Terran

[source: wikipedia.org]

The Terrans are the name given to the human colonists in the StarCraft universe used to distinguish them from the humans of Earth. They have a genetic history of psionic power, but are generations away from reaching this full potential. Most have no psionic powers. The Terrans have found themselves in the middle of a war between the Protoss and the Zerg, and have struggled to survive amidst the war while also dealing with civil wars. However, some seem to also have made alliances with the Protoss.


Prelude

The ancestors of the Terrans travelled to the Koprulu Sector as a result of a botched colonization experiment conducted by Doran Routhe. They consisted of political prisoners scheduled for termination by the United Powers League, but were instead placed onboard four faster-than-light spacecraft and sent to the world of Gantris IV, but ended up across the galaxy.
They settled three colony worlds: Tarsonis, Moria and Umoja. Eventually the three colonies developed subwarp and warp travel, went to war, and expanded to incorporate multiple worlds. The colonists of Tarsonis formed the Terran Confederacy, which became the most powerful Terran government in the Koprulu Sector.
Ahead of the initial campaign there is a prelude-campaign which outlines the Confederacy stamping out a Korhal-initiated rebellion and the discovery of their research specimens, the Zerg on the planet of Chau Sara.
However, the Zerg still manage to break loose and spread to surrounding Confederate colonies. Marshall James Raynor (known as 'Jim Raynor' to friends) takes up fight with them on his home planet of Mar Sara, but needs the support of the Sons of Korhal to fend them off.
In Episode III and afterwards, Raynor seems to be accepted among the Protoss as an ally. They became true friends in the last chapter in episode III when he, Zeratul and Tassadar fought the Zerg Overmind together, when Tassadar sacrificed himself to destroy the Overmind.


Plotline attributes

• Basically the same as humans of the 21st century, but they are slowly evolving into a psionically potent race, and, of course, are much more technologically advanced, but still within the same "style" (They still use projectile firearms and rely more on metal and fossil fuels than plasma).


• Originally were criminals rounded up and cast out on settler ships on a one year trip to a colony world. However, the navigation computer shut off during the trip and they ended up in stasis for 31 years. They ended up scattered across three colony worlds (Moria, Tarsonis, and Umoja).


• After reuniting with the other colony worlds, Tarsonis established several colony worlds and formed the powerful, dictatorial Terran Confederacy. One colony, Korhal, went into rebellion that was later put down largely through the use of nuclear weaponry. Arcturus Mengsk rounded up a force of rebels, the Sons of Korhal and began to wage a type of guerilla war against the Confederacy.


• It is in December of 2499 when the Protoss and Zerg arrive in Confederate space, attacking the outlying colony worlds of Chau Sara and Mar Sara, respectively. However, the Protoss were obliterating the Zerg infestation of Chau Sara that had gone (supposedly) unnoticed.

Gameplay attributes

Some noticeable traits of the Terrans.

• Average power, at a reasonable price
• High unit efficiency, if the player uses good micromanagement
• Very high adaptability: only race without location restrictions (can "lift off" and redeploy most of their structures without restriction)
• Moderately efficient building method
• Forces are comparatively fragile (although quite powerful offensively) and can easily be overwhelmed by Zerg unless prepared (e.g. marines and firebats stimpacked or in bunkers, tanks in siege mode, etc.) or upgraded
• The Space Construction Vehicle, or SCV (basic worker unit) can repair all buildings and mechanical units (such as the Battlecruiser), and has more health than the other worker units. It can also itself be repaired.
• The Medic (Only in the Brood War expansion) can heal all biological ground units, blind enemies with its Optic Flare, and their restoration ability makes terran the only race able to remove harmful effects. Unlike SCVs, who can only fix Terran vehices, Medics can heal biological members of other races (all Zerg ground units, Protoss Zealot, High Templar, Dark Templar).
• Every offensive unit is ranged – even the Terran Firebat has a range of 2 matrix squares.
• All units except the Valkyrie (Brood War only) and the Goliath have a "special" or "secondary" ability.
• With the exception of heroes, the Battlecruiser has the highest hitpoints (500) for a non-structure unit in the game.

Unique abilities

• Repair — unique SCV ability; it costs minerals and possibly vespene appropriate to the unit or building being repaired. Multiple SCVs can repair the same unit or structure at a faster rate. SCVs are the only unit in the game that can repair structures or mechanical units. However, they may only repair Terran structures or mechanical units.


• Cloaking — Ghost and Wraith ability; It allows the Ghost or Wraith to become invisible to the naked eye. The ability costs 25 energy when activated and consumes 1 energy/second for the duration of its use. However, it is possible for opponents to see a cloaked unit's "silhouette", and therefore, guess where it is and make "splashed" damage around it with certain units or spells (e.g. Psionic Storm or Ensnare). Ensnare spell and Devourer attacks can also make visible all cloaked units in their splash radius. Also, detecting units of opposing teams will render the Ghost or Wraith visible and vulnerable to direct attack.


