Protoss Tactics

A master? No, we don't mean skilled war guy that knows everything. What we mean by master, is that you have experience with basic and advanced starcraft strategy and fast reflexes. (You'll need them to pull off some of these tricks.) Also, when you read this, don't get the impression that I'm the best. I get beat frequently, I just win more then I'm beat. (Hey, no one's perfect.) Ok then, with an eager spirit and a somewhat humble soul, let's begin.

Here are the Advanced Tactics discussed in this section along with a ***** ranking for how much fun they bring. (Notice this section is called "tactics," not strategy. Some of these are purely for fun.

1. Fun with Dark Archons: The luring magnificent mind boggling mind control move (say that five times fast) *****

2. Fun with Dark Archons Advanced: SCV Fishing *****

3. Hullucination Heroics ****

4. Dark Templar Drop Advanced ***

5. The Big Switch ***

MORE COMING SOON

FUN WITH DARK ARCHONS: The luring magnificent mind boggling mind control move (Say that five times fast)
*****

This one is easy. Despite the stupid name for this task, it really hurts your opponent and can even let you go over supply max! (Not to mention it's REALLY annoying)

Requirements- 1. At least 6 Dark Archons with mind control ability researched and energy upgrades. 2. See next.

Ok, NEXT. First, you need to think of what unit you want to steal from your opponent. Don't confuse this with basic mind control. No no, that would be too easy. If you've had experience with mind control before, you can probably pull this off. Sometimes it helps to hot key your units. I usually aim for capitol ships like carriers. Then, bring your slow unit out and place it next to the unit you want to capture (just within shooting range) Now, if you're fighting a unit with relatively low range, it'll come after you. Run away to your dark archons. If the enemy isn't paying attention or believes that it's a free kill, they'll let the unit follow you. Carriers and b cruisers on the other hand, aren't nearly so easy. CARRIERS ARE EXPECIALLY HARD. Sometimes, you'll have to provoke the enemy to follow you. In a carrier instance, bring a few archons and attack them. When the carriers retaliate, run. If they start to turn back from following, get them again while they're moving. Keep it up until you bring your prey to the dark archons. The prizes should now easily be yours.
The possibilites of this tactic are limited only by your imagination. BE CREATIVE. Your work will pay off eventually.
FUN WITH DARK ARCHONS ADVANCED: SCV Fishing
*****

The following is one of those instances when my creativity payed off. Nabbing an enemy worker isn't easy, but I found I could do it almost every time with this tactic. This is an especially useful tactic because it gives you another race to work with and an extra 200 supply points for the new species. Not to mention that this is really fun and rewarding if pulled off right. PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO EVERY STEP.

Requirements- Same as FUN WITH DARK ARCHONS + 2 small scout or dragoon fleets, arbiter, shuttle, and high elevation above a Terran buiding.

This is hard, but possible. It may take a few tries to get it right. (It did for me.) First, find a hill for your dark archon above a Terran building. Make sure there are no enemy units on the hill. If there are, you'll have to clean them out first. Once this condition is met, you can begin. Place an arbiter a good distance from the hill, and place a shuttle filled with 1 CHARGED dark archon as close to the hill as possible within cloaking distance. Now attack the enemy building but DO NOT kill it, you'll want it to be in the redzone. If no enemies units come, back off. If enemy units come, let them kill your attack force. NOW and VERY QUICKLY, use your other force and attack anothe part of your opponent's base. Do your best to not get kill or get any buildings into the red zone. Now the area that you attacked first should be left undefended with a hurt building (your opponent moved his forces to counter attack 2 remember?) If your opponent is even remotely smart, he'll probably bring an scv to repair his damaged building. Before he gets that chance, drop your dark archon the hill and wait for the scv to come rolling along... Mind control it and recall it to your arbiter's position.

Not easy, and there's only so much you can do to ensure the success of this tactic. A lot of this relies on the actions of your opponent. Don't expect it to work all the time. You can increase it's chances of success by planning ahead and being convincing. Try hard, and eventually, you'll have a brand new scv for your fiendishly clever plans.

You can also get a zerg drone with this method. Although it's chances for success aren't high, it occasionally works. Once again, use your 2 fleet tactic and this time, kill an important tech tree building if you can. Hopefully, it will be replaced, but don't bet on it being re-made in the same location. Keep at it!

Hallucination Heroics
****

Requirements: High Templar with Hallucination ability researched.

