Starcraft

Zealot
Zealots are the most powerful of the basic troops, more than a match one-on-one for Terran marines and Firebats, they can even stand toe to toe with two or three Zerglings or a Hydralisk and win convincingly. The sheer power of these troops, up to 22 damage per hit at a phenomenally quick rate, gives the Zealot the edge against all other foot troops. The Zealot’s lack of ranged weapons may seem like a weakness, this is not so, the only time the Zealot is ever disadvantaged is when facing aerial troops. The Zealots powerful armour will see it in good stead, deferring damage until it gets close enough to wreak havoc with its Psionic Blades.

A group of Zealots is perhaps the most destructive ground force in the game, even though they don’t cause the massive damage of such units as the Zerg Ultralisk or the Terran siege tank. The Zealots are very fast and a group of them can surround any large target and destroy them before significant damage can be done overall to their ranks. Zealots make an excellent attack force in themselves, large groups of them running into an enemy base can cause massive amounts of damage and if you can keep them focused on one target at a time they will make short work of anything that comes for them.

Best teamed with Dragoons to give them air support you will find that a relatively small amount of Dragoons will be sufficient as all they will need to do is take care of air targets. Zealots also make excellent high-speed scouts, with the upgrade available you can give them faster movement making them faster even than the sprightly Zerglings. Keeping a few Zealots near you defensive photon cannons will help prolong the life of the rather flimsy cannon, allowing the Zealots to take care of most ground based attacks whilst the photon cannon can either soften up approaching targets or take care of airborne units.

Zealots also make excellent raiding troops, you will find that their high speed can take them right into a base and their powerful attacks will allow them to destroy buildings in relative short order and retreat back to the protection of a larger body of troops or to base camp.

Weapon: Psionic Blades
Damage ground: 16
Damage increase per upgrade ground: +2 +4 +6
Armour: 1
Armour increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3
Shields: 0
Shields increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3

Dragoon
Dragoons are the heavy weapons of the Protoss, with their powerful phase disruptors they have both the range and the power to decimate most attacks before they can become a risk. Perfect air support for the Zealot the Dragoon is also a fighting force in itself, a small squad of these biomechanical units can cause a lot of damage against units either much larger than itself, or in greater quantities. The Dragoon’s 360o arc of fire means that these units can shoot the hell out of creatures whilst retreating from them. Dragoons make excellent base defences, having a larger range than the photon cannon and inflicting more damage, their only problems can be put down to lack of manoeuvrability and expense. The Dragoon is an extortionately priced unit, so for all its effectiveness the Terran and Zerg Equivalents could probably beat it one-on-one, so you have to be more devious with your Dragoons. Make use of their 360o arc of fire, using shuttle place them in inaccessible places, such as on top of wall, tops of cliffs and such, from here they will have not only an increased range but will be able to fire at enemies approaching from any direction.

The slow moving Dragoon can sometimes become vulnerable to fast moving small units like Zerglings, so it is advisable to keep a squad of Zealots with them. This way you can use the Dragoons to soften up the ground targets for the Zealots whilst keeping and eye on the sky to make sure the air vulnerable Zealots don’t run into any trouble. Very effective in groups of four if placed upon high ground and told to hold positions but very difficult to get up things like narrow walkways or stairs, their cumbersome natures can also hold up your troops in the indoor missions, they’ll eventually go anywhere a Zealot will.

Weapon: Phase Disruptor
Damage air: 20
Damage ground: 20
Damage increase per upgrade air: +2 +4 +6
Damage increase per upgrade ground: +2 +4 +6
Armour: 1
Armour increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3
Shields: 0
Shields increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3

Templar
Amongst the most powerful of the Protoss the Templar is a powerful psychic, able to create illusions or to destroy the very fabric of a man’s mind through will alone. The Templar are a surprising unit, they are capable of inflicting massive amounts of damage upon enemy units and yet are very fragile. The Templar have very little armour, cannot take a lot of damage and are slow moving. Couple this with the unfortunate Laws of Sod that dictate that their powers, being a little unspecific, can sometimes destroy their own troops and even themselves, and you have to wonder what use they can be. Well firstly the chances of their powers backfiring on you are low and they can be limited even more, Templar work best on their own, running from the cover of a large body of troops to which they can retreat if necessary. If you use the Templar to run to the edges of the enemy base, or even toward a large body of enemy units you can use their powers to bring the enemy all into one large group. The way this is done is to cast the illusion spell upon your unit capable of taking the most damage, probably a Dragoon, you then send the illusion into get the enemy all around it, hacking away, the hit the assembled enemy with a Psionic Storm and watch them splat. Immediately after you have cast you Psionic Storm beat a hasty retreat to the cover of a larger body of troops so that they can take care of any weakened, chasing survivors.

Another use for the Templar lies solely in their Hallucination spell, using this spell on your fastest moving troop, either a scout or a Zealot, will give you a disposable scout force for free. This will allow you to explore safely without having to worry about losing troops and to spring possible traps.

The most powerful aspect of a Templar lies in their ability to Warp in an Archon, a powerful psionic entity of unrivalled savagery and power. This action unfortunately costs the life of two of your Templar, but the added bonus of the Archon is well worth the cost.

Weapon: None
Armour: 0
Armour increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3
Shields: 0
Shields increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3

Shuttle
Shuttles carry Protoss units, they don’t have the carrying capacity of the Terran Dropships, neither are they as cheap and numerous as the Zerg Overlords, they are however faster than either of them and have a much nicer paint job. Shuttles are very useful units, they are ideal for placing Dragoons in inaccessible places so the Dragoon can rain fire and destruction down upon approaching enemy. Shuttles are also ideal for the fast transport of the slow moving Dragoons and Reavers, getting them to the battle at about the same time as the rest of your troops.

