Protoss needs crono boost to be longer

It’s 20 secs but to match mule it needs last 54 secs to produce 4 extra worker vs Tehran.

Right you might screez 2 for 50 energy but Terran can produce 200 mins for 50 energy. Toss should be able screeze 4 extra workers vs terran

1 Like

Ignoring the fact that putting 4 extra workers on a saturated mineral line doesnt give any extra income, Chronoboost can be used on things besides workers. Upgrades and combat units can both significantly affect timings and relative power levels of armies. If you’re only using it to pump out workers, you need to expand your thinking.

3 Likes

That is absolutely absurd. You clearly don’t understand how Mules actually work.

While “a Mule” mines at the rate of 3-4 workers, Terran has to spend 150 minerals and 2 worker production cycles on the command center. This means that the Orbital Command & its Mule ability is effectively equivalent to a one-time 1.5-2 worker boost after delaying worker production by 2 cycles, and this is if you are spamming Mules with no idle time because they expire. If you are not spamming the ability, then you don’t get the full effect of those 3.5-4 workers.

Chronoboost on the other hand, helps you pump out extra workers over time each time you use it on a Nexus. Probe production will exceed the benefit of an Orbital in roughly 2.4 Chronoboosts, and Protoss can start on that before Terran can build an Orbital. Every Chronoboost used on Probes beyond that will exceed Terran’s effective worker production.

Now, Orbitals do allow Terran to gain extra mining potential on the same amount of total workers, or to oversaturate a base, but these benefits are derived later; just as Protoss benefits from using Chronoboost on tech or combat units, and Zerg benefits from using Larva on anything they produce.

If Chronoboost were as powerful as you think it should be, then using one Chronoboost on Probes would exceed the benefits of building almost 3 Orbital Command Centers.

4 Likes

Building 3 orbital command centers get 3 mules…

It’s really not hard to follow.

Mules don’t follow satiation like workers do so Protoss limited use on probes.

Probes is used as calibrator, every mule produce 200 mins in 64 secs.

If you didn’t realize or put thought that each race has part creating unit cycle.

Terran produces income, Zerg produces facilities as larva and Protoss is rate of that processing part of it.

So taking mule which generate 200 as equals. In unit which useing workers as marker 50 means 4.

So if Terran can make income of 4 then Protoss should be able speed up process to push out 4 units.

That’s 1250-1650 minerals down just to match what you think one Chronoboost should do.

No, that is not how it works.

Worker production is limited by the rate that the race’s command structure can actually pump them out. Using Mule will increase the Terran player’s income by 225 over its duration, but this does not mean that Terran can actually produce 4 extra workers–A good player would already be producing workers as fast as they can, unless they are going for some specific kind of timing push.

This is why I keep saying that an Orbital is “equivalent” to a 1.5-2 worker boost. The Mule mines at the rate of 3.5-4 workers if you spam it whenever possible, and Terran loses 2 worker production cycles during the upgrade. That is effectively a one time, 1.5-2 worker boost per Orbital, because Mules expire, keeping the Orbital’s income boost constant. The extra workers provided through Chronoboost or Spawn larva keep accumulating, which increases Protoss or Zerg’s total income with each use up until the point where they stop producing workers.

Chronoboost increases the production rate of anything that it is used on by 50% for its duration. If you are using Chronoboost on a Nexus that is constantly producing workers, then it takes 2.4 Chronoboosts (as Chronoboosts are now) to generate 2 extra workers. Using Chronoboost more than that means that you exceed the benefits of an Orbital (up until full saturation), and using it less means that the Orbital provides a larger benefit.

1 Like

Unlike Terrans who have to pay 150 minerals for orbitals to access mules, Protoss got free chrono boost starting from the game.

So unless Protoss players are willing to pay for chrono boost, no buff to chrono boost are necessary.

First off it’s dumb to have it early .

It’s better to use it after first pylon or warp gate. pay 150 upgrade for decent crono that can be used like 100%

It be greatly used and like Terran it would only interfere with over saturation or gas production.

With the way Chronoboost works, a 100% uptime would be too powerful. It already reduces the build time of something by 10 seconds (14 editor seconds) per cast; which is a very significant boot to either production or upgrades.

This is why the “constant” version of Chronoboost, which was in campaign, co-op, and (for a while) multiplayer only boosts production by 15% instead of 50%. The current version of Chronoboost is actually more powerful. For comparison, the current Chronoboost provides 10 seconds of reduced build time per cast instead of the 9.52 seconds that the “constant” Chronoboost would generate over the time it takes to generate that 50 energy. This boost is condensed over a shorter time than the constant Chronoboost, so the effect is an even greater advantage.

That is false. Chronoboost does not work like Mules, which are temporary and only mine minerals. You are comparing two very different things without even acknowledging the fact that they have different properties.

Chronoboost can be used to improve the build time of anything, including workers, which is why it is a larger income boost over time than Mules if you keep using it to mass-produce workers. It can also be used on upgrades or combat units to make some timing attack significantly more powerful. Chronoboost, as it is now, is strong enough already that many Protoss units and upgrades have increased build times and research times respectively to account for it.

3 Likes

Im not picking a side here, but i think its worth noting that orbital commands have two other features. They can double the amount of supply a depot provides (100 mineral value for 50 energy, and you get 4 spaces of terrain to build on, whatever thats worth). The comsat scanner also allows on the spot detection anywhere. Since the detection is caused by an ability instead of a unit, it cannot be cut short. It also allows for risk free recon.

Obviously, those abilities are situational, but they are nice to have

Yes, they are nice to have, although supply drop is usually (not always) much worse than Mules considering how many minerals it “saves” compared to how many minerals a Mule can mine.