EPTEarly on in SC2, the Zealot's shields were lowered to 50 from 60 due to the increased strength from offensive and hidden warps. With those losing some strength in LotV, I decided to see how a 60 SP zealot would fare compared to a 50 SP one. In addition, I found another idea in this thread about having charge available earlier, perhaps at cybercore tech, as the weakness in Zealots is the fact that they can't close into their target.
Another reason I chose to try out the 10 SP is that the extra time each Zealot stays alive adds to its damage output (since it can swipe once more), leading to more Zerg casualties, which allow more Zealots to survive, etc. This would be a good example of a change that doesn't change the initial units much, but does allow for a bigger superiority midgame. Unlike the earlier charge, it also doesn't interfere with builds in itself, only in the strategies Protoss and Zerg choose to enact as a result of stronger Zealots.
I decided to try out both ideas to some extent, and my tests thus ended up amounting to:
Comparing Zealot vs. Zergling engagements (various sizes and upgrades)
Adding charge for one of these engagements
Comparing Zealot walls (various upgrades)
Comparing Zealot vs. Roach engagements (various sizes upgrades)
Adding charge early on, say at Protoss 1/0 and Zerg 0/0
Comparing Zealot vs. Roach/Hydra engagements (various upgrades)
Adding charge early on, say at Protoss 1/0 and Zerg 0/0
I ran a total of 48 scenarios, 24 for each Zealot, for 10 tests each. The two forces, Protoss and Zerg, a-move each other with no micro on either side. In the case of Roach/Hydra, I manually position the Roaches in front as they would be in a standard attack. In this summary, the range is the boundary between the second-best and second-worst outcome for Protoss (or Zerg, since it's symmetric), and the average is the mean result of this same range (so not accounting for the two outliers). After each set of data I give my thoughts on the results.
So here's how everything stacked up. A link to all of my test results is at the bottom of this post.
Scenario I. 1 Zealot vs. 4 Zerglings
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A small engagement, I added this one in to see whether early-game was particularly damaged by the addition.
Case A: 0-0 upgrades on both sides
Range for HotS Zealot: 2 Lings, 1 at full health, 1 at 4-20 HP
Range for New Zealot: 2 Lings, 1 at full health, 1 at 4-12 HP
Average for HotS Zealot: 2 Lings, 1 at full health, 1 at 13 HP
Average for New Zealot: 2 Lings, 1 at full health, 1 at 5 HP
Overall: About a half-swipe of improvement, and not relevant for scouting Zerglings, as they will just retreat and regenerate anyway. No real change.
Case B: 1-0 Zealot, 0-0 Speedlings
Range for HotS Zealot: 1 Zealot at 28-36 HP
Range for New Zealot: 1 Zealot at 32-40 HP
Average for HotS Zealot: 1 Zealot at 32 HP
Average for New Zealot: 1 Zealot at 35 HP
Overall: One Zergling attack's worth of improvement (since Zerglings do 4 damage to Zealots at 0-0 vs. 1 armor, realistically the 35 rounds to 36). Also not very impressive by itself. We shall see how this adds up in the future, however.
Case D: 3-3 on both sides, Charge and crack researched
Range for HotS Zealot: 2 Lings at full HP, all 8 (and all 10) test cases
Range for New Zealot: 2 Lings, 1 at full health, 1 at 20-35 HP
Average for HotS Zealot: 2 Lings at full HP
Average for New Zealot: 2 Lings, one at 30 HP
Overall: As before, cracklings are far more cost effective than Zealots, as they should be. They are far weaker to AoE, meaning that Protoss can't rely on Zealots alone to deter them, but as before, we'll see how the extra quarter-swipe adds up over time.
You'll notice I skipped case C. C is what I labeled my 1-0 chargelots (same as B, but with the charge upgrade researched), and is what I used to simulate the protoss player chronoing out charge right after warp gate, but before 1/1 kicked in or any other upgrades. An early charge, basically. In small numbers of lings vs. lots, charge plays a negligible impact. This will become more relevant later, and I will insert case C where it starts to play a difference.
