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Co-op Commander Guide: Artanis

Hierarch of the Daelaam

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Commander Summary

Artanis' army features the basic staples of any Protoss army, including Zealots and Immortals. However, combined with the Spear of Adun, his army can be resilient and powerful.

Level Unlocks

Level/Icon	Name	Description
	Swift Retribution	Artanis warps units into the battlefield almost instantly.
	Guardian Shell	Upon taking fatal damage, friendly units become invulnerable for a short time, escaping death and restoring 15% life and shields. The same unit cannot be shielded again for 4 minutes.
	Superior Warp Gates	Increases the number of charges on Warp Gates from 1 to 3.
	Twilight Council Upgrade Cache	Unlocks the following upgrades at the Twilight Council: Unlock the zealot's Whirlwind ability, which damages all nearby enemies while active. Increase the Dragoon's life from 100 to 120 and double its shield regeneration rate. Also allow the Dragoon to regenerate shields in combat.
	New Unit: Reaver	Area-damage siege unit. Shoots scarabs for high burst damage. Warped in at the Robotics Facility. Can attack ground units.
	Templar Archives Upgrade Cache	Unlocks the following upgrade at the Templar Archives: Increases the High Templar's starting energy from 50 to 200. Upgrade the High Templar's Psionic Storm ability to also restore 50 shields to friendly units to the target area.
	High Archon	Unlocks the ability for Archons to use the Feedback and Psionic Storm abilities.
	Spear of Adun: Warp Harmonization	Stargates and Robotics Facilities can warp in units at any location with pylon power. Passive ability.
	Reaver Upgrades Pack	Unlocks the following upgrades at the Robotics Bay: Increase the maximum number of scarabs that Reavers can hold from 5 to 10. Increases the splash radius of scarab explosions by 25%.
	Spear of Adun: Solar Bombardment	Unlocks the ability for the Spear of Adun to randomly bombard an area for massive damage over 15 seconds. Activate Solar Bombardment from the top panel.
	New Unit: Tempest	Siege artillery craft. Attacks from long range. Warped in at the Stargate. Can attack ground and air units.
	Fleet Beacon Upgrade Cache	Unlocks the following upgrades at the Fleet Beacon: Allow Phoenixes to use Graviton Beam on two targets at once. Unlock the Tempest's Disintegration ability, which deals 500 damage to target unit or structure over 20 seconds.
	Spear of Adun: Shield Overcharge	Increases the amount of damage absorbed by the Spear of Adun's Shield Overcharge ability from 100 to 200. Activate Shield Overcharge from the top panel.
	Spear of Adun: Solar Onslaught	Increases the number of shots fired during the Spear of Adun's Solar Bombardment ability from 200 to 400. Activate Solar Bombardment from the top panel.
	Glory of the Daelaam	Increases starting supply to 200.

Highlighted rows denote large power spikes for the commander.

Achievements

The commander-specific achievements for Artanis are:

Achievement	Name	Description
	Finger of Death	Kill 50 units with Artanis's Orbital Strike in a single mission on Hard difficulty.
	Sol-alright	Absorb 10,000 damage for your ally with Artanis's Shield Overcharge in Co-op Missions.
	Solar Fury	Kill 50 units with a single strike of Artanis's Solar Bombardment on Hard difficulty.
	Warp Speed	Warp in 5,000 units with Artanis in Co-op Missions.

Calldowns

The calldowns for Artanis, at level 15, with no mastery points added are:

Calldown	Name	Description	Recommended Usage	Numbers
	Project Power Field	Project a power field onto the target location. Using this ability again will move the power field to a new location. Your ally may also use this field.	Use this to build a gateway before the pylon at the start of the game to speed up going up the tech tree. Keep moving the power field around as your army moves forward for quick reinforcements. Great for re-powering static defense while a pylon has been disabled. Costs 25 Energy if using the Nexus Legate prestige.	Cooldown: 30 seconds
	Orbital Strike	Fires five lasers onto the battlefield from orbit, each of them dealing 50 (100 vs armored units) area damage.	Very effective at taking clumps of enemy units. There is a short delay between each shot, reducing the effectiveness of Rapidfire.	Cooldown: 30 seconds Energy Required: 25
	Shield Overcharge	Allows friendly units and structures to absorb up to 200 damage. Lasts for 20 seconds.	Always use this while pushing into enemy bases. Can sometimes be useful when dealing with dangerously large attack waves.	Cooldown: 180 seconds Energy Required: 50
	Solar Bombardment	Bombards the target area from orbit, firing 400 random shots over 10 seconds. Each shot deals 15 (30 vs armored units) splash damage.	Can be used to soften enemy defenses before pushing in. Run through the middle of a base with a zealot, which will be protected by Guardian Shell, to cast this in the middle of tough-to-push locations.	Cooldown: 300 seconds

Sub-Ascension Leveling

Difficulty: Easy

A Dragoon/Zealot build works best while leveling. Focus on mostly Dragoons, and warp in Zealots (with Charge) on the frontline before you take an engagement. This will cause the Zealots to soak up damage away from Dragoons.

