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The ground attack and cloak make Wraiths useful for harassing the [[worker]]s 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 cost.
 
The ground attack and cloak make Wraiths useful for harassing the [[worker]]s 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 cost.
   
It is voiced by [[Glenn Stafford]].
+
It is voiced by [[Glenn Stafford]].<ref>[http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Glenn-Stafford/ Glenn Stafford], ''Behind the Voice Actors''. Accessed on 2015-04-22</ref>
   
 
====Abilities====
 
====Abilities====

Revision as of 22:47, 21 April 2015

"You know who the best star fighter in the fleet is? Yours truly."

- A Wraith pilot(src)

The Wraith is a terran space superiority fighter used extensively in the Koprulu sector.

Overview

Wraith SC1 CineOpenRebellion1

Wraiths on the attack

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

By 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 use lasers for air/space targets. Against ground targets however, their lasers lacked punch.[1]

Wraith SC1 CineInauguration1

Wraiths in flight

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.[2]

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 intended for.[5] With the development of the AH/G-24 Banshee, the Wraith lost its anti-ground role to the new dedicated ground support craft, which was also equipped with Wraith cloaking systems to boot.[6]

Wraith SC1 Art2

Wraiths in space

Wraiths remained in service by the Dominion after the Brood War;[7][8] the Dominion placed restrictions on the augmentations allowed on privately-owned Wraith fighters.[7] By 2504, they could still be found as part of the Dominion Armed Forces,[9] despite being older technology. The mercenary group Raynor's Raiders also still has access to Wraith fighters.[10][11] Statues of Wraith squadrons can be found on Korhal.[12]

Wraiths are capable of both atmospheric and deep space flight,[13] can withstand entry through a planet's atmosphere[3] and are capable of travelling at super-sonic speeds.[1] It is generally a given that Wraiths will be attached to capital ships, as they lack the ability to make jumps through warp space.[7]

Variants

The Wraith has been produced in multiple variants.[6] Known variants include:

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]

CF/A-17G Wraith

Wraith SC1 Game2

CF/A-17G profile

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.[6]

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]

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]

Game Unit

StarCraft

Wraith SC1 HeadAnim1

Unit profile

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 cost.

It is voiced by Glenn Stafford.[16]

Abilities

The Wraith can cloak. It can still attack while cloaked.

Usage
Hotkey C
Cost 25 (+1 per second) Energy
Acquisition
Purchased from Control tower
Hotkey C
Cost 150 Minerals 150 Vespene gas 100seconds
ve

Upgrades

  • Increases the Wraith's energy by 50.
  • Increases starting energy from 50 to 62.5.
Acquisition
Purchased from Control tower
Hotkey A
Cost 200 Minerals 200 Vespene gas 166seconds
  • +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.
Acquisition
Purchased from Armory
Hotkey S
Level 1
Cost 100 Minerals 100 Vespene gas 267seconds
Level 2
Cost 150 Minerals 150 Vespene gas 300seconds
Required Science facility
Level 3
Cost 200 Minerals 200 Vespene gas 333seconds
Required Science facility
ve
Acquisition
Purchased from Armory
Hotkey H
Level 1
Cost 150 Minerals 150 Vespene gas 267seconds
Level 2
Cost 225 Minerals 225 Vespene gas 300seconds
Required Science facility
Level 3
Cost 300 Minerals 300 Vespene gas 333seconds
Required Science facility
ve

Quotations

See: StarCraft Wraith Quotations

Development

Phoenix SC1 DevGame1

StarCraft alpha Phoenix

During development, the Wraith was known as the Phoenix.[17] In the StarCraft alpha the craft had a different appearance[18] In the StarCraft beta, while the original name was retained, the craft had an appearance identical to its end successor.[19] Both versions of this craft had Gemini missiles.[18][19]

The name has since been adopted by a StarCraft II protoss unit.[20]

StarCraft II

"Hey hotshot, you want these Wraith fighters now? They'll take down a battlecruiser easy. You can build more at a starport."

- Chief Engineer Rory Swann(src)

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 may be built during and after the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty mission, "Engine of Destruction", where Chief Engineer Rory Swann dispatches them to provide air support for the Odin.[11]

Compared to the Viking, the Wraith is more expensive, slower to build and has much lower air-to-air range, but has the advantages of cloaking, higher speed, and being able to attack ground targets from the air. The damage output of their missiles is a trade-off - the Viking's missiles do more damage (10 +4 versus the wraith's 5 +5), but the Wraith attacks faster. The Viking also has the advantage of not requiring a tech lab, though this is circumvented if the player gets tech reactors.

Compared to the Banshee, the Wraith costs one less supply, builds and moves faster, and is able to attack air targets. However, the Banshee costs less gas, and does significantly greater damage to ground targets. As an overall, the Banshee and Viking are preferable to the Wraith, but if the player wishes for an entirely cloaked force, then a fleet of Banshees and Wraiths is perfectly viable.

