Starcraft 2 news » Patch 3.13 Preview: New Co-op Commander Fenix

The purifiers have been unleashed upon the forces of Amon, and at their helm stands Fenix. Utilizing an array of destructive robotic bodies, and backed by a supporting crew of legendary protoss heroes, you can now rain death upon your enemies with some of the most honorable characters of protoss lore.

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In designing Fenix as a commander, we acknowledged that Fenix has always been a powerful warrior leading from the front lines, and so it felt right to make him a controllable hero who appears directly on the battlefield. One of the most unique aspects of the Purifier faction is that they can store the personalities of powerful protoss heroes from the past, Fenix being one of them. All hero units in Co-op already revive when killed however, so we needed to come up with something different for Fenix to showcase what it would be like to be able to transfer his consciousness into different robotic bodies. This led us to the idea of having distinct "shells" which you could transfer Fenix between depending on what battlefield conditions called for.

We came up with three forms which Fenix can transfer between (swapped via the top bar abilities). Each form has unique strengths and weaknesses, and players will want to switch frequently as his suits can only regenerate life and energy while they're not in use. The cooldown for switching suits has been made very short, as we wanted to encourage players to make changes often.

Lastly, we also wanted to incorporate the fantasy of transferrable consciousness into his purifier army as well. Therefore, the replications of the greatest warriors in protoss history can be transferred into the standard units of Fenix's army. The mechanic functions differently from Fenix himself, but will make these units more powerful nonetheless.

The main focus of playing Fenix is the direct control of his hero unit, which holds immense amounts of power when all three of his Purifier Suits are leveraged to their full potential. To use Fenix well, it will be important to understand when to swap between his different forms and to keep in mind that his suits only regenerate Energy when they are not active. So be sure to swap often!

Additionally, up to six different A.I. personalities from various protoss heroes can be researched at the Purifier Conclave (once unlocked). Once a personality has been researched, it will automatically search for a standard unit to transfer into, and turn them into a game-changing hero unit. Anytime that particular champion falls in battle, their consciousness will automatically relocate into another body of that same type (assuming one is available) and continue fighting! Most of Fenix's combat units have their own champion to lead them into battle, and every champion also has unique abilities which make them even more powerful.

Thanks to his ability to transfer his A.I. consciousness, Fenix gets access to several purifier weapon suits that allow him to shift his abilities according to battlefield conditions.

• Praetor Armor
• Solarite Dragoon
• Cybros Arbiter

Thunderous Charge
Fenix charges at the target location, dealing damage and stunning all enemy units for 5 seconds. Whirlwind
All nearby enemies take damage per second for 3 seconds. Fenix can move while Whirlwind is active. Shield Capacitor
Fully restores Fenix's shields. Autocasting activates Shield Capacitor when Fenix's shields has been depleted.








Solar Cannon
Fires a piercing beam that damages a path of enemy units. Solarite Flare
Fires an air-bursting flare that damages air-units. Arsenal Overcharge
Active to eliminate damage-dealing ability cooldowns for 10 seconds.








Stasis Field
Places enemy units in target area into stasis. Cloaking Field
Cloak friendly units near Fenix. Costs Energy per second. Recall
Teleports all friendly units in the target area to the location of the Arbiter.

Legionnaire

• Charge (researched) - Intercepts enemy ground units and increases movement speed.
• Download Kaldalis's A.I. Personality:
  • ​Engage - Kaldalis intercepts the target unit
  • Empowered Blades (research) - Kaldalis's attacks deal 9 (+X) damage to nearby units.

Conservator

• Protective Field – Creates a shield that reduces all incoming attack damage to friendly units by 20%. Lasts 10 seconds.
• Phasing Mode – Transforms the Conservator to Phasing Mode and generates a power field as if it were a Pylon. The Conservator cannot move in this mode.

Adept

• Psionic Projection (researched) – Attacks summon an invulnerable shade that will attack enemies for a short time.
• Download Talis's A.I. Personality:
  • ​Ricochet Glaive (research) - An amplified Glaive that ricochets and hits up to 3 enemy units for 25 (35 vs Light) (+X) damage each.

Immortal

• Barrier – Absorbs up to 100 damage. Lasts for 10 seconds.
• Download Taldarin's A.I. Personality:
  • Graviton Disruptors - Attacks create a gravity well that pulls nearby enemy units to the target.
  • Gravimetric Overload (research) - Each attack stores 25% (+X%) of the damage dealt on the target. When that unit is killed, it explodes, dealing all of the stored damage to nearby enemy units.

Colossus

• Cliff Walk - This unit can walk up and down cliffs.
• Download Warbringer's A.I. Personality:​
  • Chronal Distorion - Attacks debilitate enemy units, slowing attack and movement speed by 75%. Heroic units are slowed by 20%.
  • Purification Blast (research) - Fire a devastating blast that deals 200 (+X) damage to the target unit.

Observer

• Permanently Cloaked – The Observer is permanently cloaked.
• Surveillance Mode - Transforms the Observer to Surveillance Mode. The Observer gains 50% wider vision, but loses the ability to move.

Disruptor

• Purification Nova – Shoots out a ball of energy that emits a powerful nova dealing 150 splash damagee and an additional 50 shield damage to nearby ground units and structures.
• Cloaking Module (research) - Permanently cloaks the Disruptor.
• Purification Echo (research) - Purification Nova explodes again after 2 seconds, dealing 75 damage in a larger area.

Scout

• Combat Sensor Array (research) - Scouts gain +1 attack range.
• Download Mojo's A.I. Personality:
  • ​Force Missiles - Attacks stun the target air unit for 2 seconds.
  • ​Supression Procedure (research) - Fire a barrage of Anti-Matter Missiles, dealing 11 (22 vs Armored) (+X) area damage and stunning nearby enemy air units for 2 seconds.

