Protoss Strategy

This is an article on Protoss strategy in standard mode.

Unit and Composition
Tier 1 Protoss units are marked by their versatility, with high damage high HP units hitting both air and ground. They form a solid core that Tier 2 and 3 units could build upon.


 * Zealots serve as a generic melee unit with high HP and damage. Since large groups of zealots are often easily countered, typically only a moderate amount of Zealots are used to augment the effective health and damage of an early game Protoss army.
 * Sentries are effective defensive units. Their Hallucinations also take up a portion of the battle field, reducing available surface area for your real units. Sentries however do very little damage, and thus are rarely effective when used only on their own.
 * Adepts excel both as damage takers protecting the Protoss armored units, and damage dealers against enemy light units. The player may manually shift the Adepts to different positions on the battle field in order to better fulfill their intended purposes.
 * Stalkers are excellent units for consistent damage output. They are also the only anti-air unit available for Tier 1 Protoss. With Blink researched, Stalkers are among the only few units where players may manipulate the battle field by blinking them to strategic locations. For example, the player could blink groups of stalkers to target high-value enemy units, or to blink them back to stack with the next wave.

Tier 2 Protoss units build upon Tier 1, providing specialized units that allows the player to adapt to the opposing force as the game evolves into mid-game. As the game progresses, Tier 2 units will provide the main bulk of damage output for the Protoss army.


 * Phoenixes are cost effective means to soak enemy air-to-air damage. It can also serve to add firepower against enemy light air units, although this role is generally fulfilled by other units more effectively. With range upgrade the Phoenix will attack from a further distance from the enemy, making it more effective as a damage dealer but less effective as a damage taker. Care must be taken when considering this upgrade since the decision is irreversible.
 * Oracles can add damage to enemy ground light units. Stasis ward is incredibly useful during a battle to freeze enemy ground units, and can be game changing. Care must be taken when using them to help your ally in between waves, particularly if they have high-bursting energy units, since units in Stasis are immune to damage. As units in stasis also stop moving, when used too close to the enemy's side it may inadvertently help the enemy waves to stack, which could be detrimental to the player.
 * Observers to provide detection. As they themselves are cloaked, the opposing army must also have detection to counter the Observer's detection.
 * Void rays provide aerial firepower against enemy armored units. As the Immortal generally are more effective against enemy ground armored units, void rays are typically used to counter enemy air armored units. Since void rays target enemy units indiscriminately, the player must ensure that enemy non-armored units closer to the front are destroyed before void rays are able to reliably damage enemy armored air units.
 * Archons can act both as a damage taker and damage dealer. When acting as a damage taker, its lack of attributes (besides Psionic) renders the majority of units unable to deal extra damage to them, allowing them to last much longer than their HP pool would otherwise suggest. When acting as a damage dealer, their AOE damage could cripple air units when they clump together. Since they are large units with limited attack range, they become less effective as the game progresses and armies grow bigger.
 * Immortals deal heavy damage to enemy armored ground units. It also survives and stacks easily due to high HP and passive.
 * Dark Templars are opportunistic units which can be used to force at least one of the opposing side to go Tier 2 for detection, which weakens their Tier 1 army. When undetected, a few Dark Templars could add considerable firepower and may even reverse a push. If the opposing army has reliable detection, then Dark Templars are unlikely survive long enough to be effective for their costs. For this reason, the teleport upgrade is generally inadvisable as its cost cannot be recovered.
 * High Templars drain enemy energy units, and provide the Protoss Army with AOE damage. Like most energy units, the longer they stay alive, the more energy they can accumulate, eventually to a point where they can release two Psionic storms each wave, providing massive AOE advantage for the Protoss army. Conversely, if they die shortly after they spawn, then they will not have sufficient energy available for any AOE at all.
 * Like the High Templars, Disruptors also provide Protoss army with AOE damage. Unlike HTs, the AOE damage from disruptors only hit ground units, and they could be "baited" with clever unit positioning. The upside is that they do much more damage than Psionic storms, and they're cheaper than High Templars, both in unit price and research. A good player could micro the Disruptors to resist "baits" and instant (by preempting the throws), making them far more effective than auto-cast.

Tier 3 Protoss units supports the core Tier 1 and 2 units by adding reliable firepower to the already effective Protoss army.


 * Carriers add long-range generic damage to the Protoss army.
 * Like the Carriers, the Colossi also adds long-range generic damage to the Protoss army. Unlike the Carriers, the Colossi shares attack upgrades with the rest of the Protoss ground forces, making them excellent choices when the damage required are limited to ground only.
 * Tempests are excellent stacking units due to their range. When being pushed, they likely will survive and continue to damage the next wave.
 * The Mothership also becomes available with Tier 3 upgrade. It is notable for its cloaking field and time-warp, which reduces damage output from a large portion of the opponent's battle line. When used strategically, a well-placed time warp could change the course of the game.

Composition
See also: Army composition basics

An effective Protoss army is typically formed by a steady progression from Tier 1 to Tier 3 over the course of the entire game. It's generally inadvisable to skip any unit tier, as each tier serves as an essential component of the Protoss army which also complement each other's weaknesses.


