Hydralisk Evolution: Impaler and Lurker (Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm)

The impaler strain of hydralisk were developed on Marek V, which housed Prometheus Company, a Terran Dominion infestation specialist unit. There, Ryloth's Brood was in danger of being wiped out. There were feral impaler colonies nearby (ancestors to the sunken colony) whose essence was used to develop the impaler morph. The impalers were then used to destroy Prometheus Company's base. The lurker was redeveloped on Cavir, a former birthing colony for Daggoth. Kerrigan telepathically seized control of some feral lurkers but was unable to morph additional ones. Abathur determined that the key transformation sequence was missing, and a lurker den was needed. Kerrigan's lurkers found a den soon enough and defended it from the nearby feral zerg until Broodmother Kilysa arrived and reclaimed the den for the Swarm... "Hydralisk Evolution" mission from 'Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm' PC game... Gameplay on Normal... ► Watch more Starcraft videos: bit.ly/1b1W2yY.
Hydralisk Evolution:
*Impaler strain: Hydralisks can morph into impalers. Impalers have a long ranged anti-armor attack. Impalers must burrow to attack.
*Lurker strain: Hydralisks can morph into lurkers. Lurkers have an anti-light linear area of effect attack. Lurkers must burrow to attack.

[@CJake3]

My official 📄 _Starcraft Stories Playlist:_ bit.ly/cjakestarcraft (135 videos). Have fun. Added poll to this video: _"Which strain you like more: Impaler or Lurker?""_ Just click "i" button in the top right corner of the video and make your vote. You can write your own version here in comments as well. At first I wanted to make it "Which strain is better?" - but "better" depends on the current situation, so I changed it into "Which strain you LIKE more".

[@Zeracan]

Makes me miss the good old Sunken Colony tongue attack.

[@roeyzfaigmanimiranda2038]

true and it was fast too

[@annihia3538]

That was hard to fight

[@thebravegallade731]

Sunkens were OP

[@k-leb4671]

@@roeyzfaigmanimiranda2038 And they didn't telegraph their attacks with a bright red patronizing target reticle either.

[@roeyzfaigmanimiranda2038]

@@k-leb4671 haha yes! They are unpredictable, you never know which unit it will hit, well of course it tends to hit those one's that are prioritize like dragoons and others but still the difference is really seen between the two

[@5deathburger]

Impaler= Critical damage Lurker= Splash damage

[@darkravenbest8970]

But boths have terrible, terrible damage...

[@Tucher97]

lurkers only do damage ina straight line and only in a striaght like why impalers yes slow but they will take out heavier enemies

[@WadcaWymiaru]

Line damage...the BEST zerg unit...

[@chuchulainn9275]

I miss hunter killers.

[@dragonfable66]

Lurkers are more for dealing with mobs of onfantry or light vehicles. The impaler is for wasting priority heavy armor targets

[@dandaman4393]

It was over as soon as you got the high ground.

[@WadcaWymiaru]

For Lurkers that DEADLY!

[@DCdabest]

Kenobi sequence located. Return to evolution pit. Evolve High Ground transformation.

[@WadcaWymiaru]

Kenobi?

[@DCdabest]

Władca Wymiaru kzbin.info/www/bejne/eGipfptpjtl-ldk

[@stopdropandroll]

you underestimate their power

[@yt_mark0414]

I like the SC1 hydra attack and spitting sound effect. That was scary when your opponent has a mass of hydra spitting at your front door. This doesnt look terrifying.

[@chocolat-kun8689]

Plus SC1 Zerg are boney instead of slimy

[@JAt0m]

@@chocolat-kun8689 I think the remake does the original art no justice.

[@TrueBeliever04]

@@JAt0m You don't like the remake, then?

[@MyViolador]

I always pick lurker, just for nostalgia

[@justnoob8141]

MyViolador it more useful than impaler anyway.

[@mirahorner6277]

@@justnoob8141 Atleast impalers don't have 2 range.

