Starcraft II has undergone an enormous amount of changes in its short 4-month lifespan. Not only in terms of Blizzard’s aggressive patch changes, but we have also seen enormous shifts in the way people play the game. As strategies and techniques evolve, units fall in and out of favour more than animal-print underwear (which is always cool, don’t listen to the haters). Indeed, trying to keep up with the warp-speed shifts in the metagame is a bit like sleeping in on Sunday and trying to watch all six seasons of Lost before bedtime.
The unfortunate side-effect of this is a lot of benchwarmers. Units which sit despondently on the sidelines, watching on as their peers rise to stardom. But then comes the shift, and suddenly nights spent throwing minerals around and snorting cocaine off the smooth bellies of lady-zealots are over; previous stalwarts in their respective armies drop from the limelight and are forgotten, like disillusioned child actors clinging desperately to DVD royalties and Japanese advertising deals.
Yet every phoenix must rise from the ashes, and top players have once again started digging in the toolbox and finding new uses for discarded units. It is one of these units we will look at today, which has had new life breathed into it in the Korean professional scene. So perch yourself atop a Pylon, make sure you can see the stage, and join me in welcoming back…
The Void Ray
The Void Ray was a wildly popular unit in the Beta and for a short time after release. However, after various nerfs and a loss in effectiveness in rushes due to people learning better how to deal with them, Void Rays have become relatively unused, cast into the “over-nerfed” bargain bin along with the Reaper.
The Korean pro-scene has given this unit new life as not merely a gimmicky rush tactic, but as part of a larger, mixed army. So if your Void Rays are warming the bench, read on; I’ll show you how to put them back into your starting line-up.
Vital statistics
Cost: 250 minerals, 150 vespene gas, 3 supplies
Requires: Stargate
Abilities: Ground and Air attack, bonus damage level if remains on same target
Build time: 60 seconds
Speed: 2.25 (+0.703 with upgrade)
Hit points: 150 hp, 100 shield
Armour type: Armoured, Mechanical, 1 (+1 per upgrade level)
Damage: Level 1 – 6 (+4 vs Armoured) Level 2 – 8 (+8 vs Armoured)
Attack cooldown: 0.6
Range: 6
Void Rays can maximize damage by “charging up” on static targets
How to use it
The Void Ray began its life as a rush unit. For a while, the “Void Ray rush” was an extremely popular strategy, especially against Zerg who doesn’t have an anti-air unit before Lair. For a while, games were instantly lost when the dreaded Void ray came rolling in on an unprepared Zerg.
However, Zergs eventually learned that by spreading creep between their main base and natural expansion, and making extra queens, 1 or 2 Void Rays could be easily fended off. Remember, it wasn’t too long ago when Zerg players were only making 1 queen for both their main base and their natural.
However, as part of a larger army, and indeed as a rush unit, they are being used competitively once more. Let’s go over the individual matchups and show you how:
vs Zerg
This, as before, is still where Void Rays are used the most. This is due to the recent roach range buff making Roach openings extremely popular against Protoss. Zerg players have shifted from quickly teching to Hydralisks, to getting aggressive early on with Roaches and Speedlings. To punish these kinds of openings, Protosses have started opting for very early Stargates, either 1 or 2, depending on the build These Stargates are actually being built before researching Warp Gates, so this is a very early air opening. The most common strategy is to make 2-3 Void Rays and 1-2 Phoenixes (Phoenices? I don’t know, shut up). Fly these as a group into the Zerg base, and immediately target the Queen. The Queens will very most likely be the Zerg’s only anti-air at this point. Lift the Queen with your Phoenix, and it’ll go down quickly to your Void Rays. This will leave the Zerg with nothing but Roaches and Speedlings. You can follow up this attack with more air, as with the Phoenix’s Graviton Beam, even Hydras in small numbers are going to have a tough time. Alternatively, you can follow up with a big ground push that the Zerg won’t be able to defend after your initial air damage.
vs Terran
Marines with Stimpack do very well against Void Rays in a straight up fight, and due to the danger of early Terran pushes, I do not recommend a Stargate before Warp Gate build as outlined above. However, adding a Stargate to your Warp Gates can be very effective. Flying in with a relatively early 3 Void Rays can do a lot of damage to a Terran who isn’t prepared for it. If the Terran has the forces to defend, do not engage directly, but rather use the Void Rays to harass while amassing a ground force; it is important not to lose your Void Rays. When your Gateway units clash with your opponent’s Barracks units, 3 Void Rays attacking with your army actually does an enormous amount of damage, and greatly increases your army’s effectiveness.
vs Protoss
The “quick-and-dirty” nature of current PvP games means Void Rays do not see a lot of use. However, if your opponent is going for a Robotics-heavy army with Immortals and Colossus, some Void Rays with your army can really punish that style.
[Image caption: Void rays are dangerous when charged. Try charge them up on a building before defenses arrive.]
[Image URL: http://i55.tinypic.com/1zbw9og.jpg]
What to do against Void Rays
The most critical aspect here is scouting. If you scout a Stargate, you need to adequately prepare for Void Rays.
For Terrans, a single missile turret in the mineral line and a healthy marine count will prevent any rush damage, and in the mid-game Vikings will slaughter Void Rays.
For Protoss, Stalkers do very well against Void Rays, but if he’s heavily investing in them you want to go for more of a Gateway than Robotics army.
Finally, for Zerg, it is absolutely critical that you spread creep between your bases. Use your Queen’s 1st energy to spawn a creep tumor; if you’re fast expanding you can’t use all that larva right away anyway. Make a spore crawler at each base, but be careful not to over-commit to these. Make extra Queens, tech up to Lair and remember to use Transfuse! Your best army here will be Roach-Hydralisk.
Conclusion
A versatile addition to any army and a valuable part of a well executed rush, the Void Ray is ready to emerge from the shadows and march triumphantly back into the Protoss playbook.
Discuss the Void Ray in the forums
Loading ...
