Protoss Counter to Infestor w/ Infested Terran

Question

So I recently ran into a guy playing huge numbers of infestors. He would show up near my base and start pumping out infected Terrans. Like MASSIVE amounts. My Zs took care of them but I ended up losing lots of Zs. Then the guy would quickly leave and come back again later.

I responded by building towers to try to help with defense and Observers so I could try to detect his infestors earlier but the infestors move so fast and they can toss those guys so quickly I couldn't catch them.

My question is how would I have countered this better? I assumed since they were burrowed that air units would be worthless. I know for sure that Voids are useless since the infested terrans make very short work of them.

Answer 1

Let's examine the Infested Terran for a second (on an unrelated not, an Infestor can use fungal growth to do far more economic damage than the Infested Terran).

• Speed: 0.9375 (that's the same speed as a Queen off creep)
• DPS: 9.3 (which is actually more than a Marine)
• Hit Points: 50
• Range: 5

So they're slow, and flimsy, but do decent dps.

Depending on your strategy there are a couple solutions to this problem:

1. High Templar -> Between Feedback (for the Infestors) and Psi Storm for the Infested Terran you're good to go. Because Infested Terran are so slow, Psi Storm will destroy them
2. Colossus -> Always a good choice and with the Range upgrade you actually out Range them by enough they won't ever get near, though mind control can turn this against you in a normal battle
3. Phoenix -> Not the best choice as they tend to die to Infested Terran, but grabbing an Infestor is a very good tactic and the Phoenix will make short work of them.
4. Observer -> Strangely enough this unit alone will deal with most of your problems. As long as you have a nice choke, the Observer will spot the flimsy Infestors (80 hp).

Now assuming you don't have any of those things here are a few things to keep in mind: Chargelots tear Infested Terran apart, but even smarter, they run away faster than Infested Terran can follow. Little know fact is that the Charge upgrade increases Zealot normal movement speed. Infested Terran have very short life span (30 seconds) so if you can just stay away from them you should win easy. Another important point is Infested Terran attack very quickly so Guardian Shield is your friend (not to mention Force Field + wait).

When faced against Infestors you really need to invest in detectors. Though you may have had a run in with Infested Terran, the real scary weapon is the Fungal Growth. In addition to the 4.5 aoe dps, Fungal Growth locks down your units leaving them at the mercy of a Zergling attack or long range Hydralisk force (range 6).

If you spy a Zerg going Infestors, its always good to build an Observer or 2. One for your force and one to watch your base (Fungal Growth makes short work of Probes).

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Edit: its worth noting that Neural Parasite (mind control) is an upgrade to Infestors, and that many Zerg skip it, or don't get it till late game. Given the power of Fungal Growth, and the short duration of Neural Parasite, its easy to see why.

Answer 2

Stalkers with observers + cannons spread out in your base but with overlap for range. He won't be able to get close enough to make any serious damage and if he's smart he will try something different.

Zealots are almost never a good choice to counter harass since harass usually involved a fast moving unit (Mutas, Reapers, etc). You can use zealots effectively as a wall with 'hold position' against zerglings/speedlings. But actually chasing down a harassing unit will be a lost cause without something like a stalker.

Answer 3

Get 2-3 cannons at a point where he has to get through to reach your base, you really don't want infestors in your worker line. Don't try to build colossi against infestors because they will simply mind control them and turn them against you (I remember watching a replay commented by HuskyStarcraft at youtube where a bunch of infestors took out several thors).

A group of stalkers with an observer should be able to counter that. Attack while his infested terrans are still in their shells and try to get the infestors. Then blink away when the infested terrans spawn.

Answer 4

You definitely want an observer so you can catch those infestors while they're burrowed. If the infestors are part of a larger army you might have trouble, but some players might be complacent and leave their infestors burrowed not too far from your base so that they can do hit and run attacks like you describe. If he's doing this, make him pay by finding his infestors and taking the fight to him.

A few specific counters: high templar feedback will hurt the infestor and take away its energy. You also might try dark templars; if you're on the defensive then the burden is on him to bring detection, and you should be able to snipe an overseer if he has one. DTs will make quick work of the infested terrans. (Just watch out for fungal growth!) Otherwise, stalkers with blink will be a good way to catch the fast moving infestors.