Starcraft 2 tips and tricks....

[MobBoss]

Planetary fortress rush! You have to be pretty dense to lose to that.

Ah, it was the first time I had ever seen it on one of the small 1v1 maps.

But if you're getting owned in silver it's definitely not your micro that's the problem.

Not getting 'owned' anymore and actually got the 5 win streak achievement. My record is now about 50/50 for wins/losses.

Actually have been having a lot of success as 'toss going temple and grinding out the stealth units. Doing the typical 2 gateway, block my base in with some photon cannons, go straight to robotics/temple, pop out a transport, load up four stealth units and drop em off at a unguarded corner of the enemy base and slaughter all his economy. Most people dont build detectors and those that do hardly ever put one to guard their econ.

I got to diamond playing basically with one hand (no hotkeys) so there's definitely something wrong with your macro/force composition/scouting that you're missing.

Nah, like I said, I think my macro is pretty good as my econ is almost always better than my opponents, and I do have counters down pretty well. Its when I get caught up in some micro hit and run tactics that I get distracted and things go to crap. By using the above tactic, i.e. wall in with some photon cannons, I cut down on the overall micro required and end up doing pretty well.

 

[Quackers]

Just a quick thread for us to share tips and tricks found in SC2. A few that come to mind:

1. When building workers, set your waypoint on the resource you want harvested. The worker will automatically start harvesting without having to be ordered to.

2. Ramps are great chokepoints, but they are chokepoints both ways. Dont defend so much that you get trapped in.

3. Scouting the enemy is very important as their are counters to every strat. See what tech direction your enemy is going in and counter it.

4. When building an army on the move, you can set a factory waypoint onto one of the units in the force...newly created units will advance to join the force wherever it is.

5. Try not to put more than 2 units in a que at a time, as doing so obligates resources you might need elsewhere in a hurry.

6. The key to a great economy is continually building a worker whenever you have an extra 50 mineral. Also, keep a mind a plan for an expansion if neither side is going to rush early, but rather tech up. Lots of games can be won by expanding while putting pressure on your enemies expansion and essentially out-resourcing them.

7. One of the things I do in MP games is build my upgrade buildings in one area, and my unit production factories in another...that way I dont have to hunt and peck around my base to build or upgrade something.

MB plays SC2: LAD

I'll throw in some tips as well. I'm in the top 20 of Diamond League as Terran, which really means little more than I have decent micro and macro.

8) Hotkeys, hotkeys, hotkeys! Learn the hotkeys for your race. Example: if you're Terran, remember that hitting B with an SCV selected opens up his structure palette, and then hitting S builds a Supply Depot. Clicking slows things down.

9) On a similar vein as above, learn to use control groups. When you have a unit or group of units selected (buildings included), hold the control key and press a number. This will bind the selected units to that number. So if you set all your basic warriors (Marines/Zealots/Zerglings) to 1, when you hit 1 they will all be automatically selected.

10) Using control groups as detailed above, set your army production buildings to something like 5 or 6. While in a battle, you can queue up more units without even looking at your base - just hit the control group number, hit the proper hotkeys to make troops (this is why #8 is important ) and go back to actually fighting. As long as the buildings are rallied to your army, your reinforcements will show up to help - this is KEY when making an assault; always produce more units!

11) Learn and practice micro and macro. Micro is unit control on a small scale, usually during battle - moving around, covering your vulnerable units, moving support units if they're getting hit, using abilities, etc. Macro is your economy management, base structure, and unit production. Don't neglect your micro while doing macro, and vice versa.

This would of been my answer.

Since I started using control groups and learning all the hotkeys I started beating Platinum level players when I was in silver. In gold now.

The thing I'm learning to do now and using to my advantage is scouting. I send an SCV into the enemies base and I check what buildings he is creating and from that get an idea of his strategy, whether he is going to tech to voids rays, making a quick early expansion or a push.
Another trick i learnt as a terran player is to repair your Supply depots on your ramp when Zerglings or Zealots are beating on'em and you haven't got an army up yet. It sounds simple but its a great counter to rushes.
Finally i make use of drops. Say my main army gets annihilated when I try and enter his base through the front door i think to myself: "hey lets get his back!". So I get a couple of medivacs and load'em up with marines and drop'em down onto there mineral line and stimp'em and then I can get a quick getaway.
Honestly my final point I always try and control the naga towers so i have more LOS and more importantly I keep track on other minerals on the map to see if he is expanding. If they are mining more than you, your going to lose. If I see this I go in and kill'em ASAP.

