• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 17:46
CET 23:46
KST 07:46
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
TL.net Map Contest #21: Winners11Intel X Team Liquid Seoul event: Showmatches and Meet the Pros10[ASL20] Finals Preview: Arrival13TL.net Map Contest #21: Voting12[ASL20] Ro4 Preview: Descent11
Community News
Weekly Cups (Nov 3-9): Clem Conquers in Canada3SC: Evo Complete - Ranked Ladder OPEN ALPHA8StarCraft, SC2, HotS, WC3, Returning to Blizzcon!45$5,000+ WardiTV 2025 Championship7[BSL21] RO32 Group Stage4
StarCraft 2
General
Mech is the composition that needs teleportation t Weekly Cups (Nov 3-9): Clem Conquers in Canada Craziest Micro Moments Of All Time? SC: Evo Complete - Ranked Ladder OPEN ALPHA RotterdaM "Serral is the GOAT, and it's not close"
Tourneys
Constellation Cup - Main Event - Stellar Fest Tenacious Turtle Tussle Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament $5,000+ WardiTV 2025 Championship Merivale 8 Open - LAN - Stellar Fest
Strategy
Custom Maps
Map Editor closed ?
External Content
Mutation # 499 Chilling Adaptation Mutation # 498 Wheel of Misfortune|Cradle of Death Mutation # 497 Battle Haredened Mutation # 496 Endless Infection
Brood War
General
FlaSh on: Biggest Problem With SnOw's Playstyle BW General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ [ASL20] Ask the mapmakers — Drop your questions Where's CardinalAllin/Jukado the mapmaker?
Tourneys
[BSL21] RO32 Group D - Sunday 21:00 CET [BSL21] RO32 Group C - Saturday 21:00 CET [ASL20] Grand Finals [Megathread] Daily Proleagues
Strategy
Current Meta PvZ map balance How to stay on top of macro? Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Should offensive tower rushing be viable in RTS games? Path of Exile Dawn of War IV
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread SPIRED by.ASL Mafia {211640}
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Canadian Politics Mega-thread The Games Industry And ATVI
Fan Clubs
White-Ra Fan Club The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! Korean Music Discussion Series you have seen recently...
Sports
Formula 1 Discussion 2024 - 2026 Football Thread NBA General Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023 TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
SC2 Client Relocalization [Change SC2 Language] Linksys AE2500 USB WIFI keeps disconnecting Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Dyadica Gospel – a Pulp No…
Hildegard
Coffee x Performance in Espo…
TrAiDoS
Saturation point
Uldridge
DnB/metal remix FFO Mick Go…
ImbaTosS
Reality "theory" prov…
perfectspheres
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1513 users

[D] Neural Parasite versus Thor analysis - Page 3

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 Next All
Slayer91
Profile Joined February 2006
Ireland23335 Posts
August 18 2010 12:24 GMT
#41
Neural parasite is highly underestimated.
First people are like "12 seconds = it sucks" and in this thread people are like "infestor dies!!!"#
Very hard to kill an infestor at range 9 because the only thing that can hit them is tanks and the ones close enough usually die.

Use this a lot vs colossus too, and micro the colossus to my army so if infestor gets sniped the colossus gets instagibbed.
Johnny_Vegas
Profile Joined December 2007
United States239 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-08-18 13:28:06
August 18 2010 13:27 GMT
#42
I edited my original post to correct the duration of Neural Parasite, which is 15 seconds, not 12. It has been mis-cited as 12 seconds (perhaps to make it sound weaker?) but in TheoryCraft we measure everything in game seconds. 12 seconds is its duration in real time on the faster speed setting.
battlereports.com (co-founder/developer), Nohunters Discussion Forum operator
KingAnusIII
Profile Joined July 2009
Canada18 Posts
August 18 2010 13:48 GMT
#43
NPing 2-3-4 Medivacs with the infestors being in safer position could also be really strong cause instead of their troops being healed it's yours and allllll of your units can be heal by them.
I ve now got a banana in my ass, could you eat it out for me?
Johnny_Vegas
Profile Joined December 2007
United States239 Posts
August 18 2010 15:04 GMT
#44
On August 18 2010 22:48 KingAnusIII wrote:
NPing 2-3-4 Medivacs with the infestors being in safer position could also be really strong cause instead of their troops being healed it's yours and allllll of your units can be heal by them.


This definitely seemed viable back when NP was permanent, but it sounds like a tougher call now, as you'll only get 15 secs worth of healing (or less if Medivac is out of range of your units).

Nevertheless NPing a medivac is actually better than it sounds when you look at the numbers.

