Leveling Down

My Immortals here are about to completely tear apart a bunch of Stalkers.

Originally I thought that I would fit my 3v3 mid-game strategy writeup for all three races in one entry, but because I have so much to say about each race (and little else to blog about these days), I’ve decided to spread the races out to different entries.

With Protoss being the easiest race for me to play as well as a few buddies interested in learning how to play the Protoss, I decided to write about the Protoss mid-game first. If you’re interested in how to play the Protoss mid-game, take a look!

When Does Mid-Game Begin?
This particular text I will most likely paste into each one of the three races’ mid-game entries since it’s important to know when mid-game has begun. Early game consists of the initial quick rushes, followed by a build-up of initial mineral only and minor gas requiring units: Zealots and Stalkers, Marines and Marauders, and Zerglings and Roaches. Once one side has felt that they have built up enough of this early game force, that side will attack the other. If the attacking side is stronger, they will win the game right then. However, if the attack fails (both sides are even, the defending side has too much defense, etc.), that is when the mid-game begins.

The Primary Characteristics of Mid-Game
Unlike the early game when all three races basically have one conservative build to make it into the mid-game, mid-game is where strategy comes most into play. Early game was all about execution: who could rush the best, who could defend the rush the best, etc. The units were all practically the same.

The first thing you need to be aware of for mid-game is securing an expansion. This is vital because you should have an excess number of workers by this point as well as a need for more gas to start producing more powerful units and upgrades. Therefore, the first order of business once the final attack of early game fails is to expand.

Carrying from where we left off in the Protoss Build
By the end of early game, the Protoss player should have two Gateways, a Cybernetics Core, a Forge, and the ability to make Zealots, Stalkers, and Sentries. I always advocate a double Gateway opener in team games, so I will always assume that you have at least 2 Gateways going into mid-game. Once you get to mid-game, you need to make a decision on what you want to build. Scouting is very important. Starcraft and its sequel is a game of counters, so if you can determine what your opponents are making, you can make the appropriate counter going into mid-game.

Once you get your expansion up (the first thing you should do in mid-game – and make sure you place a few cannons to defend it too!), you have a decision as to what buildings to make next.

I will share the viable Protoss mid-game army compositions available for team-based play, in order of viability (which also correlates to popularity):

1. Mass Stalkers (4 Gateways)
Since you’re already making Stalkers from your two Gateways in the early game, it’s pretty easy to just get 2 more Gateways up and continue massing Stalkers. With the Blink ability researched, Stalkers are beefy anti-air ground units and are actually relatively tough to counter when there’s so many of them. I generally advocate that if you’re in doubt as to what to make, keep building Stalkers.

Many players simply mass Stalkers because there are very few things that actually counter them, and with some players turning to air in the mid game (Mutalisks, Vikings, and Void Rays), mass Stalkers still remain quite strong.

2. Zealots, Stalkers, and Sentries (4 Gateways)
If you simply want a well-rounded army and are unsure what to make but expect to win the game in mid-game, simply making more Gateway units is perfectly reasonable. The Protoss infantry units can be massed and used to win the entire game. While it doesn’t particularly excel versus a particular opponent type, it doesn’t have a real weakness either based on its mixed army.

After you expand, you should create two more Gateways and a Twilight Council in order to research both the Zealot Rush upgrade and the Stalker’s Blink ability. Consider warping in a 2nd or even a 3rd Forge to research multiple upgrades for your ground units at once.

Also, it’s probably worth researching the Warp Gate upgrade at the Cybernetics Core and upgrading all four of your Gateways to Warp Gates so that you can warp your units in at any of your structures on the map (such as a Pylon).

3. Stalkers + Collosi (2 Gateways, 2 Robotics Facilities)
One of the things that Mass Stalkers can have trouble with in an open field is mass Zerglings, mass Hydralisks, and mass Marines. Therefore, some Protoss players opt to build a couple of Robotics Facilities and a Robotics Support Bay in order to create Colossi.

The Colossus unit does devastating damage to light units in mass such as Zerglings and Marines, and are definitely worth considering to counter anything ground based that is unarmored. The Colossus’s main drawback is that it cannot attack air, but air-to-air units can attack it. This is often why Colossi are accompanied by Stalkers – so that the Stalkers can cover any air threats.

