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A Protoss follow-up to my Terran economy discussion thread on the value of Orbital Command Timing...
Here I discuss the value of chrono boosting probe production pre-saturation by answering some common (and usually unanswered) questions:
(updated using more accurate mining data at the recommendation of ABCSFirebird)
Operating Assumptions
+ Show Spoiler +- All numbers assume 1-base play up to full saturation. - Chrono boost is used starting on the 11th worker, and continues at cost until full saturation (30 probes) - Gas is taken and mined optimally before the 17th mining worker. - Travel time and scouting worker are not factored in (at least not yet). - 4 mineral patches are considered "near" and 4 are considered "far" as categorized by this thread.
How many minerals do you actually gain by chrono boosting probe production to full 1-base saturation?
TL;DR - 413.7
Using maximum chrono on your nexus, It's possible to reach full saturation in 5:38 with constant probe production. This uses 7 chrono boosts. (You will eclipse 25 energy shortly after reaching full saturation with optimal probe production.)
Because you reach saturation earlier (5:38 vs. 6:48), we must also consider the time from 5:38 to 6:48, referred to hereafter as "bonus mining time."
@6:48, non-chrono'd saturation probes have gathered ~4749.8 resources.
@5:38, chrono'd satuartion probes have gathered ~3946.4 resources.
@6:48, chrono'd saturation probes have gathered an extra ~1218 resources (~5164.4 total)
The difference here is ~414.6 resources at 6:48 game time.
What is the approximate value of each of the 7 chrono boosts? (updated using more accurate mining data)
1st - 157.7 minerals
2nd - 81.9 minerals
3rd - 63.7 minerals
4th - 52.8 minerals
5th - 34.2 minerals
6th - 18.3 minerals
7th - 5.1 minerals
* Each value after the 1st dependent on using the previous chrono boost(s).
Assuming constant worker production, how much does it cost me to chrono my Cybernetics Core for Warpgate Research in the standard 1-gate core opener?
In a 1-gate Core opener into 4-gate rush, you would only use the initial chrono boost on your Nexus. So, the true cost of rushing warpgate research is:
1st chrono Nexus
2nd-6th chrono Warpgate
7th, 8th not Nexus (units? forge?)
-Total economic penalty: 261.1 minerals
--But I want to use chrono on my Nexus now to make up for the lost production time. How much will I gain if I use my 7th and 8th Chrono boosts on my Nexus to help me reach full saturation faster?
1st chrono Nexus
2nd-6th chrono Warpgate Research
7th, 8th chrono Nexus
-Total economic penalty: 242.6 minerals
As you can see here, chrono boosting your Nexus to make up for the earlier sacrifice on probe production only nets you 18.5 minerals... for TWO chrono boosts.
How about if I chrono boost my 9th/10th Probes before the 9 pylon finishes, rather than after?
Most people probably assume it is better to hold the chrono boost until the 11th worker begins production, and you're absolutely right.
In fact, it costs you 84.9 minerals in lost income by saturation time. Even though your 9th and 10th workers come out sooner, you supply block yourself for roughly 8 seconds, and your 11th and 12th workers actually come out much later. Your saturation timing ends up being slowed by roughly 10 seconds, fully mitigating the (very) short-term gain in production.
Do you have any data on 2-base play? What about an expansion timing? How are these affected?
Currently this data only supports 1-base play, but I hope to have support for multiple bases soon.
This is all pretty interesting, but show me your work.
chrono.xls (updated 12/16 12:00pm est)
Thanks for any and all feedback, and please post away. How might this information affect your future usage of chrono boost?
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I think in matchups other than PvP a lot of people are expanding before 30 probes, in which case chrono on probes becomes a ton more valuable (since you can transfer them immediately).
This is good to know though, thanks.
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This is quite interesting, for this shows how much more economically behind you are if you do a 4gate push, but have your opponent hold it off. Although different factors such as being able to pressure earlier and expanding while doing this pressure will compensate for that.
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great post. nice work. its appreciated knowing the exact figures
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thanks. very interesting. how did you get all this information?
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Thanks for the info. Definitely will not be chrono boosting past the 4th probe anymore if i'm one basing. Now i'm curious about 2basing. Thanks 
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I like how you identified when the mineral comparisons were being done. IE "The difference here is ~414.6 resources at 6:48 game time." Knowing when your advantage is fully realized is very helpful. Thanks!
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Awesome, thank you so much for compiling this information!
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United Arab Emirates18 Posts
Thank you very much for your effort. I've always felt something was off when I CB the nexus for more than 3 times and/or when trying to make up for lost production time as mentioned.
Hopefully I would be able to use my CBs more efficiently now. I guess focusing on unit production/upgrades if I'm one basing is much more logical according to this.
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Great work man. Amazing contribution to Team Liquid.
Ive always just used the first 2 Chronos for Probes, and now I realize that is the best due too your math.
It would be interesting to see the numbers for 2 bases. I would assume that the first Chrono boosts too get up to saturation would be the Highest net Mineral gain. Very interesting.
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Awesome work! I loved your terran post and recommended it to a friend, but I play toss so this benefits me :-)
For your CB 9,10, does that include a 9 pylon or 8. I'm only silver-gold at the moment and have done 8 pylon a few games against toss to prevent cheese and noticed I am still coming out ahead checking the BO chart after the game. At higher levels though I am curious how bad this will actually be.
Generally, the tenth probe finishes just after the pylon and 11 starts a second or two later.
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Awesome. I always thought it made sense logically that the earlier on you use your chrono on probes the better, but it was nice to see some concrete numbers attached to it.
Thanks!
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Obvious platitudes about in-game variables aside this is good info.
I have a bad habit of only trying to chrono boost my nexus in PvPs, this shows how damaging that line of thought could be
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I looked into the excel file and i am pretty sure that you got the income difference for each worker wrong. 0.7 for 17-20 is definately wrong - according to my measurements (on SoW) they should be about 0.4 and 21-24 0.1 (non on gas). Even if you consider that three probes are on one gas - the 20th shouldnt be the same as the 16th. But maybe i interpreted your table wrong.
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You sir are both a gentleman and a scholar. This is an excellent example of what forum posts should be. Posts like this are the reason why I (usually) resiste the temptation to post whatever random shit is bouncing around in my head.
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Wow. That's almost 2 mules worth!
Don't forget that chrono boost allows faster tech, and faster saturation of expos.
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Nice work, thanks for making this post
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I've been trying out Chronoing Probes until full saturation for a while, and this thread confirms what I was feeling. You definitely can tell those extra few hundred minerals when it comes this early in the game.
Thanks for putting my thoughts into data :D
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wow, chrono'ing probes at the beginning of a game can exceed the income from a mule. amazing work.
so now all we have to do is figure out how to chrono effectively for each opening build. i always figured that the first two chronos going to the 11th and 13 or 14th probes paid off immensely.
so should you still spend the 2nd - 6th chronos on the warp gate research for a proper four gate rush, or spend the 2nd (and maybe 3rd) on the nexus for that extra 150 minerals?
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EPT
