Starcraft 2 Best Co Op Commanders

Mercenary Leader and Dominion Admiral

Starcraft 2 Co-op Commander Guide Han Horner. Given their high price, the best way to keep them safe is to add some of Han's units into the mix. Additionally, these players will also find that they end up floating a lot of resources, particularly minerals as a result, because of the cooldown-based mechanic behind summoning Horner's units. Meet Blaze, the real new commander. My trip to Gamescom 2018 is sponsored by Blizzard Entertainment. Subscribe for more videos: Tychu.

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Commander Summary

Han uses her relatively weak mercenaries with Horner's more powerful air units to create a powerful army that complements each other.

Level Unlocks

Level/Icon	Name	Description
The Horners	When friendly units are killed, they drop resources for the commander of those units. Matt Horner starts with a Starport that can train elite aircraft.
New Unit: Strike Fighter	Unlocks the Strike Fighter Platform and the Precision Strike ability. Launches a Strike Fighter to perform an airstrike against a targeted enemy or location.
Assault Galleon & Raven Upgrade Cache	Unlocks the following upgrades: Assault Galleons can be individually upgraded with Hangar Bays that automatically build and launch Fighter Drones Theia Raven's Analyze Weakness can target 2 additional units.
Merc Upgrade Cache	Unlocks the following upgrades at the Engineering Bay: Increases the movement speed of Reapers, and grants them the ability to fly for 10 seconds. Widow Mine range is increased by 50%, and can burrow and unburrow much faster.
Call in the Fleet	Unlocks the ability to call in close planetary support from Horner's Armada. The Armada does massive damage to random enemy units in the target area.
Impatience	Mira's Unit Build and Research times are reduced by 30%.
Dominion Starport Upgrade Cache	Unlocks the following upgrades at the Starport Tech Lab: Wraith attack speed increases by 10% with each attack, up to a maximum of 100%. Attacks from Vikings in Assault Mode Pierce, dealing damage to enemy units behind the target. Transform time reduced by 75%.
His and Hers Supply	Supply Depots are fitted with Dominion technology, increasing their health and supply by 100%.
Hellion & Hellbat Upgrade Cache	Unlocks the following upgrades at the Engineering Bay: Allows the Hellion to use Tar Bombs that deals 20 damage and causes nearby enemies to have their movement speed reduced. Enables Hellbat to cause enemies to burn.
Space Station Reallocation	Unlocks the ability to use Space Station Reallocation. The Space Station deals 500 damage to Heroic targets it contacts, everything else is instantly destroyed. Assault drones will attack nearby targets.
Endurance Training	Horner's units regenerate health while out of combat.
Advanced Weaponry	Call in the Fleet barrages enemy units with Lasers Batteries and fires Yamato Cannons that prefer high health targets.
Fusion Core Upgrade Cache	Unlocks the following upgrades at the Fusion Core: Battlecruiser weapon systems are upgraded to powerful particle cannons. Strike Fighter Platforms Precision Strikes ignite the target location with napalm.
Have a Blast	Space Station Reallocation will detonate a nuclear device upon its destruction.
Significant Others	Your units gain bonuses based on your army composition: Horner's units gain 0.5% health for each supply of Mira's units. Mira's units gain 0.5% attack speed for each supply of Horner's units.

Highlighted rows denote large power spikes for the commander.

Achievements

The commander-specific achievements for Han & Horner are:

Achievement	Name	Description
Did It Work?	Detonate 5,000 Magnetic Mines.
Holy Macromony	Command at least 80 supply worth of Han units and 40 supply worth of Horner units in a single mission on Hard difficulty.
Till Death Do Them Part	Deal 800,000 combined damage with Call in the Fleet and Space Station Reallocation.
You're the Bomb	Deal 200,000 damage with Precision Strikes.