Case A: 0-0 upgrades on both sides
Range for HotS Zealot: 2 Lings, 1 at full health, 1 at 4-20 HP
Range for New Zealot: 2 Lings, 1 at full health, 1 at 4-12 HP
Average for HotS Zealot: 2 Lings, 1 at full health, 1 at 13 HP
Average for New Zealot: 2 Lings, 1 at full health, 1 at 5 HP
Overall: About a half-swipe of improvement, and not relevant for scouting Zerglings, as they will just retreat and regenerate anyway. No real change.
Case B: 1-0 Zealot, 0-0 Speedlings
Range for HotS Zealot: 1 Zealot at 28-36 HP
Range for New Zealot: 1 Zealot at 32-40 HP
Average for HotS Zealot: 1 Zealot at 32 HP
Average for New Zealot: 1 Zealot at 35 HP
Overall: One Zergling attack's worth of improvement (since Zerglings do 4 damage to Zealots at 0-0 vs. 1 armor, realistically the 35 rounds to 36). Also not very impressive by itself. We shall see how this adds up in the future, however.
Case D: 3-3 on both sides, Charge and crack researched
Range for HotS Zealot: 2 Lings at full HP, all 8 (and all 10) test cases
Range for New Zealot: 2 Lings, 1 at full health, 1 at 20-35 HP
Average for HotS Zealot: 2 Lings at full HP
Average for New Zealot: 2 Lings, one at 30 HP
Overall: As before, cracklings are far more cost effective than Zealots, as they should be. They are far weaker to AoE, meaning that Protoss can't rely on Zealots alone to deter them, but as before, we'll see how the extra quarter-swipe adds up over time.
You'll notice I skipped case C. C is what I labeled my 1-0 chargelots (same as B, but with the charge upgrade researched), and is what I used to simulate the protoss player chronoing out charge right after warp gate, but before 1/1 kicked in or any other upgrades. An early charge, basically. In small numbers of lings vs. lots, charge plays a negligible impact. This will become more relevant later, and I will insert case C where it starts to play a difference.
We're going to try out two more scenarios with doubled numbers. Since 4 lings beat out zealots with even upgrades, Scenario II will be 2 vs. 7, while III will be the full 2 vs. 8.
Scenario II. 2 Zealots vs. 7 Zerglings
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We're going to have some larger variety, so outliers will be decided on quantity of units, then HP. So in case A, 2 lings with 4 HP is better for Zerg than 1 with 20 HP, so I'm throwing out the 2-ling test case as it was the best outcome for Zerg. Biracial averages (between Zerg survivors and Protoss survivors) in this section will be done by adding total HP. Zealot survivors will be an average of the higher-HP zealot, and an average of the lower HP zealot.
Case A: 0-0 upgrades on both sides
Range for HotS Zealot: 1 Ling with 20 HP - 1 Zealot with 20 HP
Range for New Zealot: 1 Zealot at 32-48 HP
Average for HotS Zealot: 1 Zealot at 8 HP
Average for New Zealot: 1 Zealot at 39 HP
Overall: Note that shield regen makes this difference bigger. We have a barely living zealot with a total of 58 life, mostly unarmored (only 8 of it is armored), compared to a slightly better zealot with a total of 99 life with over a third of it armored. Now we see a considerable difference in the life of our surviving zealot. With proper micro, even both zealots might survive (as happened in one of the micro-less outlier cases).
Case B: 1-0 Zealots, 0-0 Speedlings
Range for HotS Zealot: 2 Zealot at combined 112-128 HP
Range for New Zealot: 1 Zealot at combined 120-136 HP
Average for HotS Zealot: 1 Zealot at 92 HP, 1 Zealot at 30 HP
Average for New Zealot: 1 Zealot at 93 HP, 1 Zealot at 40 HP
Overall: Not as big a difference here. So either case A was a fluke, or simply, Zealots are better than before without the +1 upgrade. In either case, an extra 20 shields and an extra 10 HP on one zealot allow for more hits against future Zerglings. Very good.
