100 Achievement Points Total

2 Insane AI

The first to be examined is the 2 Insane AI achievement. In this, you need to defeat two Insane AI at the same time. Luckily, you don’t need to defeat any more of these at once, but this is hard enough.

Naturally, we’re going to use our Photon Cannon rush strategy again, but like an episode if Idol, map selection can really make or break this. I find that people naturally tend to select a 2v2 map when trying to complete this, however there aren’t any in the map pool that are as effective as: Tempest.

Tempest, if you get a close spawn position that you scout first time, has an exceptionally close starting position for your two enemies. The AI also start divided from each other and both have a low ground position that has easy access to both opponents Nexus’. Ideal really!

The beautiful thing is, if you are having trouble with this achievement and find your enemy isn’t in a close spawn location, that’s fine. You can just start again. Once you do get it, you’ll find it is the easiest map by far.

Make sure you select both your opponents as being Protoss, of all three races they are the most vulnerable to a cannon rush, compared with Zerg who have creep and Terran who have such early game range units.

As per all Cannon rush strategies we will be pulling a probe off the line ASAP and sending him off to build a proxy Pylon outside the enemy base on the low ground to be followed by a Forge ASAP. Whenever you can, build and chronoboost Probes, as long as you don’t delay any structures. Once you have a Forge up, build two Cannons on the low ground with an approximate 10-15s gap between commencing the two. Try to keep your buildings designed so that it is difficult for melee units to attack you cannons, without compromising the range of your Pylon power or your Cannons reach.

Then, just before your first Cannon completes, build a third Cannon on the high ground. By the time the Probes arrive, the enemy will see the completed first Cannon and waste even more time running down the ramp after it only to find themselves out of their depth. Like dominoes, your 2nd cannon will have completed (this is why we waited 10-15s), leaving the enemy Probes having bitten off more than they could chew.

Meanwhile, keep pushing with your Cannons, leap frogging with the construction of Pylons and Cannons towards the enemy Nexus.

The important note to keep in mind, is not to spend any longer on your first opponent than is necessary. The moment the AI’s Nexus is within range of Photon Cannons (or is expecting to be once some more warp in), move onto the remaining enemy without delay.

We then use the same strategy, being a little more conservative with our Cannon usage, using 4 or more Cannons before pushing further forward with a Pylon.

If you feel you have done well, but cannot make the final push towards the enemy Nexus, not all is lost. Your last ditch effort can involve teching immediately to Void Rays and try to use Hit & Run tactics on the enemy Nexus whilst avoiding engagements with the main army. You will have some time up your sleeve while the enemy attempts to destroy your existing cannons, however they won’t last long.

4 Very Hard AI

This is a very difficult achievement to attain and luck plays a significant component, especially since the release of patch 1.4 and the Immortal range buff that came with it.

We will be playing on Megaton for this one, with all our opponents being Protoss once more.

Again, we are going for a Cannon Rush strategy but this one will be a bit more difficult.

Pull a probe off the line at about 7 supply, your objective is to get as much early game mining in as possible without getting substantially supply blocked. Then build a Pylon on the low ground of the opponent nearest the small back entrance. Get a Forge up ASAP and using the same strategy as before you will be getting two Cannons on the low ground and as they are completing get a cannon on the high ground. Whilst doing all of this and keep squeezing in Probes (using Chronoboost if available) wherever you can, you’ll find you have more scope to do so compared to the 2 Insane achievement, as the additional mining time at the start will mean you’ve had more probes mining.

Note: Earlier online tutorials recommend pushing heavily up through the middle, but this is too difficult since the AI handle aggressive structures better than they used to.

Your third Cannon (that one on the high ground) should have prevented all mining, so we can consider that opponent completely dead. The ideal mentality here is to consider the best path to take down all opponents ASAP. If we consider the nearest opponent (whose mineral line is quite exposed) our second opponent and his only living neighbour the third opponent, you should be moving towards the nearest possible point to your fourth opponent, whilst still being in range of your third. The idea being, this should make an efficient arc which has built up from your very initial cannons and will move right down the middle of the map. An easy mistake to make is to focus too hard on the next opponent and not on the most challenging end goal. In moving this way towards your third opponent, it will only take a cannon or two to completely disable your second opponent, without more than one additional pylon.

