Rendezvous is the third and final Umoja mission in
Starcraft 2's Heart of the Swarm campaign. This particular mission tasks players with holding out for 15
minutes in order for reinforcements to arrive. Alternatively, rather than defend, you can go on offense in
order to unlock specific achievements.
Rendezvous Achievements and Bonus Levels
There are no bonus levels available to Kerrigan in this mission. There are however 4 achievements:
Rendezvous: Unlocked by completing all mission objectives in the Rendezvous mission (any
difficulty).
First Strike: Unlocked by destroying 15 enemy structures before Naktul's forces arrive (any
difficulty). This will happen automatically as we go for the Premature Evacuation achievement.
Zerg Save the Queen: This is unlocked by rescuing the 3 trapped Queens before Naktul's forces
arrive (Normal difficulty or higher). This achievement will also be unlocked naturally as you go for the Premature
Evacuation achievement.
Premature Evacuation: Unlocked by destroying all dominion structures in the "Rendezvous"
mission before Naktul's forces arrive (Hard difficulty or higher - though I don't recommend trying it on brutal
mode). This is somewhat challenging, so there is an entire section dedicated to it below. The good news is you will
unlock all the other achievements associated with this mission while getting this particular achievement.
Note: This achievement does not require you to destroy the final Terran base, only the outposts on
your side of the bridge.
Premature Evacuation Achievement Guide
As mentioned, this is not the easiest achievement in Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm. When properly executed
however, you can clear all the Terran buildings out in about 12-13 minutes, which gives you a few minutes for error
as you have 15 minutes to complete the achievement.
There are four keys to victory in this mission:
Be aggressive with Kerrigan early. Kerrigan alone can clear out the small encampments to the east and
northeast of your base (shown in the video).
Always make Queens. Queens are extremely good during this mission, whereas Zerglings are weak due to the
preponderance of Hellbats and Hellions. Queens can heal and are not weak versus these units. Add a second
Hatchery to improve Queen production. Gas will be your limiting reagent here, so make sure you have 3 Drones on
vespene gas right from the beginning of the mission.
Once you get about 5 Queens, Kerrigan and those Queens can take out any Terran position on the map. Be sure
to add a few Spine Crawlers at this point so you do not have to pull back on defense.
Hide your Zerglings during the initial assault on each Terran base. The Hellbats that defend each base will
melt your Zerglings in a few seconds, whereas Queens can kill these units with no casualties. On the other hand
though, Queens take forever to kill buildings, whereas Zerglings can burn them down very quickly. Therefore,
use Kerrigan and a handful of Queens to clear out a Terran base of units, then after the units are finished
off, run in 12-30 Zerglings to quickly burn down the buildings. In the mean time, you can start moving forward
with Kerrigan and the Queens to clear out more units.
This last tip does not apply when you get to the final Terran base. Send in everything since there is no
point in keeping the Zerglings alive that late in the mission.
Premature Evacuation Video Guide
Here is the video guide demonstrating how to unlock the Premature Evacuation achievement. Note that triggering
Naktul's reinforcements early requires you to destroy all buildings and units, whereas the achievement only tasks
you with destroying buildings. This video finishes all the structures with plenty of time remaining, but Naktul's
reinforcements do not come early because there was a Terran assault occurring on the main during this
time.
Rendezvous Brutal Mode Guide
Beating the Rendezvous mission on Brutal mode is actually significantly easier than unlocking the Premature
Evacuation achievement. Since your only task is to survive for 15 minutes, you do not have to go on offense at all
until Naktul's forces arrive. Here is a step-by-step guide:
At the beginning of the match, start making Drones.
Move Kerrigan directly to the east to pick up the resource pellets there as this will noticeably speed up
your macro. Use these resources to build an extra Hatchery.
Do not stray too far, as you will want Kerrigan to help on defense early on in the mission.
When you get attacked by the waves of Marines, use Crushing Grip twice in a row to take them out with ease.
Using Crushing Grip in range of your Spine Crawler is extremely effective.
Get more Drones and start mining gas. Build a Spawning Pool as well when you get the resources.
Start getting upgrades when you get the gas. After that, use your gas on Queens. You should never have any
leftover gas as you want to put it all into Queens.
By around the 11:00 mark, you will face the toughest part of this mission. Use Kerrigan's Kinetic Blast to
kill the Medic, then use Crushing Grip on the Marauders and Marines that attack. Use your Zerglings to
reinforce this attack. You will probably lose the first Queen you build as well as your automated defense. This
is okay and expected, because now you have the economy to really build up a lot of defense.
Kerrigan and a few Queens can easily handle the Hellions that attack from the north. While they do that,
build 10+ Crawlers at the east entrance (over time) as well as 4 Spore Crawlers near the open space in between
the two entrances to your base. Continue to use Kerrigan and Queens to defend the western entrance while this
is being built up.
After that, build a handful of Spine Crawlers at the western entrance to your base. No need for Spore
Crawlers here, as you can just use a few Queens as anti-air.
Keep training Queens. You can never get too many in this mission.
Use Kerrigan and the Queens to help your Spine Crawlers defeat Terran attacks. Crushing Grip works great as
well as Kinetic Blast for big units or Medics.
Keep making Queens.
At about the 2:30 mark, you should start to get some excess minerals. You can use these to build Zerglings
and Overlords, but spend down to zero gas on Queens first.
Make sure you use Kerrigan's abilities to defend against Thors. Use Crushing Grip to stun them and Kinetic
Blast to kill one quickly. Two Thors left unchecked can wipe out all your Queens if you are not careful.
Rebuild any Crawlers that get destroyed.
Once you get your reinforcements, send all the Zerglings back to your main base. Use Kerrigan and all your
Queens on offense. You should have 20+.
Start clearing out the Terran buildings.
Rescue the trapped units. As you destroy the Terran buildings, your base will get attacked less, which is
why I like to do this.
Once you've destroyed all the Terran buildings outside of the main one, gather near the bridge, and run in
with all your units at once, including the Zerglings you have been saving. It might not look like enough units
at first but Naktul will appear in the base and reinforce the attack.
Destroy the cannon and end the mission.
Rendezvous Brutal Mode Video Guide
This video guide demonstrates how you can complete Rendezvous on brutal mode without ever getting close to dying
or running out of resources. It should help a lot if you are struggling with this mission.
