The Wraith is a terran space superiority fighter that has seen extensive use throughout the history of engagements in the Koprulu sector.
Overview
Wraiths on the attack.
The Confederacy used the Wraith in 2485 at the beginning of the Guild Wars. These Wraiths had access to laser weapons.[1]
Circa 2499, the Wraith was still considered the newest in a line of space superiority fighters. Traditionally, most space battles had taken place between capital ships and smaller gunships. However, Tarsonian technicians found that small, dynamic high-speed fighters could repeatedly deal damage to large ships while evading most defensive battery attacks. They primarily use missiles for their air/space attacks[2] but could also lasers for air/space targets.[1]
Known for their maneuverability,[3] piloting a Wraith was no small task however, and aspiring Colonial Fleet Wraith pilots already had to be certified combat pilots before gaining access to the new craft.[4] Wraith pilots were typically "lionized" in a manner similar to destroyer captains.[5]
The Wraith's prominence diminished after the Brood War as the conflict revealed several critical weaknesses in terran anti-air capability and Wraith's design itself: combined Wraith/Valkyrie squadrons were an unwieldy combination against agile zerg airborne organisms.The Viking was developed as a more versatile anti-air craft, which could better fulfill the role Wraiths were originally intented for.[6] With the development of the AH/G-24 Banshee Wraith lost it's anti-ground role to the new dedicated ground support craft, equipped with Wraith cloaking systems to boot.[7]
Despite the advances in technology, Wraith squadrons were still maintained by the Terran Dominion until 2505[8][9][10][11] with the Dominion placing restrictions on the augmentations allowed on privately-owned Wraith fighters.[8] They went out of service within the same year, no longer part of the Dominion Armed Forces. However, the mercenary group Raynor's Raiders still has access to Wraith fighters.[12]
Wraiths are capable of both atmospheric and deep space flight[13] and can withstand entry through a planet's atmosphere.[3] It is generally a given that Wraiths will be attached to capital ships, as they lack the ability to make jumps through warp space.[8]
Variants
Quite a few variants of the Wraith exist.[7] Known variants include;
CF/A-17 Wraith
The CF/A-17 Wraith is the earliest known Wraith model, acting as the basis for all later variants. However, it has been supplanted by the CF/A-17G variant (see below). It is armed with Gemini Air-to-Air Missiles.[2]
CF/A-17G Wraith
The CF/A-17G Wraith
The CF/A-17G Wraith is an upgraded version of its A-17 predecessor and for all intents and purposes, represents the 'standard' Wraith.[2] Its design was spurred by the lack of an effective terran air-to-ground unit below battlecruiser weight. As such, the G variant was designed featuring a 25mm burst laser in addition to Gemini Missiles, for attacks against ground targets.[7]
The CF/A-17G also features other upgrades. Equipped with the latest in ECM and stealth technology,[14] the G variant features a built-in cloaking field which runs off the fighter's main power supply.[2] The CF/A-17G is also capable of hovering, and equipped with a computer system which, among other functions, can key in on heat signatures and is compatible with an energy shield.[13]
Wraiths with lasers were in use by 2485 (fighting at the first battle of the Guild Wars) and specifically identified by 2490.[1]
DF/A-19 Wraith
The DF/A-19 Wraith Mk2 is an upgraded version of the CF/A-17G, possessing greater resilience and more powerful weapons without the loss of speed. The DF/A-19 was used by the mercenary group, "Unholy" Tara's Stalkers.[15]
Game Unit
StarCraft
The Wraith is best against large-sized air targets.
With the Apollo Reactor a Wraith can remain cloaked for over 3.5 minutes.
The ground attack and cloak make Wraiths useful for harassing the workers of poorly defended expansions. They're also useful for picking out lone units scouting before the opposition can react. Wraiths, however, have a weak ground attack, are fairly fragile against most units, and easily damaged. While this is compensated with the cloaking ability, Wraiths are not very massable due to their expensive cost.
Abilities
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Upgrades
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Quotations
- See: Wraith Quotations
StarCraft II
The Wraith in the StarCraft II campaign
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 will appear in StarCraft II as a "classic" unit.[16] It will be accessible by Raynor's Raiders in the terran campaign, Wings of Liberty.[12] Other factions having access to Wraiths is also a possibility.[17]
Known Units
- Red Squadron (possible)
- Wraith Squadron Bravo
Known Pilots
- Colonel Tom Kazansky
- Lieutenant Sela Brock
- Lieutenant Charlie Vane
- Lieutenant Wang
- Corporal Dunsil
- Harley
- Lars Trakken
Trivia
During development, the Wraith was known as the Phoenix.[18] The name has been adopted by a StarCraft II protoss unit.[19]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 McNeill, Graham (December 30, 2008). StarCraft: I, Mengsk. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 1416-55083-6. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "SC:IMengsk" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Underwood, Peter, Bill Roper, Chris Metzen and Jeffrey Vaughn. StarCraft (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mesta, Gabriel (July 1, 2001). StarCraft: Shadow of the Xel'Naga. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 0-671-04149-5.
- ↑ Space Fleet. Accessed on 2008-01-28
- ↑ Underwood, Peter, Bill Roper, Chris Metzen and Jeffrey Vaughn. StarCraft (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998.
- ↑ Viking. Accessed on 2008-01-28
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Banshee. Accessed on 2008-01-28
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Golden, Christie. StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga #1: Firstborn. Pocket Star Books, May 2007. ISBN 0-7434-7125-3.
- ↑ Golden, Christie. StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga #2: Shadow Hunters. Pocket Star Books, November 27, 2007. ISBN 0-7434-7126-1.
- ↑ Elder, Josh and Ramanda Kamarga. "Why We Fight." In StarCraft: Frontline: Volume 1, pp. 6–47. Tokyopop, August 1, 2008. ISBN 1427-80721-3.
- ↑ Furman, Simon (w), Tomás Aira (p, i), German Erramouspe (i). "Creep." In StarCraft: Frontline: Volume 2 (paperback binding), pp. 26-67. Tokyopop, January 1, 2009. ISBN 1427-80831-7.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 2008-17-10, Q&A: The Starcraft II Brain Trust. Giant Bomb News. Accessed on 2008-20-10
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Neilson, Micky. StarCraft: Uprising. New York and Toronto, Ontario: Pocket Books, December 2000. ISBN 0-7434-1898-0 (eBook only).
- ↑ Wraith. StarCraft Compendium. Accessed on 2008-01-28
- ↑ 1999-03-26. StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: Mercenaries (in English). Map Archives: Mercenaries. StarCraft Compendium Map Archives.
- ↑ Most, if not all of the units you've seen will be in the editor though, such as the Protoss Soul Hunter, and of course old classics like the Terran Wraith. Karune. 2008-04-25. The new Zerg texture sucks~~~. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2008-04-25.
- ↑ Allen 'Delsyn' Rausch, Dustin Browder. 2008-10-10. StarCraft II: Making the Split (PC). Gamespy. Accessed 2008-10-12.
- ↑ Lord of Ascension. 2007-09-28. StarCraft Evolution. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2007-12-02.
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. Phoenix, Blizzard Entertainment, Retrieved 2007-09-06.