[@samuelspiel8855]

Always pick impaler for the range advantage

[@darkpanchomktwo4756]

Tecnically the impaler have sunken colony atack ,so both are nostalgic

[@Squiggles01]

@@darkpanchomktwo4756 It's a Mobile Sunken colony. And I always choose it over the lurker. Much like Ghosts in wings of liberty.

[@travismontgomery1897]

Impaler: I've been impaled! Lurker: *Jaws Theme*

[@junehollybell5977]

remember when hydralisks were terrifying and not squishy xD?

[@TheVocalTune]

New Strain: Hunter Killer. GG

[@CrabTastingMan]

Oh man, I thought I was the only person who noticed the bad visual design! Everything in SC2's visual design is wrong! For all 3 races, there are too many greebly details that throw off the contours of units, and in a low-saturation palette it doesn't help at all! And each race has their own problems: *Terran:* 1) Too clean. Where are the sooty industrial grit of the hardy Terrans? That was their charm! 2) I hate how the infantry now have to *waddle* about to go anywhere. It's worse than WC3! *Zerg:* 1) EVERYTHING IS *PUDGY AND CUTE:* I blame modelers coming from WoW where they kept using low poly to accomodate MMORPG game systems. 2) SPIKES: "I don't know how to design monsters so I'll just put spikes on everything like an edgy 12 year old asked to design something cool." The Roaches are the worst. It's really hard to make out their silhouettes in a game with desaturated colors and an overabundance of spikey appendages that do nothing but make the shapes more erratic and hard to recognize. Didn't they learn this in their freshmen year at design school? 3) EVEN WORSE WADDLING CUTENESS THAN TERRANS. *Protoss:* The most problematic. 1) Neon lights and wafer-thin apparatuses they sport now, like brittle jewelry. The SC1 Protoss had both "magical" and yet "mass" to their designs. In SC2, Immortals seem to be the only unit that keeps this. Even Carriers feel weak because they got lots of thin buttress-like stuff on the sides. I mean, compare, SC1 Protoss victory screen to SC2 artwork for zealots! 2) *ORBS, ORBS AND SPINNING EVERYWHERE.* Lazy ass design. The Disruptor, Oracle, Mothership, Mothership Core, Tempest, Void Rays, and the deleted Stasis Orb... The Archon and Observer carried over from SC1, but the lazy design of the new units has to sit with these 2 piled on top of it. It's all the worse for monotonous design. Why can't they design cool stuff more akin to existing Protoss design like Arbiters and Corsairs? And I can't be the only one when I say Marines exploding into a crimson blossom, and zerglngs into a gore shower are things I miss in SC2. Over the top? Maybe. But every time they died like that to a siege tank's blast or an Ultralisk's smash attacks, it was fitting.

[@mirahorner6277]

CrabTastingMan i dont think it is "wrong". It shows how diferent games are even if ine is sequel of another. I still prefer sc2 design, never liked sc1, but i understand why you can like sc1 more

[@justnoob8141]

CrabTastingMan I don't see any of your problem is a problem for both game since all of that is also in SC1

[@roeyzfaigmanimiranda2038]

true and all points taken

[@AGL0626]

Impalers are kinda like underground seige tanks, expect they only do single target damage.

[@sillypiegamer1010]

true

[@shadowreaper5413]

And you can't see them.

[@ColonelRosa]

With the atk speed boost from creep they got more dps, and they burrow faster than tank siege up

[@veteranbirdthebestbirdever4196]

But lurkers are like helions, but not moving

[@ianice3584]

yea, also, what brand of Capo is in your pfp there?+-

[@huangminghui4011]

i remember hydralisk sounded like they were spitting acid ,now they sound like they're firing darts

[@TheVocalTune]

Went from loud spitting sounds to Deadly assassins. players not paying attention for a units would end up seeing dead units and "Wait what?!"

