Goliath

The Goliath Combat Walker is a Terran one-man all-terrain combat walker used to support Marine forces.

Overview
The Goliath was originally manufactured by LarsCorp Technologies during the Guild Wars for the Kel-Morian Combine. It was intended for for the infantry support role, especially in urban environments. The walker became widespread throughout the Koprulu Sector when the blueprints were stolen by corporate spies and sold to Confederate interests. The Confederacy placed Goliaths in the Confederate Armored Vehicle Corps, pilots requiring a PEB (Preferred Experience Base) of six months combat experience to be trained in their use. . Not that Goliaths were entirely confined to a single corps however, being found within many Confederate units and often attatched to mechanized infantry. As such, Goliaths became well known throughout the Koprulu Sector.

Featuring all-terrain maneuverability and a computer-based heavy weapons system, the Goliath was equally adept at providing both ground level and anti-air support. Goliath armament consisted of twin anti-armor 20 mm /30mm smoothbore Autocannons on the arms and Hellfire-AA Scatter Missiles. Goliaths were further upgraded with the arrival of the United Earth Directorate in the Koprulu Sector. With improved propulsion technologies via Charon Boosters and upgrades to existing targeting system software, the Goliath's range via its Hellfire Missiles was increased dramatically. UED Goliaths featured a gun attached to the lower torso and missile racks on the "shoulders". After the Brood War, Dominion Goliaths were equipped with lower torso guns, similar to the UED design. Despite these advancements and variations, the Goliath's days were numbered. The Brood War had revealed critical weaknesses in Terran anti-air capability. Wraith combat fighters and Valkyrie missile frigates proved to be an unwieldy combination against agile Zerg airborne organisms, while ground-based anti-air support from the Goliath was too limited in its mobility: all too often airborne attackers would simply move out of the Goliath's range and find less well-defended targets to destroy. As such, Terran technicians developed the Viking as the solution to this lack of flexibility, effectively phasing the Goliath out.

StarCraft
Goliaths excel at the anti-air role, serving as mobile Missile Turrets. In Brood War their Charon Boosters upgrade enables them to match the range of Guardians. A notably good feature about the Goliath is that it is actually capable of defeating a Battlecruiser. Though the Battlecruiser would seem to be the winner on paper, due to its far greater hit points and higher attack strength, the Goliath's anti-air missiles have a much greater rate of fire, allowing it win, provided the Battlecruiser doesn't have a Yamato Cannon, which can destroy the Goliath in a single shot. Against ground targets, the Goliath is not as economical as Marines; a pair of Marines deal more damage than a Goliath while costing less. However, they can take much more punishment than a pair of Marines and capable of taking on enemies single-handedly with a lesser chance of being destroyed. As such, they make good damage against light and medium units where their autocannons can do full damage but are useless against heavy units such as Ultralisks unless they have a well number of support of light and heavy units alike.

Goliaths are Large, but only take up two slots in a Dropship or other transport vessel.

Upgrades

 * Vehicle Weapons
 * Vehicle Plating
 * Charon Boosters
 * Cost: 100 100
 * Upgraded at: Machine Shop
 * Increases anti-air attack range to 8.

Quotations

 * See: Goliath Quotations

StarCraft: Ghost
Judging by screenshots, Goliaths were set to appear in StarCraft: Ghost.

StarCraft II
Goliaths are not included in the game, and have been replaced by the Viking.

Known Goliath Pilots

 * Lieutenant Tsuname
 * Sergeant Wynn
 * Alan Schezar

Goliath Variants

 * Cerberus Goliath
 * Defense Robot
 * "Iron Golem" Goliath
 * New Dresdin Elite Guard
 * Skullder Unit 001
 * Skullder Unit 004