Google “team liquid guides Alarak”
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-Using Empower Me resets your cooldowns so you can double Q directly to a big clump of units and wreck them, while you want to E enemies away most of the time you can move them into your army if you’re winning fights already
-Your initial unit comp should be based on the map and the enemy comp you’re facing i.e. Wrathwalkers excel at destroying shards while Ascendents demolish anything else, while Slayers are a good general purpose damage dealer and 4-6 Vanguards can be thrown in anytime when you feel like it.
-P3 is basically god-mode and only mass ravens/vipers can generally stop you
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I’m all for giving you some advice but if you’re looking for specific kinds of advice to help improve some aspects of your game that need polishing, you’re going to have to be more specific. So I’ll give you some general tips that you and other onlookers can benefit from, even if it’s at least one of these.
Tip #1: Do not be conservative with Alarak’s abilities. They don’t cost any energy. Destruction Wave is awesome for crowd control and Deadly charge can take down high HP enemies. Deadly Charge can also be used to hop across short chasms or scale up and down cliffs to save time going up ramps.
Tip #2: Proxy pylons all over the map. This can help provide you and your ally great map vision and structure overcharge targets. Even if the probe you bring to construct those dies, don’t let that deter you from sending another. They’re easily replaceable. It’s worth it for that vision and it’s even more worth it with your Mothership’s mass teleport to get to the other side of the map quickly to deal with an attack wave.
Tip #3: I read this on a different thread but I can’t remember where but the attack speed mastery DOES NOT apply to the Death Fleet units. So if you’re thinking of using P3, do not bother with the attack speed mastery for combat units. Also, since there’s no cooldown for the Mothership, you can dump all available set 2 points on Empower Me duration.
Build orders, I can’t really say. I never paid much attention to build orders since I’m more of a wing-it sort of player than a planning one.
That’s all the tips I can think of for now. Any questions about what I said, let me know. I’ll check back here from time to time.
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Just take a look at some Alarak gameplay on YouTube. You’ll get a good idea on how to start.
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Mass slayers is by far the simplest powerhouse strategy. Destruction wave should be all the AoE you need on any map. Obviously you wanna grab some havocs, and optionally you can use pylons or war prisms for reinforce + overcharge. 8-10 gateways is enough.
14 pylon (at rocks), 15 gateway, 17 assimilator, overcharge pylon, 20 nexus, 20 cyber core
Is my go-to. .
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I made a Prestiging Guide to Alarak some time ago.
This has a build order in it, though it’s a tiny bit different than a Level 15 + Mastery 90 opener.
If you’re looking to unit compositions, base Alarak can go any of these routes:
- Alarak/Supplicant/Havoc (2-4)/Ascendant
- Alarak/Supplicant/Havoc (2-6)/Wrathwalker
- Alarak/Supplicant/Havoc (2-4)/Slayer
- Alarak/Supplicant/Havoc (2-4)/Slayer/Wrathwalker
- Alarak/Supplicant/Havoc (2)/Ascendant/Wrathwalker
Vanguards are usually not taken (They are highly situationally used), and you can use either Pylons or War Prisms for Structure Overcharge. (I personally use War Prisms.)
Always fast expand where possible with Pylon + Overcharge. Use Alarak early and often where possible, and don’t rock slap with Alarak or Supplicants. If you NEED to, make a cannon or two, or just use your second Overcharge on your rocks if your ally can handle the first wave.
When Researching for Ascendants, get Power Overwhelming, Mind Blast, and Chaotic Attunement in that order. Also, don’t make Ascendants until you’re… I think level 11 (when you unlock the upgrade cache) unless you’re using Artificer of Souls (Prestige 1.)
There’s so much more I could say but I’d wind up writing a whole essay.
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@Sprite I just read the SC2 coop guide and it said 22 points into overcharge mastery can break the expo rocks on brutal.
Is this accurate?
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shield overcharge will be able to kill the “main/big” rocks that are blocking the way for Nexus without any mastery in it.
If you want that one shield overcharge to also kill the gas geyser rocks you can put those points in the shield overcharge mastery.
I personally do a 20/10 split there, it’s not quite enough to break all three but using the pylon planting probe to attack the nexus rock as well will finish the job before overcharge runs out.
22/8 is enough on it’s own, so long as you make sure to keep vision of all three rocks during the overcharge.
22/8 can break the rocks, yes. Personally, I just dump all 30 into Overcharge since I use it offensively, and on select maps you can use it to sliiiightly help bust your allies’ rocks too.
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I find the splitting pointless but probably cuz I don’t even use his Chrono, it’s always casted on ally. When possible and needed, the 2nd OC usually breaks ally’s rocks too.
It really doesn’t affect much timing difference at all.
It usually doesn’t until you put a good amount of points into the Chrono mastery. However, the only commanders that is viable on is Vorazun and Artanis. Even then, on Vorazun, I split it like… 16/14 in favor of energy. (This allows you to have your Shadow Guard up and only be missing 2-3 energy.)
For Alarak, you don’t really need it. I use my Chronos on my research, my Forges, and my Robos. That’s it.
Sprite thanks for your advice in a previous topic, on unit attack speed mastery not affecting the death fleet. I notice a big improvement going all for Alarak attack damage, as well as empower me duration with this prestige.
No problem. Always glad to be of assistance.
Ascendants are actually easier to control than stalkers. The only thing they do better is damaging buildings. But no one forbids adding some stalker to ascendant army when it is settled.
you cant go wrong with 200/200 mass slayers, they’re boring sure, but its a solid build 99 out of 100 times
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There is a tactic that works when your death ball is sufficently built.
Have Alarak do Deadly Charge into the enemy waves and use Destruction wave to push enemies into your Death Ball.
The enemies caught in the destruction wave is stunned for 2 seconds which is enough time for your death ball or allies to easily finish them off.
When done right, this is effective against enemy spellcasters including Hybrid dominator, Battlecruisers etc because they will be destroyed even before their spell connect.
Also make sure that you have sufficient supplicants because Alarak will take fair amount of damage while doing this.
I’m assuming you mixed those two up…
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Alarak is one of the toughest commanders to play IMO. Not that he’s weak–he’s quite strong if you play him right–but one mistake and you’re screwed. Tips for Alarak:
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Always always always have supplicants with the army. Alarak is powerful, but he lives on the front line. If you run out of supplicants and Alarak is still getting hammered, he’ll chow down on wrathwalkers, fully-buffed ascendants, whatever. Don’t let it get to that point.
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Bring a war prism with your army. You can use it to warp in supplicants to the front line (see point #1), and you can also overcharge it in a pinch.
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The Death Fleet’s purpose is not combat power; it’s mobility. Alarak’s army is fearsome but super slow. The Death Fleet’s teleport is your only way to get him across the map in a hurry, so save it for when you need to be in two places at once.
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Learn the many uses of Destruction Wave:
- AoE damage for clearing weak enemies like marines and lings.
- To buy time against an oncoming wave (while you rush out units, get Overcharge off cooldown, etc.), push the wave straight backward.
- Against tough enemies like hybrids, push them sideways, so they stay the same distance from your deathball. They can’t fight while flying through the air, and your guys keep shooting them.
- Against medium-weight enemies, throw them straight into your deathball, where they will die before recovering.
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One quick question.
If i have 40 supplicants with my Alarak, is there any wave that can kill my alarak before he kills the wave?