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Battlecruiser (Heart of the Swarm)

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This article covers the now superseded Heart of the Swarm multiplayer version of this unit. For other versions see Battlecruiser (Legacy of the Void), Battlecruiser (Wings of Liberty) and Battlecruiser (Wings of Liberty Campaign).
[e][h]Terran Battlecruiser
Unit Information
Type:
Air Unit
Description:
Powerful warship. Can be upgraded with the Yamato Cannon ability.
Cost:
 400  300  90  6
Attack 1: ATS Laser Battery
Targets:
Ground
Damage:
8 (+1)
35.56 (+4.4)
0.225
Attack 2: ATA Laser Battery
Targets:
Air
Damage:
6 (+1)
26.7 (+4.4)
0.225
Unit stats
Defense:
550 3 (+1)
Energy:
50 (+25) / 200
Sight:
12
Speed:
1.875
Strong against:
Note: All time-related values are expressed assuming Normal speed, as they were before LotV. See Game Speed.

Description[edit]

The Battlecruiser is the Terran's capital ship and final Tech of the Starport. It can be constructed at a Starport with a Tech Lab add-on once a Fusion Core has been built. Similar to its Brood War counterpart, the Battlecruiser is a slow but powerful unit. It can deal large amounts of damage, with its attack and ability; also having high health and natural Armor. This flying fortress boasts the highest default armour value of any combat unit in the game, which can make it particularly hard to kill. Players also sometimes pull SCVs to repair Battlecruisers during combat.

Spells[edit]

100
Range: 10
Damage: 300
The Battlecruiser's Yamato Cannon fires an intense blast of concentrated energy at the target, dealing 300 points of damage.

Upgrades[edit]

The following upgrades are available from the Fusion Core.

150
150
80
Researched from: Fusion Core
Increases the Battlecruiser's starting energy by 25.

150
150
100
Researched from: Fusion Core
Allows Battlecruisers to use the Yamato Cannon ability.

Competitive Usage[edit]

Vs. Protoss[edit]

Battlecruisers can occur in the very late game, typically when a Terran has secured about 3 bases/6 gas or more.

As of Heart of the Swarm, the Tempest can be used very effectively as a counter to the Battlecruiser. Tempests have same speed but more range, allowing them to kite the Battlecruisers. If the opponent has Vikings and the Protoss army doesn't have other air units, it might be a good idea to just focus the Battlecruisers and push with the ground army and render the Vikings pretty much useless.

Feedback and Psionic Storm are also very effective against Battlecruisers, especially since the Battlecruiser is so slow, it cannot effectively dodge storms. They also tend to stack on top of each other because they are air units. Blink Stalkers are strong against Battlecruisers until there are a decent number of Battlecruisers. The effectiveness of Stalkers can be severely diminished by the use of Point Defense Drone, as well as ground support. In the air-to-air department Phoenixes are sub-par due their dual-shots and the consequent effectiveness of the Battlecruiser's armor. Void Rays are more useful and should be countered by ground support. However, it is important to note that Void Rays can each be destroyed by a single Yamato Cannon and must be backed up by a ground army. Patch 1.2.0 has given Void Rays 20% more damage against massive targets, making Void Rays quite effective against Battlecruisers, so long as their numbers are sufficient as not to be decimated by a few Yamato Cannons.

As Battlecruisers aren't very mobile their movements are usually restricted to poking out to an expansion (the adjacent Golds on Steppes of War) or straight line pushes (Horizontal positions on Kulas). They are less effective on wide Desert Oasis and big Metalopolis.

Carriers and Tempests can be killed in one Yamato Cannon shot if you first wipe their shields with two EMPs. Spell damage is not reduced by armor, which means Yamato deals precisely enough damage to break the hull. The Colossus and Archon can also be killed with one Yamato if you soften the shields with one EMP. Because Immortal's Hardened Shield is ineffective against spell damage, it can be killed with exactly one Yamato Cannon.

Battlecruisers will use their more powerful ATS weapon against the Colossus.

Vs. Terran[edit]

Battlecruisers can be very effective in the mirror match-up but countered just as easily. They have very high health and damage output, but are heavily outranged by Vikings, making it very easy for the other Terran to kill them. Battlecruisers can be seen if one player gets heavy air superiority. Oftentimes, when one player gets too many Vikings, the other player will respond by ignoring air and switching into a Tank/Marauder composition. This creates an obvious weakness to Battlecruisers. However, when in this situation, it is important to keep air superiority as Vikings can be produced far faster than Battlecruisers, so your opponent may surprise you with a large number of Vikings, which could be potentially game ending if you invested too much in your Battlecruisers.

Vs. Zerg[edit]

The Battlecruiser has not seen very much play in this match up as Hydralisks are relatively cost effective against them and will require the Terran player to provide ground backup for their airfleet. Corruptors are another good counter as their high base armor and bonus against massive units makes Battlecruiser use risky without Viking support or upgrades. Another big threat is the Neural Parasite which could instantaneously render a BC fleet useless.

Gallery[edit]

Quotes[edit]

Battlecruiser's quotes (video and sound) - YouTube video.

Patch Changes[edit]

References[edit]