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Campaign/Zero Hour

From Liquipedia StarCraft 2 Wiki
[e][h]Wings of Liberty
Zero Hour
Mission Information
Mission Objective
Hold out until extraction
Credits Earned:
55000
Research Points:
None
New Units:
Available Heroes:
None

Zero Hour is the last "guided" mission, in that you have much more freedom in the Single Player Campaign after you finish this one. The goal is similar to the original Starcraft's third Terran mission, in that it's a survival mission where your sole goal is to survive for 20 minutes. As the timer counts down, the enemy waves get progressively stronger. When the countdown reaches 1 minute The Zerg will start to send unending waves of units at you.

Jim Raynor and Tychus Findlay are trying to escape from Mar Sara after successfully retrieving the Xel'Naga Artifact. Raynor calls for the Hyperion to pick them up, but the Zerg make a well-timed return to attack the Koprulu Sector.

Notes[edit]

You can build Bunkers and Missile Turrets starting from this mission.

Primary Objectives[edit]

  • Hold out for Evacuation (20 minutes)

Guide[edit]

You start in the lower right hand corner of the map, with a well established base. You have enough SCVs to start your economy, but you'll need to add more. You have four Bunkers in total, two at the top of the ramp, and two by the two bridges leading into your base. Unless you are going for the "Hold the Line" achievement, it is recommended to salvage your outer bunkers and establish a base defence above the ramp. This is because you will have only half the firepower if you split your army. The high ground will also give you a small advantage over the Zerg Roaches and Hydralisks, since they cannot attack your bunkers unless they have high ground vision.

Start pumping Marines and place additional Bunkers as your Marine count grows. Placing Bunkers is almost vital in Hard and Brutal difficulty, in order to protect your Marines from Banelings. Around 5 Bunkers are enough if you are building your defence above the ramp. Medics are very useful if you are planning to go for the "The Best Defense..." achievement as well as for saving the rebels. If you need Medics in order to move out, a single Barracks with a Tech Lab will do (build Reactors on the rest of your Barracks). As the rebel groups appears, it is recommended to move out and save them to add more strength to your army. Note that the Zerg has burrowed Zerglings and Hydralisks near each rebel group, so you will need some Marines (and preferably some Medics) to save them.

Remember to constantly make more SCVs until you have around 25 of them, build additional Barracks as your economy grows, and keep around 3 SCVs near your Bunkers to repair (also use these SCVs to build Supply depots, since they often stand idle). Simply reinforce your forces constantly and be prepeared to defend your SCVs from small Zergling drops in your base and you should be able to survive the 20 minutes.

If you're looking to get the "The Best Defense..." achievement, try to attack the two nearest Hatcheries on the south part of the map as soon as possible, since the strength of the Zerg attacks increase constantly. Your initial attack should start before the timer hits 8 minutes. Consider leaving your base right after you have destroyed an attack wave, and leave a few Marines in your Bunkers, (now might be a good time to send some extra SCVs to auto reapir the Bunkers as well). Once you reach the Hatcheries, try to focus fire them down as fast as possible while killing of the spawning Zerg. Once the Hatcheries are down, wait for a drone to mutate into a new Hatchery, kill it, and you have got the Achievement!

Cheap Trick For the Final Minute[edit]

If you are getting overrun at the very end of the mission, lift off all of your Barracks and your Command Center and run them away from the mass of Zerg units. Since you only lose the mission if all of your structures are destroyed, this is a cheap way to win even if all of your units are killed off, though this does not work on the higher difficulties since the Zerg will use Mutalisks.

Marine Micro[edit]

Because the Zerg begins using Banelings on this map, you'll need to micro your Marines efficiently to prevent them from inflicting terrible, terrible damage on your MnM. Space out your MnM accordingly, and target fire the Banelings to take them down.

Sidequests[edit]

  • Rescue the Rebels (3)
Three Rebel Squads are located at various points on the map. As the timer counts down, these Squads are revealed one at a time and you are tasked with rescuing them. The first squad is in the eastern part of the map, the second squad is in the center of the map, and the third is on the west side of the map. Try to rescue them as soon as possible, as the Zerg forces become more powerful as time progresses.
  • Destroy the Hatcheries
Although not a listed bonus objective, destroying at least 4 Hatcheries is vital for the "The Best Defense.." achievement. There are 8 in total on the map, 2 located in the upper left corner of the map, 3 in the upper right and 3 in the lower left.
It is possible to get the achievement by only attacking 1 Zerg base, after killing 3 Hatcheries, the Zerg will attempt to reconstruct the base and you can kill the 4th Hatchery simply by hanging around the Zerg base waiting for the Hatchery to be built.

Achievements[edit]

Zero Hour
Complete all mission objectives in the "Zero Hour" mission. 15
An easy way to ensure that you get this achievement is to move out with your initial forces and plant a marine at each of the spots where the rebels will show up. Start with your marines located on the right hand side bridge. You will need to micro the marines that the hydralisks first engage to save them. For the other two points, wait until the first Zerg wave passes and move out when you have at least one medic. Chances are, you will not be able to bring the rebels from the third point back to your base when they finally show up, but at least you grab the free resources first for a good head-start.
Hold the Line
Complete the "Zero Hour" mission on Normal difficulty without losing or salvaging a structure. 10
This achievement isn't too hard, even on Brutal, as long as you keep up constant Marine and Medic production. Near the end, you probably want to pull all your SCVs off gas to repair the Bunkers that you've set up at the two bridges.
The Best Defense...
Destroy 4 Zerg Hatcheries in the "Zero Hour" mission on Hard difficulty. 10
The top right base is almost impossible to attack. Instead go for the bottom left and top left, top left is the easiest to attack but only has 2 Hatcheries, then you have to work your way up the ramp on the bottom left and kill one more, or wait for the Zerg to rebuild previously destroyed Hatcheries and snipe them again. Be careful when attacking the bottom left Zerg base though, as there will be Banelings there early in the game, which will destroy your Marines and Medics if you're not careful. It's probably better to just attack the top left expansion and use the trick below to get the achievement if you're playing on Brutal.

There's an easy trick to get this achievement. Bypass the lower left base and aim straight for the top left base and kill the two close Hatcheries but do NOT kill the Drones. Once the Hatcheries are down, pull back and wait a few seconds until the computer starts to rebuild those two Hatcheries. Kill them both again. You will get the achievement even those Hatcheries weren't fully built.

A Strong Offense
Destroy 8 Zerg Hatcheries in the "Zero Hour" mission on Normal difficulty. 10
Guide

Secrets[edit]

Tauren Outhouse
At the top center of the map, there is a Tauren Space Marine who runs inside a Tauren Outhouse. If you click the outhouse three times, you'll get messages that say "T-minus 3", "T-minus 2", and "T-minus 1". Then click it another time, and it'll blast off and you'll get a message saying that you've found a secret. Once you do this, you'll occasionally see it floating in space throughout the campaign.