Games - Ultralisk

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	Games - Ultralisk

The Ultralisk is a high-level ground unit in the 1994 Blizzard Entertainment RTS (real-time strategy) game StarCraft.

While it is one of the most expensive Zerg units, it is also the most powerful, mostly in terms of sheer mass and endurance. With a base 1 armor and 400 hit points, and 6 armor when upgraded, the Ultralisk is one of the toughest enemies to kill when upgraded, making it a favorite target of spells such as "Spawn Broodling" (a one-hit-kill to any biological unit) ,"Psionic Storm" and "Irradiate". The "Chitinous Plating" upgrade included with Brood War gives the beast an extra 2 armor points, making it even more of a tank. Its primary weakness is its limited range of attack and its relatively weak damage for such an expensive unit. Its melee attack can only hurt land units immediately adjacent to the Ultralisk, and it doles out a mediocre 20 damage per hit -- comparable to mere footsoldiers of the Terran or Protoss such as the Dragoon or the Vulture, both of which can be built for a fraction of the price of an Ultralisk. Also, due to its large size and short range few Ultralisk can attack a single target at once, and it is ill-suited for attack on its own.

However, unlike units such as the assassin-like Dark Templar, who are constantly cloaked and do a great amount of damage for their size, or the Siege Tank, which has the longest range in the game but is relatively fragile (only 150 hit points), the Ultralisk is not designed to kill quickly, but to be a meat shield. In fact, one of the most effective strategies for using Ultralisks is to plant them in the middle of an army of much weaker units. By doing this, it is specifically targeted by the majority of the opposing force, allowing it to take the brunt of the damage, while your real core army attacks with a measure of immunity.

For such a large unit, it is surprisingly fast, especially after upgrading its speed. It also has the distinction of being one of the few Zerg ground units that are unable to burrow underground, presumably because of its massive girth. (Broodlings and some heroic Zerg ground units also cannot burrow.) Unlike other Zerg units, Ultralisks take a lot of "Control" to produce: 4 supply per Ultralisk, meaning that an overlord can only supply 2 ultralisk, as opposed to 8 Hydralisk or a massive 16 Zerglings.

The Ultralisk is armed with a pair of "Kaiser Blades", which are rumored to be nearly indestructible and have a monomolecular edge.

Ultralisks can only be produced after the player morphs an Ultralisk Cavern. They have special upgrades available in StarCraft: Brood War which enhance their speed and armor, in addition to the typical armor upgrades available to all Zerg units. These special modifications came about due to direct exposure to raw Vespene gas.

The Ultralisk is descended from the peaceful Brontolith. The current Ultralisk bears little resemblance to the original creature. An Ultralisk is about 20 meters long (the size of a city bus), according to StarCraft: Alternity.

The Ultralisk was first observed by Terran forces when a small number destroyed a Terran Confederacy outpost on Timul IV.

The Torrasque

The Torrasque is an especially powerful hero Ultralisk. The Torrasque has double the hit points and does over twice as much damage as a typical Ultralisk. The name is derived from the Tarrasque, a fearsome dragon, somewhat akin to a manticore, in French folklore(and one which can regenerate from apparent destruction in its Dungeons & Dragons
incarnation). The Torrasque is present in some campaign missions but is absent in official multiplayer games.

Enslavers

It is first introduced in StarCraft: Enslavers on Aiur. Part of a Brood under the control of a Cerebrate controlled by Alan Schezar's Ghosts using Khaydarin Crystals and ancient Protoss technology.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Ultralisk ]

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