A medivac can heal 15 health per second, for a potential total heal of 225 hps over 15 seconds. There might be a tiny bit of time devoted to acquiring targets to heal however I have not tested.

Anyway, and this is the primary reason NP is misunderstood in general, you aren't just receiving a benefit, you are taking away benefit... So you aren't just getting 225 hps of healing, you are denying 225 hp of healing from the terran.

Other possible benefits:

  1. The terran loses the vision that the Medivac provided. If you NP their only air unit(s), your high ground units cannot be hit. This usually will not be a factor, situational.

  2. Reposition the Medivac to a location where it will be easy to snipe once NP wears off. Since they can heal while moving, might also get some healing out of this maneuver.


But of course the best time to Neural Parasite a Medivac is when you are intercepting a drop and are able to snipe it down with some queens/hydra. Pure theorycraft, forgive me as I've never pulled this off, but obviously a devastating move. Range 9 of NP is significant as its the longest range ground to air weapon a Zerg has at his disposal, exceeding that of upgraded hydra (6) or Queen (7) or Spore Crawler (7).

Medivacs sound like they'd be tough to NP in a traditional battle with MMM, unless you use the burrowed-casting trick. I don't like to recommend that trick as its probably just a bug that Blizzard will eventually fix.
battlereports.com (co-founder/developer), Nohunters Discussion Forum operator
uberdeluxe
Profile Joined June 2009
Canada306 Posts
August 18 2010 16:14 GMT
#45
great job, a little more math than I like XD

I always use NP in ZVP/ZVT and if I get a good amount of infestors (2-4) and NP, I can usually dominate an opposing mid/late game army with extremely minimal losses. IMO, it works especially well with high dmg output armys like ling/hydra, since your doods stay not dead for more than 4 seconds
No mules, no collosi, no PFs, just LOVE!
Johnny_Vegas
Profile Joined December 2007
United States239 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-08-18 16:20:02
August 18 2010 16:18 GMT
#46
On August 19 2010 01:14 uberdeluxe wrote:
great job, a little more math than I like XD

I always use NP in ZVP/ZVT and if I get a good amount of infestors (2-4) and NP, I can usually dominate an opposing mid/late game army with extremely minimal losses. IMO, it works especially well with high dmg output armys like ling/hydra, since your doods stay not dead for more than 4 seconds


Hrm makes sense regarding the high DPS army, hadn't thought about that. In my original analysis this would lead to a larger chunk of damage from the zerg units that would otherwise be dead from Thor fire, had NP not been cast. Especially makes sense in the Thor vs Hydra scenario because Thor kill Hydra pretty quickly and Hydra have such high DPS, not having the Thor wail on the hydra for 15 secs would be that much more beneficial.

Perhaps the only downside to Hydra instead of Roach here is that the roach will do a better job of creating that wall to protect your infestor.
battlereports.com (co-founder/developer), Nohunters Discussion Forum operator
Gdarkness
Profile Joined November 2009
United States40 Posts
August 18 2010 21:13 GMT
#47
NP seems to be worth it if you can get them off on expensive units as people have suggested. Since you steal his units for 12 seconds, not insane but still advantageous for your units, you somewhat downplay the role of "expensive" units. It seems efficient to effectively 'counter' pricey thors with the relatively cheap infestors.

I haven't done the math or testing of it in game, so just my personal theories on it. Let me know if that's somewhat logical.
be internet.
LPolaright
Profile Joined August 2010
Israel9 Posts
August 19 2010 11:42 GMT
#48
I just wanted to ask you, if you can make a graph describing number of seconds in neural parasite as a function of its effectiveness (number of HP you actually gain), also set it to 4 different situations where the number of roaches, lings, siege tanks and thors vary.

I realize its not such an easy job to do, but it could be way much more useful for people to understand how the efficiency changes. Maybe even proving that the infester is very efficient (or possibly not efficient).

Thanks in advance. (:

Semoirethe
Profile Joined August 2010
2 Posts
August 19 2010 13:30 GMT
#49
Assuming they researched it, would it be possible to NP a thor and then instantly 250mm cannon another one of their thors/tanks/etc? Will the cannon stop if they kill the Infestor mid cast?
RubiksCube
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Germany259 Posts
August 19 2010 14:00 GMT
#50
When you NP a Medivac that has units loaded will that function like in the original broodwar that you get the medivac and the units in it, too? If so, will they be permanently yours to command like if you NP a probe and build a nexus?
Ainsworth
Profile Joined July 2010
49 Posts
August 19 2010 14:19 GMT
#51
It doesn't make sense to me that people complain about the nerf, and then are like, "the hard part is keeping them alive for 12 seconds".

