Starcraft 2 Unit Basics - Multiplayer Strategy Guide

Introduction: My starcraft 2 guide will be broken up into sections according to the various multiplayer units, race vs race and the strategies involved for how to win particular battles.  I will list build orders and counter build orders, and will include other basic tips that will help you become a better starcraft 2 player.  As you read up on each race section to the left menu, you will indirectly learn how to play other races at the same time, since you will learn what counters specific build orders used by a given race.

One thing I highly advice is even before you start playing starcraft 2, just spend some time in a multiplayer game all by yourself with no opponents, and simply study all the units, buildings, and tech trees.  Try 1 on 1 battles between units, such as try to have a zealot fight a stalker one on one, and see who comes out last, and how many hit points the unit won has left.  This will get you an idea of which units are good for what, how strong the particular units are, and what buildings build what.  I do this myself for all RTS games, and I know it helps me tremendously.  If you just start playing Starcraft2 without doing this, you will probably be lost and will not know what to build or what builds what.  This will help get you started much quicker in starcraft 2 if you did this.

Warcraft III vs Starcraft 2

For those of you who have played Warcraft 3 a lot, but not Starcraft 1.  You should be familiar with the differences of how Warcraft 3 plays vs Starcraft 2.  Here are the differences:

In short Starcraft 2 is more about macroing than microing than Warcraft 3.  It is more about clashing larger armies together. There is no up-keep in Starcraft 2, like there is in Warcraft 3.  The max unit count in Warcraft 3 is 90, while it is 200 in Starcraft 2.  There are no heroes in Starcraft 2 multiplayer like there is in Warcraft 3, or any creeps to kill. Here is a quick interview of the designer of Starcraft 2 and his view of the differences between these 2 games:

1. Quantity vs. Quality

As opposed to Warcraft III where the player controls a few units with many different special abilities, Starcraft 2 will be a numbers game:

Starcraft 2 [units] will instead act as "movers and shooters" mostly autonomous forces that generally lack special abilities, but will instead be used in large control groups to "do their own thing" in battle, rather than requiring the micromanagement of high-level Warcraft III play."

2. More emphasis on economic activity

Another comparison to Warcraft III which had relatively little emphasis on the economy, so players can focus on battles instead.  Starcraft 2 will have its pronounced emphasis on bases and expansions as a means of achieving victory.

3. Rushing - strongly encouraged

Unlike Warcraft which introduced neutral creeps to keep the players occupied, Starcraft 2 will put more emphasis on rushing.  Engaging the enemy early and keeping him occupied will distinguish good players from mediocre ones. Which leads us to...

4. The good, the bad, and the GOSU

According to Pardo, Warcraft III was more forgiving to beginners. In Starcraft 2, the gap in the level will be a lot more evident.  Pro players will be able to mow down their opponents in record time by way of builds, multitasking, quick expansions, uber units like the Protoss Mothership:

5. Beyond rock-paper-scissors

Starcraft 2 units will introduce more and more subtle ways to counter the opponent's strategy. The key to good counters will be timing, maneuverability, and position (there's a brand new implementation of higher ground - more damage, fog of war).

Basic terms and tips for managing your micro and macro

In simple terms, Micro (micromanagement) means controlling your army towards victory, and Macro (aka macromanagment) means the process of getting an army.  This is the foundation of all RTS games.  You mine resources, and tons of it as quickly as you can, then you build buildings and structures that allow you to build fighting units, all this is the MACRO part.  Then you take all your fighting units and control them to kill your opponent, this is the MICRO part.  I will now break down the details of each:

MACRO:

Build orders - This is the foundation of the strategy you plan on doing once the game starts.  Build orders start with an understanding of your starting goals for each game.  Choosing a build order for a particular battle totally depends on what type of game it is (whether its 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, or FFA), what race your opponent(s) are and also what map is being played.  I will list particular build orders for each race throughout my guide and what I recommend overall for every situation.