At this point, I'm going to stop measuring HP due to the number of units, other than case 3B (2 vs. 8 with +1 Zealots)
Case D: 3-3 on both sides, Charge and crack researched
Range for HotS Zealot: 2-4 Lings
Range for New Zealot: 1-3 Lings
Average for HotS Zealot: 3 Lings survive
Average for New Zealot: 2 Lings survive
Overall: HP stops mattering as much since lings regenerate anyway, as do Protoss shields (and if this ever extends into PvT, medivac/repair). But with 10 SP we've managed to cost the Zerg a whole zergling! Not much, but remember that the 3/3 case is more relevant to bigger armies (we'll see a small sampler in Scenario IV), so every 2-7 is that much stronger, with of course the AoE behind it compounding the added damage. Also in one of the outliers for the new Zealot, one of the Zealots actually survived with 4 HP!
Case A: 0-0 upgrades on both sides
Range for HotS Zealot: 1 Ling with 20 HP - 1 Zealot with 20 HP
Range for New Zealot: 1 Zealot at 32-48 HP
Average for HotS Zealot: 1 Zealot at 8 HP
Average for New Zealot: 1 Zealot at 39 HP
Overall: Note that shield regen makes this difference bigger. We have a barely living zealot with a total of 58 life, mostly unarmored (only 8 of it is armored), compared to a slightly better zealot with a total of 99 life with over a third of it armored. Now we see a considerable difference in the life of our surviving zealot. With proper micro, even both zealots might survive (as happened in one of the micro-less outlier cases).
Case B: 1-0 Zealots, 0-0 Speedlings
Range for HotS Zealot: 2 Zealot at combined 112-128 HP
Range for New Zealot: 1 Zealot at combined 120-136 HP
Average for HotS Zealot: 1 Zealot at 92 HP, 1 Zealot at 30 HP
Average for New Zealot: 1 Zealot at 93 HP, 1 Zealot at 40 HP
Overall: Not as big a difference here. So either case A was a fluke, or simply, Zealots are better than before without the +1 upgrade. In either case, an extra 20 shields and an extra 10 HP on one zealot allow for more hits against future Zerglings. Very good.
At this point, I'm going to stop measuring HP due to the number of units, other than case 3B (2 vs. 8 with +1 Zealots)
Case D: 3-3 on both sides, Charge and crack researched
Range for HotS Zealot: 2-4 Lings
Range for New Zealot: 1-3 Lings
Average for HotS Zealot: 3 Lings survive
Average for New Zealot: 2 Lings survive
Overall: HP stops mattering as much since lings regenerate anyway, as do Protoss shields (and if this ever extends into PvT, medivac/repair). But with 10 SP we've managed to cost the Zerg a whole zergling! Not much, but remember that the 3/3 case is more relevant to bigger armies (we'll see a small sampler in Scenario IV), so every 2-7 is that much stronger, with of course the AoE behind it compounding the added damage. Also in one of the outliers for the new Zealot, one of the Zealots actually survived with 4 HP!
Now let's add in the Zergling and see how well we do. Note that in unlike Scenario I, a 2v8 lets the Zealots stand "back-to-back", i.e. there is less surface area to attack. This makes any advantage the Zealots have that much more effective since the fighting is more even, and as we saw, the 2v7 was relatively even.
Scenario III. 2 Zealots vs. 8 Zerglings
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Case A: 0-0 upgrades on both sides
Range for HotS Zealot: 3-4 Lings
Range for New Zealot: 2-4 Lings
Average for HotS Zealot: 4 Lings survive
Average for New Zealot: 3 Lings survive
Overall: Again, we drop by one ling.
