This article covers the current multiplayer version of this unit. For another version see Widow Mine (Heart of the Swarm).

Description [ edit ]

A Light Mechanical Mine produced from the Factory with a Reactor. Has no auto attack and must be Burrowed into the ground to use its "Activate Mine" ability to deal Splash damage to ground or air units. Deals fixed Spell damage (ignores both sides Attack & Armor upgrades) to both the primary target and splash, then taking 29 seconds to load the next attack. Having a slight attack delay before casting "Activate Mine" makes this Unit vulnerable even to units like Mutalisks and Adepts (with a Detector) even if they have shorter range than the Mine's casting distance.

Widow Mines are not affected by the splash damage of friendly Widow Mines (be it the Widow Mine's own attack or another) but other friendly units are; the enemy can use fast units to drag the Mine attacks towards Terran's army. Medivacs picking up units or the fast movement of Stimpacked units is enough to dodge the worst of the spell.

Commonly used as an anti-Melee unit against Zealots and Zerglings that Marines on their own may struggle with, until the opposing army has range 6+ units like Stalkers and Hydralisks with Detection to clean up, and then functions as rear guard unit against air to for Liberators or Siege Tanks, alongside Vikings or Missile Turrets. The Widow Mine's effectiveness at different stages of the game takes some experimentation and experience to understand properly.

Notes [ edit ]

Widow Mines are revealed while Sentinel Missile is on cooldown. The existence of an Armory will grant burrowed Widow Mines invisibility while reloading. The existence is indicated on all the player's Widow Mines by a red light appearing on top.

Widow Mines will not automatically target the same unit unless micro'd to do so.

Abilities [ edit ]

Activate Mine Duration: 2s 2s Hotkey: E Burrows the Widow Mine and readies the weapon. Cannot move while activated.

Sentinel Missiles Range: 5 Cooldown: 29 29 Attacks by launching missiles at enemy ground and air units that get too close. Missiles deal 125 (+35 vs. shields) damage to their primary target, and 40 (+25 vs. shields) splash damage to units nearby.

Upgrades [ edit ]

Targeting Mechanism [ edit ]

1) A widow mine takes about 1.07 seconds to activate. Whenever a unit enters a mine's radius, the mine will lock on it indicated with a visible line. If the target lock is maintained for 1.07 seconds later, a Sentinel Missile will be launched at the target. If the unit successfully escapes the mine's radius before 1.07 seconds to elapse, the rocket will not be launched (the mine will not lose its cooldown) and only then will the mine be able to lock on a new target.

This can effectively lead to unnatural or seemingly random behavior where several units pass through a mine field without activating any of them. A fast unit can pass through a mine radius in less than 1 second, being targeted and not fired upon. Since the mine locks on to a new target only when the first gets out, the second target would be halfway through the mine radius when it is locked on, and yet again get out in less than 1 second.[1]

2) Two mines cannot automatically target the same unit. A field of mines can still end up with significant overkill due to splash damage. As a side effect, a high-HP unit will be able to pass through multiple mines and take very few hits[2]

3) The target of mines can be set manually (by right clicking), in which case they will all drop their current target and resetting their targeting to lock onto a new one, re-selecting the closest units. After 1.07 seconds, all the rockets will launch simultaneously, causing potential overkill. However, constantly right-clicking on units will cause the mines not to fire, since each right-click resets the 1.07 second arming time for all mines in range

4) A mine will never automatically target disguised Changelings or revealed Hallucinations.

Competitive Use [ edit ]

Widow Mines are slightly faster than Marine+Marauder forces (unless Stimmed) and can maneuver around defending units and hit units with shorter range. However, Widow Mines become less effective when the opponent has range 6 units. Drilling Claws decreases the time spent in the burrowing phase and makes it easier to employ Widow Mines as a mobile and flexible attacking force.

decreases the time spent in the burrowing phase and makes it easier to employ Widow Mines as a mobile and flexible attacking force. In defensive formations, Widow Mines can be used to guard chokes and protect vulnerable points.

Can be used in combination with Missile Turrets or a Cyclone to protect from flying units where Marines are not sufficient.

A Widow Mine does a total of 160 damage to a Protoss unit when counting the shield damage and can one shot all Gateway units and the Oracle.

Used to zone out opposing Mineral fields from workers with Medivac (1) and Marines (6) as a standard opening being used since early Heart of the Swarm. Sometimes the Factory is proxied and landed in the Protoss main in an attempt to snipe the first Oracle or Observer and have free reign to produce a few Mines delay mining considerably.

A strong counter to attempts to mass Adepts, and or Phoenix. This allows for a good timing to push before Stalkers and Marauders are fielded in large numbers.

Banshee openings are prepared for by default with Cyclone (1) with a few Vikings soon to follow.

Commonly used for Marines (to 6), Widow Mine (1) drop being much faster than the previous standard, and also common, follow-up of Hellion Banshee (1) with Cloaking Field to punish a fast third Hatchery before Roach Warren or Baneling Nest.

Gallery [ edit ]

Quotes [ edit ]

Patch Changes [ edit ]

Patch 3.11.0 Balance Update [3] Splash damage +shield bonus reduced from +40 to +25

Patch 4.0.0 [4] Widow Mines are now revealed while Sentinel Missile is on cooldown.

Patch 4.1.1 Balance Update[5] Build time reduced from 28.6 to 21.4 seconds.

Patch 4.7.1 [6] The Drilling Claws upgrade now permanently cloaks Widow Mines when they're burrowed.

If Drilling Claws is researched, the Widow Mine will have a visual indicator to show that the unit has the upgrade.

Patch 4.12.0 [7] Drilling Claws upgrade no longer grants burrowed Widow Mines invisibility while reloading. Instead, the existence of an Armory will grant burrowed Widow Mines invisibility while reloading.

The red laser attachment for Widow Mines will now communicate the existence of an Armory instead of the completion of the Drilling Claws upgrade.

Trivia [ edit ]

In its original incarnation as the Shredder, it did a pulsing field of damage unless a friendly unit was nearby.

It was then changed to the more familiar mine form, in which it latches on to its target and explodes after 10 seconds.

Upon the release of the Heart of the Swarm Beta, it seems closer to a single use projectile that fires at any unit that comes within range.