STRATEGIES>
HERE ARE A FEW STRATEGIES
general strategies:
Part 1: Economy and Resource Management
Economy
- Concentrate on economy and build up during the early game above all, but always keep economy in the back of your mind until the end. Resources are your life in
StarCraft. There are two important economic theories in RTS games. I call these two
important aspects of RTS gaming
- it can be proved many times that hoarding money gives incredible power in RTS games. If you are richer, you will have a much easier time taking out the opposition. In FFA's hoarding is excellent! Once they become rich, hoarders throw men at the enemy without thinking much of the outcome in order to keep expansions going while their sheer numbers do damage to the enemy. Note: in War2 this is much easier to do than in StarCraft because of stronger defenses in StarCraft.
- Another way to approach your economy is to think of men and buildings in terms of resources. If you keep this in mind, you won't do
inefficient things like waste several precious men saving a cheap building, like a farm
or tower. The mircromanagement player considers each man precious while keeping
in mind when to sacrifice a few men or buildings to kill several of the enemy. Note:
this does not at all imply being defensive, although sometimes you can kill more of
them on defense. Do whatever works. Try to climb the tech-tree quickly and get better
men so your micromanagement is even more effective.
- Understand and apply these theories! The hardest part is knowing when to
concentrate on which since these two theories sometimes oppose each other. My
style of play tries to mesh these two theories while being ultra efficient in the early
build up.
Regarding Resources:
- Usually try to get about 20-25 peons per first base, less if there are few mineral
crystals. The exact number of peons can be determined by a few factors. For
maximum efficiency (if the minerals are relatively close to your hall i.e. command
center/nexus/hatchery) build nearly twice the number of peons as mineral crystals
plus the number of peons on gas plus the number of peons scouting and building
buildings. If minerals are further away you will need more peons. Don't forget to fetch
SCVs when they are done making buildings. For Protoss use one or two probes to
quickly build a few buildings and send them back to minerals quickly thereafter. For
Zerg remember to replace drones when they are "used up" to make a new building.
Get the same number of workers/peons for your second base if you can. Your third
base, if you get it early, shouldn't have as many peons. This is because you will be
using up too much supply (space available for units made by Supply Depots,
Overlords, Pylons) for peons and not fighters, and you will being going way too hard
for economy and will be weak for much too long a period during the game. Usually
just build enough peons for gas at this 3rd mine, and when the "first base" peons are
done walk them over to 3rd base for minerals.
- When mining gas, only put 4 guys into the refinery, unless it is far away. Occasionally you'll get lucky and three workers will do the trick. Just watch and see when they only wait in line one at a time at the gas entrance. If more than one is waiting (they overlap for a bit) you are wasting peons. You will not get gas faster if you put too many peonson the gas mine, but it's better to have one too many peons than not enough. Neveruse gas workers to build buildings. When you expand, pay attention to gas unless itis much higher than your mineral reserve.
Part 2: Build Order
Early Build Up Order for Base and Units:
- General Rules/Theories for efficient build up in the early game can be applied fairly
well to all species/races (Protoss, Terran, Zerg). These rules are generalized for a
medium sized map, with medium defensive abilities. Adapt them accordingly to other
types of maps. Only experience and testing will tell you which maps are best for what.
Some maps call for more concentration on economy and/or techtree, while others call
for more early fighting. I can give some concrete examples. Such maps that favor
early offense are those that are small and/or open (don't contain only one narrow
chokepoint leading to your base). Examples would include Orbital Solar Relay and to
a slightly lesser extent The Hidden Shrine. Some maps are better to defend against
early offense. Defensive maps would often include maps with a long path to your
opponent, big maps, island maps, and maps that have one choke point leading to
your base. Examples of defensive maps would be Dire Straits, Discovery, and to a
slightly lesser degree The Lost Temple.
Early Build Up:
- When building up from the start, quickly separate the 4 peons/workers (i.e. SCV,
Probe, Drone) as you put them on separate mineral crystals. Exclusively build peons
till you are at 7-8 probes/7-8 SCV's/7 drones. Then build a farm equivalent (Overlord,
Pylon, Depot). The general rule is to not build a building if it keeps you from making a
peon, except when resources are far away from your townhall (Nexus, Command
Center, or Hatchery) or if you are forced to make your farm (Supply Depot, Overlord, or
Pylon) and barracks (fighting unit building) in a timely manner. Also, don't make a
fighter if it keeps you from making a peon, unless they are attacking and you are
outnumbered. In that case build men first.
- The next rule to remember is to not build a building if it keeps you from making a
fighter. For instance, if you want to build a ton of marines, don't build 2 barracks if you
can barely afford to make a marine every time a marine is done building/producing in
your first barracks. Instead, wait; when you have more peons/workers you will be able
to afford to support unit production and build new structures at the same time. In the
very early game never queue more than 2 units in any building because it is wasted
resources.
- NOTE: never get so preoccupied in early game with fighting or scouting that you forget
- your economy and build up order. Economy and build up order are the most important
things in the early game.
- Your first base should usually have enough men to counter an early rush. Usually
besides Terran bunkers, no other defensive tower structures need to be built early on
because it will just strain your resources. Don't even build the buildings that are used
for making towers until later on in midgame. Building fighters is better in most all
situations. Towers are best used for cloak detection, anti-air, and as a distraction for
attackers - so use them as such.
Map Types Affecting Build Order:
- There are times when you want to break these early build up rules. It's impossible to
- say when they all are; however, if you understand economy and build up theories well, the times to break them will be more apparent.
- Some good examples of when to break these rules include when you are on a "rush
map" (a rush is often considered to be an early attack with early 'weak' attack units; a
rush map is a map that is small and often open/not easily defended). You'll want to
make attack units a much higher priority, so build your barracks earlier and make
men instead of workers if you absolutely have to.
- Another time to break these rules is when you are on a very defensible map.
Sometimes on the defensive maps you'll want to go up the "tech tree" or expand
quicker - hence you won't be building many fighting units. Instead you'll be building
tech tree buildings or new halls (command center, nexus, hatchery) near away
resources. In this sort of a game get your gas mine going quicker. Basically, break
the build up rules when you need something out of the ordinary to do well in the early
game.
Part 3: Recon, Expansion and Upgrading
Upgrading men:
- In the earlier parts of the game, it is unwise to upgrade armor/weapons/shields very
much at all. They are too expensive in gas. At most, upgrade only one of these things.
Conversely, speed, range, and special/spell upgrades are much more useful. After
you secure another set of resources, then procede to upgrade the armor and
weapons of the units you are using the most. Don't bother with Protoss shield
upgrades until you are rich.
Expanding:
- Before you expand you should have the right number of men to defend or attack for
the specific map and game you are in. Expand nearby if possible so you can defend
both bases at once, or expand in a strange out of the way place on a big map to avoid
being detected and attacked. Beware of scouts like burrowed Zerglings and
observers when expanding.
- Pick easily defendable expansions when it is convenient. For instance, get a small
island expansion instead of a large one because it takes less towers to keep enemy
transports out. Just do not overdefend in the early or mid game since it will make you
hurt for cash.
- Sometimes you should expand a bit early if your offense is doing well, since they
won't be able to attack you easily while defending. If you are really destroying them,
expand and don't worry about defending that base at all. Wait for them to sneak attack
it then build some defenses. Mostly concentrate on not letting them expand since you
have the upper hand.
- Never wait till they expand to expand yourself unless you plan to destroy their
expansion as soon as it is started (or right when the hall is finished building).
Recon:
- Always, always spy on them. Use the 15th or so peon/worker built for scouting
purposes. Of course the later you use your peon, the less this will strain your
economy. However, on rush maps you need to scout with your peon much, much
earlier.
- I can't emphasize it enough - spying is so important. If you see what they are doing
you can counter it by defending it, or even better go offensive against it and hurt them.
If you cannot see them, you have to guess on how to build, so try to keep them from
spying on you. If you have to waste a couple of Overlords (after early game), Marines,
Zealots, or Peons to spy, do it! It will be worth the money!
- Keep an eye on each available resource area. Have men patrolling back and forth
between two resource spots.
- In mid and late game use pylons and depots as cheap "scouts" that extend beyond
your base to help your lookout factor or the middle of the map or
near resources.
