Starcraft 2 Void Ray Unit Counter

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The Void Ray is a tier 2 Protoss air unit that performs well against most units. Its long range, ability to hit both air and ground units, and high DPS make it a popular unit to mass.

If you are having trouble countering these Void Ray armies, you have come to the right place, as below we will discuss the best way to counter Void Rays with Protoss, Terran, and Zerg units.

Void Ray Strengths and Weaknesses

The Void Ray particularly shines against armored units of all types. Void Rays always deal bonus damage to armored units, whereas with Prismatic Alignment, this bonus damage skyrockets. No armored units stands up well to the Void Ray while Prismatic Alignment is active.

Since air superiority units are armored, they might not always be the best choice for countering the Void Ray. Below, we have compiled a list of the best unit counters and unit combinations to stop the Void Ray in Starcraft 2. We have also included a video at the bottom demonstrating how these counters work.

Protoss Void Ray Counters

Without a doubt, Protoss players have the toughest time dealing with the Void Ray. They do not have a true unit that fully counters the Void Ray. Some micro is required to defeat mass Void Rays in Protoss versus Protoss matches.

• Blink Stalkers: Stalkers lose to Void Rays while Prismatic Alignment is active but will handily destroy Void Rays after Prismatic Alignment wears off. Run away from Void Rays with your Stalkers while Prismatic Alignment is active and then use Blink to chase down Void Rays and take them out while they are vulnerable. Note that Stalkers and Void Rays without Prismatic Alignment are an equal match. To be a true counter, the Stalkers need an upgrade advantage (which is common).

• Archons: Archons are the only Protoss unit which outright destroys Void Rays. Due to the short range of the Archon however, a good opponent will try to engage in a position where the Archons are outranged, such as over a cliff or over empty space.

• Tempest & Archon Combo: Since Void Rays may try to avoid Archons, you can use Tempests to make it more painful for the enemy not to engage. Use Tempests to attack Void Rays, and when the Void Rays come in range, your Archons will be able to hit them no problem.

• Void Rays: Naturally, Void Rays will destroy other Void Rays. If you have an economic or upgrade advantage, you can just mass Void Rays of your own and overwhelm the enemy's Void Rays with numbers.

• Phoenix: Phoenix are actually a true counter to the Void Ray, particularly if the Phoenix has some +air weapons upgrades. The problem is that if the Protoss tech switches, you can be stuck with a lot of Phoenix that no longer serve a purpose.

Terran Void Ray Counters

Terran actually have the easiest time of all the races. The only thing is Terran mech does not handle the Void Ray well at all. If you are massing mech and the Protoss opponent starts getting Void Rays, it is time to switch. You can use both bio forces or air forces to counter the Void Ray.

• Marines: Marines are the simplest Void Ray counter. Even upgradeless Marines will trade with Void Rays. Once Stimpack, Combat Shields, Medivac Support, and upgrades come out, it is extremely lopsided in favor of the Terran.

• Vikings: Vikings will handily counter Void Rays, but micro is required. Vikings have a range of 11 and Void Rays have a range of 6. Vikings are faster than Void Rays. What you want to do is fire off a shot while the Vikings at a range of 11, then run away. Stop briefly to shoot again once range has been established. If you fire off a few free shots this way, you will soften up the Void Rays enough to win. If you try to attack Void Rays head on with Prismatic Alignment up, the Vikings will actually lose.

• Battlecruisers: Yamato Cannon takes out the Void Ray in 1 shot. Battlecruisers are too slow to run away from Void Rays, but if you thin their numbers with Yamato Cannon, a fleet of BCs does fine against mass Void Ray.

Zerg Void Ray Counters

Zerg players can stop the Void Ray easily, but the unit choices are not exactly intuitive. Zerg players have to counter the Void Ray on the ground. Mutalisks and Corruptors both fair poorly against the Void Ray. Mutalisks can do okay versus Void Rays, but it requires large numbers for the splash damage to add up. Even then, it is not much more of a trade rather than a counter. Corruptors do bonus damage to massive air units, not armored air units. The Void Ray is not considered massive, so Void Rays actually counter Corruptors.

• Hydralisk: The Hydralisk does okay versus the Void Ray, with the Hydralisk being slightly more efficient than the Void Ray. However, it is not a very strong counter. The problem is that Void Rays are usually accompanied by Zealots. While 2 Hydralisks defeat 1 Void Ray, 1 Void Ray and 2 Zealots defeats 4 Hydralisks. With an upgrade advantage however, the Hydralisk really shines against the Void Ray.

• Infestor: If the Void Rays want to stay in range (or can be trapped with Fungal Growth), Infested Terrans are a strong counter to the Void Ray. They are light units with decent air DPS. Their light status means they barely take damage from the Void Ray. The problem is Void Rays like to run away from Infested Terrans. Fungal Growth can trap them, but this means less energy for Infested Terrans.

• Queen: While it may not be very intuitive, Queens are the true Void Ray counter. Despite having 175 HP, Queens are not considered armored units. This means the Void Rays barely deal damage to Queens. Between Transfusion and their moderate anti-air DPS, Queens will destroy Void Rays even when the Void Rays have superior numbers.

Void Ray Counters Video Guide

The video below demonstrates all of these unit counters in action. It shows the micro tricks necessary to make certain Void Ray unit counters work.

Without using these micro tricks, some of the counters do not work right, so make sure you watch the video.

Conclusion

Countering the Void Ray in Starcraft 2 is easy, it just requires the right unit choices and a little bit of micro. Only a handful of Marines or Queens are needed to really shift the balance against Void Rays.