Terran Command Center

Jump to Top – Next Unit: Planetary Fortress

This is the Terran base building, the Command Center. It is the foundation of your economy due to it’s ability to collect the resources workers gather, and is the requirement of the most basic buildings aside from Supply Depots and Refineries. Any Terran player on a non UMS map should try to have at least one of these at all times.

Terran Planetary Fortress

Previous Unit: Command Center – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Orbital Command

The Planetary Fortress is one of the two alternate forms of the Command Center. You will need an Engineering Bay to change the Command Center into one. It more like a defensive building than anything else. It retains most of the original abilities and upgrades of the Command Center, so loading and building SCVs stay on. Lift Off however is removed.

The reason why the Planetary Fortress becomes special is a weapon for itself. The building actually has a giant cannon on top of it, which has the same range of a Seige Tank (tank mode). The cannon does a good deal of damage and splashes nearby units (while not hurting friendly ones).

So all in all, the Planetary Fortress can be a good defensive or even offensive building with its load of HP and high damage. But for a more support type building you may want the Orbital Command.

Strategy:

Planetary Fortresses see most use in the Planetary Fortress Rush cheese which involves getting Vespene Gas, an Engineering Bay, load up SCVs and lifting off to the enemies base where you change your Command Center into a Planetary Fortress and repairing any damage done with the SCVs while you take out the enemy.

They are sometimes useful however in defense for expansions if they are vulnerable, but most people will still take an Orbital Command over it.

Terran Orbital Command

Previous Unit: Planetary Fortress – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Supply Depot

The second transformation for the Command Center is the Orbital Command. You only need a Barracks to build it. The Orbital Command is a support building, so can be used for a variety of ways. But don’t worry, it retains some of the abilities and upgrades of the Command Center so building SCVs and Lift Off stay with it. However loading SCVs will no longer be a possibility.

The new things that this version has are 3 new abilities. Calldown: MULE will create a MULE in the target location (as long as it is visible to you). A MULE is basically a new miner unit you can use along with the SCV. Except it can only mine and not build. The plus side is that it can carry 3 times as many minerals per trip. The negative side is it only lasts for 90 seconds. Calldown: Extra Supplies will double the selected Supply Depot’s Supply increase. Scanner Sweep is the same old thing from the Comstat Station in StarCraft. It reveals a section on the map for a short period of time, showing all units including cloaked ones.

Strategy:

In competitive play, most of the time Orbital Commands are the upgrade choice for Terran players. Calling Down Supplies is not a good usage of energy, so players need to focus on MULEs and Scanner Sweep. When attacking or defending against another player Scanner Sweep should be available just in case you need to detect the cloaked units. One last thing to note is that MULEs are best used at Gold Mineral expansions if you have one.

Terran Supply Depot

Previous Unit: Orbital Command – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Refinery

The Supply Depot is a returning building from StarCraft. It serves as a supply provider and a good building to use for walling chokepoints. It can be built by and SCV with no other requirements.

The Supply Depot gets a new ability for it’s natural walling abilities. No longer do you have to liftoff your factories, destroy your Supply Depot, or buy transports to get your ground units out of your base past your Supply Depot wall. Lower/Raise allows units to pass over the Supply Depot by lowering itself into the ground. It can the raise itself backup later. The Supply Depot still keeps its supply bonus and can still be targeted and visible when lowered.

Terran Refinery

Previous Unit: Supply Depot – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Barracks

Refineries allow your miners to gather Vespene Gas. They can be built on Vespene Gas Geysers only. This is basically a required building if you want to get anywhere with the tech tree.

The only difference between the Refinery from StarCraft and StarCraft II is that in this one, Vespene Geysers can no longer be mined from once they are depleted.

Strategy:

Refineries are not typically used like Extractors and Assimilators when it comes to Gas Steals due to the SCV needing to build it and being vulnerable to attack.

