also while I'm making a bad post I'll redeem it a miniscule amount by asking: any good terran streams to watch? I watch destiny and idra for z, puzzle forever and always for p, but I've never seen a solid featured terran stream.
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VariableMouth CongressStroke Me Lady FameRegistered Userregular
Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
vari would you be at all willing to write out a general (short) guide for Terran? I was thinking of doing one for Protoss and then we can get someone to do one for Zerg too and then when a new PA person comes into the thread we can point them to that with 1 build per matchup instead of having to regurgigate ourselves all the time.
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ChaosHatHop, hop, hop, HA!Trick of the lightRegistered Userregular
There is a force field blink training custom map.
That shit is hard.
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VariableMouth CongressStroke Me Lady FameRegistered Userregular
if you do something I'll mimic it from the terran perspective
and it is dumb because you have no terrain to speak of, which never happens.
I feel like the hard part isn't the creep, but the lack of choke points. It's still good for me to use since it's helping my blink micro and making me more confident. It might be something I do in builds more!
Edit @Houn: If you save before I think you can just reload and choose the other path.
if its just blink micro you want, Dargleim's micro map has that.
Hmm, I'll look that up.
I've also been wondering, how do you know when a stargate build is something you can do against a Terran player? Stargate play is something I do a lot in PvZ but it's harder to do vT since their basic unit does a good job against air and it's hard to get scouting information from inside their base after the wall off is done, so I can't tell if they're going for mech or marauders or something.
if its just blink micro you want, Dargleim's micro map has that.
Hmm, I'll look that up.
I've also been wondering, how do you know when a stargate build is something you can do against a Terran player? Stargate play is something I do a lot in PvZ but it's harder to do vT since their basic unit does a good job against air and it's hard to get scouting information from inside their base after the wall off is done, so I can't tell if they're going for mech or marauders or something.
The only time I have seen stargate play vs a Terran is doing the old MC voidray bust
Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
If you see a tech lab on their first barracks, they're going to make at least some marauders. Air play can be good then.
Extended air play isn't so good vs Terran, because the air tech route has no answer for mass marine, but a good old 3-4gate/stargate all-in can often win you a game vs a Terran who goes 2-3rax with a bunch of marauders because marauders are, outside of air play, so strong against Protoss.
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3cl1ps3I will build a labyrinth to house the cheeseRegistered Userregular
Dhal, Zergs are getting like 5+ infestors out by the time my 7gate blink stalker/+2 timing hits. I'm not sure how to punish it.
I think it's because they're taking greedy expansions and getting their econ up faster than should be reasonable--hatchery first, followed by a 6:00-7:00 third, that sort of thing.
The first problem is not punishing the hatch first build. What are some good ways to go about doing that?
The greedy third is partly why I want to get hallucination, I'm scared to push out while powering because my unit count is low, and as such the zerg has complete map control. If I had halluc I could scout those greedy expos and push out sooner to deny them.
But saying my timing attack hits around 12:00 (that's about right, isn't it?)... my opponent already his infestors up and I'm in deep shit against infestorling.
Festors are becoming my most-hated unit in the game. I blame Destiny.
OremLK on
My zombie survival life simulator They Don't Sleep is out now on Steam if you want to check it out.
0
Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
Punishing hatch first
Drop a forge as soon as you scout it and cannon it. Risky, but hilarious when it works.
Chronoboost out 3-4 zealots, hide them in your base then moveo ut with them all at once. Sometimes you'll even kill the hatchery doing this if you can keep the zealots in a good position and avoid being surrounded by lings.
Add a second gate before your cybercore and chronoboost out two fast stalkers once its done. Hatch first gets a late gas and accordingly a late zergling speed, which means stalkers can't be caught off creep. Just poke around the outside of his natural expansion sniping drones, grazing his queens, sniping spine crawlers if they go down ,and stutter-step retreating when lings attempt to attack.
and then destiny lost to deezer. I don't really know what to make of it, besides to just write it off as puzzle not having even the slightest experience with destiny.
maybe puzzle needs to hire deezer for some lessons. that sentence hurt me deep inside to type.
