Strategy

- Non Money Melee

The Nexus is provided to you as soon as you start after picking Protoss as your race. Being the supplier of resources to you, it is vital that you defend your Nexuses carefully. Photon Cannons are great for choke-points into your base, but having some around your Nexus and the Probes that are mining for it is the best way of keeping it alive. In non money maps, an emphasis is placed upon expanding to other areas. While it is important to defend those Nexuses too, it’s best to put the most Photon Cannons and units to protect your main base as that is usually where your main factories and higher tech buildings are.

When an enemy attacks your main base and you feel like you will lose no matter what, a good desperation move is to stop building other units and buildings and conserve minerals and Probes, that way you can move those Probes to a new area (like an ally’s base) and use the minerals you saved to build a new Nexus.

Knowing all this, the best strategy against players is to try to take out their Nexus before they expand and then wiping out their probes. Even simply destroying a Nexus at an expansion base can potentially make the cash flow come to a big halt for that player as they try to recover, especially after they have few mineral fields left in their main base.

- Money Melee

In money maps, you should emphasize on protecting your starting base. If you lose your Nexus in a Fastest Money map where the minerals are placed directly underneath your Nexus, this is a devastating hit to your economy. This makes it imperative to keep your defenses healthy around your Nexus. Make sure you have plenty of Photon Cannons or strong units around it, and try putting Observers around the perimeter of your base so you can see incoming unit drops and air attacks.

Likewise, taking out an opponent’s Nexus in one of these style maps can hurt them incredibly. Since most people stick to one or two bases, knocking out their Nexuses and Probes (Psionic Storm is great for the Probes, then focus on attacking the Nexus with something else) is the best tactic for leaving an enemy hung out to dry.

- Use Map Settings

In UMS Maps, the Nexus is typically given to a player in maps only when they are going to be building a base. They serve as NPC buildings for towns and landmarks in RPGs. In UMS maps, you want to be careful when making them to remove the option to build Nexuses if you don’t want a player building up a base because it will mess up your map. Go into the Player Settings and disable Nexuses to do this.

Strategy

- Non Money Melee

- Money Melee

Refer to the Non Money Melee section. The only differences you may want to keep in mind are that you should be able to build them quickly due to the higher cash flow. So creating Pylons all over your base to provide backup power to your buildings is good as you will need the Pylons for your psi limit anyhow. Or if you’re rich and bored enough you could just replace extra Pylons with Nexuses so you can a little more supply and they take much longer to kill.

- Use Map Settings

UMS Maps see Pylons primarily in defense games. But you can also see them in towns in RPGs. Usually a Pylon in a UMS map fit the same needs as in a Melee map because they don’t have much else of a role. In UMS maps, you want to be careful when making them to remove the option to build Pylons if you don’t want a player building up a base because it will mess up your map. Go into the Player Settings and disable Pylons to do this.

Strategy

- Non Money Melee

This is a building that you should try to get early on in maps. You usually will want to have 3-4 Probes gathering from your Assimilator (3-4 is based on distance) at all times. Vespene Gas is going to be relied on for your ground unit and air unit construction more so than any other race. Try to expand so you can create more Assimilators. You’re going to need the Vespene Gas, trust me.

- Money Melee

Refer to the Non Money Melee section. The main difference is you won’t need to expand in most cases because you are not going to have to worry about the geysers depleting as much. In Money Maps you will want to create an Assimilator even earlier on in the game as your Minerals will add up so quickly and you will want the Gas to keep up.

- Use Map Settings

UMS Maps do not see much in the way of Assimilators. In UMS Melee Maps they’ll be there for the most part. You will also be seeing them in RPGs for Towns and that’s about it. Don’t forget, the Assimilator doesn’t have any building requirements. If you want to give a player a Probe but don’t want them building an Assimilator, go to the Player Settings and to the Units tab to disable them.

Strategy

- Non Money Melee

- Money Melee

Money maps are a great way to get a lot of use of Gateways. If you’re going to be using a ground army, you should have the resources to get more than enough Gateways to create your forces quickly. Follow the same rules for Non Money Melee and you should be fine.

- Use Map Settings

Gateways are typically in UMS Melee Maps. They also tend to serve as landmarks or town buildings in RPGs. Basically, if you want the player to be able to build ground units, you’ll give them a Gateway. If not, go into the Player Settings and disable the Gateway.

