Hit Points: 100 Plasma Shields: 80 Size: Medium Supply: 2 Cost: 150 100 Build Time: 40 Produced at: Stargate Requires: Stargate Energy: 200 (Upgrade to 250) Base Ground Attack: N/A Base Air Attack: 5es Base Armor: 1 Range: 5 Sight: 9 Cooldown: 8 Production Hot Key: O

These fast, medium sized warships were built by the Dark Templar to safeguard their wandering fleets. Employing a devastating Neutron Flare in a ship to ship combat, the Corsair is a versatile addition to the Protoss fleet. With its powerful Disruption Web, the Corsair can even prevent warriors deployed on planetary surfaces or defensive structures from attacking. This ability, when used as part of a large siege, is an invaluable asset to Protoss warfare.

Extremely quick and agile, the Corsair is an essential part of any Protoss air fleet. Their Neutron Flares don't deal much damage per shot (5 base points of explosive damage), however, their rapid fire more than makes up for the difference. The Neutron Flares also causes 1/2 splash damage to units within a 50 pixel radius around the target and 1/4 splash damage within 100 pixels. All this combines to make the Corsair a very real threat to packs of enemy aerial units.

With their speed, Corsairs also serve well as scouts and interceptors (not to be confused with units of the same name). A group of Corsairs can be almost anywhere on the map within a very short span of time and they don't need an upgrade to get their speed, so straight out of the Stargate, a Corsair serves as the best unit for taking a quick look around the area.

Against the Zerg, Corsairs are well suited for hunting down wandering Overlords and if used as support for Dark Templar, any Zerg colony would face difficulty. Mutalisks in particular, fare badly against Corsairs, especially if they are tightly packed or stacked. If they face difficulty, the Corsairs can easily outrace the Mutalisks if they need to recharge at a Shield Battery or take refuge amongst Photon Cannons.

Against Terrans, Corsairs are more useful for their Disruption Web ability (since Valkyries and Battlecruisers all have relatively heavy armor and HP). Unless they're used to hunt down Science Vessels or Dropships, Corsairs are best used as air support for Dark Templar, Zealots or Dragoons. Since they travel much faster than Observers (even with the speed upgrade), the Corsair is not a good choice for hunting down cloaked Wraiths on the move. Their Disruption Web, however, can cause huge problems for Terran Siege Tank/Bunker blockades, in which case Dragoons or Scouts or any other ranged attack unit can quickly dispatch the affected units/structures.

For a better idea of the best use of the Corsair, check out the Air Balance Model.

[ Click to Enlarge - 77 KB ] Corsairs are great for driving off both Zerg Guardians and Mutalisks. A Devourer/Mutalisk combo however, will cause the Corsair some problems.	[ Click to Enlarge - 91 KB ] Corsairs are great for killing Transports such as Zerg Overlords, Protoss Shuttles, and Terran Dropships.

The main weakness of the Corsair is its inability to attack ground targets. This leaves it very open to attacks from many different and frequent ground based enemies. The Corsair is very support oriented in its design. Use this to your advantage by catching it without ground or ground firing support. Although normally Towers would be a great defense against such a non ground firing flier, Corsairs can use Disruption Webs to prevent Towers such as Missile Turrets, Photon Cannons and Spore Colonies from hitting them.

Terrans

• Marines in large numbers can deter groups of Corsairs if they stay mobile (if Stim Packed, they can chase down Corsairs)
• Goliaths (with the Charon Booster range upgrade) can be effective against Corsairs as long as they stay out of Disruption Webs
• Use EMP Shockwave with Science Vessels to deplete Corsair Plasma Shields
• Cloaked Wraiths can strike freely (be sure ComSat scan for any Observers before engaging)
• Battlecruisers and Valkyries can take down packs of Corsairs as long as they're not grossly outnumbered

[ Click to Enlarge - 84 KB ] A Corsair, unable to attack ground units, has to retreat as two Marines attack.	[ Click to Enlarge - 75 KB ] Normally a Wraith would be outmatched against a Corsair but it uses Cloaking to gain the upper hand.

