 | The Tempest is a new unit for the Protoss in Heart of the Swarm. It is a capital ship developed to be more of a support unit of the Protoss army rather than an attack unit. It was developed the Protoss after the first stage of the Second Great War. Tempests charge up volatile energies in the kinetic matrix that powers them, then launches the energy through the ship's hull. This, combined with a contained sphere of highly-charged particles can be used to target both air and land units even at long range. It is a costly unit to build and quite ineffective on its' own but combine two or three Tempests with ground units and they can annihilate armies very quickly. |
Upgrades
| Name | Hotkey | Cost | Build Time |
| Protoss Air Weapons Level 1 | E | 100 Minerals + 100 Gas | 160 |
| Upgrades the damage dealt by Protoss air units. | |||
| Protoss Air Weapons Level 2 | E | 175 Minerals + 175 Gas | 190 |
| Further upgrades the damage dealt by Protoss air units. | |||
| Protoss Air Weapons Level 3 | E | 250 Minerals + 250 Gas | 220 |
| Maximizes the damage dealt by Protoss air units. | |||
| Protoss Air Armor Level 1 | A | 150 Minerals + 150 Gas | 160 |
| Upgrades the armor of Protoss air Units | |||
| Protoss Air Armor Level 2 | A | 225 Minerals +225 Gas | 190 |
| Further upgrades the armor of Protoss air Units | |||
| Protoss Air Armor Level 3 | A | 300 Minerals + 300 Gas | 220 |
| Maximizes the armor of Protoss Air Units | |||
| Protoss Shields Level 1 | S | 150 Minerals + 150 Gas | 160 |
| Upgrades the shields of all Protoss units and structures. | |||
| Protoss Shields Level 2 | S | 225 Minerals + 225 Gas | 225 |
| Further upgrades the shields of all Protoss units and structures. | |||
| Protoss Shields Level 3 | S | 300 Minerals + 300 Gas | 300 |
| Maximizes the shields of all Protoss units and structures. | |||
Weapons
| Name | Target | Range | Speed | Type | Damage |
| Kinetic Overload | Air | 15 | Very Slow | Normal (Ranged) | 30 |
| Resonance Coil | Ground | 15 | Very Slow | Normal (Ranged) | 30 |
Stats
| Basic Information | Production | ||
| Race: | Protoss | Producer: | Stargate |
| Life: | 300 | Hotkey: | E |
| Shield: | 150 | Cost: | 300 Minerals and 200 Gas |
| Armor: | 2 (2) | Supply: | 4 |
| Movement: | Slow | Build Time: | 60 |
| Attributes: | Armored - Mechanical - Massive | ||
General Strategy
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Long-range capital ship.
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When your opponent doesn’t have air units in play, make use of the high or zero ground areas so that nothing can reach you.
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Spot the best targets for your Tempest using Observers or Oracles’ Revelation ability.
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Once enemy air units enter play, Tempests are best used when protected by the whole army.
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The late-game strength of Tempests lies in positioning the main army at a favorable position and ‘poking’ at the enemy army from long-range.
Countermeasures
VS Terran
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Always kill Observers. Use the Scan ability or Ravens to detect Observers and buy time.
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Vikings or Thors are effective counters to Tempests.
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Because Tempests shoot slowly, Ravens’ Point Defense Drone ability is an effective counter to them.
VS Zerg
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Air units, particularly Corruptors with the Corruption ability are critical against Tempests.
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In the late-game, using Vipers' Abduct ability in conjunction with fast-moving Hydralisks is very effective against Tempests.
VS Protoss
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Void Rays’ Prismatic Alignment ability can work wonders against Tempests.
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On maps with no good zero-ground areas for Tempests to use, Stalkers‘ Blink ability can effectively take them down.
