Carrier


 * For the Terran Troop Carrier, see Mammoth-class Carrier.

The Carrier is a Protoss heavy air unit.

Overview
Carriers are large, heavily armored and shielded warships that form the core of the Protoss fleet, serving as command centers for fleet commanders. Although Carriers lack weapon batteries or other armaments of any kind, their ability to unleash swarms of computer controlled Interceptors makes them devastating in ship to ship battle. In addition, the Carrier's hangers can house Scout fighters and even Arbiters.

Carriers are capable of making jumps through warp space and can operate in both atmospheric and deep space conditions. When not on the bridge, a Carrier commander is entitled to his/her own quarters.

"Super Carriers"
A relatively rare number of heavily armed carriers exist. One of the most famous of these was the Gantrithor, the flagship of former Executor Tassadar.

StarCraft
The Carrier is more durable and much faster than the Battlecruiser, and the Interceptors have respectable range, making it useful for destroying base defenses such as Missile Turrets and Spore Colonies.

Carriers rely on Interceptors to attack. A player should be mindful to keep the Carrier's Interceptor quantity as high as possible at all times, especially in combat when the relatively fragile Interceptors may be destroyed quickly. More Interceptors mean greater damage and, against overworked or inattentive opponents, spread damage over a larger number of units. An Interceptor is automatically repaired upon returning to its Carrier, so forcing a Carrier to recall its Interceptors at opportune moments may help to extend Interceptor life and save resources.

Interceptors will self-destruct if their parent Carrier is destroyed. If a Carrier is disabled (for example, through Lockdown), its child Interceptors will return to the Carrier and only resume attacking once the Carrier becomes active again.

While a large force of Carriers possesses great firepower, it is not practical to assemble such a force. Carriers are expensive in both time and resources and a skilled opponent will rarely grant the time necessary. There are also a number of cheap ways to nullify a Carrier, or a Carrier force. Terrans benefit from Lockdown. Zerg can overrun Carriers with a force of Hydralisks, Devourers and/or Scourges, the latter being especially effective. Protoss may resort to Psionic Storm, which can easily destroy Interceptors and leave the Carriers vulnerable to attack.

Abilities

 * Build Interceptor
 * Main article: Interceptor


 * Ability Cost: 25 18 seconds.

Upgrades

 * Air Weapons
 * Air Armor
 * Plasma Shields
 * Carrier Capacity
 * Cost: 100 100
 * Upgraded at: Fleet Beacon
 * Increases the number of Interceptors the Carrier can hold at once by 4.

Quotations

 * See: StarCraft I Carrier Quotations

StarCraft II
The Carrier was originally replaced by the Tempest during the development of StarCraft II but was brought back due to "an emotional connection with the original unit." Although it keeps the structural design of the Tempest, the 'light' color scheme has been maintained. There is also the option to set it to produce interceptors automatically.

As of the current build, the Carrier comes with four Interceptors pre-built, which is currently the maximum it may hold. In addition, it may manufacture up to four Escorts.

StarCraft: The Board Game
Carriers are featured as unit pieces in StarCraft: The Board Game.

Known Carriers

 * Gantrithor
 * Qel'Ha
 * Tempest (not to be confused with the Tempest unit).