Psychological Factors:
- Something that has been said before, and I find it to be so true: don't play
afraid. You have to be thinking in a positive manner. If you start thinking of all of the
holes in your defense, you forget to look at his weaknesses and exploit them. There
is probably never a perfect defense, and if there were it'd be too expensive to make
during the early and mid game. Offense is the best way to go, even if it is the form of
intimidation or pestering. Keep them distracted and they will lose their pattern of
playing. The best players are flexible, so don't think you can beat everyone just by
throwing a new tactic at them.
- Always keep in mind what is important at that time. You can't possibly do everything
you need to at once, so take a few seconds to think of what you need to do. Don't ever
get in a rush to do something without first thinking of what is best. For instance, don't
be afraid to Psionic Storm or Plague a few of your men if it means certain death for
many of their men. Another example of thinking instead of reacting, is to pull your men
out of an attack or a defense if they are certain to lose. Save them for later.
- When you find yourself in a losing battle, ignore all "rules" and do whatever risky tactic
you have to that gives you the best hope for survival. For instance, if they are attacking
your workers and you have no hope of saving them, send all your troops to attack their
workers/weak points in hopes of drawing their attack away. Another example would
be to expand like mad when you are hurt badly. In a FFA I once had to fight two
opponents at once and was nearly wiped out completely. I decided my only hope was
to get tons of money and hope they would be too busy with each other to finish me off.
So I expanded all over, without defending one base. In the end, I pulled it off!
Part 4: Keystrokes, Unit Control
Unit Control:
Keystrokes:
- In the readme file you can find help on keystrokes. Also, under F1 there is a keystroke
help file to read. Read these and learn them well.
- Learn the hotkeys for building men and structures. Always use hotkey for special
abilities. Nothing is worse dying because you couldn't cast Psi Storm, Lockdown, or
Plague in time.
- Use the "ctrl + #" hotkeys to group your units in an organized manner and keep
important unit producing buildings quickly accessible. Just don't go overboard with
organization because time is so precious.
- Use the "A" attack hotkey to move units through areas that aren't visible. This way they
attack anything that's a threat along the way and then continue their journey after
fighting. Use the "M" command to make your units move away from a losing battle
without ever turning back to fight when you don't want them to. The "S" stop hotkey is
great for getting your men to disregard your last order such as attacking a certain
building when you want them to auto-attack other enemy units near them.
- The "P" patrol hotkey also has it's uses. Use it when amongst buildings or a mix of
buildings and men.
- Again, a better key to use for attacking in most areas is the "A" attack hotkey. Select
your group and hit "a" then aim past the target units. Your men will walk towards them
and start attacking as soon as in range. Make sure you specifically tell guys to attack
men if they are going after buildings instead.
- The right click is used for many things including to move units. Use it often, but
beware of it's weaknesses. The specific hotkeys are better to use in many situations.
- Sometimes it is much better to have grouped ranged attackers walk (right click or "M"
for a definite move without attack) nearer the enemy and then have them attack using
the "A" hotkey. This way they'll all get to attack instead of only the ones in the front and
- To attack a building without being attacked from behind, "M" move your guys to the
building. Only right click your units on the building if you are watching your units, or
they'll be attacked from behind and die.
Attack types and Unit Size:
- In the readme there is a section on the types of attacks and the sizes of units. This
greatly affects which units are good against which. For instance, Vultures do great
damage against Zealots but hardly any damage to Dragoon's HP's. Learn all of these
distinctions well!
- Save your fighting men that are being hurt. Walk the ones in the front lines who are
getting attacked to the back; if they will make it, you will still win the fight. Sometimes
depending on the situation it is more efficient to let them fight it out.
- Right click units on other friendly units to make them follow. This keeps them from
ever attacking and is especially useful when you don't want certain units to attack and
alert the enemy of your presence, or to save Protoss Reaver's scarabs from attacking
the wrong targets.
- Use hit and run tactics for fast ranged units against melee units if it kills them better
and you have time to do this.
- Use hit and run tactics with shield batteries for the Protoss.
- Burrow Zerg units when they are at risk of dying and there is no anti-burrow devices
around. Remember that if they are being hit frequently they cannot burrow.
- If an enemy is after one specific unit, have him run in circles around friendly units or
towards friendly units.
- Spread units out to avoid area effect specials. Keep your men moving and there will
be less of a chance they will get hit with the special. You can also place air units
above their own units so their units will get hit by the special too. Send one or two
units to take out the "casters."
- Get all your fighters together when you mount an attack (unless you need a few on
defense). Use the shift key to keep selecting units, then move them all to the same
location. The best way to do this is to right click them all on the selected unit that is
closest to the area you want to go to. That way they will break formation and come
together. Beware of ambushes while doing this.
- Use a few men as a distraction and sacrifice to allow you to cast area effect specials
more accurately. Simply have the decoys fight the enemy and then you have the best
casting opportunities.
Terrran strategies:
Part 1: Terran Infantry Units
- Terrans probably have the safest build-ups early on - build plenty of Marines and then
get Siege Tanks and a Comstat. However, after the early game Terrans need a wide
variety of ground units to win most games. They are the hardest to learn to use
effectively, but have the most adaptable abilities. Terrans have very flexible units
because they can hit ground and air from a distance doing normal (in other words,
full) damage. Terrans have powerful anti-air units on the ground and in the air. They
also have direct counters for nearly all types of units by using Lockdown, EMP
Shockwave, or Irradiate. Terrans have a strong defense, and Siege Tanks make for
great defense killers early and throughout the game. Terrans have an edge with their
flexibility and strong countering potential. Probably the most frightening thing for
Terrans is the Zerg's Dark Swarm since most of their attack types are ranged. But,
Spider Mines, Irradiate, and splash damage from Siege Tanks do a nice job still�
not to mention Firebats whose attacks hit through Swarm. Plague is another big deal,
not to mention Psi Storm, but these specials are deadly to any race.
Units and Important Structures:
- Bunkers: Bunkers are nearly essential for an early Terran build-up. Bunkers protect
from Psi Storm, Broodling, and Irradiate. Use bunkers early on to counter early
offensive maneuvers better than any other race can. Use bunkers to protect Ghosts
and SCVs on the front lines. Don't forget to repair bunkers as they are being attacked.
Use bunkers to protect from air and Mutalisks especially: marines inside do normal
(full) damage to Mutalisks (Zerg flyer who takes half damage from Goliath, Turret, and
Wraith Missles) and Mutalisks cannot easily kill the high hitpoints of the bunkers.
Marines and should be the main inhabitants of bunkers, with the occasional Firebat.
Having men in bunkers also hides what type of infantry you are producing, so it's
good to hide ghosts in them. Sometimes you can be sneaky and have only 1 or 2
men in a bunker; it will still act to keep enemies away since they'll expect it to be full.
- SCVs: Believe it or not, these little guys can be your most powerful attacking
weapon. Their ability to build towers (missle turrets) and bunkers and repairing units
and structures will aid tremendously in your attacks. Protect them always when using
them in this manner. A good way to protect them is to stick them in bunkers. SCVs
can be used to kill spider mines without setting the mines off. The first units the
enemy should kill from your attack force is your SCVs.
- Marines: Marines are cheap and easily killed, but they can kick tons of butt! They are
great for taking out other race's towers; the towers attack slowly and can only hit 1
marine at a time, plus the range of Marines gets them quickly into killing range of the
towers. Marines do normal (full) damage to air and ground, so are very useful in any
situation. With stimpack, they can do huge damage! (keep in mind stimpack usage
takes 10 hit points away, so use it when your men are likely to die and you want them
to get maximum hurt on the enemy). I recommend researching range for these guys
rather early on. I research stimpacks in games where marines are doing a lot of
rushing in without the cover of bunkers. Marines are small and can fit through tiny
spaces. Always remember to build extra barracks when you have excess minerals.
Early on Marines should beware of Spider Mines, Guardians, lots of Hydralisks, lots
of Zealots, Psi Storm, and Reavers. Later on, Archons, Ultralisks, carriers, and
guardians are good marine killers.
- Firebats: Firebats are good for killing Zerglings and Zealots; you will need lots to kill
zealots though (same number of at least). 'Bats are also great to drop off in the peon
resource line to kill peons quick (bats do splash damage which means they hit
several guys at once). Bats can't hurt friendly troops unlike Siege Tank shots and
infested Marines. A few Firebats in bunkers will annihilate attacking Zealots and
Zerglings. Never go nuts building bats since they cost gas. Bats are my least used
terran unit. Oh, and as with Marines, with stimpacks they can do unbelievable
damage.
