As all Terran players can tell you, getting rushed with Void Rays in TvP can be extremely irritating, and leads many players to believe that Void Rays are simply overpowered. While they are extremely efficient, Void Rays are defeatable and there are a plenty of things you can do in StarCraft 2 to protect yourself from them.

Scouting

The most important thing you can do to protect yourself from Void Rays, and to protect yourself from ANYTHING in the game, is to SCOUT. Many players, especially new ones to StarCraft 2 or RTS games in general, simply will not scout, or scout too late. You need to be in your opponents base fairly early in order to see what he is doing, especially if he’s going for a rush. There are several things you can look for to help determine if your opponent is going Void Rays:

  1. Early Gas: Void Rays cost a lot of gas, and most Protoss builds dictate an Assimilator at around 13 or 14 supply. If your opponent is warping an Assimilator in before then, this is a huge warning that the player will be teching very quickly, and very likely to Void Rays. If you want, you can even build a Refinery with your scouting SCV on his second gas to slow down his gas collection!
  2. Pylon / Gateway / Cybernetic Core Wall Off: If your opponent has completely blocked off his choke with any of these buildings, it’s because he doesn’t want you to see something. And more often than not, it’s a Stargate.
  3. Only Zealots: If for some reason you can’t scout your opponent (or if you’ve been chased out his base), and you see him with a group of Zealots without Stalkers and Sentries, your opponent is saving gas for something. Most Immortal push builds will not produce only Zealots and this is a huge sign that your opponent is going for Void Rays.
  4. Certain Maps: You are much more likely to see Void Ray rushes on maps with short air distance between bases such as Desert Oasis and Scrap Station.

Defense

Scouting is only half the battle though; once you have determined your opponent is rushing Void Rays you still need to do something about it.

Apply Pressure

One of the best things a Terran player can do if they know their opponent is teching to Void Rays is to apply pressure. The reason for this is quite logical: if the Protoss player is teching extremely quickly and saving resources (especially gas), he will not have many units to defend himself with. You have a window of opportunity to attack him when he’s vulnerable giving YOU the advantage; when that window passes and your opponent is creating Void Rays, you will lose that advantage.

This pressure will come from Marines, Marauders, and Hellions, depending on your build. If you were planning on going a 2 or 3 Barracks build, you will only be using Marines and Marauders. Marines have a higher DPS and are mathematically more efficient than Marauders in this type of attack and should make up the majority of your force. If the Void Ray gets out, Marines are also your only unit at this point to stop them. However, mixing in around 2-3 Marauders with their Concussive Shells upgrade will be extremely useful in order to deal with Zealots (the only unit he will probably have). If you were going a quick mech build, you will want to produce a few Hellions (also excellent at kiting Zealots).

Timing the pressure attack can be slightly difficult. You will want to have the largest force possible attacking his base right before he gets his Void Ray out. You will want to continously scan the Protoss player with your Orbital Command energy in order to know the right time to attack.

Spotting

If you don’t think applying pressure will work, or would like to play more defensively, you will need to gain as much vision of the map as possible. If the Protoss player attacks when you are out of place, the results can be catastrophic. The main reason for this is that Void Rays need a target to charge their beam on in order to do their maximum damage; if they find a solitary building at the edge of your base to attack, they will be able to charge to full damage even before you can attack them. If your units are in position to deal with Void Rays, their threat is reduced significantly. There are several things you can do to spot the Void Rays before they reach your base:

  1. Surround: Position a few Marines around your opponents base. As he moves his Void Rays out you may be able to spot their direction.
  2. Xel’Naga Watch Towers: Self explanatory. Get a unit on each!
  3. Intuition: There will be times when you may think Void Rays are nearby. Follow your gut and scan to check!

Combat

You have several options when dealing with Void Rays. One of the best ways is to mass Marines and upgrading Stim Packs. When engaging Void Rays with your Marines, you will want to Stim and focus fire each Void Ray down individually. If you have a large group of Marines, make sure to move the group closer to or even under the Void Rays in order to make sure all Marines are within attack range. If you scout the rush and are constantly building Marines, you should have no trouble taking out the Void Rays.

Turrets can help, but be careful about how many you make and where you position them. Void Rays can rip through Turrets very quickly if they are fully charged. Placing 2-3 around your mineral line is your best bet.

It is possible to tech to either Ghosts (for EMP) or Vikings, both of which will help tremendously. If you have gone a 3 Barracks / Ghost Academy build, your Marines and a nicely placed EMP should demolish any Void Rays. If you were building Tech, Vikings do extra damage against Armored units such as Void Rays and can kite them very well with their insane range; they should be produced immediately (do not risk getting a Reactor). Ghost and Viking timings against Void Rays can be tight though, and practice may be needed.

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