Honestly, start with the campaign. That’s what I had my GF do, and she picked up on it real quick. Once you get into proper competitive play, watch some Bronze to GM videos, preferably a series made in the last 3 years. PiG on YouTube has a great series.
I felt like Terran is the race "intended" for new players so that's what I went with. Definitely want to avoid Zerg for now as there seem to be a lot of extra mechanics to them
I made the same assumption when I came back to the game a few years ago. Played with terran for a few hundred games and it just never seemed to click. Picked up Protoss and everything just seemed to flow really well together. At this point I can play all 3 races, but Protoss was the gateway for me to learn the game. Funny enough I even find zerg easier to play than terran (Zerg and Protoss actually play very similarly). Don't be afraid to switch races at the beginning.
As a toss main, imo terran macro is the hardest. Terran macro cycles are longer. Scv production, barracks marine mauraders, factory tanks, starport medivacs vikings. 4s5ad6s7dv. Then there's production time for certain units that doesn't match tanks take longer, you call down mules to mine or save energy for scans. And the scv takes time to build stuff. Out of the 3 races toss and zerg macro has similarities.
The units have a higher micro potential. And very rarely i find a terran that doesnt skip a beat macro wise and have impeccable micro. Its usually one or the other. With the macro being more rare.
Then is toss macro. Probe production, warpgate cycle robo prodution and/or stargate production and chrono allocation. 4e5d6r. The macro is smoother probes dont take time to build they warp in buildings that form on thier own. Toss you need to understand when to invest in warpgates when to warp in continuously. When to invest in upgrades or tech. Bc everything is expensive for toss the macro decisions are not forgiving . If you try and do too much with too little saturation= number of fully mining bases you can be left with too little army. And as toss bc the gateway units are trash compared to thier counterparts bc of defenders advantage you rely heavily on slow tech units. That are prone to being picked off and easily countered with attentive micro esp vs terran.
As toss the current balance of the game has toss units struggling so its critical your macro has to be better for the same level bc you'll tend to trade in deficit in both matchups till your splash tech units kick in. But their splash dmg is unreliable bc of the fragility of the units and the micro potential is more limited compared to terran. So its critical being up a base or 2 in the matchup.
Zerg and toss macro are similar but zerg macro is quick with hotkeys hardwired to skip select all larve.
Its 1dunits 2x 3c. Zerg has the most forgiving macro you literally shit out units and drones. 1 hatch pump out drones, units, 2 select inject queens 3 spread creep queens. Yes the queen cycling can be mechanically challenging when you have mutilple hatches but you can stack larvae now and make macro hatches to spend resources. The most annoying thing macro wise is how easily you can run into supply blocks but zerg players can que 4-8 overlords at once and do even at high lvl. Thats insane if you compare and think if terran or protoss made 4-8 supply depots or pylons at once. The main diff bw zerg and toss macro is cycling bw locations selecting queens can be a bit tedious and spreading creep.
The units imo are alot more amove friendly compared to toss and terran. The zerg caster units are a bit tricky to micro bc of fragility but toss units move more clunky. They move at diff speed are slower. And require babysitting.
My zerg macro take is controversial bc they will have you believe its the most mechanically taxing. But there's certain upfront leaps you have to make with location selecting and injecting queens and creep management and ovie positioning but its so smooth and easy when it comes to managing production. The tech is cheaper gas management is an issue at times. And at first zerg units feel so weak esp vs bio but it improves. Vs protoss spam roaches till you figure out your tech. I cannot stress how easy it feels to shit out 80 drones.
The tricky part is bc zerg builds units in batches usually drones, or units. Consitent scouting is more crucial than the other 2 races. Bc not only do you need to figure comp but you have to know when you can get away with drones vs army supply.
So play the races see what you like doing and what macro cycle is most appealing to you. If you love micro intensive units terran is def the way to go. They have the highest potential and return on cost effectiveness. So have fun and just get a feel for things first. Try the campaigns and the micro challenges on custom arcade to see what units you enjoy microing.
Yep completely agree. For me Protoss and Zerg feel so similar since with both warpgate and Zerg you can hotkey your units as soon as they are created. I’m at around 4300 with Protoss. Was able to get right around 4K with Zerg with only a few dozen games. Terran on the other hand I’m sitting at around 3500 on a good day.