Calldowns

The calldowns for Han & Horner, at level 15, with no mastery points added are:

Starcraft 2 Best Co Op Commander 2020

Calldown	Name	Description	Recommended Usage
Deploy Mag Mines	Deploy 5 Mag Mines to the target location. Mag Mines are triggered by enemy motion and deal 50 damage area damage.	Useful for spawn-camping attack waves. Can sometimes be used aggressively by luring enemies into them.	Coolup: 50 seconds Cooldown: 50 Max Charges: 5 Arming Time: 10 seconds Firing Time: 1.5 seconds
Precision Strike	Requirements: Must have a Strike Fighter Platform Sends a Strike Fighter to the target location where it deals 175 (+225 to non-Heroic structures) damage to enemy ground units in the target area.	Incredibly effective on Dead of Night with the Napalm upgrade, allowing you to destroy multiple buildings with one strike. Napalm does 10 damage per second for 10 seconds for a total of 100 extra damage. Useful for weakening enemy fortifications. For regular missions, roughly 3 is sufficient for taking out high value targets.	Coolup: 0 seconds Cooldown: 60 seconds Cooldown: 120 seconds (if shot down) Max Platforms: 10 HP: 50 Armor: 2 Takeoff Time: 0.5 seconds Movement Speed: 30
Call in the Fleet	Calls in close planetary support from Horner's Armada. The Armada does massive damage to random enemy units in the target area.	Deals very high single-target damage to multiple units. Effective for weakening enemy bases.	Coolup: 420 seconds Cooldown: 360 seconds
Space Station Reallocation	Space Station deals 500 damage to Heroic targets it contacts, everything else is instantly destroyed. Assault drones will attack nearby targets. Lasts for 10 seconds. On death, the station explodes with a nuclear blast, dealing 300 damage (+200 vs structures).	Useful for dealing with clumps of enemies. Draws enemy aggro when landed, which can kill further enemy units after it explodes. Great for dealing with extremely strong attack waves.	Coolup: 300 seconds Cooldown: 360 seconds

Sub-Ascension Leveling

Difficulty: Moderate

During early stages of leveling, Han's units are very fragile. However, rushing up to Horner's units will leave you extremely vulnerable in the early game. Therefore, start off with some of Han's units (with Death Effect upgrades researched) and transition into Horner's units as quickly as reasonably possible. To increase effectiveness in the early levels, use Mag-Mines aggressively, by placing them behind your army, just before you push in. You can lure enemy units into the mines to deal damage.

While leveling through Mastery levels, allocate points into Power Set 3 in a 2:1 split for the Air Fleet to Mag Mine masteries.

Masteries

Below are the three Power Sets for Han & Horner with the recommended point allocations for each. Note that these are meant to serve a general, all-purpose build that is effective across all maps with no Prestiges selected. You are highly encourged to change these masteries to suit your playstyle and particular challenges you face (e.g. Weekly Mutations).

Power Set 1:

Starcraft 2 Best Co-op Commander

Power	Value	Recommended Points to Add	Further Considerations
Strike Fighter Area of Effect	1% per point 30% maximum	?	The death effects of Han's units can be fairly powerful when used correctly. Additionally, many players use Strike Fighters to take out single targets. These factors will go into determining how you set up your mastery points.
Stronger Death Chance	2% per point 60% maximum	?

Stronger Death Chance is useful if you intend on using Reapers and Hellions (which have good Stronger Deaths). However, if you intend on using Strike Fighters, the Strike Fighter Area mastery is better.

Power Set 2:

Power	Value	Recommended Points to Add	Further Considerations
Significant Other Bonuses	0.5% per point 15% maximum	30	The Salvage mastery can be useful for players that lose a lot of units throughout the game. It also benefits allies, and allows them to take greater risks with their armies by reducing the cost of losses.
Double Salvage Chance	2% per point 60% maximum	0

The Double Salvage Chance is only useful if players lose a lot of units, which should not be the case for efficient play.