Case B: 1-0 Zealots, 0-0 Speedlings
Range for HotS Zealot: 2 Zealot at combined 80-88 HP
Range for New Zealot: 1 Zealot at combined 80-96 HP
Average for HotS Zealot: 1 Zealot at 57 HP, 1 Zealot at 27 HP
Average for New Zealot: 1 Zealot at 74 HP, 1 Zealot at 17 HP
Overall: On average, 7 HP is gained (and of course 20 regenerating shields), but again the difference isn't as big compared to the 0-0 case. This is the last time I'll talk about HP.
Case D: 3-3 on both sides, Charge and crack researched
Range for HotS Zealot: 4-5 Lings
Range for New Zealot: 4-5 Lings
Average for HotS Zealot: 5 Lings survive
Average for New Zealot: 5 Lings survive
Overall: This wasn't even that big of a difference! Not rounding to the nearest ling, we get 4.625 before and 4.5 after, which might actually be within some margin of error. If you want to stick the outliers back in it's only a 0.1 ling difference.
Range for HotS Zealot: 3-4 Lings
Range for New Zealot: 2-4 Lings
Average for HotS Zealot: 4 Lings survive
Average for New Zealot: 3 Lings survive
Overall: Again, we drop by one ling.
Case B: 1-0 Zealots, 0-0 Speedlings
Range for HotS Zealot: 2 Zealot at combined 80-88 HP
Range for New Zealot: 1 Zealot at combined 80-96 HP
Average for HotS Zealot: 1 Zealot at 57 HP, 1 Zealot at 27 HP
Average for New Zealot: 1 Zealot at 74 HP, 1 Zealot at 17 HP
Overall: On average, 7 HP is gained (and of course 20 regenerating shields), but again the difference isn't as big compared to the 0-0 case. This is the last time I'll talk about HP.
Case D: 3-3 on both sides, Charge and crack researched
Range for HotS Zealot: 4-5 Lings
Range for New Zealot: 4-5 Lings
Average for HotS Zealot: 5 Lings survive
Average for New Zealot: 5 Lings survive
Overall: This wasn't even that big of a difference! Not rounding to the nearest ling, we get 4.625 before and 4.5 after, which might actually be within some margin of error. If you want to stick the outliers back in it's only a 0.1 ling difference.
So overall, while we might scratch a ling here or there, or Zealots end up with more HP (because they started with more HP), the differences here are minute, and at higher levels, the offset can still be made up with some micro or positioning (the Zealots would have lived longer against a wall). This is good news because it doesn't shake up the early game too much. The very very small difference against cracklings also seem to suggest the lategame isn't affected much, but with these small numbers it's hard to tell. Let's see what the midgame looks like in lings vs. lots. We'll look at 8 vs. 32 now.
Scenario IV. 8 Zealots vs. 32 Zerglings
In all scenarios starting with this one, average survivors in a biracial range will be counted by resources. 4 Lings = 1 Zealot, 1 Zealot = 1 Roach, 3 Zealots = 2 Hydras.
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Case A: 0-0 upgrades on both sides
Range for HotS Zealot: 4-9 Lings
Range for New Zealot: 6 Lings-5 Zealots
Average for HotS Zealot: 7 Lings survive
Average for New Zealot: 1 Zealot survive
Overall: Or to be specific, 1.03125 Zealots. Now we see the full effect of the 10 shields. The zealots, on average, overcome the zerglings, but not by much. The fight is still anyone's, and can be decided by more damage dealing units like hydras, stalkers, and the like. But it's not a fight won entirely by zerg anymore. Which bodes good news for midgame Protoss... who engages with 8 Zealots, apparently.
Case B: 1-0 Zealots, 0-0 Speedlings
Range for HotS Zealot: 5-6 Zealots
Range for New Zealot: 6-8 Zealots
Average for HotS Zealot: 5 (in all but one of the 8 cases) survive
Average for New Zealot: 7 Zealots survive
Overall: 2 whole Zealots live! That's 25% more of our army! In fact on average only one of our guys dies, and in 3 of 8 cases the whole army lives. So we now see a sizable strength bonus in the midgame.
