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The Protoss Shield Myth - Page 4

Forum Index > BW General
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edahl
Profile Joined February 2008
Norway483 Posts
December 22 2009 14:17 GMT
#61
Tyty Kiante. Game?
Shield
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Bulgaria4824 Posts
December 22 2009 14:17 GMT
#62
Armor all the way.
Shield isn't good enough.
Inzek
Profile Blog Joined May 2008
Chile802 Posts
December 22 2009 14:55 GMT
#63
my eternal doubt has been:
if you have say 1shield + full hp, damage taken is reduced by shield and then by armor?
what if shield is at 0.
Stork FAN!!!
Ian Ian Ian
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
915 Posts
December 22 2009 15:53 GMT
#64
On December 22 2009 20:37 cz wrote:
I`ve never heard of any regen bonus. Stop hanging with the UMS and fastest crowds.


Considering that TL.net is one of the more reputable foreign SC sites and there are dozens of people who believed this was true, and that almost all UMS players actually know they're wrong, idk wtf you're talking about.
StarBrift
Profile Joined January 2008
Sweden1761 Posts
December 22 2009 16:10 GMT
#65
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.


Can't be said better than this. Cost is too high early game considering what the upgrade does. Lategame if its a stalemate or a huge economic game I would def max it since things like cannons also get more armor from it + that archons will benefit alot more. Maybe after 4+ bases? Before that it feels like the gas could be put into more templars for better efficiency.
Purind
Profile Blog Joined April 2004
Canada3562 Posts
December 22 2009 16:42 GMT
#66
On December 22 2009 07:54 DreaM)XeRO wrote:
Show nested quote +
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


How can it be late late with 3 forges? If it's so late, wouldn't it be 2 forges, with shields upgrading after weapon is done?

On December 22 2009 20:37 cz wrote:
I`ve never heard of any regen bonus. Stop hanging with the UMS and fastest crowds.


What does UMS/fastest have to do with anything? If anything, the UMS crowd would be way more informed about this, with all the maps where you get 50+ shield upgrades
Trucy Wright is hot
vOddy
Profile Joined July 2009
Sweden402 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-12-22 18:22:07
December 22 2009 18:20 GMT
#67
When I said that you need to upgrade shields for archons to combat the zerg lategame, I didn't mean to specifically help vs the ultralisks themselves, but rather the ultra / defiler / crackling combination.

When their ultras have 5 armour and their lings have 3 armour, if your archons have 3 attack / 3 armour it's as if they have 3 attack / 0 armour, which obviously sucks vs an army of 5 / 3 ultras, 3 / 3 cracklings, and 3 defilers. If you are able to take a third gas quickly, sometimes it's even worth it going shields early.

Also, when you have 3 / 3 / 3 as protoss, it really shows, because while archons only benefit from attack and shield upgrades, normal units benefit from both armour AND shieds. They just benefit a whole lot more from armour since shields take 100% damage from everything and Protoss units generally have more HP than shields, but still, a 3 / 3 / 3 army backed up by 2 - 4 damage upgraded reavers can just plow through zerg as long as you don't fight under dark swarm.

Stork has gone for mass upgrades vs Zerg with great effect. He had armour, shield, and weapon upgrades. The zerg did NOT expect it and got owned so badly by Stork's superior units. 3 Forge ftw (If you have the money to support it)
"You generate awesomeness. It just flows from you."
Tenryu
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States565 Posts
December 22 2009 18:46 GMT
#68
Description of protoss shields and shield upgrade from Blizzard website:

Plasma Shields
Defensive energy shields protect all Protoss military units, and this provides perhaps their greatest advantage in battle. During the Aeon of Strife, Protoss warriors used focused Psionic energy to surround themselves in impregnable energy shields. Over time, Conclave scholars and Templar sages learned to reproduce the energy shield using induced psi-field generators, which allowed even the smallest robotic machine to surround itself with a protective field. Protoss energy shields are effective at stopping all manner of physical and energy attacks, but they can be depleted during an attack. Given time, a shield will recharge to full strength, and Shield Batteries can be accessed to increases the rate of regeneration.

Protoss units are produced with full Plasma Shields and Protoss buildings are charged with shields during their warp-in process. When a Protoss unit or building is attacked, full damage (regardless of damage type) is applied to the shields first (if they haven't already been depleted) and you will always be able to tell if there are shields present in one of two ways:

* The top status bar, when selecting a unit or building, will indicate the amount of shields that unit/building has left.
* Unit shields, when hit, will flicker around the unit at the moment of deflection.

Once the shields are gone, any attack damage will then be applied to the building or unit's health. Shields will regenerate at a slow pace, while health cannot be regenerated (a primary Protoss weakness).

If your units need their shields regenerated immediately, use the Shield Battery. The Shield Battery can recharge a unit's shields almost instantly, however, it cannot be used to regenerate the shields of buildings. The Shield Battery is also limited by the energy reserve it has built up and will only recharge two Plasma Shield Points for one Energy Reserve Point. It can hold a maximum of 200 Energy Points, which is enough to recharge the shields of almost any unit (except the Archon and Dark Archon, if their shields are fully depleted). Note that if you command the Shield Battery to recharge, it will simultaneously recharge the shields of all nearby units until its energy reserve is gone, so if you are planning to recharge the shields of an entire force at one time, make sure you build multiple Shield Batteries.

