0
Last Revision: 1/14/00
== Starcraft Units Strategy ==
This is my first time publishing a FAQ, so please forgive any minor errors. I
am a perfectionist, and so if there is anything I have missed, forgot to
include, or just plain screwed up on, please let me know so I can fix it. You
can e-mail me at kaminari11@aol.com.
I. Version History
II. Terran Units
III. Zerg Units
IV. Protoss Units
V. Brood War Units
VI. Defensive Buildings
VII. Credits/Disclaimer
== I. Version History ==
Original Copy
This is the first copy with strategy for all units for all three races.
Revision 1:
Minor details such as how some spells work and how they can be used were
added/modified.
Revision 2:
Addition of Brood War units in section 5.
Revision 3:
Details about some units were changed and ways of using some spells were
added.
Revision 4:
Corrections made due to more experience.
== II. Terran Units ==
Marine:
The Marine is the basic Terran unit. It has a good range and decent Hit
Points at the beginning. They are the only one of the three basic units
(Marine, Zergling, and Zealot) that can attack air enemies. Later on in the
game, Marines will mainly be used as the people inside your Bunkers providing
your defense. Firebats and Ghosts also work, but I recommend Marines as they
have good power and speed. The Stim Pack ability, which must be researched at
the Academy, subtracts 10 Hit Points from the Marine, but in turn provides
great speed and firing rate. This can be used when you are outnumbered and
want to take out as many enemies as possible before dying. I love using
massive Marines in attack as they have little weaknesses as a group with the
exception of Psionic Storm and a few others. Reavers donTt work very well as
they tend to form a circle around their target.
Firebat:
The Firebat is a strong ground unit with its powerful flame-throwers.
These canTt be used against air units, but they do plenty of damage to ground
ones. They also can use Stim Packs, which makes their slow flame bursts even
better. They are extremely weak to air attacks, and so they should be paired
with Marines most of the time. A Firebat or two in each of your Bunkers is a
good idea if you have Missile Turrets nearby. I donTt tend to use them very
often because their damage is reduced against units with "heavy" type armor.
They are only good vs. Marines, Zerglings, Firebats, Medics, Zealots, and
both types of Templar, which makes them vulnerable to every other unit in the
game.
Ghost:
The Ghost is a weak fighter by itself, but it is the only unit which can
"nuke" the enemy, which is one of the most useful tactics in the game. The
Ghost has the ability to cloak itself, which makes it invisible to enemies
unless they have Detector units nearby. The GhostTs Lockdown ability
paralyzes a mechanical unit so it canTt do anything. This is useful against
some of the more powerful air units such as the Battlecruiser and the
Carrier. The units can be damaged while in Lockdown. The third and final
ability is to launch a nuclear strike. This requires an armed nuclear silo,
which takes up 200 minerals and gas as well as 8 of your supplies. The Ghost
chooses an area to nuke, and after a brief time the bomb drops and causes a
huge explosion that is very damaging. It is highly recommended you cloak your
Ghost before attempting this so you wonTt lose your Ghost or waste your bomb.
NEVER send your Ghost in alone for an attack, send a few troops in with it so
they can distract the enemy long enough for the nuke to hit.
Vulture:
The Vulture is the basic mechanical unit for the Terran army. It is a
fast unit, and once Ion thrusters are researched, it is the fastest unit in
the game. Its weapon does average damage and canTt target air units. The
Spider Mines it can produce do extreme damage if they work. They are
vulnerable once they come to attack, and they only have 20 Hit Points. They
can "see", so if you leave them at a key area they can continue to view it
for you after your Vultures have left. This can be used to watch over key
locations such as base expansions and gaps in defenses. Like the Firebat the
damage is only strong versus lightly armored enemies, so I only usually use
Vultures for Spider Mines or as backup for Marines since they donTt cost gas.
Siege Tank:
The Siege Tank is a very powerful unit with good armor. I highly advise
you to get the Siege Mode upgrade as soon as possible. While in Siege Mode,
the tank does 70 points of damage each shot, with tremendous range. Putting a
few tanks in Siege Mode at each of your entrances is a good idea. The only
real weakness the tanks have is an air attack and cloaked units. Luckily, the
Missile Turret can fill in both of these spots, so build some Turrets to
accommodate your Siege Tanks. When attacking enemy bases with Siege Tanks,
bring along Marines to cover the tanks. This tactic works extremely well
against those dumb newbies that rely on clogging the entrance with buildings
for defense.
Goliath:
The Goliath is the last ground unit on the technology tree. It has a
decent ground attack and an excellent anti-air attack. If you post a few
Goliaths on the edges of your base, you can hopefully prevent air transports
from dropping off anything. If they do, the Goliaths should be able to take
care of the job with their machine guns. It is a well-balanced unit. They
also provide good cover for Siege Tanks.
Wraith:
The Wraith is the "basic" flyer for the Terran. It has a good air-to-air
attack and a decent ground attack. The main purpose of the Wraith, though, is
to cloak like the Ghost does. It has no other abilities, and, unlike the
Ghost, is a good fighter. If the enemy canTt detect your Wraiths, they can do
some serious damage. They also make good escorts for your Dropships.
Dropship:
The Dropship is the transportation unit for the Terran. It is a fast
flyer, and has average armor. It can carry from 8 Marines to 2 Siege Tanks.
Any ground units can ride, but some take up more space than others. The
Dropship has no weaponry, and so you should take care in using it. If the
Dropship is killed, all units inside it also die without getting a chance to
fight. If a Dropship is about to die, unload the units inside as quickly as
possible. At least they will get to do something+
Science Vessel:
The Science Vessel can be deceiving. It has no attack, and has average
Hit Points. Its spells are very useful, however. Defensive Matrix puts a
force field on a unit, and any damage dealt to that unit will be reduced to
one point. It will wear off after 30 seconds or 250 points of damage,
whichever comes first. If you use it on a Dropship, it can load and unload
with minimum difficulty. EMP Shockwave drains all shields from Protoss units
and takes all energy from any units. It can be used to stop Yamato blasts,
de-cloak units, or drain Protoss buildings' shields, which is usually half of
their life. Irradiate slowly takes life away from the target and the units
around it, but it only works for a short time. It does up to 250 points of
damage. ItTs great on Overlords! Against the computer you can Irradiate an
Overlord hovering over enemy Drones and the Irradiation will damage the
Drones under them. As soon as the Drones take damage they stop harvesting
money and serves as a double-bonus. One final note, the Science Vessel is a
Detector, and it can move very quickly, and that alone is a reason to have at
least one in every base.
Battlecruiser:
The most powerful unit for the Terran (in theory) is the Battlecruiser.
It has high Hit Points and armor. They are expensive, so bring along SCVs to
repair them so you wonTt lose them as easily. Science Vessels can also put
Defensive Matrix on them to make them last longer. The Yamato Blast is very
powerful and devastating range. It can hit a Missile Turret or a Photon
Cannon, kill it in one shot, and stay far enough away to not get hit back.
