Starcraft 2 announced that the last co-op Commander to join the roster is none other than Arcturus Mengsk. Fans of the franchise should be familiar with the name, as he was the one who left Sarah Kerrigan to the Zergs on Tarsonis.
In StarCraft 2's Co-op Missions, players take the role of different commander characters from the StarCraft universe. Each commander possesses unique abilities and upgrades. They also give special bonuses to their armies. Players battle across a series of special scenarios together in order to level-up their commanders.
So what does Mengsk offer? As someone who rules with an iron first, he can cement his power early in the game while putting pressure on his enemies. With the help of long-range artillery, along with “inspirational” broadcasts, Mengsk can project his force across the battlefield. He has elite Royal Guard units that grow in strength as they gain experience from battle.
Mengsk has an endless stream of cheap troopers available to soften enemies, where a fallen trooper who drops their weapon upon dying can be picked up by another. Eventually, fights come to the time for the Royal Guard to dive in for the kill.
Another interesting mechanic is that Mengsk doesn't use energy, but a resource known as Imperial Mandate. This can be generated by training the Royal Guard and increasing their rank. His Imperial Witness can also broadcast a message of indoctrination, which results in instilling loyalty in the Troopers, and in turn result in more Imperial Mandate. As the Imperial Mandate grows, Mengsk gets even more powerful and gets access to controversial abilities. When the need arises, Mengsk can always go for Nuclear Annihilation and rain atomic bombs on his foes.
According to the StarCraft 2 development team, Co-op Commanders typically rely on strong heroic units or powerful calldowns in order to defend against early waves of enemies. However, the team knew that Mengsk needed to offer something new. To make this happen, Mengsk has Dominion Laborer’s Call to Arms, which is based on Warcraft III's Human Peasant’s Call to Arms ability. Another movie Mengsk has is Supply Bunkers, which is inspired by the Orc Burrow’s Battle Stations ability. Combining these two abilities result in a way for players to defend against initial waves with only workers. It also reinforces the gameplay fantasy the team has long wanted.
What this all means is that Mengsk is generally good for experienced players. However if you still plan on using Mengsk, you need to have a large disposable army of Dominion Troopers while making sure that the Royal Guard is levelled-up.
What are you waiting for? Are you willing to try out Mengsk?
