STARCRAFT

[Merk]

I see, well we all learn a new lesson with every loss IMO, so now you'll know what to do (expand like a mother) when this situation arises again.

It's okay, we all lose to gimmicks or because we made some horrible blunder. Yesterday I was 2v2ing with my buddy (again) and I was able to nuke the opposing teams' forces that were stationed right outside our bases (this was on Monlyth Ridge). Thinking that they were going to retreat after a nuke I unsieged my tank line to chase their armies but instead they charged forward, caught my tanks off-guard, and were able to crush me with their Marauders, Stalkers, Zealots, and Medivacs.

[Riot]

Alright Merkler. I downloaded SC2 so I can fit in and am playing on my friend's account. What do I need to do/know to learn how to be good/competitive with Protoss? Or who is the best race so that I can just be OP and have a leg up as I learn. I just played for my first time ever and did a 1v1 against the computer and won with some upgraded Zealots and a few Void Rays, but that was on easy mode. HOW2WIN?

[Frisbez]

Bought this last night. Holy crap does it look good even on low settings. I didn't have much time and only played a skirmish or 2 vs the computer, but I enjoyed it. I played Terran, but from watching youtube videos I really wanna try Protoss. Something about the sentries (or whatever the things that can make forcefields) + Colossi combo looks really fun.

Gonna have to learn some build order though.


Same boat as Riot. TELLMESTATEEGEE.

[Merk]

What are your guys' e-mails / friend codes (you can find this by clicking "Add Friend" on Bnet, there should be a box with your 3-digit friend code in it)? Let's all be internet friends and we can play together.

All far as races go I'd say they are all actually pretty equal. Zerg right now is probably slightly behind the other two while Terran is slightly better than the other two - keep in mind it really depends on the map too, Terran has a real advantage on maps with lots of cliffs that overlook minerals. All the races play extremely differently so pick a race that fits your style, if you like big expensive units that don't require a shit load of micro then Protoss is the perfect fit.

If you want advice on more specific stuff let me know. I love talking Starcraft with people on the internet.

[Riot]

I want to be simple and swing for lots of damage (like I do in MMOs!), so I will play Protoss I guess. From what I gather, I should block my base with some buildings and leave only a lane for units to go in and out from. What are the best units to use and what should I try to ramp into first? I'm sure it depends on the match up, but are there any universally integral units I should always be getting? And how important is it to upgrade their wep/armor? Is it better to just get a lot of the units or to have fewer that are upgraded once or twice?

edit: also what are the important hotkeys? I'm always scrolling around the map to control my units and then clicking back to look at and manage my base. Are there any hotkeys that I need to learn to be effective?

[Merk]

I have no idea what the hotkeys are for Protoss to be honest, I haven't played a single game as Zerg or Toss at all in SC2. It's really best to memorize them - after a few games you'll know what they are by heart.

Against zerg blocking your ramp/choke is really important. Leave about two hexes open for your units to get out and then use two zealots (using hold position) to block the entry way. If units need to leave you can just move the zealots. It's like your own little personal door! Terrans don't have a single melee unit so creating a choke is not nearly as important.

As far as unit's you'll get in any matchup - stalkers are really well-rounded and effective in any army configuration. Of course, you'll want to scout your opponent and build units that counter his shit. Collosi are good against pretty much any light-armored unit that people mass like lings/hydra/marines but they are real expensive to make.

I don't know, like you said it all depends on what your opponent is getting, in longer games you need to be flexible so it's a good idea to build tech buildings if you can spare extra resources in case your opponent decides to switch it up.

Don't go for upgrades early, it is much more important to have more units in the beginning. Once you set up for first expansion it's a good idea to upgrade the unit you'll mass the most. Don't go for shield upgrades, they're too expensive and don't help at all really; they're a late game upgrade if anything. Note that shields take full damage from all damage types.

Keep the questions coming.

[Riot]

What do I scout with? One of the little mineral gatherer guys? And do I just suicide it into their base or something? And what are the most common units the enemy will be using (and thus, what should I build to counter them?) I literally have no idea about any units in this game so I don't know if my units will just get annihilated if I set foot in their base or if they'll be effective. What should I look out for in enemy bases when/if I scout?

Are the defensive turrets I can put in my base worth it? Or should I just leave units behind to guard it?

[Frisbez]

What are some popular build orders? Specifically for Terran I suppose, since that's what you play Merk. What I mean is, what units do I really want to emphasize building, and what are some strategies for them? Obviously you'll want to build units to counter your opponent, but what are some "good" unit combinations?