- Ghosts: Ghosts are one of my favorite Terran units! When you need ghosts, make a
lot of them since they die easily and can only Lockdown once or twice. Remember to
build ghosts before you research their specials if gas is scanty. Remember, unless
you can afford the expensive and slow building battle cruisers, ghosts are your only
way to kill Protoss air units well by using Lockdown. Ghosts can be put in bunkers for
protection. The biggest enemy of a ghost is the Protoss Observer. Try to have towers
near your ghosts to spot the Observers. Placing defensive matrix on a ghost is a good
idea if he needs protection. Keep "casting" matrix on him till his job is done.
Remember, a ghost is primarily a support unit.
Ghost Special Abilities
- Cloak: Ghosts can cloak to sneak around, which can be useful when dealing
with large groups of Carriers or while spying for a friendly Siege Tank. This is
great because you can instigate enemy units with your long attack range and
sometimes make them run into your defense/trap of mines and Siege Tanks.
Always use cloak when nuking. Also, when you get rid of their towers, use
cloak to sneak in on enemy Siege Tanks and lock them down so you can
move in your forces for the kill! Cloak should be the third thing you research for
your ghosts.
- Lockdown: Ghosts with Lockdown are the best counter for Protoss and
Terran air units. Remember to have air killers nearby to clean up once you
have locked down enemies. Don't forget to use Lockdown on Tanks, Reavers,
Dragoons, and other mechanical units. Be careful not to cloak in such a way
that it lowers your ability to lockdown when vulnerable enemy air units are
approaching. For example, when a ghost has full energy with the energy
upgrade, he can only cloak for a few seconds before his ability to lockdown is
reduced from 2 lockdowns to 1. Lockdown should be the first thing you
research for your ghosts.
- Nuke: If you are able to Lockdown several expensive units, that would be a
good time to use a nuke to kill them all quickly. There was one game where I
was able to Lockdown something like 8 Carriers, an Arbiter, and a couple
Scouts with my army of ghosts; I then proceeded to nuke them all! Nuke also
comes in handy when Terrans are sieging your town (use it to make them
scatter); when they have a ton of defensive structures (towers) and you want to
move in; and when they have a lot of expansions (they'll have to guess where
that nuke will be going off). Since you should be cloaked while nuking, watch
out for towers and other detectors when nuking - don't waste your nuke! When
in doubt, save the nuke for later. Try not to nuke right where you are fighting
without proper cover because it is likely your ghost's laser sight will be spotted
and the ghost will be killed. However, if you need to do this (like when
defending a big attack), use several ghosts and defensive matrix, so the odds
of them guessing which ghost is nuking is slim - and if they do they have to hit
through his matrix.
- Energy capacity: Always upgrade the energy capacity of your Ghosts. This
should be the second thing you research, right after lockdown. It gives him
longer cloak ability and he will be able to use two Lockdowns while cloaked.
- Ocular Implants: This upgrade allows your Ghost to see farther. Definitely get
this upgrade if you plan to utilize the nuclear warheads. The extra sight range
could be just enough to be clear of your enemy's towers and other
cloak-seeing units.
Part 2: Terran Ground and Air Attack Units
- Vultures: Good to kill Zealots, Zerglings, and Marines. In a pack of 5 or more,
Vultures are excellent rushers past a weak defense where you can kill lost of peons.
Vultures are super fast; you can research a speed upgrade which helps even more.
You can use a lone Vulture to take out Zealots that don't have backup: simply hit and
run carefully. Just don't waste too much precious time if you can help it.
Vulture Bike Upgrades
- Spider Mines: Spiders are a great weapon for offense and defense.
Remember Vultures, Archons, and workers don't set off spider mines. When
attacking a base, set spider mines in front of barracks and factories to kill
newly produced fighters. Don't put the mines near larva unless you want to kill
them because they will set the mines off. Spider mines are cloaked, so they
do well to spy for you. The spider mine's minor enemies are cheap weak units
(Zerglings/Broodlings) who disarm them for cheap. The spider mine's greater
enemies are air units, workers, Vultures, and Archons who can all attack your spider mines with out bein detected by them. mines can also be shot
at range by Hydralisks, Dragoons and Siege Tanks. Sometimes a group of
range attackers can kill the spider mine as it flies towards it's target.
- Goliaths: Affectionately called Golgos by my friend Studman, Goliaths are good
anti-air units, and are just ok against ground units. They are really good against the
large air units: all of the Protoss air except for Observers, Battle Cruisers, and
Guardians. Marines can often do the job just as well or better when bunkered. I
usually don't go crazy making Goliaths. Like other Terran units, They can be repaired
however, so they are not useless.
- Siege Tanks: The tanks are another favorite Terran unit! They should make up a
good portion of your men in most games. In siege mode they have a greater range
than towers, Reavers and Templar's trying to cast Psi Storm. Use a scout or Comstat
scanner to take full advantage of their range (they can hit further than their sight).
Ghosts cloaked and spider mines also make nice scouts, as well as flying units.
Also, lone marines are good scouts since they are expendable. Without Siege mode,
the Terran tanks are mostly useless. Siege Mode is great for both defense and offense. Set them up near choke points or bring them in during a base assault.
- Dropships: Nothing out of the ordinary with them. You can drop Marines or Firebats
into peons. They are rather slow and cannot be upgraded. This is not a huge deal,
especially when deciding to move peons to new minerals, since you can fly a pre-built
command center or barracks to plateaus since the Terrans have the ability to move
their buildings.
- Wraiths: These guys are good to have when you have some room to breathe during
the game. They are good to attack the enemy when they don't have cloak detection
around. Beware of Terran Comstats scanners which can cut thru cloak (simply run
away when they use it.) Don't build too many Wraiths unless you are rich because
they are expensive and die very easily. Wraiths and goliaths are my last priority.
Wraith Upgrades
- Cloak: Be sure not to cloak and then uncloak soon after when you need cloak
- again in the next 20 seconds, or you'll waste too much energy. Initializing cloak
consumes 25 energy right off the bat. You are better off leaving cloak on.
- Energy Upgrade: You can upgrade the energy capacity of the Wraiths allowing
them to cloak for longer periods of time.
- Battle Cruisers: Cruisers are slow but do good damage and are difficult to kill with
anything short of Zerg Scourge or Plague. One shot from a Battle Cruiser can kill a
Scourge. Keep this in mind, and you can deal with Zerg air much easier. It takes 5
scourge to kill a Cruiser, so cast defensive matrix on your BC, have other Cruisers
backing the "matrixed" one or have other anti-air guys to kill scourge. Beware of
chasing carriers though, because they can hit you with interceptors as you chase
them. Besides, you can't catch them anyway. Battle Cruisers are too slow.
Battle Cruiser Upgrades
- Yamato Cannon: With Yamato Cannon, Battle Cruisers can kill towers and
enemy units from a great range. Use Comstat scanners to scout ahead so
you can aim your Yamato blast! The first things you want to kill with your
Yamato are: Observers escorting Carriers (so your Ghosts will be invisible),
towers (when you need to move in Ghosts to Lockdown tanks, Reavers, etc),
Arbiters, Science Vessels, Queens, and Defilers. I would try to take out
templars with tanks or other ground units since they are fairly easy to kill.
- Energy Upgrade: Upgrades the energy reserves of the Battle Cruiser. If you
plan on using their yamato, get this soon.
- Science Vessels: Use these for spotting for your Siege Tanks, especially for
spotting Ghosts. Science vessels are an extremely expensive gas unit so treat them
with care. All of the vessels specials are very powerful.
Science Vessel Upgrades
- Irradiate: Irradiate is excellent versus Zerg (especially Scourge, Zerglings,
drones), SCVs, and Zealots. My good friend Asuka has taught me well that
Irradiate and missile turrets are your best defense and offense against Zerg's
Scourge and Guardians! Irradiate works on any "living" unit. Don't bother
casting it on a Wraith or Goliath, etc. You won't do any damage.
- EMP Shockwave: EMP gets rid of enemy unit's energy and shields, so it is
good to use before an attack on Protoss and also to hurt the "mage" type units
by ridding them of energy - not to mention taking guys out of cloak and
countering Battle Cruiser's Yamato. Be sure not to cast EMP Shockwave on
friendly units that have energy!