Wraiths are strong against medivac dropships, banshees, battlecruisers, void rays, carriers, warp prisms, overlords, corruptors, and brood lords. They are weak against marines, goliaths, missile turrets, stalkers, photon cannons, hydralisks, and spore crawlers, while not being very effective against phoenixes and mutalisks, and being on par with Vikings.

Abilities

Enables terran Wraiths to cloak.

Usage
Cost 25 (+0.9 per second) Energy
Acquisition
Purchased from Tech lab attached to starport
Hotkey C
Cost 100 Minerals 100 Vespene gas 110seconds
ve

Upgrades

Acquisition
Purchased from Armory
Hotkey S
Level 1
Cost 100 Minerals 100 Vespene gas 160seconds
Level 2
Cost 175 Minerals 175 Vespene gas 190seconds
Level 3
Cost 250 Minerals 250 Vespene gas 220seconds
ve

Increases the armor of all terran air units.

Acquisition
Purchased from Armory
Hotkey P
Level 1
Cost 150 Minerals 150 Vespene gas 160seconds
Level 2
Cost 225 Minerals 225 Vespene gas 190seconds
Level 3
Cost 300 Minerals 300 Vespene gas 220seconds
ve

Wings of Liberty

Wraiths start with +100 energy.

These improved power cells provide the wraith with a large up-front energy reserve. This allows newly built wraiths to instantly engage in missions with heavy cloaking requirements, rather than having to wait for the reactor to build up a sufficient charge.

Campaign Acquisition
Acquired from Hyperion armory for $80,000
ve
DisplacementField SC2 Icon1
Displacement Field

Wraiths dodge 20% of attacks when cloaked but detected. Misses are indicated with an aura.[21]

ATVX has developed an improved cloaking field that can radically alter the course of incoming projectiles. Field tests have shown that roughly 20% of incoming hits will miss a detected wraith entirely if cloaking is still engaged.[22]

Campaign Acquisition
Acquired from Hyperion armory for $125,000
ve

Increase starting energy of all units by 100. Increase maximum energy of all units by 100.[23]

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
Acquired from Hyperion laboratory for 20 zerg research points
ve

Damaged mechanical units recover hit points when out of combat, at a rate of 0.6015 each second.[23]

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
Acquired from Hyperion laboratory for 20 zerg research points
ve

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
Acquired from Hyperion laboratory for 5 protoss research points
ve
SC2 Lab VanPlating Icon
Vanadium Plating

Armor upgrades increase health of affected units by 5% per level.[24]

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
Acquired from Hyperion laboratory for 5 protoss research points
ve

Quotations

See: StarCraft II Wraith Quotations

Known Units

Known Craft

Known Pilots

Wraith SC2 Head2

A Wraith pilot

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 McNeill, Graham (December 30, 2008). StarCraft: I, Mengsk. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 1416-55083-6.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Underwood, Peter, Bill Roper, Chris Metzen and Jeffrey Vaughn. StarCraft (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Mesta, Gabriel (July 1, 2001). StarCraft: Shadow of the Xel'Naga. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 0-671-04149-5.
  4. Space Fleet. Accessed on 2008-01-28
  5. Viking. Accessed on 2008-01-28
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Banshee. Accessed on 2008-01-28
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Golden, Christie (May 22, 2007). StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga #1: Firstborn. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 978-0-7434-7125-1.
  8. Golden, Christie (November 27, 2007). StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga #2: Shadow Hunters. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 978-0-7434-7126-8.
  9. Golden, Christie (November 6, 2012). StarCraft II: Flashpoint. Simon & Schuster (Gallery Books). ISBN 978-1451-65962-7.
  10. 2008-17-10, Q&A: The Starcraft II Brain Trust. Giant Bomb News. Accessed on 2008-20-10
  11. 11.0 11.1 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Engine of Destruction (in English). 2010-07-27.
  12. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Media Blitz (in English). 2010-07-27.
  13. 13.0 13.1 Neilson, Micky (December 18, 2000). StarCraft: Uprising. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 978-0743-41898-0 (eBook).
  14. Wraith. StarCraft Compendium. Accessed on 2008-01-28
  15. 1999-03-26. StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: Mercenaries (in English). Map Archives: Mercenaries. StarCraft Compendium Map Archives.
  16. Glenn Stafford, Behind the Voice Actors. Accessed on 2015-04-22
  17. Lord of Ascension. 2007-09-28. [1]. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2007-12-02.
  18. 18.0 18.1 2009-03-19, StarCraft Wire. Artist: Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed on 2010-01-19
  19. 19.0 19.1 2009-03-19, StarCraft Wire. Artist: Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed on 2010-01-19
  20. Blizzard Entertainment. Phoenix, Blizzard Entertainment, Retrieved 2007-09-06.
  21. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard) (in English). July 27, 2010
  22. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Armory upgrades (in English). 2010.
  23. 23.0 23.1 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Zerg research (in English). 2010.
  24. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Protoss research (in English). 2010.