So let's introduce Case C, since now it's applicable! This is the same setup as Case B, except now the Zealots have charge. This is to try out the suggestion for earlier charge. Let's see what happens...
Case C: 1-0 Chargelots, 0-0 Speedlings
Range for HotS Zealot: 6-7 Zealots
Range for New Zealot: 5-8 Zealots
Average for HotS Zealot: 7 Zealots survive
Average for New Zealot: 6 Zealots survive
Overall: What ho? It seems that Charge has actually made the New Zealot weaker than its 50 SP counterpart? The real difference was 1/8 of a point (6.5 vs. 6.375), but also has to do with Charge itself. In case B, the zealots formed a convex, a parabola facing the lings. This meant it took the zerglings more time to surround the zealots as they had to go all the way around the parabola to surround. Forming a concave (manually) would be even more effective. With charge, the Zealots all race at the wave of lings, creating more surface area to attack, and losing more of their numbers. Without charge, the difference is more pronounced, however.
All we basically proved with 4C is that Charge is actually harmful up until Zerg gets ranged units. Which actually accounts for some of the losses against the cracklings in 4D.
Case D: 3-3 on both sides, Charge and crack researched
Range for HotS Zealot: 13-17 Lings
Range for New Zealot: 12-15 Lings
Average for HotS Zealot: 15 Lings survive
Average for New Zealot: 13 Lings survive
Overall: 2 Lings die. So in the lategame, not a big difference either. Great! So the big differences lie in the territory before Zerg gets the attack upgrade, as Zealots seem to beat out Speedlings a lot better now.
Range for HotS Zealot: 4-9 Lings
Range for New Zealot: 6 Lings-5 Zealots
Average for HotS Zealot: 7 Lings survive
Average for New Zealot: 1 Zealot survive
Overall: Or to be specific, 1.03125 Zealots. Now we see the full effect of the 10 shields. The zealots, on average, overcome the zerglings, but not by much. The fight is still anyone's, and can be decided by more damage dealing units like hydras, stalkers, and the like. But it's not a fight won entirely by zerg anymore. Which bodes good news for midgame Protoss... who engages with 8 Zealots, apparently.
Case B: 1-0 Zealots, 0-0 Speedlings
Range for HotS Zealot: 5-6 Zealots
Range for New Zealot: 6-8 Zealots
Average for HotS Zealot: 5 (in all but one of the 8 cases) survive
Average for New Zealot: 7 Zealots survive
Overall: 2 whole Zealots live! That's 25% more of our army! In fact on average only one of our guys dies, and in 3 of 8 cases the whole army lives. So we now see a sizable strength bonus in the midgame.
So let's introduce Case C, since now it's applicable! This is the same setup as Case B, except now the Zealots have charge. This is to try out the suggestion for earlier charge. Let's see what happens...
Case C: 1-0 Chargelots, 0-0 Speedlings
Range for HotS Zealot: 6-7 Zealots
Range for New Zealot: 5-8 Zealots
Average for HotS Zealot: 7 Zealots survive
Average for New Zealot: 6 Zealots survive
Overall: What ho? It seems that Charge has actually made the New Zealot weaker than its 50 SP counterpart? The real difference was 1/8 of a point (6.5 vs. 6.375), but also has to do with Charge itself. In case B, the zealots formed a convex, a parabola facing the lings. This meant it took the zerglings more time to surround the zealots as they had to go all the way around the parabola to surround. Forming a concave (manually) would be even more effective. With charge, the Zealots all race at the wave of lings, creating more surface area to attack, and losing more of their numbers. Without charge, the difference is more pronounced, however.
All we basically proved with 4C is that Charge is actually harmful up until Zerg gets ranged units. Which actually accounts for some of the losses against the cracklings in 4D.
Case D: 3-3 on both sides, Charge and crack researched
Range for HotS Zealot: 13-17 Lings
Range for New Zealot: 12-15 Lings
Average for HotS Zealot: 15 Lings survive
Average for New Zealot: 13 Lings survive
Overall: 2 Lings die. So in the lategame, not a big difference either. Great! So the big differences lie in the territory before Zerg gets the attack upgrade, as Zealots seem to beat out Speedlings a lot better now.
