Starcraft 2 Zerg Air Units

Starcraft 2 Zerg Units and Structures --> Zerg Air Units (you are here)

Strong air units are one of the features of Starcraft 2's Zerg race. While air units certainly are not mandatory, they go a long way to winning matches in online play.

With that said, here is a list of the Starcraft 2 Zerg Air units along with some strategies for using each unit effectively.

Note: The Overlord and Overseer are covered on the Support Units page.

Mutalisk

Cost: 100 minerals, 100 vespene gas, 2 supplies
Requires: Spire

The Mutalisk is the basic Zerg air unit. It can attack both air and ground units and moves at a high speed.

These units are quite powerful in groups. The biggest weakness of these units is their high gas cost, making them difficult to mass in groups.

There are two ways to counter this. First off, a lot of players pair their Mutalisks with Zerglings, which have only a mineral cost. Mutalisks and Zerglings are a good combination.

If you are playing 2v2, you can have your partner give you gas and build mineral-only units like Zealots and Marines. This is a very effective strategy.

Either way, if you are planning on using Mutalisks (or any Zerg air unit), you will want to get an expansion fairly early to help you get vespene gas.

Mutalisks are particularly effective versus Terran and Zerg players. Zerg are late to get anti-air (aside from a Queen or two), so 5 fast Mutalisks is usually enough to take an opponent by surprise.

Speaking of surprise, don't let your enemy see you are rushing for a Spire! Use your Queen to kill any Overlords, and expand early and keep a Queen and a few Zerglings up by your natural expansion to prevent the enemy from getting any scouts into the base.

Corruptor

Cost: 150 minerals, 100 vespene gas, 2 supplies
Requires: Spire

The Corruptor is the Zerg anti-air unit. It is armored and does bonus damage to massive units. Unlike many other units which do bonus damage, the Corruptor does not do bonus damage to all armored units - only massive units.

This is very important, because it means that the Corruptor's true benefit is limited. Compare it to the Terran's air-superiority unit, the Viking. Vikings deal bonus damaged to armored units and are not massive units.

As a result, despite both of the units being air-superiority units, the Corruptor is absolutely crushed by the Viking, so be careful when building Corruptors. It turns out that the Mutalisk (a light unit) actually does very well versus Vikings, so keep that in mind.

The Corruptor really shines versus massive air units and is the Zerg's answer to the Battlecruiser, Carrier, and Colossus. Their Corruption ability, which makes units take bonus damage, is also useful versus any unit large enough to make casting it worthwhile (any 4+ supply unit).

Whenever you see Battlecruisers, Carriers, or Colossi and you are playing as Zerg, there is no reason you should not produce Corruptors as a counter. If the enemy stops producing air units as a result, you can always convert them into Brood Lords.

Brood Lord

Cost: 1 Corruptor, 150 minerals, 150 vespene gas, 2 supplies (making the total cost of this unit 300 minerals, 250 vespene gas, and 4 supplies.
Requires: Greater Spire

The Brood Lord is a powerful air-to-ground unit and is also the Zerg siege unit. It is able to attack from a long range.

This unit is incredibly effective. When it attacks, it spawns 2 Broodlings, which are light units similar in strength to Zerglings. These do not live long but reproduce with each Brood Lord attack.

These units are the Zerg counter to mass Marines and Marauders. The major problem is their high technological and resource cost.

To get these units, you have to get a Spawning Pool, then Lair, then a Spire and Infestation Pit, then a Hive, and then a Greater Spire.

Games rarely do not last this long and the resource investment in all those buildings is quite high.

As a result, these units are not used often. I recommend getting these when the game runs late and the opposite player is massing ground units. Make sure you bring some Corruptors to accompany these units as they are slow movers and do not have anti-air capability.

With that said, if you do get these units, ground units simply do not stand a chance. They do a large amount of damage and their Broodlings have a surprising amount of strength as well.