• Spider Mine — Vulture ability; When upgraded, each Vulture comes equipped with 3 Spider Mines that cannot be replenished. When a Spider Mine is set, it "burrows" into the ground and becomes invisible to enemy units without detector support (in a similar manner to the burrowing ability of Zerg units). When a ground unit walks near it (excluding all three worker units, Archons, and Vultures because they are hovering units) or when planted near burrowed units, the spider mine surfaces and skitters toward the enemy unit, even if they are cloaked, causing 125 splash damage upon impact. Spider mines themselves do not render cloaked or burrowed units visible to the player, even if they may do so indirectly by attacking.


• Lockdown — Ghost ability; it costs 100 energy and makes any non-biological unit (both vehicles and robots) immobile and "useless" for around 60 seconds. The affected vehicle remains vulnerable to enemy attacks in this state but can still be repaired (only for Terran units) or have its shields regenerated by a Shield Battery (only for Protoss units). Only mechanical units can be affected by this, making it extremely effective against Protoss or other Terrans, and making it completely ineffective against Zerg, who use only biological/mutant units.


• Heal — Medic ability: using 1 energy for 2 health, the Medic will automatically restore the HP of any biological unit (including friendly Protoss and Zerg units) in its sight range. Medics can only Heal one unit at a time, and only one Medic can Heal a unit at a time, so multiple Medics are typically needed for optimum efficiency, which also enables medics to heal each other, since it can't be cast on oneself.


• Stim Pack — Marine and Firebat ability; it lets the affected units fire and walk twice as fast, with the cost of 10 hit points. Often used in Brood War as the Medic can quickly heal the Marine or Firebat who used the Stim Pack. However, the effect is not cumulative, meaning that using the ability several times rapidly has no greater effect than than using it just once.


• EMP Shockwave — Science Vessel ability; it drains the energy from everything within the shock radius and, on Protoss units and buildings, drains all shields. This ability is ideal for the preparation for a Nuke against the Protoss, or countering Protoss Archons.


• Irradiate — Science Vessel ability; it deals up to 250 damage to any biological unit (I.e. any Zerg unit, as well as some Terran and Protoss units) and does splash damage to the units near the irradiated unit. An irradiated zerg can "burrow" and avoid spreading the damage, although it will still take damage itself. For biological Protoss units, it will drain the shield first, then move onto the unit.


• Defensive Matrix — Science Vessel ability; places a temporary shield with 250 hit points on friendly units that limits incoming attacks to one hit point damage. It can also hinder the damage from Irradiate.


• Nuclear Strike — Requires a nuclear missile to be built in a nuclear silo (add-on to the Command Center); then a Terran Ghost can "paint" a target for the nuke by pinpointing a red dot on screen. Note that all players will be notified that a nuke is being launched. After a short time, the missile lands, doing 500 or more damage to all nearby buildings, and killing any unit except a Battlecruiser within the blast radius. A nuke will deal either 500 damage or ⅔ of the affected unit's original hit points in damage (armor decreases the damage taken by one point for each point of armor; a Battlecruiser survives a single nuclear strike by virtue of its initial 3 armor) to the target, whichever is greater. Anything within a 4 matrix tile radius of impact will receive full damage; units 2 matrix tiles beyond that receive 50% of the damage; units 2 matrix tiles beyond that receive 25% of the damage. Thus, the nuclear missile explosion has an area of effect of 8 matrix tiles in every direction from the point of impact. If the Ghost does not flee after launching, it will be killed unless it has the Ocular Implants upgrade, which increases the sight radius of the Ghost, thus keeping it out of harm's way (assuming the Ghost targeted the Nuke from its maximum sight range). While the Ghost is guiding the nuke, it can't move, attack or cast other abilities; however, it can remain cloaked if it was cloaked before the Nuke was launched. Killing the Ghost during the "painting" phase of the Nuclear Strike (after the screen has indicated the Nuke launch and before the red dot disappears) cancels the launched Nuke, which is then lost.


• Yamato Cannon — Battlecruiser ability; it uses 150 energy to charge up and shoot an energy blast that has a range of 10, one of the longest ranges in the game. The blast does 260 explosive damage (100% damage to large units, 75% to medium units, 50% to small units). However, the range of the blast is longer than the sight range of the Battlecruiser, so it is best to scout the target before firing to achieve the longest range. Note that if the targeted unit is destroyed while the cannon is charging up, the cannon will not fire, but will still consume the 150 energy. It is conceptually based on the wave motion gun of Space Battleship Yamato and bears its name to reflect this.


