In order to help you easily find the information you are looking for, I have split the guide up into multiple sections which you can find below. I will include a brief excerpt of each portion of the guide as well as a link to the full article of this SC2 Protoss guide.

Protoss Basics – Starcraft 2 Protoss Guide

The Protoss place can take a little time to get used to, but once you master the basics, it is a very effective race. The 4-Gate for example can be used against all races and is very effective, but takes a little bit of time to get used to using.

Protoss players need learn how to use Warp Gates if they want to be truly successful. This can take a long time to get used to as it is not as simple as queuing up a bunch of units; you have to be constantly warping in your units to maintain efficiency.

To read more about Protoss basics, read the full article: Starcraft 2 Protoss Basics.

Protoss Builds – SC2 Protoss Guide

The Protoss race has quite a few build orders that remain effective, even at high levels of play. Both the 4-Gate and various fast expand builds can be used very effectively with practice.

As mentioned earlier in this Starcraft 2 Protoss guide, most builds come down to the Warp Gate. You can be aggressive with the 4-Gate, or go for a 3-Gate into an expansion. There are also some other effective Protoss builds like the Forge Fast Expand, though this is typically only effective against Zerg players at particular maps.

You can read more about Protoss builds here: Starcraft 2 Protoss builds.

Starcraft 2 Protoss Strategies

Compared to other races, I would suggest that the Protoss race has the most straight-forward strategies. The Protoss is limited only by your micro and your imagination. For example, an equal-matched Stalker vs Roach battle would be disastrous with no micro, but can well-microed Blink Stalkers can easily wipe the floor with an equally-matched Zerg player.

In addition to Stalker micro, being able to use Sentries very well is also key to Protoss play. You can read more about the top strategies here: Starcraft 2 Protoss strategies.

For more tips on specific Protoss vs Race games, you can read specific articles on each match-up below:

• Starcraft 2 Protoss vs Protoss Strategies

• Starcraft 2 Protoss vs Terran Strategies

• Starcraft 2 Protoss vs Zerg Strategies

Starcraft 2 Protoss Tips

Even the slightest tweaks to the Protoss playstyle can make a huge difference in tight games. A lot of players are scrapping around in the Gold League and know the build order for a 4-Gate by heart, while others are dominating in the Master’s and even Grandmaster’s league by using that same 4-Gate. These Starcraft 2 Protoss tips can help make the difference between winning and losing.

Read more here: Starcraft 2 Protoss tips.

Starcraft 2 Protoss Guide Conclusion

Out of all the races, it takes the longest to get used to playing Protoss. If you are not on top of Chrono Boosting your Warp Gates and keeping up with the cooldowns, you can really find yourself behind in units very quickly.

Despite that, once you get used to the Protoss race, you can really do a lot of damage by using the same basic builds and good micro.

In this Starcraft 2 Protoss guide, I will be revealing my top Starcraft 2 tips that you need to know if you want to be good at Protoss.

Starcraft 2 Protoss Basics – Buildings

The biggest thing that makes Protoss different from other races is the way they build new structures. A single Probe can warp in new structures, but these structures must be placed within range of a Pylon.

In other words, in order to build a structure besides a Nexus or Assimilator, you first need to place a Pylon down and once it is finished, you will see a circle around that with which you can build in. If the Pylon is destroyed and there are no other Pylons around, the buildings that were once powered by that Pylon will stop working until a new Pylon is built in that area.

Despite this limitation, Protoss have the easiest time constructing new buildings. This is because as soon as a Probe starts warping in a building, it can move on and do other tasks, such as building more structures or going back to harvesting. A single Probe can warp in an unlimited number of buildings at once as long as there is enough Pylon space and resources available.

SC2 Protoss Basics – Warp Gates

In Starcraft 2, the Protoss players go beyond just being able to warp in buildings and can warp in units as well. Once you research Warp Gate technology, you can warp units in from your Warp Gates (upgraded Gateways) at any Pylon, anywhere on the map.

One of the core Protoss strategies is moving out with a Probe and placing Pylons around the map, particularly outside your opponent’s base when you move in for an attack. This way, you can easily reinforce your attack by warping units to the front line.