Economy - Is very important in Starcraft 2 and is overlooked by many noobies.  Just about everything in Starcraft2 costs money, in a sense it is just a big money war, generally the richer you are the more you can buy, the more you can buy, the more you can overpower your opponent.  So building workers continuously throughout the beginning of the game is VERY VERY VERY important.  If your income level is lower than your opponent, then you are probably going to lose, it's as simple as that.  This can be easily remedied by simply making sure you have enough workers (SCVs, probes, or drones) throughout the game.  A simply strategy to make sure this happens, is basically just make sure you constantly build a worker unit before just about anything else.  Constantly have a worker unit queued up, and keep cranking them out until you have about 16 - 24 workers for each 8 patches of minerals, and 3 workers for each gas mine.  In my opinion, the sweet spot for the number of workers per 8 patches of minerals is 20 workers, I think that is a very good number to shoot for when maxing out your mineral mining production.

Expansions - Another important aspect of economy is expansions.  Expansions means setting up another small base just for the means of collecting even more resources to get your income level even higher. Knowing when to expand and when not to is VERY important.  Keeping your opponent from expanding throughout the game is also very important.

Spend Your Money - Having a good income means you will have plenty of money to buy things.  But one thing most noobs forget, is to simply SPEND YOUR MONEY WHEN YOU GET IT.  You should never look at your resources you have collected and it's like over 1000 minerals or 1000 gas. You could have all that money into a bigger army rather than having it just sit in your bank.  Starcraft DOES NOT have a interest rate (like a real bank) that makes more if you have more sitting in your bank.  You would be much better off if you spent your unspent money on more fighting units rather than have it sit and collect.  Trust me you will win the game much quicker, just think about it?  Get my drift..??  Last thing you want is to lose the battle because you have a ton of resources just collected up, you've could of easily transferred all those recourses into fighting units and you would've won the game.

If your income level is too high to compensate for unit production, then adapt by simply building more unit producing structures.  Keep cranking units out just as fast as your bringing money in, this is important.

Offense is your best Defense - You will find the more you shift your money towards offense (fighting units) rather than defense (towers, bunkers, things of that nature), then the quicker you will win the game, and the more likely you will win the game early on.  This is more true in 2v2, and even more in 3v3 games, but less true in FFAs, and 1v1s are controversy on this issue.  But overall you should not go gung ho and crank out a BIG defense, I guarantee you, that you will lose the game.  Spending your money on a good offense, will be a better overall defense in your struggle to win each game.  There are many units in Starcraft designed to even take out defense structures quickly.  So focus more on offense rather than defense and you will be will on your way to stepping out of the "noob" zone.

A few strategically placed defensive structures can help tremendously in many situations however, so don't forget about them completely.

Control Group Hot Keys - Thank goodness Starcraft2 makes managing your army easier than Starcraft1, in starcraft1 you can only select up to 12 units at a time, but in starcraft2 you can have as many as you want selected at once.  This makes starcraft2 much easier to play and more fun than starcraft1 ..  Hot keys have been improved too. Having hot keys for specific units is important. You can easily and quickly select certain units and control them faster than without hotkeys.

To make a hotkey, simply highlight the units you want to be in the control group and press "ctrl" and then the number you like them to be in. Also if you ever want to quickly add another unit to that control group, you can highlight the new unit you want added to the specific control group, then press the "shift" key and then the control group number you want him added to.  Now press that control group number and that unit will be in the group.

I recommend having a hotkey for your scouting unit, your main army, and any tactical units, such as a terran ghost, protoss mothership, zerg infestor, etc.  You can even take this a skill level further and use different control groups for different fighting units.  For example, as protoss, you can have a control group just for all your stalkers and another one just for your zealots, and then keep switching back and forth to control them individually in a manner for having your zealots fighting a specific unit, while having your stalkers hitting and running on another patch of units.  Of course this is more of a advance technique I recommend using later on once you get better.

