Starcraft 2 Path of Ascension Gold Medal Challenge Guide

Starcraft 2 Challenges Guide --> Path of Ascension (you are here)

Click Here to Get The Osiris MethodThis Starcraft 2 Path of Ascension challenge guide will show you exactly how to unlock the gold medal by losing 10 units or less on this task.

This challenge gives faces players with 3 "rounds" of action, each round giving the Protoss player a large army to split up to take on 3 smaller groups of enemies while protecting a Pylon.

Three rounds of 3 obstacles leads to 9 encounters. You cannot lose any Pylons and you must lose 10 units or less to earn the gold medal.

Getting a perfect score on all the obstacles (no units lost) is challenging, but you should have no trouble at all losing less than 10 units with the strategies outlined here.

Path of Ascension Gold Medal Video Walkthrough

This video walkthrough demonstrates exactly how to split up your army but more importantly control your units in order to beat Path of Ascension. Under the video, specific instructions are given which show you how to split up your army for maximal efficiency.

Step by Step Path of Ascension Strategy Guide

Round 1:

  • Top Left: Send all Stalkers here. Place your Stalkers in a line from left to right so that each Hellion attack only hits 1 Stalker. If your Stalkers get low on HP, use Blink to escape and keep that Stalker safely hidden. You will likely have to pull back 2-3 Stalkers but you should lose zero units here.
  • Top Right: 3 Colossus, 1 Sentry. At the thin part of the map, you will want to use your Sentry to drop 4 Force Fields (see video), blocking the entrance off completely. Your 3 Colossus will then safely sit back and blast through the Marines. Zero units lost.
  • Bottom Right: 2 Colossus + Zealots. The trick here to losing no units is to let your Colossus soften up the Marauders as much as possible before your Zealots rush in. Group of your Zealots by the Pylon and let your 2 Colossus sit up against the Force Field. Let the Colossus get 1-2 shots off, then run them towards your Zealots. Stop after a second and attack again, then run for the Zealots. The Marauders should be halfway dead by the time the Zealots get to them, at which point they should be able to swarm them with at a max 1 Zealot lost.

Round 2:

  • Top Left: 6 Carriers. Make sure your Carriers are spread out so they do not get all destroyed by the Thors. Let your Carriers attack whatever Thor they can - it is better to not Focus Fire and not have your Carriers clumped up. Each time a Carrier hits about 150 HP, you will have to pull it away and hide it by the Pylon. You will likely pull all of your Carriers out of the fight except 1 or 2. You should not lose any units here.
  • Top Right: 2 Void Rays + All Immortals. Push up with your Void Rays and Immortals as soon as the match starts. Let your Void Rays start working on the tanks. They will not deal much damage to the tanks until they get a charge. What you want to do is buy some time for the Void Rays. You can do this by pushing up with your Immortals. The Siege Tanks will go into Siege Mode. When they do, run away with your Immortals. The whole time while the tanks are going in and out of Siege Mode your Void Rays will be tearing them up. Once the tanks move towards the Pylon again you can stop and attack them with your Immortals. You should not lose any units here.
  • Bottom Right: 1 Carrier, 1 Templar, 4 Void Rays. This portion does require a bit of micro not to lose any units, but you should save everything with this strategy. Place the Carrier in front of all of your units. It will be the initial tank. When the Battlecruisers engage the Carrier, use your High Templar's Feedback ability on all the Battlecruisers and then run it to safety. Meanwhile, send your Void Rays in to kill the Battlecruisers. Shortly after the Void Rays engage, run your Carrier away in order to save it. You will likely have to run 1-2 Void Rays away too if all 3 Battlecruisers attack the same target. You should lose no units here.

Round 3:

It took me awhile to figure out how to do Round 3 with absolutely zero casualties. The video shows a slightly different approach that usually results in a couple. This strategy can be used by the perfectionist that wants a perfect score (even though you get no credit for zero deaths, just 10 or less):

  • Top Left: All Stalkers, 2 Archons. Let the Archons lead. Pull back each Archon when it is at about 100 shields remaining. Blink away any Stalkers that lose their shields as well. You will likely have to pull back both Archons as well as 2 Stalkers to not lose any units.
  • Top Right: 2 Archons, 1 Sentry, 1 High Templar. While it is easy to use your Colossi here, the trick to losing zero units in Round 3 is this combination here. What you want to do is use Force Fields to block off the choke point and when all the units are grouped up you can use Psionic Storm. Place the storm right in the center of the unit clump, let it run its duration, and then use your second one in the same spot. This will kill all the Reapers and half the Hellions with the remaining ones weakened. Let your Archons sit back out of range while this is happening. When the Force Fields come down you should be hiding your Templar and Sentry and letting the Archons finish off the weakened Hellions. No units lost.
  • Bottom Right: 3 Colossi, Immortals, Zealots, Phoenix. This one requires good micro to keep every unit alive. When the match starts, run in with your Phoenix and pick up 2 Marauders while the 2 remaining Phoenix DPS them down. Your Colossi should be in the front and should slowly kite back the enemy units while killing the Marauders. When the tanks go into Siege Mode, back up out of their range. When they go back into tank mode, push up and attack them with your Colossi. When they morph back into siege mode, run away. Do this until you run out of room. At this point, rush in with your Zealots and Immortals. Use your Phoenix to pick up 4 Siege Tanks in the back just to take them out of the fight temporarily. This should only result in 2-3 casualties max, if not 0.

You may lose a Zealot in the first round, but the second round is easy to get perfect on and you should only use a couple units max in the third round. Getting the gold medal is a cinch with these strategies!

Click Here for The Osiris Method