Power Set 3:

Power	Value	Recommended Points to Add	Further Considerations
Air Fleet Travel Distance	2% per point 60% maximum	20	It is generally recommended to split points between these two masteries. The exact split depends on how aggressively mines are used, or what the intent of the Air Fleet is (to completely clear, or just weaken).
Mag Mine Charges, Cooldown and Arming Time	-1% per point -30% maximum	10

It is useful to have a higher Mag Mine Charge cap than is provided. Your playstyle will determine how many more you'd like to add.

Prestiges

Below are the prestiges for Han & Horner. Note that 'Effective Level' is the level at which the prestige achieves it full effect.

Level	Name	Description	Effective Level	Notes
1	Chaotic Power Couple	Advantages: Mag Mines arm and fire 80% faster. Mira's units' on-death effects are 100% more effective. Disadvantages: Horner's units cost 30% more.	1	None
The increase in the arming speed of the Mag-mines makes this prestige very useful when trying to push into enemy bases, as enemy units usually do not have time to deal with the mines before they become invulnerable. Additionally since Horner's units aren't meant to be massed, but rather provide a strong backbone of support for Han's units, the increase in cost (albeit significant) is worth the benefits of this prestige.

Effectiveness Bonuses:

Reaper Mine damage increased by 5
Hellion Stim effects doubled
Hellbat Fear duration increased by 3 seconds
Widow Mine Sentinel Missile damage increased by 10

Level	Name	Description	Effective Level	Notes
2	Wing Commanders	Advantages: Horner's units' vespene gas costs reduced by 20% and charge cooldowns reduced by 50%. Disadvantages: Galleons are capped at 2.	1	None
This prestige provides players with the opportunity to mass Horner's units. However, the capping of Galleons at 2 is a significant detriment to the player's earlygame performance, due to the difficulty in being able to rebuild a lost Han army.

Level	Name	Description	Effective Level	Notes
3	Galactic Gunrunners	Advantages: Bombing Platforms are no longer capped. Disadvantages: Bombing Platforms cost 100% more.	13	None
This prestige might appear to be extremely powerful, but the increase in the cost of the platforms signficantly slows down a player's ability to build them. Considering that the player will also want to push (since Strike Fighters aren't effective against most mission objectives), and that the platforms can only deal with ground targets, the prestige is not very effective in providing the player with a useful benefit.

For general play, Chaotic Power Couple offers a good tradeoff between its advantages and disadvantages by allowing the player to use Mag-mines a lot more aggressively and also improving the death effects of Han's units, while still keeping Horner's units viable.

Recommended Army Composition

The recommended army composition for Han/Horner is below. Note that this assumes no Prestige talent selected and recommended Mastery Allocations. This is a basic recommendation for your army framework. It is recommended to gain an understanding for each of the units in the Units section and further add tech units so that you are able to better handle the situations you face.

Reapers should be making up the bulk of your army with Hellions to provide the death effect stim buffs. Additionally, Ravens should also be added in to provide extra damage bonus to Reaper targets.

If you have access to enemy spawn compositions, you may use Widow Mines to spawn-camp those locations and further reduce damage taken by your army.

Combat Units

For more information on Han & Horner's unit stats, comparison between units and upgrade calculations, visit the Data Tables page.

Han & Horner's combat units are listed below:

Main production structure for Han's units.
Only 5 can be present at the same time.
Does very low damage.
Outranges static defense which makes it effective at clearing contested expansions.
Can heal out of Combat if Drone Hangars are installed.

Skills: None

Upgrades:

Upgrade	Name	Effect	/	Research Time
Install Drone Hangar	Retrofits the Assault Galleon with a Drone Hangar bay that automatically builds and deploys Assault drones. Assault Drones can attack ground and air units.	150/200	60 seconds

Han's Units:

Great structure DPS.
Targets ground, but can be used to take out air units with the 'Jet Pack Overdrive' upgrade.
Use flying Reapers to kill strong splash Anti-Ground units (e.g. Reavers, Colossi, etc.).
Extremely fragile unit.