MICRO:

Micromanagement - Like I said before this means controlling your army towards victory.  I do have to admit, starcraft2 is more about macro than micro when compared to Warcraft 3.  But starcraft 2 still has a lot of micromanagement involved if you plan on becoming a very good starcraft player. Luckily a lot of units in starcraft2 have autocast abilities that work automatically and you don't have to worry about them much. But units like stalkers, which have the "blink" ability, is a good example of a unit that requires good micro.  And even stalkers without the "blink" ability still requires good micro to be able to "hit and run"..

Hit and Run - Hit and Run is a very important part of starcraft2, especially compared with starcraft1.  You will see a lot of units are ranged fighters who are simply faster than a lot of other units, you can use these units to keep hitting your opponent, and then running away from harm once they come after you, then keep repeating the process.  If you can master this ability while still focusing on managing your MACRO at the same time, then you are well on your way to becoming an expert starcraft player.  I will explain the best hit-and-run units each race has thought my guide, and what to do to counter them.

Scouting - This means spying on your opponent (usually at the very beginning of the game with a worker unit, or overlord if you are zerg) just to see what build order he/she is going for.  As you start playing starcraft 2 you will see just about everyone doing this.  And for good reason. Knowing what your opponent is doing can help you decide how to counter attack them.  You should always have an understanding throughout the game what your opponent is building, this is very important.  Later on in the game, every race has some kind of "flying" spy you can build to spy (and in some cases) even harass your opponent at the same time.  I will explain more on this later.

Aggression - Some people refer to this as constant harassing, this is a very important part of RTS games, the more you throw your opponent off guard with harassing, then the more the game will be in your favor. It's more important for you to do the harassing, then your enemy.  If you can sneak into your opponents base near the beginning of the game and take out some of their workers, then you have a good chance of winning, I will explain the best harassing techniques to use in starcraft 2 for each race below in my guide and also how to counter someone who is harassing you.  But remember, usually the more aggressive player will usually win the battle.

You watch any expert starcraft 2 match, and you will see everyone involves some kind of early harassing and generally non-stop aggression towards throwing their opponent off guard.  And you watch any noob battle, and generally you will see they will sit in their base until they have built up a big army, and then collide with the opponents army and whoever comes out standing last wins.  Generally Starcraft2 is WAY more fun to play the expert way, of non-stop attacking. And is also the best way to play this game.

As you play this game more and more and get used to both the micro and macro aspects you will start to have more flexibility in your skills to start attacking non-stop, so if you are new to this game just take it easy at first and understand how to micro and macro before slipping out of the noob zone of the "no rush for 10 minutes. saying" haha. So don't be mad at yourself for not attacking non-stop when you first start playing, but definitely work your way to that skill level..  This definitely separates the noobs from the pros.

Control Group Hot Keys - Having control groups for your buildings is important and I recommend having them for ALL your unit producing buildings and also hotkeys for your upgrade buildings as well. In starcraft2 you want to be 100% focused on harassing and attacking your opponent non-stop, while at the same time keeping up with your macro (unit production, farm production, upgrades and other structures).  This is best accomplished by simply having them all in control groups. You should also take your time and memorize the hot-key buttons for everything.  You should never click on an icon in the game.  You should always know all the shortcut keys for everything. You want to minimize as much time as possible on your macromanagement and use it for your micromanagement instead.  And the same thing for micro, you should always use hotkeys for every unit ability and never press icons.

Memorize the armor and damage system.

I can't stress how important it is to memorize the damage and armor system in this game.  Different units are classified as either a light unit, armored unit, biological unit, or massive unit.  Many units in Starcraft 2 does bonus damage to certain types of units.  By memorizing this you will know what unit counters what more effectively.

Other random Starcraft2 notes, tips and advice:

-You will notice every unit has a Kill count and Rank. Keep in mind Blizzard put this in the game purely for reference data and informational purposes only.  Sometimes it's kinda cool to see how much a particular unit has killed.  I personally think this is a cool little feature.  And it's cool for the single player campaign to see how your units are doing.  But keep in mind this has nothing to do with the actual game play or enhances the units in any way.