[@BearPawSwipe]

I always thought they were firing spines.

[@TheMingilator]

@@BearPawSwipe they always fired spines, i'm sure 'grooved spines' was an upgrade for greater range

[@hiyoritokisada594]

Well, their spines can have corrosive venom too, so...

[@kennovafastforward8460]

The Impaler was meant for attacking enemies, not defend, so that's why I went with lurkers, so that they can defend my hatchery

[@WJen8]

Both are intriguing but I can't reject the satisfying feeling of Lurker spines massacring entire armies 😂

[@Broockle]

Move 1 hydra at a time goddammit. Not all of them. This is taking forever xD

[@the_SolLoser]

No u. 😮😮😮

[@Broockle]

@@the_SolLoser ya got me 🌈💩

[@the_SolLoser]

@@Broockle Works every time. Sometimes... If you look at the rest of this series, there are so many people that dig into his micro. 🤣🤣 The worse ones are people like me... coming to the show 7 years later. 🤦🏽‍♂️🙊

[@travismontgomery1897]

Both strains are horrific, it like asking "which one do you want to die from?"

[@shihoritsukiyomi]

isn't hydralisk handsome?

[@SuperHongTay]

flamehazeshinigami except the centipede part. In the actual game they look so wierd moving.

[@justnoob8141]

Avocado aren't they move like snake since the first game?

[@procrastinator3408]

They are herbivores too!

[@ianice3584]

yes, they are thank you

[@ValerietheLovelyDeadlyItalian]

hunter killer strain, the long lost treasure

[@AirKangLocker]

i realized sc2 is missing an element that made sc1 really enjoyable. The distinct sfx such as hydralisk spitting spine, lurkers' spike attack, death of zerglings....they all sound very muffled and forgettable

[@redshirts23]

You mean the green spit? The new Zerglings now attack with taps

[@CrabTastingMan]

SC1 Ultralisk: 3 or 4 soundbytes of roaring and things being crushed with a heavy thwack. The mass of the ultralisk is palpable through sfx. SC2 Ultralisk: monotone apple slicers... SC1 Marine: a burst of gunfire given tension with a machine hum as backing. Yep, feels like the most basic Infantry unit is toting a high-powered death spewing lead machine. *Badass.* SC2 Marine: peashooter going rot-tot-tot, slower fire rate. It's not just the sound. Everything in SC2's visual design is wrong. Too many greebly details that throw off the contours of units. *Terran:* 1) Too clean. Where are the sooty industrial grit of the hardy Terrans? That was their charm! 2) I hate how the infantry now have to *waddle* about to go anywhere. It's worse than WC3! *Zerg:* 1) EVERYTHING IS *PUDGY AND CUTE:* I blame modelers coming from WoW where they kept using low poly to accomodate MMORPG game systems. 2) SPIKES: "I don't know how to design monsters so I'll just put spikes on everything like an edgy 12 year old asked to design something cool." The Roaches are the worst. It's really hard to make out their silhouettes in a game with desaturated colors and an overabundance of spikey appendages that do nothing but make the shapes more erratic and hard to recognize. Didn't they learn this in their freshmen year at design school? 3) EVEN WORSE WADDLING CUTENESS THAN TERRANS. *Protoss:* The most problematic. 1) Neon lights and wafer-thin apparatuses they sport now, like brittle jewelry. The SC1 Protoss had both "magical" and yet "mass" to their designs. In SC2, Immortals seem to be the only unit that keeps this. Even Carriers feel weak because they got lots of thin buttress-like stuff on the sides. I mean, compare, SC1 Protoss victory screen to SC2 artwork for zealots! 2) *ORBS, ORBS AND SPINNING EVERYWHERE.* Lazy ass design. The Disruptor, Oracle, Mothership, Mothership Core, Tempest, Void Rays, and the deleted Stasis Orb... The Archon and Observer carried over from SC1, but the lazy design of the new units has to sit with these 2 piled on top of it. It's all the worse for monotonous design. Why can't they design cool stuff more akin to existing Protoss design like Arbiters and Corsairs? And I can't be the only one when I say Marines exploding into a crimson blossom, and zerglngs into a gore shower are things I miss in SC2. Over the top? Maybe. But every time they died like that to a siege tank's blast or an Ultralisk's smash attacks, it was fitting.