Skills:

Skill	Name	Description	Cooldown	Energy Cost
KD8 Charge	Explodes after a short delay, doing 10 area damage and knocking back nearby units.	20 seconds	0

Upgrades:

Upgrade	Name	Effect	/	Research Time
LE9 Cluster Charges	Reduces the cooldown of Reapers' KD8 Charge by 10 seconds. When Reapers are killed, they throw multiple grenades towards the killing unit.	50/50	42 seconds
Jet Pack Overdrive	Increases the movement speed of Reapers by 50%, and grants them the ability to fly for 10 seconds. Reapers are able to attack air units while flying.	100/100	63 seconds

Useful defensive unit, especially with the 'Executioner Missile' and the 'Black Market Launchers' upgrade.
Recommended to combine Widow Mines with Mag Mines for defense.
Spread Widow Mines out so multiple mines they do not all get hit by single splash damage effects.

Skills: None

Upgrades:

Upgrade	Name	Effect	/	Research Time
Executioner Missiles	Reduces the Widow Mine's Sentinel Missile cooldown by 20 seconds. When Widow Mines are killed, they launch 5 Sentinel Missiles at random nearby targets that deal 10 (+10 vs. shields) area damage.	50/50	42 seconds
Black Market Launchers	Widow Mines range is increased by 50%, and can burrow and unburrow much faster (almost instantly).	100/100	63 seconds

Useful against armored targets.
Small quantities recommended.
Usually only made for its death effect.

Skills:

Skill	Name	Description	Cooldown	Energy Cost
Tar Bombs	Launches a tar bomb that deals 20 damage to the target unit. Nearby enemies have their movement speed reduced by 75% and attack range reduced by 3 for 5 seconds.	10 seconds	0

Upgrades:

Upgrade	Name	Effect	/	Research Time
Aerosol Stim Emitters	Hellions and Hellbats transform 75% faster. When Hellions are killed, nearby allied units gain 25% movement and 15% attack speed for 15 seconds.	50/50	42 seconds
Tar Bombs	Hellions can launch a bomb that deals 20 damage to the target unit. Nearby enemies have their movement speed reduced by 75% and attack range reduced by 3 for 5 seconds.	100/100	63 seconds

Generally not made because Reapers fill their intended role well.
You can add a few to your composition to take advantage of the fear effect to protect the rest of your army.

Skills: None

Upgrades:

Upgrade	Name	Effect	/
Aerosol Stim Emitters	Hellions and Hellbats transform 75% faster. When Hellions are killed, nearby allied units gain 25% movement and 15% attack speed for 15 seconds.	50/50	42 seconds
Wildfire Explosives	Hellbat movement speed is increased by 50%. When Hellbats are killed, they ignite the surrounding area. Enemies in the fire run around in fear for 3 seconds.	50/50	42 seconds
Immolation Fluid	Hellbat attacks cause enemies to burn for an additional 50 damage over 5 seconds.	100/100	63 seconds

Death Effects:

The below table lists out the death effects and the Improved Death Effects for each of Han's units:

Unit	Upgrade Name	Death Effect	Improved Death Effect
Reaper	LE9 Cluster Charges	Throws 7 cluster charges towards the killing unit.	Throws 15 cluster charges towards the killing unit.
Hellion	Aerosol Stim Emitters	Nearby allied units gain 25% movement and 15% attack speed for 15 seconds.	Nearby allied units gain 50% movement and 30% attack speed for 15 seconds.
Hellbat	Wildfire Explosives	Ignite the surrounding area (radius 4). Enemies in the fire run around in fear for 3 seconds.	Ignite the surrounding area (radius 5.66). Enemies in the fire run around in fear for 3 seconds.
Widow Mine	Executioner Missiles	Launches 5 Sentinel Missiles at random nearby targets that deal 10 (+10 vs. shields) area damage.	Launches 10 Sentinel Missiles at random nearby targets that deal 10 (+10 vs. shields) area damage.

Horner Units:

Very powerful with the 'Trigger Override' upgrade which can increase its attack speed.
Fragile, and draws a lot of aggro, so it is best when combined with other units.

