diamondbacks gain +1 range
Shaped Hull 90,000 credits
- Diamondbacks gain +50 max life
Siege Tank
Maelstrom Rounds 105,000 credits
- Siege Tanks do additional +40 damage to primary target
Shaped Blast 140,000 credits
- Shock Cannon does 75% less damage to friendly units
TOTAL FOR VEHICLE UPGRADES 750,000 credits
D. Starship Upgrades [2D.STAR]
Medivac
Rapid Deployment Tube 50,000 credits
- Medivacs deploy loaded troops almost instantly
Advanced Healing AI 115,000 credits
- Medivacs can heal two targets at once
Wraith
Tomahawk Power Cells 80,000 credits
- Wraiths start with +100 energy
Displacement Field 125,000 credits
- Wraiths evade 20% of attacks when cloaked
Viking
Ripwave Missiles 75,000 credits
- Viking missiles do area splash damage
Phobo-Class Weapons System 90,000 credits
- Vikings gain +2 missile range and +1 cannon range
Banshee
Cross-Spectrum Dampeners 80,000 credits
- Banshees can remain cloaked for twice as long
Shockwave Missile Battery 110,000 credits
- Banshee attack fires multiple missiles in a line
Battlecruiser
Missile Pods 140,000 credits
- Enables use of anti-air area missile attack
Defensive Matrix 150,000 credits
- Enables use of energy shield that absorbs 200 damage
TOTAL FOR STARSHIP UPGRADES 1,015,000 credits
E. Dominion Upgrades [2E.DOMI]
*Ghost
Ocular Implants 85,000 credits
- Ghosts gain +2 range and +3 sight radius
Cirius Suit 125,000 credits
- Cloak no longer requires energy
*Spectre
Psionic Lash 100,000 credits
- Enables use of psionic attack that deals 200 damage
Nyx-Class Cloaking Module 125,000 credits
- Cloak no longer requires energy
*You can get Ghost OR Specter during the campaign playthrough - not both.
Thor
330mm Barrage Cannon 130,000 credits
- Improves bombardment cannon by adding area damage and stun
Immortality Protocol 140,000 credits
- Destroyed Thors can be revived in the field
TOTAL FOR DOMINION UPGRADES (Ghost) 480,000 credits
TOTAL FOR DOMINION UPGRADES (Spectre) 495,000 credits
TOTAL ARMORY UPGRADES (Ghost) 3,455,000 credits
TOTAL ARMORY UPGRADES (Spectre) 3,470,000 credits
Level 5 (can only choose one)
Ultra-Capacitors
- Engineering Bay / Armory Weapon upgrades also increase attack rate by 5%
Vanadium Plating
- Engineering Bay / Armory Armor upgrades also increase life by 5%
Level 10 (can only choose one)
Orbital Depots
- Supply Depots no longer require construction time
Micro-Filtering
- Refineries produce vespene 25% faster (stacks with Automated Refinery)
Level 15 (can only choose one)
Automated Refinery
- Refinery no longer requires SCVs to harvest vespene gas
Command Center Reactor
- Allows two SCVs to be trained simultaneously
Level 20 (can only choose one)
Raven
- Flying Detector with Auto-Turret, Point Defense Drone, & Seeker Missile
- Built at the Starport
Science Vessel
- Flying Detector with Irradiate / Repairs nearby mechanical units
- Built at the Starport
Level 25 (can only choose one)
Tech Reactor
- Combines the Tech Lab and the Reactor add-ons
Orbital Strike
- Barracks units now arrive by Drop-Pod at the rally point
B. Zerg Research [4B.ZERG]
Level 5 (can only choose one)
Shrike Turret
- Outfits all Bunkers with an automated turret
Fortified Bunker
- Bunkers gain +150 life
Level 10 (can only choose one)
Planetary Fortress
- Allows Command Center to add extra armor and Twin Ibiks Cannon
- A Planetary Fortress cannot lift off
Perdition Turret
- Concealed automated flame turret that does area damage when engaged
Level 15 (can only choose one)
Predator
- Anti-infantry unit that emits an area shock attack
- Built at the factory
Hercules
- Massive transport ship that deploys troops quickly
- Loaded troops survive with minimal damage if Hercules is destroyed
- Built at the Starport (require Fusion Core)
Level 20 (can only choose one)
Cellular Reactor
- Specialist units start with +100 energy and +100 max energy
Regenerative Bio-Steel
- Ships and vehicles slowly regenerate life
Level 25
Hive Mind Emulator
- Can permanently Mind Control Zerg units
Psi Disrupter
- Slows movement and attack speeds of nearby Zerg
These recommendations are based on helping you complete the campaign with
upgrades that are worthwhile and helpful to complete later missions. Many of
these suggestions will also prepare you to complete some of the harder mission
achievements by utilizing available units effectively. These upgrades should
be obtained as you can afford them. Keep in mind that once you obtain the
Zeratul missions after "The Dig", you can rake in a LOT of research points
which you can use to finish off your Lab Research or cash in for credits.
