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¥Protoss Continued¥

Protoss Vs. The Three Races

Intro: There are plenty of strategies tactics and guides around, but how do you know when to use them and when not to use them? After you read this you will know when to use what tactics and also how to defeat different tactics that you're opponent might try to use.

Protoss-VS-Zerg

Vs 4 Drone Zergling Rush - if it's a small map like Blood Bath you will almost definetly have to use you're probes to help stop the first Zergling wave then quickly get Zealots and a Shield Battery to stop further Zergling Attacks.

Vs Mass Hydralisks - Cannons on high ground work great if you are on low ground build a few more Cannons, Reavers, High Templars with Psi Storm and some Zealots to take the fire from the Hydralisks to give you time to cast Psi Storm

Vs Mass Zerglings - Best thing to get here are air units, but if thats not available then use Cannons, High Templar's Psi Storm, Reavers and Dark Templars. Archons are also good, but you only get them later in the game, build 2-3 Shield Batteries too.

Vs Mutalisks - Dragoons with Singularity Charge upgrade work great combined with High Templar's Psi Storm or get Corsairs because they will make short work of Mutalisks too, complement with Scouts if he starts using Devourers.

Vs Mutalisk/Guardian - Vs Guardians you should try to avoid using ground units to fight them, use Corsairs and Scouts. However you can run in a few suicide Zealots or Dragoons and let them take the shots from Guardians or Mutalisks and then bring in a High Templar to cast Psi Storm.

Lurker Rush - Scout to find out if you're opponent is going for this and if he is get Cannons and Zealots, Dragoons are optional and also you wan't to get an Observer as fast as you can. When he attacks you should have no problems defeating him right after that quickly counter attack since if he did a Lurker rush chances are he will not have many defensive units or structures in his base.

Protoss-VS-Terran

Vs Marine Rush - Zealots should have no problem defeating this since they can kill Marines easily, if it's a bigger Marine attack you might wan't to get Cannons and don't follow his Marines with you're Zealots engage where you're Cannons can reach and fire on his Marines for maximum efficiency.

Vs Marine/Firebat/Medic - With the coming of the Medics this combo becomes rather deadly to the Protoss because Firebats can kill many Zealots while being healed by the Medics and Marines stimmed make short work of Dragoons. What you wan't to do is strike him early while he is still building up or you'll wan't to have Zealots, Cannons and Reaver or a High Templar with Psi Storm. Dark Templars are good too if he doesn't have a Scanner Sweep, but he will most likely have one.

Vs Tank Push - You can use Zealots to run in and take the first shots from the Siege Tanks and at the same time bring in a High Templar and cast Psi Storm on all the Marines/Medics/Firebats after they are dead taking down the Tanks should be very easy or you can use a Reaver and a Shuttle and as soon as the Tanks shoot at the Zealots drop the Reaver let it shoot of a Scarab and lift it off immediately, you can do this without the Shuttle, but in that case you're Reavers chances for survival are very slim. If you have Corsairs with Disruption Web use them to cover the Tanks then attack with everything you have.

Vs Wraiths - Cannons work great just don't spread them out or the Wraiths will be able to get them one by one, try to place at least 3 close to each other. Dragoons work just as well and even better because they can move to where they are needed, but need Cannons or Observers to spot Wraiths for them if they are cloaked. Scouts rip through Wraiths like nothing and do it even better with Corsair support, but scouts are extremely expensive so you might want to stick with Dragoons unless it's an island map.

Vs Battle Cruisers - These are not as hard as they appear you just have to know they are coming and prepare the right stuff. The best things to have are Scouts, Dragoons and High Templars for Psi Storm or if you have enough of them some hallucinations too. If you happen to have some Dark Archons sitting around Mind Control some Battle Cruisers or use Feedback to hopefully cause some of the fleet massive damage. You also want to command you're attack force to target 1 Battle Cruiser at a time for maximum efficiency.

