Carrier
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| Carrier | |
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| Historical | |
| Earliest sighting | |
| Race | |
| Type |
Capital ship |
| Propulsion |
Numerous engines |
| Armaments |
Energy beam |
| FTL |
Yes (warp space) |
| Political | |
| Role |
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The carrier is a protoss heavy air unit.
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Overview
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Carriers are large, heavily armored and shielded warships. They form the core of the Great Fleet, serving as command centers for fleet commanders,[1] though some terrans think this position will be taken by the void ray.[2]

Added by HawkiCarriers have forward mounted energy weapons used for purification[3][4]; they lack other armament beyond interceptors. The computer-controlled Interceptors are unleashed in swarms against other ships.[1] The hangers may also carry other craft such as scouts and arbiters.[5]
Carriers may make warp space jumps[6] and can operate in both atmospheric and deep space conditions.[5] Carrier commanders have private quarters.[5]
Game Unit
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StarCraft
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| Carrier | |
|---|---|
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| Unit | |
| Race | |
| Role |
Heavy Command Ship |
| Armament | |
| Properties | |
| Size |
Large |
| Sight range |
11 |
| Production | |
| Minerals | |
| Gas | |
| Psi | |
| Build time | |
| Produced from | |
| Requires | |
| Hotkey |
C |
| Movement | |
| Speed |
3.33 |
| Protection | |
| Shields |
150 |
| Hit points |
300 |
| Armor |
2(+3) |
| Combat | |
| Attack range |
8 |



The carrier is less durable than the battlecruiser, however it accelerates much faster. Forcibly recalling its interceptors and releasing them again may extend interceptor life and save resources since interceptors are automatically repaired upon returning. Interceptors self-destruct if their parent carrier is destroyed. If a carrier is disabled (for example, through Lockdown), its interceptors will return to the carrier and only resume attacking once the carrier becomes active again.[7]
Terrans may disable carriers using the ghost's Lockdown. Two battlecruisers with Yamato cannon can destroy a carrier. Valkyries may clear out interceptors with their splash damage attack.
Zerg have a wider range of anti-carrier abilities. The defiler's Plague and Dark Swarm are useful as carriers and interceptors tend to bunch up; Plague-affected interceptors return to carriers for repairs and remain docked until Plague wears off. The queen's Ensnare radically reduces interceptor rate of fire, and hampers the withdrawal of both interceptors and carriers. Scourge may be used against small groups of carriers, but are countered by corsairs.
Protoss may use the high templar's Psionic Storm.
Carriers may use terrain to kite; this may reduce vulnerability to anti-air structures and units.
Abilities
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| Build Interceptor | |||||||||
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| Notes | |||||||||
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The carrier can create up to four interceptors (eight with the Carrier Capacity upgrade). | |||||||||
Upgrades
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| Researched at | |||||||
| Hotkey |
C | ||||||
| Properties | |||||||
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| Notes | |||||||
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Quotations
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StarCraft: Ghost
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This article or section contains information about StarCraft: Ghost, which has been declared non-canon. Elements may be taken as 'flavor lore' however. |



Added by HawkiCarriers were to appear in StarCraft: Ghost.[8]
StarCraft II
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| Carrier | |
|---|---|
![]() ![]() ![]() | |
| | |
| Unit | |
| Race | |
| Role |
Capital ship |
| Armament | |
| Properties | |
| Sight range |
12 |
| Production | |
| Minerals | |
| Gas | |
| Psi | |
| Build time | |
| Produced from | |
| Requires | |
| Hotkey |
C |
| Movement | |
| Speed |
1.875 |
| Acceleration |
1.063 |
| Lateral acceleration |
46.0625 |
| Deceleration |
0 |
| Collision radius |
1.25 |
| Protection | |
| Shields |
150 |
| Shield regen/second |
2 |
| Hit points |
300 |
| Armor | |
| Type |
|
| Armor type | |
| Launch interceptors | |
| Cooldown |
0.5 |
| Range |
8 |
| Meta | |
| Target priority |
20 |
| Kill score |
2000 |
| Production score |
1000 |
Carriers re-appear in StarCraft II. Its in-game appearances also include being the protoss boss in Lost Viking. Carriers are less costly than the motherships and the battlecruisers but take 120 seconds to warp in. Compared to in StarCraft, the carrier starts with 4 interceptors when it's warped in and doesn't need the Interceptor Capacity upgrade, saving time and resources on enhancing interceptor numbers. As in SC1, interceptors self-destruct when their parent carrier is destroyed; they are not adopted by other carriers.
Abilities
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| Notes | |||||||||
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The carrier is produced with four interceptors. Carriers may produce up to eight interceptors as an auto-cast ability. | |||||||||
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Upgrades
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| Researched at | |||||||
| Properties | |||||||
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| Notes | |||||||
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Launch interceptors faster. | |||||||
| Edit | |||||||
| Researched at | |||||||||||||||||
| Hotkey |
A | ||||||||||||||||
| Properties | |||||||||||||||||
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| Notes | |||||||||||||||||
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Increases protoss air unit armor. | |||||||||||||||||
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| Researched at | |||||||||||||||||
| Hotkey |
S | ||||||||||||||||
| Properties | |||||||||||||||||
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| Notes | |||||||||||||||||
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Heart of the Swarm Changes
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In Heart of the Swarm, the carrier was not available in early multiplayer development.[9] It came back during the beta.[10] Beta files indicate that it once had the ability to manufacture scarabs.[11]
The main issue with the carrier is that its role effectively overlaps with the colossus. Both are siege range units, but the colossus is splash damage, is a lot faster in coming into play, is less of a risk to bring out, and because of how common colossi are in protoss games, counter units such as corruptors or Vikings are already available, making carriers even less viable. The carrier could be buffed to address these issues, but it was decided that a more effective solution was to provide a replacement via the tempest.[12]
Development
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The following section contains information from a previous version of StarCraft II which is no longer valid. |



Added by PsiSeveredHeadThe carrier was originally replaced by the tempest during the development of StarCraft II but was brought back due to "an emotional connection with the original unit."[13] Although it keeps the structural design of the tempest, the 'light' color scheme has been maintained.[14]
The carrier could produce escorts. This ability was removed in later builds.[15]
- Manufacture Escorts
- Carriers may manufacture up to four escorts.[14]
- Strike fighter escorts cost resources (and about one second) to build and lasted only 45 seconds, but added a decent amount of firepower to a carriers attack. A carrier could have a maximum of 4 escorts. Escorts were given attack orders to focus-fire on whatever the carrier was attacking and they could be destroyed independently of the carrier or each other. The cost for these escorts would be significant enough to where players would not want to just have the max number all of the time, as that would bleed one's economy needlessly. Thus, players would have to pick and choose their battles in where they wanted the full force of the protoss fleet present.[14]
Quotations
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Known Carriers
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Variants
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Known Carrier Commanders
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Added by Meco- Executor Amur
- Executor Andraxxus
- Executor Koronis
- Executor Damiarch
- Executor Selendis
- Praetor Quordas
- High templar Mess'Ta (acting commander)
References
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| Protoss Units and Structures of StarCraft/Brood War |
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| Protoss Units and Structures of StarCraft: Ghost |
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| Protoss Units and Structures of StarCraft II |
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| Protoss Starship Classifications |
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