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Protoss Tips

Protoss Unit Overview

Zealot: The Zealot is the first unit that the Protoss get. It is probably the most feared unit in the beginning of the game because of its strength. One drawback of the Zealot is that they are so expensive. Another drawback is that it can not attack air units. The first thing that you should strive to get for these guys is the Leg Enhancements, which speed up their reflexes and their speed at which they travel. The reason that most players fear them is that they have the ability to warp in a lot of them and then rush early in the game. If they do this and you do not have a good defense then you will die. They have 6 upgrades and I thing that you can research. The first three things that you can research is Leg Enhancements, which upgrade the speed and reflexes. You can find this in the Citadel of Adun. There are 6 upgrades that you can get the first 3 are ground weapons which enhances the weapons for the Zealot, probe, high templar, dragoon, and reaver. The next 3 upgrades are ground shields, which upgrade all the shields for the ground units. You can find both of these upgrades in the Forge.

Dragoon: The Dragoon is very powerful when fully upgraded. When they are in large groups they have the ability to take out twice as many troops as any other ground because of its strong shields and powerful weapon. You can find the Dragoon in the Gateway, which also houses the Zealot and the High Templar. The best position for the Dragoon is behind a large group of Zealots because they will be able to attack the enemy while the Zealot is attacking also. One bad thing about the Dragoon is that since it is a mechanical unit it is susceptible to Lockdown and Broodlings so you have to be very careful to keep those little Ghosts away from you attack force. There is 9 upgrades for the Dragoon that is one thing that makes it so powerful. The first 3 things that are upgraded are ground attacks. The second 3 things that are upgraded are ground armor. Since the dragoon is mechanical it has the ability for 3 more upgrades and they are its shields. Upgrading shields also apply for the buildings also. All of these can be found in the Forge. There is one thing that can be researched and that is the Singularity Charge, which increases the distance that the Dragoon can shoot.

High Templar: The High Templar is the most powerful unit that the Protoss has because of its special abilities. One bad thing about the Templar is that it has no main attack so if you build them without researching any of its abilities then it will be useless. The first ability of the Templar is Psionic Storm, which is casted in a spread that kills everything under it. It is very useful when you have a large group of units in one spot because it will hurt all of them the same. One bad thing about the Psionic Storm is that if it is casted over any of your units it will hurt them also. Hallucination is the second ability of the Templar. This ability makes a replica of the unit it is casted on so that it tricks the enemy into attacking that and not your unit. One bad thing is that it does not hurt the enemy just looks like it is attacking but it is not and will eventually will go away after a period of time. The last ability of the Templar is summon Archon, which can only be casted if 2 Templars are selected. This ability creates a whole new unit capable of attacking air and land units but does not have the powers that the regular templar has.

Archon: The Archon is probably the most powerful unit that the protoss has because of the amount of damage that it has and the amount of hit points it has. One bad thing about the Archon is that it has a short firing range. Another bad thing about them is that they take up so much unit control points so try to use them sparingly. They have 6 upgrades just like the Zealot and the Templar. They are ground attack and ground armor. The Archon should be teamed up with a couple of Zealots and Dragoons and you will have a real attack force capable of doing some damage.

Reaver: The attack of the Reaver is a lot different than the other units because you have to make them before you can shoot them. Reveres house things called Scarabs, which in the start you can only build 4 of them until you upgrade them. When you launch the Scarabs at an enemy they shoot straight at them and hit the target but also kill any men that are around them. One bad thing about them is that they can not shoot air attack units they can only fire upon ground units. You can find the Reaver in the Robotics Facility along with the Observer and the Transport. The Reaver has the ability to upgrade the amount of scarabs that it can hold and you can do this in the Robotics Support Bay. Reavers also have 6 upgrades, which consist of upgrading ground weapons and upgrading ground armor. The Reaver is very similar to the Carrier because it too does not have a primary weapon but instead relies on another source for defense.

Scout: The Scout is basically self-explanatory because it is a Scout that has the capability to attack. The reason that it is called a Scout is because it goes very fast and can have its sight ability increased. This is a very good unit for protecting the Carriers because it is fast and is able to fight off and distract the attacking units away from the Carriers. One drawback of the Scout is that it is very expensive and takes a while to build so if you do get them make sure you have enough money. They also have the ability to attack ground units, which allows them to be very useful when taking a spot on the map. Scouts have 6 upgrades and 2 things to be researched. The first 3 things that you can upgrade are the air weapons. The second 3 things that you can upgrade are the air armor. All these things can be found in the cybernetics core along with the ability for the Dragoon. The 2 things that you can research are Apial Aensors, which increase the sight range of the Scout, and Gravitic Thrusters, which increase the speed of the Scout. Both of these things can be found in the Fleet Beacon along with the ability for the Carrier.