Starcraft 2 Protoss Basics – Chrono Boost

All Nexuses have energy and can use Chrono Boost for 25 energy. This speeds up both unit construction and technology. Many Protoss builds depend upon Chrono Boost. Economical fast expand builds require you to use Chrono Boost on your Nexus for example to get out more Probes.

Additionally, other builds, such as the 4-Gate, require you to use Chrono Boost on Warp Gate Technology in order to get the upgrade out faster. Without Chrono Boost here, your Warp Gate tech comes out too slow to make an effective push.

Chrono Boost can also be used on your Warp Gates themselves to help produce more units. It reduces the cooldown between warping in units, and is key in defending against rushes and making early aggressive pushes.

SC2 Protoss Basics – The Sentry

The Sentry is a key unit in every single Starcraft 2 match-up for Protoss players. It has three abilities: Force Field, Guardian Shield, and Hallucination.

Force Field is easily the most important ability Protoss players get. It allows you to produce impenetrable walls (only massive ground units can break these) on the ground, which absolutely decimate ground armies. You can use it to either split up armies (such as units pushing up your ramp or armies clashing in the middle) or trap units (such as behind Marines and Marauders so your Zealots can get in range).

Guardian Shield reduces incoming ranged damage by 2, and significantly increases your survivability against units like Marines and Hydralisks, which deal low-damage but have high attack speeds.

Hallucination is a great ability to get just for scouting primarily. Hallucinated Phoenix can move around the map really fast and scout the entire thing in just a few moments.

Starcraft 2 Protoss Basics – Conclusion

You should now have a general idea of how the Protoss race works. You need to use Chrono Boost regularly on your buildings to help speed up technology and unit production, as well as use Warp Gate technology to get units out around the field. Finally, by mastering the Sentry’s abilities you can give yourself a significant advantage.

Below, in this portion of the Starcraft 2 Protoss guide, I will be revealing the best SC2 Protoss build orders and Starcraft 2 tips for dominating as Protoss.

Starcraft 2 Protoss Builds – The 4-Gate

If you want to have any success with the Protoss race, then you need to master the 4-Gate. This is an effective build order versus all races, even in very high levels of play.

It does not work as well as a go-to build versus Terran players once you get into the Platinum league and above, but it remains effective against Zerg players as up until Master’s (and even in Master’s if you catch players being too economical). It remains effective against Protoss player even at the professional level of play.

Here is the build:

9/10: Pylon
12/18: Gateway
14/18: Assimilator
15/18: Zealot
16/18: Cybernetics Core
17/18: Pylon
21/26: Stalker
25/26: 3x Gateway

Once that is up, you can work on getting a few proxy Pylons on the way to your opponent’s base.

You want to start Chrono Boosting out the Warp Gate technology as soon as the Cybernetics Core finishes. You also want to use your Zealot to plug up the wall to your base (to prevent scouts from getting in), and use your Stalker to take out any scouts that may be already in your base. Do this before throwing up the Gateways so your opponent cannot see it coming.

While your Warp Gates are coming in, you want to place a few Pylons the way to your opponent’s base so you can start warping in units closer to the front lints. It also does not hurt to save up a little bit of resources while your Warp Gates are coming in so you can cut Probe production and just warp in units.

SC2 Build Orders: Macro Build

If you do not want to go for the 4-Gate and instead want to play a macro game, one of the best build orders is 3-Gate fast expand into a 6-Gate (or more Gateways depending on how many Probes you can get out).

What you want to do is open the same way as the 4-Gate build above, but with this build, you do not cut Probe production ever. You can afford to do this because you are only getting 3 Gateways total (2 instead of 3 at 25 supplies).

Additionally, get up both Assimilators and start producing Sentries. Once you get out 5 Sentries, cut unit production and grab a Nexus. Keep producing Probes. Once your Nexus is up, transfer a bunch of workers over to your new expansion. At this point, you can throw up 3 more Gateways..

This build lets you get up your Nexus pretty early in a safe fashion. You can then transition into 6 Gateways and put on a lot of pressure, or you can tech up into other builds. It is really up to you in terms of what the opponent is doing.

