Protoss Strategies, Protoss Strategies Vs. Protoss

Starcraft 2 Protoss Strategies – Vs Protoss

0 Comments 19 July 2011

We are going to give you some elite starcraft 2 protoss strategies that can ultimately help you out in the end and give you some success when it comes to starcraft 2. We are going to give you details on how can succeed against Protoss vs. Protoss; including small techniques that aren’t too publicized but can actually work wonders for you! The first thing that we are going to talk about is the strengths and weaknesses for the Protoss.

Strengths for Protoss

First of all, let’s discuss why the Protoss are in fact such a strong race. For starters they are an extremely fast building race. They have the advantage when it comes to building structures because the probes do not sit there and build the structure such as the zerg drone or the Terran SCV. The probe for the protoss can simply warp in an object.

Now if you’ve been apart of starcraft 2 this is not a mystery; but it’s important to realize the strengths and weaknesses. For example, you have to place the buildings within the realm of the pylon, a single probe can build tons of pylons, and they can build dozens of buildings at a time; they can essentially build these at the same time it takes a Terran worker to build one structure!

Protoss have a strong mid – to –late game: meaning in the beginning they can be rather exposed; the zealots can be outran by zerglings, kited by marines in the beginning, however, when it comes to later in the game. They can also summon new armies extremely fast with the warp gates.

Excellent Defense – Because Protoss are more expensive to build and are built a little slower than the other races, especially the zerg, the Protoss have the ability to create a wonderful defense structure including the photon cannon; it can automatically detect ground units and air units alike; and although this is a great strategy, this can also be a downfall if you rely on the photon cannons too much instead of trying to be the aggressor!

Weaknesses for Protoss

One of the biggest weaknesses for the Protoss is the fact that they are very slow starter. As we were talking about in the strengths section. Now they have more quality, but that quality definitely sacrifices speed. They can be rushed very easily if you are not properly scouting your opponent and figuring out what they are planning to do. Also, the zealots have very slow movement speed, so don’t expect to rush down some zerglings; it can be rather impossible.

So with that movement speed and slow building speed, it’s only natural that you can be harassed, your economy is going to be at risk in the beginning of the game, they can attack the probes; run away from the zealots. Some things that you can do to make up for these weaknesses is set up photon cannons around your economy or in the entrance of your base. There are specific things that you can do to actually rush your opponent as well.

Being the aggressor is hard, but not impossible in the beginning of the match, especially when you consider techniques such as the proxy gate rush and things of that nature, things that can ultimately decimate your opponent.

Protoss Vs. Protoss Strategy

We have a great protoss vs. protoss strategy that can ultimately help you out. Here is a great build order that has actually personally worked wonders for me when I am facing a Protoss opponent. It is called the Stalker/Sentry Push; and here is the build order for it:

• 9 Pylon
• 12 Gateway
• 13 Assimilator
• 16 Cybernetics Core
• 17 Pylon
• 19 Gateway
• 20 Assimilator
• 22 Gateway

Timed Sentry/Stalker Push

Sentries and Stalkers are expensive, but stalkers are amazing in this; some people may argue that they can be too overpowered in the hands of a skilled user, but no matter they are legit. They can use the blinking ability which allows them to teleport over short distances so they can strike from unexpected places, catch a foe that is running, and they can escape if they are in a tight situation. Stalkers are in a word, awesome; and even cooler is the fact that they do not cost energy; but rather just a countdown. Stalkers are extremely strong against reapers, mutalisks, and void rays; they are weak against marauders, zerglings and immortals.

What’s So Cool About Sentries?

Sentries are nice because they give you the ability to create force fields to impede the movement of troops; there is also the guardian shield ability that reduces enemy ranged damage by 2 for a total of four seconds; which is a very useful move. The most popular ability by the sentries however, is the ability to hallucinate, or to put up decoys and make your opponent believe that you are rushing with specific units, when in fact you probably are not.

Sentries are extremely strong against zergling and zealots, they are extremely weak against reapers, hydralisks, and stalkers.

You Should Void Ray your Opponent!

Another technique that is preferred is going after the void ray, trying to acquire this unit is very key, as they can attack both air and ground targets, are effective against armored units, and have a prasmatic beam that increases damage the longer it holds onto a target; and when they are fully charged you want to make sure you keep it attacking something, because once a structure is destroyed, you only have a few seconds to begin shooting another object before it loses their charge.

