Starcraft 2 Roach Guide

Roaches are powerful Zerg units that can be obtained very early in game. They are heavily armored ranged units that can only attack ground. It can be very hard taking them out if you do not have the right units.

Mixing them with Mutalisks, Zerglings, or Hydralisks are very good combos in battle. Early in the game it is best to have some Zerglings if your opponent has units that do well against Roaches as I will get into their unit counters in a little bit.

They can burrow which not only hides them when planning to ambush your opponents army but to quickly heal them up. All Zerg players should learn how to micro them well to make them most effective. Roaches have 4 range making them very good against most ground units especially melee units like Zealots and Zerglings.

Upgrades

Tunneling Claws - This allows Roaches to move while burrowed. This is a very good upgrade to get to trick your opponent especially if you can get by their units for worker harassment and they do not have detectors to spot them. A great strategy is to ambush Terran Siege Tanks when in Siege Mode to take them out rather than attacking head on which is dangerous.

Glial Reconstruction - This is not a very common upgrade players will use but it does make Roaches move faster. If you find yourself going heavy Roaches then I would get this and spread the creep well to your opponents base to make them move fast enough to kite their units.

Unit Counters

Best Against

Terran - Reapers, Marines, Hellions, ThorsProtoss - Zealots, Archons, SentriesZerg - Zerglings

Not Bad Against

Terran - Vikings, GhostsProtoss - Stalkers, Dark Templars, High TemplarsZerg - Ultralisks, Hydralisks, Banelings

Worst Enemies

Terran - Marauders, Siege Tanks, Banshees, BattlecruisersProtoss - Immortals, Colossi, Carriers, Void Rays, Motherships, PhoenixZerg - Mutalisks, Brood Lords

Against Terran

Roaches are the best answer for Hellion harassment. Terran players love going for Hellions against Zerg because they can be so devastating against Banelings and Zerglings because of how fast they are. Against the 3 Barracks build I would be careful and mix them up with Zerglings since Marauders are good against Roaches but do poorly against Zerglings. Vise versa with Roaches. Roaches are great against Terran Thors and Marines which is common to see when you tech to Banelings and Mutalisks. The Tunneling Claws can be so useful when they get Siege Tanks with no detectors.

Against Protoss

At the off chance your Protoss opponent will go mostly Zealots then Roaches are the best units to get against them. But against Blink Stalkers Roaches alone can be difficult which is why you should mix them with Zerglings. Same thing for if they go Immortals. If they go Immortals then tech right away to either Hydralisks or Mutalisks while massing Zerglings to buy time. Mutalisks are your best bet since they can easily switch to Colossi which do so well against Roach/Hydra.

Against Zerg

The best units to get against Zerglings and Banelings are massing Roaches indeed. When facing another Zerg player you just need to watch out for air units which are Mutalisks and Brood Lords. But other than that Roaches are great in this matchup.

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