A lot of players will use their 6 Gateways to help defend their bases and then take a second expansion while working on upgrades (Colossus range, +armor and weapons, blink, and charge).

Starcraft 2 Protoss Builds – Conclusion

You now have the two most effective Starcraft 2 Protoss builds at your fingertips. Use them wisely! The 4-Gate is a great build to use against Protoss players and on small maps, whereas the fast expansion build is ideal for large macro maps.

Starcraft 2 Protoss Strategy – Race Match-Ups

Given that each race match-up has a lot of specifics and comes down to different unit compositions, builds, and strategies, I have written separate articles for each of these Starcraft 2 Protoss strategies:

• Starcraft 2 Protoss vs Protoss Strategy

• Starcraft 2 Protoss vs Terran Strategy

• Starcraft 2 Protoss vs Zerg Strategy

You can view each specific match-up by using the links above. In the next section, I will be covering some broad but important Starcraft 2 Protoss strategies that you can use all your games.

SC2 Protoss Strategies – Use Chrono Boost

Even at very high levels of play, players who do not do well always have plenty of leftover Chrono Boost on their Nexuses. What you need to remember is that Chrono Boost is one of the major advantages to the Protoss race, and that you can use it on virtually any building.

Chrono Boost speeds up research and upgrades; even if you have no units you need to boost out, you can always drop it on your Forges and research structures. Obviously, you can also use it to get out more Probes (most players do this already).

If you want to be offensive or need to get out a few units for a hasty defense, you can use Chrono Boost on your Warp Gates. Some players think this does nothing, but it actually significantly reduces the cool-down on when you can warp in new units from your Warp Gates. Great to combine with 4-Gates or rebuilding your army in the late-game.

SC2 Protoss Strategy: Use Dark Templar When You Are Down

One of the classic Starcraft 2 Protoss strategies is to use Dark Templar to come back from severe deficits late in the game. Dark Templar are incredibly effective for this purpose and work so well. They have gotten me back into so many games that I have lost count.

What you do is when you are down to your opponent (particularly a Zerg opponent), you can warp in 4-8 Dark Templar and send 1-2 to each base (works best for late game for this reason). It requires virtually no attention to send 1-2 Dark Templar to each expansion the enemy player has around the map.

A late-game Zerg with 4 bases will struggle to get enough Overseers to cover their units, and that requires a lot of attention to see that many attacks. The reason for this is the map typically only pings once or twice for each attack, so if you attack 4 locations at once, it can be really hard for the enemy to respond properly.

Make sure your Dark Templar attack at the same time. While the opponent may take out 1-2 of the attacks, usually 1-2 prongs of your attack will massacre double-digit harvesters and even take out the expansion.

Try it out – you will be surprised at just how often you can go from being about to lose to winning a game.

Starcraft 2 Protoss vs Protoss Strategies – The 4 Gate

Almost all Protoss vs Protoss match-ups in Starcraft 2 come down to the 4-gate. This involves getting out a Gateway at 12 supplies, an Assimilator at 13-14 supplies, a Cybernetics Core as soon as your Gateway is done, and then saving up for 3 Gateways, dropping them all down when you have the money.

Most 4-Gates use in between 19 and 22 Probes, and most 4 Gates only use 1 Assimilator. This is because you need to spend all your resources on units, and 19-22 Probes is all you need to fund constant production off of 4 Warp Gates.

The general strategy for an offensive 4-Gate is to just get 19 Probes, Chrono Boost out Warp Gate technology, make a proxy Pylon, and start warping in tons of Stalkers and Zealots. Sentries are rarely used when it comes to offensive 4-Gates, though they can be used if you are on the defensive.

Most players however make the bulk of their army Stalkers. This is because Stalkers are much faster than Zealots and can easily kite Zealots. You only need to make enough Zealots to deal with your opponent’s Zealots; you can let the Zealots fight each other and use your Stalkers to pick off your opponent’s Stalkers.

That is the general idea behind 4-Gate micro; just keep warping in Stalkers, avoid Zealots, and focus down Stalkers. Run from Zealots, stop after a second or two to shoot, run again, and repeat this process.