Carrier

• Build Interceptor - Builds interceptors that automatically attack the Carrier's target. Carriers may not attack without Interceptors.
• Download Clolarion's A.I. Personality:
  • ​Solar Beam - The damage of Clolarion's Solar Beam increases the longer Clolarion remains on a single target.
  • Build Interdictor (research) - Build Interdictors that automatically bomb enemy ground units for 12 (+X) damage.

Variable Deployment Fenix can warp in anywhere on the battlefield using multiple Armor Suit configurations. The cost of Fenix's combat units is reduced by 20%. Unlock: Purifier Conclave Unlocks the Purifier Conclave structure, allowing you to research A.I. Personalities of Protoss heroes. Once researched, these A.I. Personalities will automatically download into any available host unit. Unlocks Kaldalis (Legionnaire) and Talis (Adept). Unlock: Cybros Arbiter Suit Unlocks Fenix's Cybros Arbiter suit. The Cybros Arbiter suit can cloak itself and nearby allies, Recall friendly units to its location, and use Stasis to disable enemy units. Shock Troop Champion Research Cache Unlocks the following upgrades at the Twilight Council:

• Kaldalis' attacks deal area damage.
• Talis' Ricochet Glaive bounces 2 additional times and causes affected units to take bonus damage.

Champion AI: Taldarin and Mojo Unlocks additional A.I. Personalities at the Purifier Conclave: Taldarin (Immortal) and Mojo (Scout). Fenix Upgrade Cache Unlocks the following upgrades at the Forge:

• All Fenix Armor Suits gain +10 attack damage.
• Fenix's Cybros Arbiter Suit gains detection.

New Unit: Disruptor Robotic Disruption Unit. Can use Purification Nova to deal heavy area damage. Warped in at the Robotics Facility. Champion AI: Warbringer and Clolarion Unlocks additional A.I. Personalities at the Purifier Conclave: Warbringer (Colossus) and Clolarion (Carrier). Specialist Upgrade Cache Unlocks the following upgrades:

• Disruptors become permanently cloaked (Robotics Bay).
• Disruptor Purification Nova explodes twice (Robotics Bay).
• Conservator Protective Field duration increased by 100% (Cybernetics Core).

Operational Efficiency Structures no longer have tech requirements and have their gas costs reduced by 100%. Avenging Protocol All Champion personalities gain 25% increased attack and movement speed for 10 seconds when they transfer into a new shell unit. Assault Champion Upgrade Cache Unlocks the following upgrades:

• Taldarin's attacks store damage on enemies which is released and does area damage when the unit is killed (Robotics Bay).
• Allows Mojo to fire a barrage of Anti-Matter Missiles (Fleet Beacon).

Rapid Recharge Fenix Armor Suits that are currently offline regenerate health and shields 50% faster. Siege Champion Upgrade Cache Unlocks the following upgrades:

• Warbringer gains the ability to fire a devastating blast at an enemy unit (Robotics Bay).
• Clolarion can build Interceptors to bomb enemy units (Fleet Beacon).

Tactical Data Web Each A.I. Champion's special ability gains strength for every unit of the same type that Fenix controls (up to a maximum bonus of 10 units).

• To fully utilize Fenix, you'll want to switch suits often. Call one in, use up some Energy, and swap into another form to allow that Energy to regenerate.
• The Praetor Armor is Fenix's form for the front lines, and Shield Capacitor will keep him in prime fighting shape most of the time. However, Thunderous Charge will enable you to get in and out of the fight more easily to maximize this suit’s potential.
• The Solarite Dragoon form is the best damage dealer and is great for clearing out huge enemy attack waves. The Solar Cannon is a powerful ability to deal with ground armies, while Solarite Flare can make quick work w/ an aerial AoE attack. If the wave is particularly large, consider using Arsenal Overcharge to dish out a truly insane amount of damage.
• The Cybros Arbiter is a very powerful support form. Stasis can cut an enemy attack wave in half allowing you and your partner to deal with it in smaller more manageable groups. You can also use it to disable high threat units like Siege Tanks or Void Rays while you clean up their escorts. The Recall ability in combination with the ability to bring the Cybros Arbiter in anywhere on the map, provides incredible mobility for you and your partner. The Cloaking Field can be a game changer if you can take out enemy detection quickly and often, and synergizes with Vorazun's passive benefits.
• The Purifier Conclave houses a large portion of this commander's power. Once you know the enemy you're facing, we recommend choosing an A.I. personality quickly. This champion (effectively) never dies as long as they have a new host shell to transfer to upon death. Therefore, don't worry too much about keeping each one alive. As long as you have plenty of back up units of that type, the champion will remain effective.
• Be mindful of how many different champion types you try to deploy. While it can be advantageous to have as many champions out at once, spreading yourself too thin on research and tech paths may be detrimental. Find the right balance depending on the mission and the enemy composition.
• Fenix's Disruptors function differently compared to their multiplayer counterpart. There is no friendly damage, and the Purification Nova does not have to travel from the Disruptor. The Disruptor can also move as soon as the ability has been cast.
• Once you unlock "Operational Efficiency" at level 10, Fenix's structures no longer have any tech requirements and cost no gas! You can experiment with your build order in a variety of ways. For example, Photon Cannons don't require Forge and you can build a Stargate before a Gateway! You can also easily afford 4-6 Robotics Facilities and Stargates now that don't cost gas.

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Fenix and the protoss heroes of lore are almost ready to serve, and can be acquired starting in patch 3.13 for $4.99. Until then Fenix and his Purifier Suit arsenal await your command.