The Void Ray seems to be used by 3/4 of my opponents that choose Protoss.
The Starcraft II beta has been up for a little while now in Phase 2, and we’re less than two weeks out from the retail release. Suffice to say, I’ve been spending a good amount of my gaming time with that game and because of that, I have another Starcraft II related post. I don’t know if this is necessarily more of a gripe or more of a strategy article, but based on how much I’ve played Starcraft II, I believe that one of the Protoss’s new units, the Void Ray, is overpowered and needs a nerf. Allow me to explain why, as well as share what you can do against Void Rays – at least in team games.
[NOTE: I have updated this article as of 8/18/2010]
What is a Void Ray?
For those that have yet to try out Starcraft II, the Void Ray is a new Protoss air unit. It is a unit that can be created as soon as you put up a Stargate, and it takes 3 food and costs 250 minerals and 150 gas. It is basically a flying siege unit, as its attack method is quite different from any other unit in the game. The Void Ray has 3 beam arcs, and shoots a concentrated prismatic beam at an enemy target. The longer the Void Ray is engaged on a target, the more damage it does as it starts with 1 beam arc and then a second one and eventually a third one open up, allowing it to double and then triple its damage on a unit. It also gets a major bonus against armored units, making it possible for them to shred through capital end game ships. Finally, with its damage increasing the longer it stays on a target, this makes buildings ripe targets for getting completely decimated by Void Rays.
Why is the Void Ray Imbalanced?
The main problem with the imbalance of the Void Ray is that it does not lose its x3 damage multiplier when it changes targets. If you send Void Rays into an opponent’s base and begin attacking his buildings, your Void Rays will build up to the x3 damage multiplier and by the time your opponent sends his forces at them, they will all get completely sliced up by the x3 damage multiplier since you built it up off the buildings. Void Rays at x3 damage destroy everything in the entire game.
How Would I Want the Void Ray Nerfed?
The easiest and fairest solution for them should be their damage counter resets when they change targets. Currently, they hold their damage multiplier changing from one building to another or from one unit to another. Their main strength is to take on fortified buildings and ships, not slice through weak infantry. This makes Void Rays at x3 damage nearly impossible to destroy.
The Signs of a Void Ray Rusher/Masser
Whether Blizzard does nerf the Void Ray or not is not something I’m holding my breath over. This means the only possible thing at this time is to learn how to actually beat them. The first thing I’m going to share is how to spot them. In your initial scout, if the Protoss player decides to completely wall in – meaning he can’t even get out, that’s basically a 99% chance that he will mass Void Rays. He’ll cannon his front so you take a long time to get to him so he can build his Gateway, Cybernetics Core, and then Stargates to warp in the Void Rays. I’ve even gone up against two Protoss pickers on a team and both players massed Void Rays. We still lost. If you notice that a Protoss player is light on infantry units (Zealots & Stalkers) in the early game, make sure you do some recon on his base – he’s probably starting up his Void Ray massing.
The Most Important Tip
The most important tip on fighting the imbalanced Void Ray I can give you is this: never engage Void Rays that have already fully charged when they are attacking a base. If several Void Rays have already begun attacking your main, it’s gone. Don’t lose your army to them as well. Wait until they are done destroying the base, and on the move to the next base. Always engage Void Rays when they are on the move with their damage counter reset. Never engage Void Rays that have already begun charging up. The c0unters I suggest below are only against Void Rays that are not already attacking your base. If they are already attacking your base, there is no counter. Just pray that one of your teammates has Void Rays of his own and is slicing through your opponents’ bases faster.
Terran Counters
Marines do a decent job against Void Rays. However, in order to be able to counter them successfully, you need to mass marines – like several hotkeys worth pumping out of 4-8 barracks. The only problem is that you have to be aware that your marines can get “stuck” as his units fly in and out of areas that your marines can’t reach. If you are going the mass barracks route, it’s also worth making a Ghost or two, because their EMP shockwave wipes out the Void Rays’ shields, making them significantly easier to kill. I am not a fan of using infantry to take on Void Rays, but sometimes you have no choice.
If you can get to air, massed Vikings do a great job if you can attack the Void Rays before they begin their charge. These relatively cheap units can be set up to pump out 2 at a time from a Starport, so if you see massed Void Rays late, it’s still possible to throw down two Starports get their attachments and pump out 4 Vikings at a time.