A lot of what happens in the 4-Gate comes down to micro, but there are a few things you can do to influence the outcome of this battle depending on your strong points.

If you are good at Stalker micro, you want to be the offensive one in this match-up. Go right for 19-Probe 4-Gate, proxy, and go in with your Stalkers. Chrono Boost your Gateways regularly and keep pushing out Stalkers. If your micro is good you will win every time. Even better, you can tech into Blink, and if your Blink micro is good that will make you even better.

On the other hand, if your Stalker micro is not so good, another option is to build a few Sentries and use Force Fields to hold off the ramp from the 4-Gate, while building a quick Robotics Facility. Immortals put a quick stop to Stalkers, even Blink Stalkers, as long as the forces are somewhat equal.

Large Maps: Protoss vs Protoss Strategies

On larger maps, sometimes the 4-Gate is hard to pull off just because it can take awhile to scout out your opponent. This is especially prevalent on some of the newer large maps that have been popular as of late.

What you can do in this situation is go for 2-Gate 1-Robo opening, allowing you to get early Immortals (good vs Stalker-heavy 4-Gate) or even racing to Colossus. The Colossus is the premiere unit in PvP late-game, simply because the Protoss have no real counter to it.

Vikings and Corruptors are the Terran and Zerg answer to the Colossus. The Protoss has no true air-supremacy unit; while the Void Ray does do bonus damage against the Colossus, it has a relatively short range and is way too expensive to be cost effective. Terran and Zerg players can throw away Vikings and Corruptors to take out Colossi simply because Vikings and Corruptors are so cheap. Void Rays are expensive, so you cannot sacrifice them to take out Colossi.

Both of these are viable Starcraft 2 Protoss vs Protoss strategies, but only on a sufficiently large map or when you scout that your opponent is not going for a 4-Gate. However, if your opponent is not going for a 4-Gate, you definitely want to go for a 4-Gate as that is a guaranteed and easy win!

You now have a good idea of how to play the Starcraft 2 Protoss vs Protoss mirror match. It is very straight forward and 99% of your matches will come down to one or both players opting to 4-Gate. Master and perfect this build and you will start winning these matches easily.

Starcraft 2 Protoss vs Terran Basics

When you play this match-up, there are a few basic things you need to keep in mind:

It is very hard for Terran players to attack a Protoss player earlier due to Force Fields. You can use Force Fields if the Terran player tries to attack early on your own ramp, cutting the army in half. Since Marines have a range of 5, Stalkers have a range of 6, it means that your Stalkers can easily slice up half of the MM army and then attack the other half.

As a result of this, good Terran players do not attack Protoss players with early MM attacks. If they do, you can simply use Force Fields and Stalkers to easily stymie this attack.

With that said, it is very hard to be offensive early in the game as a Protoss player unless you have a lot more units than the opponent. This is simply because when all upgrades are equal, Marines and Marauders absolutely shred Sentries, Stalkers, and Zealots.

The Protoss player really has no chance to defeat a Terran player early in the game unless:

• The Terran player is really bad and gets overwhelmed by a simple 4-Gate push. This will not happen regularly in gold league or higher.

• The Protoss player 4-Gates and hits a fast-expanding Terran that is unprepared.

• The Protoss player does a 2-Gate proxy cheeses and hits the Terran before a wall is up. Also not reliable in higher leagues

Other than that, don’t count on taking out a Terran player early and instead stick with the strategies below.

Best PvT Strategy for Beating Terran Players in Long Games

In lower leagues, you will often be able to win against over-eager Terrans who either fast expand without proper defense or try to push into your base when you have Sentries. However, once you start to get to the higher leagues, it gets a little more complicated (but not too much).

Let’s assume at this point that you have taken your natural expansion safely and so has the Terran player. What do you do at this point? Well, there are two viable builds for you to choose from:

• A gateway army backed up by Colossus

• A gateway army backed up by High Templar / Archons

Now, both of these strategies work, and really are dependent upon the number of Vikings on the field. If the Terran player gets too many Vikings, you want to cut Colossus production and go for High Templar. If Vikings are limited, you can often use your Stalkers to focus down the few Vikings that are there and move on.