Look, Infestors are really powerful. Spam Infested Terran and Fungal growth and you don't even have a need for NE. Infestors + Hydra + Ultra = beats any composition terran can throw at you.
Ainsworth
Profile Joined July 2010
49 Posts
August 19 2010 14:20 GMT
#52
On August 19 2010 22:30 Semoirethe wrote:
Assuming they researched it, would it be possible to NP a thor and then instantly 250mm cannon another one of their thors/tanks/etc? Will the cannon stop if they kill the Infestor mid cast?


Yes, I have done this, it is awesome.
ioRa
Profile Joined May 2010
Canada14 Posts
August 19 2010 17:47 GMT
#53
On August 18 2010 21:24 Slayer91 wrote:
Neural parasite is highly underestimated.
First people are like "12 seconds = it sucks" and in this thread people are like "infestor dies!!!"#
Very hard to kill an infestor at range 9 because the only thing that can hit them is tanks and the ones close enough usually die.

Use this a lot vs colossus too, and micro the colossus to my army so if infestor gets sniped the colossus gets instagibbed.


Have you tried using neural parasite? I don't know about other zerg players here. It is pretty difficult to get, let's say 4 infestors with both upgrades BEFORE the inevitable push, ie 800 minerals and 1000 gas. Not to mention you have to wait for 25 more energy on each infestor, just to pull off a NP. The question comes down to, do you want to contain the Terran with 10 mutas and expand more, or invest in a few infestors that may or may not win you the battle.

Sure I've won some games where the infestor is on high ground (Lost temple) and NP'ed thors below, but also lost some games in the same situation when the Terran just used a scan on the high ground after the thor got NP'ed and 1 shot killed the infestors. I've also lost many games due to the push coming before enough energy on the infestors, as well as many games due to no map control = terran on same bases as me and turtle till death ball.

Having infestors is just too damn risky, 1 micro mistake = gg, and also you have to depend on micro mistakes of the Terran player to not scan and focus fire the infestors with tanks. So you tell me, if you had a skill that says "50% chance to kill target enemy unit" and takes a long time research and be ready, would you invest in it?
ioRa
Profile Joined May 2010
Canada14 Posts
August 19 2010 17:53 GMT
#54
On August 19 2010 23:19 Ainsworth wrote:
It doesn't make sense to me that people complain about the nerf, and then are like, "the hard part is keeping them alive for 12 seconds".

Look, Infestors are really powerful. Spam Infested Terran and Fungal growth and you don't even have a need for NE. Infestors + Hydra + Ultra = beats any composition terran can throw at you.


Infestors: 2 upgrades cost 300/300, 100/150 for each infestor
Hydras: 1 upgrade cost 150/150, 100/50 for each hydra
Ultra: 1 upgrade cost 150/150, 300/200 for each ultra

So basically you are suggesting melee, ranged AND armor upgrades AND infestors. I don't think you've ever played this matchup before? most zergs die before ultras come, yet you are suggesting to get EVERY gas intensive unit zerg has? Common man we are playing 1v1 ladder here, not 30 minutes no rush.
KandLeMaN
Profile Joined September 2010
United States64 Posts
September 20 2010 08:34 GMT
#55
If you are gonna NP Thors, you might as well focus fire some of your forces on the thors so that when it wears off, it is either dead or just about dead and can't cause damage against you.

NPing a thor and making sure not to weaken it is just asking for trouble.
Liter of cola
hoovehand
Profile Joined April 2010
United Kingdom542 Posts
September 20 2010 08:40 GMT
#56
i think the problem is not the 12 seconds at all, it's the fact that you need to research it.

NP is situational at best, so why the hell would you bother researching in the unlikely event that you'll benefit from it?

it's the same as hunter seeker.

remove the ruddy research, they're super situational and inferior to other spells in 99% of situations. not worth a research.
Weak_Y2FC
Profile Joined September 2010
2 Posts
September 22 2010 08:48 GMT
#57
NP is an awesome spell, especially vs thors, check this out for proof, http://www.gamereplays.org/starcraft2/replays.php?game=33&show=details&id=150967
SKtheAnathema
Profile Joined September 2010
United States885 Posts
September 22 2010 09:22 GMT
#58
i saw a sick game between ogsthewind vs ogstop where thewind goes infestors + roaches, does a couple of good drops with them, NPs thors, wipes out top's main base scvs and is ahead like 2 bases... then top cleans it up, Ds up, then wins the whole game 2-basing with marines and tanks. woot?
Competent
Profile Joined April 2010
United States406 Posts
September 22 2010 11:29 GMT
#59
On August 18 2010 00:45 hadoken5 wrote:
Interesting post, I will consider using Infestors more now. But how does NP fare against toss? and Infestors are easily sniped as well, wouldn't 12 infested Terrans prove to be more useful? Especially against sieged tanks that can just snipe infestors?