Torgairon on
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3cl1ps3I will build a labyrinth to house the cheeseRegistered Userregular
I am watching IPL, and staying up to watch GSL, while playing WoW.
Here Blizzard, just take all my money.
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Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
Protoss Guide for Beginners!
Hi everyone.
This is intended to be a guide for one of two people
-1) Those new to Starcraft 2 who have played a few (20-50 games) and maybe have decided on Protoss or are yet unsure of what they want to play.
-2) Experienced players of another race who want to get a good starting point to transfer their existing skills as they switch races.
It is NOT intended to be a guide for those brand new to the game. I'm not going to tell you what a gateway does, or how to reach Colossus tech. you can figure that out on your own.
The Protoss race is both simpler than you might think and more complicated than a lot of people think. The central theme of Protoss is twofold
1) Your units are expensive as hell, especially your tech units in terms of gas. This has the effect of locking you into unit compositions until you can use them to get you into a position to safely transition out of them.
2) Your units complement each other. A zealot and stalker together are more powerful than two stalkers or two zealots, in most situations. An army of gateway units comprised of zealots, stalkers, and sentries is exponentially more powerful than one composed of just stalkers and sentries, or just stalkers, or just zealots. As such, you want to keep your army in one piece as much as possible, and be careful splitting it up willy nilly as you may end up drastically reducing the power of your units.
There are some core strengths that the Protoss race has
(-) Rapid reinforcement of any and all attacks with proper planning.
As a Protoss player, warpgates are one of our greatest strengths. Entire production cycles can be placed precisely where you need them, if you have the foresight/preparation necessary to place a pylon where you require the units. Nearly every attack you make should either have a probe making pylons somewhere on the map before you get there, or, if its unsafe to get a probe across the map unseen, bring one with your army and lay a breadcrumb trail of pylons as you go. This latter method also has the advantage of being able to make tactical retreats. Retreat to your next pylon and warp in a round of reinforcements and you may be able to blunt their counterattack before it ever reaches your base. In addition, you can also rapidly warp in units to defend your far-flung expansions or bases in the event of a counterattack. 2-3 pylons should be going down at every potential expansion.
(-) Individual unit strength.
On a one to one basis, Protoss units are the strongest in the game. They are also more expensive, but early in the game it is generally lack of infrastructure and not funds that limits your unit production. When both Protoss and Terran are producing out of only one barracks, the Protoss has the better army. a Terran can later on add more infrastructure and due to his cheaper units, have a more numerous army to equalise things, but for the early game at least, Protoss has some exceedingly strong units. Exploit this by building only a handful of units early on and using them to either secure an advantage through harassment, or defend early game attacks effectively while boosting your own economy through early expansions.
(-) Rapid upgrades.
The ability to chronoboost selected upgrades is a massive advantage. Should you choose to, you can get upgrades (whether that be unit upgrades or research) much quicker than another race can. You can also build workers at a rapid pace, increase production of your primary tech units (Void Rays, Colossus, Immortals), or, in an emergency, burn a lot of stockpiled energy to increase the speed that your warpgates cooldown at. Utilise your chronoboost as often as possible.
There are also some core weaknesses that you need to be aware of
(-) Tech switching is a difficult process
Due to how expensive in gas Protoss units are, you often will be spending nearly all your gas on your chosen tech path, leaving very little left over for moving down another tech tree. As a Protoss, your gameplan is extremely important as transitions from tech to tech are dangerous and easily exploited by a capable and aware opponent.
(-) Units are weak individually lategame.
The Protoss army being exponentially stronger as it gets larger has a downside. You're exponentially weaker as your army is smaller. 2 stalkers, 2 zealots and a sentry are less than half as good as 4 stalkers, 4 zealots and 2 sentries.
(-) Very reliant on good forcefielding
Forcefield is an amazingly powerful spell. It can allow you to delay pushes, hold back superior armies until you have time to get force in place to deal with them, or simply divide up an army so that you can handle it a bit at a time. Due to it being so powerful, the entire Protoss race is designed with it in mind. As such, if you're bad at using it, you're at a significant disadvantage. Getting used to forcefielding decently is one of the first things you need to focus on as a Protoss, outside of basic macro.
