Zealot
From Liquipedia Starcraft 2 Wiki
Zealot
| Type | Ground Unit | ||||||||||||
| Description | Powerful melee warrior. | ||||||||||||
| Cost |  100  0  38  2 | ||||||||||||
| Attributes | Light, Biological | ||||||||||||
| Attack |
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| Defense |  100  50  1 (+1) | ||||||||||||
| Hotkey | Z | ||||||||||||
| Sight | 9 | ||||||||||||
| Speed | 2.25 (+0.5) | ||||||||||||
| Cargo Space | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Strong Against | |||||||||||||
| Weak Against |
[edit] Description
The Zealot is the first Protoss unit capable of being warped in by a Gateway. The Zealot serves as a ground troop, but the Zealot is equipped with a relatively large number of hit points and a strong melee attack given its cost. The melee unit is mostly used as a distraction while in combat for other Protoss ranged units such as the Immortal to deal damage without being harmed. However, the zealot can also be used as a powerful damage dealer once the Charge upgrade is researched, allowing the Zealot to rapidly close distance on a target.
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[edit] Abilities
A Zealot that uses Charge to engage a target will hit the target at least once, even if the target flees. This ability is set to autocast by default.
[edit] Upgrades
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Charge is a critical upgrade for Zealots, as with all speed upgrades for Melee units. The improved AI makes surrounding units significantly easier than it was in SC1. This auto-surround greatly increases the effectiveness of Charge upgraded Zealots in comparison to regular Zealots against all units. This gives the Zealot a continuous role in the Protoss army as the game progresses and is not purely a mineral sink. In particular, Zealots (with Charge) are very effective against Marauders, Marines (without Medivac support) and Hydralisks - which are core components of Terran/Zerg armies. Speedlings, for the same reason, are significantly more effective against regular Zealots. Upgrading Charge effectively neutralizes any improvements the speed upgrade gives Zerglings.
[edit] Competitive Usage
[edit] Vs. Protoss
Zealots are effective meat shields for a Protoss army, particularly against Immortals and Stalkers as they can tank 9 Immortal hits and 17 Stalker hits. However, Colossi are very strong against large numbers of Zealots. Depending upon the terrain and unit positioning, Stalkers can effectively kite Zealots without Charge. Against Zealots with Charge, Stalkers can only kite provided that they have Blink.
[edit] Vs.
Terran
Zealots are a crucial unit against Terran. They still are good damage dealers, but they now serve much more as a meat shield, in that there are much more powerful units such as the Immortal or the Colossus which are the major damage dealers. The zealot is a good counter to the Marauder and relatively strong against the Marine, however if micro'd correctly, a Terran player can effectively kite an army of Zealots with Concussive Shells or Stimpack. After concussive shells is researched, the Zealot is almost nullified until the Protoss player researches Charge. By upgrading charge, Zealots can close the distance to the ranged only Terran units much more quickly, minimizing the damage they take before engaging them.
Late game transitions into gas-heavy units such as Colossi and High Templar rely heavily on large numbers of Zealots to buy time for the more expensive units to deal large amounts of splash damage. On top of this, their mobility with Charge makes them great for harassing expansions as games reach later stages.
[edit] Vs.
Zerg
Against Zerg, Zealots can be successful at applying early pressure if Zerg does not get Roaches or sufficient numbers of Zerglings. The effectiveness of Zealots against Zerglings often comes down to positioning: Zealots are very effective when they engage Zerglings with even surface areas.(like when Zealots and lings are at even numbers, or the engagement occurs at chokes or against walls) However, if Zerglings are able to surround a small group of Zealots, the Zealots will die very quickly. This dynamic is extremely important in the PvZ early game.
Once enough Roaches have been built, Zealots become ineffective without some combination of support units such as Stalkers, Sentries, or Immortals. The Charge upgrade is very useful, especially against ranged Zerg units such as Hydralisks.
When paired up with Archons, Zealots make an excellent meat shield for the Archons to safely deal massive amounts of splash damage. With this combo, Zealot/Archon can be supported with 12 gateways off of two bases, provided that the Archons are made from High Templar. This composition is most effective in small arms engagements where it is possible for all or at least most Zealots to engage. Additionally, this composition will shred Muta/Ling and effectively combat Roach/Hydra.
Banelings can be very effective against massed Zealots, especially if groups Charge into them. However, a trick to minimize losses is to deactivate Charge on all but one or two Zealots. The few sacrificial Zealots (those who still Charge into the Banelings) will absorb about 4-6 Baneling explosions and minimize the amount of splash damage that could have been potentially dealt.
In the late game, Zealots make excellent meat shields against the Ultralisks. The fact that they are Light and are able to sustain 150 damage, means it takes 11-12 hits (depending on upgrades) for an Ultralisk to kill a Zealot.
The +1 weapons upgrade is an important upgrade when fighting Zerglings or Hydralisks. This allows a Zealot to kill a Zergling (35 HP) in two attacks ((8+1)x2 x2=36) instead of three and a Hydralisk in five attacks instead of six. This reduces a lot of overkill and making an engagement with Zerglings and Hydralisks much more effective.
[edit] Gallery
[edit] Quotes
| Quotes | |||||
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| Built | Selected | Annoyed | Move | Attack | Under Attack |
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Zealot's quotes (video and sound) - Youtube video.
[edit] Patch Changes
| Patch 3 (version 0.5.0.14219B) |
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| Patch 16 (version 0.19.0.15976) Undocumented Changes [1] |
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| Patch 17 (version 0.20.0.16036) [2] |
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| Patch 1.1.0 |
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| Patch 1.3.0 |
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[edit] References
- ↑ TL.net post on unknown Patch 16 changes - Forum post by Zelniq looking into undocumented changes.
- ↑ Blizzard post on bug fixes in Patch 17
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