 

[MobBoss]

MB plays SC2: LAD

Not sure what this means. Can you explain?

 

[Lord_Iggy]

We should play sometime! I'm KaYoS, any my number is 691.

 

[Quackers]

Not sure what this means. Can you explain?

Lad = Good guy

 

[MobBoss]

Lad = Good guy

Aha! Heh, got it thanks.

Anyway, I am happy to report that my gameplay has gotten significantly better over the last week or so. In fact, I have crept up to 15th place in my respective silver league and even had close to a 15 game winning streak there for a bit. I am now something like 35-30 on my record (or therebouts).

Anyone know how the leagues work exactly? When do you move up/down in a league? Whats it all mean exactly? Just wondering.

Still playing protoss, but have been using hotkeys more and more often, especially for build structures, i.e. I link all my warpgates together, all my robotics bays together etc. then just hot key through them and tab up what I need.

Gotten to where I can early harass with 3 zealots and slow my opponent up, and even sometimes get an early win if he doesnt counter by the time 2 more zealots show up. I have won a lot of games using dark templar, as a lot of players in silver dont take a moment to build detectors, or even scout out a expo prior to sending an SCV/Probe/Larva to it. Using DTs to scout expos is very effective. I also usually stick a zealot on a xal'naga arti to help out with scouting as well.

I even had one game where my opponent and I traded bases and I only won by virtue of having a probe out of my base for a proxy pylon. I killed off all his structures, while my lone pylon was all the way across the map from him and he couldnt get to it in time. Fun stuff.

I have also started trying to do the campaign missions on hard mode and some of those are just ass kickers. Currently on the colonist escort mission and to get the hard mode achievement you cant lose any structures. Any. So, lose a bunker somewhere and you fail. Ouchie.

Next thing is I need to learn the other races a bit more so when I scout I can kinda see the direction they are going in.

 

[Thrawn]

Info on the matchmaking system, and part 2.

 

[Kraznaya]

Is anyone else here going to be in the College Starleague?

 

[Kennigit]

I should be in it if I have the time; which Fridays I should. Georgia tech.

I'm also on tl.

 

[Fetus4188]

Kennigit is a civ fanatic?

 

[Kennigit]

No. I stole his screen name when I changed my old name here. 'Cuz it's a good sn and I wuv monty python.

 

[Kraznaya]

I should be in it if I have the time; which Fridays I should. Georgia tech.

I'm also on tl.

Cool, what's your handle/id?

 

[Quackers]

wooohooo I got promoted to Platinum league...i got sick of playing agressive terran and I started playing them the way they are meant to be! Expand use siege tanks to gain map control macro up a gigantic army 200/200 waltz in and annihilate any opposition.

 

[Honkoid]

wooohooo I got promoted to Platinum league...i got sick of playing agressive terran and I started playing them the way they are meant to be! Expand use siege tanks to gain map control macro up a gigantic army 200/200 waltz in and annihilate any opposition.

Sounds fun. Care to show us a nice replay?

 

[Riffraff]

As a non SCI player I'm struggling quite a bit in the bronze leugue. I win games lasting more than 10 mins consistantly, but I can't quite defend against the all out rushes yet. Getting there though

 

[Quackers]

Sounds fun. Care to show us a nice replay?

I don't know how too

Tip: An early attack even if it is a small one can change the dynamic of the game. The attacker gains control of the game because he is pro-active whilst the defender is reactive and feels like he is out of control and responding to the attacker.


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Anybody do cheeses here? Sometimes I get a tvt (which can last for 1 hour!)and i just do it.

 

[tycoonist]

Not if you lose the attack. I frequently see enemies (particularly terran) rush in with hellions or reapers, and if they can't micro properly or you have some kinda defence up, that harass can end up costing a lot more money than the enemy loses through dead harvesters.

 

[Quackers]

you gotta be smart about it.
if your force is weaker just run away. or do some smart micro.

TIP: Use vikings as scouts and to gain LOS so your tanks can shoot into the enemy base.