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Raven

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The Raven is the spiritual successor to StarCraft's Science Vessel, the new Terran air support unit with several useful abilities.

Contents

Background

StarCraft II Unit [e]
Raven
Race: Terran, Tier 3
Role: Battlefield Support
Unit Statistics
Size: Large
Type: Flying, Mechanical
Speed: x
Transport Slots: N/A
Hit Points: 140
Plasma Shields: N/A
Energy Points: 200
Offence
Armament: N/A
Ground Attack: N/A
Air Attack: N/A
Range: N/A
Defence
Armor: 1
Sight: x
Cooldown: N/A
Special Abilities
None
Production
Hotkey: R
Supply: Image:Supply_SC1.png 2
Resources: class="infobox" 100 class="infobox" 200
Build Time: 60
Produced by: Starport
Prerequisite: Tech Lab
Raven Portrait

The Raven is an all-around workhorse that combines the functions of light manufacturing center and observation post rolled into one. A common sight among the fringe-world colonies, the Raven is a robust, air-mobile vehicle built to operate independently in all but the harshest climates. Although the Raven shares a number of common traits with its smaller cousin, the SCV, it is a far more specialized and advanced engineering craft.

Ravens are normally employed for first-line colony surveillance and protection duties against dangerous local life forms or climate events. These vehicles boast an impressive array of sensors delicate enough to detect even cloaked or burrowed enemies. By deploying its two aft-mounted nano-welders, the Raven can construct a variety of small, semi-permanent defensive structures to meet various threats in a matter of moments.

Several Ravens escorting a Terran army.
Several standard template constructions are available to the Raven, a popular example being the Auto Turret. This simple robotic gun emplacement is suitable for driving off smaller hostile life forms for an extended period of time.

The Terran Dominion initially provided Ravens to give low-level protection to its most isolated outposts, typically manning them with local civilians as something akin to a volunteer fire truck or ambulance service. Over time the military support applications of the Raven have seen it deployed in escalating levels of conflict, gradually replacing the older and much costlier Science Vessel.


StarCraft II Unit

The Raven is seen as the replacement for the Science Vessel, however it is not to be confused with the SCV as it does not construct any of the core structures nor can it mine minerals. The lack of armaments reduces it to the role of a support and relief unit in warfare and its detection ability will guarantee its use on the front lines.

The Raven's main strength lies in its special abilities. The devastating Hunter Seeker Missile can quickly turn the tide of battle if used correctly, and Point Defense Drone is an excellent tool to reduce damage from enemy fire and keep causalities to a minimum.

The Raven can also deploy the aforementioned Auto Turret that can be used as a temporary defense against assaults from smaller units such as Zealots or Zerglings.

The Raven is strong against Siege Tank and High Templar.

Abilities

Upgrades


Development

The Raven was originally named the Nomad in early September '08 and had a much different appearance, more like a floating sort of engineering mini-structure. It was renamed the Vulkan in mid October '08 and finally from the Nighthawk in early May '09. The Raven also received an art change on the Nighthawk rename.

The Raven originally had both the Defensive Matrix and EMP abilities, similar to their predecessor, as confirmed in the Q&A Batch 17. EMP was removed shortly after and replaced by the Auto Turret.

A new skill was then revealed for the Raven as part of the Q&A Batch 29, called the Mine Drone however this was replaced by the now familiar Spider Mine in Q&A Batch 37. These mines were to cost 15 energy, which has been increased to 20 in the 2008 WWI build.

The Raven also had the Nano Repair ability however this was oddly missing from the 2008 WWI build.

Around the time for Battle Report 2, the Raven lost its Targeting Drone and got a Hunter Seeker Missile ability.

The Beta rolled out in February 2010 which saw the Raven settling down to the three abilities that it has today; losing the Spider Mine in the process. The Hunter Seeker Missile was renamed to Seeker Missile.




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