The Spore Colony has a bit more HP, and so just one Yamato Blast wonTt kill
it, but 2 blasts will do it in. The problem is the Battlecruiser is SO slow!
It takes a long time to move around and to fire. Keep them around in groups
of at least 4 to prevent enemies from destroying them easily and wasting your
resources. The laser equipped on it has nice damage, but itTs slow to fire.
If you keep it at your base to Yamato Ultralisks and Reavers that pose a
threat. I would not recommend massing up Battlecruisers as an attack strategy
as they are easy to kill and most players should be ready for them. Use them
to back up other units or to induce fear among players. If a bunch of Marines
and one Battlecruiser attack a personTs base, most of the time they ignore
everything and focus heavily on the Battlecruiser, even though the Marines
are dealing more damage. This alone makes the cost of the Battlecruiser
worthwhile.
== III. Zerg Units ==
Zergling:
The Zergling is the basic Zerg unit, and it is quite a little pest. You
get two Zerglings for each egg, and so each one takes half a supply. Since
they are so cheap to produce, they are great for rushing the enemy or
swarming them with a large pack of Zerglings. Once it is researched, the
Zerglings can burrow. They canTt move or attack, but they can hide and
regenerate (unless detected). If you burrow a few Zerglings near extra
resources, you can prevent easy expansion by your enemies. Zerglings en masse
are extremely weak to Spider Mines, Siege Tanks, Reavers, Lurkers (even if
detected) and Psionic Storm as they tend to clump together quite nicely and
are vulnerable to splash damage.
Overlord:
The Overlord has three functions: To provide control (which is like
Supplies for the Zerg), detect cloaked and burrowed units and, once upgraded,
transport ground units by air. It seems powerful, but if you lose the
Overlord while it is transporting, you not only lose the units inside but the
supply it provided too. They are the slowest of the 3 transports, even if you
upgrade their speed. Keep them posted around your base to spot Wraiths or
Observers trying to sneak in.
Hydralisk:
The Hydralisk is the first Zerg unit that can attack from a distance and
hit air foes. The Hydralisk Den can be obtained fairly early in the game, and
as a result, you can have a Hydralisk rush right after your Zergling rush if
you plan it right. Hydralisks can stop Terran buildings from retreating and
can wipe out Overlords while the Zergling can do neither. Hydralisks also
have more than twice the Hit Points of a Zergling, which makes them a better
investment. The Hydralisks can also burrow. Hydralisks work well in swarms
late game just like Marines, and they also provide excellent cover for
Guardians, Ultralisks, or transporting Overlords.
Mutalisk:
The Mutalisk is the first attacking flyer for the Zerg. It can attack
both ground and air units, and does the same damage to both. The attack also
"bounces" off the target and does a slight amount of damage to any nearby
targets. Mutalisks are considerably fast, but they are weak. They do well in
large groups, and the "bounce" in their attack is useful against a large
group of enemies close together. Once a Greater Spire is obtained, Mutalisks
can become Guardians or Devourers. Be careful as Mutalisks tend to stack on
top of each other and are very weak to Psionic Storm. The 3 Brood War
air-to-air units (Valkyrie, Devourer and Corsair) were created to combat
Mutalisks in my opinion. They all have slight splash damage that devastates
packed Mutalisks.
Guardian:
The Guardian is obtained by mutating a Mutalisk. Its attack has huge
range and damage, but is slow to fire and can only target ground units. The
Guardians also move SO slowly, it really is a pain. They are also the slowest
regenerating unit of the Zerg. They are useful for taking out Bunkers and
other defensive buildings because they can stay out of their range and still
do massive damage. Always have them backed up by Hydralisks or Mutalisks to
prevent easy kills for your opponent. Have the backup hang far enough back
that the target of the Guardian is not attacked by the backup and so they
wonTt end up too busy to cover the Guardian.
Scourge:
Like the Zergling, you get two Scourges per egg and each takes up half a
supply. They are kamikaze fighters, running into air targets and doing
massive damage. They are fast suckers, and a group of about 4 can take down a
Battlecruiser or a Carrier, which is very handy to have around. Keep a pack
of 12 Scourge around at all times, it wonTt cost you much and it can save you
when fighting powerful air enemies. They also make good scouts.
Queen:
The Queen has no regular attack but has 4 spells. First, it can infest a
Terran Command Center in the yellow-to-red zone of health; turning it into a
Zerg structure and letting it produce Infested Terran units. Infesting takes
no energy. The next technique is to launch a Parasite into a unit. It does no
damage, but as long as the host lives, the Zerg player can see everything the
host does, which is useful on transports and gathering units. You also gain
its detection abilities. The only way to remove this (without killing the
unit) is the MedicTs Restoration, and computer enemies are too dumb to keep
Parasited units away from their base. Ensnare causes units in its area to be
covered in green slime that really slows down units and their attack rates.
It also reveals cloaked units in the area too, and it stops Stim Pack use (if
you would ever need to do that). The last ability, and my favorite, is to
Spawn Broodlings. This causes a player to lose a ground unit and give the
Zerg player 2 Broodlings in its spot. Useful on powerful ground units such as
Ultralisks and Siege Tanks. This doesnTt work against robotic units or either
form of Archon.
Broodling:
You get two Broodlings from using the Queen ability (see above). These
things are much like Zerglings but weaker. They have an energy bar that
slowly decreases. When it gets to zero, the Broodling dies. The Broodlings
are usually not the intention of using the Spawn Broodlings ability, itTs
usually used for instant death. The Broodlings are only a bonus.
Infested Terran:
The Infested Terran is obtained by infesting a Command Center (see
above). Like the Scourge, Infested Terrans are kamikaze units, but instead
they attack ground units and buildings with a massive explosion. They can
burrow like other ground Zerg units, which is nice for surprise kamikaze
attacks. They can take down a Bunker, Sunken, or Photon Cannon in one shot as
well as any units protecting it. They only have 60 HP, so have a few
Zerglings or Hydralisks distract the enemy while the Infested Terran moves
into place. Terran/Zerg alliances should have the Terran player loan a
Command Center to the Zerg guy for infestation as these are worth every
mineral.
Ultralisk:
The massive ground unit known as the Ultralisk is very powerful in
attack. It is the only ground unit that canTt burrow. Its claws canTt hit
flying units either. They are good for attacks, but they must have support
for air enemies, so pair them up with Hydralisks or Mutalisks. They tear down
buildings with extreme ease and should follow up any attack by the Zerg. They
also induce fear like the Battlecruiser (see above).
Defiler:
The Defiler has no attacks but has spells, which makes it similar to the
Queen. The Consume ability kills a friendly Zerg unit and gives you 50
energy in return, which is nice to use on Zerglings towards the end of the
game when you arenTt going to use them anyway. Plague drains the life off the
target unit at the rate of 25 points of damage/second, but it wonTt kill it.
The Plague will do a total of maximum 300 damage. This works extremely well
against Terran because it brings the buildings down to 1 HP and the burn
effect on buildings will kill them off. If used properly this can kill the
blockade defense or all the Supply Depots a player has for only 150 energy (3
Zerglings worth). Dark Swarm causes ranged attacks within and outside the
Swarm not to function properly. The Swarm doesnTt affect some units, and if
you want me to send you a list of these units, please e-mail me. Finally, the
Defiler can burrow.