Strategy

- Non Money Melee

The Forge is an important building for any Melee game. You will want to upgrade your units as much as possible. When it comes down to it, if you fight an enemy with the same amount and same units as you do, upgrades will make a big difference. But if you are not going to be using ground units as your main force, you’re best off sticking to the Plasma Shields Upgrades and ignoring the others. If you are on the other hand using ground units, you should build 3 Forges so you can do each upgrade at once.

The Forge is not a big target when attacking a base. I recommend attacking the threats and unit producing buildings, leaving research buildings like this as a last kill.

- Money Melee

Forges in Money maps should always be cranking. You might not need the ground weapons upgrades if you are not focusing on a ground unit army. You should still get at least 2 forges for the Plasma Shields and Ground Armor upgrades.

- Use Map Settings

The Forge is a building that is used mostly in RPGs, UMS Melees, and Defense maps. Due to the upgrade limit being able to be pushed up to 255 with most 3rd party map editors, the Forge gets more useful than before. Typically when you want players to be able to make their units stronger, you’ll give them a Forge somewhere on the map or enable them to build it. Just make sure if you put one on the map that you didn’t want used for upgrading to disable the researching of those upgrades.

Strategy

- Non Money Melee

Photon Cannons are a great defense against rushers and just in general. Good spots to place them are at chokepoints into your base, near your miners (in case of an air attack on them), and if you’re around the edges of a the higher elevation (so you can start attacking melee units while they have to go to a ramp and hit ranged ground units while gaining a cover bonus making them harder to hit). They’re pretty cheap, even in Non Money you can’t go wrong with them.

Don’t forget to protect the Pylons powering your Cannons. If you only have one Pylon providing power to a bunch of Cannons, watch out because one destroyed Pylon can lead to many destroyed Cannons. Always provide extra Pylons for large amounts of Cannons.

When attacking Photon Cannons, the best choice by far is a unit with a long range weapon. Seige Tanks, Reavers, and Guardians can make short work of Cannons or any other defensive building. Just make sure to back them up. Another good choice is to use the Disruption Web ability from a Corsair if you are Protoss and pick them off while they can’t attack.

- Money Melee

For the defensive players, Photon Cannons in Money Maps are a great benefit. They’re cheap and you can surround yourself with plenty of them to detect and fight off any approaching enemies. The best recommendation I can give is if you’re playing a map like a Fastest that’s laid out with only one entrance to your base, you wall it off with other buildings so your enemies can’t pass through without destroying them, while placing Cannons behind them. This will deter every computer player from attacking without siege units. I also recommend placing Observers around the outskirts of your base if you play defensively like this though, because then you can detect any threats before they reach your Cannons.

In a Money Map attacking against Cannons early on can be difficult. Bring in units that hit hard like melee units (not so much with Zerglings. They get wiped out quickly without the faster attack upgrade and a big number of them). Later on, they won’t be a problem if you bring a few siege units like Siege Tanks, Guardians, or Reavers. Make sure to back them up with other units of course. The Disruption Web ability from a Corsair is great if you are Protoss because you can destroy them off while they can’t attack.

- Use Map Settings

Photon Cannons are used most frequently in defense maps. Since they only have a defensive purpose, it’s a natural fit. Make sure when making a map with Photon Cannons to make sure to keep Pylons in mind otherwise you’ll be making a beginner’s mistake. Another mistake to look out for is that Plasma Shields are on the Cannons, so enabling 255 upgrades and giving them the ability to have Cannons can lead to very hard to kill Cannons. One of the coolest uses of Photon Cannons would be stacking, which is placing multiple Photon Cannons on the same spot. You can do this with editors like SCM Draft 2 or StarForge. They will rack up kills like crazy this way.

Strategy

- Non Money Melee

The Cybernetics Core is a building you will want to hurry to build if you’re trying to climb the tech tree fast. It provides vital upgrades to those that love to swarm with Carriers. Those who prefer Dragoons will enjoy the range upgrade. This is an important building because it leads to the advanced buildings, but like the Forge it’s not something that enemies will rank as a high priority. If focusing on an air unit army, you will definitely want 2 of these so you can research the Air Armor and Weapons upgrades at the same time.

