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Here are the strategies for Protoss. Anyway, if there are any questions, comments or errors please e-mail me. |
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Protoss are probably the most difficult race to master in terms of getting past the early game. On certain maps they can be quite vulnerable to Zergling rushes. Also, the fact that their buildings take so long to warp in, and their units are more expensive, make playing as Protoss an "unforgiving" experience if you make a mistake with them. Efficiency is crucial. Here's one good general build order 1) Build 4 probes 2) While the fourth Probe is warping in, use one of the existing Probes to make a Pylon 3) Make a 5th Probe, and when it appears, your Pylon should be just about done, so warp in a Gateway. 4) Another Probe, then use it to make another Gateway 5) Another Probe, then make a Pylon 6) Your first Gateway should be through warping in, so make a Zealot. 7) Make another Probe, then a Pylon 8) As soon as that second Gateway finishes warping in, construct a Zealot there. What about the Zergling rush? If you think a Zergling rush is coming you should change up and build a Pylon right after building your second Probe. Try to stack your Zealots side by side at a choke point, so the Zerglings cannot break through or surround your Zealots for an optimal attack. For instance, on Lost Temple, have your Zealots stand right a top the ramp to your base. This will force any Zerglings to take on your Zealots on a one for one basis, which is a losing proposition for the Zerg player, even if you're badly outnumbered. After beating back that first wave, if you have a reasonable number of Zealots left over, start an immediate counter attack. Your objective is to try to push your Zerg opponent into a defensive mode. OK what if no rush comes? If you're not rushed first, at some point you need to use at least one of your Probes and your first Zealot to scout around and find your opponent (if you don't already know where the enemy base is). After locating the base, just send in your first 5 Zealots and try to wreak some havoc. Hopefully this attack will accomplish several things. One, you want intelligence information on what he or she is building. This will give you a rough idea of what strategy your opponent is employing, and allow you a chance to counter that strategy accordingly. For instance, if you see a Zerg player upgrading to Lair quickly, you can bet he's going for Mutalisks. Go all out on Zealots and rush, while building up to Templars back at your own base. Two, you want to try and break through the first line defenses and do damage to the harvesting line. Three, initiating a successful first attack gives you a psychological edge and puts your opponent on the defensive, which is the first step toward success. The Economy In the beginning, concentrate on gathering minerals to buy Zealots. Once you saturate your mineral fields with Probes, sending more to gather minerals probably won't improve the situation-now it's time to build your Assimilator. Don't bother building a Forge or Cybernetics Core until you have an Assimilator and are already rapidly gathering Vespene Gas. The Forge allows you to upgrade your units and allows you to build Photon Cannons. However, you can't upgrade your units unless you have the Vespene Gas, and in the beginning it's more worthwhile to build two Zealots than one Photon Cannon. The Cybernetics Core is a requirement for the more advanced buildings, but the more advanced buildings require a lot of Vespene Gas for construction. How many Gateways again? A lot of hard core Protoss players swear by the strategy of getting up three Gateways as quickly as possible. Personally, I think it's wiser to stick with 2 Gateways that are CONSTANTLY churning out Zealots until your economy is up to the point where you can have 3 Gateways CONSTANTLY churning out Zealots. Add a fourth or fifth Gateway later as the economy is built up. If you think about it, it's pointless to have so many Gateways and yet, any one of them may be sitting idle because your economy cannot handle the production load. Another key is to not be tempted into queuing your production too early. Don't use one of your Gateways to queue up 3 Zealots while another is sitting idle. Early on, queuing is bad because the development of your town and economy requires having all your resources accessible, not tied up inside the Zealot production queue. Until you reach the mid game stage, it's better to build only one or two Zealots at a time, per Gateway. Defense and Recon Defensively, it's prudent to use more Shield Batteries and Dragoons than Photon Towers. Naturally, you'll need some kind of detector ability if you see a Terran opponent making Wraiths. A couple of Photons scattered about will provide detection until Observers can be made. As important as reconnaissance is, Protoss probably have the worst recon capability of any race. Terrans can use ComSats to safely take a peek at any part of the map. Zerg can use Parasites to peer into enemy territory safely as well. Protoss don't have any capability of the sort, except for Observers, and once towers are constructed in the enemy town, you can pretty much forget about keeping Observers over the enemy base. For this