== IV. Protoss Units ==
Zealot:
The basic Protoss unit and the most powerful of the three basic units.
However, it costs 100 minerals instead of 50 for the others. They are very
useful throughout the game if you upgrade their weapons systems at the Forge
and their legs at the Citadel of Adun. If you do so, they become fast killing
machines, and still cost 100 minerals which isnTt much towards the end. Their
main weakness is air attacks, which all they can do about is run.
Dragoon:
Dragoons are the first long-range unit (besides the Photon Cannon)
available to the Protoss. They can shoot air enemies, but are weak fighters.
When paired with Zealots, they make a good team, but put more Zealots than
Dragoons in about a 3:2 ratio. Try to upgrade the DragoonsT attack range with
the Singularity Charge upgrade as soon as you can. The role of the Dragoon is
to fight at a distance, and the better the distance, the more effective they
are. Ever since version 1.04, Dragoons have increased range and decreased
cost, making them a considerable force. Backed up by a few Zealots, Dark
Templar, and Archons, they can win the game for you.
High Templar:
The High Templar has no attack but have three spells like so many other
units in the game. The first spell is Psionic Storm, which blasts electricity
over an area. This hits ground, air and cloaked units whether you can see
them or not. ItTs a nice spell and only costs 75 energy per casting. This
works well against swarms or against units that "stack" on each other such as
Guardians, Mutalisks, Carriers, and Battlecruisers. Hallucination makes two
copies of the target. The copies can do the 5 basic commands (Move, Stop,
Attack, Hold Position and Patrol). They do no damage with their attack, and
have a mana bar similar to the Broodling mana bar. When the mana bar runs
out, it runs out of HP, or a spell is cast on it, the copy pops. These copies
of the unit can be used to draw fire away from real units or used as scouts.
This is great against Dark Archons that try to Mind Control the
Hallucination, costing them all their shields and 150 valuable energy. The
last spell melds two Templar together to form an Archon.
Archon:
You get an Archon from combining to High Templar together (see above).
These are extremely powerful units that can hit both ground and air for
massive damage. They are expensive and time-consuming, but well worth the
investment. A pack of 12 (which requires 24 High Templar to be sacrificed)
can destroy a whole base by itself. DonTt underestimate these guys. They are
hovering which means they arenTt affected by Spider Mines, and they are
immune to many of the gameTs statuses such as: Ensnare, Irradiate, Parasite,
Spawn Broodling, Maelstrom, Plague, Dark Swarm, and others. However, an EMP
Shockwave takes away ALL of their shields leaving them with 10 Hit Points.
This is obviously not a good thing.
Shuttle:
The transport ship for the Protoss is the Shuttle. The problem is the
units are so big you can fit only a few at a time. The Shuttles are fast and
have good armor and Hit Points, however. A strategy I learned from the
Blizzard web site is to drop in some of the powerful but slow Reavers (see
below) which is called the "Reaver Drop". Enough bad jokes about the name,
please. They are the fastest of the 3 aerial transports.
Reaver:
The Reaver has no weapons by itself, but manufactures little Scarabs,
which it launches at great distances for great damage. Each Scarab costs 15
minerals, and it adds up fast. The damage it deals is worth it, though, but
if the Reaver dies you lose all the Scarabs inside it too. They Reavers move
slowly and so I suggest the "Reaver Drop" mentioned above. Reavers can
eliminate massive swarms. I canTt remember how many times my force of 6
Reavers and a few Cannons held off 100+ units and lived to talk about it.
Observer:
The Observer is always cloaked with no energy bar and can detect other
cloaked units. This makes it a good scout and can be placed at key locations
for easy monitoring, and the fact that it flies makes it even easier to
place. It has no weapons and weak armor, which is a crucial flaw. Once
detected, itTs dead meat. Sneaking one into an enemy base early on works very
well, so make sure to have some Detection all around your base if you against
Protoss.
Scout:
The basic flying combat unit for the Protoss. It has a good ground
attack and a powerful air attack too. Like its name implies, they make good
scouts. They are pretty expensive, and so you shouldnTt send them into battle
needlessly. They can be upgraded to make them last longer and fight better,
and I would strongly recommend doing this as soon as your money supply allows
it. DonTt bother having them fight ground-to-air units unless you greatly
outnumber the enemy.
Carrier:
This powerful flying unit has no real weapons but can manufacture little
Interceptors for 25 Minerals apiece. Unlike the ReaverTs Scarabs, the
Interceptors come back once they have shot the enemy with their lasers and
are sent out once again. Fully upgraded Carriers can carry 8 Interceptors at
once, launching them at enemies for a devastating attack. The Interceptors
can hit both air and ground targets. If an Interceptor comes back to the
Carrier it is automatically repaired instantly. Like Battlecruisers they can
induce fear, but I would not take the popular newbie route of massing
Carriers.
Arbiter:
This flying unit is very strange. First of all, it has spells but also
has a regular attack similar to the DragoonTs. Any of your units within a
certain distance of the Arbiter become cloaked until they leave the field.
The Arbiter will not become cloaked, even from another Arbiter. The ArbiterTs
two spells are handy to have. Recall instantly teleports the targets to the
Arbiters location, putting them in the cloaking field at the same time.
Stasis field puts the target in a bubble that cannot be affected by anything
until it wears off. The unit in Stasis cannot do anything and nothing can be
done to it. This is especially useful to protect your units from a nuke
(Great thanks to GTDBastion for pointing this out)
== V. Brood War Units ==
Medic:
The Medic has no attack, but has three spells like some other units do.
The first is called Heal, and like its name, can heal biological units. This
is automatically triggered when one of your biological units nearby is
damaged. They can also auto-heal allied units, which works great if you have
a Zerg ally. The second spell, Restoration, cures any status on the target
except Stasis Field. This works well on units with Parasites that you want to
keep and units in Lockdown. The third is Optical Flare, which blinds the
target and reduces its sight to 1. If used on a Detector, its Detection goes
away, which is useful on pesky Science Vessels, Overlords, and Observers.
However, if any non-Blind unit is around, they can "see" for the blind unit,
so use this ability wisely.
Valkyrie:
The Valkyrie is an air-to-air unit that shoots Halo rockets that do good
damage with some splash damage. It is good to use against air units, but
canTt hit ground unfortunately. This is a major weakness, but paired with
Wraiths, the Valkyrie can be a formidable foe. They were made (in my opinion)
to battle Mutalisks, and they do so quite well.
Lurker:
The Lurker evolves from the Hydralisk. It has no regular attack, but can
attack while burrowed, making it the only Zerg unit that can. Its attack
shoots spines rippling across the ground hitting everything in a line. If you
donTt bring a Detector along with your attack force, you will lose a lot to
the Lurker. ItTs a good unit and serves as a good backup ground defense for
your Sunken and Spore Colonies. The splash damage from the spines can rip
through swarms of ground units, even if the enemy can detect them.
