Woah slow down there cowboy. I think your jumping too far ahead.
Could you upload a replay for me? Just upload to
HERE and put a download link in?
In Windows 7 you can find them at: C:\Users\[Username]\Documents\StarCraft II\Accounts\[Account Number]\6-S2-1-29002\Replays\Unsaved (Or Saved, if you actually saved them.)
Just quickly though, how many workers do you build for your main? It sounds like your stopping at 11 (I hope not) and your trying to tech up too fast.
While your finding the replay for me, have a read of this, its very true on alot of levels.
This is not about a particular race, this is just general (overall) tips no matter what race you play. I'm also not going to go into anything Single Player, as the Single Player is about challenges against a dumb AI and throwing it all at you, this is for the Multiplayer, where the game is balanced to a T.
Starcraft II hints & TipsWelcome to Starcraft II.
You've probably jumped into your first game of Multiplayer SCII goodness, but wondered a couple of things:
"Who should I play as?"
"How should I start out?"
"Do I mass build, or tech up?"
"Where is my opponent?"
"How do I play?" (Yes, don't laugh. At first, this sounds like a stupid question, but in actuality, when people have lost like 5 games in a row, they can't help but feel they're missing something. So it begs the question.)
What I'm gonna tell you guys is some basics. This isn't a "Left click on a building to select it" kind of guide, you do have tutorials in game for that. This is for that one step further. Still beginner, but you know how to control yourself. Now you need to learn about the game.
Starcraft II is an RTS, but its a very simple RTS, with many intricacies. Simple, intricate? Oxymoron much? But its true. Its very easy to pick up, but hard to master. The game is split up with 3 factions, the gutsy Terran, the honorable Protoss, and the ghoulish Zerg. All 3 are completely different in their playstyle, but all balanced so that one is not overpowered over another.
Now onto the actual tips. Remember these are not specific to any race, this is to all. So don't expect any build orders or when to push out with your zerglings.
Main BaseYou start at out at one of 2/4/6/8 starting locations with a Command Centre/Nexus/Hatchery and 6 harvesters. (SCVs/Probes/Drones) When you start you want to send all of them to mining. Unlike in SC:BW, SCII has really good AI pathing, allowing you to send your workers all at once to a mineral and they will mine the ones that are free. What you can also do is set a rally point to your minerals, and any newly made harvesters will automatically either mine minerals, or collect Vespene Gas. This is important, your 2 most important things are your harvesters and your resources. Without resources, you can't build or train. Without harvesters, you can't collect resources. So no harvesters mean now resources, which means no units. So Protip One:
1. Protect your Harvesters.I'm not saying you should have all your untis at the mineral line, that would be foolish, but have somethng close by, or some static defenses. If they break through, don't let your harvesters take punishment, run them out of there, preferably to your army.
Speaking of harvesters, your really need a lot of harvesters to collect resources effectively. The normal amount of workers that the pros use is 3 to each resource. There are 8 Mineral Patches and 2 Vespene Gysers at each base. So to effectively gather resources, you need lots of harvesters. Protip Two:
2. Keep building harvestersSeriously. Don't stop making em. There's nothing wrong with making another probe, unless you've got something like 4 probes on the one mineral line, then you should probably move them to another expansion. Or get some of them to start building buildings.
Economy/MacroAt first, your instantly assume Starcraft with Micromanagement. When your in Bronze League, don't worry about Micro. Seriously, get to work on your Macro. What is Macro? Basically its building your economy to build a base and make units. With bad Macro, you will not be able to make the units you want. So lets start with the first tip.
3. Don't get supply blockedExcept for right at the start (before your first supply building [Supply Depot/Pylon/Overlord]) you should never be supply blocked, unless the enemy forced you to be. If you supply blocked yourself, your going to be at a major disadvantage. You should always have some supply left over. Early on, it would be wise to get a few extra supply, just so you don't get supply blocked at the wrong time. Having supply (Unless your maxed out at 200/200) is essential.
If your doing the first part right, and building more harvesters, you should have a good economy. With that you should have many minerals. So, what should you do? Stockpile? or Spend? Unless your saving for an expansion:
4. SPEND SPEND SPEND!!!!Don't, for the love of god, stockpile. Spend your dough on units, buildings, expansions, supply, etc. Don't ever just let it sit there. Gas is OK, as it may not get spent as much, but if you have over 400 minerals, and its doing nothing, your doing it wrong. Put out some more Zealots/Marines/Zerglings. Build more harvesters. Make more buildings. Do something!
Units and AttackingSo you've built some attacking units. Maybe you've built some marines. Pretty cool, huh? Well now you think your ready to attack. But are you?
5. Scout! Scout! Scout!No, I'm not talking about calling out for some Bonk! Fizzy Drink, I'm talking about sending something to see what the other guy has got. If he has Roaches, and you have Marines, your toast. if you have Marauders, but he went Void Rays, what are they gonna do? They can't shoot air! This brings me to the next tip:
6. Learn the countersOnce you see what he has, you can counter it with other units by tech switching... but only if you know what counters what. For example, Marauders are a good counter Roaches, while Mutalisks are good counters to Marauders. If you both scout and know the counters, when you see the enemy, you'll know what to start building right away. There are many different things to scout with like harvesters, Overlords for the Zerg, Observers for the Protoss, Orbital Scans for the Terran, and many other creative ways.
ExtrasSo you finished your game, but your not sure what went wrong. Hmm...
7. Check the replaysYou can go back and see what you did wrong, or what your opponent did right. Maybe he tried a good start on you, maybe he scouted you and knew when to attack. Maybe he just scouted you and made hard counters. 90% of the time when you lose, it was something you did. Not him. So look back at what you did wrong, and try to fix it for the next game. If you still can't figure it out, try this:
8. Watch Pro ReplaysSeriously, watching a bunch of pro games is great. TLO, Whitera, Artosis, IdrA, and many more know how to play the game real well. Watch some replays from them and see how they do it. The best 2 channels (IMO) are the HDStarcraft and HuskyStarcraft Channels on Youtube. Go check em out and enjoy some of these things, and learn a thing or 2.
Hopefully this all helps for you.
by Shinanigans » 7 Aug 10, 7:56 pm 