Basic Builds
With that out of the way, I want to outline some basic builds that you can use to good success in each matchup while not having to worry too much about modifying it.
The standard Protoss opener is
9 Pylon
13 Gate (can be varied to 12 or 14 depending on matchup/build)
15 Gas (can be dropped back to 14 if 12gating)
16 Pylon
17 Cybernetics Core
This is the standard opener for 95% of all Protoss builds. There is very little that diverges before this point.
Protoss vs Protoss
PvP is a very unique, demanding, and punishing matchup. The smallest mistake will lose you the game, and good control of your units as well as a good sense of when to make units and when to cut production and tech up is paramount. Economy is much less important in PvP than in any other matchup. Expanding before securing an advantage of some sort is tantamount to suicide, as is being behind on tech for too long.
With that in mind, the most powerful all-around build in PvP is an early 4gate timing attack. There is very little reason not to 4gate every PvP. A lot of high level players do it simply because the build itself is very easy to execute and allows you to brutally punish any small mistake your opponent makes.
the build is
9 Pylon
12 Gate
14 Gas
17 Cybernetics Core (start warpgate research the very second it finishes)
17 Pylon
18 Zealot
22 Cut probe production
22 Stalker
24 3 gateways
24 Stalker
26 Proxy pylon with your scout probe. Send out a new probe if your scout probe ever dies.
Spend your first two chronoboosts on probes. Save the rest for warp gate research. Move out towards the opponent base when your first stalker finishes, and hover around his watchtower. When your gateways and warpgate research finish, transform them into warpgates, warp in four stalkers and move up your opponent's ramp with six stalkers and your zealot. Warp in zealots or stalkers as necessary (if he has about the same amount of stalkers as you do, warp in stalkers. If he has less, warp in zealots. he shouldn't have more stalkers than you unless he's also 4gating). Focus down his stalkers with yours, send your zealots after his. If you far outnumber his zealots, send one to his mineral line to attack his probes. This will force him to divide his attention and his forces.
Protoss vs Terran
Protoss vs Terran is simultaneously one of the most fun and frustrating matchups to play. Control of the map can change hands rapidly without either player doing anything, simply because relative army strength is so dependent on a huge variety of factors including tech level of each player, micro ability, and stage of the game.
Economy is paramount above all, you need to be ahead of a Terran in economy at all times. You do not necessarily have to be ahead of him in bases, but you do need to take your expansions before he takes his. if a Terran gets to two functioning bases before you, you'll have a very hard time. However, if you expand too aggressively without the control to defend it, you'll lose game after game.
With that in mind, this is one of the safest builds to play against a Terran.
9 Pylon
13 Gate
15 Gas
16 Pylon
18 Cybernetics Core
From here supply numbers are not exact.
Take your second gas.
Start warpgate research with your first 50 gas, a stalker with your second 50 gas, and a robotics facility with the next 100.
Add another gateway after the robo, and chronoboost out two observers as soon as the robo finishes. Send one to his base and keep one at home to guard against cloaked banshees.
Build one Immortal out of your robotics facility, then start a Nexus at your natural expansion.
From here you can continue producing Immortals and adding more gateways, or move into Colossus production.
The strength of this build is the early tech, the fast observers, and the relatively strong army. Your expansion is slightly later, but due to your stronger army you can often punish a Terran for expanding aggressively because he won't have the same amount of forces that you do. Several Immortals backed up by a number of gateway units will really do a number on a Terran relying on bunkers to defend. Due to your tech advantage, you can often take a faster third than the Terran to make up for your later natural expansion.
Protoss vs Zerg
PvZ is a tricky balancing act of a matchup. You want to keep the Zerg economy down as much as possible, while also powering your own up. Dealing with large numbers of Zerg units requires Protoss tech units, like Colossus, Immortals, or Templar, and you can't get those with a crappy economy. Good forcefields rule this matchup, and map control is the name of the game.
The current standard build is one of the best. It is a 3gate expansion build that relies on forcefields for defense, harassing the Zerg to prevent too large an amount of drones being produced, and building up an army with which to roll over the Zerg player.
