Thor

"A massive mechanical human-shaped robot that protects its pilot while it wreaks destruction in its path, the Thor is a master of devastation whether on the sky, or on the ground. With the survivability of a pile of rocks, you can always count on a Thor to take to the front lines and make a big ol’ mess out there."

- Raynor's Raiders blurb^(src)

Thor
Historical
Earliest sighting	2502
Physical
Race	Terrans
Type	Siege-walker
Propulsion	Two legs
Political
Affiliation	Raynor's Raiders Terran Dominion
Role	Heavy assault mech
Personnel
Crew	1 (pilot)

The thor is a huge and powerful terran mechanical walker. Despite the thor being smaller than the Odin, the thor is still heavily armed and armored, and known to be one of the most heavy and powerful mechanical units in the Dominion Armed Forces.

Overview

"These Thors are smaller than the Odin but they handle better -- and they still hit hard."

- Rory Swann^(src)

The thor looms over infantry

Named after the Norse god of thunder, the thor is a class of siege-walker.

Thors only require a single crew member, and those in service during the Second Great War were more maneuverable than the Odin incarnation.

Weapons

The thor is equipped with different types of heavy weapons. It is armed with four "Thor's Hammer" particle accelerators (two are fired from each arm) and carries Javelin missile launchers for use against aerial opponents. On its back reside four 250mm Strike Cannons.

It can be optionally be outfitted with 330mm barrage cannons and ATVX has developed an "immortality protocol," allowing a thor to repair itself in the field as long as its hull remains intact.

By the second phase of the Second Great War it could switch out the Javelin missiles for high-impact Punisher cannons, and reverse the switch as well.

History

"If there's one thing we've learned over the years, it's that sometimes you just need someone who likes to smash things."

- Dominion recruitment file.^(src)

Thor angles

The thor stemmed from the Terran Dominion Thor Project, a program that resulted in the creation of the Odin. By 2502, the thor had been developed and had become public enough that the Dominion's best thor operator, Sandin Forst, became famous. Forst took part in an anti-zerg operation on Mar Sara that year, where he vanished. During the Second Great War, the Terran Dominion utilized the thor in defending areas such as New Folsom Prison.

The Odin, a particularly powerful prototype, was developed by 2503. A Protectorate shadowguard stole intelligence on the Odin, which was later taken to Valhalla.

This article or section contains information from the optional Rebellion Missions in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.

Chief Engineer Rory Swann reverse-engineered a schematic of the thor from examining the Odin prototype. He refined a design that had millions of credits of R&D poured into it. His efforts focused on making it cheaper. The Raiders received their first thors during the attack on the UNN Studios.

Game Unit

Thor
Unit
Race	Terran
Affiliation	Raynor's Raiders Terran Dominion
Role	Heavy assault mech
Armament	Thor's Hammer particle beams 250 mm Strike Cannons (WoL only) Javelin missile launchers Punisher Cannons
Protection	Neosteel
Properties
Maximum energy	200 (init. 50) (Wings of Liberty only)
Transportcapacity	8
Sight	11
Production
Minerals	300
Gas	200
Supply	5
Build time	60
Produced from	Factory
Requires	Tech lab/Tech reactor (attached) Armory
Hotkey	T
Movement
Speed	1.875
Acceleration	1000
Lateral acceleration	46.0625
Deceleration	0
Collision radius	0.8125
Protection
Hit points	400
Armor	1
Type	Ground Massive Mechanical
Armor type	Armored
Thor's Hammer
Damage	30
Attacks	2
Targets	Ground
Cooldown	1.28
Range	7
Upgrade/level	+3
Javelin missiles
Damage	6 (+6 vs light)
Attacks	4
Targets	Air
Cooldown	3
Range	10
Upgrade/level	+1/+1
Punisher Cannons
Damage	24
Targets	Air
Cooldown	2
Range	10
Meta
Targetpriority	20
Kill score	2000
Productionscore	1000
Miscellaneous
Notes	The Javelin missiles have a 0.5 splash damage radius.

The thor can be transported by the Hercules dropship and medivac dropships. One thor fills up the medivac's entire capacity, transforming into a cube-like shape and hanging from underneath.

As of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, the thor can switch between Javelin missiles (which destroy light air units) and Punisher cannons (which are single-target attacks designed to take on powerful air units).

Combat Roles

A thor's primary role is to act as the spearhead: a big tough unit that can push past an artillery barrage or fortified positions or push into an enemy base and lead marines into battle.

Its other primary role is to defend allied units from air attacks with its powerful anti-air weaponry. It works well against light air units like mutalisks, but the attack is not as effective against heavily armored air units such as battlecruisers.

The thor is countered by range, mobility, and certain anti-armor units. It doesn't deal splash damage to ground units, therefore, it cannot effectively deal with massed units such as marines, zerglings, and zealots.

A popular strategy with the unit is the "thor harass" (sometimes called "thorship"), similar to the reaver harass of StarCraft. It involves pairing the thor with a medivac dropship, combining the thor's power and the mobility of the latter.