• Siege Mode — Siege Tank ability; When used, the tank extends stabilizers from its base and changes the weapon in its turret to the Arclite Shock Cannon. It takes a tank around 2 to 3 seconds to deploy in and out of siege mode. While in siege mode, the tank is immobile and has a minimum attack range of 2 matrix squares (making it extremely vulnerable to melee units like the Zergling, Firebat, and Zealot). However, the tank gains the ability to fire high-powered shells (that do 70 explosive damage, plus splash damage to the surrounding area) with a range of 12, farther than any other unit in the game. Note that this range is longer than the sight range of the tank, so it is best to use a scouting unit ahead of the tank.

( a Soviet unit in Yuri's Revenge acts in a similar manner to the siege tank, but the unit is a helicopter, not a tank.)


• Scanner Sweep — When a ComSat Station is attached to a command center, Terran players can perform Scanner Sweeps, which can be used for temporarily revealing areas under the fog of war, as well as cloaked and burrowed units. It can also be used as a scouting ability to increase the range of a weapon for some units such as the Battlecruiser's Yamato Gun and the Siege Tank in Siege Mode, or to allow the placement of a Nydus Canal by a Zerg ally.

Strategy and Techs

Terran players usually follow one of two main general tech trees: Infantry or Metal.

• Infantry refers to producing mass numbers of Marines supported by Medics. This strategy is generally used against Zerg opponents and is also called "M&M," referring to the Medic-Marine combo. Firebats can be used to support the marines as well, as their splash damage is extremely effective against massed zealots while marines are generally weak against them. (Off-strategy note: This only counts for the Brood War expansion.)


• Metal refers to focusing on mechanical units (Tanks, Vultures, Goliaths, Wraiths and Battlecruisers). This strategy is generally used against Protoss and Terran players.

Tank Push
One of the general strategies used to fight against a Protoss. Against Protoss, this strategy will usually start out from the front of the Terran base. Then the Terran will slowly push there way across with Tanks, Vultures, and other addtional units to support Tanks. If start a early push right away and containing the Protoss at front as quickly as possible, could give you the control of the map or any advantages. It is important to create some obstacles, such as your buildings, for the Protoss to make it harder for them. This strategy can only work on certain maps.

Massive Drop
One of the general strategies used against another Terran. It deals with using Tanks and Goliaths inside dropships, and the more dropships you have the better then land them into the enemy base. This strategy requires a large amount of gas to be effective. It also requires you to do some harassments to keep the enemy under pressure. A wraith, for example, can a be a harassment, but it also lets your enemy know you have a starport. This also allows you to expand early to stock up on gas. A Terran VS Terran will usually be a gases battle.

Goliath All-out
An optional strategy that can be used against any race, and most prefer using this against a random. This strategy will require you to construct an early defense and then an early harassment (usually vultures to buy time). once you've succeeded on your harassment, you will now get an early start on Goliaths. Goliaths costs 100 minerals and 50 gas, not too expensive, and not too cheap which makes Goliaths very easy to maintain. Goliaths will require some addition help from other Terran units depending on the race. In addition, Goliaths also have various flaws that you need make sure is prevented.


Terran Tricks

Medic block
By forming a wall of medics around a cluster of marines, a Terran player can prevent his/her marines from being hurt from melee attacks, at the same time healing them from any other attacks. Very effective against any melee unit (i.e. Zerglings, Zealots).

Allied Mines
By using the vulture units, you place mines around a particular part of the map. This requires the Terran user to ally the enemy until the enemy lands on your trap. Once the enemy force has been place on top of your mines, you unally the enemy to allow the mines to explode. It is considered an illegal bug especially in most Starcraft tournaments.

Floating Buildings
Floating buildings can be a form of harassment, scouting, etc. In the case of harassment, Terran will secretly build a production building, such as the Factory, right next to enemy base and float it towards the enemy's ground. Land it on an unseen territory on their base, and begin producing units to destroy the enemy peons. The floating building can also be used to increase sight range for your units such as the Siege Tank (that has range further than its sight range) and to scout.

Terran Wall
The Terran Wall is very commonly used to ensure safety among most lower-leveled players, or used to protect Gosus so that they can tech, etc. This deals with constructing supply depots and usually one barrack at the entrance to completely shut off any enemy units to reach into your base while your ranged units are free to fire. The Barrack is used for allowing you to leave your base anytime like a castle gate; you can lift up the barrack to leave, and land it to close your gate to maintain protection from ground units.

Irradiating Self's Science Vessel
Metal units cannot be harmed by Irradiate but will harm the living units around it. Most players will used two or more Science Vessels to Irradiate themselves since Science Vessels are mechanical units. Once your Science Vessels are Irradiated, you can now use them to attack the enemy's living ground units by moving the Science Vessels up close.

Loading and Unloading Siege Tanks
The user must have good micromanagement to make this more efficient. Only Siege Tanks and Goliaths attack right away when unloading them from the Dropship. The purpose of the dropship is to prevent enemy fire from hitting the Siege Tank. Such as Protoss Dragoon, it takes time for the enemy fire to reach the Siege Tank. You load up the Siege Tank into the Dropship in order to dodge the Dragoon's fire and place it right back down.