[@justnoob8141]

CrabTastingMan litteraly all of your problem also in SC1

[@lucienzepp1816]

just play sc1 and leave the internet alone

[@roeyzfaigmanimiranda2038]

xD

[@RainAngel111]

The hydralisk evolution mission is one of the few evolutions where it's legitimately a hard choice. I feel like Zerg often struggles with large armored targets but the impaler is a very specialized unit. Lurker is gonna be much better long term defence.

[@paullacorte1885]

So basically impalers are like the sunken colony from sc1 only moveable.

[@TheYgeth]

Sunken colonies had splash damage

[@truiteteam3428]

@@TheYgeth no it doesnt :(

[@TheYgeth]

Ahh sorry, its "explosive" attack type, but without splash effect.

[@kiloklavdi1185]

Portable sunken colony

[@reaperqnu]

In heroes of the storm, Anubarak now have a skin called lurker lord with a backstory of defending Cavir after the death of the second Overmind

[@glasswolf2061]

No, he means Anub'arak. Crypt Lord hero from Warcraft III. He's in Heroes of the Storm, too, and the Lurker Lord is one of his skins.

[@ChoriDinawan]

Impaler: Single target but Critical Damage Lurker: Area Damage

[@WolfgerLion]

Classic Lurkers are always great for small units but using Impalers were fun too as Sieging Zerg. Both are equally good. too bad u cant have both. But Impalers help against the Odin in the last mission.

[@luunguyen4931]

can take control feral lurker - can't take control other feral zerg.

[@Regunes]

Yeah... just the plot holes...

[@kiloklavdi1185]

Well she doesn't want to waste too much energy for those

[@Regunes]

Bet the Tyrannids would give up a lot of bio mass to get a hand on one of those Nightmarish Impalers. I wish they used impalers instead of Lurkers in melee, although i like both of them, the lurker is redondant when you have Banelings and Infestors

[@danielschneider9510]

Don’t forget Swarmlings !

[@yt_mark0414]

I miss the SC1 lurker attack animation, spider like form, and impale sound effect. I dont know what this is

[@MaxSpider2000]

can anyone explain how the hell the lurker attacks? what even are those spikes erupting in a line and how do they send them that far???

[@minhtritran7804]

So I basically found a theory on deviant art that lurker first shoot out a drill like tentacle then that tentacle has like multiple compressed spines which will erupt from the ground when the lurker decides to attack

[@tomaszvexling]

I hope that one day impaler will be added to multi...

[@MaxMikescrool1]

Aye probably not, but it'd be incredible **v**

[@kismethappel7811]

Ylyj PL Just play CortexRP maps, you can spawn em there.

[@Fearless154]

Ylyj PL what's the point adding impalers to multi. Lurkers in multi are strong against armor just like impalers do but lurkers are aoe so there is no reason to add them they'll be just worst version of lurkers.

[@Luxai]

Not true. Impalers does signficantly more damage to a single target.

[@sillypiegamer1010]

Luxai if Impaler was not existed on MvP, then theres a reason: its too OP against the Armored Units

[@Tucher97]

i prefer impalers as i can use them to destroy tanks, bunkers and any other extremely meaty structures

[@Sorcerer86pt]

For zerg campaign it makes sense overall. Due to army size and composition zerg normally are very good against many squishy targets. But some stronger armored ones are more difficult to handle. The impaler one gives a strong easy counter to such targets and fortifications, until we get the Brood Lord

[@Tucher97]

@@Sorcerer86pt The Lurker I say is an excellent unit for multiplayer but with how a certain mutation for roaches, light armor are not a problem.

