Description [ edit ]

A dual-purpose Dropship and Medic (12.6 Health per second), the Medivac can be produced immediately from a Starport, possibly with a Reactor. It has the Ignite Afterburners ability natively, which increases the Medivac's movement speed to 5.94 (faster than a Mutalisk and equal to a Phoenix) for a quick escape or running past anti-air units and defence.

An essential component of the popular unit composition of Marines and Marauders (sometimes including Hellbats), the Medivac heals damage from Stimpack usage fairly quickly but takes much longer to heal low-health units. Attacks should be quick and brief so as not to deplete the Medivac's energy too quickly.

The Medivac can drop Marines and Marauders and then support them with healing to make the drop even more dangerous. It can also move (unsieged) Siege Tanks, Hellions and Thors allowing for many options for harassment, be it shelling a base from a cliff or dropping Hellions into a mineral line to deal large economic damage. Dropping from Medivacs is only advisable if you can retreat quickly. Vikings in Assault Mode can also be loaded into a Medivac, though this is rarely done.

AI Particulars [ edit ]

Medivac AI handles attack commands differently from a standard combat unit. When given an order to patrol, force-fire, or attack-move (by itself or in a group with other units), it will stop to heal any damaged infantry in its proximity. It will also stay close to any infantry actively attacking an enemy unit/building, regardless of whether those infantry need healing or not. Its Heal autocast skill is treated as its 'attack', and its preferred targets are infantry that are damaged or in combat. When all infantry are dead, or stop attacking the enemy, the Medivac will remember its last ordered position and move there. Give it a move command, or take Heal off of autocast, and the Medivac will go directly to any location ordered.

On the other side, StarCraft II combat AI has assigned Medivacs the same priority for attack as any other "standard" unit, resulting in distance being the only factor for target selection. This may sometimes be beneficial as it diverts fire from your army, and sometimes detrimental, as in the case of drops, as hostile units may not switch to unloaded units until their first choice is either dead or out of range; your units may be left stranded if the Medivac is not micromanaged effectively. This does not apply when the dropped units are attacking back; if a Marine is engaging a Medivac and a hostile Marauder drops and starts attacking, the Marine will defend itself from the attacker, giving the Marauder higher priority, and saving the Medivac.

Spells [ edit ]

Heal Caster: Medivac 1 per 4 HP Range: 4 Hotkey: E The Medivac automatically (or on order) heals a close-by friendly biological unit.

This comes out to about 12.6 hp/s (in real time). The minimum required energy to start the healing process is 5, in order for an EMP Round or Feedback to have a slightly longer lasting effect.

This spell also works on friendly biological units in team games. This is particularly effective with a Zerg ally as all Zerg units are biological meaning that medivacs will automatically heal injured Zerg units.

Abilities [ edit ]

Load Hotkey: L The Medivac has a cargo space of 8.

Ignite Afterburners Cooldown: 14s 14s Hotkey: B Speed boost that increases Medivac 's movement speed and acceleration to 5.94 for 4.3 seconds.

Note that the cooldown period shown for Ignite Afterburners here and in the patch notes does not include the time for which the boost is active. However, in the game the cooldown technically starts upon ability activation and lasts longer accordingly.

Upgrades [ edit ]

These upgrades are available from the Fusion Core.

Rapid Reignition System 100 100 57 Hotkey: R Researched from: Fusion Core Reduces the cooldown of Medivac's Ignite Afterburners from 14 to 9 seconds and increases the Medivac's base movement speed from 3.5 to 4.13. However, this upgrade does not affect Medivac's movement speed during the Ignite Afterburners effect.

Competitive Usage [ edit ]

General [ edit ]

Medivacs can be used tactically to get Tanks to places they wouldn't be able to reach otherwise. A good example of a map that benefits from heavy Medivac usage is Kulas Ravine, which features cliffs overlooking many important positions. Drops into the enemy base or against expansions, performed with prudent timing, combined with the Medivac's healing capability, can be extremely powerful in all match-ups.

Medivacs are brought with a Terran bio army to provide healing support. They are also frequently used to drop units in the Protoss base and snipe important infrastructure (Mining Probes, Pylons, Nexus, tech structures). They are also used in TvP for Hellion/Hellbat drops.

Medivacs serve a similar role to the Dropship in BW, but their usage has decreased. Since most Terran armies now contain some anti-air protection such as Vikings or Thors, Medivacs are now much more likely to get sniped and can be hunted down easily, so they're not used to transport the slow-moving Tanks as often. When Marines are used to support Tanks, Medivacs are also a prudent addition.

Just as in TvP, Medivacs are usually combined with a Terran army in order to provide healing support for the Marines in the Marine-Widow Mine style that is popular in TvZ. Aside from that, they can also be used to drop units, typically Hellbats, in the opponent's base.

Other [ edit ]

When acting as a transport, the Medivac—like all transports—unload 1.4 units per second, size notwithstanding.

Gallery [ edit ]

Quotes [ edit ]

Quotes Built Selected Annoyed Move Attack Under Attack Healing Ready for dust-off. Waitin' on you.

Pickin' up or droppin' off?

Talk to me.

Now what?

Where's the emergency?

Ready for pickup?

Life-flight's here. I normally don't give rides to strangers.

Be sure to wipe your feet at the door.

Hurry up! What, are you missin' a leg or someth... Oh.

Attention passengers, the local time... doesn't matter, since you'll all be dead soon anyway.

We're hit! We're hit! WE'RE ALL GONNA' DIE! WE'RE.. Haha, just kidding, should have seen the looks on your faces.

The weather outside is hostile, with a slight chance of fog of war.

Uhh, why you boys all wearing red shirts, anyways? [q 1]

Welcome to the flying meat wagon. [q 2]

Walk it off!

Welcome aboard, are you an organ donor?

The power of Medivac compels you! [q 3]

Oh, suck it up! You act like you got both arms blown off. In the pipe, five by five. [q 4]

I heard that.

Load and clear.

Will do, command.

ETA, one minute.

Inbound.

Well, hallelujah.

Acknowledged.

Understood.

Confirmed.

On my way.

Let's go.

Heading out. Who's gonna rescue me ?

? Me? You sure?

If you say so.

-sighs- This should be quick.

Oh, hell.

Goin' in. Somebody get me outta this mess! Go into the light.

I have exorcised the demons! ↑ from Star Trek ↑ reference to Undead Meat Wagon ↑ from The Exorcist ↑ from Aliens

Medivac's quotes (video and sound) - YouTube video.

Patch Changes [ edit ]

Patch 4.7.1 [1] High Capacity Fuel Tanks upgrade name changed to Rapid Reignition System.

Rapid Reignition System upgrade no longer increases Ignite Afterburners duration from 4.29 seconds to 6.43 seconds. Now, it decreases its cooldown duration from 8.57 seconds to 6.43 seconds.

Medivacs can now heal units Graviton'd by Phoenix.

Patch 4.11.0 [2] Medivac Moved the Rapid Re-Ignition System upgrade from the Starport Tech Lab to the Fusion Core. In addition to reducing the Medivac's Ignite Afterburners cooldown by 5 seconds, this upgrade will also increase the Medivac's base movement speed from 3.5 to 4.13. However, this upgrade will not affect Medivac’s movement speed during the Ignite Afterburners effect.