 * Without Tier 1 units, the Protoss army is unlikely to stay alive for long enough to be effective.
 * Without Tier 2 units, the Protoss army lacks damage against larger enemy forces.
 * Tier 3 units allows the Protoss army to add reliable and sustained firepower on the space already occupied by Tier 1 & 2 units, effectively increasing the total damage output per area occupied. Tier 3 units are also longer in range, allowing them to easily stack with subsequent waves as the game progresses further.

In addition, Protoss armies are generally less formation-dependent than Terran and Zerg armies. The Protoss army could be equally as effective when being pushed as they were pushing.

Early Game
As the game starts the Protoss will need to choose a suitable Opener, depending on the opponent and your own team setup. The objective is to either survive and cause leaks in favor to your next wave, or to stack with your next wave and cause leak in favor to your third wave.

vs Protoss
For a Tier 1 fight:


 * Adepts to provide damage against zealots and enemy adepts;
 * Try to keep Stalkers alive so they could stack with teammates;
 * Zealots with charge to help tank and damage enemy stalkers.

Some common Tier 2 mechanics:


 * Immortals to provide damage against stalkers and enemy Immortals;
 * Adepts to tank enemy immortal shots and protect your own stalkers;
 * Archons to burn adepts;
 * Zealots with charge to temporarily hold off enemy Archons while you also transition into Tier 2.
 * Archons can tank void rays while your stalkers damage them.
 * Micro Disruptors against each other:
 * 2 Disruptors in each back corner if not microing them;
 * Front disruptors to take out enemy disruptors (or if you miss, waste enemy disruptors)
 * Back disruptors to take out enemy armies.

vs Terran
Against Terran Tier 1 bio ball, Sentries are essential. Their Hallucination provides some tanking capabilities while Guardian shield drastically reduces damage from Marines and Reapers.

Unit considerations:


 * Adepts to kill enemy Marines and Reapers
 * +1 attack upgrade on Adepts will mean that they will 2-shot marines instead of 3, unless the Marines have +2 armor or if they don't stim.
 * Zealots to add generic HP/damage or to force Hellbats if desired;
 * Stalkers to do extra damage on enemy Maruaders.
 * If you have Stalkers, get Adepts to tank damage from enemy Maruaders to protect your stalkers.

Should the Terran proceed to skip directly to Tier 2, the Protoss needs to be careful not to over-invest in Zealots and Adepts. This is because Terran Tier 2 primarily consists of air units. Generally, mass stalkers will beat most Terran T2 compositions long enough for you to also get Tier 2.

vs Zerg

 * Stalkers to stack with your teammates or to kill roaches.
 * Zealots to hold off enemy Zerglings, or to surround enemy queen/hydras.
 * With +1 attack, Zealots could 2-shot Zerglings instead of 3, unless the Zerg matches with +1 armor upgrade. Charge has the same effect for the first zergling they kill. Thus depending on the number of Zerglings you encounter, sometimes a Charge is sufficient on its own.
 * Adepts could add damage to light units, but are otherwise less effective generally than Zealots;
 * Sentries to produce Hallucinations and limit your army's exposure against Zerglings.

Some common Tier 2 Mechanics:


 * Archons counter Mutalisks, especially when high in number;
 * Stalkers will generally be sufficient against them in smaller numbers.
 * Disruptors to kill Queen-based armies. NOTE that it is only effective if you micro them.
 * Otherwise you could adopt a less effective Zealot/Archon/High Templars composition for queen-based armies, should you choose to not micro disruptors.
 * Immortals to add damage to Lurkers and Swarm Hosts;
 * Void rays to counter corruptors. Letting them fly past is often not ideal.

(NOTE: A more specific and detailed list of Protoss Openers should be included on a separate page, under a list of Protoss Openers where they are discussed in detail)

Teamwork
In addition to fighting their own wave, the Protoss is highly effective at supporting the preceding and subsequent waves in the team. In the hands of a competent Protoss player, the resulting teamwork is very deadly and could be game deciding.

Stalkers are used extensively in high-level play. This is because they are very effective at supporting the other waves in their team. Some examples:


 * Arriving at the scene earlier than your opponent by forward-blinking stalkers to your preceding teammate's wave. This helps your teammate to kill off the previous wave, and then stack with yours.
 * Retreating to your team's structures (e.g. bunker) to stay alive (while the structure kills your wave), and push with the subsequent wave. This helps your teammate to beat their opponent, and causing a leak in favor to your 3rd teammate.

As many Protoss Tier 2 units are highly effective for specific counters, with spare capacity the Protoss could change the outcome of the subsequent waves with very little investment. Some examples:


 * Getting High Templars to storm their Terran for your Terran;
 * Getting Void Rays to defend your Terran's Liberators against enemy Corruptors;
 * Extra Stalkers to Blink into enemy Banelings to waste them so they don't blast your friend's Bio.

Observers also costs less than Ravens, and are cloaked (while the Overseer isn't), making it a favorable choice of detection for your team.