[@Sorcerer86pt]

@@Tucher97 exactly.vlike I said in sc2 campaign context

[@Tucher97]

@@Sorcerer86pt Actually I have not played multiplayer and I am wondering if roaches get an upgrade to do more damage to light units, because in campaign giving the roaches the anti light mutation then make them vile strain is beyond useful and the roaches have always become a useful combat unit against defenses.

[@Sorcerer86pt]

@@Tucher97 unfortunately no. Sc2 campaign and multiplayer are two completely different beasts

[@pkmnproductions7461]

Yagorath from Paladins looks like one of these Hyrdalisk a bit. Wonder if the Hirez devs was inspired by this game.

[@Dostoron]

what i personally enjoy about SC2 is new tactical possibilities, for example lurkers and other specialized units that are designed to mop up light enemies quickly, or marauders and stalkers that are armor breakers, SC1 seemed to lack the distinctions between advantages like that, dunno if the remaster has them but if it does, awesome.

[@justnoob8141]

Dostoron well, remastered didn't added any new unit like remake and if they add they gonna retcon since the first game...

[@mirahorner6277]

It actually had, but just like selecting over 12 units, blizzard was too lazy to add descriptions to abilities and damages. Am pretty sure there were 3 unit types, small medium and large. Firebats dealt like 18 vs small, 9 vs medium, 2 vs large.

[@BVasquezp]

All the choices in the game are just quantity vs quality. Or micro vs macro if you will.

[@badoy5102]

Damn. If only SC2 can play in mobile , i will pay this masterpiece

[@DarkROSkull013]

Stun, then mana burn! Wait, wrong game.

[@locuscorvuswed336]

Why the hidralisk no have a realy good mutantion for him normal form

[@sivel7493]

ugh, lurkers attack here look so lame. back in SC1 bunch spikes appear, that was cool

[@ianice3584]

look closely in this video darnit

[@trainspotting_and_tech2023]

Vlad The (Hydralisk) Impaler

[@SuperiorAmericanGuy]

Lurkers became a real terror in legacy of the void multiplayer due to they destroy Thors and ultralisks with long range.

[@lorenzandervir235]

I have that game and I got all of them

[@YasonYou]

1:41 StarCraft Souls

[@vladtheimpaler9577]

You can guess which one I chose 😉

[@eldeku8821]

EL EMPALADOR ES HERMOSO, REVIENTA MECHA, SATISFACTORIO VER CAER THORS IMMOS Y COLOSOS OCN ESO, AUNQ EL LURKER POR NOSTALGIA DAN GANAS DE ESCOGERLO CASI SIEMPRE ESCOGI EL EMPALADOR

[@AndersMidnatt]

I prefer Impalers, for they're good in the final HotS mission. Some carrion hosts with ATA locusts, some vile roaches and some impalers, and no corpsefucker to penetrate Raynor's perimeter.

[@matthewbritt7485]

Impalers are easily way better than lurkers. The late game terran send lots of heavy mech units that impalers are so good against. If there were more zerg vs zerg in the campaign lurkers might be better

[@vim9099]

What happened to the Hunter Killer strains?

[@lorenzandervir235]

Why not make a circle to win and not let the den hit

[@roeyzfaigmanimiranda2038]

the fact that they couldn't name it the sunken colony is funny in a way because calling a ''hydralisk morph'' into ''sunkener' (not a word btw)'is stupid I'm not saying I like the first version nor the second ver. both are great to me I just pointed that one out either way this is just my opinion :)

[@TrashGoblin824]

It's not called the Sunken Colony because it isn't that Sunken Colony, it's an old predecessor. The actual Sunken Colonies appear in Legacy of the Void being used by Amon's zerg on Aiur

[@roeyzfaigmanimiranda2038]

well that was that, thanks for the info

[@CallsignYukiMizuki]

I don't remember seeing any Sunken Colonies in LotV or in the wikia What mission and location?