Using Colossi is simple: engage the Terran bio-ball head on, use Guardian Shields, and scoot-and-shoot with your Colossi, slowly pulling them back so they cannot be hit by ground units.

If you use High Templar, know that they are susceptible to Ghosts, so be sure to keep an Observer with your army to spot them before they can get close. Always keep your High Templar spread out if Ghosts are in play so they do not all get hit with the same EMP.

Use Psionic Storm on the bio-ball and feedback on the Medivacs. Most Terran players will keep running away out of your storms, and this is okay. Allow this to happen a few times – this will completely drain the energy from the Medivacs. Once that occurs you are safe to push in and take them out.

Using Armor Upgrades

One of the most important things that separates players who struggle against Marines and those who do very well is armor upgrades. The major Protoss ground units (Zealots and Stalkers) have 1 armor rating by default. Additionally, the Guardian Shield ability provides +2 armor.

This means that by default, Zealots and Stalkers only take half damage against Marines (the “6″ native damage of the Marine is cut to 3 by armor and Guardian Shield). If you can Chrono Boost out +1 armor before the Terran player can get +1 Weapons, this cuts it even further, from 3 damage per hit to 2.

This even actually adds up versus Marauders. A Zealot with +1 armor and Guardian Shield will only lose 6 HP per Marauder attack. Not much at all given the slow attack rate that Marauder’s possess.

As a result, versus Terran players you always want to be focusing on boosting your +armor. If you are very fast, you can often get +3 armor out right when your opponent is finishing +1 Weapons; meaning that your Zealots will only take 1 damage per hit against Marines with Guardian Shield. At this point, taking out the Terran player is very simple.

Stopping Heavy Siege Tank Play

Siege Tanks are a cinch to beat now that Zealots only take 35 damage per hit from them. Get Charge and a high native armor in the Zealots, and Terran players do not have much to stop you from swarming their tanks. Zealots are much cheaper than Siege Tanks, so its okay to lose a few Zealots in the cleaning process.

Just make sure you get the +armor and you can survive the Marine and Marauder attacks long enough to take out Siege Tanks, as mentioned above.

Starcraft 2 Protoss vs Terran Strategies Conclusion

By using the simple Starcraft 2 Protoss vs Terran strategies outlined in this article, you can win most of your PvT games. Use a Sentry-heavy Gateway army to secure your natural expansion early in the match, and use force fields to protect your own ramp from early attacks. Pump out armor upgrades then move out with Gateway units backed up by Colossi or High Templar / Archons and you will go far!

This match is probably the most straight-forward match in all of Starcraft 2, but just because the objectives are clear does not necessarily mean it will be easy!

Starcraft 2 Protoss vs Zerg Strategies – Overview

Before we get started with specific strategies, I wanted to cover a brief overview of the PvZ match-up and how it works for Protoss players. As a Protoss player, your only real objectives in this match are to not let the Zerg player get too far ahead of you from an economic standpoint and to survive until you get out Colossus tech.

On number of bases, the “Protoss Death Ball” will beat any sort of Zerg composition, unless the Zerg player has better army upgrades or has far superior micro. When you keep this in mind, the way this match plays out is pretty simple.

SC2 PvZ Strategy – Keeping It Close

Since Protoss players fair so well in Protoss vs Zerg on even bases, the most popular and most effective build for Protoss players to go is for some sort of fast expansion.

On large maps, you can go Forge first, where you throw down a Pylon and Forge at the entrance to your natural base, and then throw up a Cannon or 2 behind the Forge. You can then Safely take your Nexus (perhaps sealing off the wall completely until you get some units and saturation).

On small maps, where the Zerg spawns closer to you, you may not have time to set up a Forge fast expand, so instead another popular build is to get 3 Gateways, double gas, and pump out Sentries. Once you have about 5 Sentries, you can get your Nexus. This allows you to safely wall off your ramp with Force Fields while buying you time to warp in back-up reinforcements from your Warp Gates if it comes to that.

The only thing you have to do once you’ve secured your natural is to keep things even by not letting the Zerg take a third base. The first thing you need to do is scout thoroughly to check for a third base (an aggressive third would happen in between 7:00 and 9:00 on the game clock).

