The Infestor's Neural Parasite ability vs Protoss

Wow, I can't believe it's already been six days since my last blog!

Here's some more SC2 footage for y'all. It's me (Blue Zerg) fighting some Protoss opponent and showing off the Infestor's Neural Parasite ability.


Video time! The music is actually from a game called 'Bayonetta' which I haven't played, but I absolutely love this music. It's so....boopy! And I feel that it suits the action in its own particular way. :]

It's a very nifty spell - for 50 Energy, the Infestor mind controls a target enemy unit for 10 seconds (slightly shorter on the 'Faster' game speed).

Neural Parasite is very strong for commandeering big, powerful units like the Colossus, but there are some important things to note about it.

First, it has to be channeled, meaning the the Infestor can't actually take any other actions during the course of spell's duration.

Second, it takes a little bit of time to cast. As you saw from the video, there's an animation of the Infestor launching a tendril at its target, and the enemy unit doesn't actually come under your control until the tendril reaches it. Although it's not a lot of time, it does give the enemy just that little bit of warning to respond.

Third, it doesn't have a whole lot of range. Although I haven't done testing, it only seems to have about 6 (maybe 7) range.

This worked out alright in the video above, because my Protoss opponent had not gotten the Extended Thermal Lances upgrade, meaning that his Colossi only had 6 range, as opposed to 9.

However, you can see how this'd be a problem in a ZvP matchup. In a tier 2 fight, Infestors are the Zerg counter to Colossi (unless you go for Mutalisks, but Protoss are getting more and more fond of mixing in a better ratio of Stalkers/Sentries in their armies). So, once the Protoss gets Extended Thermal Lances for his Colossi, it becomes very difficult for Infestors to actually get close enough to cast Neural Parasite on their towering adversaries.

Usually, what happens is that you can't move the rest of your army (usually Roaches/Hydralisks) close enough to the Colossi because the Protoss would have a line of Zealots/Stalkers/Immortals/Sentries as a buffer, allowing the Colossi to rip through your army without your damage-dealing Hydralisks able to make a reply. And in the case of this article, with your Infestors unable to get close enough to cast Neural Parasite and just getting confused behind your line of Hydralisks.

Now, Infestors have burrowed movement, but the problem is that Protoss are also fond of bringing along at least one Observer with their army. You only need a Robotics Facility to build an Observer, and since you already have a Robo Fac (since you'd be getting Colossi), it's not uncommon to see a couple Observers being produced, as well.

So, you can't have your Infestors preceding your army, since they'd be killed first (and at 100 minerals and 150 gas each, they're fairly expensive), but if they stay behind your army, they won't be able to cast Neural Parasite on the targets that matter the most - the Colossi.

Perhaps the best response to Colossi at Tier 2 would be to get Corruptors. Phoenixes don't enjoy a damage bonus against them (unlike Mutalisks), and Corruptors, with their 22 damage vs Massive targets (which is what a Colossus is) might be very effective. I bring up this thought because Terrans are fond of using Vikings against Colossi, and it seems to be a potent counter.

Tech-switching as a Zerg can be relatively easy, but making the transition to Spire (unless you opened Tier 2 that way) can be a little tricky. It costs 200 gas, and takes 100 seconds to build - quite long. On top of that, each Corruptor is 100 gas each.

I find that as a Zerg player, all that gas would have been used to fend off early Protoss aggression with your core of Roaches and Hydralisks. Such an army of Roaches, Hydralisks, and Corruptors would be ideal to fend off that mid-game Protoss army of Zealots/Stalkers/Immortals/Sentries/Colossi, but I'll need to play more games to see if it's really viable :].