- Defensive Matrix: Not an upgrade; Matrix comes with each Science Vessel.
Matrix is an excellent special that allows you to put a 250 point shield on any
unit. Use this on Tanks, Battle Cruisers, other Science Vessels, and Ghosts
so they can accomplish their tasks easier. Defensive Matrix on your air units is
a nice counter for Scourge in small numbers. Remember shields take full
damage from any attack.
- ComStat Scanner: Finally, the other important "unit" worth mentioning on the Terran
side is the ComStat scanner. Use it to scan the enemy base periodically to see what
they are up to so you know where they are weak or strong. Use it to look at
expandable areas to catch them building a new base. Use it before a fight to see
what is ahead and see cloaked/burrowed guys. Use it while defending for same
reasons as before a fight. Always have 2 ComStat stations hotkeyed with control + a
number. Make this consistent each game, so you never have to hesitate to think. This
makes things quick and also allows you to react to cloaked attackers.
Part 3: Terran Build Order and Defensive Tactics
Normal Buildup:
- The basic build up for Terrans is like so: Supply Depot, Barracks, Supply Depot,
Barracks, Supply Depots as needed, Gas Refinery, Depots as needed, Factory,
Depots as needed, Factory. After the 1st or 2nd Barracks make bunkers as needed.
You can continue to pump out marines the entire time, or slow them down a little and
go for more tanks or whatever you need.
- Another good build up for bigger maps is to skip the second Barracks and go for the
Refinery early and then Factories. Later you can build another Barracks. This is great
for getting superior ground units. Be careful if they go for air though, you'll likely need
to get Goliaths (requiring an Armory) or build another Barracks.
- Don't forget that you can fly buildings over to new islands or plateaus to start a new
base quickly.
- If you are expecting to be rushed, you should probably begin building bunkers after
the first Barracks and have them loaded with Marines. Zealot rushes and Zergling
rushes typically get wiped by Marine-filled bunkers. Place them strategically so they
cover most of your base (including your crystals area).
- Some of the offensive and defensive strategies break the normal rules of building up.
Follow the build up rules when applicable though.
Terrans Defense Strategies:
- Early on get two bunkers at your choke point and fill it with marines. If you put Spider
Mines in front and Siege Tanks behind, nobody is coming in for a while.
- If you are on an open map like The Hidden Shrine, you will be forced to put bunkers
amongst your buildings, mainly near your peons. Try to have everything protected by
the bunkers until you can get Tanks and Spider Mines. If you can block off much of
your bunker's sides with depots and barracks, it will be more protected from melee
attacks.
- Walling off: Terrans can wall off better than anybody. If you have a choke point, make two bunkers like usual, but then put a barracks so that it blocks the space between the bunkers. Put extra marines behind the bunkers. If you get attacked repair the buildings. Later you can raise the barracks to put siege tanks inside, or missille turrets on the sides. door. When it's all walled off, only really small guys like Zerglings and marines can fit through, but they will die. If there is a large opening, you can also use depots to fill in the holes.
- Your best defense against large groups of ground units early on is mining with
Spider Mines. Beware of Overlords spotting them, mostly if they have the speed
upgrade. This will break up Zealot rushes and Hydralist rushes. Place mines a nice
distance from your men and structures so you can't be hurt by their splash damage.
Remember that your first and primary defense is bunkered marines.
Raise or fly buildings away from danger � very useful against a pack of Zerglings
or a force of Zealots.
- Terrans versus Mutalisk rush on island map: Mutalisks can fly around hunting for
expansion bases, destroying them before they get started. A nice Terran defensive
strategy was developed by EnoYls. For this one, fly your first barracks over to a good
expansion island. Make marines like crazy there and at home. Build bunkers at home.
Quickly get two dropships and move some SCVs to the expansion island. Beware of
Scourge! Then go for Battle Cruisers and a couple of Science Vessels. By that time
you should be doing fine. Another way to get your command center started would be
to make it at home, then fly it over.
Terrans versus Hydralisk drop on island map: Never forget to have a defense early
on an island map. Build your usual units and bunkers. The trick is that there is no
choke point. You probably are safest by going hard marines, but Spider Mines are
nice too.
- Use Spider Mines and Siege Tanks (splash damage) to hit through dark swarm.
Irradiate defilers and such through the swarm also.
- Use Irradiate to kill Guardians. Try to have tons of Science Vessesls, and support
them with bunkers and towers so scourge can't get through. They are costly on gas,
so you must protect them.
- Take the plateaus whenever possible! Bunkers and Siege Tanks are great up there.
Turrets also do great for slowing down airborne offensive guys.
- Always get lockdown in a long game against Protoss. They will try to Reaver or
Carrier attack you. Lock them down! Be sure to have Golaiths, Wraiths, or Battle
Cruisers to finish off the locked air units. Don't forget you can Lockdown Reavers.
Take them out with Siege Tanks when they are disabled.
- Once you get rich, build missle turrets all over the place. Your bases should be
turreted up well to keep out transport drops in the late game.
- Use Science Vessels and Battle Cruisers with the rest of the usual defenders to
make it especially hard to be penetrated. Yamato and irradiate the big threats.
Part 4: Terran Offensive Tactics
Offense:
- Terrans can advance and kill ground bases with bunkers, towers, and Siege Tanks
(make sure you have enough).. keep making more bunkers further ahead and move
up Siege Tanks. Beware of Reavers, Templars, and Queens.
- The Marine rush is best accomplished with three barracks early on. Don't forget the
academy when you can afford it. And get Firebats to kill Zerglings and Zealots if it is
convenient. Attack in packs of 12 or more. Keep the pressure on but still keep going
up the tech tree.
- Repair all mechanical units when they are damaged, especially when they are
expensive units like Cruisers, Science Vessels, Tanks and Goliaths. Don't waste too
much time repairing in a tight battle; don't forget to hold the shift key and right click on
several damaged units in sequence so your SCV will go repair them all. You can
queue up to 12 commands with the shift key. Always bring a few SCV's with you in
your attacks so they can repair and build turrets and bunkers.
- You can wall off your enemy with bunkers and barracks if they have a chokepoint.
This is fairly risky if they scout early. Press the attack while you have the advantage
though, or they'll get something to counter your trick.
- Going hard Marines is very powerful against Zerg if they try to climb the tech tree.
Hydralisks only do half damage to marines, so if you upgrade your Marines a bit, they
can really do well. If you bring a Tank or two, Queens won't be able to get near them to
cast Broodling if you position yourself well. The only thing you need to fear is Plague,
Ultralisks, or Guardians. And you should attack before they have any of that.
- Terran versus Terran can be a war of Siege Tanks. Break it up with Ghosts and
Lockdown, and if you get rich with Battle Cruisers. Be sure to have turrets all over later on to protect from cloaked Wraiths.
- Against Protoss, try to get Spider Mines early. Mine the area in front of them and
with Tanks and Marines before they get Shuttles. Expect Shuttle drops on your
SCVs if they do. Expand while you have them at a disadvantage. Use Tanks in a spread out manner so that if they run at you with Zealots they will likely lose them
all while you'll only lose a tank or two.
- Vulture rush versus Protoss: Build only one barracks. Quickly build two Factories,
and don't add the machine shop. Pump out vultures like mad. When you get about 6
or 8, start attacking the Protoss. If you are lucky, they won't have Dragoons, and your
Vultures can destroy their Zealots. Also try to hit the peons. Keep sending the Vultures
if it is working, and you'll likely win.
- In late game, Battle Cruisers can be a powerful offensive weapon. Use their
Yamatos and high hit points to wade through troops and towers. Back them up with
Ghosts, Science Vessels (for matrix), and Tanks and you'll do great. Take out towers
and Observers with the Yamato, then lock everything down with the Ghost. Or if he's
Zerg, mine the place with Vultures and use Battle Cruisers to clean up the air.
Irradiate the dangerous guys like Scourge and Defilers. You can use Yamato to kill off
dangerous guys like Defilers, Ultralisks, and Arbiters. Use Defensive Matrix to extend
the Battle Cruiser's life to incredible lengths. Don't forget: Repair your expensive units
after battle.
- Use EMP Shockwave every time you attack the Protoss, especially if there are
Archons around. Don't forget to use it on their Templars to waste their energy. Use
EMP to spot hallucinations.
- Use Irradiate on Templars and Zealots and use irradiate on burrowed units to kill
them sneakily.
