Why do zealots must research charge

General Discussion
1

Why isn’t charge free for zealots they are useless without it

1 Like
2

same as zerglings, or marines. every first unit needs upgrades to be good. that’s just how it works.

6 Likes
3

Comes from Leg Enhancements in SC1.

4

I edited some of the text to show what you really mean.

3 Likes
5

LMAO… 20 chars

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Do you have any idea how ridiculously broken it would be if Zealots had charge right as the game started? Do you even think before you post?

Zealots get charge, Marines get Stim and Combat Shields and Zerglings get Speed and Adrenal Glands.

That’s how it works.

3 Likes
7

This is not even parroting terran posts, he is being literal and means it.

He has returned

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I think the better question is why does it require 3 buildings to get to the upgrade. In BW it made more sense because (some of these reasons less important than others)

  1. There was actually opportunity cost in BW for Zerg to get ling speed and many builds skipped or delayed it. It is almost unheard of to even delay ling speed in SC2.
  2. Unupgraded lings were relatively slower in BW (at least defensively they are faster in SC2 because of creep).
  3. Zealots were slightly stronger. (10 more shields)
  4. Lings were much harder to micro because of worse pathing, AI, collision mechanics, etc so much harder to get a surround without speed. Even comparing to speedlings to speedlings, SC2 speedlings are better. Particularly in speed and AI. (with one exception I will list later)
  5. 12 worker start makes zealots quickly obsolete until you get charge.
  6. Perhaps the biggest difference in that more plentiful larva in SC2 made zealots less useful compared to BW where zealots did damage by forcing lings vice drones. AKA you dont need to kill 100 minerals in lings for it to be worth. Arguably off topic but still a valid point… zealot pressure forcing lings in SC2 is NOT nearly as good because of higher larva availability. Plus Queens are decent additions for defense without larva cost.

The one thing that IS better for Zealots in SC2 is that lings attack slightly slower to balance their better AI, auto surround, more available larva, etc.

Zealots however are pretty much worse in every way against marines since marines are stronger and zealots have less shields in SC2. Only thing in BW that was better for Terran was the marine sized gap between depot and Barracks that Zealots dont fit through but Terran has lowerable depots so… yeah.

TL; DR. Early zealots without charge suck for a variety of reasons. Adepts are typically much better early game units and chargelots are better mid to late game units depending on enemy race/composition.