-Never press Icons, memorize all hot keys in the game, you want to minimize as much downtime of micro and macroing as possible if you want to become a better Starcraft player.

-Don't get frustrated if you lose. Remember your worst game could be your best game if you learn from it. Anytime you lose a game, watch the replay and see what you did wrong.  See what you could have done differently to have won it.  You can also learn more about this game from players that beat you rather than if you beat somebody, simply watch their reply and see what they did.  This is also very important. If you want to become really good at this game you need to spend a lot of time studying replays.

Gameplay terms and definitions

When playing Starcraft 2, you may see a lot of different terms people are using, and you may be like "what does that mean?"  Well this section should help you be familiar with all of these terms:

AA - Means Anti-Air.  Any unit that can hit air units, are Anti-Air units. "We need to get AA quickly to stop the mutas."

All-In - A specific rush involving sacrificing economy for the intent to win a game very quickly, and usually if it fails, then it's usually considered game over for the "All-Inner", since he will be hurt for economy.  This term isn't really seen a whole lot in the starcraft universe, but it's there. "I'm going all-in with a quick reaper rush."

AoE - Area of Effect, e.g. the High Templar's PSI Storm hits a certain radius and anyone in that radius (or AoE) will take damage. "Watch out for the ghost's AoE shockwave"

APM - Actions per minute.  The number of mouse clicks and key presses per minute. You will see an APM chart for one of the list of replay options to view.

Backstab - After the enemy leaves his undefended base, go in and attack it.

Ball - Could also simply mean a group of units.  A large group of units, or a small group of units moving together around the map.

BM - Bad Manners (or Bad Mannered).  This is used to describe someone who makes fun of the opposing player, such as when someone says "GG" before the game is even remotely over.  "That player is very BM"

BO - Build Order - The order in which buildings and units are produced in the early game to achieve a specific strategy.  "Which BO are you going for?"

Choke Point (or simply called "Choke" for short) - This term refers to the entrance to your base.  There is a "choke point" in every map for starcraft 2, and usually involves a small ramp leading up into your base.  You generally want to make sure this is well guarded early on to protect yourself from rushes.  "Watch out you got enemies trying to get into your Choke."

Contain - This means having your army camp outside of your opponents base to prevent your opponent from expanding.  The Container will then have more control over the map to expand himself.  "I'm being contained in my base by stalkers."

Creep Bridge (or Creep Highway) - This means a long range of zerg creep on the ground, usually created by creep tumors or overlords/overseers pouring creep on the ground so the zerg units can move faster over it.  "The zerg have a creep highway across the whole map."

Distance Mining - This generally refers to when you are mining resources over a long distance rather than using a town hall building close up (command center, nexus, or hatchery).  "He has to distance mine until he has enough to build a nexus"

Economy - Basically means your income rate of resources.  The more worker units you have mining resources the better economy you will have, which in the long run will allow you to build more fighting units.

FE - Fast Expansion - Creating a second town hall building (nexus, command center, or hatchery) quickly at the beginning of the game in order to get your economy going even better in the long run.  "Are you going to do an FE?"

Food (also called farm space, or simply farms) - General term for the terran supply, zerg control, or protoss Psi.  The more food (or farms) you have, the more units you can have out.

Gas Steal - Means building a gas collecting building in your opponents base with a scouting worker to prevent them from mining gas early.  This is RARELY seen in Starcraft 2 since now there are two gas mines in every base compared to only one in starcraft 1.

Greedy - Simply means fast expanding (sometimes even twice) before you even start producing fighting units in order to gain a HUGE economical advantage during the long run of the game.

Harass - constant hitting-and-running on your opponent, usually means ultimately keep hitting-and-running at worker units to throw your opponent off track.  Good harassing units early on include: stalkers, reapers, or borrowed moving roaches. Later on would be banshees, mutalisks, or void rays.

