A guide to StarCraft mode Direct Strike. If you struggle to counter specific Terran unit in Direct Strike this can help you.

How to Counter Marines

Marine us a biological light unit. It deals an incredible amount of damage in a short time but it’s pretty fragile. The key is to kill them fast.

  • As Terran build more marines and mix it with Reapers for the grenade (KD8 Charge). Don’t start with Marauders, they won’t help you in Marine vs. Marine battle. You can build them once you have enough Marines because Marauders have a greater range. Having Marines in the first line and Marauders in the second line can result in greater DPS.
  • As Zerg build Baneligs to blow them up and Zerglings to kill the remaining forces.
  • As Protoss build Zealots but don’t overbuild them because Terran will continue with Hellbats and Hallbats destroy Zealots. Switch to Disruptors or Adepts. You can build a few Sentrys for the Guardian Shield.

How to Counter Marauders

Marauder is an armored and biological unit with bonus damage to other armored units.

  • As Terran build Marines.
  • As Zerg build Zerglings. You can mix it with a few Hydralisks. Zerglings will buffer some damage from the Marauders and Hydras can shoot without being shot.
  • As Protoss build Zealots and then Immortals.

How to Counter Hellbats

Hellbat is a biological, light, and mechanical unit. It does slash damage and it deals bonus damage to light units. It’s perfect against units such as Zerglings or Zealots.

  • As Terran build Marines. Hellbats do deal bonus damage to light units but Marines have greater range. The Hellbats won’t be able to get close to Marines alive.
  • As Zerg build Baneligs as Hellbats are light units. Roaches are also great against Hellbats and you can build a Queen or two for the healing.
  • As Protoss build Adepts and Sentry for the Guardian Shield. Adept deals bonus damage to a light unit and it can shade away before being killed. The Guardian Shield is also perfect because the Adepts are ranged units and they will be covered by the Guardian Shield all the time. As opposed to Zealots which often run away from the Shield.

How to Counter Siege Tanks

Siege Tank is an armored and mechanical unit. It needs to be sieged to deal a high amount of damage. It has bonus damage to armored units and it deals splash damage.

Well, there is no special unit to counter a Siege Tank. Terran won’t have just the Tanks, it must have something to buffer the damage. Counter the units that are in front of the Siege Tanks and then just kill the Tanks. The Tanks won’t be able to sustain on its own.

How to Counter Ravens

Raven is a light and mechanical air unit. It can also detect invisible units and it’s a spell caster. Raven can build Auto-Turret which is an armored structure. The basic idea of how to counter Ravens is to have something that deals with the Turrets and then something that shoots the Ravens down.

  • As Terran build Marines to kill Ravens and Marauders to kill the Turrets. You can also build Viking because Viking deals bonus damage to mechanical units but the Marines will do the job perfectly. Ghost’s EMP exhausts their mana.
  • As Zerg build Queens for the Ravens and Roaches for the Turrets.
  • As Protoss build Phoenixes as they deal extra damage to light units and Immortals as they shred Turrets.

How to Counter Liberators

Liberator is an armored and mechanical air unit. It attacks either air or ground by switching to Defender Mode. The Defender Mode eventually kills everything on the ground.

  • As Terran build Marines. They will shot the Liberators down quickly. Marines are the only ground unit that can compete with Liberators. Viking is also a good choice.
  • As Zerg you can go with Hydralisks/Queens at first because you can probably kill a few of them when they are sieging and not shooting. But it won’t be enough eventually. Liberators kill everything on the ground faster. You need to build Corruptors, Vipers for the Parasitic Bomb, and maybe event Infestors for the Fungal Growth. Mutalisks are not good because Liberators have splash damage against air units.
  • As Protoss build Void Rays. They deal bonus damage to armored units, they will end them fast.

How to Counter Thors

Thor is an armored, mechanical, and massive unit.

  • As Terran build Marauders, more Thors or Liberators. But be aware that Thors deal a massive amount of damage to air units. Try to set up a liberation zone as soon as possible.
  • As Zerg just have a little bit of everything, there is nothing that counters Thors perfectly. Don’t build Broodlords as Thors shoot them down immediately. Build Ultralisks, Roaches, Hydralisks, and a few Vipers for Blinding Cloud.
  • As Protoss build Immortals and Void Rays. Don’t build Tempest. Although they deal bonus damage to massive units the Thors will shot them down quicker.

How to Counter Battlecruiser

Battlecruiser is an armored, mechanical, and massive unit.

  • As Terran build Thors and switch them to High Impact Payload. Thors are good.
  • As Zerg build Corruptors. They deal bonus damage to massive units.
  • As Protoss build Void Rays as they deal bonus damage to armored units. You can also have a few Tempest as they deal bonus damage to massive units. But don’t build much of them, they won’t be able to kill the Battlecruisers on their own.

Further reading