• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 20:33
CEST 02:33
KST 09:33
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash8[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy16ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT30Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book20
Community News
Weekly Cups (March 23-29): herO takes triple6Aligulac acquired by REPLAYMAN.com/Stego Research8Weekly Cups (March 16-22): herO doubles, Cure surprises3Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool49Weekly Cups (March 9-15): herO, Clem, ByuN win4
StarCraft 2
General
What mix of new & old maps do you want in the next ladder pool? (SC2) Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy Aligulac acquired by REPLAYMAN.com/Stego Research Weekly Cups (March 23-29): herO takes triple herO wins SC2 All-Star Invitational
Tourneys
RSL Season 4 announced for March-April Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament StarCraft Evolution League (SC Evo Biweekly) WardiTV Mondays World University TeamLeague (500$+) | Signups Open
Strategy
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Frigid Storage Publishing has been re-enabled! [Feb 24th 2026]
External Content
Mutation # 519 Inner Power The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 518 Radiation Zone Mutation # 517 Distant Threat
Brood War
General
ASL21 General Discussion Gypsy to Korea How Can I Add Timer & APM Count? A cwal.gg Extension - Easily keep track of anyone BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/
Tourneys
[ASL21] Ro24 Group F [ASL21] Ro24 Group E Azhi's Colosseum - Foreign KCM Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates What's the deal with APM & what's its true value Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Starcraft Tabletop Miniature Game General RTS Discussion Thread Darkest Dungeon
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
G2 just beat GenG in First stand
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Canadian Politics Mega-thread The Games Industry And ATVI European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion! [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion Cricket [SPORT] Tokyo Olympics 2021 Thread General nutrition recommendations
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
[G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Money Laundering In Video Ga…
TrAiDoS
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
FS++
Kraekkling
Shocked by a laser…
Spydermine0240
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 9020 users

Protoss Carrier and SC2 - Page 2

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next All
Prophecy3
Profile Joined March 2010
Canada223 Posts
August 24 2010 05:08 GMT
#21
Is that some Terran love you're throwing down there Zato-1?

Yay Terran? lol.

Seriously though.. Carriers don't have enough staying power.. Especially against Terran.
Ignorance is Bliss? Indifferance is Atrocity.
micronesia
Profile Blog Joined July 2006
United States24767 Posts
August 24 2010 06:07 GMT
#22
On August 24 2010 13:24 Zato-1 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 24 2010 12:40 micronesia wrote:
On August 24 2010 12:34 Supersrsbnz wrote:
Carriers own nearly anything when massed, only thing that beats em is yamato cannon, they eat through vikings like they were nothing, they are my favorite unit even though I only get to use em in garbage 4v4 n stuff.

Um are you sure that they eat through vikings like they are nothing? If the terran has had ample time and money to match the protoss with building air, then I think vikings with their dedicated air to air attacks with 9 range and focus firing with kiting style micro will win...

Yes, Carriers do eat through Vikings like they are nothing. Each interceptor deals 5x2 damage, meaning they absolutely tear through the health of vikings because they have base armor 0; it takes less than two volleys of 8 interceptors to kill a Viking. On the other hand, Carriers have a lot of health, so Vikings can't take them out nearly fast enough to win; at 28 damage per attack (24 once shields are down), it takes 18 Viking attacks to kill 1 Carrier. Try it out in XGDragon's Unit Tester.

Also, kiting a range 8 unit with a range 9 unit isn't really effective.

Show nested quote +
On August 24 2010 13:19 Equalsdee wrote:
Oh and battlecruisers counter carriers really bad, even without yamato cannon a fully upgraded battlecruiser beats a fully upgraded carrier with 200~~ hp left

Yeah, BCs are one of the effective counters to Carriers. Base armor 3 = GG against an attack that deals 5x2 damage.

I just played around with it...

6 carriers is 6*(350+250+100) = 6*700 resources = 4200 resources
19 vikings is 19*(175+50) = 19*225 resources = 4275

I have the vikings focus fire the carriers with no other micro

Result: Even... neither side has an advantage

This was because I chose a quantity that allowed the vikings to take less shots to kill the carriers... if I went down or up 1 carrier then the carriers were favored... so at best it seems like the vikings are even, at worst outmatched assuming gas isn't more valuable than mins (which they are but I slightly compensated for that by giving a fraction of an extra unit to team viking.