Weapon: None
Armour: 1
Armour increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3
Shields: 0
Shields increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3

Reaver
The Reaver is a bizarre combination, it has the power to level entire bases single handed, its scarabs doing phenomenal damage to anything they hit, whilst they themselves are incredibly vulnerable to attack being unable to take much damage and being only lightly armoured. The incredible power of the Reaver’s weapon, the scarab, is unfortunately offset by the incredibly long time it takes to produce ammunition. The Reaver has to constantly keep building ammunition, the maximum carrying capacity is 10 and then only after it has been upgraded. This gives you a lot of power for destruction, but it means that you have to keep a constant eye on the Reavers to stop them from running out of ammo. Another down side of their awesome power is the splash damage, any unit getting too close will inevitably get shot by the Reaver catching the Reaver in its own splash damage. To avoid this it is wise to keep both Zealots and Dragoons close to the Reavers, the Zealots will take care of any ground targets that get too close whilst the Dragoons keep air units back.

Reavers make an important part of any complete attack force, their awesome firepower taking down targets as large as Ultralisks and Siege tanks in short shrift. The range of Reavers is not quite that of the ultra powerful siege tank, but by using the Templar Hallucination spell you can get the Reavers close enough behind the cover of the hallucinations to allow them to bring the tanks into range.

Weapon: Scarabs
Damage ground: 100
Damage increase per upgrade ground: 25
Armour: 0
Armour increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3
Shields: 0
Shields increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3

Observer
The Observer is the ultimate scout, fast and permanently cloaked the Observer can only be seen by the specialised spotter units or base defences. This makes the Observer perfect as it can also spot cloaked or hidden units, making it truly invaluable. There should always be a couple of Observers within any Protoss force, they scout out the terrain before the force and they can find any Zerg ambushes from buried Zerg. Observers can also be left around the perimeter of your base, slightly away from the outer limits of your base, in this manner they can act as an early warning system, alerting you to the presence of enemy units.

Weapon: None
Armour: 0
Armour increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3
Shields: 0
Shields increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3

Scout
These powerful fast fighters are extremely effective against air units and ground units alike. With their high turn of speed and massive visual range the Scouts can observe enemy movements from a safe distance and they are more than capable of taking down targets a lot bigger then them. The most powerful of the basic air force the Scout is more than a match for the Mutalisk or the Wraith, in fact three or four of these fighters are capable of taking down the massively powerful Terran Behemoth Battlecruiser.

Scouts, like most units, operate best in small groups, four to six, this way you have enough ships to take down any air targets and quite a few ground ones, whilst retaining the options of a quick retreat without undue loss. The Scout is ideal for hit and run attacks, take it to a situation, blast until their shields are nearly down and then flee the scene to allow the shields to regenerate. By using these tactics you can utilise the enormous firepower, high speed and regenerating shields of the Scouts to the devastation of your enemy.

Perfect supporting troops for Zealots the Scout is at its most powerful when facing air targets whilst the Zealot is confined to ground troops. This makes for the perfect partnership, each unit sticking to its own speciality to the detriment of any opposing units.

Weapon: Dual Photon Blasters, Anti-Matter Missiles
Damage air: 24
Damage ground: 8
Damage increase per upgrade air: +2 +4 +6
Damage increase per upgrade ground: +1 +2 +3
Armour: 1
Armour increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3
Shields: 0
Shields increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3

Carrier
The huge Carriers are used by the Protoss leaders as command ships, they themselves are unarmed but within the huge ship there are located several Interceptors, small automated ships that swarm out of the hold and bog down any enemy units. The Interceptors are incredibly difficult to hit and as the enemy will inevitably aim for the unit doing the damage you will find that your heavily armoured Carrier can last an extremely long time. One Carrier on its own cannot really do a massive amount of damage, four or five however can decimate enemy defences surprisingly quickly.

A force of Carriers need no other troops to back them up, they’re an army in themselves, especially effective against large slow targets the Carriers may be slow but their interceptors are incredibly fast giving the Carrier the edge in any battle. There is no real strategy for using the Carriers, they are essentially heavy troops used for punching your way through heavy defences or for mopping up retreating or dispersed ground troops. If there is a battle the Carrier will find a way to be useful, simply get your group of Carriers and dump them on the fringes of your force and let them find their own pace.

Weapon: Interceptors
Damage air: 5 per interceptor (max 8)
Damage ground: 5 per interceptor (max 8)
Damage increase per upgrade air: +1 +2 +3
Damage increase per upgrade ground: +1 +2 +3
Armour: 1
Armour increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3
Shields: 0
Shields increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3

Arbiter
Weapon: Phase Disruptor
Damage air: 10
Damage ground: 10
Damage increase per upgrade air: +1 +2 +3
Damage increase per upgrade ground: +1 +2 +3
Armour: 1
Armour increase per upgrade: +1 +2 +3
Shields: 0
Shields increase per upgrade: +1 +2+3

Archon
Weapon: Psionic Shockwave
Role: Heavy Assault Warrior
These swirling, burning effigies of the Protoss spirit radiate incalculable power, and their devastating psionic storms can be unleashed against cowering enemy forces both in the air and on the ground. Although the Protoss are loathe to sacrifice valuable Templar, those that do acheive this final level of commitment are honoured in the annals of the Templar Archives.