Devourer:
The Devourer evolves from the Mutalisk like the Guardian does. In
addition to the high damage from the Devourer, Acid Spores are left on the
target. These have 3 functions: 1) they disable cloaking like Plague and
Ensnare do 2) they cause the target to fire slower and 3) for each spore on
the target the enemy takes 1 extra point of damage per attack. For example, a
target with 8 spores on it will take 8 extra damage any time it is hurt. The
old rumor that the attack takes 1/3 of the life off is NOT TRUE!
Corsair:
It seems that every race got a new air-to-air unit, and the Protoss got
the Corsair. Its attack is weak, but it fires VERY quickly, and makes them a
formidable opponent. They have a spell called Disruption Web, which acts very
similar to the DefilerTs Dark Swarm. These can disable Bunkers, Colonies and
Cannons used for defense and this is able to nullify a lazy playerTs defense.
A pack of 12 Corsairs make great Overlord hunters, as they can fly past the
flank defense, hit the Overlords fast and hard, and take almost all of them
down before reinforcements can arrive. This is tough to prevent but having
multiple (ITm talking around 3-4 dozen) Hydralisks can help protect your
Overlords. The Acid Spores from Devourers cause the Corsair to slow down itTs
firing speed, and (once again, in my opinion) this devastates Corsairs more
than any other unit.
Dark Templar:
The Dark Templar is almost the same as the heroes in the original game.
It is always cloaked with no mana bar. It has a very strong ground attack
with its sword, but it is slow to use. It is a very powerful unit and one of
my personal favorites. Another good reason besides the Lurker to bring a Detec
tor with you on your attacks. Two Dark Templar can merge into a Dark Archon.
Computer opponents may opt to skip the initial Zealot rush to head straight
for Dark Templar, which is horrible if you havenTt got a Detector yet. These
guys donTt work very well against the Zerg, as they have Overlords everywhere
that detect.
Dark Archon:
The Dark Archon is another unit with no attack but three spells.
Feedback takes away all the targets energy and deals damage equal to the
energy taken. It doesnTt take shields like EMP does, though. Works wonders
vs. Battlecruisers, Medics, Queens, and Defilers, but not so well against
Wraiths and High Templar because they are easy to kill already. If you can
hit an enemy Dark Archon with this before they hit you, it works wonders.
Maelstrom stuns units for a short time so they canTt do anything. It has an
area of effect about the size of Ensnare. This only works against biological
units and I donTt really see much point to it. The last and most powerful is
Mind Control. The target becomes one of your units until they Mind Control it
back or it dies. It is not a status and so Restoration wonTt work. The down
side is that after it is used, all the Dark ArchonTs shields are drained.
Mind Controlling doesnTt work on Spider Mines, Scarabs or Interceptors. A
very useful way to Mind Control is to Mind Control a flying transport. You
get the transport and all the units it carries with one spell, which is very
useful. One final note on Mind Controlling, if you Mind Control a unit, you
get all the upgrades it had for free. For example, if you Mind Control a
Zealot with the Leg Enhancements and you didnTt have that, all your Zealots
would automatically get the speed upgrade. If you are tricky enough to Mind
Control a Drone or SCV, you have access to 200 more supply for that race and
also to every unit in the game.
== VI. Defensive Buildings ==
Bunker:
The Bunker can hold 4 units for the Terran. It can hold Marines,
Firebats, Ghosts, SCVs and Medics. Marines, Firebats and Ghosts can fire from
inside the Bunker while staying protected by the Bunker. Being in a Bunker
also increases your attack range by 1, and so Ghosts in a Bunker can attack
Guardians! (Note: Ghosts only deal 1/4 their normal damage to Guardians due
to their high armor, so they would hit them for 2 1/2 points of damage a
shot. Use something else to swat away Guardians) SCVs and Medics can take
cover in the Bunker, but canTt attack or heal. You can keep an SCV protected
in the Bunker and have them pop out to repair it and hide back in, which I
have found to work if you have enough Bunkers.
Missile Turret:
The Missile Turret can shoot only air enemies but does so on its own
without need for units to be kept inside. It can also detect cloaked and
burrowed units within its range. Pair up Bunkers and Missile Turrets to cover
most weaknesses. Having Siege Tanks in Siege Mode behind them can also cover
range and provide a solid defense.
Sunken Colony:
The Sunken Colony is morphed from a Creep Colony. It can use its
tongue-like structure to stab at ground units. The Sunken Colony also extends
the Creep (that purple stuff you have to build on) for a certain distance
around the Colony. For new Zerg players: Sunken Colonies work much better for
early defense than Zerglings. Have a few Zerglings around to keep the enemy
away from the Sunkens so they can deal the high damage and stay protected.
Spore Colony:
The Spore Colony is like the Sunken, but it attacks air foes instead. It
also extends the Creep, but unlike the Sunken Colony, the Spore is also a
Detector so it can find cloaked and burrowed units. Pair these up with Sunken
Colonies to have a balanced defense. They are the strongest of the 3 anti-air
buildings (Missile Turrets, Spore Colonies and Photon Cannons).
Photon Cannon:
The Photon Cannon is the only defensive building for the Protoss, but it
can attack both ground and air units plus it can detect. However, a Pylon
must power it, and if the Pylon is destroyed the Photon Cannon canTt do
anything. A good ratio of Photon Cannons to Pylons is 3:2 so the Photon
Cannons can still operate if one Pylon is destroyed. Try to Keep the Pylons
and Photon Cannons together in large groups to keep everything working. DonTt
clog your base entrance with them so your Zealots and Dragoons can get out,
and so you arenTt relying on them too heavily, which leads to your opponent
kicking the living crap out of you with Siege Tanks or Reavers.
== VII. Credits/Disclaimer ==
First of all, ITd like to thank my mom for always being there when I needed
help with grammar and complimenting me on my fast typing. ItTs always a help.
ITd also like to thank (which one of his screen-names should I put?)
GTCvDeimos for "training" me as a newbie, clarifying some problems with the
FAQ and always putting up with the dumb questions I asked. Thanks to
R415aZn895 and s_rudiyanton for clearing up some details for me such as the
cost of Interceptors and how the Plague works. ITd also like to thank
Blizzard for FINALLY bringing Starcraft to the Macintosh so I could enjoy it
without going to my friendTs house. ITd also like to thank Crosshair101,
because he always found new ways NOT to use units and I am always finding new
ways to beat him (want to hear some funny stories about this guy? e-mail me).
Oh yeah, ITd like to thank MetalGearB for letting me play Starcraft on his PC
until it came out for the Mac. He also helped a bit with the Brood War units.
Look for me on battle.net under either Kaminari11 or Clemente4. Any
criticism/comments is appreciated, and ITm always looking for a good
challenge.
This FAQ is copyrighted by law and may not be copied in any way or have links
going directly to the part without my written consent. Just e-mail me at kamin
ari11@aol.com and ask. ITll usually say yes, but ask anyway. If you donTt and
I catch you, I believe I have the legal right to sue you. Just ask & it will
make both of our lives easier. Thanks for reading!
