Introduction to the Protoss
The Protoss are a very old and highly evolved race of humanoid beings.
For millennia they have acted as guardians and protectors of order and peace in their part of the galaxy.
Now however, they are in a constant struggle for their survival as a species against the ever-increasing numbers of Zerg.
In their quest to rid the galaxy of the Zerg Swarm they have made enemies of the Terrans as well.
Faced with these new threats the SC2 Protoss had to embrace change in order to survive.
Protoss Features All the races of Starcraft 2 have unique characteristics that make for very different playing experiences.
The Protoss are not an exception from this rule; however, they do have the most eye-catching ones.
Shields Due to thousands of years of research and development the Protoss have access to a dazzling array of robotics and shielding technologies.
All the Protoss units and buildings are outfitted with powerful energy shields.
These shields are not perfect though, as they will disappear after they absorb a certain amount of damage.
On the other hand they recharge fairly quickly.
Even though they have this great shielding technology the Protoss units also benefit from armor.
This armor provides two protective layers as opposed to the other races.
Shields also play an even larger role in Starcraft 2 as the Protoss now have access to the Sentry.
The Sentry is an extremely useful support unit that can summon two different types of force fields in order to protect their other units.
Psionic Abilities The Protoss have access to extremely powerful psionic abilities.
These abilities allow the Protoss to harness the energies that surround them into devastating attacks.
The most powerful and adept users of these psionic abilities are the Templar, both High and Dark.
The Templar The High Templar have access to a devastating Area of Effect ("AoE") attack called Psionic Storm.
This is a psionic attack that deals a lot of damage to any unit unlucky enough to be within its range.
The Dark Templar, on the other hand, have focused their psionic training into making themselves permanently cloaked, while dishing out massive amounts of melee damage.
However, that is not where the powers of the Templar stop because you can choose to merge a any combination of Templar and create a new unit, the Archon.
The Archon is a being of extraordinary psionic power that radiates energy in a very visible manner.
In fact the Archon is much more energy than it is flesh.
This fact allows it to have a very strong shield but on the flip side it has very few hit points of life.
This disadvantage is counterbalanced by the fact that the Archon is capable of attacking both ground and air units with the same amount of damage.
In-Game Cost All these shields and power come at a pretty clear cost.
While the Protoss units are probably the strongest and toughest units in Starcraft 2 on the whole, they are also the most expensive.
Their increased cost means that oftentimes you will have to deal with having less of them on the battlefield and micro managing them becomes a necessity.
For millennia they have acted as guardians and protectors of order and peace in their part of the galaxy.
Now however, they are in a constant struggle for their survival as a species against the ever-increasing numbers of Zerg.
In their quest to rid the galaxy of the Zerg Swarm they have made enemies of the Terrans as well.
Faced with these new threats the SC2 Protoss had to embrace change in order to survive.
Protoss Features All the races of Starcraft 2 have unique characteristics that make for very different playing experiences.
The Protoss are not an exception from this rule; however, they do have the most eye-catching ones.
Shields Due to thousands of years of research and development the Protoss have access to a dazzling array of robotics and shielding technologies.
All the Protoss units and buildings are outfitted with powerful energy shields.
These shields are not perfect though, as they will disappear after they absorb a certain amount of damage.
On the other hand they recharge fairly quickly.
Even though they have this great shielding technology the Protoss units also benefit from armor.
This armor provides two protective layers as opposed to the other races.
Shields also play an even larger role in Starcraft 2 as the Protoss now have access to the Sentry.
The Sentry is an extremely useful support unit that can summon two different types of force fields in order to protect their other units.
Psionic Abilities The Protoss have access to extremely powerful psionic abilities.
These abilities allow the Protoss to harness the energies that surround them into devastating attacks.
The most powerful and adept users of these psionic abilities are the Templar, both High and Dark.
The Templar The High Templar have access to a devastating Area of Effect ("AoE") attack called Psionic Storm.
This is a psionic attack that deals a lot of damage to any unit unlucky enough to be within its range.
The Dark Templar, on the other hand, have focused their psionic training into making themselves permanently cloaked, while dishing out massive amounts of melee damage.
However, that is not where the powers of the Templar stop because you can choose to merge a any combination of Templar and create a new unit, the Archon.
The Archon is a being of extraordinary psionic power that radiates energy in a very visible manner.
In fact the Archon is much more energy than it is flesh.
This fact allows it to have a very strong shield but on the flip side it has very few hit points of life.
This disadvantage is counterbalanced by the fact that the Archon is capable of attacking both ground and air units with the same amount of damage.
In-Game Cost All these shields and power come at a pretty clear cost.
While the Protoss units are probably the strongest and toughest units in Starcraft 2 on the whole, they are also the most expensive.
Their increased cost means that oftentimes you will have to deal with having less of them on the battlefield and micro managing them becomes a necessity.
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