Depending on when you do this mission, it can be very
difficult of very easy. With the right units, the Starcraft 2 Supernova mission is one of the easiest missions
to beat on Brutal mode.
When going through this part of the guide, I made the unfortunate mistake of selecting this mission before
unlocking the Viking unit, so the guide will be done without Vikings.
You can always add them in if you have it. If you are having trouble with this mission, simply massing Vikings,
Banshees, and Science Vessels makes this mission ridiculously easy.
If you do not have Vikings, it still can be done, but without a Science Vessel you will have to be on top of
things to get everything done in time.
With that said, the step-by-step walkthrough will be based around having Science Vessels and not having Vikings.
However, I will include some alternatives for those who chose different paths.
Step-by-Step Supernova Brutal Guide
As usual, as soon as the match starts, start training a few SCVs. If you have Automated Refineries, this
mission is a lot easier as you will need a lot less SCVs.
You will want around 10 SCVs harvesting minerals and your Vespene fully mined. Again, automated
refineries make this mission very easy.
Throw down a Reactor on your Barracks (no Vikings). If you have Vikings, build a second Starport instead of
a Reactor for your Barracks.
Train 2 Science Vessels as soon as you have the resources for it. If you do not have Science Vessels, you
made a big mistake! However, you can cover for this by training about 4 extra SCVs to repair.
Sit in your base and continuously train Banshees once you get your Science Vessels and use your spare
minerals on Marines and Medics.
Do not worry about leaving your base to fight with the enemy units. Hide your units or use Marauders to
kite the Zealots that attack the base while your Banshees take them out.
The secret is to simply sit in your base and macro up as long as possible before moving out.
At around the 5:15 mark (turn on the game timer in options/gameplay), a Protoss army of about 5-7
Stalkers will attack your base. Kill it, and then move out to the Protoss base directly to the east.
You will want to use your Banshees to pick off the Photon Cannons, at which point they will have free
access to take out the base while cloaked (no detectors). Also, focus down any Colossi you see with your
Banshees, as these will quickly kill your Marines.
Important: At the 6 minute mark, you can call in your mercenaries. Grab the Marines and
Marauders and whatever else you can grab and send them in to the Protoss base with your Banshees. The Merc
Compound will blow up shortly, so it is important to grab them before it does.
There are no air units at this Protoss base, so you can take it out entirely with Banshees after killing
the cannons.
Key point: The Protoss base is powered with just a handful of Pylons - take them out and reinforcements
stop coming.
Land your base in the former Protoss base. Build a Tech Lab on your Starport and Reactor on your Barracks
(or second Starport). Pump a few more Science Vessels (or about 5 SCVs) and then continue to train Banshees,
Marines, and medics.
In the second base, and this is the most important part of the match, do nothing but train units. Do not go
for research and do not go on an excursion. Simply sit in your base and continue to pump Science Vessels (4
total) and then Banshees. Use spare minerals to increase your Marine and Medic count.
In the final base, there are a lot of High Templar that use Psionic Storm, so the more healing units
(Science Vessel and Medics) you get, the better.
At around the 15:10 mark, you will get attacked by a few Scouts and Immortals. After this attack, go in on
the south-eastern Protoss base.
Use your Marines or Vikings to focus down the Warp Prisms. The prisms power all the buildings and the
Protoss player will warp in units very quickly while these are alive. Use your Banshees to kill offensive units
while your Marines take out all the Warp Prisms.
Move your base into this new area. Build a second Barracks at this main base, and throw down Reactors on
both your Barracks and grab a Tech Lab on the Starport once again.
Sit here and pump Marines, Medics, and Banshees. Take your Banshees and pick off the Photon Cannon just
east of your base. Run away and have all your Banshees get healed or repaired (Psionic Storm will have taken
them low).
With the cannon dead, you can then cloak and kill off all those High Templar with your Banshees.
At around the 22 minute mark, you will get attacked by a group of High Templar and a Carrier. You have to
keep moving your units back out of the storm. They will be healed quickly by your Science Vessels and
medics.
Keep training units until the 24 minute mark. Save the game and go in on the offensive.
Important: In the final base, you have to continuously pull your units back after they get
hit with Psionic Storm. Pull back, let your units heal and repair up (take 10 SCVs on repair duty if you have
no Science Vessels) and then go back in.
High Templar will run out of energy after a few storms. At this point, you can then go all-in with your
army.
Save the game in case your attack fails - you can re-load from the attack point.
Your army should be about 120 supply count if you want to succeed (could be as high as 140-150 if you
played perfectly).
With a large enough army and good avoidance of the Psionic Storms, this mission is quite easy.
As you can see from the above text, science vessels really make the final assault much easier, as your Banshees
would take a lot of damage against the Psionic Storms.
If you do not have Science Vessels, when you take over the south-eastern Protoss base, simply switch to mass
Marines, Marauders, and Medics. With enough Medics, Psionic Storm is very easy to deal with.
Supernova Brutal Video Guide
Here is a video guide showing a solid strategy for beating Supernova on Brutal mode. It takes awhile so the
video is broken down into two parts:
Part 1
Part 2
Starcraft 2 Supernova Research Locations
There are 4 Protoss relics at this level, found at the locations below:
Starcraft 2 Supernova Achievements
The achievements are very, very easy to unlock here - much easier than it is to beat the mission in Brutal
mode.
Cool Running - Unlocked by not allowing any units to die to the fire in Normal mode. Kill the
Protoss base in the middle of the map at the 6:00 mark, move your base over, and you should be able to finish off
the mission before needing to move again. This will by default unlock the achievement.
Shock 'n' Awe - Unlocked by killing 75 units or structures with cloaked Banshees in hard
difficulty. Just keep your Banshees cloaked all the time when you are attacking (or defending) and you will unlock
this achievement very quickly.
Starcraft 2 Supernova Brutal Guide Conclusion
When all else fails, you can always fall back on mass Marines and medics. Be sure to pick up a few Banshees to
snipe out Colossi and Pylons, but after that, Marines and Medics will take down this Starcraft 2 mission for
you.