Zealots seem to be doing a lot better before Zerglings get their crack upgrade, where their 10 HP is instantly eroded and counts for nil. Which is nice.
Scenario V: One Zealot at the Wall vs. Infinite Zerglings
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This was actually really boring. The Zealot attacks lings one at a time in this case so the 10 HP just allowed two extra hits on the Zealot before he fell. The differences here are negligible, and the full results can be seen in the spreadsheet at the bottom of the page.
So let's move on to the big complaint with Zealot (and core) weakness. How do Zealots with earlier charge and more HP fight against ranged units? We have two scenarios here: Zealots going toe to toe against Roaches (without micro), where they do surprisingly well. In this case I do 16 vs 16, but the more roaches (since they are ranged and can attack in rows), the bigger the advantage. It isn't much, surprisingly, and I can actually post a given case (probably G) for different number of Zealots and roaches. The second case is 24 Zealots vs. 12 Roaches and 12 Hydras. Supply even, but Protoss is more cost efficient. This is a bit weird to simulate without stalker support, but even looking at zealots alone, we find some interesting results.
We also need some new cases because our original ones leave some gaps in the midgame, and having a 0/0 case isn't really too practical for roach/hydra.
Case E: (1/0) Zealot, (0/0) ranged Zerg. Our case B from before, and mainly focused on the roach scenario.
Case F: (1/0) Chargelot, (0/0) ranged Zerg. This is where we'll see how much early charge impacts the game. This could also be repeated with new test cases E' and F', where roaches have speed.
Case G: (2/0/2) Chargelot (0 shield), (2/2) ranged Zerg, Hydra range, Roach speed. Seeing how your average midgame on two forges does with the new Zealot.
Case H: (3/3/3) Chargelot, (3/3) ranged Zerg, Hydra range+speed, Roach speed. This one (and somewhat case G) is made redundant with the addition of the ravager/adept and a shifting meta, but we're just focusing on the improvement of the Protoss core. And thus we'll test it against it against the Zerg core that we know, and worry about the Ravager later (or let Blizzard worry about it). Besides, we're not even accounting for stalkers. This is purely a numbers test.
Scenario VI: 16 Zealots vs. 16 Roaches
We can pretend this is some early midgame poke-turned-allin (I was originally going to do 8v8, but the Zealots won that too handily without Roach range coming into much effect). Roaches win this one with kiting, but we can pretend we backed them into a wall or separated with forcefields the hydras.
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Case E
Range for HotS Zealot: 1-6 Zealots
Range for New Zealot: 7-10 Zealots
Average for HotS Zealot: 5 Zealots survive
Average for New Zealot: 8 Zealots survive
Overall: Three more zealots survive, and now on average half the army makes it! A decent advantage for midgame toss compared to previously. The Roaches won in one of the HotS outliers.
Case F
Range for HotS Zealot: 8-10 Zealots
Range for New Zealot: 9-12 Zealots
Average for HotS Zealot: 9 Zealots survive
Average for New Zealot: 11 Zealots survive
Overall: We need to look at this in tandem with Case E. So with charge alone, about 4 more zealots survive to reach the roaches (5 vs 9). With the SP alone, about 3 more zealots reach the roaches (5 vs 8). Both give the Protoss Zealots significant advantage, although the shield advantage is slightly more modest.
Case G
Range for HotS Zealot: 2 Roaches-6 Zealots
Range for New Zealot: 2-7 Zealots
Average for HotS Zealot: 3 Zealots survive
Average for New Zealot: 5 Zealots survive
Overall: We've eliminated any possibility of Roaches surviving this particular engagement. Again, a gain of 2 Zealots, in concord with our prior addition of 2-3 in Cases E and F. Let's see if this holds a fourth time.