Shuttle: The Shuttle is used to carry units into battle. It is also used to carry men to places that they can not reach like on top of mountains or hills that do not have a place to climb up. One bad thing about the shuttle is that it has no way of defending it self so it is good to have some scouts follow it because if the shuttle is killed you will lose all of your men inside. You can find the scout in the robotics facility along with the reaver and the observer. The shuttle has only 3 upgrades because it does not have a primary attack. The first and only 3 upgrades that the shuttle has are air armor.

Arbiter: The Arbiter is a very important unit if you get far into the game because it has the ability to cloak all the units that are in range of its powers. The only thing that it can’t cloak is another arbiter so you have to keep them very well defended or it will die. There should be a few air or ground units that are designated to kill the units that are firing upon the Arbiter. The Arbiter is a mechanical unit so it is susceptible to lockdown. This can be devastating to your team if you have only a few people cloaked and don’t have the ability to defend yourself. A good tactic to have with the arbiter is to have 2 of them but only use one and bring in the other one when it looks like the main one is going to be killed. The Arbiter also has some abilities that come in handy. The first one is recall, which allows the Arbiter to select a unit that is anywhere on the map and bring it into the area where the Arbiter is. This comes in handy when you need extra firepower fast. The other ability is the Stasis Field, which is used on your units to take most of the damage that is inflicted on them. It does not take all the damage but helps a lot if you cast it on something like the carrier that is taking a lot of damage. The last thing that you can research is the Khaydarin Core, which increases the amount of energy that the Arbiter has. Another good thing about the arbiter is that it also has a way of defending itself so it is not completely defenseless. All of the same upgrades apply to the arbiter as the rest of the flying units. The Arbiter can be found in the Gateway after you build the Arbiter Tribual along with the Scout and the Carrier.

Carrier: The Carrier is the largest and most durable unit that the protoss has. The reason for this is simple it is a housing for smaller ships that go out and kill the enemy. Since it only houses the ships it is able to rebuild them, which is very good because if the ships get killed it does not apply any damage to the main ship. This means that if you loose all of your little ships then you are able to still pull out the carrier and rebuild the small ships inside without loosing the carrier. This will come in handy because the carrier is so expensive and it also takes along time to build. The small ships that are housed inside the carrier are called Interceptors, which disperse at random and fire upon any enemy ship that approaches. The one drawback of the Carrier is that it is susceptible to Lockdown, which when this happens the whole ship is rendered useless for a short period of time. All 6 upgrades for the air attack and the air armor apply, which can be found in the Cybernetics Core along with the increase range for the Dragoon. There is also one thing to research and it is increase Carrier capacity, which increases the amount of Interceptors that the Carrier can build to 8 instead of the normal 4.

Observer: Observers should become your friends if you are playing against terran because if you do not have them you will surly die. The main use for them is to detect any cloaked units or items which maybe a potential threat to the protoss colony. It also serves as a scout to search the map for the enemy or possible expansion places. You should have an Observer in front of you base so you can detect any cloaked Ghosts that might want to Nuke your base. You can also put them far in front of your base so you can tell if there is any enemy units that might come and attack. One bad thing about the Observer is that it has no defense against the enemy so try to keep it away from other detectors. The Observer can be found in the Robotics Facility along with the Reaver and the Shuttle. The best thing about the Observer is that it is cloaked right from the start. There are only 3 upgrades that apply to it and they are for the shields but there are things that can be researched. The first one is increase sight range, which allows the Observer to see farther. The second thing is faster movement, which allows you to move faster.

Protoss Building Placement

When planning a base layout for the Protoss, you must consider three fundamental principles:

1. Do not cluster your buildings, especially around your Nexus.

2. Keep back-up Pylons.

3. Space buildings out of the line of movement.

Got that? Well, let's go into more detail on each topic.

Building Cluster

A big no-no for the Protoss. Stacking buildings next to each other opens you up for a world of hurt, especially to the Terrans and the havoc they can bestow with their Science Vessels (EMP Shockwave can take out all of their shields in it's radius) and their Ghosts (Nuke thrown on buildings without shields). The Zerg, too, love close buildings; their little Zerglings can take down buildings faster if they're clumped together.