The build
9 Pylon (at your ramp)
13 Gateway (start a wall-in)
15 Gas
16 Pylon
18 Cybernetics Core (complete your wall-in, leaving one spot open for a zealot to block.
Second gas immediately
Make your initial zealot, then a sentry and warpgate research when your cybernetics core completes. Spend all of your chronoboost besides the first two on warpgate research. Add two more gateways at approximately 30 supply when your warpgate research is about 50% done. Continue to make only sentries from your gateway. make a pylon on the low ground outside your base when your warpgate research finishes, and warp in three more sentries. After this switch to mostly stalker production. Start a Nexus at approximately 6:30m-7m into the game. Start Hallucination research after your Nexus. Send a hallucinated Phoenix to scout your opponent's base. If you see a third hatchery at a third base, move out to attack it. If you see a large amount of spine crawlers, the Zerg is teching. Try to find out what it is with repeated scouting. Power your economy as much as possible and use zealots to keep the xel'naga watchtowers free of Zerglings so that the Zerg is denied vision of the map.
This hopefully serves as a good starting point for any budding Protoss player, whether they are brand new to Starcraft 2 or an experienced player from another race looking to make the switch. These builds are all good starting points for learning to play the race well, and you should see good success with all of them once you are able to execute them well and have a good foundation of the basics of Starcraft 2 behind them.
As always, feel free to post any replays in the Penny Arcade Starcraft 2 thread. There are lots of us here who are more than willing to look over any replay (don't get crazy and send hour-long replays expecting detailed advice) and give some constructive advice on how to improve your game.
Drop a forge as soon as you scout it and cannon it. Risky, but hilarious when it works.
Chronoboost out 3-4 zealots, hide them in your base then moveo ut with them all at once. Sometimes you'll even kill the hatchery doing this if you can keep the zealots in a good position and avoid being surrounded by lings.
Add a second gate before your cybercore and chronoboost out two fast stalkers once its done. Hatch first gets a late gas and accordingly a late zergling speed, which means stalkers can't be caught off creep. Just poke around the outside of his natural expansion sniping drones, grazing his queens, sniping spine crawlers if they go down ,and stutter-step retreating when lings attempt to attack.
Thanks. And nice guide
My zombie survival life simulator They Don't Sleep is out now on Steam if you want to check it out.
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3cl1ps3I will build a labyrinth to house the cheeseRegistered Userregular
Dhal's guide is rad.
I mean, I know nothing about Protoss. But it strikes me as rad.
Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
looking for feedback on the guide, any sections you think are not worded well or not detailed enough, or any sections with too much detail?
or even if you just wanna point out which sections are ideal so i can model the other parts after those sections
I like the PvZ section. Partially because you give a little bit of advice on how to deal with the matchup outside of build order. Like where you mention what to look for in a teching zerg (spine crawlers) and how to deal with the matchup on a more meta level (denying xel'naga towers and asserting map control). You don't do as much suggesting of units to use, but it's cool to have some direction for those few things beyond build order that the player should be looking for.
"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to give into it." - Oscar Wilde
"We believe in the people and their 'wisdom' as if there was some special secret entrance to knowledge that barred to anyone who had ever learned anything." - Friedrich Nietzsche
So MBCGame, one of the two channels in SK that run BW leagues, is effectively shutting down. They also sponsor a BW team. I'm wondering what this will mean for the players on that team, as I think some/all of their contracts will run out in August. If the team is going to die, they may have to find another team (which is more difficult now than ever) or jump ship to SC2.
Posts
it begins
also while I'm making a bad post I'll redeem it a miniscule amount by asking: any good terran streams to watch? I watch destiny and idra for z, puzzle forever and always for p, but I've never seen a solid featured terran stream.
he was right though
i saw your vast tank army and i saw him run around one of the shattered temple ground pits like a dumb ass with some marauders then gg
didnt see the rest of his army though
One of these days, we will get a page of just Dhal talking/raging by himself.
i think 5 posts
That shit is hard.
it is hard because you are doing it on creep
and it is dumb because you have no terrain to speak of, which never happens.
Chose Tosh over Nova. Will I regret this?
I feel like the hard part isn't the creep, but the lack of choke points. It's still good for me to use since it's helping my blink micro and making me more confident. It might be something I do in builds more!