You can do this easily either by building a single Stargate (preferable if you went for the forge fast expand) or researching Hallucination and hallucinating Phoenix (preferable if you went for the 3-Gate fast expand). This way, you can use a Phoenix to scout the map quickly and easily.

If the opponent was extremely aggressive on getting a third base, you can move out with 1-2 Void Rays and 1-2 Phoenix or Gateway units, depending on your buildings. Hit the third base if you are using air or the natural if you are using Gateway units.

You might not even take out any units or fully commit to an attack – the idea here is to put the Zerg on the defensive so you can grab your third base and make him start producing units (which means less Drones) so you can catch up in economy. This helps you stay in the game if the Zerg player has an extra base.

Just remember that one of the best Starcraft 2 Protoss vs Zerg strategies is to move out as a Protoss player to make the Zerg produce units. You can always retreat once the Zerg player scouts you – you do not even have to attack! Just the threat of attacking is enough to hurt his or her economy.

Teching Up

If you are still in the game at this point, all that you really have to do is tech up to Colossus, focus on getting good ground upgrades, and perhaps Blink. You want to build a nice mixed ground army backed up by Colossi versus nearly all Zerg make-ups.

If you are running into a lot of Hydras, you can go heavy on Zealots, Sentries, and Colossi. If you are running into a lot of Roaches, you can go for Stalkers, Sentries, and Colossi. If you are running into a lot of Banelings or “Bane Rain” strategies, you can make Stalkers, Archons, and Colossi. If you are running into a lot of Zerglings, you can go for Zealots, Sentries, Stalkers, and Colossi.

The only thing you need to watch out for in the battle is how many Corruptors are on the field. You will need 1 Colossi for every 2 Corruptors that is out on the field if you want to win in a big engagement. Alternatively, you could add in 1 Void Ray and 1 Colossus for every 3 Corruptors, which also works well.

If the Zerg player completely goes overboard on Corruptors, you can cut Colossi production and tech switch, making the Corruptors worthless. High Templar (for Psionic Storm) are great for handling Mutalisks, Hydralisks, and Zerglings. Feedback is also good for Infestors. If there is nothing but Roaches and Corruptors on the field, a good mix of Immortals, Stalkers, and a few Sentries seems to work well.

Starcraft 2 Protoss vs Zerg Strategies Conclusion

You should now have a good understanding of the Starcraft 2 Protoss vs Zerg match-up. Really your job as a Protoss player is just to not let the Zerg player expand the map while you tech up to tier 3 units. One you are in the late-game with similar economies, it is quite hard for the Protoss player to lose.

Note: This is the final portion of our Starcraft 2 Protoss guide. If you are new to Protoss or still ranked in the Bronze or Silver leagues, you will definitely want to read through the full guide!

With that out of the way, below I will reveal my top 3 SC2 Protoss tips!

Starcraft 2 Protoss Tips – #1: Build Pylons Everywhere

I have found that the number of Pylons placed around the map is directly proportional to the skill of a Protoss player. The longer the match goes on, the more Pylons should be spread over the map. Spreading Pylons serves two major purposes for the Protoss: to act as proxies and to scout.

The main reason players put Pylons around the map is so that they can warp units in to reinforce their army or take out a drop. You can put Proxy pylons by your opponent’s base to warp reinforcements to the front line, and you can place them around the map to reinforce your army no matter where the battle is taking place. Good players even keep Probes with their army to drop proxy Pylons near where the action is occurring.

Putting Pylons around the map also helps detect drops and air harassment. Protoss have a very slow moving army and as a result it is hard for them to defend drops and air harassment. You can get your units in position to counter drops easily if your Pylons see the drops or air units coming ahead of time.

SC2 Protoss Tips – #2: Use Chrono Boost on Tech

Most players recognize quite early on that they can use the Nexus’ Chrono Boost ability to help produce extra Probes, and this is not a bad use of Chrono Boost. However, what most people do not realize is that you can also use this on buildings to help speed up technology research.

