SCV
The worker of the Terran forces, allowing the construction of buildings and repair of units. In the singleplayer campaign, permanent upgrades for SCVs can be purchased, reducing the cost of producing an SCV and repairs, respectively.
AH/G-24 Banshee
A Stealth Aircraft that is effective against ground forces.
The AH/G-24 Banshee is a Terran aircraft designed by Procyon Industries in response to the Terran Dominion's requirement for a dedicated ground attack aircraft. Experience had shown that it was unlikely that adapting an existing design would prove satisfactory. Thus, Procyon designed an entirely new craft.
The design was heavily optimized for its intended role. Armament was limited to air-to-ground Backlash cluster rockets, eschewing any anti-aircraft weapons. As the Banshee was never intended to operate outside of an atmosphere only relatively low-thrust turbofans were fitted, wholly unable to achieve escape velocity, but much cheaper than engines capable of achieving space flight. Later Banshees were further modified with cloaking devices taken from CF/A-17 Wraith starfighters.
The Banshee has proven successful in service. Easily transported from world to world, its mobility and firepower has proven most useful, especially in inhospitable terrain and against hostile irregular forces. The Banshee has also acquired a reputation as a Dominion terror weapon, a result of a significant number of civilians being killed by Banshees employed in urban combat.
The Banshee appears to be weak against dedicated anti-aircraft structures, such as Phase Cannons.
Strategically, the Banshee appears to be similar to a Terran version of the Zerg Guardian as a dedicated air-to-ground role.
Battlecruiser
The default weaponry of the Battlecruiser is no longer a single powerful attack. Instead it will fire eight laser bolts, each inflicting 8 damage and able to hit discrete targets.
The Battlecruiser types depicted in StarCraft II are the Hercules- and Minotaur-class.
During development, Battlecruisers had the ability to be upgraded (or "Specialized") with either the Yamato Cannon, Missile Pods, or Defensive Matrix ability. However, this has been since removed, and the only available upgrade for the Battlecruiser is now the Yamato Cannon.
Crucio Siege Tank
The Siege Tank continues to function as it did in previous games with the dual tank and artillery modes. The tank cannot fire when moving, leaving the tank vulnerable to attacks by melee units.
The Siege Tank is a heavy mechanical ground unit with a long range and high damage capabilities. When in Siege Mode, the tank now spreads its treads in four directions while still sprouting two clamps to help keep it stationary. The Siege Mode attack has an area of effect; however the Protoss Immortals are able to reduce its damaging effects to a minimum. Mobile or stationary, Siege Tanks can only attack ground units.
Ghost
Ghosts gain some new abilities suiting their role as special forces troopers. They also have a higher rate of fire.
Ghosts are trained at a Barracks with an attached Tech Lab, and require a Ghost Academy. Ghosts may be available earlier in the tech tree, but abilities like Cloaking would only be available afterwards.
The below is a listing of the Ghost's special abilities; however, all information here is tentative and subject to change pending the release of the game.
- Cloak
- Nuclear Strike
- Similar to the ability in StarCraft but does less damage. Launching player sees a large red symbol on the target area while the opponent only sees a red dot.
- Sniper Round
- Requiring 75 energy, this ability deals 60 damage to any biological unit + 100 damage vs light armor, giving it the ability to instantly eliminate smaller units in one shot.
- EMP Round
- Similar to the Science Vessel's EMP Shockwave ability, the EMP Shot is an area of effect attack which drains 100 shields from units and structures and all energy from spellcasters.
Hellion
Replacing the Jackal (which had replaced the Vulture), this vehicle relies on speed and a flamethrower to deal with masses of smaller units. They work especially well against early Zerg units.
Marauder
The Marauder is equipped with dual concussion-grenade launchers which slow down biological units, and does extra damage against armored units. It can use Stimpacks.
The Marauder is considered an early support unit, designed to pick off early game units. It is useful for slowing down fast melee units such as the Zealot.
Marine
In StarCraft II, Marines will be able to receive a ballistic alloy combat shield upgrade that increases their hit points by 10. Once upgraded, the Marines' game model will change to include a shield and bayonet. Marines will have two more upgrades beyond the weapon and armor upgrades: Stimpacks and U-238 shells (abilities possessed at BlizzCon 2007).