Always be sure to only build Cannons where it is intelligent to do so, it you feel you cannot place a cannon in a position where it will be very useful, simply spend the money on probes or if your mineral line is saturated then save for more cannons in the right places later.

Now, here is where the luck component comes in. Sometimes your third and fourth opponents will include Immortals in their unit mix, if that is the case the achievement is very difficult to attain. They are very effective against Cannons. By this stage, it’s up to you as to whether you continue with Cannons, or if you wish to attempt a transition at home into Void Rays with a plan to hit and run their main base. If you feel the enemy is too hard to overcome, you can always restart and hope for better luck next time.

The enemy does not do a good job of it’s expansion timing, so after the 20 min mark you should be keeping in mind that they will have or will be expanding, likely to their nearest expansion. A pylon and a couple of cannons will do the job here. By preventing this, they will be getting mined out and not have the wisdom to expand as you can.

An alternative strategy, put forward by Artreides of the Team Liquid forums is to play TvZZZZ on Lava Flow expand immediately to an island and build mass Thors to starve out the 4 enemies taking advantage of the ultra cost-effective exchange between Thors and Zerg air.

If you have a request for an achievement you would like to see covered or have any questions/comments about this one be sure to leave a comment below!

In this episode of Achievement Hunters Highlander looks at how to get the 4v4 Kin vs Insane AI and 4v4 vs Insane AI Kin achievements. To clarify, the achievements for being all the same race and for defeating all of the same race against the Insane AI.

This achievement is one which can seem quite challenging, but if you know your way around and a few bits and pieces, it’s really quite easy. The pay off is good too, for if you take the lessons and apply them to each difficulty and the similar 3v3 achievements, you can get a quick sweep of 160 achievement points!

Background

Before I get stuck into the achievements, I’ll let you in on a little interesting fact that should not be used in a balance argument! On all difficulties when the match is even a Terran AI will always beat a Protoss or a Zerg AI, and a Protoss AI will always beat a Zerg AI. Or, simply put.

Terran AI > Protoss AI > Zerg AI

Precisely why this is the case I think has to do with how the AI engages, the challenges for it using melee units and it’s type of air units not giving it the vision it wants of the high ground. But, we won’t go too deep here, you just need to know the principal.

For both of these achievements, we are going to be playing on the map Megaton. Why this map? Well, when you are Protoss it is the best available map for good cannon rushing positions. For when playing as Terran or Zerg on Insane difficulty, it is ideal to have your opponents close together.

How To

The first of these achievements is the 4v4 Kin vs Insane AI.

To achieve this, we need to play as 4 Protoss, 4 Zerg and 4 Terran against any combinations of Insane AI.

The second of these achivements is the 4v4 vs Insane AI Kin

To achieve this, we can use any combination of races but must defeat 4 Protoss, 4 Zerg and 4 Terran.

So, the quickest way to achieve both of these achievements in only three games is to play these as complete mirror matches. That is PPPPvPPPP, ZZZZvZZZZ and TTTTvTTTT.

When playing as Protoss you will be using the Cannon Rush strategy found in the first video in the series: Achievement Hunters: Insane AI 3v3 Co-op Streak (http://learningsc2.com/achievements/achievement-hunters-insane-ai-3v3-co-op-streak/). You will be able to take out one opponent with ease and be able to start putting pressure on a second opponent while you wait for your teammates to build up and come to dominate the rest. Once your Cannon Rush strategy isn’t worth persuing any further, you should transition to Void Rays and be mindful of sticking together with you allies and giving them vision of the high ground when they foolishly don’t try to.