Honestly with the new changes you might see less tanks. But lets say there are tanks, it will take 2 tanks shots to kill an infestor, add that damage along with the reaction time that it takes to attack the infestors and the damage the thors already get off in that time along with the splash damage from the tanks that was wasted on single targets.
Nurrrhhh, I'm gonna be A+ by Wendsday! -Day[9] "I'm going to spread out my lings so it looks like there is more. Lots of animals do that." -CatZ
BeMannerDuPenner
Profile Blog Joined April 2004
Germany5638 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-09-22 11:38:11
September 22 2010 11:37 GMT
#60
NP just needs one "small" buff. if a infestor gets killed while NP'ing the remaining mindcontrol time is halfed instead of it just stopping instantly.

so if a infestor gets killed instantly you still have 6 seconds left. if a infestor gets killed after 4 seconds you still have 4 seconds ( (12-4)/2) left.


and suddenly its a great spell that can be used in many situatiuons.


t/p can still counter it with feedback/emp but random collosus/tanks making the whole spell useless will be a smaller problem.

life of lively to live to life of full life thx to shield battery
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 14m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
White-Ra 302
JuggernautJason143
ProTech121
SpeCial 32
StarCraft: Brood War
Calm 2855
Shuttle 678
Dota 2
Dendi1124
Counter-Strike
pashabiceps1055
Foxcn161
Super Smash Bros
hungrybox421
AZ_Axe0
Other Games
summit1g7643
Grubby4400
shahzam478
fl0m460
Liquid`Hasu278
Skadoodle118
Maynarde94
C9.Mang074
ViBE53
fpsfer 1
Organizations
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 21 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 59
• RyuSc2 34
• musti20045 32
• Adnapsc2 10
• Kozan
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• sooper7s
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Migwel
• IndyKCrew
StarCraft: Brood War
• blackmanpl 37
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota2704
• Ler42
League of Legends
• imaqtpie2454
• TFBlade1221
Other Games
• WagamamaTV409
• Shiphtur258
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
14m
Replay Cast
10h 14m
OSC
12h 44m
Kung Fu Cup
13h 14m
Classic vs Solar
herO vs Cure
Reynor vs GuMiho
ByuN vs ShoWTimE
Tenacious Turtle Tussle
1d
The PondCast
1d 11h
RSL Revival
1d 11h
Solar vs Zoun
MaxPax vs Bunny
Kung Fu Cup
1d 13h
WardiTV Korean Royale
1d 13h
PiGosaur Monday
2 days
[ Show More ]
RSL Revival
2 days
Classic vs Creator
Cure vs TriGGeR
Kung Fu Cup
2 days
CranKy Ducklings
3 days
RSL Revival
3 days
herO vs Gerald
ByuN vs SHIN
Kung Fu Cup
3 days
IPSL
3 days
ZZZero vs rasowy
Napoleon vs KameZerg
BSL 21
3 days
Tarson vs Julia
Doodle vs OldBoy
eOnzErG vs WolFix
StRyKeR vs Aeternum
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
RSL Revival
4 days
Reynor vs sOs
Maru vs Ryung
Kung Fu Cup
4 days
WardiTV Korean Royale
4 days
BSL 21
4 days
JDConan vs Semih
Dragon vs Dienmax
Tech vs NewOcean
TerrOr vs Artosis
IPSL
4 days
Dewalt vs WolFix
eOnzErG vs Bonyth
Wardi Open
5 days
Monday Night Weeklies
5 days
WardiTV Korean Royale
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2025-11-07
Stellar Fest: Constellation Cup
Eternal Conflict S1

Ongoing

C-Race Season 1
IPSL Winter 2025-26
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 4
SOOP Univ League 2025
YSL S2
BSL Season 21
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
Thunderpick World Champ.
CS Asia Championships 2025
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual

Upcoming

SLON Tour Season 2
BSL 21 Non-Korean Championship
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
HSC XXVIII
RSL Offline Finals
WardiTV 2025
RSL Revival: Season 3
META Madness #9
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026: Closed Qualifier
eXTREMESLAND 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8
SL Budapest Major 2025
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.