Basic Strategy and Acronyms

Hey!! I've just started playing SC2 Beta, and I'm having some troubles. I'm not new to RTS, or Starcraft in general (huge fan), but I've never played on a competitive ladder. In other words, I get owned nearly every game and I don't really know where to start in terms of 'basic strategy'.

I've been browsing the strategy forums here, but I get hopelessly lost in the terminology and acronyms in relation to strategies.

I do have some questions for basic strategy. Despite losing nearly every match 1v1, I enjoy the game and want to get better. So without further ado, here is my list.

1.) Is there a magic number of probes/SCV's/drones for rushing/turtling?

2.) I see the end game statistics (on a loss), when I have nearly the same amount of resources/workers as the enemy, how do I know that I'm not using my resources as efficiently as them?

3.) Is micro management always a game winner? I.E. Whoever is better wins?

4.) If I'm in a turtle with another player, regardless of race, I never seem to pump out nearly as many units as they do, despite me attempting to use all my resources as quickly as possible. Is this a result of lack of expansion(s)?

5.) I haven't 'chosen' a race, should I stick to a single race to maximize my potential to win?

6.) What are some of these strategy acronyms?

7.) Am I in the wrong place to ask these questions, or should I consult another source?

 

1.) Is there a magic number of probes/SCV's/drones for rushing/turtling?

Always continue building workers as often as your strategy allows until you have somewhere between 2-3 per mineral patch.

2.) I see the end game statistics (on a loss), when I have nearly the same amount of resources/workers as the enemy, how do I know that I'm not using my resources as efficiently as them?

Look to unspent resources I suppose? I am not quite sure what you are asking here. Perhaps they simply are countering your units which could easily make them win with the same amount of money. It is important to learn which units do extra damage to which types of armor which types of armor each unit has.

3.) Is micro management always a game winner? I.E. Whoever is better wins?

Well whoever is better usually wins but I suspect what you mean is whoever is better at microing wins? Definitely not, but it certainly helps, especially in the early game. A large part of the game is about macro, aka maintaining unit product, expasion, while also harassing and attacking/microing, and smart army composition/positioning to counter their army composition is very important. Usually if you can micro well enough to focus fire and not walk into a huge ambush you will be OK.

4.) If I'm in a turtle with another player, regardless of race, I never seem to pump out nearly as many units as they do, despite me attempting to use all my resources as quickly as possible. Is this a result of lack of expansion(s)?

I'm not sure what your asking here. They will certainly be able to make more units then you if they have an expansion for an extended period of time before you and you don't do anything about it.

I think perhaps you just don't have enough workers at your main base which is a very common rookie mistake, you should rarely ever have a large break in making workers until you have at least both vespane up and 2 workers per mineral patch. By the time I have between 2-3 per mineral patch I am usually putting up an expansion and direct my new workers to there, sometimes I take some off my main base but this might really hurt you if you subsequently lose your expansion.

5.) I haven't 'chosen' a race, should I stick to a single race to maximize my potential to win?
If starting to win as soon as possible is your goal, yes. I would suggest protoss as perhaps the easiest race to learn to play decently with. Zerg is the hardest to learn IMO, but I suppose it depends on your play style.

6.) What are some of these strategy acronyms?
Specify please. MMM is the most common I guess and refers to the terran unit combo of marines, marauders and medvacs a common and effective terran strategy should work in copper->silver league.

rax = barracks

Not sure what else to tell you - learn all the units and buildings and you will probably understand better.

7.) Am I in the wrong place to ask these questions, or should I consult another source?
Right place but more specific questions may help.

 

1) There is no magic number, however, aim for 85, though it's barely possible, since that considering maximum saturation on 3 bases. It's different for every race, toss gets their probes get to 40 usually the fastest, since they require lots of money. Terran, has mules, and can have less scvs, while zerg usually gets the least, since they operate under the least resource(most efficient/unit cost race). However, it's always good to constantly pump out workers.

2)Game stats at the end are meaningful, but not as much as replays. Replays tell you a alot more, about APM, how you're spending your resources, and how much you have.

3)The better player is usually the one that finds a balance between macro and micro management. However, macro is a bigger part of the game. Micro only when you think it's going to make a difference where the macro can't make up.

4) it's most likely your build, lack of scouting, not pumping the workers at the right time, or being caught "out of position". Only explanation other than this is, lack of expansions. When we're talking about numbers, we're talking about in terms of strength of both forces. So the number is usually not the issue, because it is expected a zerg will out number you.

5) Picking a race will not necessarily maximize your potential to win, but it is one way to get good quickly.However to be competitive, you need to know timings, and the feeling for it so playing other races helps this a lot.

6)Specify

 

i'll just throw in my views.

1.) Is there a magic number of probes/SCV's/drones for rushing/turtling?
- turtling generally means you play defensive and just build up as much economy/tech as possible, so i'd probably want more workers. as mentione above, 2-3 workers per mineral patch. if you're rushing, you only need as much income as you can produce units. if your income is higher than your production speed, build another gateway/rax/get more larva.