Abilities

250mm Cannons

The thor attacks an enemy ground unit or structure using the cannons on its back. The target unit is stunned for the duration and takes 500 damage. The thor cannot move or attack when using the ability.

This ability was removed in Heart of The Swarm.

Usage
Hotkey C Cost 100 6 Duration 6

Acquisition
Purchased from Tech lab attached to factory Hotkey C Cost 150 150 110

v • e

Heart of the Swarm

In Heart of the Swarm, the thor prioritizes air vs ground targets.

• High Impact Payload (E): Time 4 seconds. Removes Javelin missiles (which have an AoE attack) and equips the thor with Punisher Cannons (which hit single targets harder). This specific ability is removed in Legacy of the Void.
• Explosive Payload (E): Time 4 seconds. Removes the Punisher Cannon and replaces with Javelin missiles. This ability is active by default.

Legacy of the Void

	This article or section contains information from StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void.
	The content may change substantially over time.

Emergency Repair: This ability deactivates the thor, preventing it from moving or attacking, while rapidly repairing it until it reaches full health.

Upgrades

Wings of Liberty

Terran Vehicle Weapons

• +1 damage for cyclones
• +1 base damage and +1 bonus damage for hellions
• +2 damage for hellbats
• +2 base damage and +1 bonus damage for siege tanks (tank mode)
• +4 base damage and +1 bonus damage for siege tanks (siege mode)
• +3 ground damage，+1/+3 air base damage and +1 bonus damage for thors (AoE/single-target)

Acquisition
Purchased from Armory Hotkey E Level 1 Cost 100 100 160 Level 2 Cost 175 175 190 Level 3 Cost 250 250 220

v • e

Terran Vehicle Plating

Increases the armor of terran vehicles

Acquisition
Purchased from Armory Hotkey V Level 1 Cost 100 100 160 Level 2 Cost 175 175 190 Level 3 Cost 250 250 220

v • e

Heart of the Swarm

Terran Vehicle and Ship Weapons

Increases the attack damage of terran vehicles and spacecraft.

Acquisition
Purchased from Armory Hotkey E Level 1 Cost 100 100 160 Level 2 Cost 175 175 190 Level 3 Cost 250 250 220

v • e

Terran Vehicle and Ship Plating

Increases the armor of terran vehicles and spacecraft.

Acquisition
Purchased from Armory Hotkey V Level 1 Cost 100 100 160 Level 2 Cost 175 175 190 Level 3 Cost 250 250 220

v • e

Wings of Liberty Campaign

The thor can be unlocked after playing the mission "Media Blitz", and made available after Chief Engineer Rory Swann scanned the schematics of the Odin and made it less expensive to produce.

Immortality Protocol A "destroyed" thor becomes a structure with 400 hit points and 1 armor. The structure may be restored into a functional thor if not destroyed. The restored thor returns with the structure's remaining hit points. ATVX now offers an updated thor model that can repair itself to full working condition if the hull remains intact. This repair process is a fraction of the cost of building a new thor, and it allows you to quickly reactivate a thor that is destroyed in the field. Usage Hotkey I Cost 200 12 Campaign Acquisition Wings of Liberty Acquired from Hyperion armory for $140,000 v • e

330mm Cannon Upgrade's thor's strike cannons to deal 500 splash damage over a large area. Stuns targets in center of blast. The 330mm Barrage Cannon is the final word in siege-walker technology. This massive battery of dorsal cannons can lay down a sustained barrage that will pulverize most defenses and annihilate all ground targets in the area. Campaign Acquisition Wings of Liberty Acquired from Hyperion armory for $130,000 v • e

Ultra Capacitors Attack upgrades improve attack cooldown of affected units by 5% per level. These self-replicating ultra capacitors reduce the reload time of weapons and systems. Now each of the weapon upgrades at the armory and engineering bay increases attack speed by 5% in addition to increasing damage. Campaign Acquisition Wings of Liberty Acquired from Hyperion laboratory for 5 protoss research points v • e

Vanadium Plating Armor upgrades increase health of affected units by 5% per level. We have created a new lightweight alloy called vanadium. Vanadium diffuses weapon impacts much more efficiently than traditional armor plating, and it better preserves the life of our units. Now each of the armor upgrades in the armory and engineering bay increases unit life by 5% in addition to increasing armor. Campaign Acquisition Wings of Liberty Acquired from Hyperion laboratory for 5 protoss research points v • e

Regenerative Bio-Steel Damaged mechanical units recover hit points when out of combat, at a rate of 0.6015 each second. Our ship and vehicle hulls are now made from a material called Regenerative Bio-Steel. This material uses internal nanobots to slowly repair any damage the hull sustains. While this regeneration process is much slower than conventional SCV repairs, it can be the difference between life and death if no SCVs are available. Campaign Acquisition Wings of Liberty Acquired from Hyperion laboratory for 20 zerg research points v • e

