Starcraft: Beginner booboos and how to counter them #1
Ahhh, Starcraft … playing it again, even against the AI, brings back fond memories of weeks of multiplayer mayhem with close friends at our small network gaming cafe. Starcraft was perhaps the second most played network game at our little nook, the first being (what else?!) Counter-Strike.
Going back to my memories of Starcraft, I recall the time when the game was just a week old (at our cafe). Being the owners of the cafe, of course we had first dibs. We needed to “test” the game before letting the kiddies play it (yeah, right).
Back then, there were no zergling, zealot or marine rushes, no build orders, no massive armies moving across the virtual world. The only thing present that had anything to do with gaming was complete and utter CHAOS (because half the time we really had no idea what we were doing). Soon, discoveries that had been enjoyable at first became boring, much like a static webpage.
Fortunately for us, like the Borg of StarTrek fame, we adapted. Single squad strikes became grand warfare, where battles were fought on land and in the air. Rushes became commonplace, replacing testing-the-water tactics, and racial advantages were not only maximized but exploited as well.
Before I launch into a tirade of Starcraft tactics, it is prudent to teach what all newbies need to know first—the build order. I’ll start with Protoss first, since I played this race more than the Terran and the Zerg.
First, order your initial four probes (peons) to mine the nearby mineral patch. Note that you will be better served by ordering each probe to mine different mineral patches since selecting all of them and right clicking on a single patch will delay your movements (which might be is detrimental to your game).
With that done, click on your Nexus (yes, it’s that big structure in the middle) and churn out one more probe with the initial 50 minerals in your bank. When the probe comes out, order it to another mineral patch, while you wait for another probe to come out. When probe number six steps out of the warp portal, make it mine as well.
By this time, you should have enough minerals to warp in another probe, which you will order to build a pylon. After initiating the warp, slap your probe on its rump and make it mine more minerals, and go back to your Nexus to bring in another probe.
This latest probe belongs to the mineral patch; the next one should build a Gateway (the Protoss ground unit production building) before joining its brothers at mining for minerals. The next two probes are destined to mine. If you have spare minerals, you might as well churn out a Zealot (your basic ground fighting unit) from the Gateway and make it scout as soon as it comes out.
Before you bring in the Zealot, however, make sure you have enough minerals for another probe and another Gateway. At this critical point of the game, you should already have 12 probes mining the mineral patch, two Gateways from which your army will spring, and a few hundred minerals in your bank.
After your short inventory, produce another probe to warp in a new pylon and to help its brothers mine for minerals. Once the pylon materializes, start churning out Zealots.
Well, I’ve brought you this far. Go and kick some Terran butts and Zerg tails!
Image downloaded from the Threedy Forums and modified by Joel. Image shows Protoss Zealot, a character from Blizzard Entertainment’s Starcraft.
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POSTED IN: Blizzard, Blowing stuff up, Discussion, PC, Re:Retro, Space, Strategy
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