Terran Barracks

Previous Unit: Refinery – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Engineering Bay

Barracks are the home to your Terran Infantry, and require a Command Center to be built. It retains its Lift Off ability from StarCraft, and now produces two different units and can use the new Add-Ons.

The Barracks can be used to create Marines, Marauders and Reapers (with Tech Lab), and Ghosts (with Ghost Academy and Tech Lab). So you’ll be able to get a good mix of ground units early on. The Barracks can also build one of two Add-Ons to attach to itself. The Reactor lets the Barracks build two Marines at a time, and the Tech Lab which allows you to build the latter 3 units. Unfortunately since you can only use one Add-On at a time, this means you cannot produce the Marauders, Reapers, and Ghosts 2 at a time.

Strategy:

Because of their low cost and high HP, Barracks have a few different uses early on. First off, they are typically used in conjunction with Supply Depots in order to wall off your ramp. Secondly, they can be lifted off and brought with your army early on to provide high ground vision of your opponent’s base. Lastly, they can be used to build a Tech Lab or Reactor and then Lift Off so you can have an extra add on available for a building that is not finished yet (Such as a Factory or Starport) so you can start taking advantage of the new technology right away.

Terran Engineering Bay

Previous Unit: Barracks – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Bunker

The Command Center is required to build an Engineering Bay, your first research building. It gets a few more upgrades this time around but loses its Lift Off ability from StarCraft. The Engineering Bay is the requirement for the Planetary Fortress and is typically an indicator of a PF Rush if you spot one being built within the first few minutes.

The first two upgrades are Infantry Weapons and Armor, which increase the damage and armor of your units built from a Barracks. The next 3 are Hi-Sec Auto Tracking, Neosteel Frame, and Building Armor. Hi-Sec Auto Tracking increases the range by 1 of all of your buildings that have a weapon as well as the Point Defense Drone built by the Raven. Neosteel Frame increases the loading capacity of the Command Center from 5-10 SCVs and the Barracks from 4 to 6 infantry units. The final upgrade, Building armor, increases the armor of all of your buildings by 2.

Terran Bunker

Previous Unit: Engineering Bay – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Sensor Tower

Bunkers are the main defensive building for the Terran. You load up to 4 or 6 (Upgrade required for 6) Infantry units into it, which will fire at enemies. When the Bunker is destroyed, the units will then be on their own. In StarCraft II it gets a few new changes and upgrades.

The Bunker still loads units, and those loaded units get a +1 boost to their range. However, now they can use their abilities like Stimpack, and you can select the enemies you want to target. The Neosteel Frame upgrade from the Engineering Bay will let you load an additional 2 units inside. Lastly, you can use the new Salvage ability to gain back 75% of the resources you spent on the Bunker back by causing it to self destruct.

Strategy:

Bunkers are most commonly used with a Missile Turret at your ramp to defend your base with Marines loaded into them. They are however used sometimes in a Bunker Rush which involves building a Bunker at the opponent’s base and loading it up and repairing as needed to get an attack in early on which can be hard to thwart. Since Bunkers can be Salvaged, you can set them to do so and escape with your Marines and SCV before the enemy takes it out.

Terran Sensor Tower

Previous Unit: Bunker – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Missile Turret

The Sensor Tower is a new Terran building which can be built after getting an Engineering Bay. It is a special defensive building with a big pro and con.

Sensor Towers’ Radar will allow you to see if enemy units are nearby on the minimap. You cannot see what the units are, just if they are there. This is good, but enemies will be able to see a circle on the minimap and on the map letting them know there is a Sensor Tower in this area. So this can be great if you are in a situation where letting them know where it is is not a problem, just don’t do something stupid like letting a Zerg player know where your base is at the very beginning of the game if they have yet to scout you.

Terran Missile Turret

Previous Unit: Sensor Tower – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Factory

The Missile Turret is the the same as it was in StarCraft. This anti-air defense building can be built after an Engineering Bay has been constructed.