Case H
Range for HotS Zealot: 5-8 Zealots
Range for New Zealot: 4-9 Zealots
Average for HotS Zealot: 5 Zealots survive
Average for New Zealot: 7 Zealots survive
Overall: Bigger range (possibly because of fuckups with Charge), but again, 2 Zealots end up surviving this encounter with the bonus shield. A total of 160 SP for 1 new Zealots' worth of health saves two lives!
Range for HotS Zealot: 1-6 Zealots
Range for New Zealot: 7-10 Zealots
Average for HotS Zealot: 5 Zealots survive
Average for New Zealot: 8 Zealots survive
Overall: Three more zealots survive, and now on average half the army makes it! A decent advantage for midgame toss compared to previously. The Roaches won in one of the HotS outliers.
Case F
Range for HotS Zealot: 8-10 Zealots
Range for New Zealot: 9-12 Zealots
Average for HotS Zealot: 9 Zealots survive
Average for New Zealot: 11 Zealots survive
Overall: We need to look at this in tandem with Case E. So with charge alone, about 4 more zealots survive to reach the roaches (5 vs 9). With the SP alone, about 3 more zealots reach the roaches (5 vs 8). Both give the Protoss Zealots significant advantage, although the shield advantage is slightly more modest.
Case G
Range for HotS Zealot: 2 Roaches-6 Zealots
Range for New Zealot: 2-7 Zealots
Average for HotS Zealot: 3 Zealots survive
Average for New Zealot: 5 Zealots survive
Overall: We've eliminated any possibility of Roaches surviving this particular engagement. Again, a gain of 2 Zealots, in concord with our prior addition of 2-3 in Cases E and F. Let's see if this holds a fourth time.
Case H
Range for HotS Zealot: 5-8 Zealots
Range for New Zealot: 4-9 Zealots
Average for HotS Zealot: 5 Zealots survive
Average for New Zealot: 7 Zealots survive
Overall: Bigger range (possibly because of fuckups with Charge), but again, 2 Zealots end up surviving this encounter with the bonus shield. A total of 160 SP for 1 new Zealots' worth of health saves two lives!
In all four cases, the shield boost gets two additional Zealots to survive the encounter. The charge bonus gives slightly more of an edge, with 3-4 Zealots saved instead instead of 2-3.
Scenario VII: 24 Zealots vs. 12 Roach 12 Hydra
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Case E
Range for HotS Zealot: 0-5 Roach, 3-5 Hydra
Range for New Zealot: 1 Zealot - 2 Roach 7 Hydra
Average for HotS Zealot: 3 Roaches, 4 Hydralisks survive
Average for New Zealot: 2 Roaches, 4 Hydralisks survive
Overall: It kills a Roach. Bigger spread, though, with more potential to have a Zealot survive. Also note the ratio of surviving Roaches to Hydralisks in all the situations. We'll get to that in a moment.
Case F
Range for HotS Zealot: 4 Zealot - 1 Roach 1 Hydra
Range for New Zealot: 6-10 Zealots
Average for HotS Zealot: 2 Zealots survive
Average for New Zealot: 8 Zealots survive
Overall: So we can see here that a big change comes from having both charge and from having the shields. The 10 SP now nets a bonus of 6 Zealots instead of 1. I guess charge gets you to the target, and then once you're there, you're meatier. Points for an earlier charge upgrade, I guess.
Case G
Range for HotS Zealot: 2-5 Roach, 2-6 Hydra
Range for New Zealot: 4 Zealot - 3 Roach 7 Hydra
Average for HotS Zealot: 4 Roaches, 4 Hydralisks survive
Average for New Zealot: 1 Roach, 3 Hydralisks survive
Overall: Big improvement here. 3 Roaches and 1 Hydralisk down. Again, the pattern of having more hydralisks than roaches, and in some cases on the spreadsheet only hydras remain.
