Wikia

The roach is a zerg ground unit in StarCraft II.

OverviewEdit

The roach is a particularly tough, armored breed which possesses a high-speed regeneration ability when burrowed. Roaches evolved from the fast-healing zantar slug of Garrxax. Their ranged acid saliva attack is capable of penetrating neosteel and comes from the same core species. One on one, few are capable of taking on a roach and winning.^[1] They are deployed when zerglings start to be thinned out and are sometimes supported by infestors.^[2] When paired with zerglings, they can be nearly unstoppable against marines bereft of siege tank or bunker support.^[3]

The roach was developed by 2501, taking part in a battle on Shi.^[4]

Game UnitEdit

Roach


Unit
Race	Zerg
Role	Medium ranged creature
Armament	Acid Saliva
Properties
Transport size	2
Sight range	9
Production
Minerals	75
Gas	25
Control	2
Build time	27
Evolves from	Larva
Requires	Roach warren
Hotkey	R
Movement
Speed	2.25 (3 with Glial Reconstitution) Burrowed 1.4062 (2.1562 with Glial Reconstitution)
Acceleration	1000
Lateral acceleration	46.0625
Deceleration	0
Creep multiplier	x 1.3
Collision radius	0.625
Protection
Hit points	145
Hit point regen/second	0.2734 5 (burrowed) 10 (burrowed with Tunneling Claws)
Armor	1
Type	Biological Ground
Armor type	Armored
Acid Saliva
Damage	16
Targets	Ground
Cooldown	2
Range	4
Upgrade/level	+2
Claws
Damage	16
Targets	Ground
Cooldown	2
Range	0.1 (melee)
Upgrade/levels	+2
Meta
Target priority	20
Kill score	150
Production score	75

Roaches are strong against hellions, zealots, and zerglings, and weak against MMM, immortals, and ultralisks. Thors, stalkers, and siege tanks also pose a strong threat to roaches due to their bonus damage against armored targets.

They have no anti-air attack. Roaches inherit the roles of medium attacker and ambusher from the original StarCraft's hydralisk and lurker. To compensate for its lack of anti-air attack, it is common to see roaches combined with hydralisks. A common strategy is for roaches to absorb damage while hydralisks deal it.^[5]

AttacksEdit

The roach is a ranged unit, giving it added utility at choke points.^[6] The roach rises slightly when it attacks.^[7] It also has a melee attack that it, like the hydralisk, performs at close range for the same damage as the ranged attack.^[8]

AbilitiesEdit

Roach Regeneration

Notes

Roaches regenerate at 5 hit points/second when burrowed.^[9]

The rate of healing increases with the Tunneling Claws upgrade to a rate of 10 hit points per second.^[9]

The regeneration doesn't stack with the medivac dropship's healing ability.^[10]

Edit

Burrow

Acquisition
Minerals	100
Gas	100
Evolution time	100
Evolved at	Hatchery/Lair/Hive
Requires	Lair Hatchery (HotS only)
Hotkey	B

Usage
Activation/ Build Time	2 seconds to burrow, 1 second to unburrow
Hotkey	R

Notes

Many zerg ground units may burrow, become invisible and may be revealed primarily by detectors, and may not move or attack. Exceptions are the roach, who may move while burrowed, the infestor, who may move and cast Infested Terran,^[11] and the baneling which can detonate while burrowed.

Some units can unburrow via autocast, causing them to emerge and attack when an enemy moves into range.

The ability is not smartcast.

Edit

UpgradesEdit

Glial Reconstitution

Evolved at

Roach warren

Hotkey

G

Properties

Minerals	100
Gas	100
Evolution time	110
Required	Lair

Notes

Increases roach speed.

Edit

Tunneling Claws

Acquisition
Minerals	150
Gas	150
Evolution time	110
Evolved at	Roach warren
Requires	Lair
Hotkey	T

Notes

The roach can move while burrowed. It moves faster when burrowed beneath the creep.

While it can be researched earlier, Tunneling Claws cannot be used until burrowing has been evolved.