Masteries

Below are the three Power Sets for Artanis with the recommended point allocations for each. Note that these are meant to serve a general, all-purpose build that is effective across all maps with no Prestiges selected. You are highly encourged to change these masteries to suit your playstyle and particular challenges you face (e.g. Weekly Mutations).

Power Set 1:

Power	Value	Recommended Points to Add	Further Considerations
Shield Overcharge Duration and Damage Absorption	3% per point 90% maximum	30	In particular scenarios, where engagements last a longer time, with stronger enemy forces, the Shield Overcharge mastery might serve players better as it prevents the player's units from taking damage.
Guardian Shell Life and Shield Regeneration	0.5% per point 15% maximum	0

The difference in the amount of HP gained between no points and maximum points in the Guardian Shell is relatively insignificant. On higher difficulties, it means units will still be lost, regardless. It is best to prevent damage to the units entirely, making the Shield Overcharge mastery better.

Power Set 2:

Power	Value	Recommended Points to Add	Further Considerations
Energy Regeneration and Cooldown Reduction	1.5% per point 45% maximum	?	The choice here mostly depends on the type of units that the player prefers to use. The Energy Regeneration mastery can help improve the effectiveness of Archons and High Templars, especially when dealing with Zerg compositions. Cooldown reduction affects cooldowns like Reaver Scarab creation, Zealot Charge and other time-based abilities. The speed increase buff lasts for 30 seconds.
Speed Increase for Warped in Units	2% per point 60% maximum	?

If you use a lot of Archons in your build, or rely on unit abilities like Zealot Charge or Reavers, you may want to consider having the Energy Regeneration mastery. Otherwise, the Speed Increase is beneficial.

Power Set 3:

Power	Value	Recommended Points to Add	Further Considerations
Chrono Boost Efficiency	1% per point 30% maximum	30	The Spear of Adun mastery can be useful for players that prefer to spam its abilities often. For example, those with hyper-aggressive playstyles can utilize this energy to its maximum extent.
Initial and Maximum Spear of Adun Energy	3 per point 90 maximum	0

In general circumstances, the Spear of Adun Energy mastery isn't beneficial if you play efficiently because you won't be able to use the energy in the early game.

Prestiges

Below are the prestiges for Artanis. Note that "Effective Level" is the level at which the prestige achieves it full effect.

Level	Name	Description	Effective Level	Notes
1	Valorous Inspirator	Advantages: Increase the effectiveness of all active combat unit abilities by 100%. Disadvantages: Combat units cost 30% more.	1	Dragoons do not get any benefits from this Prestige Cooldown reduction from prestige is multiplicative with the Cooldown Reduction mastery Reavers will not run out of Scarabs when combined with the Cooldown Reduction mastery
This prestige provides an all-round improvement to Artanis' units. For example, it increases the damage dealt by High Templar Psi Storms and reduces the construction time of Reaver scarabs. This opens up a lot of avenues for playstyle changes. However Dragoons are unaffected and Tempests receive minimal improvements. This Prestige works well with the Energy Regeneration and Cooldown Reduction mastery.

Effectiveness Bonuses:

• Zealot Charge Speed doubled
• Zealot Whirlwind Damage doubled
• High Templar/Archon Feedback Damage doubled
• High Templar/Archon Psionic Storm Damage doubled
• High Templar/Archon Psionic Storm Shield Recharging rate doubled
• Archon Merge Time halved
• Immortal Barrier Damage Absorption doubled (upgrade included)
• Reaver Scarab Build Time Halved
• Phoenix Graviton Beam Cooldown Halved
• Tempest Disintegration Damage doubled

Level	Name	Description	Effective Level	Notes
2	Nexus Legate	Advantages: Upon use, Project Power Field warps out any of your combat units standing in an existing Power Field projection into the new location. Cooldown removed. Disadvantages: Project Power Field costs 25 energy.	1	When units are warped in, they get the Speed Increase for Warped Units buff
This prestige changes the utility purpose of Artanis' Power Field. Instead of using it to quickly reinforce your army in combat, it changes to a mobility tool. As such, you will need to adapt your playstyle to accommodate this change. However, this prestige compounds well with the Speed Increase for Warped Units mastery, as every time units are warped away using the Power Field, they get the buff.

