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Active: 4800 users

Why Dark Archons dont see much use?

Forum Index > Brood War Strategy
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SiarX
Profile Joined December 2021
133 Posts
December 21 2021 09:12 GMT
#1
Just wondering. They can snipe enemy casters easily, paralyze zerg armies and zealot armies, and mind control carriers or ultralisks. Why they are rarely seen? because of the high cost? But one does not need many of them, and high templars are expensive as well...
att
Profile Joined March 2020
128 Posts
December 21 2021 10:40 GMT
#2
High cost yeah... if they were cheaper, like queens, they would be cost efficient in niche scenarious. but because theyre so expensive, much more expenive than queens, they are not so efficient
SiarX
Profile Joined December 2021
133 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-12-21 11:00:59
December 21 2021 11:00 GMT
#3
Are queens used much? i thought they were very rarely seen unit
att
Profile Joined March 2020
128 Posts
December 21 2021 12:00 GMT
#4
On December 21 2021 20:00 SiarX wrote:
Are queens used much? i thought they were very rarely seen unit

Theyre seen semi-often as a counter to lategame terran mech. What my point was, theyre a very niche unit, used as a counter in a niche situation, and they work. Unfortunately, dark archos, because they cost so much, can be argued, lack this niche use
Jealous
Profile Blog Joined December 2011
10360 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-12-21 18:15:14
December 21 2021 18:14 GMT
#5
Is making a separate thread for each niche unit you want to see really necessary? You can just make a list of all the units you want to see so that people can explain to you why they are not seen as often and post it in the "Simple Questions Simple Answers" thread.

Generally speaking, apply the common sense that the unit does not get used because it is not efficient to use it, it's as simple as that. Resources, and not just minerals and gas, but also time, attention, APM - in BW they are all limited. Thus, you have to choose where to invest in every scenario. In general, Dark Archon does not give as consistent of a ROI. It's that simple.

However, also apply the common sense that because they are niche units, they do have niche uses, and every unit in Brood War is used at the top level depending on the scenario.

Alternatively, you can use the search function at the top right of the website to see the fact that this subject has been opened dozens of times by dozens of other people over the years. Here you go:

https://tl.net/forum/search.php?q=dark archon

You can see more discussion here:

https://tl.net/forum/brood-war/523968-insane-dark-archon-theory
https://tl.net/forum/bw-strategy/130917-dark-archon-in-pvp
https://tl.net/forum/bw-strategy/105435-dark-archons-in-pvp

Also, this is worth seeing:



Also this:



So, the answer is the same as it has been for every other question you have asked over multiple threads.
"The right to vote is only the oar of the slaveship, I wanna be free." -- бум бум сучка!
ajmbek
Profile Joined November 2008
Italy460 Posts
December 21 2021 18:34 GMT
#6
in almost all the situations 2 dts are better
Sic iter ad astra
tankgirl
Profile Blog Joined May 2016
Canada522 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-12-21 23:24:17
December 21 2021 23:16 GMT
#7
they do still get used, can help very late game PvZ. see crazy hourlong game ending here (actually game was a draw)

https://tl.net/forum/brood-war/627255-progamer-settings
TL+ Member
Return
Profile Joined June 2005
Ivory Coast859 Posts
December 22 2021 09:27 GMT
#8
They definitly do get used in semi niche situations as is right now, like if you've skipped stargate and zerg goes for mutas they tend to pop up and in stalemate situations(map is mining out but neither side can really cost efficiently kill each other) its by far the best consistent value engine in the game. And we've seen it being used to feedback templars/defilers etc and maelstrom incoming zerg drops to great effect too. I think it's main drawback from being used more in pvt is that they are big and clunky and not really worth it just to feedback vessels.

Mind control as how I think blizzard envisioned it were you take the enemies army or workers and then fight with a combined protoss + enemy race forces ain't as widely used since you'd need a lot of darchons with high energy to steal a sizable part of enemy force and youd need a lot of resources to be able to build up an army and infrastructure of the other players race in a 1v1 situation, havent seen that in pro games yet but the other abilities show up from time to time
Diiiscoo-oh, thats where the happy people go!
Jealous
Profile Blog Joined December 2011
10360 Posts
December 22 2021 13:28 GMT
#9
On December 22 2021 18:27 Return wrote:
They definitly do get used in semi niche situations as is right now, like if you've skipped stargate and zerg goes for mutas they tend to pop up and in stalemate situations(map is mining out but neither side can really cost efficiently kill each other) its by far the best consistent value engine in the game. And we've seen it being used to feedback templars/defilers etc and maelstrom incoming zerg drops to great effect too. I think it's main drawback from being used more in pvt is that they are big and clunky and not really worth it just to feedback vessels.

Mind control as how I think blizzard envisioned it were you take the enemies army or workers and then fight with a combined protoss + enemy race forces ain't as widely used since you'd need a lot of darchons with high energy to steal a sizable part of enemy force and youd need a lot of resources to be able to build up an army and infrastructure of the other players race in a 1v1 situation, havent seen that in pro games yet but the other abilities show up from time to time

Happened a long time ago, I believe ClouD vs. Intotherain. ITR made Siege Tanks and Wraith as Protoss IIRC. This was when players were already pretty good but still nothing compared to the latter parts of the KeSPA era.
"The right to vote is only the oar of the slaveship, I wanna be free." -- бум бум сучка!
LML
Profile Blog Joined March 2007
Germany1794 Posts
December 22 2021 17:58 GMT
#10
I've used them plenty.
Feedback is an amazing spell with a huge range and usually a fast cast. So due to this they can be used in PvP to snipe a bunch of HTs before casting your own storms. In PvZ they're very useful once the Zerg gets defilers out. It's the best counter to plague. Maelstorm can be useful in PvZ, too, but you really need to pick what you want to spend your APM on. Reaver+Storm micro and army positioning can also use a lot of it up. Although maelstorm is still a good use in combination with those as it can stop any small hydra sniping squads right in its tracks.
LML
IvaNioX2
Profile Joined September 2018
96 Posts
December 23 2021 17:39 GMT
#11
mind control timing is difficult, you have to know what your enemy will do 2 minutes earlier than himself
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