If you have to stack some buildings, make sure it is unrelated buildings, and never stack your low-tier buildings, like Gateways and Cybernetics Core, together. If an opponent takes out your Gateway and your Forge in one Nuke, you've been set back quite a bit, and have to rebuild both, as opposed to you building your Gateway by itself, where only it and the Pylon is destroyed. This would hurt even more if you were teching up your armor or other upgrade at your Forge, and lost where you were. Not only would you then have to rebuild your Gateway and Forge, but start your upgrade all over again.

Back-up Pylons

Nothing sucks more than having your Pylons taken out first, leaving your buildings unpowered, and thus, inert. Especially if they're powering a bunch of Cannons. Always try to have essential buildings powered by two or more Pylons. Personally, I recommend building at the edge of the Pylon's radius, too, since it separates the buildings, keeping them from being clustered.

Moving Around

Unless you're purposely trying to block your choke or something similar, try to leave plenty of traveling space between buildings, especially for larger units such as the Reaver. Zealots, with their speed upgraded, are fast, but they can be slowed down if they have to meander around a bunch of buildings. Speed is a key factor in the game of Starcraft, and sometimes even a fraction of a second can make all the difference.

Now that we have all the basics of building for the Protoss covered, it's time to get into the actual strategy part of the strategy. Since building placement is all about defense, you have to ask the question, "Uh, just what am I defending?" And that's a very prudent question. Are you defending the buildings themselves, just certain buildings, the land around your perimeter, your resources, your Nexus, your choke, or your units? Hmmm...that's a lot to defend, and if you're attempting to defend everything, then you better be prepared to play only defensively. Most players I've seen don't even try to defend everything. And why should they? It is useless to build defenses that your opponent may never even encounter. But how are you to know whether or not they will? See the endless stream of questions this can bring up? That is why building placement is so important.

Yet, it is also so easy. Let's take a couple of defensive stances, and talk about building placement.

Defending Your Resources

If you're concerned about a drop from your opponent, you'll want to place Pylons on the opposite sides of your resources like so:

Follow it up with a couple of Cannons near the perimeter. Try not to put any buildings in the way of your gathering Drones. I also prefer to build my Forge around this area too, just for added protection for it, and maybe even some other important buildings, such as my Citadel. Hopefully, when it's all done, this will help defend your resources.

Defending Your Choke

Just gonna throw up a couple Pylons and fill it full of Cannons? Well, you might want to reconsider. Cannons are stupid. Really, they are. It's up to you to make them smart, and to do that, you need to place them in the proper fashion to maximize their effect. Throw a Pylon down right in the middle of the choke, and surround it by four Cannons. Now, position two more Pylons where they overlap each of the Cannons like so:

Once that's done, what you want to create is a killing field of Cannons around the edge of the two new Pylons. You want your opponent to get through your first line of defense, since it leaves him in the open, surrounded with only one way to retreat. Chances are, he won't retreat, simply because you won't give him a chance. I call this a Gauntlet Defense, since it creates a kind of death maze for your opponent to get through before he finally gets to your base. By not placing all your Cannons so close together, it makes your opponent have to move to get to the next one, and most units cannot move and attack at the same time effectively.

Defending Your Perimeter

Cannons and Pylons again? Just around the base? Is that the strategy here? For most Protoss players, it is. Most of the time, you never can tell from which direction your opponent will attack from. From above you? Will he flank you? Maybe a drop coming in from the right, and a land assault from the left? That's why it's a good idea to at least put some Cannons around your base perimeter, if nothing more than for warning before the onslaught occurs. But it can be much more than just throwing Pylons and Cannons around the base. For basic perimeter protection, I recommend a chained link of Pylons and Cannons like so:

This gives some decent protection and functions wonderfully in deterring an opponent until you can get units to intercept his attacking force. If you'd like to, go ahead and put in some back-up Pylons and throw a Cannon by them as well, just for some added protection.

Building On a Budget

Skimping on the defense to save resources for a bigger attack force can be risky, but taking risks is what Starcraft is all about. This is when building placement can come in very handy, since Cannons cost a big 150 minerals, and a Pylon to power it costs 100, so that's 250 out of your pocket for just one Cannon for defense. So build as few Pylons as necessary for defensive purposes, and try to use the one's you've already built for other buildings by placing Cannons near the edge of their radius. Spread them out, too, for maximum coverage, but keep them as close as needed to back each other up.

One thing you'll have to remember with Cannons is that they do explosion damage, doing 50% damage to Light Armor, and 75% damage to Medium Armor. This makes the Protoss vulnerable to a mass of Light Armored units such as Marines, Zerglings and Zealots. Try and counter this by using the terrain to your advantage. Build them in trees and on high ground whenever possible, and keep an extra Probe or two nearby to warp in replacement Cannons.

