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The Protoss Shield Myth - Page 2

Forum Index > BW General
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ArvickHero
Profile Blog Joined October 2007
10387 Posts
December 21 2009 22:41 GMT
#21
On December 22 2009 06:30 vOddy wrote:
You need shield upgrades in lategame PvZ, or ultralisks will own your archons (Though ultras will still be slightly better than archons, which is why you either add in dark archons or reavers lategame). Armour doesn't help archons at all, which is why you need shields. And shields do act as armour for shields, removing damage taken when the shielded unit is hit.

Archons always beat Ultras in a fight w/ even numbers, regardless of ups I think. That's why you see swarm used with Ultra/ling in PvZ, because they kinda suck without it, unless they seriously outnumber the protoss army.
Writerptrk
Ftrunkz
Profile Blog Joined April 2007
Australia2474 Posts
December 21 2009 22:50 GMT
#22
i think the shield upgrade for archons is more so they can take a lot more ling firepire, barely anything to do with ultras...

eg: lings attack against archon (asuming fully upped lings) = 8 dmg per hit, with +3 shield its 5 dmg per hit, thats like 38ish% less dmg from lings your archon is taking

ultra attack against archon (assuming fully upped) = 26 (i think?) per hit, with +3 shield its 23 dmg... thats like 10% less dmg.

each shield upgrade basically therefor takes like 3.3% off the dmg of an ultra and 13ish% off a lings dmg to our archons (and other units shields ofc). You gota way up whether or not the insane cost of the shield upgrades is worth that... would be interesting to see someone come up with the math to see how big your army needs to theoretically be to make this the right choice (say, whether or not for 400/400 its worth getting an archon and a dt and 2 zealots or the 3rd upgrade)
@NvPinder on twitter | Member of Gamecom Nv | http://www.clan-ta.com | http://www.youtube.com/user/ftrunkz | http://www.twitchtv.com/xghpinder
DreaM)XeRO
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
Korea (South)4667 Posts
December 21 2009 22:54 GMT
#23
On December 21 2009 19:40 2longbe4 wrote:
Still you rarely see a 3/3/3 Protoss army, why is that?

expensive. and rarely will you get into THAT late of a game...

0 sheilds, 3 armor, 3 attack is the way to go..

3/3/3 is... like... O__O;;
wow.. late late. with like.. 3 forges xD
cw)minsean(ru
naonao
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States847 Posts
December 21 2009 22:59 GMT
#24
The most appealing part of the shield upgrade i find is for units that have relatively small amounts of shields. This is because if a unit has say 40 hp and 1 shield left, and have 3 armor and 3 shield ups, the unit will take 6 less damage then normal because first 3 damage is taken off to attack the shields, then the left over damage is subject to the 3 damage reduction from the armor. This makes shield upgrades ideal versus units that have a slow attack rate.
daz
Profile Blog Joined May 2008
Canada643 Posts
December 21 2009 23:09 GMT
#25
must have been the sc2gg commentators
Some eat to remember, some smash to forget. 2009msl.com
Ronald_McD
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
Canada807 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-12-21 23:11:32
December 21 2009 23:10 GMT
#26
On December 21 2009 19:53 Comeh wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 21 2009 19:42 Kiante wrote:
imo the argument can be made to upgrade shields over armor when playing vs a competant zerg to combat plague

While this is true, there are a few things to consider
a: shields take full damage against everything, causing the shields to disappear rapidly, thus less hits (and less damage reduction) will come into play. More hits required on armor = more damage reduction.
b: shields are very expensive.
C: Plauge doesn't come into effect until the lateish game.
Therefore, Armor is almost always preferable to shields until you can actually afford shields.
+ Show Spoiler +
Yes, this is all really obvious.


D. Most Protoss units have more HP than they do shield points.
E. EMP > Shields
FUCKING GAY LAGS
Chef
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
10810 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-12-22 00:23:09
December 22 2009 00:22 GMT
#27
Commentators and people on IRC say a lot of really stupid shit. That's why the only good commentators are the ones who aren't afraid to yell and be crazy, since otherwise it's just listening to them be wrong for 20 minutes.

I know so many mechanics and facts about this game, I kind of just assume everyone else knows too... But then you hear commentators say shit like 'I don't know why they moved the gas farther away on Katrina' and you just face palm (FYI it's to help subvert gas issue given how important gas positioning is on that map).

But yeah... If you seriously don't know gas on bottom and right need four peons, please don't try and be a technical commentator because it doesn't even sound like you're any good at sc.
LEGEND!! LEGEND!!
CursOr
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
United States6335 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-12-22 00:29:11
December 22 2009 00:25 GMT
#28
I was always 100% sure it upgraded the Shield as it does armor, AKA it absorbs more damage. Unaffecting the regen rate.
Though, I have no source.