[@darkravenbest8970]

But it has the same model as impaler.

[@justnoob8141]

Nah, this one is stronger version of Suken Colony

[@lepe]

I only wish your PC wasn't a Pentium 3.

[@RexVenge95]

I always went with Lurkers in all my playthroughs. The Impaler attacks reminded me a bit too much of... a, uh, certain genre of Japanese animation.

[@radzirahaman4409]

Noob venomancer

[@suqmadique9762]

one reason i prefer the old games like diablo 1&2 as well as starcraft 1 + BW is the artstyle, the comic look of SC2 and D3 is just not appealing to me and honestly unfitting for both games /edit oh and the cringe over the top dialogs and cinematics

[@Zak-tk8wv]

SC2 has improved artstyle lol

[@lordsnake1988]

The thing is Kerrigan made the swarm way weaker than in sc1. Hydralisk were weakers, zerglings design with useless wings . No lurkers before the 3rd game... I don't know but i think SC2 was a shame in almost all the aspects. SC1 was way better

[@kuanyshkairbekov4163]

what a shitty game. The Dark Brood war thats the legend.

[@davidho1427]

So many SC1 "vets" out here trashing this game. Can't y'all just stop always seeing the negatives in everything?

[@Zak-tk8wv]

Indeed.

[@the_SolLoser]

No. If you don't point out negatives, then nothing can improve. Criticism is essential in the evolution of a product or service. Also, when there's more negatives than positives then there's not much else to see, is there? Can't y'all stop staning for the subpar? 😂

[@Nobody-tm9vr]

@@the_SolLoser Most of the "criticisms" are basically... "Old good, new bad". Just boomers yelling that they prefer SC1 and that's it.

[@the_SolLoser]

@@Nobody-tm9vr ive seen some of that. I've seen some with fairly legit concerns too. Because people tend to gatekeep criticism, those with legit critiques get ignored because it all gets swept up into labeling everything as "old good, new bad." That being said, gatekeeping criticism isn't totally bad - but we need to restrict it to things that have nothing to do with the game. For example, Baldur's Gate 3 is currently catching smoke for "racism" because some races are seen as inherently evil (within the confines of its universe). That has nothing to do with the game and is a useless critique. "Old good, new bad" isn't necessarily useless when given context about game features like: mechanics, visuals, soundtrack, UI features, layouts, controls, map design, and balancing. Sometimes older games did something right, but studios completely change it and none of the fans asked for it. Another example would be Command&Conquer. The game did amazing - the studio changed so much for the sequel, Tiberian Sun, that the fans largely disliked it, and the game more or less flopped. It happened again with Command&Conquer 4; a complete change of direction and fans HATED IT. If it wasn't for C&C4, C&C2 would be the game that fans say," We don't talk about that. That didn't happen." Side note: C&C2 would be that game if it's story wasn't absolutely necessary to C&C3, so it does have to be talked about. 🤣

[@mopbrothers]

This looks stupid. Nowhere near as good as Broodwar.

[@ShockerTopper]

I wish you could use the Impalers in VS I don’t get why they didn’t include them…they wouldn’t have caused a balancing issue by any means. They would’ve given the Zerg their version of a siege tank.

[@Tdvtdvtdv]

Impalers don't have aoe, they would be a lot worse than lurkers.

[@aamonesamiit-baur2857]

I hate Kerrigan Abathur does literally all the work and gets no shit for anything all Kerrigan does is tell people what to do

[@marcoboscarol2420]

What a stupid complaint. She can spin sequences too also do you hate every leader ever for asking their minions to do as their are told? BY THEIR LEADER?

[@tssdr9419]

She’s the queen bitch, that’s what she does

[@nobblkpraetorian5623]

Lol what? She's fighting in the frontlines for almost every mission in the campaign.