Medivac Dropship
Dropships will appear in StarCraft II; they have also received the Medics' healing ability. A variant named the Hercules Dropship is set to appear in story mode only.
MULE
Mules are droids that are called down from an Orbital Command, assisting SCVs in mining work. They will stop working after a set time, when their battery dissipates.
Raven
The Raven, formerly known as the "Nighthawk", "Vulcan", and "Nomad", is analogous to the Science Vessel of the original StarCraft, and are "primarily support craft" for the Terran faction. Ravens originally were said to "look like a floating construction crane that's been bent into a square", but have since received a completely new design.
In addition to being detectors, Ravens have several special abilities:
- Auto-Turret, which uses energy to drop an Auto-Turret. The turret is a decent defender and makes for an even better harasser. These do not have a timed life.
- Defensive Drones. These intercept incoming missiles and enemy fire.
- Hunter-Seeker Missile. This missile deals 150 area-of-effect damage against both ground and air targets. The splash damage can damage friendly units; the missile kills on contact and can be avoided if the targeted unit retreats for the specific amount of time. The missile will have a slight delay after launch, and a visual indicator shows which unit is being targeted, enabling the other player to respond. It cannot target buildings, but can damage them if it attacks units right next to a building.
Reaper
Reapers specialize in hit-and-run, close-quarters combat. They are more mobile than Marines as their jet packs allow them to surmount obstacles independently. Reapers are clad in self-contained body suits, and are armed with dual P-45 Scythe Gauss Pistols and deuterium-eight demolition charges.
Reapers are drawn from Marine recruits that could not be successfully subjugated by neural resocialization. These resistant recruits tend to be among the most hardened of criminals, and are sent instead to the "Icehouse" in the Torus system to be inducted into the Reaper Corps. Reaper recruits are chemically altered to make them even more aggressive before being subjected to brutal training in close-quarters combat and the use of their jet packs.
While theoretically a Reaper who survives two years of duty would be pardoned and released back to civilian life, in its five years the Reaper Corps has yet to have a single trooped survive more than six months.
Thor
The Thor is a Terran mechanical unit which is named after the Norse god of thunder. Despite its intimidating appearance, it is not a super-unit; and more than one can be built.
A Thor is not built through a building, but rather is built by an SCV, due to its large size. A Thor is too large to be transported, but the SCV that builds it can be transported, therefore opening new strategies for building a Thor in secret locations.
The Thor is large, but it was reduced from its initial size to make for better pathing. The slow turn rate is no longer a balance factor.
A Thor has a relatively large size when compared to other units. It has a long firing range and big splash damage, but a significant cooldown. The attacks do high damage against armored units but waste damage against weaker units. It is powerful against Stalkers and several other (unannounced) Terran and Zerg units.
The Thor is countered by range, mobility, and certain anti-armor units.
Viking
The Brood War revealed weaknesses in Terran anti-air capability. Wraith combat fighters and Valkyrie missile frigates proved to be an unwieldy combination against agile Zerg airborne organisms. In addition, ground-based anti-air support from Goliath assault walkers was too limited in its mobility: all too often airborne attackers would simply move out of the Goliath's range.
In the aftermath of the war, Terran weapon technicians proposed a radical new concept to resolve both of these problems. Based heavily on the transformation design of the Siege Tank, the Viking was designed to be the ultimate anti-air and ground-support weapon system. With the ability to change its combat role from an assault walker to an air-superiority fighter, the Viking can switch smoothly to fulfill tactical needs in a developing battle.
While the Viking's versatility is its greatest asset, it is also one of its drawbacks. Few pilots are able to handle both combat modes and the majority of Viking pilots are killed in their first battle. Those who survive however, become amongst the most skilled pilots.
The Viking is produced from the Starport.
Ground Mode
In the walker mode the Viking has low armor, leaving it vulnerable to powerful ground units such as Siege Tanks.
The walker mode is armed with twin gatling cannons. it can only attack ground units (a change from previous builds).
Karune stated that its ground mode could attack both ground and air units but that ability currently undergoing balancing testing and may have been removed.
Air Mode
When in this mode the Viking has an extremely powerful anti-air attack (MT50 Lanzer Torpedoes) designed to destroy capital ships but does not have the ability to attack ground units. In this mode, it has superior mobility and base-raiding capabilities.