For example, in a PvP, if both players go for a 4-Gate rush (extremely common), and one player uses Chrono Boost on the Cybernetics Core to speed up the research and the other player does not, the player who uses Chrono Boost will Warp Gate tech done about a minute ahead of the other player. The player who does not Chrono Boost Warp Gate technology will then lose if the player who finished first decides to attack.

There are a lot of ways to use Chrono Boost. Many players in PvP also like to Chrono Boost out Blink (4 Gate Blink-Stalker is great versus other Protoss players if your micro is good). Another way to use this is to quickly Chrono Boost out the +3 armor in PvT, which makes your ground units practically immune to 0/0 Marines.

Starcraft 2 Protoss Tips: – #3: Don’t Make Immortals Unless Necessary

One of the hallmark signs of a newbie Protoss player is seeing a few Immortals in his army for no good reason. While the Immortal is very strong versus armored ground units like the Roach, Stalker, and Marauder, you have to remember that the Immortal also costs a lot of money (250 minerals, 100 gas), has only 5 Range (Stalkers and upgraded Hydralisks have a range of “6″ by comparison), and is very slow.

Basically the Immortal does not necessarily play well with others, such as the Stalker or the Colossus due to its limited mobility. A key part of Protoss play is being able to defensively blink if necessary, and slowly pulling back Colossi as necessary. Immortals always get “stuck” in this sort of battle. They are too slow and end up being easily picked off by Marauders or Roaches – the units they are supposed to counter – just because the are so immobile.

Even though Immortals are great versus Roaches and Marauders, their strength is more than made up for by their cost; a Zerg player can buy 7 Roaches for the cost of 2 Immortals, making the Immortal not seem so strong in that light.

Immortals are best used when a player has committed exclusively to Roaches, Stalkers, or Thors, but do not need to be added in for balance. There is a reason Immortals are rarely used by the pros.

Starcraft 2 Protoss Tips Conclusion

By using these 3 SC2 Protoss tips, you can seriously improve your gameplay. Be sure to use Chrono Boost regularly and intelligently, to keep Proxy pylons all over the map, and to avoid using the Immortal unless absolutely necessary!

Below, you will find a short description of each article in this Starcraft 2 Terran guide as well as a link to the full article. New Terran players (or players ranked silver and below) will want to take the time to read the entire guide in order, whereas players who are a bit more advanced might want to jump in at the strategy section.

Terran Basics – Starcraft 2 Terran Guide

I like to think that the Terran are the most strategical race in Starcraft 2. While Zerg players like to focus on macro and unrelenting pressure and Protoss players focus on microing high-powered units, Terran players make slow but deliberate decisions.

Terran players basically play Starcraft 2 like a game of chess. They have very strong unit compositions that have no hard counters (i.e. Marine/Tank/Medivac vs Zerg or Marine/Marauder/Medivac/Viking/Ghost vs Protoss) and rather win games based on how well they can position their units, execute drops, and control the pace of the game.

Read more about the basics behind the Terran race here: Starcraft 2 Terran Basics.

Starcraft 2 Terran Builds – SC2 Terran Guide

Terran players have a myriad of openers in Starcraft 2. They have so many builds that it would be impossible to list them all. As mentioned above, Terran players have a tendency to dictate the pace of the game much easier than their opponents can.

With that said, most players have the best success by either opening up with a fast expansion build or by opening up with early Barracks aggression

You can read about both builds in our Starcraft 2 Terran builds article.

Starcraft 2 Terran Strategies

Terran players can win a lot of games without ever using any units beside from Marines, Medivacs, and Siege Tanks. Getting down the right unit positioning for your tanks and executing great drops is key to mastering this race.

You can have a great economy, a powerful army, and be in a great position to win the game but still fall to the swarm in TvZ if your tanks are not positioned correctly. Likewise, you can come back from the brinks of defeat in a PvZ by executing solid drops.

Read more in this sub-section of the Starcraft 2 Terran guide: Starcraft 2 Terran strategies.