Case H
Range for HotS Zealot: 1-6 Roach, 3-8 Hydra
Range for New Zealot: 4 Zealot - 2 Roach 6 Hydra
Average for HotS Zealot: 3 Roaches, 6 Hydralisks survive
Average for New Zealot: 3 Hydralisks survive
Overall: The biggest marked improvement of the four cases, with 3 of each Zerg unit disappearing on average.
Range for HotS Zealot: 0-5 Roach, 3-5 Hydra
Range for New Zealot: 1 Zealot - 2 Roach 7 Hydra
Average for HotS Zealot: 3 Roaches, 4 Hydralisks survive
Average for New Zealot: 2 Roaches, 4 Hydralisks survive
Overall: It kills a Roach. Bigger spread, though, with more potential to have a Zealot survive. Also note the ratio of surviving Roaches to Hydralisks in all the situations. We'll get to that in a moment.
Case F
Range for HotS Zealot: 4 Zealot - 1 Roach 1 Hydra
Range for New Zealot: 6-10 Zealots
Average for HotS Zealot: 2 Zealots survive
Average for New Zealot: 8 Zealots survive
Overall: So we can see here that a big change comes from having both charge and from having the shields. The 10 SP now nets a bonus of 6 Zealots instead of 1. I guess charge gets you to the target, and then once you're there, you're meatier. Points for an earlier charge upgrade, I guess.
Case G
Range for HotS Zealot: 2-5 Roach, 2-6 Hydra
Range for New Zealot: 4 Zealot - 3 Roach 7 Hydra
Average for HotS Zealot: 4 Roaches, 4 Hydralisks survive
Average for New Zealot: 1 Roach, 3 Hydralisks survive
Overall: Big improvement here. 3 Roaches and 1 Hydralisk down. Again, the pattern of having more hydralisks than roaches, and in some cases on the spreadsheet only hydras remain.
Case H
Range for HotS Zealot: 1-6 Roach, 3-8 Hydra
Range for New Zealot: 4 Zealot - 2 Roach 6 Hydra
Average for HotS Zealot: 3 Roaches, 6 Hydralisks survive
Average for New Zealot: 3 Hydralisks survive
Overall: The biggest marked improvement of the four cases, with 3 of each Zerg unit disappearing on average.
The biggest thing to note is that chargelots start doing surprisingly well against the roaches. In other words, they're very good at breaking down the roach wall on their own, and they almost get to the creamy nougat of hydralisks, and in some cases mow that down easily. What the proportion of hydras to roaches in the surviving groups suggests is that a small tip of balance in either direction - in this case the 10 shield points with the pre-existing charge ability - enables the Protoss to do significantly better against the Zerg core. Furthermore, the addition of Ravagers also accelerates the demise of the frontline roaches, as their ability does friendly fire.
What Have We Learned?
Adding 10 SP to Zealots doesn't change much earlygame, but allows Zealots to hold their own against midgame speedlings (especially when they're an upgrade ahead), while returning them to a relatively normal level lategame. Against Roaches and especially Roach/Hydra, the SP bonus doesn't do much until combined with Charge, when it becomes a very, very powerful addition that can swing the balance of relatively even engagements (Scenario VI is cost-even, Scenario VII is supply-even) in the favor of the Protoss. Early Charge alone also holds promise against Roach/Hydra battles, although the SP bonus is more modest in this regard and also serves as a more universal buff allowing the Zealots to deal with more threats.
This collection of data is not meant to represent actual games. They are meant to simulate some common metrics with relatively little external variables. A normal engagement against Roach/Hydra would also, for example, feature Stalkers and Sentries, but for the purpose of this potential change we would like to see how Zealots alone fare with extra shielding or an earlier charge.
This also serves to show how even tiny changes can restore the power of the Protoss core while WG is nerfed and Force Fields can now be countered by Zerg.
And most importantly, I wanted to talk about how awesome this change is while also having the numbers to back it up. Enjoy!
Spreadsheet with Test Results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WTb2GoDzvGZnG8orZAT7GZrLWC-PFWy2vckgFakUzOs/edit?usp=sharing