To a degree, I actually believe that with the right amount of macro, Battlecruisers with the Yamato Cannon ability can still take out Void Rays. Of course, I haven’t tested this theory in detail myself, but if you had enough Battlecruisers and each one Yamato Cannon’ed a different Void Ray, you would probably have done enough damage to them to pop them all before they can destroy your Battlecruisers.
Zerg Counters
Mutalisks can handle uncharged Void Rays, but remember that you do need something like 2 Mutalisks for every uncharged Void Ray. Throw in a few Corrupters and make sure you use the Corrupter’s special ability against as many Void Rays as you can and the Mutalisks will eat them up as long as they aren’t charged.
Mass Hydralisks also works. In team games, Zerg players will generally mass hydras or mutalisks anyway, so when I go up against players that pick Protoss, I opt for the Hydralisk route. The biggest problem with Hydralisks though are how slow they are now in Starcraft II. They are slower than marines, so Void Rays can easily do hit and run in key areas that will capitalize on the Hydralisks’ lack of speed. To combat this, make sure you make use of the Queen’s Creep Tumor ability. Hydralisks move noticeably faster on Creep, so the Creep Tumor ability allows you to “construct” Creep roads all over the map so your Hydralisks can zip to where they need to go.
Protoss Counters
The Protoss Stalker is probably the strongest ground anti-air unit counter to the Void Ray in the game. The Stalker gets a bonus against armored targets, therefore doing extra damage to Void Rays, and not only do they move fast enough, but by researching their Blink ability, they can easily catch up to fleeing Void Rays since terrain is no longer as much of an issue for them. In team games, Protoss players that do not rush to Void Rays will always start with massing Stalkers. Those guys are quite versatile, and I recommend that if you are ever in doubt about what unit to make as Protoss, the Stalker will not let you down.
Even though the Void Ray gets a strong bonus against the Carrier unit, I believe that a fleet of Carriers can defeat an equal food/resource count number of Void Rays. With enough micro, you can keep your Carriers far enough away from the Void Rays that they can’t really attack you while your dozens of Interceptors continue to attack them. There is definitely micro involved in this matchup, but I believe that in the right hands, Carriers can handle Void Rays.
The Mothership is also a major help against Void Rays. When paired with a fleet of Carriers, you will easily win because you can keep the Mothership far enough back to completely cloak your Carriers while they destroy the Void Rays. The Void Rays will have nothing to shoot at and have to try to go take down the Mothership but take a staggering amount of damage before they can. Even a Mothership with mass Stalkers will do wonders, since your Stalkers will be able to take out enemy Void Rays while being protected by cloak. Finally, the Mothership also has the Vortex ability, which temporarily remove enemy and friendly ground and air units from play. Removing half of the enemy’s Void Ray fleet for a short time will provide your forces with a major advantage.
To a degree, I also think that Phoenixes in mass can handle Void Rays, but because they are air-to-air only, I don’t recommend building them as you will be stuck with them afterwards if your Phoenixes win. Of course, the big benefit of Phoenixes are how fast they are. You can probably intercept the Void Rays on the move before they get to your base with a group of Phoenixes.
Good Luck!
Blizzard recently mentioned that balance changes are coming out in the future, and I strongly believe that the Void Ray will see some sort of nerf. But for the time being, we have to deal with them and their cheesy imbalance. Remember that many things do counter Void Rays – as long as the Void Rays have not fully charged. Never attack Void Rays that have started taking out a base. It’s already gone. Just remember that, and only engage Void Rays that are on the move.
Hmm. 3v3 and such does present a problem for balancing for Blizzard. As I understand it, the game is balanced for high level players at 1v1. So the potential will always be there for a unit (or even a whole race) to be imbalanced in team or FFA modes. At the moment there is a general consensus that Zerg are heavily disadvantaged in team modes and FFA- however playing with my friends and using teamwork and specific playstyles always (so far) seems to have potential to fight against any perceived imbalance, much as you’ve found ways to deal with VRs.
I totally forgot. I need to re-add you on battlenet.
today’s the last day of the beta so i don’t know if they’re shutting the server down now or much later. if it’s still up tonight i’ll be on! (espionage:315)
Incidently, I’ve discovered Zerg are rather good 3v3 or 2v2 if you all play Zerg and all early Zerling rush, it’s devastating!
crap forgot about that too
Sounds like part of the problem is that your allies don’t know how to push together properly when your opponents tech.
