Units

Ultralisk

Bearing little resemblance to the docile Brontoliths from which they were evolved, Ultralisks are the most powerful of the Zerg ground forces. They serve as the backbone of the Swarm’s armies and are as dangerous as any armored vehicle. These massive monstrosities are used as living battering rams against their enemies. Their large bone-like scythes allow them to tear through most known substances with ease. The Ultralisk’s genetic material has been subjected to countless tests and experiments, and only the final viable code is used by Zerg Larvae to morph into new Ultralisks.
Heart of the Swarm Wings of Liberty
Unit Statistics

3D Model

Basic information

Race: Zerg
Life: 500
Armor: 1 (6)
Movement: Fast
Cargo Size: 8
Attributes: Armored - Biological - Massive

Production

Producer: Larva
Hotkey: U
Requires: Ultralisk Cavern
Cost: 300 200
Supply: 6
Build time: 55

Combat

Upgrades:
Weapon:
Ability:

3D Model

Basic information

Race: Zerg
Life: 500
Armor: 1 (6)
Movement: Fast
Cargo Size: 8
Attributes: Armored - Biological - Massive

Production

Producer: Larva
Hotkey: U
Requires: Ultralisk Cavern
Cost: 300 200
Supply: 6
Build time: 55

Combat

Upgrades:
Weapon:
Ability:

General Strategy

  • Superior ground-attacking melee unit.
  • Can deliver ’area of effect’ ground attacks against multiple targets.
  • High armor and hit points.
  • Can increase armor with Chitinous Plating upgrade.
  • Can burrow with Burrow upgrade.
  • Massive units such as the Ultralisk has have the ability to break Force Fields. Combo this ability with units that are normally weak vs. Force Fields such as Zerglings.
  • Utralisks are immune to stuns and mind control.

Evolutions

  • Burrow: Allows the unit to take cover underground, rendering it unable to attack. A burrowed unit is invisible unless revealed by detectors or effects.
  • Chitinous Plating: +2 bonus to ultralisk's armor.

Countermeasures

VS Terran
  • Anti-ground air units like Banshees and Battlecruisers can do immense damage to Ultralisks while completely avoiding their attacks.
  • Spreading out ground infantry units can help minimize damage from Ultralisks’ “cleave” attacks
  • Anti-armored ground units like Marauders can also crack through Ultralisks’ reinforced carapaces as long as they can keep the Ultralisk at range by kiting it with Stimpack’s movement speed increase.
  • Siege Tanks can focus down Ultralisks while also doing damage to other Zerg units nearby.
VS Zerg
  • Air-to-ground units, like Mutalisks and Brood Lords, can damage Ultralisks without risking any retribution.
  • Swarm Hosts can use their Locusts against Ultralisks, and run away before the Ultralisks can close the distance.
VS Protoss
  • Immortals are effective counters against Ultralisks. They deal extensive damage, and benefit from exceptional armor.
  • As mentioned above, spreading out ground infantry units can help minimize damage from Ultralisks’ “cleave” attacks.
  • Flying units, such as Void Rays, Carriers and even Motherships, can perform extremely effectively against Ultralisks, who won’t be able to reach them and will suffer from their attacks.
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Comments (101)

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Plague #406
Plague
11/03/2013
Give me a hug =)
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JackSparrow #551
JackSparrow
26/02/2013
Where is the burrow charge?
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Remas #442
Remas
08/03/2013
@JackSparrow: ... And where's BC speed upgrade ?...shame on blizz
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THIJSO #723
THIJSO
19/03/2013
@Remas: yeah indeed bad of blizzard
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Felthoron #974
Felthoron
23/02/2013
Seriously underrated unit, if you go for melee upgrades as well combined with good positioning the enemy either has to target and kill all ultras, which will get them killed mostly or ignore them, and die. Awesome unit
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Frost #381
Frost
04/10/2012
Time for some tree-cutting! =)
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Bling #897
Bling
23/08/2012
I do not wanna comment this stupid game I just wanted to say that I fell in love with a girl from slovakia.
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GrimShadow #863
GrimShadow
07/06/2012
Best of the big boys
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GrimShadow #863
GrimShadow
04/06/2012
i dont like u frost
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Frost #381
Frost
04/10/2012
@GrimShadow: ??
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Frost #381
Frost
30/05/2012
I hope thet the evolution of this unist is a omegalisk how sweet it must be to control an army of those in the campaign :)
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Frost #381
Frost
30/05/2012
@Frost: in heart of the swarm i mean
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IGTStars #477
IGTStars
19/05/2012
ultras do well with broods and mutas so covered from air and ground
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Ymdar #105
Ymdar
25/02/2012
The least powerful of the "big boys" (Thor,Colossus,Ultralisk) (i mean in 1v1)
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DarkMatter #536
DarkMatter
27/05/2012
@Szkandi: Ultras own 1v1, they beat both thors and colossi in that aspect. It's just that their short(melee) range makes them have less utility than colossi/thors.
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WhateverMan #559
WhateverMan
08/02/2012
How can we expect a balanced game when Blizzard thinks that Ultras are strong vs Marauders? : )
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ShadowLord #530
ShadowLord
13/04/2012
@DarkLord: then make thors? =)
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preskompres #501
preskompres
22/02/2013
@WhateverMan: You have obviously never watched any pro games. First of all marauders are much more cheaper in terms of gas and supply. Second they can kite so easily with stim and slow, which means 1 marauder can win 1v1 vs an ultralisk with a simply 50/50 upgrade that can be aquired at about the 5 min mark. Please use your brain before complaining on balance.
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preskompres #501
preskompres
22/02/2013
@WhateverMan: Oh, excuse me, I misread. I thought you were saying marauders are bad versus ultras.
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Hege #948
Hege
28/01/2012
Ultras wreck pretty nicely with speedlings. I only miss the times when you could paint the ramp covering areas with dark swarm. The new dark swarm substitute sounds nice too, although a bit more counterable.
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Vladimir #240
Vladimir
20/12/2011
When a game is nearing its final battle and we're both maxed out, I throw away some units that don't match my opponents composition and build a few of these. They serve no purpose whatsoever but I have them for intimidation purposes; if the battle is going well and their are a few ultras on the field, even if there is still a chance my opponent could win they are more likely to gg. That is all ultras are used for. They are incredibly quick to kill and die to about 5 marines.
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they claim muta's are the counter vs ultra's.