The Missile Turret can only target Air units. They also have the passive Detection ability, allowing you to see cloaked and burrowed enemy units nearby. They are a must if you are playing defensively, or need a cloaked unit detector in your base.

Terran Factory

Previous Unit: Missile Turret – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Ghost Academy

The Terran Factory is responsible for building your non infantry ground units. It requires a Barracks to be built.

The Factory is pretty much the same as before, it gets to build 3 ground units all similar to the units from StarCraft. It can build Hellions, Seige Tanks (with Tech Lab), and Thors (With Tech Lab and Armory). You will also be able to take advantage of the Add-Ons the Reactor (allowing you to build 2 Hellions at once) and the Tech Lab (allowing you to build Seige Tanks and Thors). However, unless you are in the need for a lot of Hellions, you’re best off using a Tech Lab since you can only use one Add-On at a time.

The Factory is another building in StarCraft II that gets to keep it’s Lift Off ability from the original game.

Terran Ghost Academy

Previous Unit: Factory – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Starport

The Ghost Academy is a new building in StarCraft II. It requires a Barracks to be built. It is a research building and is basically a combination of the Covert Ops and a Nuke Silo. Since the building is only a requirement for Ghosts, spotting one of these buildings in an enemy base typically means you’ll be needing to keep an eye out for EMP, Cloaked Ghosts, and most of all Nukes.

You can buy two upgrades for Ghosts here. The first and most important is Personal Cloaking, which will enable the Ghost to cloak at the cost of Energy Points for each game second they are cloaked. The next is Moebius Reactor which causes any Ghosts you build to start with an additional 25 Energy Points when built.

But probably most importantly to Ghost fans, you can buy your Nuclear Missiles here. Although, you can only build one Nuke per Ghost Academy.

Terran Starport

Previous Unit: Ghost Academy – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Armory

Starports are home to your Air Units for the Terran in StarCraft II. You need a Factory to build one first.

It produces 5 units: The Viking, Medivac, Raven and Banshee (with Tech Lab), and Battle Cruiser (with Tech Lab and Fusion Center). And like the Factory and Barracks, it can build the two Add-Ons Reactor and Tech Lab. The Reactor allows you to build two units at once, while the tech lab allows you to build Ravens, Banshees, and Battle Cruisers. So again, this is a toss up of if you want a lot of the first two units more than you want any of the latter 3 since you can only have one Add-On at a time.

It is also good to note the Starport retains its Lift Off ability from StarCraft.

Terran Armory

Previous Unit: Starport – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Fusion Core

The Armory is much the same building it was in StarCraft. You require a Factory in order to build one. It is the requirement for building Thors at the Factory. It is also a requirement for increasing your Infantry Weapon and Armor upgrade levels past level 1 at the Engineering Bay.

4 Upgrades are available here. Vehicle Weapons & Plating, and Ship Weapons & Plating. They increase the damage and armor of your units from the Factory (Vehicle) and Starport (Ship).

Terran Fusion Core

Previous Unit: Armory – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Reactor

The Fusion Core is your home for the Battle Cruiser. It allows you to reserch two upgrades for it and build them at the Starport. You need a Starport in order to build one. Since they only unlock the Battle Cruiser, spotting one of these is a good indicator that you need Anti Air units (preferably with a bonus to armored units).

Weapon Refit is an upgrade that enables the Yamato Cannon ability for Battle Cruisers, a long range shot that deals a good deal of damage. The second upgrade, Behemoth Reactor increases the Energy Points Battle Cruisers built at the Starport start with by 25 when created.

Terran Reactor

Previous Unit: Fusion Core – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Tech Lab

There are two Add-Ons available for the 3 factory buildings for Terran: the Reactor and the Tech Lab. They can be built at the Barracks, Factory, or Starport and can be used interchangeably. They are most typically seen on Barracks and Starports for the Marines, Medivacs, and Vikings.

The Reactor is useful since it allows you to build another unit while one is already being built at the attached building. The downside is you cannot build the units that require a Tech Lab, lowering your choices to just Marines, Hellions, Vikings, and Medivacs.

