The
Terran Science Vessel is a unit in the
real-time strategy computer game Starcraft. It is a
detector unit, meaning that it can see
cloaked units. It has no conventional weapons. Instead, it has up to three
special abilities: the
Defensive Matrix, the
EMP Shockwave, and
Irradiate.
Defensive Matrix creates a temporary shield around another friendly unit. This shield does not work like the Protoss plasma shields; rather, it serves to dramatically boost the affected unit's armor rating, making it less susceptible to damage.
EMP Shockwave fires a missile which drains the energy (and Protoss plasma shields) from all the enemy units within a small area.
Irradiate targets an enemy unit and renders it radioactive, damaging any biological units close to it -- including itself, if it is biological.
The Science Vessel is not terribly useful when fighting another Terran force. It is, however, very valuable against either the Zerg or Protoss. The Zerg, being entirely biological, take heavy damage from the Irradiate attack. The Protoss, being heavily dependent on their shields for defense, are very susceptible to EMP Shockwave. A single Science Vessel and a few Marines can make very short work of a group of Archons: 95% of an Archon's hit points are in its shields.