Tactic # 1: Sike!
This is the most strategic Hallucination Heroic. It's easy! First, create 7 or so stargates in your base. Next, make ONE carrier. Now comes the fun part. Hullucinate the carrier many times so that it appears that your 1 is with a fleet of over 16. Next, bring your carriers CONVIENTLY into your opponent's view. If he's fooled by this trick, he will concentrate all of his resources on air defense. Hit him with a wave of dragoons and reavers to elliminate him. Now try using this with other units as well!

A variation of this is to Hallucinate your ENEMY's units (if he's another species.) A lot of the time, your opponent will think that you have mind controlled a worker and command another species. He usually will then waste lots of time looking for the "new base" and play defensively the rest of the game.

For both of these, the key word is U-S-U-A-L-L-Y. People aren't always fooled, but this could turn the tide for you in battle.

Tactic #2: Arbiter Annoyence
Arbiters are great units, but a lot of the time, people waste the arbiter's cloaking ability. There are several reasons for this,

1. The player wasted all of his supply building units, and only has one arbiter (which gets shot down)
2. The played used much supply to create MANY arbiters. However, know he lacks the ability to take down detectors; once again, wasting cloak.

So how can we avoid this? Go with using all of your points building 1 arbiter and a fleet, but let's be annoying....
Hallucinate your 1 arbiter into 20 arbiters. Suddenly, your opponent has to GUESS which one is the right one, a task that could take a long time and throw the battle into your hands. I don't have pictures of this yet, but it sure is funny!

Tactic #3: The Zerg Cleanup Crew
Zerg are annoying because of all of their kamikazee units that pack a punch! However, you can get rid of them easily if you use hallucination right...

For Infested Terran- Hallucinate the stongest unit located by the infested Terran. Infested Terran will attack this unit, and if close to their buildings, blow themselves and the buildings up at the same time! This works especially well if your opponent has stupidly placed any Infested Terran by his economy.

For Scrouge- Hallucinate a few carriers. Mow right through the scrouge. (It's almost funny.)

Tactic #4: Blocking the System
This takes skill and speed to pull and is by far the hardest hallucination heroic of them all. If your enemy is attack by waves of ground units you can't stop because they blow up your powerful units too quickly, hallucinate strong units like archons and block a choke point with them. Put wall after wall of hallucinations, and you just might slow them down enough to kill them off. Practice makes perfect!

Dark Templar Drop Advanced
***

Dark Templar drops normally are times when you drop a whole pack of dark templar into your opponent's economy. But let's add a twist! I've nicknamed it "The Protoss Nuke" because of it's power.

Requirements- 5 upgraded shuttles filled with dark templar(20). A diversionary fleet, and 1 upgraded observer.

Ok. First, scout your opponent's base for a relatively clear landing site. Don't ever drop dark templar next to a detector or a unit!
This next part relies on your opponent not seeing your drop. Attack with your diversionary fleet at the opposite corner of his base, and during the attack, drop your dark templar. Now he won't see the templar, but he might get suspicious. To prevent this, after you've dropped your dt, have your shuttles proceed on a kamikazee mission right into the heart of your opponents cannons or units. You'll usually get away scott clean, because he will think that he destroyed the shuttles before they did their drop. Now, sit back and avoid enemy detectors. Wait for the perfect opportunity, and then destroy ALL that stand in your dt's way with one swipe! This seriously hurts your opponent if you're careful.

The Big Switch
***

Time to pull "The Big Switch" on your opponent! I personally enjoy this one a lot, but it gets old after awhile. This is a great strategy tactic!

Requirements: Many resources.

I've written this in a step mannor.
1. Make lots of scouts! TONS!
2. Send this fleet at your opponent.
3. Make another scout fleet
4. Send it at the opponent.
5. Repeat until opponent makes lots of air defense
6. Do one more fleet just to be sure
7. Make a pack of archons and seriously your opponent.
8. If still alive, make another pack.
9 And another...
10. And another...
11. Switch to scouts again!

Repeat this and eventually, (if alive) he'll catch on to your strategy. Now change it!
1. A fleet of ground and air
2. A fleet of ground
3. A fleet of air
4. A fleet of air
5. A fleet of ground
6. air
7. ground
8. both!

Keep this up! Eventually, you'll either do 1 of 2 things.
1. Make your opponent go insane and he'll leave the game.
2. You kill him bad.

Either way, enjoy your winnings!