Starcraft Races: Terran

Starcraft Terran Units

This section features the details, tips, and raw combat statistics for the Terran forces in the original Starcraft.

Terrans are highly versatile, and their units are a middle-ground in terms of power and durability - less expensive than Protoss uber-units, but, on the whole, more sturdy than Zerg swarms.

In power-per-resource matches ups, Terrans tend to lose. Where they really excel is counter-play, as almost every Terran unit is the hardest of hard counter against their opposing unit - while being relativly weak against anything they're not directly designed to beat. Fortunately, the Terrans have some of the best early-game recon tools, so they should be able to maximize their strength.

Terran Unit Details

Marine - Light terran ranged attacker. These guys are the whelps of StarCraft. Individually, the marine is among the weakest units in the game, even workers can kill one with ease. However, in groups of 24 or more, marines start to become EXTREMELY deadly. Their small size allows them to be packed into tight groups of death. Then end result is an amazing amount of fire coming from a small space. En-mass, marines will overpower almost any mid-tech unit in the game, and once supported with medics, only a select few units will be enough to stop them.

Protoss Counters - Templar, dark templar, dark acron, reavers.
Zerg Counters - Lurkers, hydralisks + zerglings.
Terran Counters - Marines + tanks, marines + medics.
Dropship - Terrans got the shaft as far as transportation goes. The drop ship is not only slow to load and unload, but also fragile, and handles like a 52' packard. But it's what terrans get so deal with it. Try to keep your transports away from things, ALL THINGS. Oh well, at least you can repair them, and believe me - YOU WILL be repairing them, assuming they COME BACK.

Protoss Counters - Any ranged attack unit.
Zerg Counters - Any ranged attack unit.
Terran Counters - Any ranged attack unit.
Science Vessel - Tech to these as fast as possible. They are an oft neglected unit of the terran arsenal that has led to the misconception that terrans are the weakest race. But, if the idiots would build a few science vessels and USE them, they would find they are greatly mistaken. With good mobile detection, you can actually press a land attack without fear of being molested by lurkers or dark templar. Also, do not discount the awesomeness of shielding, especially when used with goliaths. A group of 12 shielded goliaths is more than any air attackers can deal with. Irradiate is great to use on enemy spell castors, and EMP is the styling way to handle the plethora of protoss spell-chuckers. Think of the science vessel as a counter - spell castor. Protoss

Counters: Photon cannons.
Zerg Counters: Spore colonies.
Terran Counters: Missile turrets.
SCV - The toughest harvester in the game, the SCV has more hit points than the terrans first ATTACK unit. They are great to bring along during attacks, (bring LOTS in fact), as they can repair damaged terran vehicles at a rapid pace. Often, one can out-repair the damage an opponent is doing to a mechanical unit. In a pinch, a good player can hold off at least one wave of 6 zerglings with 6 scvs and a marine.

Protoss Counters - Any attack unit.
Zerg Counters - Any attack unit.
Terran Counters - Any attack unit.
Siege Tank - If the templar is the protoss bread and butter, then the siege tank is a terran's jam. These things are too great to believe. Once in place and supported by bunkered marines/firebats and turrets, there is absolutely nothing in the low through mid-tech arsenals that can advance on them. Protoss are especially hard pressed to bust a terran choke until they get corsairs, and zerg have to tech to guardians or defilers. Using the classic "tank push" a terran owns the ground in the beginning to middle half of a game, and other races are forced to buy time with cloaked units.

Protoss Counters: Corsairs, OVERPOWERING numbers of dragoons.
Zerg Counters: Guardians, defilers.
Terran Counters: Siege tanks and marines, battle cruisers, ghosts.
Vulture - These fast scouts are mostly ignored in starcraft games, the result of which terrans being victimized by dark templar. Spider mines are an excellent way to kill these cloaked bastards, (lurkers too), as well as create an unpassable barrier at the doorstep of an opponent base. They will have to get mobile cloak detection or air transports before trying to attack or expand. Using hit and fade tactics, vultures are great on zealots, and they are the DEFINITIVE dark templar killers. You have to keep them moving however, or they will quickly die. MICRO MICRO MICRO!