Skills:

Skill	Name	Description	Cooldown	Energy Cost
Tactical Jump	Warps to the target location. Aircraft is invulnerable while warping.	60 seconds	0
Cloak	Cloaks the unit, preventing enemy units from seeing or attacking it. A cloaked unit will only be revealed by detectors or effects. Drains 0.9 energy per second.	0 seconds	0

Upgrades:

Upgrade	Name	Effect	/
Unregistered Cloaking System	Allows Wraiths to remain permanently cloaked.	100/100	63 seconds
Trigger Override	Wraith attack speed increases by 10% with each attack, up to a maximum of 100%. Passive ability.	100/100	63 seconds
Tactical Jump	Wraiths, Vikings, and Ravens can use Tactical Jump, warping them to any visible location.	150/150	63 seconds

Generally not recommended for sustained anti-air due to much better alternatives (Wraiths and Battlecruisers).
Can provide very good amounts of burst damage with the W.I.L.D Missiles upgrade as long as they are not in sustained combat, or if the autocast on that ability is disabled.
Very useful on infested maps with the 'Shredder Rounds' which causes Assault Mode Viking attacks to pierce targets.

Skills:

Skill	Name	Description	Cooldown	Energy Cost
Tactical Jump	Warps to the target location. Aircraft is invulnerable while warping.	60 seconds	0
W.I.L.D. Missiles	Launches 5 rockets at the target unit. Each rocket deals 25 (40 vs armored) damage.	20 seconds	0

Upgrades:

Upgrade	Name	Effect	/
W.I.L.D. Missiles	Vikings in Fighter Mode can launch 5 rockets at an enemy. Each rocket deals 25 (40 vs armored) damage to the target unit.	100/100	63 seconds
Shredder Rounds	Attacks from Vikings in Assault Mode pierce, dealing damage to enemy units behind the target. Viking transform time reduced by 75%.	200/100	63 seconds
Tactical Jump	Wraiths, Vikings, and Ravens can use Tactical Jump, warping them to any visible location.	150/150	63 seconds

Analyze Weakness is a powerful ability that can massively increase damage taken by enemy units.
Recommended to also get the 'Multithreaded Sensors' which can increase potential targets of Analyze Weakness to 4.
You should have 3-4 Ravens with your army.

Skills:

Skill	Name	Description	Cooldown	Energy Cost
Tactical Jump	Warps to the target location. Aircraft is invulnerable while warping.	60 seconds	0
Analyze Weakness	All Melee and Ranged attacks against Analyzed units do 3 bonus damage. Effect lasts as long as the Raven remains locked onto the target.	3 seconds	0

Upgrades:

Upgrade	Name	Effect	/	Research Time
Multi-Threaded Sensors	Ravens can target up to 4 units with Target Lock.	100/100	63 seconds
Tactical Jump	Wraiths, Vikings, and Ravens can use Tactical Jump, warping them to any visible location.	150/150	63 seconds

Useful for tanking damage.
Overcharged Reactor is a must-get upgrade as it greatly increases damage output.
Usually results in overkill, but you should still have a few in your army for high health targets.

Skills:

Skill	Name	Description	Cooldown	Energy Cost
Tactical Jump	Warps to the target location. Aircraft is invulnerable while warping.	60 seconds	0

Upgrades:

Upgrade	Name	Effect	/	Research Time
Overcharged Reactor	Battlecruiser weapons systems are upgraded to a powerful particle cannon that deals 200 damage per attack.	150/150	63 seconds

Build Order

Below is the standard economic build order for Han & Horner. For more information on how to read and construct your own build orders, please check the Build Order Theory page.

14 Supply Depot
17 Command Center
18 Assault Galleon
19 Refinery
20 Refinery
20 2x Hellions -> Rocks

Gameplay Guide

Playstyle Traps

A common trap for Han & Horner players is completely skip on Han's units in favor of Horner's more powerful air units. This can be quite an expensive mistake, as Horner's units, while strong, cannot take prolonged lengths of damage. This is particular true for the Asteria Wraiths, which naturally draw a lot of aggro. Given their high price, the best way to keep them safe is to add some of Han's units into the mix.