Level	Name	Description	Effective Level	Notes
3	Arkship Commandant	Advantages: Orbital Strikes warp in an Unbound Fanatic that throws off damaging energy and lasts 15 seconds. Shield Overcharge is now targeted, has its cooldown reduced by 50%, and costs 25 energy. Disadvantages: Orbital Strike costs 50 energy. Guardian Shell is disabled.	1	Shield Overcharge applies to all units within 8 range of selected area Unbound Fanatic's energy ball does 60 DPS along a path of 1.5 radius Energy balls are thrown once per second. Each ball lasts 1 second Fanatics start at maximum 3/3/3 upgrades
The Unbound Fanatics that spawn from the Orbital Strikes have strong splash damage, very equivalent to Karax's Solar Lances. However, where they fire their orbs is randomized, which reduces the efficacy of this prestige. The loss of Guardian shell, which increases the fragility of Artanis' already-fragile army, further adds to the weakness of this Prestige. However, the biggest advantage of this prestige is that it allows Artanis to fast-expand on maps. A single set of Orbital Strikes can be used to clear contested expansions very easily.

For general play, Valorous Inspirator is a solid Prestige that improves the utility of almost all of Artanis' units with a minimal cost increase. It increases the viability of his High Templars and his Phoenixes.

Recommended Army Composition

The recommended army composition for Artanis is below. Note that this assumes no Prestige talent selected and recommended Mastery Allocations. This is a basic recommendation for your army framework. It is recommended to gain an understanding for each of the units in the Units section and further add tech units so that you are able to better handle the situations you face.

Dragoons deal good amounts of damage from long range, but are reasonably fragile, which is where Zealots come into play. Warp in Zealots in front of Dragoons so they can tank while Dragoons deal damage.

Add Immortals to your army when dealing with Armored ground targets and to tank for Dragoons.

Combat Units

For more information on Artanis' unit stats, comparison between units and upgrade calculations, visit the Data Tables page.

Artanis's combat units are listed below:

Build Order

Below is the standard economic build order for Artanis. For more information on how to read and construct your own build orders, please check the Build Order Theory page.

Project Power Field
15 Gateway
17 Assimilator
18 Assimilator
Chrono Gateway
21 Zealot -> Rocks
24 Zealot
Chrono Nexus
31 Nexus
33 Cybernetics Core
34 Pylon

Gameplay Guide

Playstyle Traps

A common trap for Artanis players is to go for a mass Tempest build. Granted, Tempests are powerful units that can deal a lot of damage. However, it leaves players vulnerable to the early game. A mass Tempest build only works if the other ally is aware of that build, and is able to compensate with a strong early game. Additionally, enemy compositions also come into play. Compositions with a large number of low-HP units make Mass Tempests a difficult build to pull off.

In most co-op maps, a mass Tempest build can be outdone by some combination of Immortals/Zealots/Phoenixes/Archons. However, if a player still chooses to mass Tempests, it is better to start with some early game in the form of Zealots and Dragoons before transitioning to Tempests.

Building the Artosis Pylon

Because Artanis starts at 200 supply, he does not need to build pylons to increase his supply limit. Hence, pylons should only act as a source of power. Even warping in can be done via the "Project Power Field" calldown. Therefore, only one pylon should ever be built for Artanis.

A single pylon can power up to 16 buildings at the same time. This should be more than adequate for most intents and purposes. Such a pylon is shown below:

The below is a top-down view of the pylon. The most important thing to notice is how two gateways are set adjacent to the pylon.

Once those two gateways are positioned, the rest of the positioning is easy as you will build around the pylon.

Playstyle Tips

• Contrary to what some guides say, Solar Bombardment doesn't have a "heat map", ie, some patches which deal more damage than others. Solar Bombardment starts at a radius of 2 from the target area, and expands to a radius of 10 over the duration of the bombardment. Any areas that get hit more than others is purely due to randomness.
• At the start of the game, before you build your Artosis Pylon, build a Gateway on the Warp Field. This will allow you to faster progress through the Tech Tree.
• When you want to make Archons, ensure you have utilized the energy from the two High Templars first. Once the Archon is merged, it's energy will be replenished, allowing you to use the skills again.
• Psi Storms can stack if Plasma Surge has been researched. This is demonstrated in the video below:
• When you want to cast Solar Bombardment, suicide a Zealot to cast it deep into enemy territory.
• While Solar Bombardment is active, Warp in a Zealot and use it to lure enemy units into the bombardment for extra clearing potential.
• The Tempest's Disintegration ability can be cast on multiple train carriages in Part & Parcel and Oblivion Express.
• Use Observers when playing with Tempests to provide vision. Tempests' Disintegration has a higher attack range than their vision range.
• Hold Shift when Orbital Strike is selected and press any key bound to Rapidfire to fire Orbital Strikes without delay in between shots.

Note: All data generated on this site is based on Brutal difficulty. Timings, compositions and other elements may differ on easier difficulty levels.

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