Shields Upgrades
By far the most useful upgrade for the Protoss, the Plasma Shield upgrade will add to the shield maximum for all units and buildings. Combined with Armor upgrades, you can noticeably increase the lifespan of your units. As such, the Plasma Shield Upgrade should always be researched as early as possible.

Source: http://classic.battle.net/scc/protoss/bstrat.shtml

I guess blizzards original intent was to make shield upgrades the most useful, but i dont think it is. Definitely not early on.
http://myanimelist.net/profile/Understar
NeCroPoTeNce
Profile Joined July 2009
United States513 Posts
December 22 2009 19:25 GMT
#69
This is weird, because I always thought that shields were just like armor, and I've actually never heard of the myth, and probably wouldn't believe it if I had heard it before either.
zerg all the way! Lee Jaedong hwaiting
GW.Methos
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
United States249 Posts
December 22 2009 20:19 GMT
#70
upgrading armor is pretty useless i think, not shields.
i.pwn.n00bs
MasterReY
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
Germany2708 Posts
December 22 2009 20:33 GMT
#71
ohhh
blizzard wanted to ADD shield points with every shield upgrade :O

good idea i think and also makes sence lore-wise
https://www.twitch.tv/MasterReY/ ~ Biggest Reach fan on TL.net (Don't even dare to mention LR now) ~ R.I.P Violet ~ Developer of SCRChart
TL+ Member
EGLzGaMeR
Profile Blog Joined February 2007
United States1867 Posts
December 22 2009 20:38 GMT
#72
i remember nony and tasteless (i think) telling me it was only the "regen" of the shield.. but obviously i knew that was a joke and it worked like any armor upgrade except it also shielded your buildings aswell as units.
CharlieMurphy
Profile Blog Joined March 2006
United States22895 Posts
December 22 2009 21:07 GMT
#73
it cost 900/900 for all 3 shield ups
..and then I would, ya know, check em'. (Aka SpoR)
Jonoman92
Profile Blog Joined September 2006
United States9108 Posts
December 22 2009 21:25 GMT
#74
I always thought +1 shield upgrade made it so an un-upgraded ling would do 4 instead of 5 damage to shields....

Never knew it affected the shield regeneration rate.
cz
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
United States3249 Posts
December 22 2009 21:44 GMT
#75
On December 23 2009 06:25 Jonoman92 wrote:
I always thought +1 shield upgrade made it so an un-upgraded ling would do 4 instead of 5 damage to shields....

Never knew it affected the shield regeneration rate.


it doesn't effect reg rate.
Random_0
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
United States1163 Posts
December 22 2009 22:02 GMT
#76
I'm very surprised that this topic hasn't been answered in Liquipedia. Isn't that what Liquipedia is for?
MasterReY
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
Germany2708 Posts
December 23 2009 01:48 GMT
#77
feel free to add the imformation to it
https://www.twitch.tv/MasterReY/ ~ Biggest Reach fan on TL.net (Don't even dare to mention LR now) ~ R.I.P Violet ~ Developer of SCRChart
TL+ Member
Ideas
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
United States8168 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-12-23 02:31:43
December 23 2009 02:30 GMT
#78
honestly faster regenerating shields sounds better than it acting like armor in some cases(assuming it increases the rate fast enough), especially for archons lol.
Free Palestine
Entertaining
Profile Joined September 2007
Canada793 Posts
December 23 2009 02:34 GMT
#79
FYI toss players get the Armor upgrade first because it doesnt take full damage to everything, like shields do. Armor upgrade is also alot less expensive and the gas can be used elsewhere. Not saying shield isnt important, ull need it for archons superlategame. but Amor is much better.
Ecrilon
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
501 Posts
December 23 2009 02:40 GMT
#80
Haha. The "Why Haven't You Updated Liquipedia" thread.

I've always felt that the shield upgrade was unreasonably expensive. There are two sets of considerations to take into account: Should you get shields over armor? Should you get shields at all?

Now only considering the first question, there are a few things involved.
Shield regenerates. Armor does not. This means that as you are being attacked and your shield charges up a bit mid-battle, you are once again feeling the benefit of the shield upgrade. Awesome, what a bonus! S>A
The vast majority of protoss units have more hp than sp. This means that armor is more valuable as it protects hp! Unless you are going for a lot of shield heavy units. That's the archons, and that's about it. A>S
The above two roughly cancel each other out. A~S
Shields can be drained instantly by EMP, Hp can be heavily drained by Plague. A>S PvT, S>A PvZ
Shields affect air units and buildings, this is probably shield's greatest strength. S>A
Damage types are interesting. I have tested this as I play fairly extensively on UMS RPGs. The armor and shield bonuses are applied before the damage type reduction is applied. This means that armor is tends to be better than shields, because shields will take full damage and be depleted faster. However, it is not as serious as if the damage bonuses were applied in the opposite order. This is similar to point 2. A>S

What we see tends to be A~S with each having its advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it seems really weird that armor is so much less expensive than shield to upgrade. I do propose though, that the first shield upgrade is better than the third armor upgrade.

The "Should you get shields at all" question is a question brought on solely by the Shield's silly cost. 200/200 for the first one? That's pretty steep for something that does not clearly surpass its competitor (armor). The Blizzard quote earlier in this thread makes me think that Blizzard overestimated the shield upgrade, which is a pretty unfortunate accident given that this could have been a really interesting in-game strategic decision which has now boiled down to "shields are not cost effective."
There is but one truth.
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