- Money Melee

Money Maps breed Carrier users. So getting two of these up and running ASAP is important. If you want to focus on ground units, it’s not as important. But keep in mind those who like to Recall ground units in or Unload them with a Shuttle may need the Air Armor upgrade for the Arbiter and Shuttle.

- Use Map Settings

The Cybernetics Core is as important to unit development as a Forge. A lot RPGs, UMS Melees, and Defense games will make providing a Cybernetics Core to players a necessity. Of course, keep in mind if you don’t want people to upgrade to disable the upgrades in the Players Settings. If you want to give Dragoons their increased Range automatically (or disabling it) that’s in the Players Settings too.

Strategy

- Non Money Melee

The Shield Battery is a very underused unit for a reason: it’s uses are extremely limited and not too helpful. It can be helpful when doing hit and run attacks against targets early on. But loses it’s luster quite quickly. Shield points already regenerate themselves, and while healing them can be nice, it more often than not is a waste of space and Minerals. When attacking a base, ignore the Shield Batteries and focus on the enemy units unless they have at least 3 or 4.

- Money Melee

Refer to the Non Money Melee section for the Shield Battery.

- Use Map Settings

In UMS Maps, Shield Batteries tend to only be used in RPGs for landmarks or in towns. Again, this is a unit where there is not much you can do with it.

Strategy

- Non Money Melee

Robotics Facilities are not as popular as the other two factories for the Protoss. The units created by it are only good for certain situations (save the observer), and building a Robotics Facility does not open up any buildings’ requirements other than ones that help itself. This being said, Reavers are an expensive but great siege unit. You’ll want them when you have ground units trying to invade a base through a choke point that is covered with enemy defenses. Shuttles are another ground unit supporter, allowing you to transport a certain number of each unit to another location and drop them off there. This can be useful in island maps, getting probes to expansion bases (or to start a new one), or just plain old dropping in ground units into an enemy base. Observers are the last of the units it creates, and are cheap cloaked detectors making them great for any situation.

- Money Melee

Money maps let you get so loaded with cash you really just have to think about what your attack force will be made up off. The Robotics Facility can only create the Reaver for combat. But a Shuttle might help you if you want to use ground units. And Observers are always good if you have the free psi since they’re so cheap. If you have some free minerals or want some of these units, buy one. Otherwise don’t worry about it.

- Use Map Settings

Robotics Facilities are in UMS Melee Maps and also make their use as landmarks or town buildings in RPGs. As a factory building, you’ll want to make sure to disable units accordingly so players don’t build things you didn’t intend for.

Strategy

- Non Money Melee

Any player who wants to go with air units for their main force needs a Stargate. Actually, you’ll want to build more than one. Rushing to build one of these can be great, if you want to attack an enemy very early on in the game with a Scout rush so those not protected against air yet get destroyed. Scouts are not powerful, but do make for a quick attacker. Corsairs are great anti air and their Disruption Web can be a quick way to knock down enemy defenses. Carriers are great against computer players, but against humans you’ll want a little back up in some form. Arbiters are good for cloaking a force the enemies don’t have detection on. The Arbiter’s Recall can be better than Shuttle transporting units. The Stasis Field ability they have is great against a mob of close enemies.

You’ll probably end up using a Stargate for the units in some way. So unless you’re rushing with Zealots and Dragoons I would recommend getting one.

When fighting against a Protoss player, wiping out their Stargate can be a critical loss if they don’t have any others.

- Money Melee

Money maps with Protoss players usually breed Carriers. So getting multiple Stargates quickly so you can get to the Fleet Beacon and start building some is a great idea. The Fleet Beacon will allow you to upgrade their Interceptor amount, and lets you upgrade your Air Armor and Weapons past level 1. If you are going to be using any kind of air units, get one of these as soon you feel you can.

- Use Map Settings

Stargates are in UMS Melee Maps and also make their use as landmarks or town buildings in RPGs. As a factory building, you’ll want to make sure to disable units accordingly so players don’t build things you didn’t intend for.