== Starcraft Units Strategy ==
This is my first time publishing a FAQ, so please forgive any minor errors. I
am a perfectionist, and so if there is anything I have missed, forgot to
include, or just plain screwed up on, please let me know so I can fix it. You
can e-mail me at kaminari11@aol.com.
I. Version History
II. Terran Units
III. Zerg Units
IV. Protoss Units
V. Brood War Units
VI. Defensive Buildings
VII. Credits/Disclaimer
== I. Version History ==
Original Copy
This is the first copy with strategy for all units for all three races.
Revision 1:
Minor details such as how some spells work and how they can be used were
added/modified.
Revision 2:
Addition of Brood War units in section 5.
Revision 3:
Details about some units were changed and ways of using some spells were
added.
Revision 4:
Corrections made due to more experience.
== II. Terran Units ==
Marine:
The Marine is the basic Terran unit. It has a good range and decent Hit
Points at the beginning. They are the only one of the three basic units
(Marine, Zergling, and Zealot) that can attack air enemies. Later on in the
game, Marines will mainly be used as the people inside your Bunkers providing
your defense. Firebats and Ghosts also work, but I recommend Marines as they
have good power and speed. The Stim Pack ability, which must be researched at
the Academy, subtracts 10 Hit Points from the Marine, but in turn provides
great speed and firing rate. This can be used when you are outnumbered and
want to take out as many enemies as possible before dying. I love using
massive Marines in attack as they have little weaknesses as a group with the
exception of Psionic Storm and a few others. Reavers donTt work very well as
they tend to form a circle around their target.
Firebat:
The Firebat is a strong ground unit with its powerful flame-throwers.
These canTt be used against air units, but they do plenty of damage to ground
ones. They also can use Stim Packs, which makes their slow flame bursts even
better. They are extremely weak to air attacks, and so they should be paired
with Marines most of the time. A Firebat or two in each of your Bunkers is a
good idea if you have Missile Turrets nearby. I donTt tend to use them very
often because their damage is reduced against units with "heavy" type armor.
They are only good vs. Marines, Zerglings, Firebats, Medics, Zealots, and
both types of Templar, which makes them vulnerable to every other unit in the
game.
Ghost:
The Ghost is a weak fighter by itself, but it is the only unit which can
"nuke" the enemy, which is one of the most useful tactics in the game. The
Ghost has the ability to cloak itself, which makes it invisible to enemies
unless they have Detector units nearby. The GhostTs Lockdown ability
paralyzes a mechanical unit so it canTt do anything. This is useful against
some of the more powerful air units such as the Battlecruiser and the
Carrier. The units can be damaged while in Lockdown. The third and final
ability is to launch a nuclear strike. This requires an armed nuclear silo,
which takes up 200 minerals and gas as well as 8 of your supplies. The Ghost
chooses an area to nuke, and after a brief time the bomb drops and causes a
huge explosion that is very damaging. It is highly recommended you cloak your
Ghost before attempting this so you wonTt lose your Ghost or waste your bomb.
NEVER send your Ghost in alone for an attack, send a few troops in with it so
they can distract the enemy long enough for the nuke to hit.
Vulture:
The Vulture is the basic mechanical unit for the Terran army. It is a
fast unit, and once Ion thrusters are researched, it is the fastest unit in
the game. Its weapon does average damage and canTt target air units. The
Spider Mines it can produce do extreme damage if they work. They are
vulnerable once they come to attack, and they only have 20 Hit Points. They
can "see", so if you leave them at a key area they can continue to view it
for you after your Vultures have left. This can be used to watch over key
locations such as base expansions and gaps in defenses. Like the Firebat the
damage is only strong versus lightly armored enemies, so I only usually use
Vultures for Spider Mines or as backup for Marines since they donTt cost gas.
Siege Tank:
The Siege Tank is a very powerful unit with good armor. I highly advise
you to get the Siege Mode upgrade as soon as possible. While in Siege Mode,
the tank does 70 points of damage each shot, with tremendous range. Putting a
few tanks in Siege Mode at each of your entrances is a good idea. The only
real weakness the tanks have is an air attack and cloaked units. Luckily, the
Missile Turret can fill in both of these spots, so build some Turrets to
accommodate your Siege Tanks. When attacking enemy bases with Siege Tanks,
bring along Marines to cover the tanks. This tactic works extremely well
against those dumb newbies that rely on clogging the entrance with buildings
for defense.
Goliath:
The Goliath is the last ground unit on the technology tree. It has a
decent ground attack and an excellent anti-air attack. If you post a few
Goliaths on the edges of your base, you can hopefully prevent air transports
from dropping off anything. If they do, the Goliaths should be able to take
care of the job with their machine guns. It is a well-balanced unit. They
also provide good cover for Siege Tanks.
Wraith:
The Wraith is the "basic" flyer for the Terran. It has a good air-to-air
attack and a decent ground attack. The main purpose of the Wraith, though, is
to cloak like the Ghost does. It has no other abilities, and, unlike the
Ghost, is a good fighter. If the enemy canTt detect your Wraiths, they can do
some serious damage. They also make good escorts for your Dropships.
Dropship:
The Dropship is the transportation unit for the Terran. It is a fast
flyer, and has average armor. It can carry from 8 Marines to 2 Siege Tanks.
Any ground units can ride, but some take up more space than others. The
Dropship has no weaponry, and so you should take care in using it. If the
Dropship is killed, all units inside it also die without getting a chance to
fight. If a Dropship is about to die, unload the units inside as quickly as
possible. At least they will get to do something+
Science Vessel:
The Science Vessel can be deceiving. It has no attack, and has average
Hit Points. Its spells are very useful, however. Defensive Matrix puts a
force field on a unit, and any damage dealt to that unit will be reduced to
one point. It will wear off after 30 seconds or 250 points of damage,
whichever comes first. If you use it on a Dropship, it can load and unload
with minimum difficulty. EMP Shockwave drains all shields from Protoss units
and takes all energy from any units. It can be used to stop Yamato blasts,
de-cloak units, or drain Protoss buildings' shields, which is usually half of
their life. Irradiate slowly takes life away from the target and the units
around it, but it only works for a short time. It does up to 250 points of
damage. ItTs great on Overlords! Against the computer you can Irradiate an
Overlord hovering over enemy Drones and the Irradiation will damage the
Drones under them. As soon as the Drones take damage they stop harvesting
money and serves as a double-bonus. One final note, the Science Vessel is a
Detector, and it can move very quickly, and that alone is a reason to have at
least one in every base.
Battlecruiser:
The most powerful unit for the Terran (in theory) is the Battlecruiser.
It has high Hit Points and armor. They are expensive, so bring along SCVs to
repair them so you wonTt lose them as easily. Science Vessels can also put
Defensive Matrix on them to make them last longer. The Yamato Blast is very
powerful and devastating range. It can hit a Missile Turret or a Photon
Cannon, kill it in one shot, and stay far enough away to not get hit back.
The Spore Colony has a bit more HP, and so just one Yamato Blast wonTt kill
it, but 2 blasts will do it in. The problem is the Battlecruiser is SO slow!
