Wraith

"Wraith awaiting launch orders"

- Terran Wraith

The Terran CF/A-17 Wraith-class starfighter is a starfighter in the StarCraft universe.

They are versatile one-man fighters that physically look like a "Y", with all the sides of equal length. They have a bubble cockpit in the center of the triple wings. The top two wings have an air-to-air Gemini missile package each, and the lower wing has a burst laser cannon. They were created for warfare purposes by the Terran Confederacy. Previously in its turbulent history, most space engagements were fought out with sluggish capital ships: large battlecruisers and medium gunships that were powerful and heavily armored, but were slow. The Wraith was the first starfighter in use by the Terran Confederacy, and in fact, all Terrans. The Wraith-class is fast enough to evade laser battery blasts, but can gradually damage even the large Behemoth-class battlecruisers given numbers and time.

Because of the relative weakness of their air-to-ground burst lasers, Terran commanders often use Wraiths against enemy air units as opposed to enemy ground groups. It is not advised for Wraiths to attack ground units except in dire situations or when the Wraiths heavily outnumber the enemy. Cheap ground units that can take out Wraiths include stimpacked Marines, Protoss Dragoons, and Zerg Hydralisks. Enemy air towers (such as the Terran missile turret or the Zerg spore colony), which are extremely effective against air units and can detect cloaked Wraith-class starfighters, are devastating against Wraiths even when outnumbered. Yet, the respectable 20 damage (26, if upgraded) of the Wraith fighter gives it an edge in air combat against the Zerg Mutalisk, and as aforementioned, groups of Wraith-class starfighters, cloaked or even uncloaked, can destroy small groups of enemy capital ships.

In the StarCraft II era, the Wraith was replaced by the Viking (in its anti-air role) and the Banshee (in its stealth aircraft role).

Cloaking Field

 * Cost: 150 0 150
 * Researched at: Control Tower
 * Energy Cost: 25 to cloak (+ 1 per second to remain cloaked)

Upgraded Wraith-class star fighters (CF/A-17G) have special E.C.M. and stealth technology and have the ability to cloak, which will render them literally invisible (hence the name) to the naked eye and even standard combat sensor arrays. It costs 25 energy to activate, and drains away 1 energy per second that it is activated. With the Apollo Reactor upgrade, a Wraith can stay cloaked for 3 minutes and 45 seconds maximum. This gives them an unique advantage compared to other air units. Cloaked Wraith-class fighters can take down enemy star fighters and even capital ships before they are detected. However, advanced sensor arrays installed on Terran Missile Turrets, Protoss Photon Cannons, Zerg Spore Colonies, Terran Science Vessels, Protoss Observers, Terran Comsat Arrays, and Zerg Overlords can detect cloaked Wraiths. It is highly advised for players playing against Terran enemies to keep a detector unit or two with an attack force.

Upgrades

 * Ship Weapons
 * Ship Plating

Apollo Reactor
Increases maximum Wraith energy by 50.
 * Cost: 200\200
 * Upgraded at: Control Tower

In some StarCraft literature, Behemoth-class battlecruisers carry two squadrons (two dozen) Wraith-class starfighters.

Wraith-class fighters are often used in conjunction with Valkyrie-class Frigates as escorts.

DF/A-19 Wraith Mk2
The DF/A-19 Wraith Mk2 appeared in Mercenaries as part of 'Tara's Infiltrators.'

Quotes
"I'm just curious...why am I so good?" (Quoting Ken Dodd)

"I gotta get me one of these." (From Independence Day)

"You know who the best starfighter in the fleet is?"

"Yours truly."

"Everybody gotta die sometime, Red." (From Platoon)

"I am the invincible, that's right."

"Coordinates received... attack formation... roger. Vector locked-in." - Anonymous Wraith-class starfighter pilot