For Starcraft 2 tips relating to Terran vs Race games, this SC2 Terran guide has you covered as well:

• Starcraft 2 Terran vs Protoss Strategies

• Starcraft 2 Terran vs Terran Strategies

• Starcraft 2 Terran vs Zerg Strategies

Starcraft 2 Terran Tips

In the final article of this Starcraft 2 Terran guide, you will find some of my top Starcraft 2 Terran tips that just did not make it into any of the previous articles. These tips are sure to improve your game and can even be used by the most advanced players to help improve your win percentage.

I should stress that these tips alone are not enough to turn a Bronze-level player into a Diamond-level player. Be sure to master the other aspects of this Starcraft 2 Terran guide for best results.

However, these are the kind of tips that can make the difference between winning and losing a close game.

You can find these tips here: Starcraft 2 Terran tips.

Starcraft 2 Terran Guide Conclusion

Terran is one of the most enjoyable races to play once you understand how it works. Terran players can turtle very well, but they are truly the race that can dictate the pace of the game.

Your actions decide what your opponent does and what units he has to make, so be sure to take advantage of that. Master your drops and positioning and you will go far as a Terran player.

In no particular order, I will be revealing the underlying mechanisms behind the Terran race that you should understand if you want to be a successful Terran.

Starcraft 2 Terran Basics – Buildings

While Terran players cannot build structures as easily as Protoss players or as quickly as Zerg players, a single Terran building tends to do a lot for the race and virtually all buildings have a secondary function or can be upgraded.

Command Centers

You can (and should) upgrade your Command Centers into Orbital Commands (for your main and natural) or Planetary Fortresses (for expansions far from home), as this will either produce their income (Orbital) or turn them into powerful defensive structures (Planetary).

The MULEs that the Orbital Command can summon are extremely valuable. They harvest about 270 minerals in their short 90-second lifespan, and they can mine a mineral patch at the same time as an SCV, so it is essentially extra income. Never forget to drop your MULEs.

If you have multiple bases, be sure to drop your MULEs at your newest expansion. MULEs can mine out mineral fields very quickly, so you want to drop them at your freshest base. If you drop them all in your main base, your main base will run out of minerals very quickly, which will hurt your economy in the long-run.

Starcraft 2 Terran Basics – Tech Labs and Reactors

Additionally, other unit-producing structures can either add a Reactor or Tech Lab on to them (known as an add-on). A Tech Lab lets you produce more advanced units and lets you research upgrades relevant to the units produced at that structure (Stim Packs on the Barracks, Siege Mode on the Factory, etc). A Reactor on the other hand allows you to produce 2 units at once (but only basic units), such as the Hellion at the Factory or Marine at the Barracks.

The add-ons are also interchangeable, and this aspect is key to many strategies. For example a very effective strategy against Zerg players is to open with a Factory attached to a Reactor and pump out Hellions. While this is going on, build 2 Starports with Tech Labs and produce Banshees.

After you use your Banshee and Hellion harass to seriously slow down the opponent, you can swap your buildings around, landing your Starport at your Reactor and your Barracks and Factory at each tech lab. This will allow you to start researching Stim Packs for your Marines, produce Medivacs from your Starport, and get out Siege Tanks from your Factory.

Drops Are Key For Terran Players

The other major Starcraft 2 Terran basic strategy is understanding that Terran moreso than any other race are dependent upon drop attacks. A Medivac loaded up with 8 Marines can take out an entire mineral line in less than 10 seconds, and take out an entire expansion in 30 seconds. This is only a 10 supply investment.

In an evenly-matched game, meet the opponent’s army head on, and during the confusion of the battle, send a drop in. Even in the highest leagues, this can be hard for the person to defend against. Either their micro in the main battle will be not as good as it could be, or they will lose a lot of harvesters or even their entire expansion. It is a win for the Terran player no matter what when this happens.

You can also use multiple pronged drops without any major encounters to do serious damage. You can send 1 Medivac with Marines into each base on the map, dropping at the same time. While 1-2 of your drops is likely to get taken out, if you drop in three areas, one of them will be successful in doing major damage.

Starcraft 2 Terran Basics – Conclusion

The main things unique to Terran are their ability to swap out buildings, get MULEs, and their ability to coordinate highly effective drops. Remember these three Starcraft 2 tips: if you want to be good at Terran, you need to understand how to get the most out of your buildings, MULEs, and drops.