I tried it with 0-0 upgrades and 3-3-3
ModeratorThere are animal crackers for people and there are people crackers for animals.
Andreww
Profile Joined August 2010
United States1 Post
August 24 2010 07:14 GMT
#23
I used to do this in 2v2 (granted it was when I first got the game and I barely played beta and had very very little experience from SC1 (custom gamer)) and when I had gotten 10 carrier's out it was GG.
Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.
lololol
Profile Joined February 2006
5198 Posts
August 24 2010 07:16 GMT
#24
Seriously guys, stop using the bugged unit tester map. It's not that hard to notice that at least one of the carriers launches all his interceptors at the same time and way before vikings are even in range, when you click on the attack button in the custom map hud.

Vikings beat carriers with equal resource investement and upgrades, even if you're wasting a huge amount of damage in overkill, as it would happen if you focus fire with a lot of vikings on the same target.
The only case where vikings do not win vs carriers is in a 1v3, since the carrier mantains 100% of it's dps during the whole fight, which won't be the case with more carriers.
I'll call Nada.
Zato-1
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Chile4253 Posts
August 24 2010 13:10 GMT
#25
On August 24 2010 14:03 Drfluffy wrote:
carrier can kite BC indefinitely.

Well, the BCs can just massacre the Interceptors. It won't kill the Carriers, but it puts them out of commission for some time and gives the BCs map control.
Go here http://vina.biobiochile.cl/ and input the Konami Code (up up down down left right left right B A)
imbecile
Profile Joined October 2009
563 Posts
August 24 2010 13:53 GMT
#26
A build that I train atm, only on island maps like LT or DO:

  • 2gate robo, but delay warpgate
  • first robo unit is warp prism, that get 3 zealots and a probe onboard, zealots into enemy mineral line
  • probe on the island, expo there, use warp prism to get up starport immediately
  • get warpgate ready and if possible prism speed, continue harassing to prevent your island from being scouted, add more gates
  • get carriers, do shield upgrades and air weapons upgrades (can be done in parallel and shield benefits all)
  • push out when you think you are ready, which obviously depends on how well the warp prism harass worked
Drfluffy
Profile Joined August 2010
United States96 Posts
August 24 2010 14:24 GMT
#27
On August 24 2010 22:10 Zato-1 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 24 2010 14:03 Drfluffy wrote:
carrier can kite BC indefinitely.

Well, the BCs can just massacre the Interceptors. It won't kill the Carriers, but it puts them out of commission for some time and gives the BCs map control.


I don't know, BCs are slow and not good at maintaining map control, their ATA weapon sucks which means they can't shot out interceptors fast enough.
Zato-1
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Chile4253 Posts
August 24 2010 14:40 GMT
#28
On August 24 2010 23:24 Drfluffy wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 24 2010 22:10 Zato-1 wrote:
On August 24 2010 14:03 Drfluffy wrote:
carrier can kite BC indefinitely.

Well, the BCs can just massacre the Interceptors. It won't kill the Carriers, but it puts them out of commission for some time and gives the BCs map control.


I don't know, BCs are slow and not good at maintaining map control, their ATA weapon sucks which means they can't shot out interceptors fast enough.

Yes they can, in my experience. Carrier DPS vs. Battlecruisers is _awful_, their armor reduces interceptor damage by 60% (assuming their armor upgrades keep up with Carrier attack upgrades); Battlecruisers get plenty of time to shoot all those mosquitoes out of the sky.
Go here http://vina.biobiochile.cl/ and input the Konami Code (up up down down left right left right B A)
Wolf
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Korea (South)3290 Posts
August 24 2010 14:52 GMT
#29
On August 24 2010 22:53 imbecile wrote:
A build that I train atm, only on island maps like LT or DO:

  • 2gate robo, but delay warpgate
  • first robo unit is warp prism, that get 3 zealots and a probe onboard, zealots into enemy mineral line
  • probe on the island, expo there, use warp prism to get up starport immediately
  • get warpgate ready and if possible prism speed, continue harassing to prevent your island from being scouted, add more gates
  • get carriers, do shield upgrades and air weapons upgrades (can be done in parallel and shield benefits all)
  • push out when you think you are ready, which obviously depends on how well the warp prism harass worked