- Get a group of 3 Science Vessels and go irradiate all of their SCVs or drones. Ouch!
- Spider mines are great for killing burrowed guys too. The mines seek them out if
they are within range. Nothing satisfies me more than seeing the popping of
burrowed Zerg units when my spider mines destroy them!
- When you can afford it, get a nuke and carefully sneak a couple of Ghosts near their
town or near their grouped forces. Use Defensive Matrix if they spot your Ghost. Try to
distract them with a fight somewhere else, then go for the nuke! Remember: nukes
won't kill large buildings in one shot but will annihilated all units. Against the Protoss,
EMP Shockwave first if at all possible; you'll do greater damage to the buildings.
Zerg strategies:
Part 1: Basic Units
- The Zerg have few weaknesses. But to counterbalance that is the sheer quantity of
units they can have and everything seems to balance out nicely. They are prone to
area attack specials and Irradiate. They can only heal at a steady rate (a big deal for
Queens, Guardians, and Ultralisks) while other races have repair and shield battery.
Their specials must be cast before opposing forces mixwith yours, thus you can't
react slowly to an attack versus Zealots, etc - you must have good recon.
- The Zerg's strengths are very important in any game. Zergs benefit highly from
weapon upgrades (because lots of Hydra/Zergling). Zerglings benefit most from
attack upgrades (along with Protoss Interceptors) since they both start out at 5
damage and go to 8 damage - that's a 60% increase in damage! Get the zergling
attack rate upgrade and you basically double your damage. The Zerg expand and
gather resources better than anybody. Use your second hatchery in your first town to
get closer to the minerals or gas. Their hatchery is super versatile (it can produce any
type of unit) and they can get a defense or offense of any type quickly by producing
three or six units at a time per base.
Units and Important Structures:
- Overlord: With the speed upgrade, these are excellent, cheap scouts. Use them to
watch resources, and spot spider mines and wraiths. If someone foolishly tries to go
around killing them with air units, get your scourge ready!
- Drone: You can counter irradiate or parasite by changing your drone into a building.
Use a drone early on as a quick scout. Remember to keep him alive if possible
(marines pose the most threat). Drones do not set off spider mines, so use them to
attack spotted ones if convenient. You can burrow these guys when an enemy sneaks
into your base.
- Zergling: Zerglings make good cheap scouts early on. Very good scouts once you
research burrow. Place them throughout the map especially at resources. Always
have one Zergling burrowed/scouting a bit ahead of your base to detect incoming
- trouble and another right in front of their main base to detect units moving out. Don't
go too wild very early on with placing Zerglings as scouts because you will need them
to fight. However, the more the game progresses, the more Zergling scouts you
should use. These guys are your main defense for early offenders, and also your best
bet at getting a rush in quick, especially useful against the Protoss. Zerglings are
great building killers including towers. They are very powerful when their attack is
upgraded.
- Hydralisks: Better known as Hydras, are arguably the best unit in the game. They
are very cheap, 75 minerals and 25 gas; they are very quick to build; they have a
ranged attack with a quick fire rate that kills air and ground units well; and they move
fairly quickly once upgraded for speed. Their big weaknesses are spider mines,
Siege Tanks, Psi Storm, and Reavers. Hydras kill buildings and towers quickly.
- With careful control, a group of Hydras can take out a similarly numbered group of
Zealots (especially if the Zealots don't have the speed upgrade and you do.) The
more fighters involved, the better for the Hydras. The reason? The fact that you can
"walk around" the Hydras that are taking damage to the back of the Hydra group if the
group is positioned correctly. Some Hydras will not be able to make it, but the majority will, and that means that the Zealots have to choose to follow the ones doing the walk around and get hit all the while by the other hydras, or start over on the Hydras that are at the new front line. If they go for the new front, they Hydras that did the walk around can start firing on the Zealots again.
- Hydras can cut through Zerglings, Marines (unless the marines are in greater
numbers and sometimes with stimpacks), a tad lesser numbers of Zealots, etc. They
kill all things quickly, especially towns. Always upgrade the speed for hydras, and if
you aren't needing queens and can afford the gas, upgrade the range too. Once you
have an expansion, you definitely want to upgrade their attack damage since they fire
so quickly and you should have so many of them.
- To give you the idea of the power of hydras, let it be known that 4 hydras with no
upgrades can kill an Ultralisk with no upgrades without much walk around around
usage. At worst you'll lose a Hydra. Compare the prices: 4 hydras = 300 minerals and
100 gas and 4 supply, while an Ultralisk costs 200 minerals and 200 gas and 6
supply. What does this mean? It means that the hydras are a much better deal since
they take less gas and are anti-air. The Ultralisks are better in situations that involve
many Archons, Psi Storm, or terran defense.
Part 2: Advanced Units
- Queens: Queens are the early flying mages of the Zerg. They are fast and can take
a fair beating. Their "spell casting" range is the best of any of the mage units of any
race, so make sure you calculate that into your tactics. Always upgrade the energy
capacity after you have three or four queens. Remember how early flying units can get
anywhere quickly, so use them in every fight.
Queen Casting Powers
- Parasite: The best scouting device in the game. Parasite is irreversible except
by drones transforming into buildings. This makes it very useful to keep track
of transports (so you can Scourge them easily), Reavers, Archons, Battle
Cruisers, Arbiters, and any power unit that you can't cast Broodling on. It also
is useful for countering cloaking of Wraiths, Ghosts, spider mines, etc. Always
make it a point to parasite a few peons at the enemy's base and a few regular
fighters. Use an Overlord or two to draw anti-air fire so you can move in with
your Queens. Sacrifice your Overlords, but only sacrifice Queens in extreme
cases like if you have to in order to break into a base.
- Broodling: This spell is designed to take out Siege Tanks, Goliaths, and
Templars; but it can also be useful for SCV's, drones, Dragoons, and Zealots.
I wouldn't waste it on cheap fighters like Marines or Zerglings.
- Ensnare: Often used to reveal cloaked units, Ensnare also servers to slow the
speed and attack rate of any unit. Make sure you cast it before your units mix
with the enemy. Thankfully, ranged units rarely mix, so you can continue to
cast it on air units and most terran units. One of the best uses for Ensnare is
to slow Protoss Scouts so you can scourge them before they run away.
- Infest Terran Command Center: This is an inate ability of the queen, and if
she is around she'll do it automatically. You can then make infested marines
from the Infested Command Center.
- Infested marine: They are like WarCraft 2 sappers. Aim them carefully to take
out Depots and other weak buildings. They can burrow when you research it.
- Broodling: These are created from the Broodling spell. They are good for
killing turrets or sometimes workers if no other units are around. A fun fact:
you can Broodling a Broodling and even a larva! A nice way to humiliate your
opponent when he's down.
- Ultralisk: The Ultra is the big, tough, hard hitting monster of The Hive. When you can
afford them, you will want many of these guys. As noted above, Hydras are less gas
expensive and can pack a similar punch, but the Ultras can really bust through
defenses and take a beating like no other Zerg unit. Their only real weaknesses are
spider mines, Irradiate (which only partly kills them), and several Reavers backed up
by many Zealots. It takes about four lone Zealots to kill an Ultra. Zealots are like
Hydras - they are very tough. A large group of Archons is a threat too because of their
splash damage, but if you have Hydras or Guardians backing up your Ultras you'll do
just fine.
- Defiler: An inexpensive, but very useful "mage." These strange crawlers are very
versatile and are sneaky when combined with the burrow command. Their biggest
enemies are Irradiate, spider mines, Guardians, Carriers, and Reavers.
Defiler Special Attacks
- Plague: This special has a deadly effect by bringing enemy hit points down to
nothing. Use it to break defenses and permanently cripple Protoss units like
Carriers and Reavers. It is especially good for killing bunkers, turrets, and
Siege Tanks - the Terran's big defense. It will not bring a building with a great
amount of hit points down very far.
- Dark Swarm: Dark Swarm provides ground units protection from ranged
attacks, but not splash damage, Scarabs, Firebats, or specials like Storm or
Irradiate. This spell is great for offense and defense. Use it to get your Defilers
close enough to cast Plague on a Terran defense. Use it to cover your
Zerglings and Ultras as they raze a town. Cast it over Hydras to allow them to
kill air units with no fear of retaliation. Used in conjunction with consume, you
can play very nasty games against range attack units. Don't forget it doesn't
protect air units or buildings.
