One of the basic and popular Protoss strategies is the 4 Gateway build. This is not a rush or a macro build, it's a balanced build. The idea is to wall off your ramp with a Gateway and Cybernetics Core to fend off rushes while you get your economy running and all four Gateways transformed into Warpgates to pump out a constant stream of combat units that will overwhelm your opponent.
- 9 – Pylon
- 12 – Gateway (at ramp)
- 14 – Assimilator
- 16 – Pylon
- 18 – Cybernetics Core (to finish walling off ramp)
- 18 – 2nd Assimilator
- 21 – Stalker (chrono burst)
- 21 – Warpgate Research (chrono burst it constantly)
- 24 – Pylon
- 25 – Gateway
- 27 – Sentry (you want one early so it can start building energy)
- 30 – 2 more Gateways
- 30 – Use Probe to plant Proxy pylon
- 31 – Stalker
By the time the 3rd and 4th Gateways finish, your Warpgate research should be done. Transform all four Gateways into Warpgates and start pumping out a mix of Zealots, Sentries and Stalkers at your proxy pylon to rush your opponent with a large force. Be sure to leave a few Stalkers and Sentries at your base to deal with any rushes on your wall buildings or fliers/cliff-walkers going after your supply line probes.
Remember to pump out a few Sentries at your proxy pylon early to give them time to build up energy while you wait on Warpgate cooldown to bring in more forces. Their Forcefield and Guardian Shield can turn the tide in a conflct.
Practice this against the AI and when you get the timing down, take it against another player to see how it works. If it doesn't secure a win, you will want to shift into late-game strategies based on what your opponent is throwing at you (i.e. Immortals, Void Rays, Archons, etc.)
The video below show the same idea with a slightly different build order, but the same concept.
Definitions for new players:
- Proxy Pylon: When Gateways are transformed into Warpgates (after the Warpgate ability is researched at the Cybernetics Core), they can then warp in a combat unit at any pylon. So you want to send a Probe to create a Pylon near your opponent's base, but slightly off to the side so it won't be found quickly. Then start warping in units quickly and rush your opponent with a mass of units.
Related posts:
Hi there,
Thank you very much for the nice Protoss tutorial! I really appreciate that and yesterday it helped me to finish my buddy *hehehe*
Cheers,
Slitta29
thx. this 4 gate build helped me a lot.