Additionally, these players will also find that they end up floating a lot of resources, particularly minerals as a result, because of the cooldown-based mechanic behind summoning Horner's units. Thus, it is better to use these spare resources to your advantage by making some of Han's units.

Playstyle Tips

Place Mag Mines on enemy spawn points to destroy attack waves.
Take advantage of the death effects of Han's units.
Careful placement of Precision Strike targets can help you weaken enemy forces. On maps like Dead of Night you can sometimes hit three buildings with one strike.
Build a Supply Depot in front of Mag Mines to draw enemy aggro and keep them still while the Mag Mines trigger.
Contrary to the description, Space Station Reallocation does not instantly destroy every non-heroic unit/structure. It deals a total of 5,000 damage to everything it hits.
Space Station Reallocation does reduced damage to some non-heroic structures. For example, Zenith Stones on Temple of the Past do not get instantly destroyed by the calldown, despite having no Heroic tag.

Starcraft II is a real-time strategy game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is one of the most successful RTS's in history. In 2015, Starcraft II introduced a co-op mode, where two players would face up against Amon in a PVE-type mission. The game features several different commanders to play and many different maps to choose from.

This site serves as a repository of all the information gathered by the Starcraft II co-op community. It aims to help players improve their gameplay, by providing in-depth commander and map analysis, as well as providing tips on how to deal with certain tricky situations that may arise in-game.

Starcraft II is currently free to play. Three of the commanders in co-op mode are free, while the others are free to play up to level 5. If you are a new player, check out the New Players page to help you select your first commander. Also, check out the General Tips page for some great tips to get you started with this game mode.

Visit the official Starcraft II page here and join the fight against Amon!

Latest Updates:

2020-12-12	Fixed a bug on the Replay Analyzer that would cause Swann's Concentrated Beam usage to not be detected. Fixed a bug on the Replay Analyzer that would cause Vorazuns's Time Stop usage to not be detected if the Shadow of Death prestige was selected.
2020-12-09	Mutation cast of Weekly Mutation #148: Radiation Zone added to the Weekly Mutations page.
2020-12-07	Added note to Vorazun Spirit of Respite Prestige regarding leveling on Vorazun commander page. Fixed a bug on the Replay Analyzer that would cause Bonus completion icons on Temple of the Past missions to display incorrectly. Added Napalm damage to Horner commander page.
2020-12-02	Mutation cast of Weekly Mutation #147: Distant Threat added to the Weekly Mutations page.
2020-11-26	Added commander tip for Kerrigan to Kerrigan commander page. Added a note to Arkship Commandant on Fanatic 3/3/3 Upgrade Levels to Artanis commander page. Added mission tip for Chain of Ascension.
2020-11-25	Mutation cast of Weekly Mutation #146: Specter of Death added to the Weekly Mutations page. Fixed a bug on profile pages that would cause experience values to be calculated incorrectly. Added Broodlings to Mastery Breakpoints Calculator and Amon unit stats. Replay Analyzer will now show number of units killed by Unbound Fanatics if Artanis Arkship Commandant is used. Fixed a bug where Cannonball's Redline Power Cells would not calculate damage correctly on Unit Stats page.
2020-11-23	Fixed a bug that broke the Mastery Breakpoints Calculator. Accounts login now has a 'Remember Me' option to maintain user logins.
2020-11-21	Community Stats will no longer count games shorter than 2 minutes in length. Added Kerrigan's Mutating Carapace to Unit Stats page. Added Lone Wolf prestige to all of Tychus' Outlaws on Unit Stats page. Mastery Breakpoints will now show structures when Concentrated Beam is selected. Fixed a bug on the Mastery Breakpoints Calculator that prevented bonus damage to tags from being calculated correctly.