Edit @Houn: If you save before I think you can just reload and choose the other path.
I've played through twice... It doesn't really matter. I think the Nova mission was a bit more fun personally.
You chose poorly then
(I never played the campaign)
Hmm, I'll look that up.
I've also been wondering, how do you know when a stargate build is something you can do against a Terran player? Stargate play is something I do a lot in PvZ but it's harder to do vT since their basic unit does a good job against air and it's hard to get scouting information from inside their base after the wall off is done, so I can't tell if they're going for mech or marauders or something.
The only time I have seen stargate play vs a Terran is doing the old MC voidray bust
Steam ID
Extended air play isn't so good vs Terran, because the air tech route has no answer for mass marine, but a good old 3-4gate/stargate all-in can often win you a game vs a Terran who goes 2-3rax with a bunch of marauders because marauders are, outside of air play, so strong against Protoss.
How the heck did Ret not just die?
I think it's because they're taking greedy expansions and getting their econ up faster than should be reasonable--hatchery first, followed by a 6:00-7:00 third, that sort of thing.
The first problem is not punishing the hatch first build. What are some good ways to go about doing that?
The greedy third is partly why I want to get hallucination, I'm scared to push out while powering because my unit count is low, and as such the zerg has complete map control. If I had halluc I could scout those greedy expos and push out sooner to deny them.
But saying my timing attack hits around 12:00 (that's about right, isn't it?)... my opponent already his infestors up and I'm in deep shit against infestorling.
Festors are becoming my most-hated unit in the game. I blame Destiny.
Drop a forge as soon as you scout it and cannon it. Risky, but hilarious when it works.
Chronoboost out 3-4 zealots, hide them in your base then moveo ut with them all at once. Sometimes you'll even kill the hatchery doing this if you can keep the zealots in a good position and avoid being surrounded by lings.
Add a second gate before your cybercore and chronoboost out two fast stalkers once its done. Hatch first gets a late gas and accordingly a late zergling speed, which means stalkers can't be caught off creep. Just poke around the outside of his natural expansion sniping drones, grazing his queens, sniping spine crawlers if they go down ,and stutter-step retreating when lings attempt to attack.
maybe puzzle needs to hire deezer for some lessons. that sentence hurt me deep inside to type.
Here Blizzard, just take all my money.
Hi everyone.
This is intended to be a guide for one of two people
-1) Those new to Starcraft 2 who have played a few (20-50 games) and maybe have decided on Protoss or are yet unsure of what they want to play.
-2) Experienced players of another race who want to get a good starting point to transfer their existing skills as they switch races.
It is NOT intended to be a guide for those brand new to the game. I'm not going to tell you what a gateway does, or how to reach Colossus tech. you can figure that out on your own.
The Protoss race is both simpler than you might think and more complicated than a lot of people think. The central theme of Protoss is twofold
1) Your units are expensive as hell, especially your tech units in terms of gas. This has the effect of locking you into unit compositions until you can use them to get you into a position to safely transition out of them.
2) Your units complement each other. A zealot and stalker together are more powerful than two stalkers or two zealots, in most situations. An army of gateway units comprised of zealots, stalkers, and sentries is exponentially more powerful than one composed of just stalkers and sentries, or just stalkers, or just zealots. As such, you want to keep your army in one piece as much as possible, and be careful splitting it up willy nilly as you may end up drastically reducing the power of your units.
There are some core strengths that the Protoss race has
(-) Rapid reinforcement of any and all attacks with proper planning.
As a Protoss player, warpgates are one of our greatest strengths. Entire production cycles can be placed precisely where you need them, if you have the foresight/preparation necessary to place a pylon where you require the units. Nearly every attack you make should either have a probe making pylons somewhere on the map before you get there, or, if its unsafe to get a probe across the map unseen, bring one with your army and lay a breadcrumb trail of pylons as you go. This latter method also has the advantage of being able to make tactical retreats. Retreat to your next pylon and warp in a round of reinforcements and you may be able to blunt their counterattack before it ever reaches your base. In addition, you can also rapidly warp in units to defend your far-flung expansions or bases in the event of a counterattack. 2-3 pylons should be going down at every potential expansion.