Hard Counter - When a particular unit or strategy overpowers another unit or strategy.  "The stalker is a hard counter to the reaper"

Kiting - This also refers to hit-and-run, where as one unit has an advantage over another unit that allows it to hit-and-run against it until the opposing unit is destroyed.  The hit-and-runner usually is faster with a longer attack range. "I kited the zealots to death with my stalkers"

Natural - This means the closest possible expansion to your main base that can be blocked off with a further choke point.

Macro - (aka macromanagment) Means the process of getting an army.  This is the foundation of all RTS games. You mine resources, and tons of it as quickly as you can, then you build buildings and structures that allow you to build fighting units, all this is the MACRO part.  The other side of macro is micro (explained later).

MBS - Multiple Building selection.  This refers to when you have several unit producing buildings of the same caliber to produce more than one unit at a time.  For example, building more than 1 zealot at a time with multiple gateways.

Micro - (micromanagement) means controlling your army towards victory.

Peon - A worker unit (SCV, Drone, or Probe).

Proxy - This means when you build your fighting unit producing buildings as safely close as you can to your opponents base so the travel time it takes to get your fighting units to your opponents base is dramatically reduced.  In SC2, this is mostly referred to when the protoss build 2 gateways close to your opponent's base to crank out zealots against them quickly.  Allies will sometimes say to other protoss allies early on if they are going to "proxy" rush them, such as: "Should we proxy gateway them?". So remember this.  This could also be considered an "All-In" strategy.

Push - This refers to the opposite of rushing, where as a rush is constantly flooding your opponent with usually one type of unit early on.  A Push refers to attacking only when you have a certain combination of units to achieve a specific strategy or counter.

Rush - Optimizing production to reach massing out a specific unit quickly, usually with the intent of early pressure on the enemy.  A rush is not considered as do-or-die as an all-in. If a rush fails, it's still possible to recover. "Should we Push them or Rush them?"

Scout - Means sending a unit to your opponent's base to see what they are building, or to scout the map to see if they are building something elsewhere on the map.  In the very early game, worker units make the best scouts, later on quick moving air units make great scouts.  This can also be accomplished with the terran's Scanner Sweeper.

Sim-City - In RTS games, this refers to how you place your buildings in your base.

Soft Counter - A unit that has a small advantage over another unit, but not so much overpowering as the Hard Counter (mentioned above).  The zealot is a Soft Counter to the marauder.

Timing Attack - Refers to when you time your attack very good against your opponent when they are weak building up to a Push.  For example, if you attack the terrans early on at the right time before they are about to get mass banshees, then you have successfully counter their "push" with your push.

Turtle - Spending a large portion of the game camping in your base with a great defense in the hopes of teching to high tier units.

Wall-In - Buildings placed at choke points to reduce the effectiveness of early rushes.  This is commonly done by Protoss and Terran.

Various unit and structure abbreviations

Protoss:

Core - Cybernetics Core
DT - Dark Templar
FF - Force Field
HT - High Templar
Lots - Zealots
Robo - Robotics Facility
Speedlots - Zealots with the Charge upgrade.

Terran:

BC - Battlecruiser
Bio - A unit combination that relies primarily on units from the Barracks (Marine/Marauder/Reaper/Ghost)
CC - Command Center
HSM - "Hunter" Seeker Missile
Mech - A unit combination that relies primarily on units from the Factory (Thor/Tank/Hellion)
MMM or M&M&M - Marines, Marauders and Medivacs
OC - Orbital Command
PF - Planetary Fortress
PDD - Point Defense Drone
Rax - Barracks

Zerg:

Blings - Banelings
Baneling Bust - Using banelings to break through wall-ins or defended chokes
Cracklings - Zerglings with the Adrenal Glands upgrade.
FG - Fungal Growth
Hatch - Hatchery
Hydras - Hydralisks
Lings - Zerglings
Mutas - Mutalisks
NP - Neural Parasite
Pool - Spawning Pool
Speedlings - Zerglings with the Metabolic Boost upgrade.
Ultras - Ultralisks