The reason I recommended void rays is because they can absolutely DECIMATE your opponents mineral line, they can hit and run; this is critical, and they can stealth attack the enemy headquarters and put it to rubble in a short amount of time; unless you are playing zerg, then it’s guts in a short amount of time. (sorry for my graphic nature). Just remember Void rays are strong against any structure – and as far as units they are strong against battlecruisers, corruptors, and carriers; but very weak against Vikings, Mutalisks, and Phoenixes – if you see any of those units, run or try to get immediate back up!

Consider the Dark Templar Rush

This is also awesome an a nice technique that I’ve seen in the higher up games. The key right here is to really prevent your opponent from scouting you. Photon cannon it up, zealot it up; create your structures so they block all but a little entry path of you structure. You want to block that small path up with a zealot.

This is the build order:

• 9 Pylon
• 12 Gateway
• 14 Assimilator
• 16 Pylon
• 16 Cybernetics Core
• 18 Assimilator
• 20 Twilight Council
• 22 Pylon
• 22 Gateway
• 24 Dark Shrine
• 24 Gateway
• 24 Warpgate Research

One of the biggest things when it comes to dark Templars is their ability to destroy your opponents economy because they can kill a worker in one shot. They are always invisible thanks to their permanent cloaking; they can destroy their buildings and raid bases. Their main weakness however, is that they can be killed easily if detected.

Dark Templar – Archon Ability

One of their underrated abilities is their ability to turn into the Archon, which is done by combining two high Templars. These things are absolutely nasty; especially to mutalisks, however if you do see a thor, ultralisk, or an immortal, you want to make sure you take your High Templars away. They are extremely fast and have high shield to make up for their low hp.

Protoss Build Orders

Starcraft 2 Build Order – Protoss

0 Comments 30 June 2011

What is the best starcraft 2 build order? What are some suggestions if you are just beginning in the world of starcraft 2 and playing online in the copper league. What about if you are a higher rank, what build orders should you use as the Protoss race, these are just some of the things that we are going to go over!

We are going to give you a nice little opener so that you can succeed in Starcraft 2; this is great if you are just starting and playing.

• 9 Pylon
• 10 Queue up 3 Probes and Chrono Boost their production twice in a row.
• 13 Gateway
• 14 1st Vespine Gas
• 16 Pylon
• 18 Cybernetics Core
• 18 2nd Vespine Gas
• 19 Zealot
• 23 Research Warp Gates
• 23 Zealot
• 23 Pylon
• 26 Robotics Facility
• 27 Sentry
• 27 Chrono Boost Warp Gate research
• 30 Observer (Chrono Boost ASAP)
• 31 Gateway
• NOTE: Depending on what you want, either get Immortal ASAP or work towards
• Colossus tech
• 31ish Immortal right after Observer
• 36 Make Gateways into Warpgates
• 36 Immortal
• 40 Stalker
• 42 2x Zealot
• 42 PUSH OPPONENTS BASE

Here’s another build order that can potentially help you when it comes to basic build orders for Protoss.

Protoss Proxy Gateway Rush

This is a high level technique that I’m showing to you, you can just see the video here.
This basically is a strategy of building two proxy gateways inside of your opponent’s base and then rushing with your zealots. Some people would consider it “cheese”, but it’s actually regular strategy and an ultra aggressive move.

Also in this strategy, you want to make sure that you are not being scouted!

• 10 Pylon
• 10 2 Gateways
(both at opponent’s base)
• Build a few more probes to 15-16 supply
• Use all of your minerals to pop up some zealots
• You will have extra minerals so use wisely.
This a great strategy if you perform it right, however, if you do not absolutely destroy your opponent, you are going to be at a miserable disadvantage because you have two gateways away from your base that may be destroyed very soon.

So it’s great not to get caught doing this, and only pulling it off, if you are absolutely sure your opponent is not aware of it.

Bonus, Similar Strategy

Again, many of these strategies are seen as cheese, however, they are very doable if you are not being scouted; again it completely depends on the skill of your opponent so it probably won’t work against an expert.
Photon Cannon Rush
• 7 Probe
• 8 Probe
• 9 Probe
• 10/10 Pylon
• 10/10 Forge [1]
• 11-13 Proxy Pylon [2]
• 12-14 Photon Cannon

Hot Key Tips

Starcraft 2 Hotkey Guide

2 Comments 27 June 2011

Let’s put it bluntly, it’s impossible to win in Starcraft 2 in the higher ranks unless you master hotkeys. There is no other way! It’s a great thing that you’ve came here; because I promise, we have the top notch knowledge when it comes to techniques to get a hold of your hotkeys and trying to reach the top of the ranks!
Here’s an incredible video that can help you if you are a visual learner!

Standard Hotkeys Video

As you can see, this one allows for more customization that the grid layout (which we are about to explain), but it is rather complex to remember. There is a ton of things to remember as you can see in the video.