It takes a long time to move around and to fire. Keep them around in groups
of at least 4 to prevent enemies from destroying them easily and wasting your
resources. The laser equipped on it has nice damage, but itTs slow to fire.
If you keep it at your base to Yamato Ultralisks and Reavers that pose a
threat. I would not recommend massing up Battlecruisers as an attack strategy
as they are easy to kill and most players should be ready for them. Use them
to back up other units or to induce fear among players. If a bunch of Marines
and one Battlecruiser attack a personTs base, most of the time they ignore
everything and focus heavily on the Battlecruiser, even though the Marines
are dealing more damage. This alone makes the cost of the Battlecruiser
worthwhile.
== III. Zerg Units ==
Zergling:
The Zergling is the basic Zerg unit, and it is quite a little pest. You
get two Zerglings for each egg, and so each one takes half a supply. Since
they are so cheap to produce, they are great for rushing the enemy or
swarming them with a large pack of Zerglings. Once it is researched, the
Zerglings can burrow. They canTt move or attack, but they can hide and
regenerate (unless detected). If you burrow a few Zerglings near extra
resources, you can prevent easy expansion by your enemies. Zerglings en masse
are extremely weak to Spider Mines, Siege Tanks, Reavers, Lurkers (even if
detected) and Psionic Storm as they tend to clump together quite nicely and
are vulnerable to splash damage.
Overlord:
The Overlord has three functions: To provide control (which is like
Supplies for the Zerg), detect cloaked and burrowed units and, once upgraded,
transport ground units by air. It seems powerful, but if you lose the
Overlord while it is transporting, you not only lose the units inside but the
supply it provided too. They are the slowest of the 3 transports, even if you
upgrade their speed. Keep them posted around your base to spot Wraiths or
Observers trying to sneak in.
Hydralisk:
The Hydralisk is the first Zerg unit that can attack from a distance and
hit air foes. The Hydralisk Den can be obtained fairly early in the game, and
as a result, you can have a Hydralisk rush right after your Zergling rush if
you plan it right. Hydralisks can stop Terran buildings from retreating and
can wipe out Overlords while the Zergling can do neither. Hydralisks also
have more than twice the Hit Points of a Zergling, which makes them a better
investment. The Hydralisks can also burrow. Hydralisks work well in swarms
late game just like Marines, and they also provide excellent cover for
Guardians, Ultralisks, or transporting Overlords.
Mutalisk:
The Mutalisk is the first attacking flyer for the Zerg. It can attack
both ground and air units, and does the same damage to both. The attack also
"bounces" off the target and does a slight amount of damage to any nearby
targets. Mutalisks are considerably fast, but they are weak. They do well in
large groups, and the "bounce" in their attack is useful against a large
group of enemies close together. Once a Greater Spire is obtained, Mutalisks
can become Guardians or Devourers. Be careful as Mutalisks tend to stack on
top of each other and are very weak to Psionic Storm. The 3 Brood War
air-to-air units (Valkyrie, Devourer and Corsair) were created to combat
Mutalisks in my opinion. They all have slight splash damage that devastates
packed Mutalisks.
Guardian:
The Guardian is obtained by mutating a Mutalisk. Its attack has huge
range and damage, but is slow to fire and can only target ground units. The
Guardians also move SO slowly, it really is a pain. They are also the slowest
regenerating unit of the Zerg. They are useful for taking out Bunkers and
other defensive buildings because they can stay out of their range and still
do massive damage. Always have them backed up by Hydralisks or Mutalisks to
prevent easy kills for your opponent. Have the backup hang far enough back
that the target of the Guardian is not attacked by the backup and so they
wonTt end up too busy to cover the Guardian.
Scourge:
Like the Zergling, you get two Scourges per egg and each takes up half a
supply. They are kamikaze fighters, running into air targets and doing
massive damage. They are fast suckers, and a group of about 4 can take down a
Battlecruiser or a Carrier, which is very handy to have around. Keep a pack
of 12 Scourge around at all times, it wonTt cost you much and it can save you
when fighting powerful air enemies. They also make good scouts.
Queen:
The Queen has no regular attack but has 4 spells. First, it can infest a
Terran Command Center in the yellow-to-red zone of health; turning it into a
Zerg structure and letting it produce Infested Terran units. Infesting takes
no energy. The next technique is to launch a Parasite into a unit. It does no
damage, but as long as the host lives, the Zerg player can see everything the
host does, which is useful on transports and gathering units. You also gain
its detection abilities. The only way to remove this (without killing the
unit) is the MedicTs Restoration, and computer enemies are too dumb to keep
Parasited units away from their base. Ensnare causes units in its area to be
covered in green slime that really slows down units and their attack rates.
It also reveals cloaked units in the area too, and it stops Stim Pack use (if
you would ever need to do that). The last ability, and my favorite, is to
Spawn Broodlings. This causes a player to lose a ground unit and give the
Zerg player 2 Broodlings in its spot. Useful on powerful ground units such as
Ultralisks and Siege Tanks. This doesnTt work against robotic units or either
form of Archon.
Broodling:
You get two Broodlings from using the Queen ability (see above). These
things are much like Zerglings but weaker. They have an energy bar that
slowly decreases. When it gets to zero, the Broodling dies. The Broodlings
are usually not the intention of using the Spawn Broodlings ability, itTs
usually used for instant death. The Broodlings are only a bonus.
Infested Terran:
The Infested Terran is obtained by infesting a Command Center (see
above). Like the Scourge, Infested Terrans are kamikaze units, but instead
they attack ground units and buildings with a massive explosion. They can
burrow like other ground Zerg units, which is nice for surprise kamikaze
attacks. They can take down a Bunker, Sunken, or Photon Cannon in one shot as
well as any units protecting it. They only have 60 HP, so have a few
Zerglings or Hydralisks distract the enemy while the Infested Terran moves
into place. Terran/Zerg alliances should have the Terran player loan a
Command Center to the Zerg guy for infestation as these are worth every
mineral.
Ultralisk:
The massive ground unit known as the Ultralisk is very powerful in
attack. It is the only ground unit that canTt burrow. Its claws canTt hit
flying units either. They are good for attacks, but they must have support
for air enemies, so pair them up with Hydralisks or Mutalisks. They tear down
buildings with extreme ease and should follow up any attack by the Zerg. They
also induce fear like the Battlecruiser (see above).
Defiler:
The Defiler has no attacks but has spells, which makes it similar to the
Queen. The Consume ability kills a friendly Zerg unit and gives you 50
energy in return, which is nice to use on Zerglings towards the end of the
game when you arenTt going to use them anyway. Plague drains the life off the
target unit at the rate of 25 points of damage/second, but it wonTt kill it.
The Plague will do a total of maximum 300 damage. This works extremely well
against Terran because it brings the buildings down to 1 HP and the burn
effect on buildings will kill them off. If used properly this can kill the
blockade defense or all the Supply Depots a player has for only 150 energy (3
Zerglings worth). Dark Swarm causes ranged attacks within and outside the
Swarm not to function properly. The Swarm doesnTt affect some units, and if
you want me to send you a list of these units, please e-mail me. Finally, the
Defiler can burrow.
