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Infernal Pre-Igniter

From Liquipedia StarCraft 2 Wiki
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Researched from: Tech Lab
Improves the Hellion's bonus against Light units by +5 damage and the Hellbat's bonus against Light units by +12 damage.

The Infernal Pre-Igniter is an upgrade for the Terran Hellion (and subsequently Hellbat) that allows it to inflict an additional +5 damage versus light units in Hellion Mode and an additional +12 damage versus light units in Hellbat mode. It can be researched out of a Factory with an attached Tech Lab. Note that the Infernal Pre-Igniter does stack with the Hellion's linear and Hellbat's conical AoE damage - every light unit caught in the flame will receive the additional damage bonus. Commentators often simply refer to it as "Blue Flame" due to the fact that it turns the flamethrower blue.

Use[edit]

As a general rule of thumb, anything that the Hellion and Hellbat do well already will be significantly amplified by this bonus.

The worker units for all three races are categorized as light, as are first-tier infantry for all three races. This makes the Pre-Igniter a highly effective harassment tool, and a few Hellions with the upgrade can wreak havoc on vulnerable mineral lines. A superior player can abuse the Hellion's speed to get in and out of the mineral line very rapidly, inflicting as much damage as possible before darting away from the opponent's slower army. A Hellbat can 2-shot multiple workers at a time, since with the upgrade it deals 30 damage, doing devastating damage. However, since only two Hellbats can fit in a Medivac (as opposed to 4 Hellions), and transforming between the two takes 5 seconds, during which an enemy can react to the harassment), Hellbats have a much harder time getting in and out of mineral lines to do damage.

Because the AoE damage of a Hellion is in a straight line in front of the unit, it is most effective to have Hellions flank the opponents army if they are used in a large battle, because of the tendency for range units to create a concave or line against each other. An attack from the side by Hellions would maximize the amount of AoE damage that they could deal.

Vs. Protoss[edit]

Hellions can kite Zealots with ease, and mass Zealot armies can be softened up significantly by Hellion harass. In addition, some of the heavier damage dealers and support units for Protoss, such as Sentries, High Templar, and Dark Templar, are also light units, and are therefore vulnerable to the +5 bonus.

Hellbats are a good choice against any Zealot-heavy play, and eliminate them nearly twice as quickly with the bonus damage.

Vs. Terran[edit]

With the rise of mech play in TvT, the upgrade has seen a sharp rise in popularity. The ability to kill Marines, other Hellions/Hellbats and enemy SCV lines very quickly makes this upgrade a must-get. Some TvT openers rely on Pre-Igniter Hellion drops to deal economic damage early in the game, which of course requires this upgrade. Hellbats themselves are light units, so Siege Tank/Hellbat play is greatly empowered by getting the upgrade to deal with the enemy Hellbats much more quickly.

Vs. Zerg[edit]

Hellions with Pre-Igniters will pretty much shut down any early-mid Zergling harass. All it takes are two Hellions to one-shot a Zergling, and due to the linear damage path of the flamethrower combined with the tendency for Zerglings to clump up, a handful of Hellions can easily dispose of large Zergling balls. Note that with the speed upgrade or creep bonus, Zerglings can catch up to and surround a Hellion, and due to the Hellion's very low rate of fire they can easily be overrun if not micromanaged properly. Hellbats deal nearly the entire Zergling's health in damage with the upgrade, which makes them both a powerful offensive unit and a protective barrier around other units like Tanks and Thors which would otherwise be vulnerable to mass Zerglings.

Banelings are not considered light units, so Hellions will not do significant damage to them. However, due to the Hellion's speed, they are able to easily kite them. Note that both Hellbats and Hellions take extra damage from the Baneling's splash damage, as they are considered light units.

The Hydralisk is also a light unit, so Hellions again shine in the mid-game with support from some heavy Mech or Bio units. Be aware that better players nowadays will micro their units to spread them out as much as possible, minimizing the linear damage of the Hellion flamethrower. Many players still do not do this though, leaving their units vulnerable to heavy damage. Hellbats, although doing bonus damage, are very limited in scope here, as Hydralisks outrange them quite handily and move much faster with the speed upgrade.

Since a common Zerg answer to Mech play is to make Swarm Hosts, Hellbats can be used in some situations to deal with masses of Locusts. However, since Locusts do high damage, picking them off from a distance with Tanks is still preferable unless the numbers are in favor of the Terran.

The most popular counter to Hellion-based strategies are Roaches, which shuts down Hellion harass assuming Roaches are positioned well. Even though Hellions have superior speed and longer range than Roaches, Roaches can not be kited since the Roach range buff in patch 1.1. This is because Hellions have to remain still when firing.

Patch Changes[edit]

References[edit]