Starcraft 2 Viking Strategy
The Starcraft 2 Viking is another unit which has a lot of uses, but players in the Gold League and below have a serious tendency to miss the point of this unit.
In this article I will be covering some great Starcraft 2 tips on how the Viking works, what some good strategies for using it are, and how you can counter it if you are going against it.
Starcraft 2 Viking Strategy
Before we get started, you should know the two basics behind the Viking: first, that it deals bonus damage against armored air units, and second, that it can only attack air units when flying, but can land on the ground and become a weak ground unit.
Do note that the ground damage Vikings can do has been significantly reduced, so their ground-to-ground attack is not very strong. However, they do a great amount of damage versus armored air units, and have a very long range (9) on their anti-air attack, making it furthest air-to-air attack in the game.
Below, I will be splitting up how to use the Viking effectively against each race match-up:
Versus Zerg
The Viking is not a major part of the TvZ match-up, but it does have some uses. First off, it is the only real unit in the Terran arsenal that is very effective against Broodlords. It is also strong against Corruptors, but Zerg have no real reason to get Corruptors in TvZ as it is, so do not count on getting them for that purpose.
One good thing Vikings do which many players overlook is that they can be used by Terran players to pick off Overlords. What you want to do is just fly 1-2 Vikings around the map, picking off any Overlords you see just before going in for an attack.
What this allows you to do is put the Zerg player “in the dark” so you can drop with Medivacs. You want to send out preemptive Vikings to take out all the Overlords along your Medivac path so you can surprise the Zerg player with your drops.
The Zerg counter to Vikings is usually Mutalisks. Mutalisks are light units so do not take bonus damage from Viking attacks. Mutalisks are fast enough to chase down Vikings as well, then escape before the bio-ball arrives. You can also use Mutalisks to patrol airways to intercept incoming drops.
Versus Protoss
Vikings are a staple in TvP match-ups. First off, they are the strongest in the game against Colossi, given that they have the same range attack as even a Colossus. This makes it very hard for the Protoss player to take out your Vikings with Stalkers or other air units.
Make sure you position your Vikings over top of your army; do not let them get too far ahead of your tank/marine/marauder line or they can get sniped by Stalkers.
Vikings are also great versus Void Rays; they have a longer range than Void Rays, and are much cheaper. Also with great control, you can kite Void Rays and take very little damage. Even with no micro, since Vikings are so much cheaper and easier to build than Void Rays, it is a great trade to trade a few Vikings to take out a few Void Rays.
As a Protoss player, you will do the best you can to get your Stalkers in a position that they can take out Vikings. Creative uses of Blink may be necessary; though sometimes the easiest way to deal with mass Vikings is to tech switch out of Colossi into a more Zealot / High Templar / Archon-heavy army.
Versus Terran
Out of all the race match-ups, the Viking is even more imperative to TvT match-ups, and in fact it is used in nearly every TvT match-up.
The Viking basically acts as a spotter for your tanks. Tanks have a range longer than their site, and cannot shoot at max range unless they have a spotter (the Viking, a floating building, a scanner sweep, etc).
While this article is a good starting point, if you are serious about getting better at Starcraft 2, we recommend HotKeyIt, the only guide created by pros. You can get it by clicking here.What you want to do in TvT is keep a large fleet of Vikings and Tanks, so you can maintain air superiority and spot for your tanks, and slowly encroach on the enemy Terran player’s base. This is a core strategy of the TvT match-up.
The “counter” to Vikings is actually to just build more. Whoever has the most Vikings often wins in a TvT. Of course, you can try to be creative with MMM builds and drops, but it is hard to come back once your base is being sieged by an enemy with more Vikings than you.
While not as common, some Terran players try to land their Vikings outside of your expansions to take out harvesters, then lift off and fly away. For bases far away from the main, always get a Planetary Fortress and a few Missile Turrets. This will stop this completely. What you also can do is once the Vikings land, fly your own Vikings over top of the landed Vikings.
When Vikings go back into flying mode, you will get a few free shots before they can attack. If the enemy does not lift off the Vikings, bring over a few Marauder or tanks, which are very good against landed Vikings.
Starcraft 2 Viking Strategy and Counter Conclusion
You now should have some good ideas about ways to use the Starcraft 2 Viking in competitive play aside from its obvious use of taking out Battlecruisers and Carriers. Whether it is taking out Overlords to help hide your drops or to spot for your tanks, the Vikings are a great unit to use in all match-ups.
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