And that’s the main disadvantage. It’s going to be pretty complex with every single race. The keys are going to be scattered everywhere and it may reduce your speed. And if you like to play random with all three races, then you are going to have to try and attempt to somehow learn all of them at the same time. It’ll be akin to learning 3 languages at the same time. Pretty hard, Which is why we recommend something that is much easier.

Grid Hotkeys Video

As you can see in this video, it is much easier to pull off. You don’t have to worry about so much trying to remember, because all of the races are going to be pretty similar. You are going to have to recognize the individualities within the race, like certain terminologies. The Terran race is probably going to be your best bet at the beginning to learn if you are just learning the game.

It is a great idea to learn your number hotkeys as well; as we have just been going over the letter hotkeys. The hotkeys that are letters are just for the preset hotkeys and things of that nature. If you actually want to customize your control groups, then it’s time to start looking at the number hotkeys

Mastering Control Groups

As you can see in this video, it is highly important that you come up with your own way of organizing your control groups. Setting all of your unit building, technology upgrades, and orbital command center groups to three different control groups is a good idea. You should always try to organize things as much as possible.

When you get in depth like build orders, counter build orders, you are going to learn that you are going to have to adjust your control groups in many different ways, this will give you the best advantage against your opponents!

Overview of Zerg Units, Zerg Units

Starcraft 2 Zerg Units

0 Comments 25 June 2011

What’s up Guys! Let’s get down to business and talk about some starcraft 2 zerg strategy so you can master the online domain!

Hatchery Units:

 Larva

Larva is the base unit for all zergs, whether it is an army or worker unit.  The larva will naturally spawn from the Hatchery, Lair (Upgrade), or Hive (Super Upgrade), and you can expect to see one larva every 15 seconds.  The cap for simultaneously larvae at one time is 3, then the 15 seconds timer is suspended, this plays a huge role in strategy as it can help or hurt you.

Some Quick Stats:

• Ground Unit
• Turns into Either Worker or Army Unit
• It has Biological & Light Attributes
• Health = 25 & Shield =10
• Sight = 5 Radius
• It can morph into: Drone, Zergling, Hydralisk, Infestor, Roach, Ultralisk, Overlord, Mutalisk, Corruptor
• Hotkey = S

Cocoon

The cocoon is a unit created by any zerg unit that is able to morph.  From a morphing larva, the cocoon is extremely durable, having 10 armor and 200 health points; the cocoon from a zergling to a Baneling is 50 health points and 2 armor

Cocoons for overseers and broodlords have 200 hit points and 2 armor

Drones

The drone is the basic worker unit for the Zerg race.  They are actually unique because they can create any structure of course with the  sacrifice of their life.  They are also just as useful as Terran or Protoss race in harvesting vespene gas and minerals .  They slowly regenerate  their health if attacked. 

When it comes to Drone vs. SCV or Drone vs. Probe battles, the Drone will probably win because it slowly regenerates health during battle, so it can take one more hit than it’s opponent, provided it attacks first.

Quick Drone Stats:

• Ground Unit
• Harvests Vespene Gas and Minerals, Can Also Transform into Zerg Structures
• Cost = 50 minerals, Build Time = 17, Supply = 1
• Biological & Light Attributes
• Attack Stats: Ground attack – 5,

Zergling

The zergling is the melee unit of the Zerg Race, it is very fast and can only attack close range.  It is best to use the zerglings as swarms to overwhelm enemies, as they are very ineffective without their “pack”.  They tend to be the center of any rush or any type of strategy; army.  The main thing about the zerg race is their ability to do a “1 pool rush”, which can easily overwhelm a beginning opponent if they are not initially ready for it.  Two zerglings can hatch from a single cocoon and so therefore each zergling only costs ½ supply points.

Zerglings are especially great when they get the metabolic boost and when they are on creep, they are nearly unstoppable when these two are put together. Adrenal glands are great upgrades as well as they increase the zerg attack speed by 18.6%

They are also a precursor towards the banelings (which are highly effective against marines, zerglings, and zealots)

Queen

Without the queen, it is impossible for a zerg player to win.  Probably the most important unit to the Zerg as far as building and expanding economy. 

Queen Spells

Spawn Larva -  the spawn larva ability gives the queen the ability  to inject four larva eggs into the Hatchery, and after 40 seconds the 4 larvae are hatched and able to be used; up to 19 can be used.  This is highly important because hatcheries can only create 3 larva at a time all by themselves, so to expand the economy and build on it, the queen is essential!