If you want those units quickly this building can be a good in a pinch though.

Terran Tech Lab

Previous Unit: Reactor – Jump to Top – Next Unit: SCV

There are two Add-Ons available for the 3 factory buildings for Terran: the Reactor and the Tech Lab. They can be built at the Barracks, Factory, or Starport and can be used interchangeably.

The Tech Lab allows you to build Marauders, Reapers, and Ghosts at a Barracks. Seige Tanks and Thors at a Factory. And Ravens, Banshees, and Battle Cruisers at a Starport. Aside from this, the Tech Lab also gets upgrades it can research based on which building it is attached to.

When attached to the Barracks you can get:
- Combat Shield: Gives Marines a Shield and increases their maximum Hit Points by 10.
- Stim Packs Upgrade: Allows the Marines and Marauders to sacrifice 10 hp for an increase in attack speed.
- Concussive Shells: Passive ability added to Marauders that slow non Massive targets with their attacks.
- Nitro Packs: Increases the movement speed of Reapers. Requires the Factory.

When attached to the Factory you can get:
- Infernal Pre-Igniter: Gives a boost to the damage Hellions do to units with Light armor.
- Seige Tech: Allows Seige Tanks to use Seige Mode, increasing their range, damage, and giving them a splash attack. But causes them to not be able to hit very close enemies.
- 250mm Strike Cannons: Enables the 250mm Strike Cannons ability for the Thor. It deals 500 damage over 6 seconds to ground units/structure, stunning the target and making the Thor unable to move until it is done shooting

And when attached to the Starport you can get:
- Caduceus Reactor: Increases the starting Energy Points of Medivacs by 25.
- Cloaking Field: Allows Banshees to use the Cloak ability, letting them be invisible to players when they have no units with Detection nearby.
- Corvid Reactor: Increases the starting Energy Points of Ravens by 25.
- Durable Materials: Increases the duration of the units created by the Raven before they self destruct.
- Seeker Missile Upgrade: Allows the Raven to use Seeker Missiles, which follow a target slowly to deal great damage on impact.

Terran SCV

Previous Unit: Tech Lab – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Marine

The SCV is the worker unit for the Terrans, so you will start with some along with your Command Center. They gather resources, build buildings, and have a nice special ability too.

SCVs must follow the Terran Tech Tree when building structures. They can build them anywhere without the aid of Creep or Pylons but require the SCV to physically construct the building. Aside from building and harvesting resources, SCVs have the Repair ability. Repair targets mechanical units and all buildings and will recover Hit Points at the expense of some minerals. Better than buying an entirely new unit. Interestingly, SCVs themselves are both biological and mechanical units, so they can be targeted by Repair as well as the Medivac’s Heal ability.

Strategy:

SCVs are the worker for the Terran and are a bit more versatile than the other workers but also more vulnerable. SCVs are common targets for scouting units early on if they are constructing a building, requiring the player to take off additional workers to fight off any scouting unit while they complete their buildings. However, SCVs are able to repair mechanical units and can build anywhere there isn’t creep, making proxy buildings and maintaining an army easier.

Terran Marine

Previous Unit: SCV – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Marauder

Marines are your first combat unit for the Terran and are built at the Barracks. They can attack both ground and air units with their short range rifles making them a great unit to start off with.

The Marines have one ability and a passive upgrade. Stim Packs makes a return from StarCraft, allowing you to sacrifice 10 Hit Points for a 50% bonus to your attack and movement speed for the next 15 seconds. Stim Packs along with other Terran Infantry abilties can now be used in Bunkers which is a good thing to note. Combat Shield is a new upgrade for Marines that increases the max Hit Points they start with by 10 and adds a shield to their unit model. These two upgrades are researched at the Tech Lab connected to an Engineering Bay.

