Patch 1.3.3 PTR Notes - Updated 04/25

[RamiZ]

Can someone please explain to me how exactly the archon change affects the unit? I know that it can now destroy force fields, cannot be slowed by concussive shells (?), takes more damage from void rays and other units that deal additional dmg to massive units... but how does the archon now deal more damage as I thought someone mentioned?

Yes, exactly what almostfamous said. Fully upgraded Archon deals 47 damage on Biological units in AoE. The only reason why they weren't built enough was because they couldn't even reach the Bio Ball because of constant kiting of Marauders with Concussive Shells. Now that they can't get slowed anymore, people will replace Immortals vs. Terran Bio Ball with Archons, since Archon isn't Light nor Armored unit, his tanking capabilities are even better than Immortals vs. Marauders, and will deal greater damage because of splash.

I still remember, back in the Beta days, when I was watching Jinro vs. Nazgul game on Blistering Sands. Jinro was ahead the whole game, Nazgul was losing many probes, units, etc. In the End, Jinro continued with his Marine, Marauder and Medivac push, while Nazgul had only Zealots and High Templars, after using Storms, he turned all of them to Archons, that with Support of Zealots, that were tanking the damage, ate whole Terran army. I can't remember the comment of Jinro, but it was something like "Wtf, where did my army go, there is something wrong here...".

People never really used Archons that much because they are easly countered by proper micro from Terran army, and they are not used vs. Zerg either because... well I don't have a clue, they can crush any Zerg army and are especially strong in late game vs. Ultras.

[TheEconomist]

@RamiZ: Sure, except that EMP rapes Archons and Ghosts are now 200/100.

[KneeofJustice]

EMP doesn't rape archons any more than any other unit. EMP only drains 100 shield points, unlike in broodwar. Archons have plenty of shields (350) and can regenerate them quite rapidly outside of combat unlike broodwar.

The bioball might try to kite and snipe archons, but with sentry support you can pin them down with forcefield, or make them waste shots or hopefully EMPs on fake archons with hallucination. And guardian shields give archons +2 shield armor, which makes them even more formidable.

These things are scary, and the massive buff allows them to actually do their job against Terran, especially late game when you start to accumulate them.

[Gradius]

This is going to destroy that pvt 3 gate aggressive expo strat. Was actually a decent build. :[

Anyway, I have never used an Archon in PvT, opting to save high templar for more storms. Could care less about that change. And as with every patch, here is my obligatory protoss-biased Hitler rant:

Burgdorf: My fuhrer, the latest ptr patch notes are in. Bunkers are no longer free for Terrans, and the Archon received a minor buff. In return, Protoss' best rush strategy has been nerfed, as have pylons themselves which I didn't even think was possible.

Krebs: Oh and the early game timings for virtually all protoss strategies are now essentially fuxored. *points to map

Hitler: I guess we can live with that. Tell me what they did to fix terran bio though. *motions fingers

Krebs: My fuhrer....ghosts...

Jodl: Ghosts are now cheaper to produce. The ghost rush is back.

Hidden Content:

[JackhammerIV]

I think the reason they buffed the ghost is simple. /sarcasm on Everytime protoss gets nerfed we get stronger.


Next it'll be "4 Gate Nerfed Now Protoss Unstoppable". We're just an unstoppable race. If zerg or terran get nerfed their race gets weaker. But every time protoss gets nerfed the other races fear us more. We're like a lion on its dying breath. BAM!!!! BASH THEIR HEADS IN THE WEAKER WE GET!!!

Imagine if they made concussive more expensive or longer to research..... The cheapest upgrade that gives protoss the most trouble early game. It'd just make every terran lose in every single PvT. Protoss is already so overpowered with nerfed HTs. And Blizzard even fixed a bug where terrans had trouble getting their ghosts to constantly EMP. Obviously must be hard spamming EMP like twice to take away all energy of casters in a radius. /sarcasm off

So my protoss compratriots do not worry. The zergs and terrans are looking at this protoss nerf thinking "Oh shit....protoss is gonna rape us now because they got a fresh nerf." Just start every match with "guess what...protoss got nerfed " and zergs and terrans will shit their pants remembering what happened after HTs were nerfed.

EDIT: LOL. I laugh at my own jokes.

[Lupino]

Everytime protoss gets nerfed we get stronger.

Clearly we must remove the Charge, Blink and Thermal Lance upgrades if we truly want to guarantee victory

@RamiZ: Sure, except that EMP rapes Archons and Ghosts are now 200/100.

Archons take 3-4 EMPs to drain depending on how much damage they've taken, and frankly if they're getting EMPed they're doing exactly what they're meant to do. Better them than something that loses all its shields and energy.

[flak4321]

@Jackhammer

Well, I'm going to answer your response to me in two ways. First, I misread the notes, and thought the increase was to 160, not 180. This is significant, more so than I thought.

Second, my instinct is power probe with chrono so I can have an extra gate b4 warpgate research finishes. I might be tempted to 4 or 5 gate into warpgates so I have the production facilities to offset the time lost. It will require some experimentation though. It seems this might make more tosses consider the forge fast expand in somewhat riskier situations.

[protoswarrior]

Well Forge FE can fail badly if a gating Protoss attacks immediately with his first zealot and a probe or 2. The cannon will not finish in time, and it is SOO easy to just pylon the natural to block any FE attempt and then just 3 gate pressure while expanding yourself.

[Peanutbutter]

Well Forge FE can fail badly if a gating Protoss attacks immediately with his first zealot and a probe or 2. The cannon will not finish in time, and it is SOO easy to just pylon the natural to block any FE attempt and then just 3 gate pressure while expanding yourself.

If we're talking PvP, blink stalkers will completely rape a successful forge FE. Hell, even a 3 gate robo will.

FE'ing is not viable in PvP.

[flak4321]

I said only that forge FE would be considered. I personally would at least 2 gate then expand while pressuring. A straight FE in a PvP would fail prepatch definitely. Post patch, that first Zealot would be quicker to get, which would make the fastest fast expands too risky in PvP yes, but my comment was originally meant to cover all MU's. Apologies if that didn't come through.

As for stalkers, normal stalkers would be a concern for any FE, but blink takes a while to research. The fast expand would be mining in this time, but perhaps wouldn't be completely protected, so it is possible blinkers might be an issue, but I would send a wave pre-blink just to pressure/scout.