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Enemy Compositions: Units in Attack Waves and Hybrid Data

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General Notes

Throughout any mission, you will need to deal with attack waves that target your base, expansion or your objective. There are a number of factors that affect the type and quantity of units in these attack waves. These factors are:

• Enemy Race: This is the most obvious one. Units in attack waves will belong to the race of the enemy you're facing against. The only exception to this rule is on Cradle of Death, where your truck will get attacked by units of a second race as well.
• Composition: Enemy races have certain pre-determined compositions at the start of the game. The composition will determine which units you will see in attack waves. For example, if you are dealing with a Bio Terran composition, you won't see Battlecruisers in attack waves.
• Tech Level: The Tech Level determines the highest tier of units you will face. For example, attack waves of low Tech Levels might only include Zerglings. However, higher Tech Levels may include Brood Lords. Tech Levels range from 1-7.
• Strength Level: The Strength level affects the number of units in the attack wave. Strength Levels range from 1-7.

As the mission progresses, both, Tech Level and Strength Level of the attack waves increase, making the attack waves strong and more potent.

Enemy Race

You will face enemies of a single race (Protoss, Terran or Zerg) in a mission (barring Cradle of Death). This race is predetermined at the start of the game. To determine if the enemy race is Zerg, press Alt + T. If the enemy race is Zerg, you will see creep spread on the minimap.

On Cradle of Death, only attack waves that attack your truck will contain units of a second race.

Composition

The Protoss compositions you can face (along with the strongest tech units) are as follows:

• Gateway: A composition that relies mostly on gateway units for AoE's and damage.
• RoboColossus: Uses Colossi for AoE's and sentries for controlling the enemy's army.
• RoboReaver: A high damage composition made to destroy enemy bases quickly.
• SkytossCarrier: A carrier-based composition to overwhelm enemy forces.
• SkytossTempest: An air-siege build effective at taking down enemy structures.
• Techy: Contains a mix of Protoss units from different tech buildings.
• Classic Protoss Ground: Ground Protoss composition based on units in Brood War.
• Classic Protoss Air: Air Protoss composition based on units in Brood War.

The Terran compositions you can face (along with the strongest tech units) are as follows:

• BioMechStar: A build focused on biological units backed up with some factory and air units.
• MechStarport: A Mech Terran build, relying on Factory units.
• ShadowTech: A build which attacks enemies from a distance.
• SkyTerran: An air Terran build, relying on Starport units for damage.
• Classic Terran Bio: Terran composition based on Biological units in Brood War.
• Classic Terran Mech: Terran composition based on Mechanical units in Brood War.

The Zerg compositions you can face (along with the strongest tech units) are as follows:

• Ground: Uses Zerg ground units to lay siege to enemy bases.
• MutaLing: A Mutalisk/Zergling-based composition.
• Swarmy: A build that relies on overwhelming the enemy with units.
• Classic Zerg Ground: Ground Zerg composition based on units in Brood War.
• Classic Zerg Air: Air Zerg composition based on units in Brood War.

Note that the above names do not appear on the enemy composition indicator in-game. The names used in-game are custom titles used to describe the composition. These titles will be listed in the following section.

Tech Level

The Tech level determines how far up the Tech Tree the enemy is. Higher Tech Levels will result in more Tech Units present in the attack waves. Tech Levels range on a scale from 1-7.

Hover over a unit's icon to show its name.

The Protoss units in attack waves across Tech levels is shown below:

The Terran units in attack waves across Tech levels is shown below. If a tech level contains more than one row, you'll get either one of the compositions:

Some attack waves will have one of two unit types (denoted by the "or"). There is a 50% chance that either will appear in the attack wave, and only one type will appear per wave.

The Zerg units in attack waves across Tech levels is shown below:

Strength Level

The Strength Level determines the quantity of units in the attack wave. The in-game generation of the attack waves is randomized. That is, while the Tech Level and Strength Level are fixed, there is a little bit of allowable variance in the attack wave composition. As a result, attack waves are not always the same. Some may have more Liberators, with fewer Cyclones, for instance.

However, the Strength Level is linked to a resource cost for the attack wave. Attack waves will not exceed a certain resource cost, depending on the Strength Level. The below table shows the estimated maximum resource cost for each Strength Level.

Attack Wave Strength Level Resource Costs:

Strength Level	Maximum Resource Cost
1	600
2	1200
3	2100
4	3200
5	5000
6	7200
7	9600

Unit Limits

Attack waves have certain limits as to how many of a particular unit can appear. This strengthens the overall power of the attack wave because it prevents massing a single tech-unit which can easily be countered.

Not all units have limits. The units that are limited are usually spellcasters. The list of limited units is below:

Unit	Limit per Wave
Corsair	5
High Templar	3
Infestor	5
Sentry	4
Viper	2

Putting it All Together

You can use the demo below to see the impact of both, Tech Level and Strength Level on attack waves for all different compositions. Here, Strength Levels will match Tech Levels, as is common with most attack waves in the game.

Upgrades

As the mission progresses, the AI will automatically complete research. This naturally scales up the difficulty of the mission as time goes on. The timings are listed below:

Protoss Upgrades

Protoss Power Level Upgrades

Protoss Skill Research

Research	Time
Colossus - Extended Thermal Lance	10:00
Corsair - Disruption Web	12:00
Dragoon - Singularity Charge	10:00
High Templar - Psionic Storm	10:00
Stalker - Blink	8:00
Zealot - Charge	8:00

Terran Upgrades

Terran Power Level Upgrades

Terran Skill Research

Research	Time
Banshee - Cloaking Field	12:00
Command Center - Orbital Command	10:00
Cyclone - Mag-Field Accelerator	10:00
Firebat - Stimpack	10:00
Goliath - Ares-Class Targeting System	10:00
Hellion - Infernal Pre-igniter	10:00
Marauder - Concussive Shells	8:00
Marauder - Stimpack	10:00
Marine - Combat Shield	8:00
Marine - Stimpack	10:00
Science Vessel - Defensive Matrix	0:00

Zerg Upgrades

Zerg Power Level Upgrades

Zerg Skill Research

Research	Time
Baneling - Centrifugal Hooks	10:00
Hydralisk - Muscular Augments	10:00
Roach - Glial Reconstitution	8:00
Roach - Tunneling Claws	12:00
Ultralisk - Chitinous Plating	10:00
Zergling - Adrenal Glands	10:00
Zergling - Metabolic Boost	8:00

Hybrids

Attack waves may be accompanied by Hybrids in varying numbers, depending on the mission. Hybrids are added to attack waves independent of enemy composition or Strength/Tech level. Instead, Hybrids are added to attack waves as part of the mission design. There are five different hybrids that may accompany attack waves. These are listed below, along with any abilities they may have.

Note: All data generated on this site is based on Brutal difficulty. Timings, compositions and other elements may differ on easier difficulty levels.

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