Wraith

From StarCraft Wiki

Wraith
Unit
Race	Terran
Role	Cloaking Starfighter
Armament	25 mm burst lasers Gemini AA missiles
Properties
Hit points	120
Energy	200
Size	Large
Production
Minerals	150
Gas	100
Supply	2
Build time	60
Produced at	Starport
Hot key	W
Combat
Ground attack	8
Air attack	20e
Cooldown	30 (ground) 22 (air)
Attack range	5
Sight range	7

The Wraith is a terran space superiority fighter that has seen extensive use throughout the history of engagements in the Koprulu sector.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Variants 2.1 CF/A-17 Wraith 2.2 CF/A-17G Wraith 2.3 DF/A-19 Wraith 3 Game Unit 3.1 StarCraft 3.1.1 Abilities 3.1.2 Upgrades 3.1.3 Quotations 3.2 StarCraft II 4 Known Units 5 Known Pilots 6 Trivia 7 References

[edit] Overview

The Confederacy used the Wraith in 2485 at the beginning of the Guild Wars. These Wraiths had access to laser weapons.^[1]

Circa 2499, the Wraith was still considered the newest in a line of space superiority fighters. Traditionally, most space battles had taken place between capital ships and smaller gunships. However, Tarsonian technicians found that small, dynamic high-speed fighters could repeatedly deal damage to large ships while evading most defensive battery attacks. They primarily use missiles for their air/space attacks^[2] but could also lasers for air/space targets.^[1]

Known for their maneuverability,^[3] piloting a Wraith was no small task however, and aspiring Colonial Fleet Wraith pilots already had to be certified combat pilots before gaining access to the new craft.^[4] Wraith pilots were typically "lionized" in a manner similar to destroyer captains.^[5]

The Wraith's prominence diminished after the Brood War as the conflict revealed several critical weaknesses in terran anti-air capability and Wraith's design itself: combined Wraith/Valkyrie squadrons were an unwieldy combination against agile zerg airborne organisms.The Viking was developed as a more versatile anti-air craft, which could better fulfill the role Wraiths were originally intented for.^[6] With the development of the AH/G-24 Banshee Wraith lost it's anti-ground role to the new dedicated ground support craft, equipped with Wraith cloaking systems to boot.^[7]

Despite the advances in technology, Wraith squadrons were still maintained by the Terran Dominion until 2505^{[8][9][10][11]} with the Dominion placing restrictions on the augmentations allowed on privately-owned Wraith fighters.^[8] They went out of service within the same year, no longer part of the Dominion Armed Forces. However, the mercenary group Raynor's Raiders still has access to Wraith fighters.^[12]

Wraiths are capable of both atmospheric and deep space flight^[13] and can withstand entry through a planet's atmosphere.^[3] It is generally a given that Wraiths will be attached to capital ships, as they lack the ability to make jumps through warp space.^[8]

[edit] Variants

Quite a few variants of the Wraith exist.^[7] Known variants include;

[edit] CF/A-17 Wraith

The CF/A-17 Wraith is the earliest known Wraith model, acting as the basis for all later variants. However, it has been supplanted by the CF/A-17G variant (see below). It is armed with Gemini Air-to-Air Missiles.^[2]

[edit] CF/A-17G Wraith

The CF/A-17G Wraith is an upgraded version of its A-17 predecessor and for all intents and purposes, represents the 'standard' Wraith.^[2] Its design was spurred by the lack of an effective terran air-to-ground unit below battlecruiser weight. As such, the G variant was designed featuring a 25mm burst laser in addition to Gemini Missiles, for attacks against ground targets.^[7]

The CF/A-17G also features other upgrades. Equipped with the latest in ECM and stealth technology,^[14] the G variant features a built-in cloaking field which runs off the fighter's main power supply.^[2] The CF/A-17G is also capable of hovering, and equipped with a computer system which, among other functions, can key in on heat signatures and is compatible with an energy shield.^[13]

Wraiths with lasers were in use by 2485 (fighting at the first battle of the Guild Wars) and specifically identified by 2490.^[1]

[edit] DF/A-19 Wraith

The DF/A-19 Wraith Mk2 is an upgraded version of the CF/A-17G, possessing greater resilience and more powerful weapons without the loss of speed. The DF/A-19 was used by the mercenary group, "Unholy" Tara's Stalkers.^[15]

[edit] Game Unit

[edit] StarCraft

The Wraith is best against large-sized air targets.

With the Apollo Reactor a Wraith can remain cloaked for over 3.5 minutes.

The ground attack and cloak make Wraiths useful for harassing the workers of poorly defended expansions. They're also useful for picking out lone units scouting before the opposition can react.  Wraiths, however, have a weak ground attack, are fairly fragile against most units, and easily damaged. While this is compensated with the cloaking ability, Wraiths are not very massable due to their expensive cost.

StarCraft I sprite

StarCraft wireframe

StarCraft portrait.

