Unit Analyis: Infestor

Hey everyone, so in line with my recent updates, I have decided to switch things up a bit from my usual posting. I'm going to start a new series of updates analyzing specific units and their abilities as well as effectiveness in all aspects of the game.

I've decided to start off with possibly my favorite unit, the infestor!

The infestor is an extremely useful unit and is basically key in any micro intensive zerg army. Its uses are numerous and can be used in a variety of ways, whether it actually be on the front lines of the battlefield or running into a base for harassment.

What you'll need: 

An infestation pit
    -Also enables research of Pathogen glands and the Neural parasite upgrade.

Pathogen glands give the infestor an extra 25 starting energy which could be just what the doctor ordered. Neural parasite allows the infestor to use the neural parasite ability which allows it to control an enemy unit for 15 seconds. (Note: does not work on ultralisks)

I will now focus on its abilities and explain the usefulness of each.

Infested Terran: These units are extremely useful for harassment or general base destruction. With 3 or 4 burrowed infestors it becomes trivial to sneak into a base and unleash these infested terran to wreak havoc on the enemy mineral line or production buildings. Also they can be used in a pinch to bolster your army if needed in that last part of the struggle in battle. They move very very slowly and will eventually die off by themselves, so it is always recommended to place them near the point of attack.

Neural Parasite: This allows you to control an enemy unit for 15 seconds, including all upgrades it has current access to. This can be extremely useful for mind controlling tanks or other heavy units with a lot of splash damage. It works on every unit except ultralisks and I recommend using it on heavy units (e.g. thors, tanks, battlecruisers, carriers, etc) or using it to mindcontrol a specific unit that is greatly helping the enemy such as a colossus. Something you should definitely not forget is to kill the unit before the cooldown runs out otherwise it will ravage your own army or kill your infestor. Note that this can also be used on workers, but is really not worth it unless you somehow manage to snag a probe. The effect runs out much too quickly for it to be used effectively on an scv. Also, you sitll have to tech up and you are tied down by your original food source so it's really just not worth it.


Fungal Growth: I would argue that this ability is by far the best ability the infestor has available. Fungal growth works over a small area of effect and completely immobilizes the enemy while damaging it over time. It's kind of like the old defiler moves wrapped into one (except the dark swarm cloud). It doesn't last too long, but long enough to do heavy damage. This used in conjunction with long range splash devastates smaller armies like MMM ball or infantry in general. It can be used on any unit and is very easy to actually kill lesser units with it, such as marines or zerglings. Use this against tightly packed, dangerous in group units such as massed marines/marauders or basically any zerg unit. It is especially effective against large groups of mutas since classic strategy makes people bunch up their mutas as tightly as possible. This fungal growth really makes or breaks some zerg armies. I highly recommend its usage against MMM ball and zerg armies in general. Against protoss it's a bit more difficult, but can work well nonetheless especially with zealots.


I think that about does it for the infestor. Hope this helped some of you think of new plans!