Protoss Counters - Dragoons, reavers, any air.
Zerg Counters - Hydralisks, ultralisks, any air.
Terran Counters - Marines + medics, tanks, goliaths, any air.
Firebat - The firebat is a counter unit, pure and simple. Don't even think of building them unless you are CERTAIN that an opponent is going to mass melee you. With their "handy" ability to cook several units at once, firebats absolutely will destroy any melee unit in the game, BUT, any ranged unit will punish you equally for making them. Be very aware of what an enemy has before investing too heavily in firebats. They can either turn the tide or bury you.

Protoss Counters - Dragoons, reavers, templar.
Zerg Counters - Hydralisks, ultralisks.
Terran Counters - Siege tanks, marines.
Wraith - I have always had mixed feeling about these things. I call them the "Porcelain Fighters." They die easy - scary easy, but, in the right situation, they can be a terrible headache to a foe. They build rather quick, but remember, they are FRAGILE. They are the air equivalent to dark templar. Use them to make your opponent build lots of cannons for you to nuke, but for god sakes don't depend on them for kind of defense or attack. If you are careful to eradicate ALL of a protoss's observers, they CAN be good against carriers, but you will be hard pressed to spot the little wretches amidst a mass of swirling interceptors. Wraiths are great until the second they are detected, as soon as that happens pull out, they'll just die anyway.

Protoss Counters - Templar, scouts, cannons, dragoons, acron.
Zerg Counters - Scourges, hydralisks, mutalisks, spore colonies.
Terran Counters - Mass marines, medics and marines, goliaths, bunkers, missile turrets.
Valkeries - A SUPPORT unit pure and simple. These units do two things: 1 - fill a hole in the terran defense against mass mutas, and 2 - give the terrans some air besides battle cruisers that can handle corsairs. Beyond backing up your air force, valkeries are not good for much, with the notable exception of being terrific overlord killers, use them the same way you would corsairs, (however valkeries are less effective, cost more, and are slower, so this may not be such a good plan unless your have the cash and production to afford the loss).

Protoss Counters - Carriers, scouts, dragoons .
Zerg Counters - Scourges, devourers, hydralisks.
Terran Counters - Battle cruisers, wraiths.
Medics - These little beauties are responsible for the terran infantries undisputed ownership of the ground in the StarCraft expansion set. Human infantry with medic backup will hard press any race to stop the assault without some serious artillery. Also, use medics to get rid of parasites, or to blind lukers/dark templar/observers. Medics are a great unit that when used properly, is a TRUE headache to any foe.

Protoss Counters - Any attack unit.
Zerg Counters - Any attack unit.
Terran Counters - Any attack unit.
Battle Cruisers - In a pure melee damage/ armor evaluation, the battle cruiser is the closest thing to an ultimate weapon in the game. If it is a contest of pure muscle, no other units can cost for cost slug it out with battle cruisers. Their yamato cannon lets you dispatch scouts and carriers with ease, and only concentrated devourers/scouts can stand up to them. However, that put aside, battle cruisers are also slow, dumb, and limited. They cannot be "danced" like carriers, their spell casting ability is of limited utility, and they WILL be massacred by spell castors. Battle cruisers are easily killed by groups of templar, defilers, or ghosts, stasis fielded into manageable bites, victimized by dark swarm, mind controlled, feedbacked, ensnared, EMPed, or just about anything else a person can throw at the big, lumbering targets. They cost so much, and take so long to build that massing them is of little use, considering how cheaply your opponent will destroy them. A few of them for base defense is a nasty surprise to a dropper, but unless you have UNGODLY cash, building a fleet of 12 or more is simply stupid.