Strategy

- Non Money Melee

The Citadel of Adun is mainly just a required building for the Templar Archives. The Leg Enhancements upgrade shouldn’t be overlooked if you want to use Zealots though. With this upgrade they are much more effective against Hydralisks, Siege Tanks, and other ranged ground units. If you have a Shield Battery, you can use the upgrade to your advantage and do hit and run attacks with Zealots.

The Citadel Of Adun is a requirement for the Templar Archives. So if you want to upgrade your Ground Armor and Weapons, build High and Dark Templar, or want the Arbiter Tribunal you need one of these first.

- Money Melee

Refer to Non Money Melee.

- Use Map Settings

The Citadel Of Adun is another unit mainly used in UMS Melees and as decoration in RPG maps. If you do not want the player who owns it to buy the Zealot speed upgrade make sure to disable it in the Players Settings.

Strategy

- Non Money Melee

If you are going to be using Reavers, the Robotics Support Bay is required. It’s also the best building to upgrade them. It increases the capacity which is good if you’re using a lot of Reavers (Not normally a good idea). The Scarab Damage upgrade gives them a 25 damage boost which is nice as well. The Shuttle Upgrade is a good idea for those who like to use transports because it makes it the fastest transport unit. But all in all, if you don’t want Reavers or Shuttles, you don’t want this building.

- Money Melee

Refer to Non Money Melee.

- Use Map Settings

The Robotics Support Bay gets a boost in UMS from 3rd party map editors. The feature to increase the max level on the Scarab Damage upgrade has led to Reaver Defense maps and is useful in other UMS games. But mainly this building is just for Reavers. So if you’re just using it for decoration in an RPG map or something then make sure to disable the upgrades in the Players Settings.

Strategy

- Non Money Melee

For Air Units, the Fleet Beacon is a great resource when it comes to just about everything aside from people who just want to rush with Scouts and Corsairs and not upgrade them. You get the majority of upgrades for air units here and it unlocks upgrades for Air Armor and Weapons past level 1 as well, making it the best Protoss air unit research building. If you want to use Air Units, you’ll be getting one of these. The decision on how quickly you get there is up to you. Unlike the Forge or Cybernetics Core, I would only get one of these because there’s 2 upgrades for the Scout, 2 for the Corsair, and 1 for the Carrier. That’s a lot of upgrades but they do not take long to research and you’ll probably be looking for one or two and the rest are just icing on the cake.

You do not really need to worry about enemies’ Fleet Beacons right away. Aim for enemy units and factories first.

- Money Melee

Refer to Non Money Melee.

- Use Map Settings

The Fleet Beacon is used in UMS maps primarily in RPGs and Defense maps. Mainly used for the Cybernetics Core being allowed to upgrade past level 1 requirement and for land marks in towns. Don’t forget to put one of these somewhere for the player if you want them to be able to do that. It’s an easily overlooked mistake.

Strategy

- Non Money Melee

- Money Melee

Refer to Non Money Melee.

- Use Map Settings

The Templar Archives is used in UMS maps primarily in RPGs and Defense maps. Mainly used for the Forge being allowed to upgrade past level 1 requirement and for land marks in towns. Don’t forget to put one of these somewhere for the player if you want them to be able to do that. It’s an easily overlooked mistake. Also, the abilities you can learn here are sometimes appropriate level up or such bonuses in RPGs.

Strategy

- Non Money Melee

- Money Melee

Refer to Non Money Melee. Also, Observers are cheap to begin with. You can mass produce these guys easily in Money Maps. And that makes it great to get a huge view of the map (the sooner the better). So you’ll want to get the sight upgrade from the Observator and then get them out there. However, while they do not cost much in Psi, a lot of them will. So use them wisely or bounce them when you start maxing out on Psi.

- Use Map Settings

The Observatory is another building mostly used as a landmark in UMS maps. Specifically RPGs and Defense maps. When available in UMS Melee maps, make use of them as you would normally.

Strategy

- Non Money Melee

- Money Melee

Refer to Non Money Melee. Arbiters are expensive in Psi and resources. The resources do not matter as much in these kinds of maps. So as long as you can spare the Psi, it’s a good idea to take advantage of an Arbiter.

- Use Map Settings

The Arbiter Tribunal is another building mostly used as a landmark in UMS maps. Specifically RPGs and Defense maps. When available in UMS Melee maps, make use of them as you would normally.