Units

Infestor

Infestors are one of the more insidious new additions to the Swarm. They were evolved from the Borbu Matriarch, an unusual creature that is more like an ambulatory nest than a single organism. Unlike most Zerg warriors, Infestors have the ability to move while burrowed. These terrors can spew a volatile plague over their targets with dire effects, and they have been known to ingest Infested Marines, carry them to a combat zone, and regurgitate them to fight for the Swarm. Perhaps the Infestor’s most dangerous feature is the Neural Parasite, a symbiotic creature living within Infestors that, when spat, attaches to an enemy and controls its mind for a short period of time. Seeing the immense potential of this parasite, the Queen of Blades is busy incubating new strains that can live longer outside of their host.
Heart of the Swarm Wings of Liberty
Unit Statistics

3D Model

Basic information

Race: Zerg
Life: 90
Energy: 200
Armor: 0 (3)
Movement: Normal
Cargo Size: 2
Attributes: Armored - Biological - Psionic

Production

Producer: Larva
Hotkey: F
Requires: Infestation Pit
Cost: 100 150
Supply: 2
Build time: 50

Combat

Upgrades:
Ability:

3D Model

Basic information

Race: Zerg
Life: 90
Energy: 200
Armor: 0 (3)
Movement: Normal
Cargo Size: 2
Attributes: Armored - Biological - Psionic

Production

Producer: Larva
Hotkey: F
Requires: Infestation Pit
Cost: 100 150
Supply: 2
Build time: 50

Combat

Upgrades:
Ability:

General Strategy

Strong Against

Weak Against

  • Ground support unit.
  • Can burrow with Burrow upgrade.
  • Can move while burrowed, but cannot use Fungal Growth or Neural Parasite while burrowed. Infested Terran can be used while burrowed to launch surprise attacks against enemy workers or structures.
  • Neural Parasite ability allows the Zerg player to steal and use enemy units. This even affects enemy workers, allowing the Zerg to build other races’ buildings.
  • The Pathogen Glands upgrade allows Infestors to be spawned with more energy for activating abilities.
  • Effective at stopping fast-moving units by snaring them in place and dealing damage with their Fungal Growth ability.

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.
  • Pathogen Glands: Increases infestor starting energy by 25.
  • Neural Parasite: The infestor can take control of enemy units.

Countermeasures

VS Terran
  • Use Ghosts’ EMP Round ability to drain Infestors’ energy.
  • Detect and destroy Infestors quickly with Ravens using the Seeker Missile upgrade.
  • Use long range weapons such as Siege Tanks to focus-fire Infestors down.
  • Use the Orbital Command upgrade to scan for and reveal burrowed Infestors.
VS Zerg
  • Infestors can be defeated by ranged anti-ground units like Hydralisks and Roaches that can continue attacking while affected by the Fungal Growth ability.
  • Use Overseers to detect Infestors for your army to kill.
  • Bring enemy Infestors under your control by employing your own Infestors with the Neural Parasite upgrade.
VS Protoss
  • The High Templar’s ’Feedback’ ability does immense, instantaneous damage to Infestors.
  • Use siege range weapons such as Colossi to focus-fire Infestors down.
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DusterMan #969
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DusterMan
8/22/2010
Love it when I spawn Infeated Marines!
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Reaper #1544
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Reaper
8/22/2010
i wish Neural Parasite cost 50 energy
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Graven #670
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Graven
8/20/2010
The only problem (and this is a minor one) is that the Infestor is the only "Combat Caster" out of the Zerg. By that I mean, it's the only spellcasting unit that can use abilities that have an appreciable effect on a pitched battle situation.

Overseer? Building harass and spy. Queen? Base maintenance.

Nothing else.
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TotalSuper #205
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TotalSuper
8/26/2010
@Graven: for a little while during the beta the overseer could drop infested terrans, this was used even less than when the infested were on the infestors, however. so they moved it back to the infestor and gave them the ability to make infested terrans while burrowed
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MRI
8/27/2010
@Graven: You forgot corruptors which can make tougher units easier to kill
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GardenGnome #853
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GardenGnome
8/19/2010
I've been using the Infested Terrans alone to kill workers at expansions, but I think the better strategy is to first unburrow, spray all the workers with Fungal Growth, then pop out a few Infested Terrans to finish off the workers who are mostly dead and can't run away. Otherwise many workers can run away if the enemy is alert. Infestors are a great unit.
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TwIStEDxEX #442
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TwIStEDxEX
8/19/2010
Finally a unit that can act as the high templar from the protoss! This is by far the best unit for experienced Zerg players. If a player can micro and use these cute little slugs to their true potential its gg!
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davidjsw #581
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davidjsw
8/19/2010
@Valan: So true dude, I've been winning match after match with these things!
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Derity #472
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Derity
8/23/2010
@TensaZanZX: I agree. In the hands of players with good micro, this unit is insanely good. FG destroys infantry, IM for killing workers, anti air, and flanking. I used fungal growth on a bunch of marines and marauders, burrowed, moved behind them, took the siege tank with parasite and had a field day before they destroyed their own tank. I burrowed and was about to escape before 2 banshees and a scan ruined my day.
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Goyathla #782
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Goyathla
8/17/2010
This was kind've a fun unit. Not only can it spit out infested marines cheaply and while underground it can move burrowed and even capture units. That last one's particularly nasty because if you snag a worker suddenly the other side's units and technology are yours. It takes some work to build a Terran command center [and enough infestors to do neural parasite ten times or more to funish the Terran command center, but taking a Protoss worker and spitting out a Nexus is easy.
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Doncroft #307
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Doncroft
9/4/2010
@Goyathla: Or you could steal a drone and immediately morph it into a hatchery so you could have another...oh.
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BJavin #870
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BJavin
8/16/2010
fun little fact, when a infested marine time expires they shot themselves right in the head. kind of funny when you watch it.
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soulfire #930
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soulfire
8/28/2010
@BJavin: that kinda brightened my day
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HydraliskSB #818
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HydraliskSB
9/3/2010
@BJavin: my question is y do they shoot themselves in the first place??
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Molts #612
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Molts
9/4/2010
@HydraliskSB: well they aren't exactly in the most "pleasant" position, I'd off myself too if I was an infested monster killing my comrades.
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FaceAttack #522
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FaceAttack
8/15/2010
Infestors pwn Void Rushers with Parasite and marines.