(-) Individual unit strength.
On a one to one basis, Protoss units are the strongest in the game. They are also more expensive, but early in the game it is generally lack of infrastructure and not funds that limits your unit production. When both Protoss and Terran are producing out of only one barracks, the Protoss has the better army. a Terran can later on add more infrastructure and due to his cheaper units, have a more numerous army to equalise things, but for the early game at least, Protoss has some exceedingly strong units. Exploit this by building only a handful of units early on and using them to either secure an advantage through harassment, or defend early game attacks effectively while boosting your own economy through early expansions.
(-) Rapid upgrades.
The ability to chronoboost selected upgrades is a massive advantage. Should you choose to, you can get upgrades (whether that be unit upgrades or research) much quicker than another race can. You can also build workers at a rapid pace, increase production of your primary tech units (Void Rays, Colossus, Immortals), or, in an emergency, burn a lot of stockpiled energy to increase the speed that your warpgates cooldown at. Utilise your chronoboost as often as possible.
There are also some core weaknesses that you need to be aware of
(-) Tech switching is a difficult process
Due to how expensive in gas Protoss units are, you often will be spending nearly all your gas on your chosen tech path, leaving very little left over for moving down another tech tree. As a Protoss, your gameplan is extremely important as transitions from tech to tech are dangerous and easily exploited by a capable and aware opponent.
(-) Units are weak individually lategame.
The Protoss army being exponentially stronger as it gets larger has a downside. You're exponentially weaker as your army is smaller. 2 stalkers, 2 zealots and a sentry are less than half as good as 4 stalkers, 4 zealots and 2 sentries.
(-) Very reliant on good forcefielding
Forcefield is an amazingly powerful spell. It can allow you to delay pushes, hold back superior armies until you have time to get force in place to deal with them, or simply divide up an army so that you can handle it a bit at a time. Due to it being so powerful, the entire Protoss race is designed with it in mind. As such, if you're bad at using it, you're at a significant disadvantage. Getting used to forcefielding decently is one of the first things you need to focus on as a Protoss, outside of basic macro.
Basic Builds
With that out of the way, I want to outline some basic builds that you can use to good success in each matchup while not having to worry too much about modifying it.
The standard Protoss opener is
9 Pylon
13 Gate (can be varied to 12 or 14 depending on matchup/build)
15 Gas (can be dropped back to 14 if 12gating)
16 Pylon
17 Cybernetics Core
This is the standard opener for 95% of all Protoss builds. There is very little that diverges before this point.
Protoss vs Protoss
PvP is a very unique, demanding, and punishing matchup. The smallest mistake will lose you the game, and good control of your units as well as a good sense of when to make units and when to cut production and tech up is paramount. Economy is much less important in PvP than in any other matchup. Expanding before securing an advantage of some sort is tantamount to suicide, as is being behind on tech for too long.
With that in mind, the most powerful all-around build in PvP is an early 4gate timing attack. There is very little reason not to 4gate every PvP. A lot of high level players do it simply because the build itself is very easy to execute and allows you to brutally punish any small mistake your opponent makes.
the build is
9 Pylon
12 Gate
14 Gas
17 Cybernetics Core (start warpgate research the very second it finishes)
17 Pylon
18 Zealot
22 Cut probe production
22 Stalker
24 3 gateways
24 Stalker
26 Proxy pylon with your scout probe. Send out a new probe if your scout probe ever dies.
Spend your first two chronoboosts on probes. Save the rest for warp gate research. Move out towards the opponent base when your first stalker finishes, and hover around his watchtower. When your gateways and warpgate research finish, transform them into warpgates, warp in four stalkers and move up your opponent's ramp with six stalkers and your zealot. Warp in zealots or stalkers as necessary (if he has about the same amount of stalkers as you do, warp in stalkers. If he has less, warp in zealots. he shouldn't have more stalkers than you unless he's also 4gating). Focus down his stalkers with yours, send your zealots after his. If you far outnumber his zealots, send one to his mineral line to attack his probes. This will force him to divide his attention and his forces.