Protoss-VS-Protoss

You can't really explain exactly what to do in this section because all the units are the same on both sides. What you want to do is upgrade more then him and use Spell Casters they can easily turn the game to victory from defeat. Remember if he goes massive amounts of one unit there is ALWAYS another units that can counter it. There isn't a single unit in the entire game of Starcraft that doesn't have a weakness so use you're best judgement.

Strategies

The Dragoon is in my view the best ground unit in Starcraft/Brood War. It is fairly cheap and takes little Psi. Some say that the Archon is better but it costs 300 gas and 100 minerals and 4 Psi compared to the Dragoon 125 minerals, 50 gas and 2 psi. The Dragoon is a hard unit to handle though. There are many different things you must do to them to be effective. This is what I like to do while using Dragoons.

Dragoon Dancing:

This is just a little helpful move to have your Dragoons live the longest. What you do is attack like normal but have the Dragoons in the front selected. When they are being fired at move them behind the rest of you Dragoons. This way they will not die and still get there attack points in. Keep doing this at much as needed if you must.

Upgrade Range:

This is a must in a most games. The extra range gives you a advantage over the Terran. You need range if you Zerg has Hdryas with range. With Protoss you need it if they are using Dragoons with range. Overall is really is worth it.

Attack, Armor and Shield Upgrades:

The attack upgrade is a must for sure. In a short game you may only be able to get 1 upgrade in. The armor and shield upgrades are not as important as the attack but if you have the minerals get them. In longs game you will need them though, not only for Dragoons but for every ground unit you have. You may want to have 3 forges to upgrade all at once as well.

Dragoon Drops:

You can only fit 2 Dragoons per Shuttle but on a island mat you may want to. You may want to bring in some with your Reaver drop. They can also act at decoys for a Dark Templar drop. I like to have them in a small area and take 2-4 Arbiters and recall them in. I find this cheaper and more effective then a Shuttle drop.

Now for build orders:

You may want to make some Shuttles for them because they can overlap each other so you can fit more Dragoons in one Recall. Then you can unload them in one spot of in different spots of the enemies base.

Dragoons like every unit in Starcraft must be used different for every race. For difference races you have to try different things.

Using Dragoons on Terran:

The Dragoon eats up Marines and Firebats. The great thing is going fake. If you make 1 or 2 Zealots to scout and find him with one of them a good Terran player will go Firebats since they eat up Zealots. You therefore you go Dragoons.

I like this build order for this:

Now save up some minerals and gas. Once you have your gateway make 1 zealot. You should have enough minerals for a cybernetics core while it is in the works get one more Gateway. Then go hard on Dragoons. Get the Dragoon range (Singularity charge). Once you get 12 or so Dragoons attack. Keep making Draggons though. Make pylons as needed.

This should work on a Terran but what about another Protoss?

using Dragoons and Protoss:

This is harder. You can still win though. As Dragoons are becoming more and more popular your enemy may go Dragoons. In this case you can try two things.

1) Make more Dragoons by making a extra Gateway or 2. You will have to make more peons for minerals and gas though. The problem with this though is it gives him time to get upgraded Dragoons.

2) That brings us to what I do. I get 2 forges and study Attack and Armor upgrades. I do not get Shields yet because it is 100 more minerals and gas.

This works on enemy Dragoons, but what about everything else?

In case of a Dark Templar attack get a detection fast that can mean a a single cannon can do the job. If he is going mass Zealots or you fear he and his Team Mate may 12 Zealot each attack you, get cannons.

If he is going Cannons you can make a Reaver or use Dragoons. You will have to Dragoon Dance while using this though.What you may like to try is making about 8 Zealots to attack too, the Cannons will fire at either the Dragoons or Zealots so one of the 2 will have minor loses.

When playing use this build order:

This is the basic build order simple yet it works if you think your enemy may get Dark Templar's then get a Observer, if you fear a Drop get a few Corsairs to kill the Shuttle(s).

