Battlecruiser

The Terran Behemoth-class Battlecruiser (most often just Battlecruiser) is the largest Terran air unit and a capital ship. It is analogous to the Protoss Carrier.

The Battlecruiser is capable of both air-to-air and air-to-ground attack with its heavy laser batteries as well as delivering a devastating energy strike. It is well-protected with NeoSteel armor and serves mostly as a command and peacekeeping vessel for Terran Colonial and succeeding authorities.

Battlecruisers played a pivotal role in the StarCraft storyline and campaigns: Behemoth-class vessels often served as mobile command centers for Terran factions and fleets (for example, the Hyperion and Norad series of battlecruisers), and were utilized in earlier intra-Terran conflicts: earlier space conflict during the Guild Wars took place between Battlecruisers and medium gunships, before the Wraith fighter was developed.

According to game cutscenes and other sources, Battlecruisers can house smaller starcraft within their hulls, as the cinematics show that the models have four hangars in the bow. In addition, they're able to transport up to a thousand troops and vehicles as large as Goliath walkers. In-game, however, they do not carry other vessels.

The Terran Battlecruiser is perhaps the most advanced Terran unit, sharing the top of the Terran technology tree with the Ghost and the Nuclear Missiles; the Starport that builds it must have an attached Control Tower, and also the player must have a Science Facility with an attached Physics Lab, which is required for the Cruiser to power up its weapons systems (stated in StarCraft Episode V).

Ingame
Upgrades are effective, as each weapons upgrade adds three damage to the default 25-damage laser batteries. Yamato Gun is also useful for quickly destroying a single target.

Counters
Despite their immense size and power, there exist several effective counters against Battlecruisers: Terran players can utilize massed Goliaths or the Lockdown ability of their Ghost units in order to quickly neutralize a Battlecruiser fleet. Abilities such as Psionic Storm and Plague are also devastating against Battlecruiser fleets, especially those not escorted by Science Vessels capable of casting EMP Shockwave against enemy spell-casters. Zerg Scourge are cheap to build, but rarely effective against large Battlecruiser groups, even en-masse.

Yamato Gun
It features a powerful siege weapon, the Yamato Gun, capable of taking out ground defenses and heavy air units with impunity. The Yamato Gun utilizes an intense magnetic field to focus a nuclear explosion into a cohesive energy beam.
 * Cost: 100 0 100
 * Researched at: Physics Lab
 * Energy Cost: 150

The name Yamato derives from the starship Yamato's massive and powerful wave motion gun.

Upgrades

 * Ship Weapons
 * Ship Plating

Colossus Reactor
Increases maximum Battlecruiser energy by 50. The Colossus Reactor takes the form of a bulbous superstructure atop the aft section of the ship.
 * Cost: 150\150
 * Upgraded at: Physics Lab

The Battlecruiser in StarCraft II
The Battlecruiser in StarCraft II will have the choice of upgrading itself with either the traditional Yamato Cannon or a new Plasma Turret attack, which is an area-of-effect weapon against ground units. Reportedly, each Battlecruiser must individually choose which ability it will take, and cannot take both.

Known Battlecruisers
For a list of Battlecruisers see a List of Battlecruisers.