Banshee

**StarCraft II Unit** [e]
StarCraft II Unit [e]
	Banshee
Race:	Terran, Tier 2
Role:	Tactical Strike
Unit Statistics
Size:	Medium
Type:	Flying, Mechanical
Speed:	Normal
Transport Slots:	N/A
Hit Points:	130
Plasma Shields:	N/A
Energy Points:	200
Offence
Armament:	Backlash Cluster Rockets
Ground Attack:	12 (x2)
Air Attack:	N/A
Range:	6
Defence
Armor:	0
Sight:	x
Cooldown:	x
Special Abilities
Cloak ( 25); Makes the unit invisible but drains energy.
Production
Hotkey:	E
Supply:	3
Resources:	150 100
Build Time:	60
Produced by:	Starport
Prerequisite:	Tech Lab

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The Banshee is a Terran aerial unit with a heavy ground attack, but little or no defense against air attackers.

Background

Many experiments with dedicated air-to-ground attack have been undertaken by the Terrans. Various dead-end approaches were tried and then discarded: ordnance packages for Dropships, remote semi-autonomous drones, and airborne artillery platforms, to name but a few. Such continual compromises eventually led to retrofitting variants of the Wraith space superiority fighter with a belly-mounted burst laser to fulfill the role in the short term. Even so, the abiding problem of finding truly effective air-to-ground support below Battlecruiser weight remained.

Procyon Industries has been the latest to tackle the problem by approaching it from a different direction. Instead of attempting to adapt existing aircraft designs for a role they were never intended to fulfill, the technicians at Procyon designed the Banshee from scratch. As a planetary craft, the banshee wouldn't need high-powered engines to achieve escape velocity and fight in orbit, so instead technicians fitted it with economical twin turbofans. Any air-to-air weaponry was deemed unnecessary: the banshee would only hunt ground targets. Thus, it was equipped with powerful air-to-ground cluster rockets.

The Terran Banshee.

The resulting aircraft was cheap, relatively robust, and well suited to its intended role of making tactical strikes on the battlefield. The Banshee was adopted by the Dominion as a light infantry support craft that could be quickly transported to any world. Despite the Banshee's many fine traits, Dominion commanders initially derided its apparent inflexibility and relegated Banshees to a minor support role in backwater militias.

However, with the benefits of being lighter and much more mobile than a Siege Tank, the Banshee soon gained itself a fearsome reputation in spite of its detractors. It particularly shone as a jungle and desert fighter that could hunt across vast areas of inhospitable terrain and suddenly strike at unsuspecting enemy forces. The surprise attack value of the Banshees has been further enhanced by modifications that allow them to mount salvaged Wraith cloaking fields, enabling banshees to hit and run even where the enemy dominates the skies.

Banshee Wireframe.

As the Dominion conquered additional Terran worlds, the Banshee was cast into a new role. Guerilla freedom fighters making hit-and-run raids against Dominion forces found themselves hunted by banshees that could respond quickly enough to catch them as they were fleeing to their hidden bases. In recent years the Banshee has gained a nasty reputation as a Dominion terror weapon because it has been used more and more often in urban conflicts, where its indiscriminate attacks have killed countless non-combatants.

StarCraft II Unit

The Banshee in StarCraft II is designed for base raiding and hit-and-run attacks with the ability to Cloak and its powerful air-to-ground missile strike. It does not have any form of air defense so is susceptible to other dedicated anti-air aircrafts, such as the Protoss Phoenix and Zerg Corruptor.

Abilities

Cloak: Cloaks a unit preventing enemy units from seeing or attacking it. A cloaked unit will only be revealed by detector units or effects. Drains 0.9 energy per second.

Requirements: Research Cloaking Field at the Starport Tech Lab.

Upgrades

Development

The Banshee is really the new Wraith, with a new appearance and new mechanics. In a way not the Wraith at all, but definitely its successor.

AoE attack.

In late February '08 the Banshee had lost the area of effect attack, instead now attacking a single target. Click here for an animation of the Banshee's old attack.

Gallery

General StarCraft II Shots

An early model of the Banshee.	An upgraded model of the Banshee.	Concept art for the Banshee.	Banshee closeup (Closed Beta).
Colored concept art for the Banshee.	Banshee raid on a Terran base.	A group of Banshees help attack a Terran outpost.	Several Banshees covering for some Dropships.
A few Banshees covering a Terran army.	A squadron of Banshees repel Siege Tank harassment.	Protoss worker raid with Banshees and Reapers.	Banshees attacking a Zerg base.
A group of Banshees attacking a Zerg base.	The new Banshee model in action.	Battle over a river.	Four Banshees attacking the Zerg.

Terran Units (StarCraft II) [e]
Ground Units:	SCV \| Marine \| Marauder \| Ghost \| Reaper \| Hellion \| Siege Tank \| Thor
Air Units:	Viking \| Medivac Dropship \| Raven \| Banshee \| Battlecruiser
Basic Buildings:	Command Center \| Supply Depot \| Refinery \| Barracks \| Bunker \| Engineering Bay \| Missile Turret \| Planetary Fortress \| Sensor Tower
Advanced Buildings:	Ghost Academy \| Factory \| Merc Haven \| Orbital Command \| Armory \| Starport \| Fusion Core
Support Buildings:	Tech Lab \| Reactor
Hero ground units:	Jim Raynor \| Tychus Findlay
Cancelled Units:	Cobra/Diamondback - Firebat - Predator - Medic - Dropship
Cancelled Buildings:	Munitions Depot - Starbase - Shadow Ops

Terran Units (StarCraft I & Brood War) [e]
Ground Units:	SCV \| Marine \| Firebat \| Medic \| Vulture \| Goliath \| Siege Tank \| Ghost
Air Units:	Dropship \| Wraith \| Valkyrie \| Battlecruiser \| Science Vessel \|
Basic Buildings:	Command Center (ComSat Station & Nuclear Silo) \| Supply Depot \| Engineering Bay \| Barracks \| Refinery \| Missile Turret \| Academy \| Bunker
Advanced Buildings:	Factory \| Machine Shop \| Armory \| Starport (Control Tower) \| Science Facility (Physics Lab & Covert Ops)
Hero ground units:	Gui Montag (fb) \| Terran Civilian \| Sarah Kerrigan (g) \| Samir Duran (g) \| Alexei Stukov (g) \| Alan Schezar (gol) \| Jim Raynor (vul, mrn) \| Edmund Duke (st)
Hero air units:	Tom Kazansky (wrt) \| Magallan (sv) \| Hyperion (bc) \| Norad II (bc)
(fb) = Firebat -- (g) = Ghost -- (gol) = Goliath -- (v) = Vulture -- (m) = Marine -- (st) = Siege Tank -- (wrt) = Wraith -- (sv) = Science Vessel -- (bc) = Battlecruiser

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