But I hear you though. It sounds a lot like the early complaints of mass mutas (where they introduced new units specifically to beat them) or mass hunts (where they changed the entire armor system).
i actually got to play a decent number of games during phase 2 – about 40 or so games on 3v3 RT. I started in the Silver League and ended up in the 4th spot in gold for my division by the end of Phase 2, and what I noticed as I continued to move up the Gold ladder was that fewer Protoss players were using Void Rays and more were using Collosi in 3v3 at Gold league.
Maybe Void Ray is considered “newb” because while it may appear imbalanced against weaker players, better players do know how to deal with them so that’s why these higher ranked players don’t make them anymore? Who knows. Maybe the Void Ray isn’t as bad as I thought. I’m more of a Carrier guy anyway haha
Yeah you have to force the fight if they’re going to harass you. I’ve only been playing 1v1 and some 2v2, but it gets annoying when you’re getting harassed and your ally won’t attack with you.
The other option is to take out the other players early if one of them turtles and techs.
1v1 and 2v2 is too hardcore for me. i personally feel that 3v3 is very different than 1v1 and 2v2, simply because in 3v3 everyone either rushes together early on, or everyone builds up and attacks mid/late game (usually depends on race). also in 3v3, there’s less unit diversity as people just build 8 gateways and build 1 or 2 unit types in mass. in a way, 3v3 may be closer to 3v3bgh than 1v1/2v2!
by the time i got on, beta was closed. sigh.
ya i got on at about 5:30 last night and it was up, but then when I tried again later at about 9 it was done. I guess Blizzard decided to turn off the server when their west coast employees left for the day
oh well…the retail game is only a week away!
What types of teams did you see in the higher leagues espion4ge? I have a theory that PPT or TTP or ZZZ are the only viable 3v3 teams (at least on that map). Wondering if you saw it like that?
i’ve seen every matchup. there hasn’t been one particular set of teams in the 100+ or so 3v3 games I played during the beta. i do see protoss “pickers” the most, followed by zerg “pickers”. In terms of frequency I’d say I see 20% random, 50% protoss, 20% zerg, and 10% terran. Of course, that’s just me and those stats could mean nothing
Hehe, ok cool. I’m still betting that ZZZ and PPT/TTP teams are the ones that will be successful if people take the 3v3 mode seriously though. Basically it’s due to overall strategy adn wall-ins and the fact if you have two of P and/or T you can block off the chokes, whereas if you have 2 or more Z, you can’t.
If you’re playing as Terran, mass voids definitely feel overpowering, but they are probably not overpowered vs Terran.
As Terran you must outnumber the VRs to have any chance against them. Economically this is not too much of a problem as Vikings cost much less than VRs do, with the exception that to attack ground they need to waste them doing a transform, VRs do not. Marines are good against small bodies of VRs but you need huge amount of marines to tackle mass VR.
Now, let’s go own some tossers!
Generally, playing as Terran requires a bit more dexterity and micro than Protoss. You can’t do what the Protoss players do – mass units and just walk blindly into the opponent’s base with little or no micro. You need to use Ghosts and the EMP to tackle the Zealot+Stalker+Collosi ball, control your dropships properly, and do the run back, attack, run back attack dance.
So, you start by saying that the voids are OP, but then you go on to describe many cheap counters. Voids en mass, are quite destructive, but make no mistake,they are quiteexpensive and always, mass ground forces win the day against a lonely mass void fleet. Secondarily, voids have really replaced the carriers, not because people do not like them, but they are rather expensive and the games progress so quickly now that it is to your detriment to try and go carriers early.
If we want to talk about OP units, lets talk about the Mule and harvesting 42 gold resources per mineral deposit, Sensor Tower, Orbital command, Battlecruiser, cloaked banshees, cloaked ghosts, EMP, Ultralisk, Speed and dexterity of the mutas! How the hell does a flying angry bat outmaneuver an effin Terran or Protoss starship? Really? Banelings, infestors. Ravens and seeker missles.
What happened with Starcraft II is that they took the best of the protoss and split it between the Terran and Zerg. What’s left, is practically boring to play and takes quite a while to build up.