When playing as Zerg, you will need to use the aggro Extractor strategy to distract the enemy. Take a drone or two ASAP and use them to build extractors in the opponents base. They will send Drone’s from miles around to take out such a terrible threat. All you have to do is cancel just before it dies and get your drone back on the geyser as an extractor before it gets killed. Repeating that well should be enough to give your teammates enough of an advantage to win. Once they have Zerglings out or your trick fails, you can transition to either Speedlings or Mutalisks and harass any attempts the enemy makes to expand and be mindful to help your allies out with some high ground vision.

For Terran, it gets a little bit trickier.

When playing as Terran, you’ll want to use a very similar to the aggro Extractor strategy however instead of an Extractor you will use a Supply Depot (or Engineering Bay if you can spare the extra minerals) and put these buildings on the high ground at the main entrance to the enemy base. That will create a reacion from all four enemies, so you need to watch your SCV very closely to use the Halt (T) command at the first sign of trouble and have him run away.

After you cannot persue that strategy further rush to banshees and ask your allies (using the button in the top right hand corner) to send you gas as soon as the game reaches 5mins). Focus your efforts on supporting your allies, harassing expansions/mineral lines and giving vision of the high ground.

I personally found trying to use this strategy significantly harder in a TvT environment than the other mirror match ups.

As a result, instead of playin this as a mirror, for anyone who finds this difficult you can do the following as I did:

For the win playing as all Terran, you can do this playing against four Zerg (TTTTvZZZZ). Still follow the same steps as above, but you won’t need to do this as well as your Terran buddies will have the race advantage over Zerg which I mentioned earlier.

For the win playing against all Terran, retain your Terran allies, but you yourself can select Protoss (PTTTvTTTT) Just use the simple Photon Cannon rush to neutralise one of the Terran opponents. After that, as before, you can just tech to Void Rays to help out.

Other notes

This set of achievements is unique in one way, defeating the Insane AI will not grant you the achievements for the lower difficulties. This was changed in a later patch so that you now have to fight with even allies/opponents at each level.

None of the aggressive tricks to distract workers will work below Insane difficulty however the other strategies remain valid. If you are ever having trouble defeating a Kin team, just remember that the strongest team is TTTP with you as Protoss using a Cannon Rush. If you are having trouble using a Kin team, don’t forget that ZZZZ are the weakest opponents.

When you aren’t using the aggressive trick, Outpost likely becomes the favourite map for a 4v4 as it divides your opponents making them easy to conquer for your more organised team (that is, a team where at least two armies stick together (you and at least one AI)).

For the similar 3v3 achievements you will want to pick Cinder Fortress on Insane difficulty or Frontier on lower difficulties.

Patch 1.4 Update:

As Zerg:

Insane AI Workers no longer react to a gas steal, however for this achievement using an Evolution Chamber is just as effective.

For best results, place it as close to a wall/mineral line chokepoint as possible. It will help it to last longer and make your life easier to keep the drone alive before rebuilding. Don’t forget that if it looks trapped, you can use the Mining-Pathing Trick (by clicking on a mineral patch your workers will not be blocked by enemy units and pass straight through them).

As Terran:

Insane AI Workers will now persue your SCV forever unless they are distracted by another target. Use this to your advantage and run your first SCV all over the map until you or your allies have an army and can trap them. Whilst you are doing that with your first SCV, take a second to distract another wave of workers with the same trick.

Replays

PPPP v PPPP 
ZZZZ v ZZZZ 
TTTT v ZZZZ 
PTTT v TTTT 

If you enjoyed this or any of Highlander’s guides or if you have a suggestion for an achievement you would like to see covered let us know in the comments section below!

In this guide, we will be looking at all of the achievements relating to the Blizzard Left 2 Die custom game. This is a really fun scenario which is based on the Wings of Liberty campaign mission Outbreak. Whilst there is one map, there are actually two different game modes. The first is based on the campaign mission with three degrees of difficulty (Normal, Hard and Brutal) where you have to destroy all the Zerg structures. The second mode is a pure survival mode known as Night 2 Die. Both modes are better played with a partner because of the extra 200 food and the extra control this allows you. It’s also a lot more fun with a friend.

