Protoss Archon

[Perfecttear]

i'm just wondering if anybody else thinks that the protoss archon feels kinda underpowered, and not very intimidating. I think that blizzard has neglected him, and didn't improved him in sc2 as they did with most off the other units. Just compare some off the most memorable units off sc1 like siege tanks, battlecruisers, ultralisks and carriers with the new versions in sc2, they have all been redesign and greatly improved, but not the archon. Even some off the basics units have been improved, like the zealots ,marines and most off the cast units. Archons in sc1 have been one off the most intimidating and cool units, but they just don't feel that way in sc2, atleast for me. For the cost off an archon you can get an Immortal and for just slightly more an Colossus, and both off this units have greater battlefield survivability and much greater damage, and not to mention they are both more micro friendly units, because off their range. So why would you build them, except if you would have an excess of templar units.What is more intimidating 5 archons or 5 immortals or 5 Colossuses . I want the unit to really be power overwhelming.

So do you think that the archons have lost there feel in sc2 and feel bland?
Do you think that the sc2 version should be redesigned and improwed?
Do you think that the archon could receive any abilities, cast or pasive ones, or just a generic buff?
Or do you think i'm just imagining things and crazy?

[Gifted]

From what I've noticed, the archon had multiple abilities which eventually were stripped because it's roll seems to shine better as a meat shield. In terms of balance/theorycraft, it should have more use as it's shields overcharge out of combat.. allowing them to play the role of meat shield for effectively for their cost between battles where a person attempts to preserve them.

[PosImpos]

Hrm, it's a good question.

IIRC at one point they were considering making the Archon a sort of combination of the Dark Archon and Archon from SC1 - a sort of combined caster / heavy assault unit. That could make it more worthwhile, but there are probably already more than enough units with spells and abilities.

I think the cost and stats of the unit will just have to be tweaked for balance over the course of the beta and after release.

[DemolitionSquid]

I definitely feel the Archon is lackluster. Its a combination of the Immortal and Colossus, as you pointed out. It's versatility in that respect may be the key to its use,, but it still feels fairly unimpressive. I don't feel it needs an ability; every unit doesn't need an ability. But I'd like to see it strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Thors and Ultras, even if that required an extra resource cost added to the Templar merging.

[Perfecttear]

@ Gifted ,but wouldn't a Immortal be a better meat shield? And where did you heard it used to have abilities?

[Gifted]

I'd say about 8-9 months ago, it was in QAs relating to the idea of a "twilight archon" being a combination of the two archons. They had some odd abilities combined with it's normal "beef" role.

I'll check the archives for curiosity

EDIT: QA Batch 9:

Will the Twilight Archon have abilities?

Yes. In the BlizzCon build, the Twilight Archon had the feedback ability. We are still doing much work on this unit, so none of this is final.

[MattII]

I have a few suggestions to beef the Archon up:

1: Give it a low level of in-battle shield-regen (say 1/3 - 1/2 normal)

2: Give it a few shield based abilites ie
Protect: Allows the Archon to Gift its shield to other units (basically Shield Regeneration taken from the Obelisk).
Plasma Surge: Damage/destroy the selected unit, for the cost of losing shields equal to the target's remaining Hp.

[Perfecttear]

I'm just wondering, would people like it, if the templar merge would cost some resources, but in return the archon would get buffed?

Atleast blizzard could change the current archons base shield bonus to about 1 or 2, to make them unique and give more into their anti massed unit abilities.

[Nicol Bolas]

For the cost off an archon you can get an Immortal and for just slightly more an Colossus, and both off this units have greater battlefield survivability and much greater damage, and not to mention they are both more micro friendly units, because off their range.

You don't (usually) build Archons just to build Archons in SC1. You build them because your HTs are out of Psi Storms and you want them to be useful in the near future. So that use of Archons isn't going away.

Now in SC1, there were times to build Archons just to build Archons. However, these are generally against specific Zerg strategies and unit combinations.

Yes, the Colossus is a better AoE damage dealer than Archons. But so were Reavers. Both of these units lie on completely different branches of the Protoss tech tree. Archons, despite the cost similarity, are much more easily massable than Reavers or Colossi. This is because they come from Gateways (after a fashion). Massing Reavers/Colossi require a large investment in Robotics Facilities. Archons just require resources.

[Wankey]

You don't understand the use of archons.

Archons are extra units that you make using your HTs once they run out of mana. They are a huge part of the protoss late game strategy. They cost nothing and very effective.

I don't think anything should be done to them as they are not meat shields nor are they meant for any front line fighting. They are meant for destroying the enemy with storm, then finishing them off with archon. Now THAT'S a fucked up strategy.