Protoss Tech Tree

The Protoss buildings are like all protoss units-a little pricey. But if you have the cash to spend you can warp in a whole base nearly at once with only one probe. The protoss have the advantage of being able to start making a structure and then sending the Probe on other tasks. The protoss buildings cannot be repaired but they do have plasma shields that regenerate over time. All protoss structures, with the exception of the Nexus, the Assimulator and the pylons themselves, have to be built within a certain distance of a pylon. The pylons power the structures, so if you have 8 photon cannons and a lone pylon gaurding your base and the enemy targets and destroys just the pylon, all the cannons stop working. The Protoss have a wide range of tech tree parts to assemble and upgrades to research, so a large labor force is needed to support a productive base.

The Nexus is the center of all activity in a thriving protoss settlement. This is the first building you start out with and is one of few protoss buildings that doesn't have to be built within the influence of a pylon. The Nexus takes the longest to warp in compared to other protoss build times and it is the most expensive Protoss structure in terms of minerals. It provides 10 control early in the game so you dont start out in immediate need of supplies. The Nexus builds probes for your base building and resource collecting needs, and with it, you are open to three other buildings: The assimulator, the pylon and the gateway.

The pylons power your base and add to your armies control limit, meaning you'll be warping in lots of them. Each pylon has a certain radious in which a another building can be powered by it; any building that loses its pylon(s) immediately shuts down. Upgrades and units being built are no exception, their production comes to a halt as well, until the power is restored. Not only does the loss of your pylons mean that your buildings will stop working, but you lose the vital extra control you need to create backup units-gaurd them well.

The Assimulator is the Protoss gas refinery. The protoss rely heavily on a steady gas supply, so you'll be making alot of these. The Assimulator doesn't require you to build near a pylon, but you have to have an extra vespene gysher before you can construct one. Only one probe can gather from the assimulator at a time, so once again there is a limit to how many can effectively gather from the gysher. It still depends on how far your nexus is from the gysher.

The Forge must be built near a pylon, and despite the fact that it doesn't produce units it is ussually built before the gateway. This is true because a forge allows the construction of photon cannons for defense instead of using your limited troops early in the game. The forge also upgrades the weapons, armor and shield levels for your ground units (the shield upgrade applies to both air and ground units) Its best to have three forges, when you can afford it, so you can upgrade more than one aspect of your units at once. The final level of weapons and armor is not available intil you have the templar archives.

The gateway is your first Fighter-producing building. It comes standard with zealots, until you researh the rest of the tech tree. Later in the game, this building is going to see alot of action, even though it is a basic one. The gateway must be built near a pylon and it opens up a few new tech tree parts: the shield battery, and the Cybernetics core. When fully suited out, the gateway can produce zealots, dragoons, and high and dark templars at a rate of one at a time.

The shield battery is just what is says: a shield battery. You can build one or two near the front lines so your defending or attacking troops can recharge thier shields quickly and easily. They have an energy count so they can only recharge so many shields before it must recharge. The battery must also be built near a pylon, and it doesn't produce new troops or open any more of the tech tree, this structure is for unit support only.

The cybernetics core is the building block for the advanced Protoss buildings, and it too must be built near a pylon. It doesn't produce units but it can provide a few essential upgrades. First of all, it provides the Dragoon's singularity charge upgrade-this almost doubles the dragoons attack range. Next, it provides armor and weapon upgrades for your air units. It would be wise to have two or maybe three cores around to upgrade rapidly. After you finish warping in your first cybernetics core, you'll realize that you now have a few new buildings availlable: The stargate, the Citedal of Adun, and the robotics faciclity.

The robotics faciltiy is responsible for producing the Technical fighters of the advanced protoss. It must be built near a pylon to work properly, but with the appropriate buildings ready, you can build observers, reavers, and shuttles here. The robotics facility also opens two new buildings. The first one is the observatory and the second is your robotics support bay-both essential if you plan on building more than shuttles at your robotics facility.

The robotics support bay houses a number of upgrades for your robotic units, but it must be built within the influence of a pylon. The robotics support bay allows you to construct reavers at your robotics facility. It also sports the shuttle speed upgrade and the reaver's capacity and damage upgrades. The reavers damage upgrade is imortant because it adds 25 points of damage to the Reaver's already deadly attack power. Also, the reavers capacity upgrade is essential in its own right. This is important because your reavers will be able to build and store more scarabs for use in battle.

With the observatory complete, you can begin construction of the Protoss's only form of mobile detection- the observer. The observatory must be constructed near a pylon, like all other protoss buildings. It also houses the observers two upgrades-sight range and speed. Be sure to get this structure up and running as fast as possible; mobile detection is essential to your armies survival in mid to late game.

The Stargate is perhaps the most popular Protoss structure. It produces the air force of the protoss, including scouts, carriers, corsairs, and arbiters, providing that you have the tech tree ready. The stargate also opens two new tech buildings for your disposal-the fleet beacon and the arbiter Tribunal-both important if you plan on taking advantage of the high-end protoss air units. The stargate must, like nearly all of the protoss buildings, be built near a pylon.

Initially, only the scout is available here, but be sure to make plenty of extra Stargates if you plan on using an air fleet as your primary attack.

The fleet beacon must be built near a pylon also, so have one ready. With the addition of the fleet beacon to your base, you can construct carriers at your stargate. The fleet beacon also comes standard with a load of upgrades for your formidable air force. The first in the list is the scout's movement upgrade-nearly doubling its speed. The next is scout sight range, that adds a few extra inches to the scout's vision range. Also, you can add four more interceptors to your carriers' capacity-this is absolutely essential if you are using carriers in your attack force. The last upgrade is the disruptor web for your corsairs. After your fleet beacon warps in, you can build one last tech building for your air force, the Arbiter Tribunal.

The Arbiter Tribunal must always be built near a pylon, and it is one of the top tech tree buildings-allowing you to warp in arbiters at your Stargate. It also houses a number of useful upgrades for your arbiters. The first is thier recall ability, next you can research the stasis field ability, and finally the ever present 50 point energy booster. The Arbiter Tribunal doesn't give you acess to any new buildings because, frankly, there aren't any left.

The Citadel of Adun is more of a speedbump that you run over while trying to get your Templar archives up and running. The Citadel's only use is for the zealot's speed upgrade and the very fact mentioned above; the Citadel gives you access to the Templar Archives.

The templar archives offers a host of good reasons to build one. The templar archives, perhaps the most important non-unit producing building, must be built near a pylon. First of all, the archives gives you the ability to upgrade your weapons and armor to the fullest, so its imparitive that you rush to complete this structure early in the game. Also, the archives itself houses six upgrades for your templars warriors. For the high templar, the templar archives presents the psionic storm, hallucination abilty available and finally, the usual 50 point energy booster. For the infamous dark archon, you can gain the mind control ability, the powerfull malestrom abiliy, and last, but not least, we have the 50 point energy booster. With the archives handy, you can warp in high templars and dark templars to do your bidding at the gateway, and the archives is essential if you plan on taking advantage of the new protoss air unit, the Corsair.