Wraith (StarCraft II)

"Hey hotshot, you want these Wraith fighters now? They'll take down a battlecruiser easy. You can build more at a starport."

- Chief Engineer Rory Swann

The Wraith has been replaced by the Viking in the anti-air role, while the Banshee is far superior in the ground attack role and inherits the Wraith's cloaking ability.

The Wraith may be built during and after the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty mission, "Engine of Destruction", where Chief Engineer Rory Swann dispatches them to provide air support for the Odin.

Compared to the Viking, the Wraith is more expensive, slower to build and has much lower air-to-air range, but has the advantages of cloaking, higher speed, and being able to attack ground targets from the air. The damage output of their missiles is a trade-off - the Viking's missiles do more damage (10 +4 versus the wraith's 5 +5), but the Wraith attacks faster. The Viking also has the advantage of not requiring a tech lab, though this is circumvented if the player gets tech reactors.

Compared to the Banshee, the Wraith costs one less supply, builds and moves faster, and is able to attack air targets. However, the Banshee costs less vespene gas, and does significantly greater damage to ground targets. As an overall, the Banshee and Viking are preferable to the Wraith, but if the player wishes for an entirely cloaked force, then a fleet of Banshees and Wraiths is perfectly viable.

Wraiths are strong against medivac dropships, banshees, s, void rays, s, warp prisms, s, corruptors, and brood lords. They are weak against s, s, missile turrets, stalkers, photon cannons, s, and spore crawlers, while not being very effective against phoenixes and s, and being on par with Vikings.

Co-op Missions
Wraiths are exclusive to Rory Swann in Co-op Missions. They do not need to research their Cloaking Field, and do not require a tech lab to produce. Mira Han and Matt Horner have access to the advanced Asteria wraiths.

Quotations

 * See: StarCraft II Wraith Quotations