This like the Terran will not be so great on a Zerg.

Using Dragoons on Zerg

The Zerg have the worst enemy of the Dragoon, the Hdryalisk. A single Dragoons can beat a single Hdryalisk but Dragoons cost 2 psi and the Hdryalisk only cost one control. So they can have twice and many Hdryalisk as you can have Dragoons.

The Protoss have a secret weapon though, the High Templar's Storm. This eats up Zerg swarms. Therefore unless your Zerg foe is going for mass Sunken Colonies always try to get a few High Templar's to storm. Most Zerg players go for 1 of 3 things in a short game,

1) Hydralisks

2) Mutalisks

3) Lurkers

Dragoons can beat all of these with Storm and Dragoons. With either a Observer your Dragoons can hit the Lurkers or you can Storm the Area where the spikes are coming up. If you see the eggs turning into Lurkers kill the eggs before they kill you.

To beat the Mutalisk and Hdryalisk you can storm or let your Dragoons do the work.

If they go Sunkens get Zealots to help out the Dragoons. This should beat them.

So as you can tell trhe Dragoon is a deadly unit while playing any race. If you use them rightly like as shown above they can kill any race. Now that you know what to do with the Dragoon, use them on Battle.net or Kali.

Probe Power

The Marine runs knowing full well what is on his heel. He stops, thinking he's smart to fire a few rounds at his rapist...wrong. The small critter quickly starts to eat at his heel until he can no longer stand. He dies painfully, knowing that his rapist was a small, little Probe. Behold, the power of the Probe!

The Probe is weak, agile, and very, very stupid (I mean it, its stupid!) These key features can be used together to fight off everything from SCV's to the well too used Tank! So you still want to know how to do it? Well...lets start!

First off, your start. As you should know, always build a Probe first. Then move your little Probes to mine Minerals (make sure that each one goes to a different patch if possible). The more you practice it, the better you will get at it. If you do it right, you should have 32 or less minerals when your first Probe comes out. If you see an enemy unit scouting do NOT take your probes off to kill it. Leave it alone until you can kill it with a Photon Cannon or Zealot. Only take off a probe if he tries to build or morph on the Vespene Gas (Mainly used by Zerg.)

Secondly if you have Photon Cannons, Probes can increase their worth 200% against Zerg and even the Terran. To do this you must first off know the basic rules. Never take off more than 4 Probes from thier busy minning task. Also only do this if you know the enemy can actully take out your Cannons. Now that you know the basic rules you must know how to execute this plan. It is really quite simple. Move your Probes in front of the Cannons and singal your probes to attack in the general direction of the enemy (Shift + A). When you do this, it will usally scatter the enemy and force his men to fight your Probes, wasting valuble time while you Cannons poud at them from a distance.

Another key feature that Probes are actully somewhat good at doing is destroying Tanks. Just send in your Probes to attack. If the Tank is in Siege Mode with no protection, it will fall to 4 Probes with ease. Also, if its a Tank in Siege Mode, and in numbers more than one, spread out your Probes before you send them to attack. This prevents one hit from each tank to take out all your Probes with Splash Damage! If their Tanks are spread out, attacking with Probes will do little damage to the Tank itself but the other Tank will do damage to the Tank you are attacking becuase of Splash Damage! (Try saying that three times real fast!) Eck... sucks for the Terran!

Of course the main reason of the Probe is for fodder! It is the art of sacraficing the weak for the strong. If you use your Probes correctly, you should be able to take out Sunkens, Cannons, and even Bunkers with minimal losses. When you build up a small force (maybe 4-9 zealots) just group near enemy's base and put your Probes before your Zealots. Send in you Probes to attack right before you Zealots and your Probes should asorb all the damage! It is better to lose 300 Minerals worth of Probes than 300 Minerals worth of Zealots.

©Tranman2001