These upgrades will update the units that you will want to use most often.
I've ranked these upgrades in priority order. Depending on which mission
order you choose, you might have to purchase these in a slightly different
way. In general, try to plan your next mission selections so you'll be able
to afford 1 or 2 upgrades after the mission. It is also helpful to have
certain units available before you attempt certain missions. For example,
It is strongly recommended that you have Vikings before you attempt
"The Dig." If you want to get the "Yippee-Ki-Yay..." achievement, you'll
want air support to scout for your laser drill. Trust me.
THE GOOD
Bunker
While many players don't like to turtle, it really pays off in the campaign.
Fortifying your bunkers will be well worth the investment. Adding two slots
is a real help since you can get more firepower out of fewer Bunkers. The
Projectile Accelerator adds needed range so the Bunker takes less damage.
Once you fortify them with the Zerg Research upgrade, Bunkers are just plain
great defensive structures.
Missile Turret
Hellstorm Batteries shut down mass air units. Put a pack of them around your
base and you'll be well protected from air assaults. The Titanium Housing
adds life to them as well, which helps since they can be rather fragile if
not repaired quickly.
SCV
Until you can unlock Science Vessel, these guys are your only option to heal
mech units. The Dual-Fusion Welders help them complete very fast repairs.
They also make great base defenders when patrolling your defensive line.
Advanced Construction isn't that helpful because you end up committing too
many workers to a building project when you could be advancing your economy.
You might get a building much faster, but once your building is up, you have
to play catch-up with yourself. Not worth it.
Terran Building
The Orbital Command Center might seem like pure utility at first, but when
you call down your first MULE, you'll realize how quickly they boost your
economy. They might fall apart after a short while, but they're free
harvesters that are many times more effective than a regular SCV. The
Scanner Sweep is a great bonus, especially in the middle of the campaign
when your detection abilities are rather pathetic. Fire-Suppression
can be beneficial if you're attention is somewhat divided during a mission.
Free building healing is always good.
Marine
Marines are a staple to a Terran army, so upgrading them to full is a must.
Stimpack makes them a good choice throughout the campaign when paired with
Medics or Medivacs. Combat Shield adds longevity to their usefulness, which
is always good.
Medic
Medics only have one useful upgrade in the Stabilizer Medpacks, but it keeps
your units alive a lot longer. The Advanced Medic Facilities upgrade is a
waste of credits. If you really need a Reactor more than a Tech Lab, you
should probably just throw up a second Barracks and put one on each.
Marauder
Marauders are amazing. Concussive shells is one of the most important
upgrades in the campaign. It slows ground movement for enemy troops,
allowing other units to get more shots off before they can retaliate.
Adding Kinetic Foam also helps keep them alive longer, which is always a
good thing. It's a shame you can't use Stimpacks on them in the campaign.
Reaper
Reapers are great at destroying buildings, but their upgrades aren't
necessary. If you want to use Reapers, don't worry about needing upgrades.
Keep in mind that Reapers are excellent when paired with Hellions during
Colony missions. They still don't need upgrades.
Hellion
Hellions are fast and powerful. They have very weak armor though, so be
careful. With Thermite Filaments and Twin-Linked Flamethrower, they dish
out a lot of pain to ground troops. If you can keep these away from the
front of your mobile forces, they will be very useful to you throughout
the campaign.
Goliath
If it weren't for Multi-Lock Weapon System, Goliaths probably wouldn't be
as useful. However, if you send them out with a few SCVs, they can handle
themselves quite well. The added range from Ares-Class Targeting System
is also very helpful when facing groups of enemy forces.
Siege Tank
Both Siege tank upgrades are very expensive, but with good reason. With
Maelstrom rounds, the damage output from a group of siege tanks is crazy
strong. Shaped Blast allows your units to move in while under fire
without worrying about the siege splash damage taking you out as well.
