Marine
From Liquipedia Starcraft 2 Wiki
This article is for the Multiplayer version of this unit, for the Wings of Liberty Single Player version see: Marine (Wings of Liberty Campaign).
Marine
| Type | Ground Unit | ||||||||||||||||||
| Description | General-purpose infantry | ||||||||||||||||||
| Built From | Barracks | ||||||||||||||||||
| Cost |  50  0  25  1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attributes | Biological, Light | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attack |
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| Defense |  45 (+10)  0 (+1) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hotkey | A | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sight | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Speed | 2.25 (+1.125) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Cargo Size | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Strong Against | |||||||||||||||||||
| Weak Against |
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[edit] Description
The Marine is the base Terran combat unit. It deals 6 damage to both air and ground targets, at 6.97 damage per second. When upgraded with Stimpack it can sacrifice 10 hit points in order to increase its rate of fire and movement speed for a limited amount of time. Marines work very well with Medivacs and in groups with Marauders. They can be loaded into a Bunker, protecting them and increasing their range by one. Marines are a commonly used unit and form the backbone of biological builds — and in fact, almost every Terran army — due to their low cost, ranged attacks against ground and air and strong upgrades. With Combat Shields giving Marines an extra 10 health (which can make the difference in battles against units such as the Colossus) and with Stimpack greatly increasing their movement speed and damage output, Marines in numbers can be a formidable force from early to late game.
[edit] Abilities
Marines can be upgraded with Stimpacks from a Tech Lab connected to a Barracks.
[edit] Upgrades
These upgrades are researched at the Barracks' Tech Lab.
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In TvT, Combat Shields are actually superior to Stimpacks, all other things being equal. A marine with shields will survive a fight with a standard 'stimmed' marine with 7 HP. Combat Shields also takes less time to research so in early TvT skirmishes one should not get the Stimpack upgrade first by default. In addition, a standard siege tank (unsieged) does 15 damage vs marines so it can kill a 45 HP marine in 3 shots. However, it requires a 4th shot to kill a marine with CS (55HP).
Combat shields provide the same substantial increase in durability in TvP. The benefit is most noticeable against units that take a small number of attacks to kill marines. Standard Zealot damage of 16 kills a 45 HP marine in 3 attacks, but requires a 4th attack to kill a marine with a CS - effectively a 33% tougher marine. A Dark Templar can kill a basic marine with a single shot, but needs to slice twice to kill a marine with shields.
[edit] Competitive Usage
[edit] General
Marines are known to be one of the highest damage per cost units in the game. They are available all game long, benefit a lot from good micro, are cheap, easily massed, and good general purpose units. This makes them the backbone of any Terran army composition.
[edit] Vs.
Protoss
Unlike in Brood War, Marines are now a viable component of the Terran army. When combined with Marauders and Ghosts, Marines rip through most Protoss units. However, caution must be exercised around Colossi and High Templars, as those two units can devastate a Marine/Marauder army, even with Ghost support. Therefore, as the game progresses, Terran will usually incorporate units such as Vikings or Banshees into the army to counter Colossi. Care must also be taken when engaging units backed by the Sentry. The Sentry's Guardian Shield effectively cuts the damage done by the marine by 1/3, while the forcefields are able to prevent Marines from kiting Zealots or allow the Stalker to kite the shorter-ranged Marines.
As Marines are among the only unarmored Terran units that can attack air, they are also an effective counter against Void Rays. Marines are also effective against other Protoss air units, including Phoenixes and Carriers, although they struggle against large numbers of both.
Marines gain an additional role once Medivacs are added to the Terran army. Protoss units general benefit from being near each other and supporting each other, leading to a Death Ball style of play. By loading small groups of Marines into Medivacs and using the gained mobility to harass Protoss expansions, the Terran player can force the Death Ball to split up, or at least back off.
[edit] Vs. Terran
Marines in TvT are a strong addition to any composition. Another use for Marines is in early game pushes, such as an early Marine/Tank push, or 2 Barracks proxies.
Marines are almost universally used in all TvT matchups, especially in conjunction with Siege Tanks. The main purpose for the most basic Terran unit is to either harrass the opponent via Medivac drops, which can destroy a mineral line in a matter of seconds, especially once the Stimpack upgrade has been researched, and also to act as a buffer between the opponents forces long enough for your own Siege Tanks to enter Siege Mode, which forces the opponent to continue attacking and face major losses, or retreat, giving up a significant position on the map.
[edit] Vs.
Zerg
Marines are the core component of any TvZ army. Siege Tanks accompany the marines to thwart Banelings and make casting Fungal Growths more difficult. If one loses his Marines, Mutalisks will reign superior and either kill all your units and end the game, or contain you and gain superior map control. Once upgrades and Medivacs come into play, Marines will be very effective against Zerglings and Mutalisks, therefore requiring the Zerg to increase the Baneling count.
[edit] Combos
Marines are good with:
- Marauders and Medivacs for anti-air and increased dps
- Siege Tanks for anti-air
- Thors for increased dps
- Battlecruisers for increased dps and to support against Void Rays and Corruptors
- Ravens for mineral sink in mass Raven build
[edit] Gallery
[edit] Quotes
| Quotes | |||||
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| Built | Selected | Annoyed | Move | Attack | Under Attack |
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Marine's quotes (video and sound) - YouTube video.
[edit] Patch Changes
| Patch 6 (version 0.8.0.14593) |
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| Patch 13 (version 0.15.0.15449) |
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| Patch 1.3.0 |
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[edit] References
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