** Official Star Craft 2 Multiplayer Thread **

Page 68 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Jul 10, 2007
12,050
3
0
Where would a SC2 noob like myself go to get some tips/tactics that are relevant and somewhat easy to follow?

Just figuring out how things work - I play Terran against Toss (vs. computer) on medium difficulty. I can survive the first rush, but I get destroyed while trying to fortify my expansion. I suspect I have to harass the toss early, but I can't seem to find the balance of keeping myself somewhat defended and going after them. Laying back to build up my strength is obviously rooted in failure !

watch day9 newbie tuesdays.
 

JTsyo

Lifer
Nov 18, 2007
11,696
861
126
Where would a SC2 noob like myself go to get some tips/tactics that are relevant and somewhat easy to follow?

Just figuring out how things work - I play Terran against Toss (vs. computer) on medium difficulty. I can survive the first rush, but I get destroyed while trying to fortify my expansion. I suspect I have to harass the toss early, but I can't seem to find the balance of keeping myself somewhat defended and going after them. Laying back to build up my strength is obviously rooted in failure !

For playing against the AI try this:
1. Start with all SCVs on mineral
2. keep building scvs when you get to 50 mineral
3. After the 9th SCV build a supply depot at you ramp to help block it
4. After the depot build your barracks on the ramp, keep up SCV production
6. build refinery and put 2 more scvs in it when it's done
5. When you get to 150 build a second barrack, keep cranking out marines
6. Upgrade your command center
7. Put up two bunkers to cover the ramp and fill them marines
8. build a 3rd barracks + a factory when you have enough gas
9. Grab about 5-8 SCVs and put them in a group and turn auto-repair on (right click on the repair icon). When the enemy attack comes, pick that group and move them close to your bunkers to repair
10. Build a second refinery and man it with 3 total
11. After you defeat their first wave, attack with what you have and see how you do, try to take out their expansion if they have one
12. While your attack is moving out, put up an expansion
13. Put the tech lab on the factory and research siege, get tanks
14. Also put up an engineering bay
15. upgrade your expansion to a PF, you can move some SCVs from your base to the exp but build more SCVs
16. get 2 starports and get out medivacs
17. build 2-4 more barracks and just keep cranking out marines and marauders (don't forget the research for them at the tech lab on the barracks, also you can upgrade them at the eng. bay)

If your counter had failed their 2nd attack should come by around 15. If they attack your PF, just us the scvs to repair it and you should be abel to wipe out a pretty large ground force. You can also place a marine out by an observation post to know when they are coming. Your second counter attack should crush them.
In future tries you can try to get fancy with ghosts and EMP. Be sure to watch the replays and keep an eye on your SCV count. One of the biggest problems new players have is keeping a good count in workers and having the production buildings to match.
 
Last edited:

finbarqs

Diamond Member
Feb 16, 2005
4,057
2
81
AI is pretty easy to beat, except on insane. The challenges does help me micro better...
 
Jul 10, 2007
12,050
3
0
For playing against the AI try this:
1. Start with 5 SCVs on mineral
2. keep building scvs when you get to 50 mineral
3. After the 9th SCV build a supply depot at you ramp to help block it
4. After the depot build your barracks on the ramp, keep up SCV production
6. build refinery and put 2 more scvs in it when it's done
5. When you get to 150 build a second barrack, keep cranking out marines
6. Upgrade your command center
7. Put up two bunkers to cover the ramp and fill them marines
8. build a 3rd barracks + a factory when you have enough gas
9. Grab about 5-8 SCVs and put them in a group and turn auto-repair on (right click on the repair icon). When the enemy attack comes, pick that group and move them close to your bunkers to repair
10. Build a second refinery and man it with 3 total
11. After you defeat their first wave, attack with what you have and see how you do, try to take out their expansion if they have one
12. While your attack is moving out, put up an expansion
13. Put the tech lab on the factory and research siege, get tanks
14. Also put up an engineering bay
15. upgrade your expansion to a PF, you can move some SCVs from your base to the exp but build more SCVs
16. get 2 starports and get out medivacs
17. build 2-4 more barracks and just keep cranking out marines and marauders (don't forget the research for them at the tech lab on the barracks, also you can upgrade them at the eng. bay)

If your counter had failed their 2nd attack should come by around 15. If they attack your PF, just us the scvs to repair it and you should be abel to wipe out a pretty large ground force. You can also place a marine out by an observation post to know when they are coming. Your second counter attack should crush them.
In future tries you can try to get fancy with ghosts and EMP. Be sure to watch the replays and keep an eye on your SCV count. One of the biggest problems new players have is keeping a good count in workers and having the production buildings to match.

1. why are you handicapping him by having 1 SCV idle off the bat?
3. why not build SD on 10? the timing works out much better. SD finishes at the same time the 11th SCV finishes.
5. standard build says the next 150 goes to an OC, not another rax.
 