[SoDeepPolaris]

What do I scout with? One of the little mineral gatherer guys? And do I just suicide it into their base or something? And what are the most common units the enemy will be using (and thus, what should I build to counter them?) I literally have no idea about any units in this game so I don't know if my units will just get annihilated if I set foot in their base or if they'll be effective. What should I look out for in enemy bases when/if I scout?

Are the defensive turrets I can put in my base worth it? Or should I just leave units behind to guard it?

Cannons are situational. If I'm against terran and I scout a ghost academy or starport (banshees) then I'll sometimes drop a cannon at my probes and natural to avoid any nasty surprises. But I like to play robo so observers are nice if you can micro them to not die to a missile turret or some nasty surprise when you scout.

Here's a couple builds I see a lot of use from:

2gate phoenix: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or2HN7K_0Ik
4warpgate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpvL5YYPFgc

What are some popular build orders? Specifically for Terran I suppose, since that's what you play Merk. What I mean is, what units do I really want to emphasize building, and what are some strategies for them? Obviously you'll want to build units to counter your opponent, but what are some "good" unit combinations?

I personally hate playing against MMM builds. But I don't know the supply orders for all that.

[Riot]

Okay well I can beat Terran on medium but when I try to play against Zerg I usually get owned by an early round of Roaches. Then whenever I send stuff into their base it gets dominated super quick, both zealots and void rays/phoenixes. What do I need to focus on against Zerg?

Also I don't think I get how to do warp gates and stuff. I just read to build Immortals against roaches, but yeah what else should I do against Zerg? I guess I just send the wrong units in against them and they have a bad matchup. HALP

[Merk]

Zealots are countered by roaches so that would explain why you got destroyed!

Again, stalkers are great against roaches (they do extra damage against armored units) and they fare well against mutalisks. High Templars, if you're good at keeping them alive and casting Psi Storm, are really good against big clumps of units with low HP which is pretty much all zerg units.

A nice healthy army of Stalkers and Colossi are a good composition against many zerg builds out there. If you research blink you'll have great mobility to scale up and down cliffs in a pinch.

[Riot]

Okay well I just tried with Stalkers, Colossi, and Immortals... that was enough for defense, but when I tried to attack their base with my little army of about 12 or so of these units, I got slaughtered after a bit. I guess I had nothing with me to deal with those bat-looking flying things. Do I just have to bring Phoenixes along, or are Void Rays that effective against Zerg? What kind of flying solutions should I have?

Also I've never done any of the Templar people. I don't really like having to do abilities on specific units, seems unwieldy and awkward to try and click them separately to active them (although I'm sure you're not supposed to be clicking them at all). Are they worth teching into or should I just amass a different army to attack with?

[Merk]

Void rays are pretty bad against zerg - don't build em in this matchup. VRs are meant to be a counter for "capital" ships like carriers and battlecruisers. Of course they do much more than that but they are mostly effective on large units with a lot of HP. Once their beam charges up they do like the most damage out of any unit in the game.

Do you know how to set a control group? Highlight a bunch of units and hit ctrl + a number. Now whenever you click that number (1 for example) you will stop highlighting whatever you were highlighting and go directly to the units assigned to control group 1. As you can imagine this is really fucking critical fundamental to the game. That will help micro your units. Just put your high templars in a control group and spam whatever the hotkey is for Psi Storm. SC2 has smart casting, unlike SC1, so the unit with the most mana will cast the spell instead of all of your templars at once.

Again, stalkers are what you need to fight mutalisks (the bat-flying things). Phoenixes are actually pretty bad anti-air, they are mostly used for their graviton beam or whatever - they can decimate tank lines by picking up all the tanks and letting the rest of your army fight without worrying about getting sieged.

Protoss Flyers are pretty rare actually. If any flying unit is built it's generally an observer or void rays. Protoss strength lies on having a small amount (respectively) of tough ground units.

[SoDeepPolaris]

Phoenixes are actually pretty bad anti-air, they are mostly used for their graviton beam or whatever - they can decimate tank lines by picking up all the tanks and letting the rest of your army fight without worrying about getting sieged.

If he's playing against zerg, phoenixs can devastate a mineral line if the zerg is ling/roach. Once mutas are out, it's a different story but early/mid it can be viable.

[Riot]

How many resource drone guys should I be making? Is it one of those things that I should always be making more, or is there a limit that I should be hitting and then focusing on other things?