Starcraft 2 Carrier Guide

Starcraft 2 Carrier Guide
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Starcraft 2 Carrier - Introduction

Bright Hub’s Starcraft 2 Protoss guide now turns to look at the mighty Carrier.

The Starcraft 2 Carrier is another popular returning unit from the original game. In fact, it didn’t feature in the early development of the game, but was brought back due to its popularity amongst the fans. Possessing no actual weapons of its own, the Protoss Carrier instead launches flights of Interceptor craft to lay waste to ground and air targets, allowing the carrier itself to remain and maneuver at a safer distance. Employing these late-game units can be tricky though, and relies on keeping your opponent off the scent. In this Starcraft 2 Carrier guide, we’ll look at this SC2 unit’s vital stats, its upgrades and abilities, as well as tactics for employing it in multiplayer, and possible carrier counters from your opposition.

SC2 Protoss Carrier Vital Statistics

Production and Properties:

**

  • Minerals: 350
  • Gas: 250
  • Supply: 6
  • Build Time: 120 secs
  • Produced by: Stargate
  • Requires: Fleet Beacon
  • Hotkey: C
  • Max Energy: 0

Movement and Protection:

  • Speed: 1.875
  • Acceleration: 1.063
  • Hit Points: 300
  • Shields: 150
  • Armor: 2
  • Armor Type: Armored

Weaponry:

Interceptors

  • Ground/Air Attack
  • Attacks: 2
  • Range: 8
  • Damage: 5
  • Cooldown: 0.5

SC2 Protoss Carrier Upgrades and Abilities

Upgrades:

  • Interceptor Weapons Levels 1-3: Increases damage by increments of 1.
  • Graviton Catapult (Minerals: 150, Gas: 150, Time: 80 secs): Increases the launching speed of Interceptors, with a Cooldown of .125 for the first four to .25 for the last four.
  • Required: Fleet Beacon.

Abilities:

  • Train Interceptor: The Carrier will now build and unleash up to a total of 8 Interceptors automatically upon detecting an enemy.
  • Energy: 25
  • Duration: 8

Starcraft 2 Carrier Tips and Tricks

Starcraft 2 Carrier

Strong Against:

Vulnerable To:

Protoss vs Protoss

In any Protoss strategy involving Carriers, it is vital to remember that they are only effective in number. Get a fleet of ten or more together, and their combined Interceptors will quickly make mincemeat of most ground and air forces. However, be wary of your opponent manually targeting the individual Carriers themselves rather than their attendant Interceptors. When using Carriers against a Protoss opponent, restrict building them to maps that make travel difficult for ground armies, and use the Carriers range and mobility well.

Protoss vs Terran

Carriers are hugely useful for attacking your opponent’s production line while they are engaged with your ground forces, especially if you’ve kept your switch to Carrier production well hidden, and they haven’t prepared decent anti-air units. If your enemy has a decent force of Vikings, though, Carriers can quickly become an expensive luxury.

Protoss vs Zerg

Carriers can be hugely effective against a Zerg opponent. Although five or six Corruptors can take a Carrier down, protecting your fleet with a collection of Protoss Phoenix will provide an effective deterrent, and allow the carrier fleet to cause serious harm to any Zerg ground or air units.

Conclusion

While the popular notion that a massed Carrier attack spells game over for any Starcraft 2 opponent isn’t really true, they can be a devastating unit when used in a sizeable fleet, especially with attendant Phoenixes. The true key to using the Starcraft 2 carrier effectively in the later part of an SC2 multiplayer game is in disguising your build intentions well enough that when you deploy your Carrier fleet, their anti-air defences simply aren’t up to scratch. If you pull this off, then it is very hard for any opponent, Protoss, Terran or Zerg, to come back from a Carrier fleet assault.