Background
During the End War, Valerian Mengsk is still relatively new to the throne, having inherited his father’s empire and legacy, for better or worse. With loyalists on one side mourning the loss of his father and unwilling to trust the heir that willingly helped his murderers, and rebels on the other who see him as merely the next dictator like his father, Valerian Mengsk has to tread a fine line in politics while also fighting a major war.
To make things worse, Amon has already taken over a considerable portion of Dominion territory, necessitating Valerian to command his armies to go on the attack to retake them and rescue stranded civilians. This is a tall order for the Dominion army, which is specialized in defense. As such, Valerian relies on his old friend, research and technology to help him.
Playstyle
Valerian’s army is divided into two distinct sections, a front line of disposable robors that want to be aggressive and dive into the enemy to draw aggro with short ranged weapons, supported by a rear echelon of hard hitting units with lots of DPS and range. The nature of the range on the units make micro slightly easier, as the two groups will automatically fan out into roles due to their range differences during an A move. However Valerian still does need a fair bit of micro, good siege tank positioning and keeping an eye on the health of his units (and maybe some cheeky medivac micro on Brutal+) is vital to getting the most out of him.
Overall, he is a versatile commander that is good at both offense and defense. His biggest weakness is the lack of rapid reployment capabilities and only one offensive calldown, instead relying on medivacs to transport his army to respond to threats.
Mechanics
Valerian’s unique mechanic is Public Support. Public Support is a measure of how much the public loves and supports his decisions, which influences his effectiveness on the battlefield. A high public support allows him to improve his fighting ability by improving troop morale, speeding up research times, and unlocks top bar abilities.
Public Support rises and falls based on Valerian’s performance on the battlefield. Losing men and crewed units will cause Public Support to fall, while eliminating Amon units will cause Public Support to rise. Completing a major objective (such as killing void thrashers or defending a shuttle) or a bonus objective will cause Public Opinion to rise sharply. Thus, Valerian will need to be careful about losing too many units while completing his objective. To aid him in this, Valerian also has access to numerous Robotic Units. Robotic Units are uncrewed, and as such are expendable - their death does not result in a loss of Public Support. However, Robotic units also do not benefit from Morale. Thus keeping a careful balance of Robotic and non-robotic units is the key to playing Valerian successfully.
Morale is directly related to Public Support. Higher Public Support means higher morale. Higher morale units gain a bonus to their attack speed, while extremely low morale would cause units to suffer a penalty to their attack speed.
Alien Technology has always been Valerian’s interest, and decades of studying Xenotech has paid off. Valerian Mengsk gains access to a wide array of prototypical xenotech, from relatively tame Umojan research, to zerg, to protoss, to Xel’naga. These technologies are still rare and difficult to field though, so acquiring them requires time and resources, and public support to use taxpayer’s money on it!
Warp In Units Due to the casualty ratings of hot dropping orbital pods, Valerian has looked into safer ways to bring in his troops. During the Second Great War, Mobius researchers have looked into ways to reverse engineer Pylon technology. That technology has since been seized and repurposed for the Dominion. Valerian’s buildings all have a Khaydarin crystal inside them, providing a power field around them for him to warp his units into, bypassing the dangers of orbital insertion. This power field also functions for allied Protoss commanders. His medivacs serve as a mobile warp prism, allowing him to resupply his units at the front line easily, warping them directly from his factories, to the front.
Note: Due to Valerian’s reliance on Robotic units, his tech tree has the Barracks and Factory swap positions. He must build the Factory first to unlock the Barracks.
Units
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Sentry Bot
35 Minerals
Robotic Ranged Infantry
A pseudo Marine of Valerian’s army, Sentry Bots provide early game ranged firepower at a very low price. Unfortunately you get what you pay for, and they are not very good. Great for screening your more valuable units though, or soaking up Baneling Busts. They can be upgraded to have flak cannons, dealing a small amount of splash damage when firing at air. -
Predator
100 Minerals
Robotic Melee Infantry
The Predator provides an expendable but durable front line that is strong against light troops with its AoE attack, while also being able to soak up suicide units and spell fire. The Predator can be upgraded to self destruct on death, taking out numerous light units around them. In addition, advanced Psi Disruptor technology can be incorporated into the Predators, disrupting Amon’s control over his minions in an area around the Predator and causing them to function less effectively (move slower, shoot slower). -
Drone Frigate
100 Minerals 25 Gas
Robotic Anti Air
Drone Frigates are robotic air units that constantly produce an swarm of smaller drone missiles that are launched at hostile air units. The missiles explode on impact, dealing bonus damage against light in a decent splash radius, making it ideal for dealing with enemy light air. Much like Protoss Reavers! However they do tend to suffer against heavier air units. Worse come to worst, the frigate itself is robotic, and thus expendable. The Frigate can be upgraded with a weaker version of the Neutron flare cannon, making it even more effective against light air units. -
A.R.E.S. War Bot
300 Minerals 150 Gas
Robotic Ground Superheavy
Remember how you would always hack these in campaign? Well, they are here for a strong robotic unit in the late game that can dish out as much as it can take. You can spend additional resources on it to upgrade it with the right weapons, be it a flamethrower, anti armor cannon, or anti air missiles! Its biggest downside is its short range, but hey, thats the point of robots right? Add on a xelnaga tech derived prototype shield and this baby can soak up some fire! -