We will be aiming to complete all of the normal achievements in one sweep as we defeat the mission on Brutal difficulty before the fifth night. In doing so we will earn at least 40 achievement points and probably another 10 plus a portrait for killing the Stank without taking any casualties. In the second section of this guide we will get another 30 achievement points for surviving level 15 of Night 2 Die mode.

Map Layout

The map consists of your base surrounded by enemy Zerg and Infested Terran structures. Each player has one main entrance which is initially open with only a Bunker for defence. At the 2 o’clock and 8 o’clock positions there are alternative entrances blocked by debris which only hold back the Zerg Swarm for so long.

Outside of your base there are many Zerg and Infested structures which produce hordes of attacking units by night and must be destroyed by day to fulfil the victory requirements. Most groups of structures are defended by one or two bunkers full of Infested Marines that can deal out a good bit of damage until their bunker is destroyed, exposing them to the sun.

At the 1 o’clock position there is a Zerg base that is guarded by two Bunkers, three Mutalisks a few Roaches and Hydralisks. Killing the Hatchery will prevent these Zerg units from being re-spawned, so be sure to kill it in one go.

At the 5 o’clock position there is another Zerg base that is defended by two Bunkers on the high ground, Spine Crawlers and a mix or Roaches and Hydralisks. This is definitely the hardest point int the game to break and is best saved till last.

Brutal Difficulty

First Night

On the first night you will be subjected to numerous Hunterlings and two Kaboomers. Be sure to keep unit production up and get Bunkers on both sides of your entrances ASAP.

Hunterlings are the biggest danger on the first night. In addition to using focused fire whenever you see these, a couple of strategies can help minimize the damage they do. By keeping your units focused at one point on the high ground you will be able to dispatch the Hunterlings with minimal losses. Alternatively, try using only a Bunker on the high ground. Without the presence of an attackable unit the Hunterling will be unable to use its powerful leap ability.

Be ready to move out again by the end of the night, you want to make the most of every second of daylight if you want to succeed.

Second Night

On this night the Swarm will break through the rocks at the 1 o’clock position. One Planetary Fortress will hold this pretty comfortably for a night with only a little support/repair.

You will soon be faced with a mob of five Hunterlings followed by your first experience with dealing with Spotters. Be ready at the 12 minute mark as one Spotter will head directly for your Command Centre followed by a pair of Hunterlings at the 13 minute mark.

Third Night

On this night the Swarm will break through the rocks at the 7 o’clock position. You should be building up more forces now and should post some troops to this entrance. A Siege Tank or two can be especially helpful here as the high ground is a little further away from the action. 

You will have two separate waves of Hunterlings come directly to you Command Centres by this night, so if you haven’t already, upgrade this to a Planetary Fortress.

Fourth Night

This is the last night that we need to survive so the principle concern is maintaining as much of an army as possible to destroy all the remaining Infested structures. So if, on this final night, one of your entrances is breached pull your army back to a single point and allow some of your now redundant production buildings to be sacrificed.

The only enemies worth considering on this final night are the two Stanks. One will come early in the night and another quite late. When the first Stank strikes you should still be in pretty good shape, so make sure you move all available troops to his location quickly to take him down. Again well placed structural defences and quickly moving SCV’s to repair are the key here. If done right you should be able to kill the Stank without any losses granting you the achievement and Stank portrait. When the second Stank arrives be sure to focus fire it down as it will not die quickly from the sunlight and will waste important day-time.

Once the fourth night is complete move out for the quick win, this is your last chance so send all of your SCV’s and empty your Bunkers and kill all remaining infested structures.

Upgrades

The upgrade path is best started with Medics and Bunkers (the two players you have enough to afford these at the same time). This tech path is best because you will be focusing on infantry due to their free and easy healing and mobility once Stimpack is researched. The next upgrade worth taking is Siege Tank (resource share to get this tech ASAP) as it will help greatly with defence. The next upgrades you take depend on what you are having the most trouble with. If you are having trouble destroying the Infested Structures Reapers and Hellions are good choices. If defending is the main problem for you then Goliaths and the Reactor-Lab are the best choices.