Protoss vs Terran
Protoss vs Terran is simultaneously one of the most fun and frustrating matchups to play. Control of the map can change hands rapidly without either player doing anything, simply because relative army strength is so dependent on a huge variety of factors including tech level of each player, micro ability, and stage of the game.
Economy is paramount above all, you need to be ahead of a Terran in economy at all times. You do not necessarily have to be ahead of him in bases, but you do need to take your expansions before he takes his. if a Terran gets to two functioning bases before you, you'll have a very hard time. However, if you expand too aggressively without the control to defend it, you'll lose game after game.
With that in mind, this is one of the safest builds to play against a Terran.
9 Pylon
13 Gate
15 Gas
16 Pylon
18 Cybernetics Core
From here supply numbers are not exact.
Take your second gas.
Start warpgate research with your first 50 gas, a stalker with your second 50 gas, and a robotics facility with the next 100.
Add another gateway after the robo, and chronoboost out two observers as soon as the robo finishes. Send one to his base and keep one at home to guard against cloaked banshees.
Build one Immortal out of your robotics facility, then start a Nexus at your natural expansion.
From here you can continue producing Immortals and adding more gateways, or move into Colossus production.
The strength of this build is the early tech, the fast observers, and the relatively strong army. Your expansion is slightly later, but due to your stronger army you can often punish a Terran for expanding aggressively because he won't have the same amount of forces that you do. Several Immortals backed up by a number of gateway units will really do a number on a Terran relying on bunkers to defend. Due to your tech advantage, you can often take a faster third than the Terran to make up for your later natural expansion.
Protoss vs Zerg
PvZ is a tricky balancing act of a matchup. You want to keep the Zerg economy down as much as possible, while also powering your own up. Dealing with large numbers of Zerg units requires Protoss tech units, like Colossus, Immortals, or Templar, and you can't get those with a crappy economy. Good forcefields rule this matchup, and map control is the name of the game.
The current standard build is one of the best. It is a 3gate expansion build that relies on forcefields for defense, harassing the Zerg to prevent too large an amount of drones being produced, and building up an army with which to roll over the Zerg player.
The build
9 Pylon (at your ramp)
13 Gateway (start a wall-in)
15 Gas
16 Pylon
18 Cybernetics Core (complete your wall-in, leaving one spot open for a zealot to block.
Second gas immediately
Make your initial zealot, then a sentry and warpgate research when your cybernetics core completes. Spend all of your chronoboost besides the first two on warpgate research. Add two more gateways at approximately 30 supply when your warpgate research is about 50% done. Continue to make only sentries from your gateway. make a pylon on the low ground outside your base when your warpgate research finishes, and warp in three more sentries. After this switch to mostly stalker production. Start a Nexus at approximately 6:30m-7m into the game. Start Hallucination research after your Nexus. Send a hallucinated Phoenix to scout your opponent's base. If you see a third hatchery at a third base, move out to attack it. If you see a large amount of spine crawlers, the Zerg is teching. Try to find out what it is with repeated scouting. Power your economy as much as possible and use zealots to keep the xel'naga watchtowers free of Zerglings so that the Zerg is denied vision of the map.
This hopefully serves as a good starting point for any budding Protoss player, whether they are brand new to Starcraft 2 or an experienced player from another race looking to make the switch. These builds are all good starting points for learning to play the race well, and you should see good success with all of them once you are able to execute them well and have a good foundation of the basics of Starcraft 2 behind them.
As always, feel free to post any replays in the Penny Arcade Starcraft 2 thread. There are lots of us here who are more than willing to look over any replay (don't get crazy and send hour-long replays expecting detailed advice) and give some constructive advice on how to improve your game.
Hope this helps!
Thanks. And nice guide
I mean, I know nothing about Protoss. But it strikes me as rad.
or even if you just wanna point out which sections are ideal so i can model the other parts after those sections
PLATINUM!
Now I have to ladder my way back up to Diamond so I can stop playing again
"We believe in the people and their 'wisdom' as if there was some special secret entrance to knowledge that barred to anyone who had ever learned anything." - Friedrich Nietzsche
i guess the pvt build never gets officially named
it's a one gate robo build, pretty safe and reactionary because of the early observer.