StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Protoss Build Order Guide

PvX 3 Gate Expand





9 Pylon


11 Chronoboost Nexus for quick Probes


13 Chronoboost Nexus for quick Probes


13 Gateway


15 Assimilator


16 Pylon


17 Cybernetics Core


18 Zealot


21 Assimilator


23 Research Warpgate


23 Stalker (Chronoboost)


24 Pylon


26 Mothership Core


30 Stalker


31 2 Gateways


36 Expand with Nexus, Pylon at second base





*The numbers on the left indicate the timings based on either how many drones you have built or at what time you should think about performing the next step.





This is one of the standard builds in HOTS and it excels at providing you with early unit options and a moderately fast expansion. The Zealot should be able to thwart any early game rushes, and once you finish researching Warpgate you can warp-in units almost instantly. Just be sure to upgrade all Gateways with the Warpgate option and add them to a control group for quick-spawn potential.





The Mothership Core is a new unit in HOTS and it’s one that you’ll see used a lot. It essentially functions like the Mothership minus the cloak, but with far greater accessibility. If you choose to attack early, the Mothership Core’s Time Warp should be used upon imitation to slow down the enemy’s gap-closing potential. Meanwhile, Photon Overcharge and Mass Recall give you some amazing defensive options. You can even choose to send it into an enemy mineral field to cut off part of their economy. If you succeed in doing so, follow up with a push to take advantage of the opportunity.





Once you’ve expanded into the second base you’ll want to move over about half of the probes from your primary to the secondary Nexus, and pump out Probes quickly at both locations. At this point you’ll either want to build a Robotics Facility or a Stargate. The Robotics Facility is much more standard since the Observer is such a potent scout and anti-cloak option, but the Stargate’s new Oracle can do the same to some extent. The safest route is to go with a Robotics Facility and make around 2 Immortals for armor penetration and 3 Colossi for AoE. It’s highly advised to get Extended Thermal Lance so your Colossi are able to melt units from a safe distance.





Lastly, make sure to incorporate Sentries into your main army. Guardian is able to turn the tide of battle, and Force Fields are excellent at separating the opponent’s army so you have to deal with fewer units. You may even opt to replace the early Stalker with a Sentry so you can block your ramp from an early rush.





PvX Sky Toss






	9 Pylon (Chrono Boost Probes upon completion)

	13 Gateway, send Probe to scout

	15 2x Assimilator (2 Probes on each Assimilator until 20-24 Supply mark)

	17 Pylon

	17 Cybernetics Core

	18 Zealot

	22 Warpgate technology (2x Chrono Boost)

	22 Sentry

	25 Pylon

	27 Zealot

	29 Stargate

	30 Gateway

	31 Sentry

	32 Pylon

	34 Oracle or Phoenix (Chrono Boost)

	36 Robotics Facility


	


	This build offers an early Stargate allowing you to harass much more effectively early on. The new Oracle unit is fantastic at killing enemy workers. However, the Oracle falls off during mid to late game. If you're more interested in having relevant units for a longer game then go Phoenix. They're better for scouting and are able to participate in large battles much better.


	


	The Sky Toss build is strong against both Zerg and Terran, but can be countered by good Protoss 4-Gate play. Because of this, it's in your best interest to scout early and often. If the enemy is a Protoss and appears to be going for 3-4 Gate pressure, don't invest into air and try to counter his pressure with ground units of your own.