Strategy:

Marines are the weaker of the 3 beginning army units HP wise, but with proper micro management they can take out any early harassment. Marines are useful throughout the game due to their ranged rapid fire attack and cheap cost. They are typically used in massive amounts early on to attack or in combination throughout the match with other units to provide anti air that units such as Siege Tanks and Marauders do not have. They are most commonly seen in attack groups with Marauders and Medivacs so they can use the Stim Pack ability and be healed while the Marauders take care of the stronger ground units.

Terran Marauder

Previous Unit: Marine – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Reaper

The new Marauder is created at a Barracks with a Tech Lab attached. It is another ranged attacker. It attacks by throwing grenades at ground enemies.

The Marauder can also use Stim Packs researched at the Tech Lab connected to the Barracks. It provides a 50% bonus to attack and movement speed for 15 seconds at the cost of 20 Hit Points. The Concussive Shells upgrade at the Barracks Tech Lab will allow the grenades it tosses to slow down non massive sized units.

Strategy:

Marauders are strong and cheap anti ground infantry. They are typically used in conjunction with Marines and Medivacs due to the anti air support, fast attack speed, and healing. Early on they are useful for their range, anti armor damage bonus, and Concussive Shells against melee units like Zealots and Zerglings. If you are building Marauders throughout the game or to make a big push, make sure you research Stim Pack and use it due to the increased damage output.

Terran Reaper

Previous Unit: Marauder – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Hellion

Another new Terran Infantry is the Reaper. You can train them at a Barracks that has a Tech Lab attached. The Reaper is the fastest unit in the game and is a great scout because of it’s Jet Pack. It attacks with a short range Pistol against ground units and the powerful D-8 Charges against buildings, making it great for doing raids on enemy buildings.

The Reaper’s main benefit is the Jet Pack they have strapped on. They can move over terrain quickly and jump up and down cliffs with the Jet Pack. The Tech Lab connected to the Barracks can research and upgrade to increase the movement speed of the Reapers making them the fastest unit around. You need the Factory to research the speed upgrade though.

Strategy:

Reapers are not too commonly used competitively except for harassment. While not used too often, they are extremely effective at taking out buildings and workers and their cliff jumping ability allows them to get into enemy bases and do some serious damage before escaping. Scanner Sweep, Lifted off buildings, or air units are used to get Reapers into an enemy base without having to fight the defenses typically put at the top of their ramp. Regardless of their damage output against workers and buildings, they are not used often simply because of the cost and the low HP of the Reaper making them too easy to pick off.

Terran Hellion

Previous Unit: Reaper – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Seige Tank

The Hellion is the basic Factory vehicle. It is a combination of the Firebat and Vulture from StarCraft, bringing together a splashing fire short range attack and the a quick movement speed.

The Hellion excels against light armored ground units such as Infantry, Zerglings, etc. And with a Tech Lab attached to your Factory, you can research and upgrade to increase the damage to those types of units.

Strategy:

Hellions are typically seen in match ups against Zerg players much more frequently than any other due to the Hellion’s range and Zerg units taking extra damage. They are commonly used for running into an enemy’s base (especially Zerg since they have a very hard time walling off), roasting their workers, and trying to inflict as much damage before fleeing or dying. Do not forget about the Hellion’s “Blue Flame” upgrade at the Tech Lab that increases damage against Light armored units.

Hellions are the only Factory unit compatible with the Reactor, and due to their low cost you can make a lot of them quickly. Due to their lack of an air attack and not being as effective as a MMM combination, they are not used as commonly as other Terran army units.

Terran Seige Tank

Previous Unit: Hellion – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Ghost

Making its return from StarCraft, the Seige Tank can be built again at a Factory and needs the Tech Lab Add On. Seige Tanks make great long range attackers for defensive purposes and for taking out enemy defensive buildings.