This sounds pretty interesting. How's it going for you so far ? I could see this going well if your opponent doesn't really scout you, but a scan could cripple you I think. Also this might struggle against early pressure.
Commentatorhttp://twitter.com/proxywolf
TL+ Member
imbecile
Profile Joined October 2009
563 Posts
August 24 2010 15:25 GMT
#30
On August 24 2010 23:52 Wolf wrote:

This sounds pretty interesting. How's it going for you so far ? I could see this going well if your opponent doesn't really scout you, but a scan could cripple you I think. Also this might struggle against early pressure.


As I said, only training, against YABOT green tea. Works really well. Better against Z. But then again, AI is predictable. But AI is also more diligent at scouting islands than most humans.

Early it is the same as any 2 gate robo. There is a period of vulnerability, sure. But your main can be protected by force field, and the island is protected by the carriers. If it gets rough, add cannons. And that period of vulnerability you have to cover up by warp prism harass.

The pivotal point is the first warp prism drop. It's rather early, and you have a little resources saved up for the island expo. Depending on what you see then, you gotta make a decision how to go on: go for the expo, or add more gates immediately or whatever. But against computer I don't need to make any adjustments.

IMHO the key to using carriers is air the weapon upgrade. No other unit benefits so much from an attack upgrade as carrier. 16 dmg per level.
bebe01
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Korea (South)512 Posts
August 24 2010 15:31 GMT
#31
when I push with my bioball your carrier is gonna die in 3 seconds to stimmed marines
Salteador Neo
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Andorra5591 Posts
August 24 2010 15:36 GMT
#32
This is some pretty cool info, even if not that viable in 1vs1, I find it very interesting for multi :o
Revolutionist fan
monterto
Profile Joined June 2010
Canada103 Posts
August 24 2010 15:49 GMT
#33
Blizzard had the good graces of pitting me against some silver players and I saw a few carrier "builds". Multitasks can hold their own and corruptors decimate them esp with contaminate.
I'm pretty much Hyuk but white...
TheGrimace
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States929 Posts
August 24 2010 15:56 GMT
#34
On August 25 2010 00:49 monterto wrote:
Blizzard had the good graces of pitting me against some silver players and I saw a few carrier "builds". Multitasks can hold their own and corruptors decimate them esp with contaminate.


Multitasks? I might start calling them that actually...

I've seen a game turned by carriers, but I agree that it relies quite a bit on surprise. I'm not comfortable putting so much into a fast carrier build, though if you have some replays I'd be interested in seeing how it went for you.

This thread did raise a question in my mind though. Do interceptors benefit from armor upgrades?
sikyon
Profile Joined June 2010
Canada1045 Posts
August 24 2010 16:01 GMT
#35
Carriers are good army support since htey can shoot-move once interceptors are out and they get additional range once interceptors are out.

They do tend to build too slowly to make an acceptable army out of though, but for T3 I would rather have an army of battlecruisers but I would want carriers for support over BC's.
OutlaW-
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Czech Republic5053 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-08-24 16:06:08
August 24 2010 16:05 GMT
#36
Get a robo. Expand. Get HT. Be aggressive. Get a third base. Get carriers. Win.
900 diamond point T/P player and I am yet to lose a late game PvT. Watch Socke's games for insipiration, though I didn't get inspired by him.
Delete your post underage b&. You're incestuous for you're onee-chan so you're clearly not a bad guy, but others might not agree
Cambam
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States360 Posts
September 12 2010 01:28 GMT
#37
Hey, I'm a 900 point diamond zerg and my protoss practice partner has been trying out carriers lately. I've been having a lot of trouble with them. The two things people have been arguing that makes carriers bad are:

1.) They take a long time to get to and make and the strategy is "ruined" if they're scouted

2.) They're hard countered by corrupters.