[edit] Abilities

Cloaking
Acquisition Minerals 150 Gas 150 Researched at Control tower	Usage Energy 25 (+1 per second) Hotkey C
Notes
The Wraith can cloak. It can still attack while cloaked.

[edit] Upgrades

Ship Weapons Researched at Armory Hotkey S Properties Level Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Minerals 100 150 200 Gas 100 150 200 Required Science facility Science facility Notes +1 bonus to attack per level for Wraith ground attack and Valkyrie attack. +2 bonus to attack per level for Wraith air attack +3 bonus to attack per level for battlecruiser attack	Ship Plating Researched at Armory Hotkey H Properties Level Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Minerals 150 225 300 Gas 150 225 300 Required Science facility Science facility Notes +1 armor to Wraith, dropship, battlecruiser, science vessel, Valkyrie per level
Apollo Reactor Researched at Control tower Properties Minerals 200 Gas 200 Notes Increases the Wraith's energy by 50.

[edit] Quotations

See: Wraith Quotations

[edit] StarCraft II

The Wraith has been replaced by the Viking in the anti-air role, while the Banshee is far superior in the ground attack role and inherits the Wraith's cloaking ability.

The Wraith will appear in StarCraft II as a "classic" unit.^[16] It will be accessible by Raynor's Raiders in the terran campaign, Wings of Liberty.^[12] Other factions having access to Wraiths is also a possibility.^[17]

[edit] Known Units

• Red Squadron (possible)
• Wraith Squadron Bravo

[edit] Known Pilots

• Colonel Tom Kazansky
• Lieutenant Sela Brock
• Lieutenant Charlie Vane
• Lieutenant Wang
• Corporal Dunsil
• Harley
• Lars Trakken

[edit] Trivia

During development, the Wraith was known as the Phoenix.^[18] The name has been adopted by a StarCraft II protoss unit.^[19]

[edit] References

Terran Units and Structures of StarCraft/Brood War
Infantry	SCV · Marine · Firebat · Ghost • Brood War only • Medic
Ground vehicles	Vulture · Goliath · Siege tank
Air units	Wraith · Dropship · Science vessel · Battlecruiser • Brood War only • Valkyrie
Basic buildings	Command center (ComSat station · Nuclear silo) · Supply depot · Engineering bay · Barracks · Refinery · Missile turret · Academy · Bunker
Advanced buildings	Factory (Machine shop) · Armory · Starport (Control tower) · Science facility (Physics lab · Covert ops)
Other	Nuclear missile · Spider mine

Terran Units and Structures of StarCraft II
Infantry	SCV · Marine · Reaper · Marauder · Ghost
Land Vehicles	MULE · Hellion · Siege tank · Thor
Air Units	Viking · Medivac dropship · Banshee · Raven · Battlecruiser
Basic Buildings	Command center · Refinery · Supply depot · Barracks · Engineering bay
Automated Defenses and Explosives	Auto-turret · Defensive drone · D-8 charges · Missile turret
Support Buildings	Orbital command · Planetary fortress · Sensor tower · Bunker
Add-ons	Tech lab · Nuclear reactor
Advanced Buildings	Merc compound · Ghost academy · Factory · Armory · Starport · Fusion core
Other	Drop pod · Nuclear missile
Campaign-Exclusive Terran Units and Structures of StarCraft II	Infantry	Firebat · Medic · Rebel · Spectre
	Mercenaries	(Kel-Morian Mercenaries — Elite marines) · (Devil Dogs — Elite firebats) · (Hammer Securities — Elite marauders)
	Land Vehicles	Cobra · Diamondback tank · Goliath · Transport truck · Vulture
	Air Units	Hercules dropship · Wraith
	Automated defenses	Perdition turret · Shrike turret
Scrapped	Removed Units	Mine drone · Predator · Spider mines · Targeting drone
	Removed Buildings	Munitions depot · Radar tower · Shadow ops · Star base

Terran Starship Classifications
Transports	Cargo	Barge • Cargo ship — Giant-class • Freighter • Recovery vessel • Space-hauler • System runner
	Personnel	Escape pod • Orbital dropship • Orbital spacecraft • Planet hopper • Puddle-jumper • Salvage vessel • Shuttle • Supercarrier • Tour ship • Yacht
	Military	Drop pod • Escape pod • Quantradyne APOD-33 dropship · Assault dropship · Heavy lander · Hercules dropship · Medivac dropship • Grizzly • Hawk • Mammoth-class personnel carrier
Strike Craft	Starfighters	Predator • Scoutship • CF/A-17 Wraith — DF/A-19 Wraith Mk2
	Transforming	Viking • Wyrm
Support Ships	Exploration vessel • Raven • Science vessel — Elite science vessel · Kang science station • Scoutship • Utility vehicle
Warships	Light	AH/G-24 Banshee • Destroyer • Gun cutter • Gunship • Frigate — Valkyrie • Class 4 Interceptor • Wanderer
	Cruisers	Cruiser • Light cruiser
	Battlecruisers	Leviathan-class · Behemoth-class · Starcruiser · Hercules-class · Minotaur-class