Cellular Reactor Increase starting energy of all units by 100. Increase maximum energy of all units by 100. This reactor has a larger energy reserve on startup and can hold a much larger charge. Now our specialist units can use their abilities the moment they hit the battlefield, and they can store more energy when idle for long periods of time. All "Specialists units" use energy: such as the medic, ghost, spectre, thor, wraith, banshee, raven, science vessel and battlecruiser. Campaign Acquisition Wings of Liberty Acquired from Hyperion laboratory for 20 zerg research points v • e

Thor vs Siege Tanks

Some features that existed on the thor in previous builds led to a concern that its role was overlapping with that of the siege tank. Unlike the siege tank, the thor is an assault unit rather than a siege unit. Its ground attack has much less range than a siege tank's 120 mm cannon, so it is exposed to enemy fire while attacking.

Another difference from the siege tank is that the thor can also function as a ground to air attacker.

Quotations

Thor conceptual stages

See: StarCraft II Thor Quotations

Known Thor Pilots

• Sandin Forst

Known Thor Variants

• Blackhammer

Notes

Collector's Edition Thor

• Walter Simonson is a comic book writer and artist who famously worked on the Marvel Comics title The Mighty Thor. It appears the Simonson Munitions Factory was named after him. Simonson is also one of the authors of the World of Warcraft comic series.

• The unit portrait resembles Chris Metzen, Blizzard's vice president of creative direction, who has used the alias "Thundergod", and "Lemmy" Kilmister. Its voice has a thick, stereotypical Austrian accent and quotes many lines from Arnold Schwarzenegger films. He also wears a Thor's hammer pendant around the neck along with a tauren marine t-shirt and its headband bears the logo from the Mercenaries 2: World In Flames video game.

Thor pet in World of Warcraft

• A new version of thor, named the "Super Thor", appears instead of the standard version in the Collector's Edition of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. It is identical in terms of gameplay. The Collector's Edition also offers a mini-thor pet for World of Warcraft.

• In the game files the thor can be found dancing. He seems to be an expert at "doing the Robot".

• In Norse mythology, Thor is the son of Odin. This is reflected in the StarCraft lore where the thor is derived from the Odin prototype.

• The thor appeared as a minion in early builds of Heroes of the Storm.

• The thor, within the scope of Wings of Liberty, is supposed to have been developed by Swann. This contradicts Thundergod and Wings of Liberty itself, where the thor is in use by the Dominion. Blizzard has acknowledged the error as the result of two internal teams working on the same piece of lore.

References

Terran Units and Structures of StarCraft II v • e

Versus Units and Structures Infantry SCV Marine Reaper Marauder Ghost Terrestrial Vehicles MULE Hellion Hellbat (HotS) Siege tank Cyclone (LotV) Thor Widow mine (HotS) Aerospace Vessels Viking Medivac dropship Banshee Raven Battlecruiser Liberator (LotV) Spawned Units MULE Drop pod Nuclear missile Basic Buildings Command center Refinery Supply depot Barracks Engineering bay Automated Defenses Auto-turret Missile turret Point defense drone Repair drone Support Buildings Orbital command Planetary fortress Sensor tower Bunker Add-ons Tech lab Reactor Advanced Buildings Ghost academy Factory Armory Starport Fusion core Campaign and Co-op Missions Units and Structures Mercenaries Devil Dogs Hammer Securities Siege Breakers Spartan Company War Pigs Hel's Angels Dusk Wings Jackson's Revenge Dominion Elite Guard Sons of Korhal Prometheus Company Death Head Aegis Guard Field Response Theta Outback Hunter Bulwark Company Shock Division Blackhammer Sky Fury Squadron Night Wolves Winged Nightmare Pride of Augustgrad Valor of Vardona Infantry Firebat HERC Medic Rebel Spectre Trooper Terrestrial Vehicles Armored personnel carrier Diamondback Goliath Militarized transport Predator Sensor drone Vulture Warhound Aerospace Vessels Asteria wraith Assault galleon Hercules dropship Science vessel Harvester Special ops dropship Sonar drone Sovereign battlecruiser Strike fighter Tac fighter Theia raven Valkyrie Wraith Spawned units A.R.E.S. Bio-mechanical repair drone Advanced Buildings Dominion starport HERC compound Merc compound Shadow ops Add-ons Tech reactor Support Buildings Laser drill Hive mind emulator Psi disrupter Nuclear silo Strike fighter platform Automated defenses Devastation turret Gun turret Flame turret Perdition turret Sentry gun Shrike turret Spider mine Cerberus mine Canceled Terran Units and Structures of StarCraft II v • e Scrapped Removed Units Anti-air walker Block B Bulwark D-8 charges Guardian Gundam HERC Hercules tank Incinerator Laser drill tank Mine drone Missile launcher Nomad Pillager Predator Prison infantry guard Quantradyne APOD-33 dropship Red Adder Scout Shredder Super crane Targeting drone Valkyrie Zeus battle tank Zeus lander Removed Buildings Drop pod facility Listening post Munitions depot Radar tower Star base