So in the few games I've played against my friend's carrier build, I find both of these aren't problems for him. He goes for a very quick stargate (around 24-26 supply), so he gets them quick, but is vulnerable in the beginning. However, I don't attack him in the beginning because I'm fast expanding. By the time I've got my expansion up and start making an army, he's already got a considerable ground army to defend with, plus a carrier.

He gets his expansion up pretty soon after mine and then proceeds to get the interceptor upgrade, 2-3 ship weapons upgrades, lots of zealots and stalkers and carriers. The problem with going corrupters is that it cripples my ground army and he can somehow have a sizable ground army that I have to deal with. If I get just a few corrupters, the carriers and stalkers can easily kill them. If I get more corrupters, my smaller ground army will get run over by his ground army + the carriers. My corrupters may kill all of the carriers, but then I'll have a bunch of useless anti-air units sitting around while his ground army kills my base.

In my last game, I had a bunch of hydras, and was having some success targeting the interceptors, but he was still harassing me and my economy and putting me behind. And if he ever attacks with ground army + carriers at the same time, the interceptors don't have priority. So my hydras focus on the zealots and stalkers and just get annihilated by the +2 or +3 weapons carriers.

So basically my question is why does everyone think carriers are underpowered? Maybe by themselves they are, but with the addition of a sizable ground army (which is apparently attainable with just two bases) they're incredibly powerful.

P.S. I'd like to upload the replays, but I've never done that before. Could someone explain it to me? Do I upload to some replay site and then link to that site here? If so, what's a good/easy site to do that at?
blitzkrieger
Profile Joined September 2010
United States512 Posts
September 12 2010 01:46 GMT
#38
Interceptors are too vulnerable to marines, hydra, etc. Sure they build much faster than BW but it doesn't matter since they don't auto-heal and return after each attack, they just sit out there and die (at least thats what I can tell).

The other problem is carriers move slower, have less armor, and interceptors do 5x2 damage which means armor severely hurts them. The same issues the Mship has actually.

Carriers got worse from BW while most other units (except zerglings lol) got better. Well lockdown is gone so maybe they did get a buff. If someone has replays of carriers used by good players please post them.
Antisocialmunky
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States5912 Posts
September 12 2010 01:53 GMT
#39
Carriers work well when the unit count is low.

Good luck with getting this to work more though. I think that you will die to heavy Bio pressure from Terran.
[゚n゚] SSSSssssssSSsss ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Marine/Raven Guide:http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=163605
Mr.Minionman
Profile Joined April 2010
United States164 Posts
September 12 2010 02:06 GMT
#40
I've been working on mixing carriers with collosi (where 1 base goes well with 3gate robo, 2 base goes well 6gate robostargate) the strange thing about the fleet beacon though, is that getting both carriers and the mothership isn't viable at all...
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
The PiG Daily
21:00
Best Games of SC
Reynor vs Zoun
SHIN vs ByuN
herO vs sOs
Maru vs SHIN
Clem vs Bunny
PiGStarcraft649
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
PiGStarcraft649
SpeCial 128
RuFF_SC2 0
StarCraft: Brood War
firebathero 165
Backho 125
910 41
ggaemo 23
Dota 2
monkeys_forever870
Counter-Strike
taco 526
Other Games
summit1g8846
tarik_tv4526
shahzam429
C9.Mang0239
Fuzer 125
ViBE50
Mew2King43
PPMD31
Liquid`Ken3
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick730
BasetradeTV81
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 75
• musti20045 62
• RyuSc2 34
• davetesta19
• HeavenSC 13
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• HerbMon 6
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Upcoming Events
RSL Revival
9h 28m
Maru vs MaxPax
BSL
18h 28m
RSL Revival
1d 6h
Cure vs Rogue
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
1d 13h
BSL
1d 18h
Afreeca Starleague
2 days
Wardi Open
2 days
Replay Cast
2 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
3 days
Kung Fu Cup
4 days
[ Show More ]
The PondCast
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Escore Tournament S2: W1
WardiTV Winter 2026
NationLESS Cup

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
CSL Elite League 2026
ASL Season 21
CSL Season 20: Qualifier 2
StarCraft2 Community Team League 2026 Spring
RSL Revival: Season 4
Nations Cup 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026

Upcoming

CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
IPSL Spring 2026
Acropolis #4
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.