Last edited:

JTsyo

Lifer
Nov 18, 2007
11,696
861
126
1. why are you handicapping him by having 1 SCV idle off the bat?
3. why not build SD on 10? the timing works out much better. SD finishes at the same time the 11th SCV finishes.
5. standard build says the next 150 goes to an OC, not another rax.

1. oops
3. just habit I guess. I like getting that first marine out quick.
5. Yea OC works for more mules. I tend to plop down a 2nd barracks but I'm only sliver :awe:
 

coreyb

Platinum Member
Aug 12, 2007
2,437
1
0
you dont really need a specific build like that to beat the computer. just learn the basics and macro hard. thats all you need to beat the AI. i can go CC first and still beat the very hard computer
 

coreyb

Platinum Member
Aug 12, 2007
2,437
1
0
For playing against the AI try this:
1. Start with all SCVs on mineral
2. keep building scvs when you get to 50 mineral
3. After the 9th SCV build a supply depot at you ramp to help block it
4. After the depot build your barracks on the ramp, keep up SCV production
6. build refinery and put 2 more scvs in it when it's done
5. When you get to 150 build a second barrack, keep cranking out marines
6. Upgrade your command center
7. Put up two bunkers to cover the ramp and fill them marines
8. build a 3rd barracks + a factory when you have enough gas
9. Grab about 5-8 SCVs and put them in a group and turn auto-repair on (right click on the repair icon). When the enemy attack comes, pick that group and move them close to your bunkers to repair
10. Build a second refinery and man it with 3 total
11. After you defeat their first wave, attack with what you have and see how you do, try to take out their expansion if they have one
12. While your attack is moving out, put up an expansion
13. Put the tech lab on the factory and research siege, get tanks
14. Also put up an engineering bay
15. upgrade your expansion to a PF, you can move some SCVs from your base to the exp but build more SCVs
16. get 2 starports and get out medivacs
17. build 2-4 more barracks and just keep cranking out marines and marauders (don't forget the research for them at the tech lab on the barracks, also you can upgrade them at the eng. bay)

If your counter had failed their 2nd attack should come by around 15. If they attack your PF, just us the scvs to repair it and you should be abel to wipe out a pretty large ground force. You can also place a marine out by an observation post to know when they are coming. Your second counter attack should crush them.
In future tries you can try to get fancy with ghosts and EMP. Be sure to watch the replays and keep an eye on your SCV count. One of the biggest problems new players have is keeping a good count in workers and having the production buildings to match.

lolololol

you can beat the medium AI by simply expanding and having 2-3 tanks in seige mode and a few marines/marauders. no need for bunkers or anything. just make sure you are constantly making SCV's and you have 3-5 barracks and a factory or two. thats on two bases.
 

apac

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2003
6,212
0
71
Okay so we established that I suck and newbie Tuesdays are for me !

It's not too bad once you get the basics down. Fundamentals you should be focusing on right now:

- Always keeping your minerals/vespene low
- Always producing units out of all of your unit-producing structures
- Always producing workers

These 3 are what people call "macro". When you can adequately balance these tasks, then you'll be able to beat the computer fairly easily, and are probably up to silver/gold league skill levels.
 

JTsyo

Lifer
Nov 18, 2007
11,696
861
126
lolololol

you can beat the medium AI by simply expanding and having 2-3 tanks in seige mode and a few marines/marauders. no need for bunkers or anything. just make sure you are constantly making SCV's and you have 3-5 barracks and a factory or two. thats on two bases.

I'm sure after medium he'll want to try hard.

I found watching replays really help in seeing where you need to improve. Another thing that helps is to turn on the timer display under options. Then you can keep track of time above your minimap.
 
Last edited:

finbarqs

Diamond Member
Feb 16, 2005
4,057
2
81
wow... every game is different.... I just played a team that i am "even" with (2v2) and I seriously messed around and didn't build any defense except for 1 full bunker (4) and 3 marines and 2 mauraders...

Then I just went for thors. I cannot believe I wasn't greeted with any banglings nor colossus from the other team! I'm 2v2 rank 3 silver!
 

JTsyo

Lifer
Nov 18, 2007
11,696
861
126
wow... every game is different.... I just played a team that i am "even" with (2v2) and I seriously messed around and didn't build any defense except for 1 full bunker (4) and 3 marines and 2 mauraders...

Then I just went for thors. I cannot believe I wasn't greeted with any banglings nor colossus from the other team! I'm 2v2 rank 3 silver!

Depends on their scouting. Some just sit in their base and try to make a large army. If I try that, I would always loss since I always get distracted and stop building. I like to apply pressure and keep them off balance.
 

Farmer

Diamond Member
Dec 23, 2003
3,345
2
81
The team metagames are hard to sort out, 2v2 is very different from 1v1, and very different from 3v3.