Well, offcourse this is in a way right, they cant fight back. But I just used a flock of muta's against some ultra's (mine upgrade once, his upgrade 3 times + extra 2) and my second and thirth attack didnt do any damage. I had to shoot 100 times with 1 muta to kill one ultra. Thats insane =P

Offcourse I should have upgraded more, but the argument stays that the armor of the ultra is insane against muta's.
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Mysterio #826
Mysterio
05/10/2011
i love utralisks
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Zurqulon #488
Zurqulon
17/09/2011
one of the coolest units in starcraft 1 and 2 but they always have sucked for their price :P
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BOOMERMAN #518
BOOMERMAN
22/08/2011
Lol, ultralisks good vs marauders? Stim+bonus dmg vs armor will shoot them down before they can even get to them, needs to be changed to marines because of the extreme armor value vs the low but fast dmg. Marines also die much easier and are harder to micro.
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DoomWing #694
DoomWing
20/08/2011
When playing as Protoss and producing Colossuses (which cost the same amount of minerals, gas and supply as Ultralisks), then they are truly the key units what can change the odds of a battle.
Speaking about Ultralisks, which usually will take even longer to tech to, then sometimes its hard to understand if you win or lose when making them instead of Zerg's regular army. I have even seen Ultralisks used in gosugames a few times, but it usually ends up that the Zerg just stops producing then as they accomplish nothing really more then Zerg's normal army. Indeed, these units might be usefull in some situations but that is not enough what you invest and sometimes risk by teching to Hive, building Ultralisk Caven and spending gas.
I hope that this unit will be improved with some buffs in HotS.
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Vilify #681
Vilify
10/09/2011
@DoomWing: Sooner. In 1.4, 70 to 55 seconds. :D That's a pretty big buff IMO.
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Stylo #969
Stylo
04/08/2011
If you think that marauders are weak against them and mutalisks are strong against them, then you are an idiot. Marauders can kite them all day long, and mutalisks will spend hours trying to get through their armor. What a joke guide.
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Jexz #900
Jexz
17/08/2011
@Stylo: -Facepalm- They mean large numbers of mutalisks, and mutalisks in large numbers are fairly easy to get. Probably doesn't mean against mass ultra. Marauders also can't kite when you sweep zerglings behind them. The large anti armour attack is what makes them good vs them. The marauders also would have to stim to kite, and continuous stimming would mean you just could transistion back in to zergling and wipe them out.
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Franu #785
Franu
23/06/2011
It would be really cool if they could walk over zerglings, so the zerglings would be attacking from below them. Would give you the ultimate "swarm" feeling maan
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OmegaFilipIv #934
OmegaFilipIv
02/06/2011
The most weirdest thing is how can this burrowand no one sees it?
I mean how the Toss and Ters dont see a big hole in the ground???
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NEXUS #168
NEXUS
11/06/2011
@OmegaFilipIv: because they cover themselves
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Sxlaiz #402
Sxlaiz
31/05/2011
can you drop one whit a overlord? XD
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WhooZy #554
WhooZy
01/06/2011
@Sxlaiz: Yes you can. :P
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Scrycopse #931
Scrycopse
20/06/2011
@Sxlaiz: Best thing to do with overlord is to fill a few of em with banelings sorta like a bombing raid its brilliant
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BlueRedDrake #311
BlueRedDrake
30/08/2011
@Scrycopse: it is named carpet bomb:D
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Turo #310
Turo
21/05/2011
The only reason I don't like Ultras is that they get stuck too easily and just run around in circles before they're shot to death. A monster like this should be able to push enemy marines, lings, zealots and other light units.
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Moip #133
Moip
07/07/2011
@Turo: We all agree, all, agree.....
I wish they attacked faster too, but only hit 1 unit. dealing more damage too! I only use them to deal with heavy units, and shields, so having this will take up an un-used role of anti-heavy zerg unit.
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I once made a few ultras and lost, I will never use ultras again
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kirilloid #130
kirilloid
04/06/2011
Cool story, bro