Medivac
The Medivac upgrades make them into a mini Hercules with great bio-healing
(except you don't need a Fusion Core... ugh). Very useful, even if you do
get them rather late in the campaign...
Viking
When you start to get air power, Vikings are very versatile - and both
their upgrades are excellent. Ripwave Missiles improve their anti-air
capabilities tremendously. The range upgrade from Phobo-Class Weapons
really improves their anti-air, and makes their ground mode much more
effective. A mixed group of ground/air Vikings makes a really good
strike force for their cost in the campaign.
Banshee
Banshees are great stealth strike fighters. A group of them is lethal with
Shockwave Missile Battery. Cross-Spectrum Dampeners doubles their cloak
time, which is really useful in later missions.
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers are great to use in the campaign if you can get a few out.
However, Battlecruiser upgrades are way too expensive, and rather
disappointing. The Missile Pods are a lot like the Hellstorm Battery upgrade
for Missile Turrets. However, they require activation just like the Yamato
Cannon. If choosing between the two... I always pick Yamato Cannon. The
Defensive Matrix upgrade is just like the Science Vessel ability from SC/BW.
However, it uses a lot of energy that could better be used on Yamato shots.
Thor
Thors are great mobile siege units for the Terran army. Their anti-air is
a bit lacking, but they make up for it in longevity and raw power. The
Immortality Protocol for Thors helps mitigate the cost of their production
while allowing you to rebuild them for 200 gas wherever they fall. Since
they are rather slow, this might happen more than you want it to. The 330mm
Barrage Cannon isn't a BAD upgrade, but for how often you'll use it, it
really isn't that helpful. Their standard cannon is enough to take down key
buildings if you need to.
THE BAD
Conversely, some unit upgrades are simply not worth any investment. Aside
from the missions where they are introduced, the following units are almost
completely useless in the campaign:
Firebat
I don't know what they were thinking bringing Firebats back in SC2.
Marauders outclass them in EVERY way.
Vulture
Vultures are another oddity. Spider mines are good for base defense in some
circumstances, but bunkers and siege tanks are much better. Swann even
makes fun of them during the campaign if that's any clue.
Diamondback
Diamondbacks are good for "chasing" units. Well, since the only mobile
target you face in the game happens to be during the mission you GET
Diamondbacks, can you guess how useful they are after that? Don't bother.
Their rail guns are very strong though. If you choose to use them, you
wont find their upgrades necessary.
Wraith
Wraiths could have been good. However, Vikings are better at anti-air, and
Banshees are just plain brutal with Shockwave Missile Battery. There is no
reason to use or upgrade Wraiths.
Ghost/Spectre
It really annoys me how ineffective Ghosts/Spectres were in the campaign.
Still, both units have neat skills that you don't get to use all that often.
The Snipe ability is really effective if you have a group of Ghosts out,
whereas Mindblast can incapacitate groups of enemies for a short period.
Yet for some reason, Ghosts/Spectres can't use EMP outside of multiplayer...
Unfortunately, most of the enemy bases are swarming with detectors
(especially when you're against Protoss). Since you don't get any form of
mobile detector until you've amassed 20 Protoss research points, this makes
stealth attacks close to pointless (Banshees are the exception since they
fly and can make devastating ground bombing runs while cloaked). They're
also very costly to produce (150 minerals/150 gas). Ghosts/Spectres are
very susceptible to ground based burrowed units and colossi. They're just
too weak to be worth any credit investment. Besides, they don't need
upgrades to nuke...
These contracts compliment many of the upgrades mentioned above. Buy these
when you don't have enough credits to buy the next upgrade from the Armory
console. Jackson's revenge is a strong unit, but it costs a bit too much to
only get ONE per mission. Kind of a disappointment.
C. Laboratory Research [5C.LABO]
Protoss
Level 5 - Vanadium Plating
Vanadium Plating is the better choice. Those few extra life points really
do make the difference. The increase rate of fire isn't that helpful.
Besides, if you want to increase rate of fire, just use Stimpacks.
Level 10 - Micro-Filtering
Micro-Filtering is better than Orbital Depots. If you really have trouble
maintaining your army supply, you really shouldn't be playing RTS games.
I've never been in a situation where I thought, "Man, I need five Supply
Depots... RIGHT NOW!" The increased gas production is very helpful once
you start unlocking more gas-heavy units.
Level 15 - Automated Refinery
Automated Refinery complements Micro-Filtering greatly. Since you don't
need SCVs to harvest gas anymore, your harvesters can focus on minerals
and structures. Hence, Command Center Reactor isn't needed (especially
if you utilize MULEs like you should be!).