Other Tips

• Get started straight away! Your initial units include Vultures and some Marines. Use the Vultures to destroy any Bunkers on level-ground as they can out-range the infested Marines inside. Use you Marines to start killing any undefended Infested Structures.
• Make sure you use Stimpack plenty throughout the day but make sure to have some Medics with your infantry to keep healed up.
• Don’t take on the Hatcheries unless you have sufficient time and forces to take them out in one go. The Hatcheries will produce more Roaches, Hydralisks and Mutalisks if they are left standing.
• Don’t be afraid of Nydus Canals as you will have completed the mission before they even begin appearing.
• Save the 5 o’clock Hatchery for last and make sure you work your way to it from an anti-clockwise direction so that you aren’t taking on the defences from the low ground.
• Don’t be afraid to use the pause button. If you select the Science Lab before pausing you can see all of the tech choices while paused so you can discuss how you will proceed with your teammate.

You can grab the original replay of this guide here : http://www.sc2replayed.com/replay-videos/11910

Night 2 Die Mode 

This mode gets insane pretty quickly so I will just keep this guide to the basics. You will need to survive for 45 minutes and attacks remain pretty constant but there are a few key times to note:

• 00:45 – You start to see Hunterlings at your main entrances so be ready. Keep your forces together on one part of the high ground and use only structures for defence on the other high ground.
• 07:00 – Start getting a Planetary Fortress at the northern alternate entrance, the Swarm will break through at 10:00 and it takes 2:30 to build a Command Centre and upgrade it to a Planetary Fortress.
• 07:10 – Start upgrading your main Command Centre to be a Planetary Fortress if you can afford it as Hunterlings are on their way. If you cannot do this in time have some troops ready to defend by 8:20.
• 10:50 – Start getting Missile Turrets up and position your Marines, Spotter start coming to your main entrances at 11:30 and your Command Centres at 13:30.
• 13:00 – Start getting a Planetary Fortress at the Southern alternate entrance, the Swarm will break through at 16:00.
• 20:00 – The first Nydus Worms will appear. From now on need to start trying to get defences within your base, not just at the entrances. Set up Siege Tanks so that they cover as much of your base as possible. Setting up additional Planetary Fortresses in your base will also help. You will be attacked by Nydus Worms at the 24th, 32nd, 38th, 41st, and 44th minute marks. Make sure you kill the last Nydus worm ASAP as the game will not declare victory until it is destroyed.
• 23:00 – The first Stank will appear. Killing the Stank is the highest priority and be proactive about pulling SCV’s to help repair. Additional Stanks will attack at the 27, 33, 36, 39 and 43 minute marks.

Upgrades

The upgrade path is best started with Medics and Bunkers (the two players should reach these at about the same time). After this you will need Siege Tanks (resources share to get this ASAP). Fire Suppression Auto Repair and the Reactor-Lab are are the next best steps and will help more as the game progresses. Goliaths are excellent for defending against Spotters and are the next priority, once you get them disperse them around your base for maximum air coverage. After these the upgrades do not matter as much so get whatever you like (but leave the Flame Turrets for last).

Other Tips

• Be mindful of your building placement, once the Nydus Worms start to attack mobility will be essential. Put production and upgrade buildings at the outer edges where possible to leave room in the middle.
• Have one player focus more on Mechanical units and the other on Infantry. This will maximise the effectiveness of any upgrades researched.
• Make sure to research all of the upgrades even those you don’t need. You will get a bonus for the extra Biomass you earn and cannot spend.

You can grab the original reply here: http://www.sc2replayed.com/replay-videos/11913 

Appendix: Special Units

The Swarm has five units which are unique to this scenario and each time one enters the game it is announced. A description of each of these unique units follows.