Dominion Marine
70 Minerals 30 Gas
Ranged Infantry
The cheap disposa- Oh right… people dont like it when you send bodybags home. As Valerian, your marines as no longer as disposable as you would like. So they cost a little more for better gear. Dominion Marines have LMGs that have superior range and DPS. 7 range to be precise, and 9 damage! They also come default with better armor too, giving them a whopping… 75 HP. No stim packs though, turns out those side effects are not good for PR. Still, not all is doom and gloom, they can be upgraded with prototype xel’naga shields, giving them an additional overshield, as well as U-238 shells, which give them even more range. After all, what price do you put on your loved one’s protection anyway? They also benefit from morale, so if you keep them alive, they become quite the force. -
Dominion Siege Tank
Anti Armor/Artillery Vehicle
200 minerals 150 gas
The Dominion Crucio Siege Tank was fine and dandy, but it showed its age in The Second Great War against the Zerg. Borrowing some ideas from the Umojan’s Imperio Tank (who Valerian works with), the new Dominion Siege Tank fires napalm shells that cause a damage over time effect and slows enemy units. It can be upgraded to increase its blast radius. It can also be upgraded with nanite shells, which also heal allied units in its area of effect! They can further be augmented with a toxin derived from Vile Roaches, which also slow down enemy attack speed dramatically! Fully upgraded and at high morale, Valerian’s siege tanks are scary. -
Medivac
150 minerals 100 gas
Support Air Transport (Detector)
Valerian’s Medivacs are not like traditional Medivacs. Carrying within them a Khaydarin Crystal, they serve as reverse engineered pylons, which allow Valerian to quickly warp in reinforcements around them. They can also rapidly pick up and redeploy deployed siege tanks. Their healing beams can also be upgraded to heal mechanical units AND restore shields! A perfect combination of terran nanotech with protoss shield batteries. They can be also upgraded to incorporate advanced scanner systems, granting them detection. -
Warhawk
Ranged Air
250 minerals 200 gas
The Warhawk is equipped with a powerful long range laser battery that is effective against armored units. Capable of shooting while moving, this allows the warhawk to stay at a safe distance and snipe away at enemy units. The Warhawk can be upgraded with automated blink packs, which allow it to blink around, as well as avoid lethal damage. -
Logistics Cruiser
Unique Support Air
800 minerals 600 gas
The Logistics Cruiser is really expensive for a battlecruiser that does not have a Yamato cannon. Instead of focusing on offensive bombardment, the logistics cruiser instead focuses on keeping allied troops alive. It creates a constant AoE field that bolsters the armor of nearby units. This field can be temporarily boosted to give a sudden spike of damage resistance when needed. It can also active Point Defense mode, which disables its weapons, but allows it to shoot down incoming projectiles for a short duration around it. The Logistics Cruiser can be upgraded with adaptive plating, which provides temporary hitpoints when the Logistics Cruiser takes damage. Lastly, it can be upgraded with Xelnaga technology derived Disruption Nova, which replaces the Yamato Cannon and temporarily stuns in a moderate area, making it idea for stopping high threat targets.
Unique Buildings
Valerian uses the same Command Center, Supply Depot, Barracks, Factory, Starport, Engineering Bay, Armory and Fusion Core that other Terran commanders use. All of Valerian’s buildings generate a small power field around them.
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Planetary Fortress
Base Defense
150 minerals 100 gas
Instead of the traditional orbital command that most Terran commanders use, Valerian prefers the construction of planetary fortresses, to protect his workers while they are performing their jobs. -
Tank Bunker
Defensive Structure
100 Minerals
A traditional terran bunker capable of holding up to 4 marines… or a siege tank! By opening up the roof, the bunker can provide a turret down protected position for the siege tank to fire from, safe from the dangers of psionic storms or viper abducts. The bunker also has equipment that assists with the tank’s firing computer, increasing its maximum range (even more!) and also eliminating its minimum range. -
Radar SAM
Defensive Structure
100 Minerals
The Radar SAM is Valerian’s missile turret. The can be upgraded to have significantly increased range (thus allowing it to deal with brood lords), significantly increased detection range, and to act like a Sensor tower.
Abilities
Valerian starts at 50 Public Support and can store up to 200. Losing non robotic units reduces Public Support by 1 per supply of unit lost. Killing units raises Public Support by 1 per 5 supply of unit killed. Completing an objective raises Public Support by 30.
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Inspiring Speech - Unlocks at 75 Public Support
All of Valerian’s and allied units gain the bonuses of max morale for a short duration. If already at max morale, then increase attack speed by a further 25%. -
Levy War Taxes - Unlocks at 100 Public Support
Provides an immediate grant of 300 minerals and 300 gas at the cost of some Public Support (Taxes be unpopular!). Very useful for fast teching and fast reseraching. Long Cooldown -
Warp Artillery Bombardment - Unlocks at 125 Public Support
A short and intense barrage of artillery shells is warped in right above the target area, severely damaging any enemies caught inside. Moderate Cooldown -
Hero of the People - Unlocks at 175 Public Support
Convert a group of enemy units to your cause. Does not work on Hybrids or Heroic units. Long Cooldown.
UPDATE 1: (8/25)
- Remove Strike Fighter, Added Drone Frigate (Credit: Marrossi)
- Revamped the Medivac. Added Warp Prism technology to it, and also made it a detector. (Credit: ZealousGamer)
- Improved the flavor of Artillery Bombardment, now warps in artillery shells over the target.
- Added a bunch of alien technology upgrades
- Added Tank Bunker and Planetary Fortress.
, Infestors can neural parasite things with nervous systems, and 9mm spike bullets can bring down a battlecruiser. Sometimes an inspirational speech does wonders.