Be sure to use Spawn Larva at every single opportunity.  You should look around for the best Queen Strategy, so that you can dominate.

Spawn Creep Tumor – It’s not as important as Spawn larva (which is absolutely critical to success), but it can determine the tide of the battle, so it’s still a VERY useful enhancement that should be used against your opponent. .

This allows players to extend their creep, and create situations in which units can get to one place to another at a much faster pace! It’s actually a better method than making your overlords use their creep ability, because you will not risk losing your overlords and losing supply.  The creep tumors are also cloaked and the vision of the player is increased.

Transfusion – This is one of the more underrated and underused abilities of the queen, simply because the larva spawn and the spawn creep tumor are where most of the energy goes, but the transfusion ability is extremely useful because it heals a friendly biological unit, for 125 health.

Baneling

The baneling is more of a “suicidal” unit, Kamikaze type unit that will sacrifice itself and create incredible, devastating on the opponent.  The great thing about these units is that they have a splash damage radius of 2.2 and they do not cause any type of friendly harm to you or your allies.  The only disadvantage of using these units is that they have very limited range; the good thing is that they can be detonated manually.

Baneling Abilities

Burrow – Banelings have the burrow ability which creates a “mine field situation”. So when your opponent walks over, the  burrowed baneling will explode.  This special ability can definitely destroy a huge chunk of your opponent’s army if he is not careful!

Centrifugal Hooks – A lair is required for this ability, but basically it’s an ability that increases your banelings speed stat to 2.9531, and your banelings will, instead of running, will roll.  The actual upgrade costs 150 minerals, 150 Vespene Gas, and will take 110 time.

Overlord Bombing Strategy – You can actually use your banelings and overlord in conjunction and bomb your opponent with the banelings, it is a very effective strategy; but it can also be very risky as you risk your overlord being overcome. The key to using banelings effectively is to hit “light units”, otherwise your attack won’t have that much of an effect.

Attack Structure – The baneling auto-detonates  on a structure and this can easily be done by right clicking on the structure that you want to attack.

Roach

The roach is an armored, biological starcraft 2 unit.  The only time the roach can be made only if the roach warren exists, and that can only exist if the spawning pool has already been created as well.  Many players have labeled roaches the “zerg shield” because of their ability to take a huge amount of damage and surviving; and they also have abilities to rapidly generate hp fast.

The roach can heal itself from 1-full health in about 14 seconds, which is pretty incredible and is faster than the build time for many units in the game.

Abilities

Rapid Regeneration – While the roach is borrowed (underground), it possesses the ability to generate its health at 5 hit points per second.

Upgrades

Tunneling Claws – This is a great upgrade that gives the roach the ability to move at the speed of 1.4 while borrowed and doubles the hit point regeneration from 5 – 10 hit points per second.  This upgrade requires the hatchery to be upgraded to Lair.

Glial Construction – This upgrade increases roach overall movement on the surface up by +.75 and it also requires the lair upgrade to the hatchery.

Lair Required Units

Hydralisk

The hydralisk has a ranged attack and it is able to attack surface or air units.  They produce a ton of damage and they do it rather quickly, which is why no army is complete without atleast some hydralisks.  If you see your opponent massing on air and doing an air unit rush, it is best to go with hydralisks as you can build these earlier in the game as opposed to mutalisks and corruptors.

They do have their weaknesses, however, as they have very small amount of armor and especially hit points.  They are strong against enemies such as Banshees, Mutalisks, and Void Rays.

They are weak against enemies such as Siege Tanks, massed marines, zerglings, and the Protoss Colossus.

Upgrades

Zero Ground Carapace – Upgrades armor of all zerg units.

Grooved Spine – Increases the attack range of hydralisks by +1

Infestor

The infestor has many abilities and a lot of players hate to see this unit coming (if they even do really see it coming).  This unit is pretty much all offense, doesn’t really support the allies, but WOW does it pack a punch.  It has health of 90, which is a little low, and it requires 100 minerals, 150 gas, and a build time of 50 to be produced.  It takes up two supply spots.

Infestor Abilities

 The two main abilities of the infestor is neural parasite and fungal growth.  There is also the infested terran ability which we will talk about. 

Neural Parasite – Target unit is controlled by the infestor for 15 seconds and the infestor can not take any other action during this time. 

Burrow Ability – Just like many other units, the infestor has the ability to burrow; and can not be seen without detection.

Fungal Growth –  Immobilizes target and causes 36 damage 9 damager per second for 4 seconds, deals 30 more total damage to armored units. Also Fungal growth has the ability to detect and reveal cloaked and other types of hidden units.

