1) Always be producing!
The best thing I've learned, currently, is to simply always have units building. Even if you don't know exactly what units you "need" you should never have buildings sitting around not producing. Pick a few cheap favorites and mass produce them. Currently, my opponents have all failed mostly because they simply don't keep producing units after they build a task force. So when that force gets wiped out, their base is defenseless and I just move in and waste them.
It helps to hotkey two or three production buildings and set an intelligent, and en masse, way point for units to group at.
2) Don't let up
When you're playing the computer, it's usually best to build a large task force and then send them in to clean out what is inevitably a well established base. However, in multiplayer it can be really effective to send group after group at the player, especially on different fronts.
This doesn't neccesarily mean that you should build small... but maybe break a very large force into two big forces and send one in... and then the second one in a few seconds later... and then maybe even the third a few seconds later. This is shockingly demoralizing for a human player and often causes them to lose their cool. When that happens, you're half way to victory.
Another good idea is to be the first to send units in. While a couple of zealots (or zergling or marines) may not do much damage, they can freak out the opponent, making them think you are coming much sooner than you really are. It also gives you a decent idea of their defenses.
I like to send in a small force first, to test the waters (building of course, the whole while) and then, a minute or so after they are inevitably defeated, send in a slightly stronger force. This is really easy with the protoss, with all their force field units. Three zealots protected by force field can do pretty extreme damage to a new base.
The more time your opponent has to spend cleaning up fires and rebuilding structures, the less focused they will be on building up a good force to take you out.
This has other benefits, too, like giving pre warning of attack when you meet a roving band headed your way and take them on in the middle of the field, weakening their numbers before they hit your base defenses.
3) Quick Expansion
Expand as soon as you can. Speed is so key in this game that I can't emphasize it enough. It's also important to remember that, when expanding, you don't have to make your secondary bases as tight-lid secure as your main base.
When I say main base, this is the base that should contain all your essential structures for unit production. And, if you are constantly adhering to rule #1, then you'll find that moving units generally provide a much more powerful defensive structure than photon cannons or bunkers or... spine... whipping thingies.
Not that those things aren't good, but building them takes time, resources, and enough focus that they are best as back ups for units... units that can, once done defending, move en masse to the enemy base and take them on.
4) Aggressiveness
You won't get anywhere in Starcraft by "feeling out the waters." That fear in your gut at what lies beyond the fog of war should always be ignored in favor of brazen stupidity. It takes brass balls to win at Starcraft and that plan that you thought was too crazy to work always does.
Because your opponent didn't think you'd dare do it, either.
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sashanan - August 27, 2010 (11:15 PM) I cannot shake the feeling that even the most novice of players daring to attempt multiplayer can click five times as fast as I can, can dream building queues and will generally pulverize me in three minutes. |
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Halon - August 28, 2010 (07:39 AM) #1 and #3 are super important in pretty much any RTS. You always want to keep your resource amount at 0 or as close to 0 as possible because if you're not there then you have wasted resources that could go be another building(s), unit(s), etc. I don't know how many people I've played in various games that have had stockpiles or resources left over that could've fended off my attacks. Another common mistake is overloading buildings. Instead of building a barracks with a 6-unit queue, build 3 barracks each with a 2 unit queue! Also another key is watch demos! See how the pros (or any players better than yourself) play. Don't just watch for the sweet kills but think of why they do what they do. For #3 map control is vital. Don't over expand to the point where you are weak and vulnerable, but just like chess it is vital to control the map and resources. Also when I attack in RTS I like to generally go after the big threats first (i.e. stealth unit, battlecruiser, etc) then cripple their resource supply (workers, related buildings, etc) since if they're not gathering resources they can't fight back. So yeah, resource management is super important. One of the most important aspects to learn that most people tend to neglect. I can go on but I'll stop here. ;) |
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blood-omen - August 28, 2010 (07:54 AM) great tips which i think work for the single player campaign as well..... |
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Suskie - August 28, 2010 (02:05 PM) Yeah, being the more aggressive player can be incredibly important. If you're constantly keeping your opponent on edge, either you'll constantly and consistently weaken them until you win, or they'll worry more about defense than offense, which is never a good move. The main reason I hate fighting Zerg is because they can generate units at alarming rates, and I'm usually more concerned about protecting my base than attacking. Although the upside is that when you do attack, their defenses are hilariously weak. #3 is a tricky one. You definitely need to expand, but if you expand too quickly, you run the risk of spreading yourself thin. An attack force has a much more difficult time storming a single well-fortified base than four poorly-defended ones. I usually worry first and foremost about establishing a secure home base before branching off. Or, since I'm always Terran, something else I'll frequently do is build a second command center early on and then fly it to some obscure part of the map so I can start harvesting resources in secret. Most players tend to expand towards the closest resource patches first, so usually my opponents won't even check up on the far corners of the map until late in the match. About resources, by the way: One of my favorite strategies is to build a small group of reapers immediately whilst upgrading their speed (via tech lab), and then send them in to infiltrate the enemy base and go straight for the peons. It catches a lot of people off guard and can really screw up their economy. It's especially effective against Protoss, since most players only have zealots up and running by that point, and zealots can't do crap against reapers. |
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Halon - August 28, 2010 (02:53 PM) You want to be aggressive only if you're smart about it. I'm not sure how SC2 is, but in SC I can't count how many times I've seen failed Zerg rushes that lead to defeats in under 10 minutes (I usually played Terran, sometimes Protoss). Be aggressive, but also be able to back it up. |
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zippdementia - August 28, 2010 (11:10 PM) The Protoss have some trouble against Terran, I've noticed, if the Terrans know what they are doing. Terrans have, by far, the best base defenses. Seige Tanks mixed with bunkers and missile turrets are goddamn tricky. I'm still working on an effective strike force against that. I've lost a couple matches now, because of those defenses. But my game is young still. I've yet to give it enough deep thought to warrant true concern yet. |
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