== IV. Protoss Units ==
Zealot:
The basic Protoss unit and the most powerful of the three basic units.
However, it costs 100 minerals instead of 50 for the others. They are very
useful throughout the game if you upgrade their weapons systems at the Forge
and their legs at the Citadel of Adun. If you do so, they become fast killing
machines, and still cost 100 minerals which isnTt much towards the end. Their
main weakness is air attacks, which all they can do about is run.
Dragoon:
Dragoons are the first long-range unit (besides the Photon Cannon)
available to the Protoss. They can shoot air enemies, but are weak fighters.
When paired with Zealots, they make a good team, but put more Zealots than
Dragoons in about a 3:2 ratio. Try to upgrade the DragoonsT attack range with
the Singularity Charge upgrade as soon as you can. The role of the Dragoon is
to fight at a distance, and the better the distance, the more effective they
are. Ever since version 1.04, Dragoons have increased range and decreased
cost, making them a considerable force. Backed up by a few Zealots, Dark
Templar, and Archons, they can win the game for you.
High Templar:
The High Templar has no attack but have three spells like so many other
units in the game. The first spell is Psionic Storm, which blasts electricity
over an area. This hits ground, air and cloaked units whether you can see
them or not. ItTs a nice spell and only costs 75 energy per casting. This
works well against swarms or against units that "stack" on each other such as
Guardians, Mutalisks, Carriers, and Battlecruisers. Hallucination makes two
copies of the target. The copies can do the 5 basic commands (Move, Stop,
Attack, Hold Position and Patrol). They do no damage with their attack, and
have a mana bar similar to the Broodling mana bar. When the mana bar runs
out, it runs out of HP, or a spell is cast on it, the copy pops. These copies
of the unit can be used to draw fire away from real units or used as scouts.
This is great against Dark Archons that try to Mind Control the
Hallucination, costing them all their shields and 150 valuable energy. The
last spell melds two Templar together to form an Archon.
Archon:
You get an Archon from combining to High Templar together (see above).
These are extremely powerful units that can hit both ground and air for
massive damage. They are expensive and time-consuming, but well worth the
investment. A pack of 12 (which requires 24 High Templar to be sacrificed)
can destroy a whole base by itself. DonTt underestimate these guys. They are
hovering which means they arenTt affected by Spider Mines, and they are
immune to many of the gameTs statuses such as: Ensnare, Irradiate, Parasite,
Spawn Broodling, Maelstrom, Plague, Dark Swarm, and others. However, an EMP
Shockwave takes away ALL of their shields leaving them with 10 Hit Points.
This is obviously not a good thing.
Shuttle:
The transport ship for the Protoss is the Shuttle. The problem is the
units are so big you can fit only a few at a time. The Shuttles are fast and
have good armor and Hit Points, however. A strategy I learned from the
Blizzard web site is to drop in some of the powerful but slow Reavers (see
below) which is called the "Reaver Drop". Enough bad jokes about the name,
please. They are the fastest of the 3 aerial transports.
Reaver:
The Reaver has no weapons by itself, but manufactures little Scarabs,
which it launches at great distances for great damage. Each Scarab costs 15
minerals, and it adds up fast. The damage it deals is worth it, though, but
if the Reaver dies you lose all the Scarabs inside it too. They Reavers move
slowly and so I suggest the "Reaver Drop" mentioned above. Reavers can
eliminate massive swarms. I canTt remember how many times my force of 6
Reavers and a few Cannons held off 100+ units and lived to talk about it.
Observer:
The Observer is always cloaked with no energy bar and can detect other
cloaked units. This makes it a good scout and can be placed at key locations
for easy monitoring, and the fact that it flies makes it even easier to
place. It has no weapons and weak armor, which is a crucial flaw. Once
detected, itTs dead meat. Sneaking one into an enemy base early on works very
well, so make sure to have some Detection all around your base if you against
Protoss.
Scout:
The basic flying combat unit for the Protoss. It has a good ground
attack and a powerful air attack too. Like its name implies, they make good
scouts. They are pretty expensive, and so you shouldnTt send them into battle
needlessly. They can be upgraded to make them last longer and fight better,
and I would strongly recommend doing this as soon as your money supply allows
it. DonTt bother having them fight ground-to-air units unless you greatly
outnumber the enemy.
Carrier:
This powerful flying unit has no real weapons but can manufacture little
Interceptors for 25 Minerals apiece. Unlike the ReaverTs Scarabs, the
Interceptors come back once they have shot the enemy with their lasers and
are sent out once again. Fully upgraded Carriers can carry 8 Interceptors at
once, launching them at enemies for a devastating attack. The Interceptors
can hit both air and ground targets. If an Interceptor comes back to the
Carrier it is automatically repaired instantly. Like Battlecruisers they can
induce fear, but I would not take the popular newbie route of massing
Carriers.
Arbiter:
This flying unit is very strange. First of all, it has spells but also
has a regular attack similar to the DragoonTs. Any of your units within a
certain distance of the Arbiter become cloaked until they leave the field.
The Arbiter will not become cloaked, even from another Arbiter. The ArbiterTs
two spells are handy to have. Recall instantly teleports the targets to the
Arbiters location, putting them in the cloaking field at the same time.
Stasis field puts the target in a bubble that cannot be affected by anything
until it wears off. The unit in Stasis cannot do anything and nothing can be
done to it. This is especially useful to protect your units from a nuke
(Great thanks to GTDBastion for pointing this out)
== V. Brood War Units ==
Medic:
The Medic has no attack, but has three spells like some other units do.
The first is called Heal, and like its name, can heal biological units. This
is automatically triggered when one of your biological units nearby is
damaged. They can also auto-heal allied units, which works great if you have
a Zerg ally. The second spell, Restoration, cures any status on the target
except Stasis Field. This works well on units with Parasites that you want to
keep and units in Lockdown. The third is Optical Flare, which blinds the
target and reduces its sight to 1. If used on a Detector, its Detection goes
away, which is useful on pesky Science Vessels, Overlords, and Observers.
However, if any non-Blind unit is around, they can "see" for the blind unit,
so use this ability wisely.
Valkyrie:
The Valkyrie is an air-to-air unit that shoots Halo rockets that do good
damage with some splash damage. It is good to use against air units, but
canTt hit ground unfortunately. This is a major weakness, but paired with
Wraiths, the Valkyrie can be a formidable foe. They were made (in my opinion)
to battle Mutalisks, and they do so quite well.
Lurker:
The Lurker evolves from the Hydralisk. It has no regular attack, but can
attack while burrowed, making it the only Zerg unit that can. Its attack
shoots spines rippling across the ground hitting everything in a line. If you
donTt bring a Detector along with your attack force, you will lose a lot to
the Lurker. ItTs a good unit and serves as a good backup ground defense for
your Sunken and Spore Colonies. The splash damage from the spines can rip
through swarms of ground units, even if the enemy can detect them.