Tunneling Claws also increases the roach's burrowed regeneration rate from 5 to 10 hp/second.^[9]

Edit

Missile Attacks

Evolved at

Evolution chamber

Hotkey

A

Properties

Level	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3
Minerals	100	150	200
Gas	100	150	200
Evolution time	160	190	220
Required		Lair	Hive

Notes

Attack bonus for queens and zerg ground ranged units.

Edit

Carapace

Evolved at

Evolution chamber

Hotkey

C

Properties

Level	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3
Minerals	150	225	300
Gas	150	225	300
Evolution time	160	190	220
Required		Lair	Hive

Notes

+1 bonus to armor per level for zerg ground units.

Edit

Heart of the SwarmEdit

In the campaign of Heart of the Swarm, roaches can choose one of the following upgrades for each mission:

Adaptive plating (gains +3 armor when hp is below 50%)
Hydrochloric bile (gains +8 damage against light units)
Tunneling claws (can move at full speed while burrowed, burrowed regeneration rate increased by 100%)

Roaches may be evolved into either corpsers or viles after completing the required evolution mission.

DevelopmentEdit

Main article: Roach/Development

Roach StrategiesEdit

Zerg vs TerranEdit

A roach/baneling combo is very powerful against terrans, as the roaches will soak damage, enabling the banelings to get close to the enemy and deal their high damage attacks.^[12]

Zerg vs ZergEdit

Roaches and zerglings are used early in ZvZ matches. Roaches are a more defensive unit compared to zerglings. Cost for cost, roaches win against zerglings at chokepoints but lose in open areas. Later in the game, numerous roaches can defeat numerous zerglings even in open areas.^[13]

As a game progresses, a roach/hydralisk combo can defeat a zergling/mutalisk combo.^[13]

Zerg vs ProtossEdit

Roaches are a great way to defend an early expo against 2 Gate zealot push. Mass overwhelming roaches is also quite strong against a fast teching opponent, even one who goes air. Use roaches to soak up colossus damage until ultralisks or air units can support.

GeneralEdit

Roaches, coupled with their speed and burrow move upgrades, make great harassment units at exposed bases.

Roaches are a great staple unit and have great value for cost, but take up control quickly. In direct encounters with enemy armies of equal supply, mass roach is more likely to lose.

Special Roach StrainsEdit

Corpser
Leech (cut content)
Primal roach
Prowler (cut content)
Scavenger (cut content)
Vile

ReferencesEdit

↑ Blizzard Entertainment staff. 2010-07-24. Units: Roach. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2010-07-24.
↑ Overview: Zerg, accessed on 2011-01-13
↑ Kenyon, Nate. (September 27, 2011). StarCraft: Ghost: Spectres. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 978-1439-10938-0.
↑ Gerrold, David (w), Fernando Heinz Furukawa (p, i). StarCraft: Ghost Academy: Volume 3 (paperback binding). Tokyopop, March 8, 2011. ISBN 978-1427-81614-6.
↑ 2012-06-08, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm - Battle Report (Protoss vs Zerg). Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2012-06-21
↑ Karune. 2008-04-08. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 34. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-04-08
↑ StarCraft. 2010-02-02. The programming team has added some impressive new unit movement animations to the game. Air units like the phoenix and banshee bank on turns, roaches and hellions both rise when they start moving, and tanks slightly bob when stopping. Facebook (StarCraft). Accessed 2010-02-03.
↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard) (in English). July 27, 2010
↑ ^9.0 ^9.1 ^9.2 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II Map Editor. (Activision Blizzard) (in English). July 27, 2010
↑ Karune. 2009-02-18. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 49. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-02-18.
↑ Blizzard Entertainment Staff. 2010-07-24. Infestor. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2010-07-24.
↑ Hammy. 2009-04-04. ESL Finals Paris StarCraft II Gameplay Impressions. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2009-05-18.
↑ ^13.0 ^13.1 Karune. 2008-08-18. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 43. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-08-18.