Protoss

• Dragoons (with the Singularity Charge range upgrade) can be effective against Corsairs as long as they stay out of Disruption Webs
• High Templar with Psionic Storm can ravage groups of Corsairs (but be sure to cast carefully since Corsairs can speed out of almost any situation if used properly)
• Carriers in groups can overwhelm groups of Corsairs

• Hydralisks (with the range upgrade) can work well against Corsairs (the more the merrier) as long as they stay out of Disruption Webs
• Use Plague and Ensnare to damage/slow Corsairs down enough for your Hydralisks/Devourers to destroy them
• Groups of Devourers can usually attach enough acid spores to reduce the Corsair effectiveness to near zero
• Scourge work well against lone or small groups of Corsairs

[ Click to Enlarge - 77 KB ] Zerg Hydralisks and a Mutalisk force a Corsair to retreat.

Air Weapons Level 1 - 100 100 Level 2 - 175 175 Level 3 - 250 250

Air Armor Level 1 - 150 150 Level 2 - 225 225 Level 3 - 300 300

Plasma Shields Level 1 - 200 200 Level 2 - 300 300 Level 3 - 400 400

Argus Jewel 100 100 +50 Energy Capacity

Air Weapons - Each Upgrade adds +1 to Air Attack for a total of +3 with all three upgrades.

Air Armor - Each Upgrade adds +1 to Armor for a total of +3 with all three upgrades.

Plasma Shields - Each Upgrade adds +1 to Plasma Shields for a total of +3 with all three upgrades.

Argus Jewel - This will allow the Corsair to store more energy for Disruption Web.

Disruption Web 200 200 Cost: 125 Range: 9

Corsair pilots can focus their psychic energy through the Neutron Emitters on their vessels, creating a field of Psionic static that disrupts the neural impulses found within most on-board computer systems causing range and melee attacks from within the web to be highly inaccurate. The magnetic resonance found within terrestrial ores and minerals draws the attack planetward, rendering this energy web ineffective against airborne targets.

The Corsair can cast a web of energy on the ground that disrupts all attacks coming from within the affected area. All ground units and structures (including Photon Cannons, Spore Colonies, Sunken Colonies, Missile Turrets and Bunkers) cannot attack while within the area of effect of the Disruption Web.

Disruption Web is especially useful against blockades of Photon Cannons or Siege Tank/Bunker combos in land warfare and it is almost essential in island warfare where your opponent may be fortifying the perimeter of an island with Missile Turrets, Photon Cannons or Spore/Sunken Colonies so that you can invade with shuttle loads of units.

But keep in mind that Disruption Web in itself does not harm the enemy, it only disables. So be sure to attack with ranged attack units ASAP after casting the web (melee units are useless against webbed targets). If you do have melee units, be sure to command them to attack enemy units/structures outside of the Disruption Web.

Finally, don't confuse the functionality of a Disruption Web with the Zerg Dark Swarm. Disruption Web prevents units from firing OUT of the web but doesn't prevent units from firing INTO the web, whereas Dark Swarm is the exact opposite.

[ Click to Enlarge - 85 KB ] A Corsair places a Disruption Web over a Missile Turret so the Carriers can attack without being hit.	[ Click to Enlarge - 83 KB ] Corsairs use Disruption Web over a Terran Missile Turret so an invasion force can safely land. Terran Wraiths Cloak and rush to defend their base.
[ Click to Enlarge - 100 KB ] Corsairs place Disruption Webs on a defended Terran ridge allowing Carriers to move in and attack.	[ Click to Enlarge - 93 KB ] In this image, a force of Corsairs use Disruption Web on Zerg Sunken and Spore Colonies on Level 3 of the Protoss Campaign in Brood War. This prevents the Zerg from firing on any of the Protoss units.