The high point of the Seige Tank is the Seige Mode researched at the Factory Tech Lab. It nearly doubles the range of the Seige Tank and greatly increases the damage. But it does have some downsides. The Seige Tank cannot move in Seige mode and it does shoot slower. Another draw back to Siege Mode is they cannot hit targets that are right next to them such as melee units, and most unsiege to attack close targets. One last important thing to note about Seige Mode is that it does splash damage. This is normally great, except it can hurt friendly units too.

Strategy:

Siege Tanks are the most produced unit from the Factory due to their high damage in Siege Mode against ground units making them perfect for defense and for containing the opponent in his own base. Terran players fighting each other typically go for a combination of Tanks and Vikings due to the range and power against ground and air enemies. Tanks are mostly seen behind a wall of buildings at the ramp of a Terran player’s base, and sometimes air dropped on to cliffs requiring the enemy to gain high ground vision in order to attack them.

Siege Tanks are however very vulnerable to air units and units such as Colossi (Especially with Thermal Lance giving them the range increase) and Immortals. They are also quite weak against Zealots with Charge and Zerglings with the speed upgrade in large numbers. Another couple things to watch out for that are less common are unit drops (typically of melee units or Banelings on top of your Tanks causing them to not be able to hit the target due to the range and friendly fire of other tanks blowing hurting them) and Nuclear Missiles (since they are typically aimed at your defenses or workers).

Terran Ghost

Previous Unit: Seige Tank – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Viking

The Ghost is your final Terran Infantry unit. You train them at a Barracks and need a Tech Lab attached as well as a Ghost Academy. Ghosts are long range snipers, and while their damage is low due to their slow attack speed their abilities are powerful.

The most important ability, Tactical Nuke, launches a Nuclear Missile (Must be built at a Ghost Academy first). The Nuke takes a few seconds to launch, then deals 300 damage to all units in a large area and adds on 200 damage to structures. Friendly Players will see a large red target at the area it will land a few seconds beforehand, and enemies will just see a red dot. However, if the Ghost is killed before the target/dot goes away, the Nuke will not be launched.

The Ghost also gets EMP Round. This deals 100 damage to all Protoss Plasma Shields and takes away all nearby units’ Energy Points. Sniper Round deals a high damage shot against a biological unit, and ignores any Armor bonus. Finally, Cloaking allows the Ghost to be invisible to enemies unless detected. Keep in mind when Cloaking, your Energy Points will drain until you Uncloak or run out of Energy Points. While Ghosts start with all other abilities, Cloaking must be researched at the Ghost Academy.

Strategy:

Ghosts are a less common seen unit but still quite powerful. Their Nuclear Missile is their most powerful attack, making short work of armies and bases a like. Players tend to make the mistake of not backing up their Ghost in hopes of just cloaking it will be enough. While this works sometimes, it’s generally good to attack near the target and back away as it falls to avoid losing the Ghost and the Missile and keep up pressure.

EMP is typically used against any Protoss unit due to the SP damage, but is very effective against units with Energy as well. Their Sniper Round works only against Biological units, limiting their targets but making them effective against workers and units such as Hydralisks and Mutalisks in particular.

Terran Viking

Previous Unit: Ghost – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Medivac

Vikings are a great unit but requires some micromanagement in combat. You can build them with a Starport, and 2 at a time if you have a Reactor on it.

The unique part about the Viking is while they start off in the air, you can turn them into Assault Mode where they will land and move on the ground. While in flight they attack with a nicely ranged Torpedo that targets air units. On the ground they shoot with a fast Cannon against ground units. So if you can handle switching them at the most opportune times, you can make a force that is quite versatile.

Strategy:

Vikings are very effective anti air units due to their high range, strong attack, and moderate speed. They can be quickly produced with a Reactor and are cheaper than Corruptors making them arguably the best choice for air vs air (Phoenixes are able to win a tiny bit in damage in an even number matchup, but with the Reactor you should have more Vikings than he has Phoenixes). In Terran vs Terran match ups, whoever owns the most Vikings is typically able to rule the air due to the lack of an air attack on Banshees and the high cost of Battlecruisers. Vikings are well paired with Banshees (so long as you keep them behind them) and Siege Tanks.

