- This article is for the Heart of the Swarm multiplayer version, for the Wings of Liberty version see: Ultralisk (Wings of Liberty).
Ultralisk
[edit] Description
The Ultralisk is the Zerg's toughest late-game unit in StarCraft II. It can only be made once the Hive is researched and an Ultralisk Cavern is made. The Ultralisk has been upgraded since its role in Brood War; when attacking units - within a range of 1 - its attack deals splash damage within a range of 2.5 in a 180° arc towards the target, albeit at a flat 33% of normal damage. However, this improvement is compensated for by the increase in overall cost, which places it around the same level as the Thor and Colossus.
[edit] Upgrades
[edit] Abilities
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| Ultralisk is immune to snare, stun and mind control effects.
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[edit] Competitive Usage
[edit] General
Ultralisks, because of their 1 range, fare very well when paired with Zerglings or, in some cases, Broodlings. The Ultralisk's 1 range allows them to attack even when Zerglings or Broodlings are in front of the Ultralisk.
With Attack-Move taking priority over the regular Move command, it is therefore recommended to control Ultralisks in a separate group than Zerglings and steer the latter "manually" for a brief period - preferably surrounding the opponent's army - until (most of) the Ultralisks have "plowed" through them and are in range of their targets.
[edit] Vs.
Protoss
Ultralisks can be extremely powerful against Protoss, but with a good composition of Archons, Immortals and Stalker/Zealot, a Protoss ground army can deal with Ultralisks. As Ultralisks are "massive" units, they can be used to crush forcefields, weakening Protoss positioning in the late game.
If the Protoss has access to Stargate tech, Void Rays are also recommended.
[edit] Vs.
Terran
Ultralisks are useful against both Terran bio balls of Marine/Marauder as well as mech armies of Tanks and Thors. Since it is so easy for Terran to produce Vikings quickly, they are usually preferred over Broodlords as the go to unit. When used in conjunction with the Infestor, Ultralisks and their cleave ability can decimate Bio Balls under the effect of Fungal Growth. Ultras will often serve as the vanguard for a Zerg push, breaking siege lines and bio balls with their high armor and large health pool.
It must be noted, however, that well-controlled bio armies are hugely cost effective against Ultras, so rooting the bio force in clumps with Fungal Growth is essentially necessary at the highest levels.
Ultralisks vs Terran have become a tricky situation due to the combination of the Ultralisk damage buff and the introduction of Widow mines. Battles can quickly turn to either player's favor as a large number of units will die at once.
[edit] Vs. Zerg
Ultralisks are good in late game as the only true counter to them is Mutalisks or Broodlords. Though Roaches can kite Ultralisks, Fungal Growth allows ultras to annihilate them and they themselves cannot be rooted by Fungal Growth. Hydralisks are effective versus Ultralisks without Chitinous Plating assuming no upgrades (or upgrades that cancel each other out). However, with Chitinous Plating, Ultralisks can beat Hydralisks. Yet again though, as numbers get larger, Hydralisks' effectiveness increases; this is because several layers of ranged units can attack, compared to one layer for melee units. Ultralisks' splash effect helps somewhat to counter-act this issue, but not enough to outweigh the aforementioned problems.
[edit] Gallery
[edit] Quotes
[edit] Patch Changes
| Patch 11 (version 0.13.0.15250)
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- Damage has been increased from 18 to 25.
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| Patch 13 (version 0.15.0.15449)
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- Life decreased from 600 to 450.
- Damage changed from 25 to 15 (+25 Armored).
- Damage versus structures increased from 60 to 75.
- Splash now deals less damage in far range.
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| Patch 14 (version 0.16.0.15580)
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- Anabolic Synthesis upgrade removed.
- Health increased from 450 to 500.
- Speed increased from 2.25 to 2.9531.
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| Patch 16 (version 0.19.0.15976)
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- Now immune to stuns and mind control.
- Splash radius increased from 1.5 to 2.5.
- Splash radius increased from 90° to 180° in front of the ultralisk.
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| Patch 1.1 (version 1.1.0)
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- Bonus damage against armored decreased from 25 to 20
- Removed special attack versus structures
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| Patch 1.4 (version 1.4.0)
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- Build time decreased from 70 to 55.
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| Balance Update #7[1]
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- The speed of Burrow Charge has been increased from 2.25 to 3.75.
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| Balance Update #8 [2]
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- Burrow Charge has been removed.
- Damage changed from 15+20 armored to 35 flat damage.
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[edit] References
300 
200 
55 
6
500 
1 (+1) (+2 Chitinous Plating)
