StarCraft 2 Multiplayer Guide Volume 1 - General Tips and Tricks

I’ve been playing the StarCraft 2 multiplayer for a few weeks, and for everyone that’s still a bit in the dark about how the game works or just wants some helpful guidance to get out of a losing streak, here are some general tips and tricks on how to improve.

Note that the game isn’t balanced yet, and the patches released so far only contain updates for minor technical issues, so if you get schooled by a fleet of Battle Cruisers or Void Rays, just keep in mind it’s not you, it’s the game.  In following articles, I will cover some race specific tips, but keep in mind that I mostly play Protoss, with a bit of Terran and little to no Zerg.

General Tips

• The game is all about attacking the other player’s workers, if you attack your opponents combat troops or buildings, they can just rebuild them. But if you attack their workers, it disrupts their economy.
• Quantity over quality, in every aspect of the game. Upgrading your units attack and defense is for late game use only. Build as many unit producing buildings and low tier combat troops as you can as early as you can.
• Protect your workers. Build detectors near your mineral fields and station base defenses there before you attack your opponent.
• Information is power. As soon as you build your first population upgrade building is around the time you should start scouting with a worker. After you scout out their base, leave the worker at the closest ‘Xel Naga watchtower, which will give you great insight on your opponent’s movement outside of their primary base.
• Learn hotkeys, they may seem annoying at first, but they will speed up your playing immensely in the long run.
• You should never have more than a few hundred minerals and gas at your disposal. If you do, spend it immediately.
• Build a ton of workers on each base and constantly pump them out until you have a steady economy. As a rule of thumb, I use 20 workers on each mineral field and 3 on each vespene gas geyser.
• Go around the back of your opponent’s base using transports or teleportation techniques. Because most multiplayer maps now have a ramp leading up the starting base, any decent player will block it with a wall that combines buildings and combat troops. As a result, it doesn’t even make sense to try to break that wall, as this is nearly impossible early game unless you successfully rush.
• Once you’ve reached around 50 population it’s time to expand. Expansions are more about the gas than anything, as you need 4 vespene gas geysers with 3 workers each in order to run a successful economy.
• Scour the map for your opponent’s outposts. In comparison to an opponent’s primary base, these outposts are usually not very well defended. Often, these can be easily destroyed with a small strike force.
• After an attempt to kill your opponent’s workers, start teching up toward air units, as their mobility is greatly harnessed in mid to late game.

Hope these tips help.  I’ll write up some more race specific tips in the coming days.  In the meanwhile, if you think you could use these tips to wipe the floor with me, or just want to play a round, feel free to proposition for a round or two at my BattleNet account name, HavenDan with character code 770.