4. Stalkers + Immortals (2 Gateways, 2 Robotics Facilities)
This build is very situational, and is actually a counter to opponents that rely on armored units too much. Immortals are interesting units: they take very little damage if they still have shield, and get 20 bonus damage on armored units. Therefore, they are ideally suited to go up against Terran’s Siege Tanks because they do extra damage to the tanks and receive reduced damage from them. Also, their bonus damage allows them to do extra damage against Stalkers, Roaches, and Marauders. You should consider making two Robotics Facilities and Immortals if you suspect that your opponents will be massing any of those heavily armored ground units. I cannot emphasize this enough: Immortals tear apart Stalkers.

5. Void Rays (2 Gateways, 2+ Stargates)
Everyone probably knows about Void Rays by now, and how effective they can be. While some players will skip straight to Void Rays to get them out sooner, a more conservative build order will allow you to make Void Rays without any risk due to a strong ground army up to the point when you want to make Void Rays.

Once the early game comes to a stalemate, you can quickly warp in a couple Stargates, begin cranking out Void Rays, and getting a Fleet Beacon out to research the Void Ray movement speed upgrade. Keep in mind that to use Void Rays effectively, you don’t want to engage enemy units out on the open. Void Rays get beaten by massed anti-air units and Vikings, so their use should be either to assault enemy buildings or as a counter to opponents building capital ships such as the Battlecruiser.

The use of Void Rays should be precision based – moving from base to base and taking out your opponents’ key structures. They should not really be used for fighting smaller infantry anti-air units – a mistake that some newer players make since they think that Void Rays will automatically win the game for them.

6. Zealots and Phoenixes (2 Gateways, 2+ Stargates)
Phoenixes are again a situational unit for the Protoss. With the Blink upgrade, the Protoss Stalker is already a very powerful anti-air unit that makes it tougher to go with Phoenixes.

The primary reason why you may want to go Phoenixes is if your opponent is massing Void Rays, Mutalisks, or Vikings, and you think they can handle guerilla tactics such that your Stalkers cannot ever really engage them. Again, this is very situational and therefore it is very rare for Phoenixes to be made – especially since they cannot attack ground. With all the gas that the Phoenixes take up, you will have an abundance of minerals, so mass those Zealots so you can at least have a ground force as well.

Note, however, that the Phoenix has a very interesting ground unit based ability: it can pick a unit up off the ground, float it in midair while rendering both the unit and itself unable to do anything. Other air units can then engage the suspended enemy unit. Against massed smaller enemies, this ability is not worth it, but against bigger ground units, it can potentially turn the tide.

Higher level Protoss players will opt to make about 8-12 Phoenixes against Zerg players in team games. They are very fast, can go after Overlords, can take on Mutalisks, and hit mineral lines by lifting up drones with their ability and killing them in the air. In fact, I recommend only really making Phoenixes against Zerg, which will then allow you to transition into Carriers for the end game.

7. Dark Templars (4 Gateways)
Dark Templars are cloaked melee-only units that can be warped in from the Gateway after you build a Twilight Council and a Dark Obelisk. They don’t have a ton of life, but do very good damage. However, because the unit is cloaked, these guys are more like a “hail mary” type of unit that should only be used once because once the opponent knows you have Dark Templars, they will pursue detection and the time of your use for Dark Templars will end.

Some players like to make a couple Dark Templars and send them to an opponent that doesn’t have detection at their mineral line. But against good players, you can’t really expect them not to have detection, so I prefer to just power Dark Templars and use them on the battlefield. I like going 4 Gateways, making about 10 Dark Templars, and using them on the mid-game battle. They are very effective when brought to the field, and can cut through dozens of the opponents’ units before they can do anything about them. But once they do, consider the Dark Templars’ time over. Hopefully they made enough of a difference that you won the mid-game skirmish and were able to push your army into the opponents’ bases.

The Summary of Tasks for the Protoss Mid-Game
0. Early Game Draws to a Close with a Stalemate
1. Continue to make units
2. Expand
3. Protect Expansion with defensive structure(s)
4. Scout & coordinate with partners to decide on who is making what
5. Pick an army type from the 7 I have mentioned above
6. Create required buildings and pump units to form your mid-game army
7. Research upgrades
8. Attack!

If your side’s army and coordination is better than your opponents, it is possible that you will win the game after step 8. If the mid game battle turns into another stalemate, you will next enter the End Game – something I will discuss in a future entry.

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