Down with Deathball: Oracle, MSC, and Sentry Ideas

Oracle:
-Time Warp moved to Oracle.
-- Time Warp is now the size of Forcefield, and costs 50 energy to cast.
-Stasis Ward moved to MSC.

MSC:
-Forcefield moved to MSC.
-- Costs 25 energy to cast.
-Stasis Ward moved to MSC.
-- Time Warp moved to Oracle.
-- Photon Overcharge removed.
-- MSC speed increased.
-- MSC attack reduced/removed (maybe).

Sentry:
-Ability "Energize" added
-- Rapidly increases Sheild replenish rate, does not affect time before Shields start replenishing.
-- Sentry is immobile while using Energize, but it may be deactivated.
-- Is a "bubble" around the Sentry, similar to Guardian Shield.
-- Does not stack.
-- Costs 50 energy to activate, drains energy while active.
-Forcefield moved to MSC.
-Sentry speed increased.
-Guardian Shield radius slightly reduced (maybe).

The Oracle to me is in a strange -- not necessarily bad, but strange -- spot right now. It acts as a detection, positional tactics, and harassment unit.

I am particularly interested in its potential as a positional tactics unit. Stasis Ward is an interesting ability, but it cannot actively be cast in engagements for obtaining advantages -- you pretty much lay it, wait for the opponent to be hit by it, and then engage the lesser army.

My idea for the Oracle is an ability that can be more actively used in combat scenarios. It's pretty simple -- Time Warp. Except not the large Time Warp that the current MSC has. I'm thinking Time Warps that are more Forcefield-sized (taking less energy to cast, of course) that can affect both enemy and allied units.

The reason for the small size over the large is that it help break up clumps of units, while the large Time Warp often just keeps the entire enemy army from going through it, or is simply cast on a large portion of it. Smaller Time Warps allow the Protoss to choose whether they want to discourage an engagement with a wall of them, or simply split up the army clumps as the armies could still easily split around them. Both the Protoss and the opponent would benefit from not balling up their armies through a Time Warp.

Also, if a player does decide to simply a-move a ball of units through the Time Warp(s), the smaller size means that the whole army isn't affected -- an army a-moving through would automatically become less clumped due to a portion of it simply being slower than the rest of the army.

Additionally, when Time Warp -- or any ability that can easily be utilized in combat -- can only be used by a single unit (the MSC), the rest of the army will tend to stay with that unit instead of splitting apart. Contrasting, by having an ability that can be used in active combat on a unit that you can have more than one of, you allow more opportunity for combat on multiple fronts utilizing it.

As a little bonus, it fits Oracle fantasy better. :-)

There could be an issue of having too many spells on one unit. Stasis Ward could be moved to the MSC since Time Warp would now be on the Oracle. Reasoning explained below.

I honestly think at this point that Forcefield would be better put on the MSC, for less of an energy cost, replacing Photon Overcharge (reasoning for PO removal explained below). This means that you have more Forcefields available early for a cheaper gas cost, but you cannot simply spam them offensively in the midgame (though you could still use them in a key engagement). They would be used for early-stage defense against Zergling all-ins and the like, while aiding expansions against runbys.

I would also like to see Stasis Ward become a midgame upgrade for the MSC and Mothership. It makes more sense to me personally that an ability that is cast outside of combat but can have such a strong effect if successful would make more sense on a unit that shouldn't be designed for use in main engagements (single "hero units" in combat contributes to the deathball, causing most combat units to be used alongside that one unit, but a single unit that can be used outside of engagements might not be so bad).

I would not be against increasing the MSC speed significantly if these changes were implemented as that would further allow it to function apart from the main Protoss army and more easily assist in expansion defense. Even if this required its attack be removed to avoid overpowered early harassment, but I'm not convinced that would be an issue given its low range and DPS, combined with economy changes.

A well-desgined core Protoss army I don't think would require Photon Overcharge for defense, so an MSC with Recall, Forcefield, and Stasis Ward I think could be better than the current MSC, and those spells together on the unit would make sense to me for some positional defense and other utility that doesn't involve the entire Protoss army being with it (example: going around to certain areas of the map by itself laying Stasis Wards).

The Sentry

Now for the Sentry. With Forcefield on the MSC, this allows room for a different spell to make the Sentry more useful.

Guardian Shield is an ability that improves the durability of Gateway units in combat. I would like to continue with the durability theme of the Sentry, though not with another directly in-combat ability.

Energize would be an ability that rapidly increases the Shield restoration rate of Protoss units. This does not affect units that have just taken damage, so it is best used soon after an engagement or in a prolonged one where lots of micro is involved. This type of ability would reward Protoss for conserving their units -- including Gateway units -- as it would allow damaged Protoss units to enter combat again more quickly with full Shields. This increases decisions that can be made by both sides -- should the Protoss go for as much damage as possible while sacrificing units, or pause to retreat and replenish to go back in soon after? Should the opponent chase the Protoss units to inflict damage before they can recharge and come at me again, or can my reinforcements come in time?

Energize would be in the form of a bubble around the Sentry (like Guardian Shield). It would not stack. It would have a moderate initial cost (followed by draining energy, like Guardian Shield) and cause the Sentry to be stationary while using it, making good positional and timing choices important to fully benefit from it and use it efficiently. This also allows opportunities for counterplay from the opponent.

I would also like to increase the speed of the Sentry to be on par with the rest of the Gateway units. Forcefield would no longer be a factor in mobility restraints, and Guardian Shield would be more beneficial to mobile armies. You could also reduce the radius of Guardian Shield slightly to support smaller unit groups as opposed to large unit clumps, though I'm not entirely sure this would be necessary with other anti-deathball changes implemented.

Massing Sentries in one army would no longer be an efficient way to use them if these changes were implemented, but rather having a few or a small handful of them spread out across a large front or multiple fronts, due to none of their abilities stacking. Micro from both sides would be rewarded to keep Sentries alive or kill them, but they are not unreplacable so you don't need your whole army protecting them. This also allows more gas and Warp Gate cycles (if Warp Gate ends up remaining the same or similar) to be used on other units, further allowing for a more dynamic Protoss army that can stand its ground without requiring Forcefields.

Because of the general effects and no need to mass them for them to be effective, the Sentry would have utility throughout the whole game (even more so if a non-deathball core Protoss army is the norm), rather than becoming largely insignificant past the midgame.