I find my self following other players and pushing with few zealots/stalkers/1-2 sentries, and enabling the shield once attacking. But i'm not sure I'm fully taking advantage of this unit. Should I let it be between the zealots and stalkers? Should it be in the back – so it won't die… etc. In early game push, how should I best use it?
Starcraft – Effective use of Sentry in Starcraft 2
starcraft-2starcraft-protoss
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Best Answer
I think both of the other answers here discuss what sentries can be used for, so I'm going to concentrate more on the how instead of the what.
The basic usage of sentries are as follows:
PeterK alluded to the idea of preventing an opponent from reinforcing his natural by controlling his ramp so let's delve a little deeper into that. All the standard maps have a fairly small ramp that connects the main to its natural expansion. This ramp can easily be blocked by a single force field on the top or the bottom. When used aggressively this can prevent a player from moving out of his main to his natural. To accomplish this you'll want to control the "bottom" of the ramp. Its key here to use the bottom (and not the top) as it forces any ranged units to fight from the ramp where they have a poor arch and can easily be destroyed.
Because of the effectiveness of this technique, opponents must redeploy their forces toward the bottom of their ramps instead of the top. When faced against early harassment by a Protoss player it is wise to rally your units to the bottom of your ramp for just this reason. While Zerg players will often adapt to this quickly, Terran players often struggle with this concept. If you're in a TvP I would suggest the following:
For Protoss players wishing to use this technique you should note the following:
Splitting an army is another technique often used for Sentries. It relies on the shorter range of many Protoss opponents, and pushes large portions of their army out of range, leaving a more favorable battle. Remember it is easier to fight an army one half at a time then all at once. The key to a "good cut" here is to build your force field lined perpendicular to the direction of battle, and to cut through the middle of the enemy forces. If you cut too shallow you risk wasting energy. If you cut too deep then you risk fighting the entire army all at once.
Here Liquid`Nazgul has cut his opponent (ZpuX's) Hydra/Roach army in half. Because the force fields take up space, his opponents Hydralisks caught on the far side can't reach the remainder of his forces. While normally such an immortal heavy army would fall quickly to Hydralisks, by cutting off just the Roaches he's left himself a favorable battle and significantly reduced the meat shields for the weaker Hydras.
You'll also notice that Nazgul engaged where there was a nice choke that he could use to extend the range of his force field. By using the terrain in this way he reduces the number of force fields he has to use.
Bare in mind this technique is effective against long range units like Hydralisks and Marauders as it pushes some out of range while some remain in range. However, if you're using a Zealot heavy force you'll find that its far more effective to using force fields to prevent a retreat than to split an army. In that case place the force fields behind the offending Marauder ball for maximized lulz.
The final two uses for Sentries are much less potent than the previous two, but still worth mentioning. Hallucinations make good scouts, and half way decent meat shields. Its worth noting that flying Hallucinations really do fly, giving you good vision. Additionally, Probe hallucinations spawn in groups of 4 allowing you to gain vision over large parts of the map quickly.
Guardian shield is an invaluable tool as it provides 2 Armor against ranged units. Its worth noting that ranged units with a melee animation (Hydras and Roaches) do not have their damage reduced while in melee range.