Why do pros use Ravagers for almost everything?

Zerg Discussion
#1

Hey all,

I’m a quite noob low Plat player, and I see players like Rogue using strategies like Ling Bane Roach Ravager versus armies that are a hybrid of ground and air units.

My initial thought would be to play Ling Bane Hydra instead of LB Roach Rav because Hydras can always attack air and deal approximately 20.34 DPS at 0 upgrades for their 150 (100/50) resource cost.
Ravagers, on the other hand, cost 200 (75/25 for the Roach, 25/75 for the morph, total 100/100) and only deal 14.04 at 0 upgrades + a whopping 8.6 Corrosive Bile DPS, for a grand total of 22.64 if you get a good Bile smack on that Stalker.
What makes me the most Ravager-averse is the fact that it can’t reliably hit air units against an army with air units. This doesn’t make a ton of sense, but I do see the implications against a full ground army.

As always, thanks for taking the time to help a n00b like me.
For the Swarm!

#2

Ravagers morph quickly, don’t need any upgrades for speed or range while still outranging most zerg units, and biles are used more for zoning air units away rather than expecting a hit many times. They also have no armor affinities and have 50% more hp than hydras, making them much more tanky. They also don’t require a lair or an additional tech building to morph, plus a higher burst damage, meaning armor is less effective vs them

6 Likes
#3

To add onto this, they are extremely good at sniping liberators and siege tanks. They are also good at forcing slow air units to move, which tends to reduce the amount of DPS they can put out (carriers no, BCs somewhat, tempests yes, so on). People used to play ling bane hydra a few years back, but then people realized how good ravagers were, so everyone uses ravagers now. Plus I think hydras got some nerfs back in the day? Like upgrade split, something with their DPS, and cost? Can’t remember fully. There’s plenty of other reasons and cases, but overall, ravagers win out just about every time.

2 Likes
#4

You mean if I’m a good micro player, I’m assuming. Which, I’m not lol.

My next question is “How do I correctly micro Bile casting and running this army?” I’ve already set up rapid-fire casting using the C key. I love it so much!

#5

If you don’t have any other casters, you can have everything in one control group. If you are not confident that it will connect, just cast one or 2 biles. This would be for forcing the opponent to reposition mid fight, or to break off pursuit if you are trying to retreat. If you can guarantee a hit on something static, toss 3-4 down.

#6

Should I use rapid fire for the ‘zoning’ biles that I’m not sure will hit?

#7

You pretty much should always use rapid fire for biling. It’s the fastest way to quickly cast out many biles. Ideally you spread your biles out across the opponents army unless you have the chance to bile down units that are stuck in position (Siege tanks, liberators, etc).

It is a good idea to learn how many biles it takes to destroy specific units.

#8

you can, just be mindful to not use them all at once so the opponent doesn’t jump your ravagers and kill them on cooldown

#9

all things zerg are beautiful aside from sc2 writing

PVP is the only weak part of the game - SC1 had already conquered that turf
SC64 was better than sc2 until legacy of the void as far as i am concerned

#10

The trick to Abathur is taking Tunneling Horror, morphing a swarm of Ravagers, upgrading them as fast as you can while swarming everywhere. The first and most important upgrade is increasing their splash radius. Regardless you want to spam the crap out of their Corrosive Bile and keep an eye where you send them so you can spot cloaked units visually. Their special ability deals damage to both air and ground units, and burrowed units are not protected from it. It wrecks air fleets from the protoss and terrans, and the only difficult units to spot when you fight them are snipers and dark templar. The splash damage once upgraded is akin to having mobile siege tanks, though, and when combined with the Zerg Regeneration ability you’ll only build maybe 60 or 80 of them, and constantly have between 55-60 up if you’re careful. Their range and damage is incomparable, and the ability to deep tunnel blind across the map with a fast cooldown makes them unstoppable as long as you’re careful where you send them.

The only real downside is while you’re micro focused you can lose track of your partner if you’re not careful. If they’re not holding up their end you can miss objectives. This is especially trouble on Bel’shir during Stettman’s mission on Brutal+. Other than that, however, Abathur is a faceroll commander once you get the hang of him.