Raven

"With such specialized units being available, there is certainly a hole to be filled when it comes to diversity, and the Raven does that exceedingly well. As one of the Terran’s most capable units, the Raven is an ideal drone, capable of providing unmatched protection and extremely valuable reconnaissance."

- Raynor's Raiders blurb

The Raven, formerly known as the Nighthawk, Vulkan and the TF-620 Nomad,  is a terran air unit featured in StarCraft II. It is based on defensive "spellcasting" support via debuffing threats and constructing objects.

Software
The raven is controlled remotely by a terran pilot while the craft's computer houses the main AI core that regulates all critical ship systems and sub-systems. The AI closely monitors variables like overall condition, temperature, energy levels, and external hazards. It processes billions of instructions per second, affording the Raven an ample degree of independent thought and decision making. A few military consultants, speaking on condition of anonymity, have expressed concerns that such a powerful AI could gain sentience, leading to abject disaster. It has been claimed in response that "there's no evidence to back up those claims, and subsequently, no reason to worry."

Hardware
"Yeah, let's give robots the ability to sweat. Battlefields don't smell bad enough already."

- A Dominion marine in regards to the Raven's weeping holes

Functionally, the raven is a a robust all-around air-mobile vehicle and workhorse that combines the functions of a surveillance drone and a combat engineer. Layers of neosteel and synthetic weave make up the bulk of the raven’s fuselage, with sturdy, space-grade fabric between each layer to provide insulation for internal components. The raven is built to operate independently in harsh climates &mdash;the stabilizer fins and key points of the structure are equipped with microscopic weeping holes, which allow for the release of a multipurpose solution to break down ice buildups or cool the fuselage, depending on the environment the vessel is operating in.

Ravens excel in protection and reconnaissance due to their defensive auto-turrets and their advanced sensors, which can detect cloaked and burrowed enemies, and unmask protoss hallucinations. The craft is equipped with an advanced manufacturing plant, where hundreds of thousands of AI-operated nanomachines diligently assemble a diversity of mission critical equipment, such as the auto-turret, point defense drone, and the seeker missile. The raven can also/alternatively be equipped with an interferance matrix and anti-armor missiles. These onboard production capabilities give the raven greater operative flexibility than its science vessel predecessor. Its sensors consist of state-of-the-art surveillance and reconnaissance hardware. Two radars, operating at high/low frequencies respectively, and four high-resolution, multi-spectral cameras allow for target acquisition and tracking at long ranges. When the vessel’s low frequency radar detects anomalies, heuristic detection algorithms supported by thermal and electrical imaging sweep the area to find any cloaked threats.

During the Defenders of Man Insurgency, the Terran Dominion deployed advanced ravens in the covert ops crew of Nova Terra. These ravens had the ability to deploy spider mines, and use bio-mechanical repair drones to heal allied biological and mechanical units.

History
The Terran Dominion initially designed the raven to give low-level protection to its most isolated outposts, but recently the raven has been used in escalating levels of conflict to replace the older and costlier science vessel. Stunning successes in the afforementioned role brought it into more frontline use as a battlefield support unit. Further upgrades and adjustments were implemented, as the ship transitions into a more active role while conflict levels escalated. Ravens are a common sight among the Fringe Worlds, and have become more common throughout the Koprulu sector. Many wonder if the "protection" they offer is just an excuse the Dominion uses to spy on its citizens.

Raynor's Raiders had access to ravens as early as the initial months of the Second Great War. They continued to be used by terran factions throughout the Second Great War and the End War, and advanced versions of the raven were used by Nova Terra and her covert ops crew during the Defenders of Man Insurgency.

The Dominion Special Forces made extensive use of modified ravens, which were rumored to be so effective they could hear a Kel-Morian miner's whispers two kilometers underground.

StarCraft II
The Raven is analogous to the science vessel of the original StarCraft, and are "primarily support craft" for the terran factions. They have no standard attack of their own. They are strong against s.

Versus

 * Upgrades and Abilities

Wings of Liberty
In StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, Ravens are unlocked through research. This costs 20 protoss research points, and is an alternative to the science vessel.


 * Upgrades and Abilities

Nova Covert Ops
Ravens are available for use by Nova from the mission "Night Terrors." They have the option to substitute seeker missiles for spider mines, and substitutes bio-mechanical repair drones for point defense drones.


 * Upgrades and Abilities

Co-op Missions
Nova gains access to the advanced Raven Type-II in Co-op Missions, with enhanced health and abilities. Mira Han and Matt Horner have access to the advanced Theia ravens.

Development
The Raven received changes during the Call to Action playtest. In August 2012, acceleration increased from 2 to 2.25 and speed increased from 2.25 to 2.5. This was done to improve the micro. In November 2012, the Seeker Missile no longer required an upgrade.

In Legacy of the Void, ravens gained the Explosive Shrapnel Shells upgrade. This was removed in Patch 3.8.

In a patch for Legacy of the Void, ravens were re-designed to turn the unit into more of a supportive caster role. The auto turret and defensive drone were removed, and the seeker missile was redesigned. The changes were designed to de-incentivize producing mass ravens. The raven gained the scrambler missile, repair drone, shredder missile, and interference matrix.

Removed Upgrades and Abilities
The following upgrades and abilities were removed from the versus multiplayer version of the raven in Patch 4.0.

Heroes of the Storm
Ravens appear as mercenary units on the map Braxis Holdout in Heroes of the Storm.

Known Variants

 * Raven Type-II
 * Theia Raven

Trivia

 * If one looks at the unit portrait in the map editor, one can find that on the back side of some of the monitors there are unit ability icons such as cloaking, lockdown, lift off, load, Hercules dropship's rapid deployment, and Maelstrom. There is even the "unload" command icon behind the machine in front of the user.
 * There is an animation where all the monitors explode and the pilot facepalms.
 * The pilot has his face angled away from the camera as shown in the photo below, but if seen from the front in the game files he has a generic face with wrinkles and a microphone. He sits with his mouth open. In some regards he can be viewed as a "gamer" because of some of his actions.
 * In the unit portrait, a close look at the screens shows what looks like a message from Arcturus Mengsk (there is a picture of his face and some text).
 * The name of the Corvid Reactor upgrade is a possible reference to the biological family of corvids, which includes ravens and several other birds.