Reapers?

[Lopan91]

So I just started playing again and was wondering if people still use them, because when i stopped playing they got nerfed and everyone was complaining how useless they were?
Also, do you think there good against the other races besides zerg?

I just think there not being used the right way and may still be quite useful.
In a couple of my games when im playing against protoss i like have my main army basically poke at there front door so they think im going to attack but as they pull there army i send 2 reapers to there mineral line and attack with my main army at the same time. Out of the 2 times ive done this so far ive killed 18 probes and 2 sentries with this and 26 probes in the other game.

So basically I am wondering does anyone else do this or is it just me?

[Blazur]

They have their purpose but it's very situational. You need to get lucky to be successful with them, and they're a map dependent unit. I'm a big fan of them, however.

You don't seem them too often in team games since everybody loves going MMM. One of my fave strats is to open with reapers in 4v4 games, hit the mineral lines of 2 players, and then transition into banshees and marauders.

[Triceron]

They're great for scouting early game, and if you're doing a bunker rush they can be a great addition to have to take out buildings. Their d4 charge attack has a surprisingly long range, and in a bunker you can harass enemy buildings (hatcheries) pretty competantly.

Other than that though, they aren't really great unit killers and their role is fairly limited by their low health and high gas cost. It's cheaper to get blue flame hellions, which effectively counter any unit a Reaper would with similar amount of micro.

[Twilice]

I feel that they are the worst vs zerg because of their queens.

[GnaReffotsirk]

6 of these guys can wipe out an entire mineral line in less than a minute. Not expecting a rush attack, but a sneaky one. Especially when expansions are all over the place.

[RamiZ]

6 of these guys can wipe out an entire mineral line in less than a minute. Not expecting a rush attack, but a sneaky one. Especially when expansions are all over the place.

In less than a minute? Really? I mean, I know you meant figurative but we are talking about seconds here, and less than 10 seconds, not minutes. ^^

Problem with Reapers is that they have the same use as Hellions. And even though Hellions are tier 2 units, Reapers cost 50 gas, and if you want to mass them(have at least 6-7) you are crippling yourself way too much in early stages if the enemy kills them. Unlike them, Hellions cost only Minerals, have 4.25 speed without upgrade, have linear attack and more health. The only thing that they don't do as good is destroying buildings. And for Reaper speed now you need Factory anyway, so why not just building Hellions instead?

In my opinion, Blizzard overnerfed them. They nerfed them with Supply Depot before Barracks, which I completely agree with, then they made Bunkers to take longer to build, then they buffed Roach's range to 4, and then they moved speed upgrade to the tier 2. Even though it was hard to defend against Reapers as Zerg player, it was pretty cool, and it was my favorite Terran unit, and I liked that whole micro intensive battle. With Roaches buffed to 4 range, Reapers couldn't actually kite them anymore, so I still don't see the need for all those nerfs. Oh yeah, I see them, it is for 2v2 purpose...

[Twilice]

Indeed I would much rather use hellions and maybe a medivac. Let all hellions fire 1-3 times and then just escape and you can use them again.

[dustinbrowder]

they are decent on the small maps, but suck on big maps.

If you surprise the opponent they are fairly effective and can do some damage.

I especially like them on small maps against protoss to just kill off their first pylon and slow them down.

[evillesh]

I've seen reapers being used as a late scout.

[Blazur]

Funny thing about reapers is people only think to use them early on in the game. Nobody considers switching tech mid-late game into reapers to harass mineral lines or scout. This is at least from my own experience as a majority team-game player.

After about 7 minutes into the game I forget about the reaper altogether and don't even think to use them.