Level 20 - Science Vessel
Many of these choices are easy... except the Science Vessel. Raven's have
some really neat tricks up their sleeves that deal great damage without
putting it in harms way. However, the usefulness of the Science Vessel
cannot be ignored. Like the Medivac, flying mobile mech healing is just too
good to pass up. Irradiate is also great against large units that you need
to soften up.
Level 25 - Tech Reactor
The Tech Reactor is just plain awesome. It doubles your production output
and grants access to all units at each facility. Drop pods really can't
compete with that.
Zerg
Level 5 - Fortified Bunker
The extra life on your bunkers will be well worth it. The Shrike Turret is
rather weak, and later in the campaign you'll get frustrated at how easily
your bunkers fall.
Level 10 - Perdition Turret
The Perdition Turret is strong and affordable as a point defense structure.
The Planetary Fortress is strong, but you'll want to have an Orbital
Command more for scanner sweeps and MULEs. Besides, if the enemy has
already made it to your mineral line, you have bigger problems.
Level 15 - Hercules
This tier just plain sucks for both choices. The Predator is quick and can
mow down weak units with relative ease, but can't absorb much damage. The
Hercules would outstrip the Medivac in usefulness if it wasn't for the fact
that it requires a Fusion Core to make them. That alone badly hurts it's
usefulness. Still, if you're going to choose between the two, Hercules is
the better choice. It can serve as an early Medivac if you stock it with
Medics and ground troops. Just don't expect it to be fast.
This is an interesting decision, and depends on your play style. The extra
and starting energy from Cellular Reactor will be helpful to your healing
units if you include them with your attacking groups (including Science
Vessel). It also adds energy to Ghosts/Spectres, Wraiths, Banshees, Thors,
and Battlecruisers... but the extra energy isn't a big help for these units
since the most useful unit in the bunch (Banshees) can double their energy
efficiency with an armory upgrade. If you play more defensively, Bio-Steel
might be more your style. All of your mech units will slowly regenerate
health automatically. Very useful, but it caters to a more patient play
style.
Level 25 - Psi Disrupter
The Psi Disrupter is where it's at. This thing slows down ALL Zerg that
approach it. When placed at a choke point, your bunkers/turrets/tanks will
shred oncoming Zerg with impunity. The Hive Mind Emulator is neat, but the
units have to be in range first, and the battery takes a long time to
recharge between uses. You could use your time better by producing more
units.
Q: How many credits are obtainable in the Wings of Liberty Campaign?
A: 2,250,000 credits are available in game between mission rewards and
extra research sold.
Q: I only got 2,055,000 credits on my playthrough. What gives?
A: You probably didn't get the secret mission "Piercing the Shroud." While
playing "Media Blitz," be sure you destroy the Science Building at the lower
right of the map. If you missed it, you'll have to restart to get it.
Q: I forgot to sell my excess research to Mobius before going to Char! How
do I redeem these for credits?
A: Just click on the "Research Button" on the bottom navigation.
Q: Can I get any more credits once I complete the game?
A: Nope. There wouldn't be much point anyway since you can't upgrade units
after you complete the "All In" mission.
Q: I heard that you could play missions over again and collect more research
points to sell to Mobius, why can't I get this to work?
A: That was a nice little bug that Blizzard fixed. The current credit cap
is all you get.
Q: How am I supposed to get all the Tech achievements if I don't get enough
credits to buy everything?
A: It requires some planning, but refer back to the guide to plan out your most
vital upgrade needs. Bank credits until you have all the units unlocked for
that tier, then save the game. Go purchase all the upgrades for that tier
and get your achievement. Reload your save and you'll still have the
achievement. Problem solved.
Q: Hey! I tried that and I don't have enough to buy all the Starship upgrades?
A: The campaign has a credit limit. You can only have 1,000,000 credits at a
time. You'll have to buy some upgrades before you can bank enough to do
the save, purchase, reload trick (may I suggest upgrading Vikings?).
Q: Why are you hating on (-insert unit name here-)? They're awesome!
A: It seems the campaign was designed to showcase the new Terran units and
give fan service to the units from SC1/BW. Granted, it was cool, but some
units just don't shine well. Too bad.
Q: How do I get (-insert classic unit name here-) in multiplayer?
A: You can't. See previous answer.
Q: Isn't there any way to get more credits?
A: Well, you could use the "whysoserious" code, but it disables achievements.
Have fun, cheater.