- Consume: Use this on Zerglings or other convenient, cheap, friendly units to
keep your energy in check. You do not get more energy for bigger units, so
don't bother. Consume does take a few seconds to coordinate, so it isn't
easily abused. It takes four or five Zerglings to fill up your defilers, so try not to
depend too much of this right on the front lines, but do use it when needed.
- Scourge are the most deadly air weapon. Use them wisely and you will be taking
out any air units of the enemy. Don't go wild making them because their gas cost will
add up quickly. Besides, they produce so quickly you can just wait till the threat is
there then produce them on many occasions.
- Mutalisks: These Zerg flyers are fairly weak in small numbers, but can be
devastating in great numbers! Mutas are extremely fast with a quick acceleration.
Their acceleration is better than the Protoss Scout. They need to watch out for Psi
Storm, many Marines, and especially bunkers with Marines. If you keep your Mutalisks moving, they will never be hurt too badly by Psi storm, so don't worry. Also, if you position your Mutalisks over their men (like workers!), they will storm on their own forces. Try not to overlap your Mutas too much when they are still or one good Storm
can take them all out if they don't move when hit with it. If they do move to attack the
Templar, right as they are hit with it, they will typical survive, but barely. Mutalisks with
Scourge are very good for preventing expansions on island maps.
- Their damage hits for 9, then 3, then 1� it's a 3 hit attack. This makes them much
more effective if there are many Mutas attacking your enemies. Think of it sorta as a
weak splash damage.
- Guardians: These long range air siegers are so powerful just because of their flying
abilities. This allows them to get into any advantageous position (above a plateau to
fire for instance), and they can take out all the land siegers (Tanks/Reavers) and
towers in the game. Their big weaknesses are Scourge, Scouts, Battle Cruisers,
Irradiate, and Carriers. When escorted by Scourge, a couple of Mutas, and Hydras,
they have nothing to fear. Be wary of Archons or Templars however. If you are
careless either of those two can kill your guardians quickly. Guardians eat Marines for
lunch in any normal game, so laugh at the player who sends 10 marines to kill your 4
guardians! Beware of Psi Storm when attacking buildings.
- Spore Colony: This is the only Zerg tower that sees cloak. Have a couple at each
base once you are rich. Never build towers early, except against Zealot rushes� and
even then you don't need to, you can just use Zerglings.
Part 3: Zerg Build Order and Defensive Tactics
Build Order:
- Follow the usual build up guidelines. After your seventh drone get another Overlord.
Get Spawning Pool around tenth or twelfth drone. If you fear a rush, make some
Zerglings. If not, get second hatchery around fifteenth drone, and then your Hydra
Den. Go for hard Hydras for a while till you see what they have. You can build your gas
extractor early if you want to go for Queens soon, or right around the tenth drone
otherwise.
- Some of these strats break the normal rules of building up. Follow the build up rules
when applicable though.
Defense:
- On defensive maps, try to get Guardians early. Back them up with Scourge.
Use Zerglings to block chokepoints. Have Hydras behind them for best results.
For most general maps, go for huge amounts of Hydras. If you scout well, they will
be very potent. Go for Hydra transport drops in their weak points of their town.
- It's sometimes good to burrow to hide your men. Many players enjoy performing this
because it looks fun. However, it is very bad to have your men pop up at the last
second during an enemy's attack because it will allow the enemy to penetrate deeper
into your town and allow the enemy to gain a few free hits as your men unburrow.
Have a scout of some sort ahead of burrowed men in your town and be alert!
- Use tons of Zerglings early and tons of Hydras later to defend. Avoid using sunken colonies which tax your resources. If you do use sunkens, place buildings or Zerglings in front of them to slow down other Zerglings or Zealot attackers. Make sure the Sunkens protect your drones.
Against Terrans:
- Be wary of Siege Tanks and spider mines. You need speed on Overlords and one Hydra to get around and disarm the mines. You need Broodling and several Queens to kill the Tanks. If time allows, Guardians are an even better way to beat tanks. Watch for what the Terrans are going for. If they go for air later in the game, get Scourge. Use Ensnare and Plague every chance you get. Be sure to burrow Defilers who are out in the open.
- Always try to expand to islands with the Zerg. They have the best air defense with
Scourge and Spore Colonies for support.
- Beware of Reavers. Always parasite them and their counterpart, the Shuttle. Always
try to parasite Transports, Wraiths, and a few peons. Always parasite Archons. These
guys die easily if you have enough Hydras or Ultras, and especially if you Ensnare the
Archons first. Always parasite all of Protoss and Terran air units. Scourge them when
they are vulnerable.
- Use Broodling to kill Templars. These guys are your worst enemy in many games.
Use ensnare or plague to spot halluciantions.
- Use Broodlings to set off spider mines, or if you need to disarm the mines quickly
use Zerglings.
Part 4: Zerg Offensive Tactics
Offense:
- The "four drone only" build up on small rush maps is very powerful for 1 on 1
games. Don't make a drone with the initial 50 minerals. Instead get minerals, then
make a Spawning Pool as soon as you have 150 minerals. Then make drones and
one Overlord. Save two supply slots for four Zerglings. Be scouting with the Overlord.
You can eliminate one of the three other starting spots on maps like Orbital Relay.
Make four Zerglings as soon as you can. Go attack the other guy; he shouldn't even
have a Barracks. This is very deadly and somewhat cheesy. They need to scout with a
super early peon to catch you doing this.
- Hydra and Queens with Broodling can beat almost anything fairly early in the game.
Just make sure you make the correct number of queens. An exception is against
Reavers plus Zealots, and an incredible number of upgraded marines.
- Place Zerglings in front of Hydras while attacking low level guys. This is Asuka's
Zergling Wall, and it protects your hydras well.
- Use Muta's triple hit attack as a sneaky way of attacking towers from a distance without taking any damage.
- Quick to Guardians against Protoss:Make several sunken colonies - maybe five. Quickly climb the tech tree to Guardians. Go attack as soon as you can with the Guardians. They are very hard to counter early on maps with lots of water.
- Mutalisk rush on island maps:This is very powerful. Go straight to Mutas: skip making Zerglings or Hydras. Have all your Overlords watching their island for transports. Attack the transports quickly with Mutas and Scourge. Attack their peons if they have an opening. Watch for Marines. Expand and keep the pressure up. Never let them expand. Eventually get Guardians and take them down.
- Zergling plus Muta rush vs Protoss on land: This is a deadly strategy. Start attacking
early with Zerglings, and if the attack works well keep it up. Go to Mutas (don't make
Hydra den). Likely they will have few Dragoons, so when you go in with Mutas take any anti air out, and clean up. Use Zerglings to kill any Dragoons you see.
- Zerg against Zerg: Use early Zerglings to defend. Then use all Hydras and a few
Qeens to Ensnare to fight them. If they go for Mutas you'll have the advantage. If they
go for Zerglings or Queens� again you should win.
- In any stalemate type situation, try to get Guardians and Scourge. Back them up with
ground guys, and you will probably break through. If the game goes on even more, try
Defilers and their tricks to get through. Plague is an excellent way to get through
Siege Tanks and bunkers. Make dark swarm clouds and have Zerglings go first to
draw fire, then get Defilers in and plague all of them.
- Sometimes it's best just to run in with Ultras and Zerglings. If you have enough of
them, they can help break annoying defenses and speed the enemy's death.
- In late game, get Zerglings upgraded well. Either support them with Dark Swarm, or
send them in suicide constantly to keep the enemy on guard while you steal
resources all over the map.
- Ensnare Protoss Scouts then Scourge them. This will counter their speed upgrade
completely.
- If attacking a Protoss defender, take out his shield batteries and Templars first.
Then go for the rest. Don't forget you can Plague cannons, pylons, and shield
batteries. Remember that Guardians kill Templars well from a distance. Don't let
cannons distract you from the deadly Templars.
- To kill air effectively, distract the enemy air units with a couple of Overlords or
Mutalisks, then come in with the Scourge. Be sure you can kill them because if they
can repair or shield battery, you wasted much gas.