Infested Terran -Gives you the ability to spawn an infested terran, and that terran will last for 30 seconds. Infestors use this spell while being burrowed which means that they are temporarily invincible during this time. 

Upgrades

Neural Parasite Upgrade – Gives the infestor the neural parasite ability that we have just discussed above.

Pathogen Glands – Researched from the infestation pit, increases the starting energy by 25 – gives more room for spells, very critical for advanced infestor play.

Hive Required Units

Ultralisk

These are definitely the most powerful zerg ground forces.  The main reason is that they have a high amount of hit points (500), and are as dangerous as any armored vehicle.  It has Armored – Biological – Massive attributes.  It can learn the burrow and the armor upgrade ability.  It has an attack of (15) and this can be upgraded; every attack has a splash of 33%.

They are strong against, Marauders, Roaches, and Stalkers, they are weak against Banshees, Mutalisks, the Void Ray (because of the ability for it to focus and increase damage overtime).

Abilities

Frenzied – this ability makes the ultralisk invincible to things such as stun, snare, and mind control.

Chitinous Plating – Increases ultralisk armor by 2.

Broodling

The broodling is the small Zerg unit that you can use that is ultimately spawned and created when a zerg structure is destroyed by an enemy.  It is a temporary unit that lasts only 8 seconds and tries to do as much damage as possible in that small amount of time.

Changeling

This is an enemy unit that is spawned from an Overseer (evolved form of an overlord).  This unit has the ability to change its form.  It is a zerg looking unit at first, but they change, they will copy into the unit that is near; it will be a basic unit, meaning that it will be a marine, zergling, or zealot.  It will also copy the upgrades as well.  The great thing about these units is that they can be nearly the perfect scouting technique, especially if your opponent is not the brightest or simply isn’t accustomed to the game.

This technique can even work on proven vets if you are slick about it.

Nydus Worm

Fast transportation for units.  Nydus room can help a zerg unit move quickly around the map; when you create the nydus nexus, you can build it anywhere you have vision without the need for creep or a dome, and transferring everything is nearly instant.

Starcraft 2 Air Units

Hatchery Units

Overlord

This is the supply unit for the zerg race.  It is equivalent to the supply depot for the terran or the pylons for the Protoss.  The reason why it has an advantage over all the other races is simply as far as a supply unit is it’s ability to move around and spread creep.  Also this can be upgraded to an Overseer and that will allow it to detect the enemy and show you what is going on.    The overseer can also use banelings and be sort of a bomber.

Many people like to take the Overseer and go to the natural expansion to see if their opponent has expanded yet.  If they haven’t then there’s a chance they could be ready to attack.

Abilities

Generate Creep – This allows you to develop creep, and strategically place it to help strengthen your units in key parts of the map.

Morph into Overseer – Can morph into overseer, this ability is going to require Lair

Load – The Overlord has a total cargo of space of 8, and this ability can be used only after ventral sacs is researched in the Lair.

Upgrades

Pneumatized Carapace –  Increases the movements of the Overlords to 1.88 and the Overseers to 2.75; this makes a big difference as Overlords are initially very slow units.

Ventral Sacs – As mentioned above, it is researched from hatchery and gives Overlords the ability to transport zerg units.

Overseer

Morphed from Overlord, has the ability to see invisible units, spawn changelings, contaminate, and is much more useful for scouting than any other zerg unit.  It also moves much faster than the Overlord, but in exchange for all of its added ability, it loses the ability to transport units.

Abilities

Spawn Changelings – Requires 50 energy, Can spawn the changeling unit which can morph and take the form of a basic enemy unit.

Contaminate – Requires  75 energy, Can create contaminate, which covers the enemy’s structure in slime, which then causes the structure to be unable to train units or research anything for 30 seconds.  Highly effective technique, especially if you have more than one Overseer.

Upgrades

Pneumatized Carapace – Increases the movement speed of Overlord’s to 1.88 and Overseers to 2.75.

Mutalisk

These creatures are very fast, and they are able to attack things on the move, making themselves a very dangerous advisary. They are early game harassment units that can do some serious damage if your opponent is not ready for it.

They can most effectively harass when they are stacked together; into a clump. This way it is nearly impossible to target the weakest mutalisk in a group!

Corruptor

This unit has the ability to increase damage, it is a pure support unit and it has massive effects.  It is a flying zerg unit that uses its Corrupt ability in order for allied troops to deal 20% more damage for a total of 30 seconds.  The weakness is that it works on units; but not structures. 

The corruptor can morph into the brood lord; this requires a Greater Spire.

Brood Lord

The brood lord is a massive flying organism that spawns Broodlings when it actually does attack.