Being able to change to their Ground Mode is nice to worker harass or to pick off vulnerable targets, but due to the transition time and lack of an attack during it, it’s usually best to keep them in flight.

Terran Medivac

Previous Unit: Viking – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Raven

The Medivac is a new air unit that combines the Medic and Drop Ship from Brood War. It is built at the Starport and can have 2 built at one time with a Reactor.

Load and Unload are the first ability the unit has. Medivacs can transport ground units up to 8 slots. Ground Units will take up a number of slots on an individual basis. The second ability is Heal, which will recover Hit Points for the targeted biological unit at the cost of the Medivac’s Energy Points.

Strategy:

Medivacs are the transport unit for Terran, and come packed with the Healing ability making it great when paired with biological units such as Marines and Marauders. While having few uses, they are a good unit to have in your army. Transporting workers to expansions that are on islands or blocked by rocks is best done by making use of them. Unit drops are another good use, taking advantage of holes around the enemy’s perimeter defense.

In the end, they are mostly commonly used to heal Marines and Marauders. Just make sure to have them Scan Move on your army instead of grouping them together, otherwise they will get too far ahead of your infantry and get wiped out.

Terran Raven

Previous Unit: Medivac – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Banshee

The Raven is a new Terran Air unit. It is built at the Starport with a Tech Lab. It has no weapon to use and relies completely on its abilities. It also is a Detector unit, so you can use it to see cloaked and burrowed units.

The Raven gets two special abilities. Build Auto-Turret constructs an Auto-Turret which targets air and ground and Build Point Defense Drone creates a Point Defense Drone which destroys certain enemy projectile weapons in the air. These two units have more information below in their separate section. They can also benefit from the Durable Materials upgrade from the Tech Lab so they will be around longer before self destructing.

The third and final ability the Raven gets helps replace its lack of a weapon. After researching Seeker Missiles from the Tech Lab, you can use this ability to deal high damage in an area with a homing missile. However it is slow moving, and if the missile does not hit its target after awhile it will deal no damage and destruct.

Strategy:

Ravens are the StarCraft II equivalent of the Science Vessel from the original being the Air Unit-Detector-Spell Caster. Their spells are a bit harder to get used to though due to the range issues with each of them.

The Auto-Turrets can put up a quick defense or offense but their lack of power and weak units vulnerable to them (such as workers) being able to move out of their range quickly makes them a very situational spell. The Defense Point Drone is an interesting spell, blocking certain missile attacks costing it energy, and therefore its life. Putting some of these in an area where you are about to have a conflict can quickly turn the tide of the battle, but again, players can simply move their units out of the range of it. The final ability, Seeker Missile locks on to a target, chases it, and does small AoE damage when it hits. But be careful of which unit you target because they may be able to just out run it.

Terran Banshee

Previous Unit: Raven – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Thor

Another new air unit is the Banshee. You will require a Starport and Tech Lab attached to build them.

The Banshee can only target ground units with its rockets. This makes it an open target to any air units that can attack it. However, to make up for this, Banshees can use the Cloaking ability to drain Energy Points in order to become invisible when no detectors are around.

Strategy:

Banshees are powerful anti ground units and their cloaking can make them hard to kill if used correctly. They are typically used for harassing workers, picking off bases, and tech buildings. Vikings are usually paired with them to fight against a force or pick off defenses due to the combination of strong anti air and strong anti ground attacks. Banshees can be effective against most ground units, but use caution and cloaking when dealing with Stalkers, Marines, and Hydralisks.

Terran Thor

Previous Unit: Banshee – Jump to Top – Next Unit: BattleCruiser

The final vehicle from the Factory is the Thor. You need a Factory with a Tech Lab and an Armory to build it.

