The world of StarCraft can most easily be broken down into three aspects: the races. There's the innovative and endurable terrans, the technology and knowledge-driven protoss and the ever-changing, overwhelming zerg. Each has its strengths and weaknesses both in lore and in-game and utilize them to their fullest extent.
The terrans started off as a crashed expeditionary force that developed into three branches: the Confederacy, the Kel-Morian Combine and the Umojan Protectorate. Since then, it they have sprawled out across the Koprulu sector, the Confederacy having been replaced be the newly developed Terran Dominion, headed by Emperor Arcturus Mengsk I. While they don't possess the natural ability to adapt to their environment like the zerg, they have been able to survive through internal and external conflicts by incorporating new technology into their weapons and production. Their military covers a wide base of everything crucial to victory. The bulk of their military is made up of marines, resocialized criminals wielding a power suit and a gauss rifle, supported by marauders with arm-mounted grenade launchers as well as siege tanks behind them and medivacs above them. Their "air cavalry" as its called is made up of viking fighters that can transform into robotic mechs and banshees that are able to cloak themselves and turn invisible. But these don't even compare to the flagship of the terran fleet, the battlecruiser. Along with other supporting units, they have every role covered from full on assault to hit-and-run tactics.
The protoss are incredibly advanced in almost every single way. They communicate through a telepathic link that they all share, they are lightyears ahead of most, if not all, civilizations technologically and were thought to be the most powerful species in the galaxy. However, the recent emergence of the zerg has proved that even the most skilled warrior can fall to numbers. In order to preserve their society, the protoss have reluctantly broke thousand-year-old tradition to survive. They've developed new technologies to further increase the potency of their already superior army. The primary warrior of the protoss is the zealot, using years of physical training and two blades of psionic energy as its weapons. It is supported by stalkers, a recent development modeled after the dragoon from the dark templar. Immortals are the replacement for the dragoons, adding stronger offensive and defensive capabilities to it. However, the real strength of the protoss lies in its array of aircraft. Phoenixes are small, fast anti-air ships that work with void rays, large ships that require to be charged to achieve their full power. Carriers are the most legendary, known for fighting with eight computer-controlled fighters that can be manufactured within the hull of the ship. When the protoss unleash the full power of their military, not many can stand against them.
The zerg bring a new meaning to the word "adaptable." All strains of the zerg were originally creatures indigenous to planets that it landed on, having been infected by a sort of virus. The subsequent mutation assimilated the creature into the Swarm and created a new strain of zerg. What they lack in power they make up for in sheer numbers. The most numerous and perhaps most infamous is the zergling, a tiny, dog-sized zerg that can be created two at a time and can mutate into a baneling, a large, mobile sac of acid. Hydralisks are the primary ranged forces, shooting spines from their mouths at high velocities. Their other primary assault force is the roach, a heavily armored creature that has amazing regenerative properties. Their air power mainly consists of mutalisks, flying worm-like creatures that expel projectiles from its abdomen. But what truly strikes fear into the hearts of their enemies is the dreaded ultralisk, a hulking beast that lumbers into battle with four massive scythe-like blades projecting from its mouth. They are a force to be reckoned with and not to be taken lightly, especially under the control of such an intelligent being.
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