Starcraft 2 Terran Air Units

Starcraft 2 Terran Units and Structures ---> Terran Air Units (you are here)

In this section below, I will be covering all of the main Starcraft 2 Terran air units.

Note: The Medivac and Raven are included in the Starcraft 2 Terran Support Units section, as this unit would not comprise the majority of an offensive attack.

Terran have more aerial options than any other race, which leaves them with some great air units. They have (in my opinion) the best Anti-Air unit in the Viking and have one of the best air to ground units in the Banshee.

Viking

Cost: 150 minerals, 75 vespene gas, 2 supplies
Requires: Starport

The Viking is a brand new Starcraft 2 Terran air unit and is one of the most important additions to the Terran arsenal. The Viking has great anti-air capacity with long range (9) missiles that allow it to kite many slow air units (like the Battlecruiser).

The long range of the Viking also allows it to strike units which are out of range. The Viking has the unique ability to morph (kind of like a Transformer) into a ground-dwelling assault unit that allows it to attack ground units with a respectable attack power.

When Vikings are in the Air, they can only attack other air units (but do so with great power). Due to their air dominance, decent speed, and ability to morph into ground units, Vikings are great at protecting tanks, killing heavy aircraft, and sniping the enemy mineral line in hit-and-run fashion.

They also have an unusually low gas-cost for an air unit, making them easily producible in large numbers.

Banshee

Cost: 150 Minerals, 100 vespene gas, 2 supplies
Requires: Starport with a Tech Lab attached

The Banshee is another new Starcraft 2 Terran air unit. The Banshee is a light aircraft with great air-to-ground abilities. It also retains the Starcraft 1 Wraith ability to use cloaking.

Players can research Banshee cloaking technology at the Starport's tech lab. They can also research an upgrade which gives the Banshee more starting energy (I find the later upgrade isn't really worth it unless you are relying heavily on Cloak, otherwise it is better to have more Banshees!)

It has a high powered attack (24 damage) against ground units that allows it to quickly take worker units like Probes. It also has a decent amount of HP (140), which combined with it's high end attack allow it to take down many units in a 1v1 such as a Queen or Hydralisk.

It's ability to cloak also makes it quite deadly against Protoss players who fail to get early Observers.

The major downside of the Banshee is that it has no air to air abilities. Despite this, it is a great unit and a Banshee rush is a particularly viable strategy versus Zerg players. Zerg get anti-air late and a Banshee takes down a Queen in a 1v1 match-up.

Battlecruiser

Cost: 400 Minerals, 300 vespene gas, 6 supplies
Requires: Starport with Tech Lab attached and a Fusion Core

The Battlecruiser is also back in Starcraft 2 and is the most powerful Starcraft 2 Terran Air unit.

The Battlecruiser is the Terran master in large scale air to ground combat.

Its ground attacks have been increased significantly since Starcraft 1 (it deals over 40 damage per second to ground units).

The Battlecruiser is most effective at taking out masses of light ground units, such as Marines and Hydralisks (as well as units with no air attack, naturally). It now attacks at a blistering pace of over 4 times a second, making it never waste any damage on nearly dead units.

It also has a very high natural armor (3), limiting the amount of damage it takes versus light ground units like Hydralisks and Marines.

With that said, the Battlecruiser struggles versus the Viking and Corruptor. It is too slow to chase down the Viking as the Viking has a longer ranged anti-air attack.

It is seriously deficient versus the Corruptor, as the Corruptor has an ability which increases the damage taken of a unit (spammable on all Battlecruisers easily) and the Corruptor also deals bonus damage versus the Battlecruiser by default (+damage versus massive units). It is also faster than the Battlecruiser so they cannot escape.

As a result, it is much easier to use Battlecruisers in 2v2 combat, where the Zerg player is more likely to get Hydralisks. In 1v1, stick to ground mech versus the Zerg.

And that is all for the damage-dealing Starcraft 2 Terran Air Units!