Fungal Growth is also very powerful.
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Lucas #393
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Lucas
8/13/2010
The infestor is my favorite unit in the game.Using infested terran while burrowed with 7 infestors at full energy = gg
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Prince #328
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Prince
8/12/2010
I haven't tried the neural parasite yet, but the infested marines need to come out faster.
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Henry #713
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Henry
8/11/2010
i like the infester its cool you can control a unit but im not sure if u can make a infested terren base
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Kidshadow #223
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Kidshadow
8/11/2010
These things are great! Not bad, but I wish that Infestors ran faster.
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Tactician #984
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Tactician
8/10/2010
I think it's kind of cheap to use infested marines underground. You can just mass infestors and spam infested marines to tear apart everything. It's literally another army being made right there and it only costs energy to make that big army.
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GingerGerald #525
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GingerGerald
8/13/2010
@Tactician: Yeah, but if you have a unit with AoE you can kill the infested marine before they "hatch".
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Kalix #741
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Kalix
9/4/2010
@GingerGerald: Even better as protoss to take a couple high templar, lead them through a ramp and psi storm, lots of popping marines...
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Kalix #741
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Kalix
9/4/2010
@GingerGerald: Even better as protoss to take a couple high templar, lead them through a ramp and psi storm, lots of popping marines...
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Doncroft #307
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Doncroft
9/4/2010
@Kalix: And then feedback the Infestors when you're done.
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KakashikDL #335
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KakashikDL
9/20/2010
@Doncroft: feedback wont do anything if they blew all their energy already
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Valdmir #968
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Valdmir
8/9/2010
burrowed they are like stealthy mini carriers and very very deadly to expansion bases. Those marines are deadly.
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Zargstone #840
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Zargstone
8/9/2010
Time to Infestor i wounder happen to the Defiler? huh they ost dead for good, oh well.
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Bulbasaur #386
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Bulbasaur
8/8/2010
What happens if an enemy infestor neural parasites one of your units and then you neural parasite that infestor? The game explodes?
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ZerglingSmut #866
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ZerglingSmut
8/27/2010
@WhirlwinBarb: BRO YOU EXPLODED MAH BRAIN
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Rigel #752
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Rigel
9/1/2010
@WhirlwinBarb: IM ON IT!
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Doncroft #307
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Doncroft
9/4/2010
@WhirlwinBarb: Same effect as Ctrl Alt Delete
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DaFunyunFrog #662
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DaFunyunFrog
8/7/2010
Does anyone else love to go sneak behind worker lines when burrowed and spew out a bunch of infested terrans to kill all their workers?
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Vespertine #589
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Vespertine
8/7/2010
I love the sounds the Infestor makes when you give it orders, sounds like he farts with every order.
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Okkin #629
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Okkin
8/7/2010
Infestors will redeem the zerg race.
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Dapple #990
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Dapple
8/6/2010
You can also use the infested terran eggs to force enemy tanks to friendly fire splash on wherever you throw the egg.
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Constantine #584
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Constantine
8/29/2010
@Dapple: I tried that and was able to kill like five workers whereever i threw the marine!!! Tip to terrans, dont mass seige tanks in base against infestors
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GSDfanX #408
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GSDfanX
8/6/2010
spawn infested marines
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PyroGX #988
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PyroGX
8/6/2010
Hands down the most underused unit in the game right now. These things are full of awesome
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Darkbright #959
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Darkbright
8/6/2010
I was paired up with this dude who would get 4 infestors, sneak them into the enemy base, and walk into the enemy mineral line (while burrowed of course). Then he would spawn 32 marines (4 infestors with full energy = 8 per infestor = 32) - this would quickly take down all the workers and even the HQ. Brutally effective.
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