Unit "Critical Mass" Discussion

Of course there is also practical critical mass to consider. Some units, like the Colossus, operate at peak efficiency at high numbers but the same numbers are impractical for that unit. (6 collosi, really? Try getting those up against a skilled player)

So when I look at the best critical mass type situations, I look for units that are practical when they are at their peak efficiency in numbers. Like siege tanks or stalkers or hydras, not so much big units like Collosi, Brood Lords and say... Battle Cruisers.

 

doesn't seem like you understand what Critical Mass is. And we never said it was something easy to achieve.

If i played against you, I would scout you and see you are going mass Stalkers/Hydras.. i would rush 6 colossi with sentries, I could easily mangle your army. I could get my army just as fast as you. What you are describing is massing, not critical mass.

 

Critical mass usually refers to the amount of units in a group that it takes to effectively negate melee units. IE critical mass for hydralisks and roaches would be the amount of roaches/hydras (usually around 30 or so) that it takes to be so balled that if you sent 20-30 zealots at them most of them would fizzle before even getting to attack. This is possible because your ranged units can have layers of attack before the melee unit gets in range.

Critical mass is typically attainable and referred to for mid-ranged units like hydras, roaches, stalkers, marines, marauders, etc. The typical counter to critical mass is to use area effect spells. Fungal growth, Psionic Storm, Tanks, Colossus, etc. all deal with 'critical mass' units effectively.

 

thanks for giving your own definition, but that's not what we're talking about. you're just being specific about going against melee, this is any unit combo and how you intend to use it.

using queens offensively against mutalisks requires about 10 or so to be able to keep up with transfusion. when using thors for base sniping, 3 is generally the best number if you have the cannons researched, for a total of 1500 quick damage.

 

gosh, everyone is so specific... it is all a matter of efficiency in how well your units deal their damage. Is it real? yeah, but is it a magical secretly hardcoded number? naw. Its just efficiency. Zergling speed doesn't directly boost your damage, does it? no, but it will increase your damage through how effective the units are.

reapers:
3 shots to kill a worker, get 3 reapers, you hit critical mass. That doesn't mean 3 is better than 4 or 5, because it isn't, but the units will be more effective in what they do. If you're one shotting a worker with 4 reapers, you're being inefficient, but when the zealots come along, 4 is much better because you won't be able to just one shot the zealots and it might take 3 shots instead of 4(rough guess, but you get the point).

 

not to mention critical upgrades: +1 weapons for protoss lets zealots 2-shot zerglings instead of 3-shot. a 12.5% increase in damage makes it 50% more effective.

 

I'll just go ahead and say it, there is no one definition of Critical Mass. It's all about EXACTLY what you're up against, and EXACTLY what your unit composition is.

When commentators speak of this concept, I think they are mostly referring to the point when the player knows he has a big enough army to combat what his opponent probably has, and waiting any longer would just be allowing his opponent to possibly gain an advantage. It's as much about timing as it is about units, just like people have said---sure, 3 zealots may be able to 1 shot zerglings, but what if your opponent has 15 zerglings? Then your 3 zealots are no longer at "critical mass", and things get complicated...

 

I would say I find it hard to define too because of unit upgrades. Take a marine ball vs. Zealots and Sentries. Zealots upgraded with +1 armor and under a guardian shield are now only taking 3 damage from the Marines instead of 6. That drastically changes the balance of any kind of specific "critical mass" definitions.

I think going with the general ideas of the above poster Panda, stating that an army has reached critical mass when it finds the perfect time to attack what the opponent has available, but also the earlier statement of what it takes to kill the opposition without taking any significant damage are the two best ways to describe critical mass.

 

Blizzard must think critical mass is real. When they nerfed the colossi, they lowered their damage/attack and raised their attack speed. Their dps remained the same, but the nerf made it harder to acheive critical mass. You now need more colossi to one shot roaches and hydras.