Protoss: Going into the Void

Void Rays....

I hate them... I seriously do.... As a Zerg player they are my bane and I hate them because the protoss players can get them out so darn fast.

But that's provided I decide to go macro and not Roaches.

Well anyways despite my dislike for the Void Ray, this is a tutorial on how to get that early void ray and how to use them to end your enemies.

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THEORY

Looks cool? Wait till it charges

So whats up with the Voidray?

Its an air unit with a laser which hurts like hell. Sure it might look small and takes time to charge into its awesomeness.

I don't want to face that

When charged its DPS is insane.

Here's a piece from liquidpedia.
The Prismatic Beam consists of 3 stages: The first two do not differ in terms of damage and only slightly in graphic effects. The third, however, doubles the base damage and comes with a bonus against armored units on top of that. This third stage is visually indicated by the central ray becoming brighter and thicker. The approximate DPS of the Void Ray is as follows:

• Against non-armored targets
  • Stage 1: 5(+1) dmg / 0.6sec = 8.33 dps (+1.67 per upgrade)
  • Stage 2: 5(+1) dmg / 0.6sec = 8.33 dps (+1.67 per upgrade)
  • Stage 3: 10(+1) dmg / 0.6sec = 16.67 dps (+1.67 per upgrade)
• Against armored targets
  • Stage 1: 5(+1) dmg / 0.6sec = 8.33 dps (+1.67 per upgrade)
  • Stage 2: 5(+1) dmg / 0.6sec = 8.33 dps (+1.67 per upgrade)
  • Stage 3: 25(+3) dmg / 0.6sec = 41.67 dps (+5.00 per upgrade)

After one initial attack, it takes an additional 6 consecutive attacks to reach the next stage: The Void Ray is therefore fully charged after its 13th consecutive attack (7.2 sec)
It remains on its current stage for another 5 seconds after having ceased fire. (Briefly) attacking anything, friendly units or structures included, within that time frame will reset the timer.

Source: http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Void_Ray

So as you can see. The liquidpedia entry pretty much tells you that the voidray is pretty much one of the best Air Siege units they have in the game.

Also since they attack both air and ground and fly fast with good range you can use them to take out Marauders.

They do well against Thors too!

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EXAMPLES

Here are a few video examples on how to fast-tech to Voidrays and also transitioning.

This is a Video by UEN.tv


And another video by corranhorn666


I know the first one isn't much of an example but its pretty much the situation you'll see if you're gonna use the void ray rush.

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Build Orders

Since both of them don't have Build Orders here's the one which I use.

9 pylon
10 Gate
10 Gas
12 Core(When your first gas finishes here send all your probes to the core)
14 Gas (the 2 food here is zealot)
16 Stargate
16 Pylon


And this is what I use when I transition. Since its a transition and its mid-game, I'll probably have double gas by then.

38 X2 Stargate
38 X2 Pylon

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Things to Take Note Of

In a sense to do a Void ray rush is really so much of an all-in build but to transition to Void Rays is not as difficult as you think.

Since you pretty much need only 1 Stargate but if you're going for mass Void Rays you have to remember to build a second Stargate if you need to.

I think it works just like this one

Its always good to hotkey your Stargate at an easy to reach number like 5 or 6.

Hotkeys are really essential in this game. Most times people would go for 1 to be the main army, 2 as the flank, 3 for Spellcasters and 4 for any additional army/Nexus.

That Chick should be on Group 3!

So if you have 4 as your nexus and 5 as your stargate. Hit 5 twice and then press V then hit 4 and chronoboost that Stargate so you can get your void ray out as fast as you can.

Since if you're rushing for a Stargate at the start of the game you'll need to have that early core keeping your drone count to 16 till you get your first void ray out is pretty much advisable.

Not so important yet.

Remember since you don't have a defense yet you could probably fit in a forge into your Build Order. Most people do since its pretty much the only defense you can afford if you're rushing out Void Rays.

The Main thing about a Void Ray Rush is the element of surprise. Don't let the enemy scout you. If you need to go watch the match of IdrA vs Lotze.Prime on the recent GomTV Starcraft League Tournament.

You'll see on the second match how Lotze.Prime kept his star gate at the far end of the map instead of in his base.

Proxy bases do work on occasion. Just don't do it often.

And again this build only works if your opponent doesn't have a lot of anti-air so it doesn't work well against Terrans but good against most Protoss and Zerg players since AA for them requires a bit of teching up.

Now here's a mental checklist to help you keep a note on things if you're rushing.
1. Build Pylon yet?
2. Early Gate?
3. First Gas?
4. Early Core?
5. Second gas up?
6. PROBES!
7. Stargate?
8. CHRONOBOOST!
9. Pylon?

If you're transitioning you won't need much of a checklist. Its more of remember to build pylons instead of probes and remembering to get gas and stuff. Unless you're going for a mass zealot build which I hope none of you are doing since its the easiest thing to counter, you'll probably already have double gas.

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Well I hope that tutorial would be able to help you.

I really had to scour all over the net just to put that one together man. Most people do the Void rush weirdly and stuff. Its quite common in the lower tiers already for protoss players.

Just most of them do it wrongly and I hope this tutorial actually helps them do it right.

They tend to miss out on the defense part when they rush and thus they start to fail.

But I hope they actually can improve instead of just rushing void rays all the time.

This was another article by Fireport written for thebronzeleagueplayer.blogspot.com Signing Off