Hunterlings

These nasty critters jump cliffs like reapers and use a leap attack to lock on to a unit, disable it and deal a lot of direct damage. These can be absolutely deadly if they manage to get into your mineral line.

Kaboomer 

These slow, Baneling-like units use an acid attack on buildings and deal some damage on death. These are good to focus-fire if it will make the difference between them dying early or getting their attack off. Make sure to repair buildings that come under their attack.

Spotter

 A giant Overseer-like flying unit, these are dangerous as they can spot the high ground which exposes your units to Infested Marine fire and because they have a Contamination ability which disables buildings such as Missile Turrets and Bunkers. The cooldown and duration of the Contamination ability means that they can affect two buildings so one Missile Turret and one Bunker is not enough. Spotters also do a decent amount of damage so they are a top priority.

One useful tip is that Spotters will stop to destroy Spider Mines. So if you aren’t already using your Vultures this is another reason to do so.

Choker 

 A bloated unit similar to the Infestor, these creatures will use their Snare to draw a unit away from your defences. They will target the closest unit they can see so having Marines or SCVs closer then Siege Tanks is an excellent way to remove most of the threat they present.

Stank

Similar to the Brutalisk from the campaign the Stank is the most formidable of the units you will face. With its area of effect melee attack the Stank can be devastating if left unchecked. Due to it’s very high HP it can even survive the daylight for a long time. Always target fire the Stank with all non-siege units to minimize the damage it does. Well-placed Planetary Forteresses can help greatly in dealing with the Stank.

Nydus Worm 

Not technically a unit but rather a unit-spawning structure. The Nydus Worm will appear randomly on the map or in your base and start unloading units rapidly. Although you won’t face any Nydus attacks in your first four nights on Brutal difficulty they will become the bane of your existence on Left2Die mode. The screen will shake before they appear so use this warning to gather a group of mobile forces to take it out.

Make sure to focus-fire the Nydus Worm down ASAP, it will spawn Abberations and other units constantly until it is dead. If your base is quite busy using a ‘move’ command to the Nydus and then attacking it can help you destroy it more quickly, don’t be afraid to use Stimpack to help you get there more quickly. Once the Nydus is destroyed you can go about killing off the units it unloaded.

This guide and the accompanying videos were produced by Highlander, a self-confessed achievement junkie from the SEA server. If you have good writing skills or video production talent and wish to contribute to LearningSC2.com be sure to contact me!

(Updated for Patch 1.4)

In this episode of Achievement Hunters Highlander looks at how to get the 2v2 Co-op Coverage Stomp Insane AI achievement.

I am often asked for help with this achievement and it has a decent pay-off. Once completed you will earn 10 points per difficulty (40 total) and if you do this for both 2v2 and 3v3 you will net a hefty total of 80 points!

The following guides explain how to do this for each of the three races:

Protoss

For Protoss you will be using the Cannon rush strategy found in the first video in the series: Achievement Hunters: Insane AI 3v3 Co-op Streak. Make sure to help your allies out as soon as you deny mining on your opponent as they may be struggling.

Terran

Upon starting the game immediately send an SCV to your opponents base and as soon as he arrives start building a Supply Depot. The intention here is to draw the workers from mining as they will attack the Depot, which the AI considers to be a threat. As soon as you see workers coming to attack press the ‘Halt’ command (hotkey ‘T’) and pull the SCV away from the enemies base. Wait untill the Depot is just about to be destroyed and cancel it (hotkey ‘Esc’) to get most of your money back. You will need to repeat this step as many times a possible to prevent the AI opponent from harvesting.

Meanwhile, you will need to use your multitasking ability to build a regular Supply Depot and Barracks fairly close to your opponents base to start building marines. Be careful not to build these too close to the AI’s base as it may draw their workers attention. Refer to the video for an example of how far away you should build these. Keep building Barracks and constantly train Marines.

When you have a force of 5 or so Marines move into the AI’s base to attack. Using this many will prevent the AI from defending itself with its workers so destroy any military units the AI has and then push to the mineral line to finish them off.