Protoss Forge First EXPAND

Toss First Expansion

Logic:

First of all everyone must understand one thing before doing this build. The point of it is to gain a solid foundation for u to macro off of. 80% of zerg players I've played do a very standard 12 hatchery followed by 12 or 13 pool. Why? Because this build puts the zerg in a position to out macro any toss player. I also found that many toss players try to counter this by doing a probe+zeal rush on the hatchery if they expand. Now my question... is that the only way a toss player can break a zerg?

Answer:

Ofcourse NOT~!! The zerg tends to play defense in the early game to gain a good foot hold on their economy. What better way to take advantage of this than to expand yourself?

How its done:

There are many variations to this strategy. Some players feel that their zeal+probe micro is so good that they have no need for cannons to defend there expansione early on. But for now, I'm gonna explain how to do it with the cannons in what is called The Forge first build. Here are a few of the building orders that I have seen players do:

Most of the players I've seen do this:

This is a good build because it sets you up well to go against any early 12pool ling rush. The key point is to place your first cannon in a way that it will cover the entrance to your main base. That way no lings will be able to run up your ramp.

My version of it:

I do a 1 cannon then a Gateway to be used as a wall for my cannon, this alone could stop up to 6 lings. Plus you can get 1-2 early zeals which would eliminate a rush of 12-15 lings. I never make more than 3 cannons.

On rare occasions:

This is for those who want a expansion early and fast. I have only seen a couple people use this. One reason not to use it is because a 12pool ling rush can beat it down.

For those who love to micro:

Don't ask me how its done, I've seen people who can beat 24+ lings with 2 zeals and probes. If your one of the few who like to risk it all for a big power boost, here u go.

Without it you might as well give up. The point is to transfer about 1/3 to 1/2 your probes for your main base to your expansion. You should start your probe movement when your expansion nexus is around 5/6 to being done. Doing this allows your probes to mine more freely and faster, therefore = more minerals. And for those of you who don't know:

What a zerg thinks:

Usually a zerg's overlord (assuming that hes one or two positions away from you) will probably never see your forge, until you've got 1-2 cannons up. When the zerg finds you've expanded the player will do one of 5 things:

Try to outexpand you: I wish any zerg player who trys this a good luck. Many who try this get there mineral only expansion up and running but don't get close to the number of peons that the toss has gained. Eventually they get over-powered. Tech hard: mmm...playing a smart zerg player, he may tech to muties and try to kill as many probes as possible from your two bases before you have time to tech for goons. The best to do here is to get your Cyber Core up right after you lay down a second Gateway. The other thing he may do is go for a Lurker drop, either on your expansion or main. Always keep a cannon or two around your probes in both bases to stop this. Guards aren't much to worry about, since any decent toss player can tech to an observer and templars faster than a zerg can get guards.

2 Hatch hydras:

If a zerg player can do this right he has won the game, considering you don't have goons in time. 7 well microed hydras can kill your small zeal force and rape 3 cannons with little loses, then send in lings to finish up your expansion. How can you stop this? Pray to god, hope that the zerg will slip up somewhere alone the line. Or tech hard to goons(like a cyber core right after your first gate.) If you lose to this, your playing someone who is most likely out of your league. Lings, Lings, and more lings: Another failure unless you slip up badly. Zeal+cannons > Ling no matter how many there are. Most zerg players who do this do 3 hatch unless they really suck. Quit the game(or disc on you):Why? Maybe because there build wasn't meant to stop that. They may have made 2 hatches in their base or pre-planned a 3 hatch lings attack. I must say that these people are wiser than the average SC player, because they can see there fate 5 mins into the game. Mind games yo~!

Define the Protoss Macro:

After your expansion is finsihed and well defended, and assuming that you have made NON-STOP probes from both your nexus' you should have more than enough cash. In fact, 2 Gates w ill not be enough for you. You can tech hard, and still be constantly producing units from 4-5 Gateways. So, Don't be afraid to make more Gates! Make sure you use all your minerals. My suggestion is to tech to Templars+storm. Remember the basics, make pylons before you need them, and produce while attacking blah blah blah...

How and when to attack: There are many times in the game where I try to attack. The most obvious time is when I just got attacked. Templars can waste mass forces of hydras/lings, and many times you'll have enough force to counter attack back. A very special way is to attack when you have your first 10 goons 2 zeals.

Why? Because the zerg thinks your going to turtle, they rarly make enough units to stop your goons. Make sure you micro your goons(dance them like no tommorow).

Well this is the end, I hope this strategy brings back hope for those toss players who have one hell of a time beating a zerg player. Good luck!!!

©Tranman2001