In 2v2, 2v1 early pressure is actually very effective, especially if you can disconnect your opponents from each other. It's not really an all in, it's actually a pretty good tactic. However, I have seen many times where, in 3v3, someone tries 2v1 early pressure and end up hurting their team more than the opposing team.

For rushes, it's really important to know when to stop pumping units and refocus on econ.
 

finbarqs

Diamond Member
Feb 16, 2005
4,057
2
81
I've yet to figure out 3v3 or 1v1. 2v2, I got pretty much in the ball. Or at least I figured out the rhythm to make it effective...
 

eLiu

Diamond Member
Jun 4, 2001
6,407
1
0
I've yet to figure out 3v3 or 1v1. 2v2, I got pretty much in the ball. Or at least I figured out the rhythm to make it effective...

3v3 & 4v4 you can do practically anything, lol. My friend and I are probably diamondish level (w/a race, but we play random on teams), and our 3rd player is gold-platish. We placed into masters doing just about anything. Mass reaper (like *only* reapers), cannon rush, forge first void ray, etc. It was mind boggling that we were still winning.

And those 3 guys + another bronze player has us rank 1 diamond 4v4. We've won games where the best 2 players worker rush! It's embarrassing/hilarious.

s1njin: I would suggest you get on teamliquid's strategy page for SC2. Find the race that you like playing, and look up ONE solid build order for that race. I would avoid builds that are really tight (like if you fuck up just || this much, you're screwed), and builds that require a lot of complexity (like build a factory to get starport, then use factory to build addons for subsequent buildings). Some examples:
terran: 3rax or fast siege
zerg: 13pool, 13gas, expo, roach (skip expo if you aren't comfortable w/that yet)
toss: 3gate robo or the ever-popular 4gate.

Find some pro-games where people use the build, or find instructional casts online that teach you how to do the build. The exact ordering isn't super important--it will start to flow naturally once you practice. But understand the theme of the build--when is the attack timing, when should you expand, what units does it produce & why, etc. Fire up against a "very easy" AI and just practice & refine the build for like an hour. You'll be amazed--at the end, your execution will be nearly silky smooth. Day9 has several newbie tuesdays about this very topic & other basics for new players; they're really good casts. Then you can get on ladder and start stomping people.*

*might not be that easy :p Practicing builds doesn't help you learn how to macro well as the game continues, doesn't teach you when/how to expand, when to focus on micro, etc. But it's hard to get those mid-game (and then lategame) steps right if your opening is garbage.

Until you have a good feel for the game & you have solid mechanics, designing your own build will be really, really hard and futile. "Optimizing" a build when you do things like forget workers & get supply blocked is pretty pointless b/c you will easily trick yourself into believing you have spare $$ when you shouldn't.
 

HendrixFan

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 2001
4,648
0
71
Anyone still playing?

I haven't played in at least a month. I'm tired of playing 2v2 or 3v3 games with random teammates who have no idea what they are doing. The two people I regularly played with no longer are able to play. One is in China with little free time because of work, the other joined the army. Thanks guys!
 

eLiu

Diamond Member
Jun 4, 2001
6,407
1
0
i still play regularly. not quite everyday but i love this game. only thing i don't do is play 1v1s much b/c they're so nerve-racking but it'd be cool to hit masters there too.

edit: it's sad that this thread pretty much died. i've tried reading the blizzard forums and it's just so incredibly mind-numbingly stupid. Sometimes funny but always stupid.
 

eLiu

Diamond Member
Jun 4, 2001
6,407
1
0
ROFL i just beat someone straight up w/a worker rush. Wow. Placement matches for both; he turned out to be silver.

I picked zerg so I could double extractor trick for the worker rush. Opponent 10 pooled. I showed up right as he reached 12 workers (mis-steps on my part). I engaged the left side of his mineral line and he just right-click moved out of the base, giving me 3 free kills. So I gave chase and he turned back once his pool finished, so I attacked and killed a couple more while he returned. Then I micro'd against 6 lings taking only 2 losses, went back to kill the rest of his workers, and micro'd against 4 lings to take 1 loss. Trivial win for him if he would've engaged me w/his workers+lings at once but noooo.

So. Glorious.

Even more epic b/c this was his first 1v1 outside of the practice league. Welcome to battlenet, bitch! XD
 

DrunkenSano

Diamond Member
Aug 8, 2008
3,892
490
126
Is there a way to derank yourself on the ladder? For some reason the game placed me as Platinum, I use to be silver when I played and I just started playing again after a long break. There's no way I should be in Plat.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
82,854
17,365
136
Is there a way to derank yourself on the ladder? For some reason the game placed me as Platinum, I use to be silver when I played and I just started playing again after a long break. There's no way I should be in Plat.

No and thats deliberate. They dont want good players tormenting newbs unnecessarily.

Of course if they ever fix the matchmaking service then that will actually mean something.

Just play a bunch a lose, same thing.