Carriers return in StarCraft II. Carriers are less costly than the motherships and the battlecruisers but take longer to warp in. Compared to its StarCraftcounterpart, the carrier starts with 4 interceptors when it's warped in and doesn't need the Interceptor Capacity upgrade, saving time and resources on enhancing interceptor numbers. As in SC1, interceptors self-destruct when their parent carrier is destroyed; they are not adopted by other carriers. Unlike in the original StarCraft, carriers can withstand a single nuclear missile strike. Carriers are strong against mutalisks, liberators, marines and phoenix and vulnerable to mass corruptors, vikings, tempests and void rays.
In the single-player campaign of Legacy of the Void, carriers are one of three capital ships the player can choose, along with the tempest and the mothership, and are unlocked upon playing the mission "Templar's Charge." The carrier lacks the Release Interceptors ability, but is followed by two invincible repair drones that will automatically heal nearby friendly mechanical units and structures. Compared to the tempest and mothership, this makes the carrier very useful in a mixed army, able to heal allies and themselves to massively improve longevity. When also combined with warp gate technology and warping-in pylons, a carrier group can become an extremely endurant anti-all fleet allowing for massive, continuous pushes into enemy territory with regular warped-in reinforcements for the few that get destroyed in the process. These ships work well alongside assault ships such as the void ray, as they can quickly repair any hull damage they take while staying alongside them.
In Co-op Missions, Karax and Fenix can build carriers. Karax's carriers can repair nearby units. Fenix's carriers are cheaper and can be upgraded into Clolarion, gaining an anti-air attack, advanced stats and the ability to build interdictors. Fenix's carrier start with five interceptors. However, Karax's carriers will be cheaper instead of Fenix when playing as a Templar Apparent and are more durable when points are allocated to Combat Life and Shield Mastery.
