Zerg vs Terran how to scout etc

i've been playing zerg for the past week and the only race that i have trouble with is terran, i mean it's almost impossible to scout them since they are blocking each chokepoints with supply depots and i'm having a real problem knowing what to build.

if i build anti air to counter banshees they come with siege tanks, if i build anti siege tank/marines they drop marauders in my base :/

if anyone can give me some advice i would greatly appreciate it!

 

if scoutings a real problem send a drone at the start of the game - theres no way he can wall off already. I tend to hide my drone somewhere in the corner of their base.

And the problem may be that he's scouting you more often and counter-acting.

 

what's wrong with an overlord?

 

yeah i always send a drone at the start of the game but the trouble is that when they get marines out (which doesnt take to long) it will be dead before it actually sees anything of importance. :/

and about the overlord i know they are great at scouting but every instinct in my body tells me not to send a overlord there cuz i know marines will dispose of it in seconds. but i guess if thats the only way to do it ...

 

I always send an overlord, but what I try to do is sneak it around behind the enemys mineral line - that way I after I get the speed upgrade I can have a good look and change it to an overseer.

 

If you feel that you are losing your drone before you get any chance to obtain real information, then maybe you should take advantage of subtle clues. For example, early refinery and barracks may be an indicator of reapers while an early factory can be a sign of a mech approach.
On the other hand, if they have marines and absolutely nothing else going on, then honestly you are probably ahead because i have yet to see an effective build that begins with marines and then has a long lull period.

As far as late game scouting, mutalisks are an excellent approach because they are an effective unit and a fast unit as well. Yes, it forces you to go for mutalisks but thats the price you pay for late game scouting since you seem to shy away from overlords.

 

oh thanks!

 

here's the trick,

send your overlord to his base at beginning and send a drone to scout to make sure he isn't doing a proxy barrack and go into his base to see if he is getting fast gas (if so, watch out for reapers/hellions/banshees). 8min into the game, send your overlord to suicide, just to see what kind of tech buildings he has (lots of factories/barracks/starports)

you are describing the lack of intel you have on your opponent, and you cant prevent terran from scanning you. So he is playing on the phenomenon of "fear what you don't know"

 

scouting first mins gives you very FEW clues if you are able to pick up on them. if he has 1-2 refineries he could be going reapers or jumping tech. multi baracks could be going MMM no baracks either some prozy bs or idk... however the key is to recieve information always. burrow zerglings. expand creep. get mutalisks and with their speed and propper mucro they demolish but can also be used for intel. get roaches and move 1 or 2 into his base and dont unborrow them. infested terran but thats only if he doesnt notice. the wall is only for first 5 misn afterwards it becomes almost useless and its more of a mental barrier then a real one. also oversears are great with their speed. it doesnt cost much compared to knowing whith what and where he is goign to attack

 

Usually you should be able to get a drone into his base if you scout early. If you do, instead of pointlessly moving up to his SCV's and see that he's building a depot, park it off in a dark corner for a little bit and then scout a little further on in the game.

If that doesn't work you can always suicide an overlord into his base. That will give you some good intel, and 100 minerals is not much to lose for what you'll be learning.

 

if its late game, you can use a changeling as well.

 

For scouting with any race you need to look at it from a couple of angles.

Start of the game worker scout to see if they are rushing or proxying.
use a drone in this case to run into their base. Look for early double or triple rax (this usually means rush) and if they are going early lotsa gas (could mean reapers)

Mid game scouting to see what they are teching to.
Have overlord(s) around their base, and over ledges to see what they are doing and send in your sacrifical overlord to see what tech they are going. Yes, it's 100 minerals down the drain and yes you will have to build more to ensure you don't supply cap yourself but it's way better to lose 100 crystal from an overlord to be shocked to see mass thor's and hellions when you went Zerglings / Mutas and your army is crushed in seconds.

Late game scouting to see if they are switching tech.
Late game use an overseer and drop some changelings on the ledge of the enemy base and move them in. You can typically get a lot of good scouting in this way without sacrificing a unit. Just find the gap in defense on the edge of the base and drop a changeling right there. This will show you what tech they are going, what army they have and potentially give u an idea to drop in their base and where to drop.

I hope that helps.

 

Hey everyone, just made another video on this with changelings and recommendations for Zerg Scouting.

You can check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WkL1yh-ZdY

 

These are some things you could do buddy:

-Send an overlord. He is slower than a drone scouting but at least you will know what he is doing. If you spammed close to his base overlords are a very good scouting unit.
-Send an early drone. And as Taerix said scout waht he has then go in a corner where he could hopefully be forgotten then when you want some info you go and watch what he he is building.



Or send your overlord to scout him early game, then go hide him where your ennemy won't see him. Then when you need information, you can either sucide scout with him or scout less and retreat before he comes to kll you.

 

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned before but Artosis puts an overlord on either side of the opponents base so if he needs to know what's going on he just flies them in and everything is scouted.

 

Yes exactly, it's a very good thing to do aswellyou hide 1 or 2 overlords on the sides of your opponents base and just go and scout whenever you need information.

 

You can usually see what their add-on is, and scout the early reaper harass. You can also do as the others have said and keep an OL close, especially to see if and when they get 1 gas or two. When are they getting their OCC? Also, sending a tandem of zerglings to die at the wall is a good thing, because you can sometimes see WHAT is shooting the lings. All marines? All Marauders? Mixing it up? This info is crucial to you, in order to react and make the right units to counter his composition.Keep a zerglings solid 6 or 7 "zergling leaps" in front of his wall, so if he moves out his ground forces, you should get a heads up-and if you're real quick about it- see what's coming! Hope this helps

-Swifty

 

Couple other things I've noticed people doing is putting Overlords outside their base, just enough to see into the base, but not enough to get sniped. If they try hiding tech on the offskirt of their base the OL might see it.

Also, in lost temple, there's a ledge on the inside wall of the bases, right behind the minerals. If you can get an OL "on" the ledge, ground units don't see it.

One more thing, if a flying unit is on "the high ground" then ground units can't see it. So if there are little ledges on the map (like Kulas Ravine) you can throw OL on them and they'll see all of the paths, but with a much better chance of living.