Part 5: strange strategies:
critter spawn
- use broodlings on a roaming critter, and you get two attacking creatures for the price of one critter.
sick critter
- use parasite on a critter to have a roaming spy
Protoss strategies:
Part 1: Ground Units
- The Protoss units are usually able to take and give more damage than the other
race's units. The strength of the Protoss lies in their power in few numbers, which
makes organizing attacks easier. Their weakness is in their inflexibility in the tech tree
and their great expense. After making Zealots and maybe a few Dragoons, the
Protoss player is forced to make a decision to go for Shuttles/Reavers,
Templars/Archons, or Scouts/Carriers. You need excellent recon to determine which
way to go. Once you have an expansion you can have more variety which you will likely need if the game lasts very long. Never think about making Arbiters or Carriers until you have expanded.
Units and Important Structures:
- Shield Battery: These are very important for most all of your games. Build them a
considerable amount of time before you need them since it takes time for their energy
to fill. They are best used with units with far/ranged attacks like Carriers.
- Pylons: They are prime targets during an attack. Have more than one pylon
supporting your important structures always. I often used farms in WarCraft 2 as
scouts of a sort. The pylon is also useful in this way. Once you have your basic ones
established, occasionally use new ones placed far in front of your base entrance to
alert you of oncoming threats. Later in the game, you can build one at each resource
collection to alert you of expansions. They are better than farms since farms in
WarCraft 2 cost wood, while pylons only cost minerals, the more abundant resource.
- Photon Cannons: They are good for spotting cloaked/burrowed units (especially
spider mines) and in late game they are powerful in huge bunched numbers. They
don't have many hit points and don't fire quickly, but they can hit air and ground units
(they have the exact same range for both ground and air, although if an air unit moves
away at high speeds the cannon will not miss� making it's range seem great). Use
them mostly to slow down enemy attacks so you can get important troops there in
time.
- Probe: The probe is your best early scout. They are your typical worker, except for
the fact that they are very small and can leave a building while it is being warped in.
if your opponent is building Mutalisks, you had better bring about three probes with Dragoons or Archons for backup. Probes can't be Broodlinged and do not set off spider mines� so use them to attack spotted spider mines when air units are not available.
- Zealots: are bigger than marines; don't fit through cracks between flush buildings;
are fast with speed upgrade; are good for taking out towers; and should compose the
majority of your army. They are good against most any ground unit except for large
numbers of Vultures early in the game, in which case you need Dragoons or
Cannons for support (Reavers in the later game). They benefit well from attack
damage and speed enhancement. Always get speed enhancement as soon as
possible if you are fighting with many Zealots. Zealots take out "towers" well.
- Dragoons: are big and fairly fast moving units - not as fast as speed upgraded
Zealots though. They defend well with batteries against several types of units. They
tend to fall the fastest against a bunch of Zerglings since they only do half damage to
small guys; plus Zerglings have a quick attack rate and can surround the big Dragoon
easily. Dragoons are your primary defense against Muta rushes. Besides defending
against Mutalisk or Vulture rushes, you shouldn't be building many of these guys early
on. They are only for support. Use the gas for Templars or other units. Upgrade their
range only if you have many Dragoons.
- Reavers are very big and very slow. For best results you need speed upgraded
Shuttles to transport them. Distract the enemy Siege Tanks with a couple of Zealots
and rush the reaver in or drop it in with a shuttle and tear it up before the Siege Tanks can fire again. Reavers are very good defenders versus ground units when combined with Zealots. Reavers are especially good versus Hydras, Marines, and Zerglings if supported with Zealots. Use Reavers in pairs for best results. Don't bother upgrading the Reaver capacity unless you are very rich. Have Reavers follow one another to prevent them from firing at enemies when trying to be sneaky or save their Scarabs for later. Scarabs are the ammo of Reavers. Scarabs are the only invulnerable unit in the game. They do massive explosive splash damage. Don't bother upgrading their attack damage until you are wealthy.
Part 2: Special and Air Units
- Templars are the size of Zealots but they are fairly slow, but have special attacks
like mage spells. Remember to merge Templars if they are being attacked and
cannot get away. This instantly gives them a large amount of shield points and
normally saves them (although they will now permanently be an Archon). Don't bunch
all your Templars in one area when defending, otherwise they will all die if sneak
attacked. Try to hide them amongst your buildings, since they blend in well.
Templar Special Attacks
- Psioinic Storm: Templars can "cast" Psionic Storm, which is like Blizzard (it is
an area attack) from WarCraft 2. It is different in that it hits all the area under
the animation of the storm equally and doesn't hit the very edges of the
animation at all. Always keep in mind that when you cast several storms at
once, the overlapping storm animations do not do extra damage, so you are
wasting your Templar's energy; try to have them nearly overlap for the best
effect. Storm is good for killing grouped units, such as peons, Marines,
Zerglings, Hydras, Zealots, Mutalisks, Carriers, etc. It is best used when you
have a couple of men or buildings distracting the enemy. Sometimes you
need to cast it in front of running enemy units to have it hit them. Use storm
against cloaked (including spider mines) or burrowed units to kill them. Storm
is my favorite special of the whole game! It is super versatile can when used
wisely, it can decide the game for you!
- Hallucination: This is a very important spell for the Protoss. Use it to break into
defenses. "How?" you ask? By making false units that appear to the enemy to
be real, you can one, scare the life out of the enemy from the shear number of
"units" you have and make them panic; two, draw fire from attackers while your
other units move in; three, set off spider mines; four, have air hallucinations to
draw fire from towers while shuttles run past; and five, have your air
hallucinations set off Scourge. In some occasions, you will want to use
hallucinations to scout. This comes into play on big maps or island maps.
Use hallucinations to set off spider mines and draw siege fire when trying to
get in close to cast storm. Also, to scout an enemy's base hallucinations are
the best bet since they are expendable - just use a unit (usually an air unit)
with lots of hit points/shield points or fast speed to hallucinate. Hallucinations
of carriers do not have interceptors, so be careful about faking them out with
them. Remember, hallucinations take double damage from attacks, cannot
truly attack, and are killed instantly by area affect spells like ensnare. When
hallucinations die, they go up in a puff of smoke that alerts your enemy to their
usage. Always save your hallucinations to a separate control + number hotkey
so you can use them more effectively in battle (especially true for Archon
hallucinations which are very close in appearance to the real ones to the
user). Hallucinations appear with white outlines in the group selection box.
- Archons are the most powerful ground unit in many ways. They do have several
weaknesses though, mostly against Terran players. The Archon's specialty is tearing
through packs of small weak units. The fact that it hits air units harder than anything
except Storm makes it your best Protoss anti-air unit, except for possibly large groups
of Scouts. However, because of the Archon's slow acceleration it usually will not be
able to fire on fast air units unless the other player is not very good. They can just hit
and run wherever your Archon isn't. But the threat of the Archon often keeps air units
away. Archons are great to use when a Zerg player is Plague happy. Another strength
of the Archon is that he can quickly recharge his shields at shield batteries, and get
back into battle quickly. The other weaknesses of Archons are that they need to attack
in groups, Vultures (cheap fast units) do full damage to their 350 shields, and EMP
Shockwave takes them down to near death. Note: Archons as well as any worker unit
do not set off spider mines. The best way to use archons is to have the enemy come
to them (so their poor acceleration/deceleration isn't a factor) or to move them close
to the enemy then hit "s" to stop them and have them start firing.
- Observer: Good for scouting in the middle of maps and unoccupied areas. Bring
two with your attacks on Terrans and Protoss that have an Arbiter. Use them to find
burrowed guys, Wraiths, Ghosts, and spider mines.
- Shuttle: These little guys are very useful. They get your Zealots into the peon lines
early in the game and extend the life and use of Reavers greatly. Upgrade their speed
on big maps to help Reavers attacks better. Their acceleration is very poor, so be
careful not to stop near a tower and try to move away� your shuttle will bite it.
- Scout: These are some of the hardest air to air attack units in the game. Their
biggest weaknesses are their great cost, slow building time, and poor acceleration.
Always make two (more if you are rich) Protoss Stargates if you plan on making a fair
amount of scouts. Upgrade their speed if you ever plan on making many of these
guys. I would not think about making them in a normal game until I had an expansion.
Use Scouts with shield batteries for the best effect. Beware of Scourge and Ensnare!
- Carrier: The giant carriers can do tremendous damage if you have enough of them.
You need at least four to be a power. Beware of Scourge, their biggest enemy. Psi
Storm, Lockdown, Protoss Scouts, and Battle Cruisers can also be trouble. Always
remember to upgrade their Interceptor capacity. Use multiple shield batteries with
your carriers for best results.