The Thor is a powerful unit. It can attack ground units with a high damaging attack. It also can launch long range Missiles at air units. And the 250mm Strike Cannons ability can wipe out enemies fast. It deals 500 damage over 6 seconds to ground units/structure, stunning the target and making the Thor unable to move until it is done shooting. It is researched at a Tech Lab at the Factory.

Strategy:

Thors are costly units that have strong attacks against ground and anti air attacks that have large range. They can take on ground armored units well like Immortals, but small units like Zealots or Zerglings in large numbers can overwhelm them. Their anti air attack has a large range and splash effect, but it’s not as effective as it should be except against Mutalisks if they are not micro’d properly. When it comes down to it, the cost of the Thor outweighs their usefulness due to their slow movement and large size, Siege Tanks being able to deal a similar powerful anti ground attack, and Vikings being a more effective anti air unit.

Terran Battlecruiser

Previous Unit: Thor – Jump to Top – Next Unit: MULE

The Battlecruiser is a powerful and expensive air unit. You need a Starport with a Tech Lab and a Fusion Core to build it.

The Battlecruiser uses a fast Laser weapon instead of its normal laser weapon from StarCraft. It deals a bit less damage, but makes up for it with the speed. It retains the Yamato Cannon attack, which must be researched at a Fusion Core. It deals a large amount of damage to the target unit.

Strategy:

Battlecruisers are another costly but powerful unit. They tend to hold their own well in most situations, but since they can easily be outnumbered by the less costly Void Rays, Vikings, and Corrupters they are typically avoided. If you have enough expansions you can produce enough of them to make a sizable force, but in a 1v1 game it would be very unusual to have the income and time to make a large number of them. A few of them with Yamato can be used to pick off important buildings quickly in hit and run attacks if needed though.

Terran MULE

Previous Unit: Battlecruiser – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Point Defense Drone

The MULE is a new mechanical unit. The Orbital Command can call down a MULE in a launch pod to a targeted area.

The MULE is only good for only one thing: Mining. It can mine more minerals per trip than an SCV. 3x as many to be exact. This is a nice reason to have an Orbital Command, but keep in mind you do not get to keep it forever. The MULE has a constant drain on its Energy Points and when it runs out it self destructs.

Strategy:

The MULE is the ultimate mineral miner. It is important to note two things: Use them efficiently with mining. This means if you have a gold mineral expansion that you are dropping them there to get the most minerals you can. You should also place them at the mineral fields that are closer to the Command Center so that the time spent traveling is lessened. The other thing to note is that while MULEs are the most commonly used spell from the Orbital Command, you should conserve energy for Scanner Sweep whenever needed in competitive matches (such as when attacking or when you know they have cloaked units).

Terran Point Defense Drone

Previous Unit: MULE – Jump to Top – Next Unit: Auto-Turret

Point Defense Drones are created by Ravens. They run on their Energy Points, and when they run out they will Self Destruct. Researching Durable Materials at a Tech Lab at your Starport will help make them last longer. They cannot move but are air units.

These Point Defense Drones can be confusing. They will attack most projectile weapons (Such as attacks from Stalkers, but not Marines) with a laser that destroys them before hitting your unit. However, doing so will cost additional Energy Points bringing them closer to their self destruction. They are solely useful during an encounter with an enemy to absorb some of the damage from their attacks.

One last thing to note, they are affected by the Hi-Sec Auto Tracking so that upgrade can be useful even if you do not have other defensive buildings.

Terran Auto-Turret

Previous Unit: Point Defense Drone – Jump to Top

Auto-Turrets are created by Ravens. They are a defensive ground unit/building that use a fast attacking light cannon. They have a constant Energy Point drain, and when they run out they self destruct. They can be placed on Creep, being the only non Zerg Building able to do so. They are generally used in hit and runs against workers or to get extra hits during an encounter with enemies.

They are affected by the Hi-Sec Auto Tracking so that upgrade can be useful even if you do not have other defensive buildings. The Durable Materials upgrade from the Tech Lab at the Starport can also increase the Energy Points they have.