Zerg

As Zerg you will use a simple 7-Pool strategy combined with an aggro Extractor tactic similar to the Terrans aggro Supply Depot tactic. Build one Drone at the beginning of the game then begin saving minerals for a Spawning Pool. Once you start morphing the Spawning Pool send one Drone to your AI opponents base. While your Pool is morphing you can build another one or two Drones and save Larvae for Zerglings. Once your Pool is complete morph as many Zerglings as possible and then a Queen once your Larvae are all used up. Morph in Overlords as necessary.

When your Drone scout arrives at the AI’s base have it start building an Extractor on the opponents Geyser to draw workers from mining. Cancel and rebuild the Extractor when the health becomes very low. Doing this will disrupt mining greatly and will only have a minimal cost to you.

Once your Zerglings arrive engage any stray units at attack structures until you have sufficient forces to take on the AI’s workers. If the AI attempts to attack you with its Workers pull back until it sends back most of it’s workers giving you a few easy kills. Controlling this way will allow you to kill off the AI pretty quickly. If you are facing a Zerg AI you can have one or two Drones (including the one building the aggro Extractor) build Spine Crawlers on the opponents Creep to make the fight a lot easier.

A Few Things To Note:

• If you get a map where the AI opponents spawn very close together they will defend as one and it will become quite difficult. Don’t be afraid to quit and try for a new map – your not going for a streak here so the losses won’t matter.
• Keep in mind which match-up is easier for each of your allies. Leave Zerg opponents for your Zerg teammates and leave Protoss opponents for your Protoss or Terran allies.
• If things go bad transition to Speedlings as Zerg or Reapers as Terran and use hit and run tactics to kill off the AI’s buildings. Have your Protoss allies feed you resources to further help.

Highlander is a self-confessed Achievement junkie and overall newbie on the SEA server. You can follow his achievement progress here.

If you have any comments or Requests for achievements you want to see covered let us know in the comments below!

With great excitement I present to you the beginnings of a new series from guest poster Highlander: Achievement Hunters!

Highlander is a self-confessed achievement junkie hailing from the SEA servers. He is creating this series of videos to help others like himself sate their hunger for achievement points. I look forward to posting up his videos and hope you all enjoy.

– ZiggyD

In this video we look at how to get the 3v3 Co-op Streak: Insane AI 15 achievement.

This achievement is difficult and annoying to obtain but it has a big pay off. By completing the 15 win streak you will get 10 points per difficulty (beating insane counts as beating all levels below that) 3 times over (for 5, 10, and, 15 wins). After getting this achievement it is easy to do the same for 2v2 netting you a huge total of 240 points!

Here is a quick rundown of the steps shown in the video:

1. Have all 3 team members select Protoss and start the game. It has to be a formal “Cop-op vs AI” to work, a custom game will not do.
2. At the start of the match each team member starts training a probe and sends another to the low ground area as close as possible to each of the enemy’s mineral lines. Build a pylon at each of these locations.
3. Halt probe production and build a Forge ASAP. As this warps in Chrono-boost a few more Probes for a better economy. Take this opportunity to scout out your opponents base.
4. Once your Forge is complete build two Cannons on the low ground. As they complete build cannons on the high ground and leap-frog cannons and pylons towards your opponents minerals to prevent mining.
5. Once mining is prevented it is just a matter of finishing the opponents and helping your allies do the same. 
6. If things go badly for any of your allies tech to Void Rays to deliver a finishing blow.

If you lose a game and fail the streak achievement don’t be too concerned as all wins still count towards your total co-op Insane AI wins (of which you need 250).

An alternative strategy that helps to overcome some difficult maps is for one player to select Terran and use mass-reapers. The basic strategy here is to try and kill their Command Centre/Nexus/Hatchery whilst never directly engaging the main army and continuing to accumulate more reapers over time. This player can target the opponent most challenging for cannons.

Are you a fan of this new series? Do you have a request for an achievement you would like to see covered? Let us know in the comments below!