I just want to say, that threads like this, make me love TL so much!!!!!
Im just REALLY surprsied there isnt a more definitive answer on the nature of this upgrade atm...

edit: when fighting zerg I upgrade shields.
       when fighting terran I do armor.
       thats just the way I've rolled because of EMP. I always thought Shield in a neutral situation is more effective.. because it affects the shields on your troops, your probes, your structures and everything. So in PvP I do shield.
      I've also rolled a 3/3/3 army before, but as most anyone would point out, by the time you get around to that you must have already won the game in most every aspect anyways...
CJ forever (-_-(-_-(-_-(-_-)-_-)-_-)-_-)
[UoN]Sentinel
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
United States11320 Posts
December 22 2009 00:43 GMT
#29
if you have a lot of archons, on the other hand, are you really gonna focus on upgrading armor?
Нас зовет дух отцов, память старых бойцов, дух Москвы и твердыня Полтавы
Zoler
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
Sweden6339 Posts
December 22 2009 00:44 GMT
#30
ITS ONLY NOOBS WHO THINKS SHIELD ARMOR DOESN'T GIVE REAL ARMOR PLZ LOCK THREAD
Lim Yo Hwan forever!
MountainDewJunkie
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
United States10344 Posts
December 22 2009 01:02 GMT
#31
Shield upgrades work like armor upgrades, obviously whoever said otherwise is just wrong.

The problem with shields is they take full damage from everything, and the upgrades are waaay expensive. It seems like it's more important in PvZ because of archons, cannons, and plague, but if the progamers don't care about the shield upgrade, maybe that indicates that they're not even worth it.

But in some long PvZs, I've seen plenty of tosses (pro-scene) upgrade like this: 0/0/1 --> 0/0/2 --> (second forge) 1/0/2 --> 2/1/3 --> and eventually to 3/3/3.

But it feels like I see 0/0/1 --> (...) --> 3/0/3 pretty often, too.

[21:07] <Shock710> whats wrong with her face [20:50] <dAPhREAk> i beat it the day after it came out | <BLinD-RawR> esports is a giant vagina
synapse
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
China13814 Posts
December 22 2009 01:23 GMT
#32
I always knew it was a lie...
:)
Korn
Profile Joined October 2005
United Kingdom10 Posts
December 22 2009 01:27 GMT
#33
I agree with vOddy. In late game P v Z, shield upgrades are great as they help archons and cannons significantly vs lings.
Artosis *
Profile Blog Joined June 2004
United States2140 Posts
December 22 2009 01:27 GMT
#34
On December 21 2009 19:45 Mastermind wrote:
Shield upgrades are the same as armor upgrades except they work on the shields instead of hp.

Commentatorhttp://twitter.com/Artosis
Kouda
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
United States2205 Posts
December 22 2009 01:29 GMT
#35
Mid Game with Mass Hydras, isnt is more beneficial to go Armor? Since Hydras do 10+ on shield and like 7(correct me if im wrong) on Zealots?
DefMatrixUltra
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Canada1992 Posts
December 22 2009 01:33 GMT
#36
On December 21 2009 19:33 Kiante wrote:
So something that has bugged me for a while is hearing commentators and people on IRC talk about how when you upgrade protoss shields, all it does is upgrade the regeneration rate of said shields, and therefore is a pointless upgrade.


I've never heard this about regeneration. The regeneration rate is constant. What commentators have you heard talk about this?
Trowabarton756
Profile Blog Joined May 2008
United States870 Posts
December 22 2009 01:42 GMT
#37
On December 22 2009 09:44 Zoler wrote:
ITS ONLY NOOBS WHO THINKS SHIELD ARMOR DOESN'T GIVE REAL ARMOR PLZ LOCK THREAD


Zoler, piss off and die. BTW isn't there a rule that says you can't type in all caps in a replay...
http://www.teamliquid.net/video/streams/Trowabarton756
Mortality
Profile Blog Joined December 2005
United States4790 Posts
December 22 2009 01:44 GMT
#38
3-3-3 Protoss upgraded ground is really good. The problem is that it's ridiculously expensive (approximately 2k/2k in total -- I'm sure someone will post a correction with the exact amount) and most of the time you find that money better spent elsewhere.

I find that exactly what upgrades I focus on depends on my army composition. +attack is always my number one priority, but the order in which I'll upgrade ground defense and shields varies depending on match-up and strategy. I focus more on shield upgrades when relying heavily on air and I try to balance armor and shields against Zerg, if that's of any help. As someone else said, you really need it for archons.
Even though this Proleague bullshit has been completely bogus, I really, really, really do not see how Khan can lose this. I swear I will kill myself if they do. - nesix before KHAN lost to eNature
DarthThienAn
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
United States2734 Posts
December 22 2009 04:24 GMT
#39
On December 21 2009 19:40 2longbe4 wrote:
Still you rarely see a 3/3/3 Protoss army, why is that?


How often does a game go that late? armor/shields is no good against a terran armor, so most p's opt for like one armor and that's it. Against zerg you sometimes see it. Going 3-0 or 3-1 and then adding a second forge for 3-2-3 or 3-3-3 is pretty common. That's usually a pretty long game, and a lot of players don't remember to do it / prefer getting the extra templar or archon or whatever.

If ur going mass archon, shields > armor. lol =P. Most people go for armor because they don't think about it and it's the cheaper option. Also, damage and unit types come into effect with armor but not shields (ie. explosive damage [hydras] on small/medium units [zealots]).
www.cstarleague.com | Love is like playing the piano. First you must learn to play by the rules, then you must forget the rules and play from your heart.
Shizuru~
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
Malaysia1676 Posts
December 22 2009 04:45 GMT
#40
i think the better question would be, would there be a double dip of shield and armor defense values on attacks that would drain both shield and hp value at the same time, for example a normal +0 weapon upgrade dt one shots probe without armor/shield upgrades, with a probe with +3 shield and +3 armor upgrades, would the armor defense values apply on a single strike that depletes the shield compleletly? ie:40dmg dt attack a +3 armor/shield probe would leave it at 3hp or 6hp?

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