- Interceptors: Try to get air weapons upgraded to take full advantage of these
damaging Carrier weapons. They along with Zerglings benefit the most from weapon
upgrades. Upgraded all the way, they are deadly. Use their range to hit guys while
sitting over plateaus and other safe places.
- Arbiter: The expensive arbiters are some of the coolest units around. Their spells
are incredible, and their cloaking field is fun once you are ahead. Beware of Scourge
and Yamato cannons. Try to have hallucinated arbiters accompany your real one all
the time during attack runs. Scouts under the cloak help protect from scourge.
Carriers under cloak are good against Terrans and Protoss alike.
Arbiter Special Abilities
- Recall: Use this to get troops behind defenses. Also good for moving troops
on island maps. It's great to have 2 Arbiters, one attacking and one at home.
Have the one at home hotkeyed to control + 0 or whatever, and recall your
attacking arbiter + men if they get into trouble.
- Stasis: My favorite use of the Aribter is this spell. It is great for cutting their
army in half so you can pick them off. It's very nice to stop Scourge and Siege
tanks with this spell. It's also possible to use this on important units to save
them before they get killed by Scourge or after an EMP. But the best thing for
this spell is to freeze the enemy so you can bring Templars in to storm them
as soon as they come out of it!
Part 3: Protoss Build Order and Defensive Tactics
Protoss Build Order
- During a normal build up, never consider upgrading shields until you have a
second town. Do consider upgrading attack damage if you are fighting many
Zerglings, since it will take only two attacks instead of three per Zealot to kill them if
they don't upgrade their armor. Think about upgrading armor strength if you are using
several Templars for offense, this will keep them alive longer or at least give them
enough time to merge. After you expand and have lots of gas to spare, consider
upgrading weapons, shields, and armor if you haven't already. I normally don't
upgrade those much until I have a third gas mine.
- From the start build normally. Peons are the important aspect. Make them before
anything. Then make a Pylon, Gateway, Pylon, and another Gateway. Make probes,
Zealots, and pylons as needed until you can afford (or time has passed a bit) a gas
Assimilator. Then get your Cyber Core, and depending on the enemy, build up from
there. You should have a good number of Zealots and a few Dragoons by that time.
Don't forget shield batteries if you need to defend.
- Some of these strategies break the normal rules of building up. Follow the build up
rules when applicable though.
Defense:
- NOTE: Protoss units and buildings have shields. Shields take full damage from all
attacks. This makes Vultures and some other units very good for taking down shields
on anything quickly.
- Shield batteries are needed for most defenses. Shield batteries heal two shield
points for every energy point they contain. Make the batteries early if possible so they
will be full of energy when needed.
- Use Dragoons and maybe Cannons or Reavers to beat the Vulture rush. Have
shield batteries to heal.
- Beware being blocked in by Siege Tanks/bunkers/spider mines. It can be hard to
break early on in a game. Try using Reavers and Zealots/Dragoons if they have lots of
anti-air, which they should. Or go for a Zealot drop to slow them down. Your best bet
is to not ever let them set it up by being more aggressive early on, or by catching the
tanks in progress when they are very weak. Build an early cannon to spot early spider
mines blocking you in if you have to. Remember you can use peons or Dragoons (at
a distance) to kill spotted spider mines that are out of range of your cannons. If the
spider mines come later, go for Observers to spot them, then disarm them with the
Reaver for safety reasons since they'll likely have Siege tanks waiting for a Dragoon to poke his nose out. Use Shuttles and Zealot drop-offs to kill his peons if you are stuck
in your base.
- Quick expansion for gas and quick to Archons against other Protoss is a fairly
strong strategy, but quite risky if their scouting is good. With a great number of
Archons and Zealots, you can break through their defenses well and take them out.
This is best used on a big map where your expansion may go unseen. Just defend a
bit early or fake a Zealot rush to keep them occupied.
- To beat the Zergling rush plus Muta rush on land, you need very good scouting. You
have to first counter their Zergling rush with Zealots and probably by moving your
peons away from their Zergling attack. Try to block off your entrance with zealots if you
can. Scout deep into their base with a Zealot to check for Hydras. If they aren't making Hydras at the normal time and are upgrading to Lair, expect a Muta rush. Immediately switch to Dragoons and start making shield batteries all around your town. You need about four shield batteries. When the Mutas come use the shield batteries to heal. You can also get one or maybe two Archons which are nice deterrents. Do not make a mistake and build many Dragoons if they go for Hydras. You will be in trouble. Use your early Zealots to attack them once you counter any large amount of Zerglings well.Leave most of your Dragoons at home to defend. Go in suicide style to take out their peons, spire, or something of the sort.
- to beat Hydra rush, make lots of Zealots with two or three gateways. Get a Reaver
or two quickly, and use the Zealots and Reavers together. As always, try to get a
shuttle for the Reavers. Counter attack when you get ahead.
- To beat the Mutalisk rush on island maps, you need to quickly go for Scouts,
Dragoons, and shield batteries. Build one gateway at first and two Protoss Stargates.
Use Dragoons as backup for the initial rush. Get their speed upgrade as soon as
possible. You have to be extremely careful with hit and run tactics, healing the Scouts
often with the shield batteries. Attack their Overlords, bases, and anything where you
see an opening. This strategy was devoloped by EnoYls, a good pal and a great
player. Remember, Scouts can fly as fast as Scourge if they are going top speed and
have the speed upgrade. Try coming at small numbers of Scourge full speed with
one scout, then quickly running away to your group of Scouts/Dragoons to kill the
Scourge that follows. Scouts, if they don't attack, will continue to fly at full speed
despite any turns, so your one Scout should be safe if you know exactly where they
Scourge are via sight upgrade or Observer. The worst thing about this strategy is if
they go for a quick Hydra drop they will probably catch you off guard, since Dragoons
and Scouts are terrible against hydras. However, one way to estimate is to see how
many Overlords are spying on your island. They should be all around the fringes if
they are going for the Mutalisk and Scourge attack. If you see no Overlords after the
initial pass over by one Overlord, expect a Hydra drop.
- To beat Scourge, lure them to your ground to air attackers or into a Psi Storm.
Remember that scouts kill them best if the scouts are not moving or attacking
anything and the Scourge come to them.
- For The Lost Temple and maps with similar starts, a good early defense for the Protoss can be done with a few zealots, two shield batteries, and two cannons. Build one Gateway and then a Forge. Get a pylon near your entrance and build two shield batteries with two cannons behind the batteries. Have six to eight Zealots blocking sheild batteries batteries to heal your Zealots. Nothing is going to have an easy time getting through that in the early game until Siege Tanks come into play. Beware of Mutalisk rushes though. With this strategy you can quickly go for Scouts which are fairly good against other Protoss if they aren't expecting it. This strategy can also be applied to FFA and allied games.
- FFA on Hunters map versus Zerg/Protoss: A nice strategy to use once you get
ahead is to tower up the middle like mad with cannon towers supported by Scouts,
Zealots, and Templars. You can get the resources from the whole middle and once
you get Carriers/Reavers you will dominate. Don't attempt this until late game
however.
- To defend an expansion or even main base, get one Carrier (2 is better but not that necessary) and 5 shield batterier made next to one another. When they try to attack, keep healing with the shield batteries and let your interceptors attack the whole while. If done correctly, you will be basically invulnerable to most units� even Scourge are greatly weakened.
- If you can get shield batteries near an enemie base you can heal a ton of men and increase the attack effect. this is a great strategy also when used with several
Carriers. Close to the enemy shield batteries are good for attacking with any unit, so
build them nearby if at all possible!
- In late game, don't be afraid to build tons of cannons. When you are rich, eight
cannons per expansion will slow down an attack long enough for you to get your
peons out and fighters in.
- In late game, have a couple of Reavers and/or Templars at each expansion. They,
combined with towers, will be able to put big damage on would-be attackers.
- Archons are great defense against any air unit in the late game. Don't forget you'll
also need scouts, Psi Storm, or Carriers if there is a plateau or water right next to your
buildings.
- Build cannons later in the game, and build them closer in from the edges of your
land at your town. This will make attackers come in deeper so you can storm them.
Part 5: strange strategies:
hullucinated critter
- if you (H) a critter than you can control both of the hullucinates, and your opponent will never notcie the little critter spies runnin around his base lettin you know all his moves.
good luck, and join us soon!