2.) I see the end game statistics (on a loss), when I have nearly the same amount of resources/workers as the enemy, how do I know that I'm not using my resources as efficiently as them?
- don't queue up units- any units that aren't being built are a waste of resources. for the 30 seconds or so that it's sitting, waiting to be built, you could have spent that money getting other technology earlier or something.
- (in general) don't let buildings stop producing units. if the building's not being used, it's wasted money. if you could have gotten by without that building, then you should have used that money on something else. balancing non-queuing and constant-production takes a lot of practice and attention.
- pick the right units to build. there's probably at least one "hard counter" for every other unit out there (in other words, a unit whose specialty is to take out that other unit). this means you have to scout and know what your enemy's army is made of. and tying it in with the above 2 points- scouting properly means you won't be caught off-guard and end up with 4 gateways when you really needed 2 robotics facilities instead.

3.) Is micro management always a game winner? I.E. Whoever is better wins?
- no, but it does factor in pretty heavily. you can obviously let your micro slack off a bit and just overwhelm your enemy with macro if your macro is that much better, but don't count on it. focus-firing is probably the easiest, and one of the most effective forms of micro. practice it until you can do it without thinking.
- you should definitely watch out for a couple "battle-changing" spells, though: neural parasite on expensive units like colossi and thors, yamato on key units, a well-placed psi storm, etc.

4.) If I'm in a turtle with another player, regardless of race, I never seem to pump out nearly as many units as they do, despite me attempting to use all my resources as quickly as possible. Is this a result of lack of expansion(s)?
- see what i said for #2. if your resources are piling up while you build one unit at a time from every production building, you don't have enough production buildings. queuing them up spends the money but doesn't actually build the unit for a while.
- and yes, expanding is a big part of it. expansion = higher income = more production.

5.) I haven't 'chosen' a race, should I stick to a single race to maximize my potential to win?
- don't bother at this stage. just play around, see what works for you and also see what beats you.

6.) What are some of these strategy acronyms?
- can't think of any acronyms specifically, but a few terms you should know:
- proxy: building a production building close to your enemy's base. if you're really ballsy, INSIDE the enemy's base. very risky but the lack of travel time can let you cause massive damage before they can react.
- focus firing: getting your units to target one enemy at a time. enemies deal the same damage whether they're at full HP or 1HP, so you want to make sure your enemies DIE, not get hurt, as quickly as possible.
- kiting: when one unit is faster than another unit, you can run away, turn around and do 1 attack, and run away again. repeat while getting your enemies to follow you. very micro-intensive way to get the most out of your units.
- Splash/AoE: area of effect. for any attack or spell that hits things around it instead of just the targeted unit.
- Cheese: a risky AND unusual strategy. it generally only works when your opponent doesn't expect it AND doesn't see it coming. some call it unfair, others just tell you to scout better.
- also, while not strategy, it is good manners to say "gl hf" (good luck, have fun) at the beginning of the game and "gg" (good game) at the end. also, the first to say GG is the one who is admitting defeat.

7.) Am I in the wrong place to ask these questions, or should I consult another source?
- i think this is what forums are for.

 

Thanks a ton, great advice.

 

1.) Is there a magic number of probes/SCV's/drones for rushing/turtling?
Skipping this question, the above people have answered.
2.) I see the end game statistics (on a loss), when I have nearly the same amount of resources/workers as the enemy, how do I know that I'm not using my resources as efficiently as them?
Your economy is only important to increase your buildings and assault units, so just because you have more resources/workers does not mean you win, it just means you have more money. And having more money, but less units/buildings is pointless.
3.) Is micro management always a game winner? I.E. Whoever is better wins?
Micro management is not really a game winner all in itself. Unless you are in the platinum division (ie: so good at your macromanagement that it is second-nature). It is, however, very very very useful to begin using. I can't tell you the number of times i've won because i've known how to use my stalkers in protoss versus terran matches. If the enemy is focus firing one unit (NOTE: AND THE UNIT THEY ARE FOCUSING HAS A HIGHER MOVESPEED THAN THE UNIT ATTACKING IT) then move it away, this will buy you precious seconds for your units to gun your enemy down.
4.) If I'm in a turtle with another player, regardless of race, I never seem to pump out nearly as many units as they do, despite me attempting to use all my resources as quickly as possible. Is this a result of lack of expansion(s)?
Attempt to not turtle yourself. Keep on the offensive as much as you can without suiciding your units. If you ARE being turtled, then attempt to tech to your opponents counter as quickly as possible. For example, i was playing against zerg once, and he turtled the crap out of me. He just kept spamming zerglings, when I had planned on teching to stalkers. Instead of just trying to fend off his lings with zealots, I teched to a stargate as quickly as I could, and sent void rays to his base for the win.
5.) I haven't 'chosen' a race, should I stick to a single race to maximize my potential to win?
Mess around with the races until you find one that you really enjoy. Mine is protoss.
6.) What are some of these strategy acronyms?
Specify?
7.) Am I in the wrong place to ask these questions, or should I consult another source?
You're in the right place.

 

Nvm about the acronyms I found out/figured out what some of them meant. I've been playing and winning with Zerg, so I think that is my race, I feel most comfortable with it.

I placed copper in 1v1 but I'm in the top 5 with about 1:1 win/loss ratio as zerg with about 20 games, so I guess I'll move up into bronze soon?

Me and one of my friends placed in silver for 2v2, going terran/zerg or zerg/zerg depending on how he feels, so I'm pretty satisfied with my progress thus far. Though, he carried me somewhat lol. He'd probably of placed gold easily if I was as good as him.