Devourer:
The Devourer evolves from the Mutalisk like the Guardian does. In
addition to the high damage from the Devourer, Acid Spores are left on the
target. These have 3 functions: 1) they disable cloaking like Plague and
Ensnare do 2) they cause the target to fire slower and 3) for each spore on
the target the enemy takes 1 extra point of damage per attack. For example, a
target with 8 spores on it will take 8 extra damage any time it is hurt. The
old rumor that the attack takes 1/3 of the life off is NOT TRUE!
Corsair:
It seems that every race got a new air-to-air unit, and the Protoss got
the Corsair. Its attack is weak, but it fires VERY quickly, and makes them a
formidable opponent. They have a spell called Disruption Web, which acts very
similar to the DefilerTs Dark Swarm. These can disable Bunkers, Colonies and
Cannons used for defense and this is able to nullify a lazy playerTs defense.
A pack of 12 Corsairs make great Overlord hunters, as they can fly past the
flank defense, hit the Overlords fast and hard, and take almost all of them
down before reinforcements can arrive. This is tough to prevent but having
multiple (ITm talking around 3-4 dozen) Hydralisks can help protect your
Overlords. The Acid Spores from Devourers cause the Corsair to slow down itTs
firing speed, and (once again, in my opinion) this devastates Corsairs more
than any other unit.
Dark Templar:
The Dark Templar is almost the same as the heroes in the original game.
It is always cloaked with no mana bar. It has a very strong ground attack
with its sword, but it is slow to use. It is a very powerful unit and one of
my personal favorites. Another good reason besides the Lurker to bring a Detec
tor with you on your attacks. Two Dark Templar can merge into a Dark Archon.
Computer opponents may opt to skip the initial Zealot rush to head straight
for Dark Templar, which is horrible if you havenTt got a Detector yet. These
guys donTt work very well against the Zerg, as they have Overlords everywhere
that detect.
Dark Archon:
The Dark Archon is another unit with no attack but three spells.
Feedback takes away all the targets energy and deals damage equal to the
energy taken. It doesnTt take shields like EMP does, though. Works wonders
vs. Battlecruisers, Medics, Queens, and Defilers, but not so well against
Wraiths and High Templar because they are easy to kill already. If you can
hit an enemy Dark Archon with this before they hit you, it works wonders.
Maelstrom stuns units for a short time so they canTt do anything. It has an
area of effect about the size of Ensnare. This only works against biological
units and I donTt really see much point to it. The last and most powerful is
Mind Control. The target becomes one of your units until they Mind Control it
back or it dies. It is not a status and so Restoration wonTt work. The down
side is that after it is used, all the Dark ArchonTs shields are drained.
Mind Controlling doesnTt work on Spider Mines, Scarabs or Interceptors. A
very useful way to Mind Control is to Mind Control a flying transport. You
get the transport and all the units it carries with one spell, which is very
useful. One final note on Mind Controlling, if you Mind Control a unit, you
get all the upgrades it had for free. For example, if you Mind Control a
Zealot with the Leg Enhancements and you didnTt have that, all your Zealots
would automatically get the speed upgrade. If you are tricky enough to Mind
Control a Drone or SCV, you have access to 200 more supply for that race and
also to every unit in the game.
== VI. Defensive Buildings ==
Bunker:
The Bunker can hold 4 units for the Terran. It can hold Marines,
Firebats, Ghosts, SCVs and Medics. Marines, Firebats and Ghosts can fire from
inside the Bunker while staying protected by the Bunker. Being in a Bunker
also increases your attack range by 1, and so Ghosts in a Bunker can attack
Guardians! (Note: Ghosts only deal 1/4 their normal damage to Guardians due
to their high armor, so they would hit them for 2 1/2 points of damage a
shot. Use something else to swat away Guardians) SCVs and Medics can take
cover in the Bunker, but canTt attack or heal. You can keep an SCV protected
in the Bunker and have them pop out to repair it and hide back in, which I
have found to work if you have enough Bunkers.
Missile Turret:
The Missile Turret can shoot only air enemies but does so on its own
without need for units to be kept inside. It can also detect cloaked and
burrowed units within its range. Pair up Bunkers and Missile Turrets to cover
most weaknesses. Having Siege Tanks in Siege Mode behind them can also cover
range and provide a solid defense.
Sunken Colony:
The Sunken Colony is morphed from a Creep Colony. It can use its
tongue-like structure to stab at ground units. The Sunken Colony also extends
the Creep (that purple stuff you have to build on) for a certain distance
around the Colony. For new Zerg players: Sunken Colonies work much better for
early defense than Zerglings. Have a few Zerglings around to keep the enemy
away from the Sunkens so they can deal the high damage and stay protected.
Spore Colony:
The Spore Colony is like the Sunken, but it attacks air foes instead. It
also extends the Creep, but unlike the Sunken Colony, the Spore is also a
Detector so it can find cloaked and burrowed units. Pair these up with Sunken
Colonies to have a balanced defense. They are the strongest of the 3 anti-air
buildings (Missile Turrets, Spore Colonies and Photon Cannons).
Photon Cannon:
The Photon Cannon is the only defensive building for the Protoss, but it
can attack both ground and air units plus it can detect. However, a Pylon
must power it, and if the Pylon is destroyed the Photon Cannon canTt do
anything. A good ratio of Photon Cannons to Pylons is 3:2 so the Photon
Cannons can still operate if one Pylon is destroyed. Try to Keep the Pylons
and Photon Cannons together in large groups to keep everything working. DonTt
clog your base entrance with them so your Zealots and Dragoons can get out,
and so you arenTt relying on them too heavily, which leads to your opponent
kicking the living crap out of you with Siege Tanks or Reavers.
== VII. Credits/Disclaimer ==
First of all, ITd like to thank my mom for always being there when I needed
help with grammar and complimenting me on my fast typing. ItTs always a help.
ITd also like to thank (which one of his screen-names should I put?)
GTCvDeimos for "training" me as a newbie, clarifying some problems with the
FAQ and always putting up with the dumb questions I asked. Thanks to
R415aZn895 and s_rudiyanton for clearing up some details for me such as the
cost of Interceptors and how the Plague works. ITd also like to thank
Blizzard for FINALLY bringing Starcraft to the Macintosh so I could enjoy it
without going to my friendTs house. ITd also like to thank Crosshair101,
because he always found new ways NOT to use units and I am always finding new
ways to beat him (want to hear some funny stories about this guy? e-mail me).
Oh yeah, ITd like to thank MetalGearB for letting me play Starcraft on his PC
until it came out for the Mac. He also helped a bit with the Brood War units.
Look for me on battle.net under either Kaminari11 or Clemente4. Any
criticism/comments is appreciated, and ITm always looking for a good
challenge.
This FAQ is copyrighted by law and may not be copied in any way or have links
going directly to the part without my written consent. Just e-mail me at kamin
ari11@aol.com and ask. ITll usually say yes, but ask anyway. If you donTt and
I catch you, I believe I have the legal right to sue you. Just ask & it will
make both of our lives easier. Thanks for reading!