reason, it's probably a good idea to have a Zealot or two run a suicide mission through enemy bases to try and gain intelligence. If the entrance is plugged up, air drop one or two in the rear to run around and see what's going on. Later on, Scouts with speed and sight upgrade can speed over top of enemy bases to see what's going on. Another possibility is creating a Hallucination of a Scout to run the suicide recon runs. Mid Game Tactics with Protoss Once you reach the mid game stage, after making the ABSOLUTE MUST UPGRADE (Zealot speed at the Citadel) Protoss players have to decide whether to go for an air force of Scouts, a lot of Templars, a Reaver Drop, or some combination thereof. What you choose depends on your opponent and how the game is going at that point. If the enemy is Zerg and going with Mutalisks, you want to get Psionic Storm and a bunch of Templars quickly. Build a few Photon Cannons around your town and perhaps some Shield Batteries with some Dragoons. Also build a Shuttle. If you can beat back the first couple of Mutalisk attacks with Dragoons and Psi Storm you should strike back quickly. Use your Shuttle and drop a couple Templars and perhaps a Reaver in the opponent's base. Storm the worker units and let the Reaver go to work. Should that prove successful, the game is in the bag. Send in Zealots/Dragoons to clean up. Another possibility is that your opponent is Terran and going defensive. Use Reavers to try and break through the frontal defenses and then stream in Zealots. Or if possible, drop Reavers in the back of the Terran town and strike the workers directly. Against Terran be sure to have Photon cannon defenses near your harvesters as well as a couple of Observers with Dragoons. The threat of cloaked Wraith attack is too great to ignore. Don't get caught up with building all Zealots or pay the price! Psi Storm also works wonders against Wraiths. In a one on one game, it's not such a great idea to try and build a huge force of Scouts. They are expensive and slow to build, and too easily countered with masses of Hydralisks, Dragoons, or Goliaths. Throw in the area effect spells like Psi Storm and Ensnare to worry about and you're talking about a risky proposition. Still, a handful of Scouts is always nice to have, though for Overlord hunting or just general air cover. Now in team games, going whole hog on Scouts may prove to be a VERY nice complement to your teammate's plans. It all depends, but nothing provides better air cover than a full group of Scouts. Hunt down enemy Overlords or transports with them while your teammate concentrates on providing the punch from the ground. Like the Terran Dropship, the Protoss Shuttle can be a terrible menace to enemies. Upgrade their speed and you've got a transport that can get in, get out of, and outrun trouble. A couple of Shuttles filled with Zealots can ruin your opponent's economy. Mix in Reavers or Templars into the mix and you have a strategist's dream. Protoss may have the strongest units, but they don't have to be the dumbest, so use the Shuttles to avoid nasty chokepoints. Don't play into your enemy's hands. Proper use of fast Shuttles will allow you to dictate the game to your enemy. How does the late game change your strategy? Read the next section for details. Late Game Tactics with Protoss Late game, if you have the resources, Protoss can be downright fearsome. You should have plenty of Templars to support your forces with Psi Storm (arguably the best spell in the game). Keep using the Shuttles to drop them in places where they're not wanted and Psi Storm masses of idle enemy units. Even if you're heavily outnumbered, a couple of well placed Psi Storms evens the battlefield quickly if you can protect your Templars. The key to doing that is to press the attack as much as possible. The more of an offensive stance you take, the less chance Zerg or Terran players can "assassinate" your Templars with Queens or Sci Vessels, because they're too busy managing other things. Also, a glut of Templars can be turned into powerful Archons. A few of them can greatly discourage swarms of Mutalisks, but just don't rely on them too much against a Terran player with Science Vessels. Arbiters should play a role in your attack if you can spare the gas for them. Their cloaking ability can be very useful. Recall should also be used in the back side of enemy bases whenever possible. Recalling a group of Reavers and Archons will wreak immediate havoc on the opponent. Also research Stasis for use against masses of Guardians, Mutalisks or BattleCruisers. Don't hesitate to use Hallucinate to make copies of your Arbiters for protection. By the late game you should have several Scouts to take down dangerous enemy air units. If you should choose to make Carriers then you definitely need a fleet of Scouts to protect them. Scouts are very useful for taking down masses of Guardians, Mutalisks, or a few BattleCruisers. Hunt down any stray Queens, Science Vessels or Overlords you see around the map. Keep up pressure with the sturdy Zealot on the ground, supported by Reavers as in the mid game, and use a combination of Scouts and Templars to stave off attack from the skies. Observers should be scattered all around the map during the late game, so you're never without a detector nearby to spot cloaked units. |