Protoss Counters - MASS scouts, templar.
Zerg Counters - MASS devourers, defilers + hydralisks.
Terran Counters - Battle cruisers, wraiths/goliaths + ghosts.
Ghosts - Here is a sad tale of yet another wasted unit, again leading people to believe terrans are the weakest race. The ghost is almost exclusively used for nuking, but many people forget they are ALSO one of the best terran spellcastors. The fools build 4-5 ghosts for nuking and stop. BAH - I SAY Build 20 of them! What other race can you afford to have 20 spellcastors lying around? I guarantee that if you have 20 ghosts in your base, (and are not a complete idiot), you will massacre ANY capital ship attack. Battle cruisers and carriers are not so effective when locked down. Ghosts are the answer to all the nasty protoss weapons like reavers and corsairs. Even dragoons, the backbone of protoss ground, are tempting targets of this spell. And you'll be surprised how fast 4 cloaked ghosts will kill a slow moving templar..... observer - np, lock it down........ photon cannon choke - "Nuclear Launch Detected"........

Protoss Counters - Any attack units once detected.
Zerg Counters - Any attack units once detected.
Terran Counters - Any attack units once detected.
Goliath - With the carrion booster upgrade, goliaths sport the best ground to air in the game. They are very specialized however, and mass marines/zealots/dragoons/zerglings/ or just about any other ground attacker however will put the hurt on you. They are very effective on medium fighters or small groups of capitol ships, and they slaughter guardians on level ground. They need support for tangling with larger forces of battle cruisers or carriers, but it's nothing a few ghosts wouldn't fix up a bit.....

Protoss Counters - Any ground attack unit.
Zerg Counters - Any ground attack unit.
Terran Counters - Any ground attack unit.

Unit Master Table


Unit Name		 Size Units
Min		 Gas Armor HP Ground
Attack		 Air
Attack		 Cool Range Attack Mod Sight Notes Build
Time
Battlecruiser L 8 400 300 3 500 25 25 30 6 3 11 SA 160
Dropship L 2 100 100 1 150 0 0 - 0 0 8 T 50
Firebat S 1 50 25 1 50 16cs 0 22/
11 Stim		 1 2 7 B 24
Ghost S 1 25 75 0 45 10c 10c 22 7 1 9/
11 upg		 B,SA 50
Goliath L 2 100 50 1 125 12 20e 22 5/8 Air upg 1Gnd/
4Air		 8   40
Marine S 1 50 0 0 40 6 6 15/7.5
Stim		 4/
5 upg.		 1 7 B 24
Missile Turret L 0 100 0 0 200 0 20e 15 7 0 11 D 30
Science Vesseal L 2 100 225 1 200 0 0 - 0 0 10 D,SA 80
SCV S 1 50 0 0 60 5 0 15 1 0 7 B,W 20
Siege Tank - Siege L 2 150 100 1 150 70es 0 75 12 5 10   50
Siege Tank - Tank L 2 150 100 1 150 30e 0 37 7 3 10 50
Vulture M 2 75 0 0 80 20c 0 30 5 2 8 SA 30
Wraith L 2 150 100 0 120 8 20e 30Gnd/
22Air		 5 1Gnd/
2Air		 7 SA 60
Medic S 1 50 25 1 60 0 0   0 0 9 B,SA 30
Valkyrie L 3 250 125 2 200 0 5es 64 6 1 8   60

Unit Master Table Key

Unit Details:
Cool - The time between the ending of the attack and the beginning of another.
Attack Mod - The Damage modifier for each level of upgrade.
Gnd - Ground attack for units with split Air/Ground Weapon Systems
Air - Air attack for units with split Air/Ground Weapon Systems
Upg - Stat change after getting an upgrade

Attacks:
E - Explosive Attack (50% to Small Units, 75% to Medium Units, full damage to Large Units).
C - Concussive/Plasma damage Attack (50% to Medium Units 25% to Large Units).
S - Splash damage, which affects all units in the blast area.

Notes:
B - Indicates Biological unit
D - Unit can Detect Cloaked/Burrowed units
SA - Unit has one or more Special Abilities (is a spell-caster)
T - Transport
W - Worker