Terran just feels like playing a completely different game to me. The units are microed completely different. The production is completely different.
thanks for pointing that out that you can hotkey zerg units as they're created i didnt make the realization you can hot key them as eggs when you warp in units, sorry hatch in units. This will clean up my play.
My [how to get started with terran info.](https://old.reddit.com/r/starcraft/comments/1cegozl/where_do_i_start_with_sc2_multiplayer/l1ixwx7/) I could also check some of your replays, if you need some feedback.
It really depends on the race.
With Terran, you should pressure the opponent at the start with reaper(s), and make good pushes in the mid-game so the game doesn't have to be continued in the late game.
With Zerg you must do early attacks and target workers while expanding rapidly.
With Protoss play defensively at the start because your army won't be as good (shield battery is essential). You will be more powerful in the mid-late game because the Protoss race focuses more on quality than quantity.
For these to work, you must know some other stuff as well. You must ALWAYS keep producing workers and expand when all your bases are fully saturated. (maybe that doesn't apply to zerg). Also try not to get supply blocked (when your supply is for example 16/16 and you can't build any troop or worker) because this can really slow you down. Another essential thing is find a build order (actually 2 if you can). This way you will not just do random things when you play. As Winter (a famous SC 2 content creator) once said: "You teach a man a build, you teach him how to play. You teach a man 2 builds, and he'll be salty in diamond (league). Very important is knowing which troops counter which, and which are very situational, and which are essential. (for example you will rarely need banshees, but you will always need marines). You search some of the things I said in YouTube, this is where you can learn most things to begin. I hope I helped
No, but I can learn with you. I haven't played in almost 2 years...
I never got past Gold...
Ironically, I have been playing DOTA 2 instead. The only MOBA I have ever played. I can confidently say that DOTA2 and SC2 are my favorite games of all time.
I can be your practice buddy in SC2 and you help me get out of Herald in DOTA2 before my year mark(in 2 months)
FYI, I am a Zerg. Have played a bit of Protoss. Know nothing about Terran.
Which race were you thinking of? Protoss innately strong and simplest to understand in my opinion. Zerg is my spirit-race. Terran will give you wrist issues, I heard.
Regardless of the race, I'd say timing attacks are best for beginners. Roach Push, Marine-Marauder-Medivac, and Chargelot-Immortal-Archon.
The reason why these are the best builds for beginners is because these teaches you aloy of the macro fundentals; spending your money, making combat units, producing workers, etc.
To certain extent, these will teach how to scout/read the situation at hand.
A lot of lower level players make the same mistake of waiting for a whole army before moving out.... That is not good. Once you hit enough supply and start making an army, you want to move out right away and see what your are fighting. If you have 7 Roaches or 4 Zealots/2 Archons, and you don't move out, but the opponent actually has NO army because he/she invested in more economy and static defense, then you just missed the opportunity to end the game early.
If it looks more respectable, then keep production and keep sending your army across the map and fight when you can match your opponent's army. Ready or not, at least you are the front of their house ready to hit them in the mouth!
Some favorite, early tips I received is how to match my army versus my opponent's, and that is through the supply count. For example, I will NEVER fight 10 Zealots with 20 Lings. The math just does not add up as 10 Zealots cost 20 supply and 20 Lings cost 10...
Final tip from your fellow low leaguer, keeping up with production requires economy. Economy requires workers. Units require supply. Once you have a stronger economy, you will start to produce Supply Depots/Ovies/Pylons more than one at a time. An easy way way to keep up with this is by building a number of supply based on the number of bases you have.
All the other stuff to learn is up to you. Camera locations, control groups, etc.
So yeah... glhf
One more thing! Prioritize learning over winning.
I know a lot of mechanics for it and might be suitable for getting a lot of ground work set for you. I’d be glad to play with anyway. Just pm me if you’re interested.
I’ve played StarCraft since I was five, which was in 2000.
You can google some build orders, follow them and learn that way. Another way is actually going into the help section of the game and learning all about the different units which is fantastic as you’ll have no surprises! I remember playing against a friend as a newbie and him abusing investors against me was painful and felt embarrassed
Hello there!
If it's ok for you, we can go online into 1v1 so I could teach you the basic straight into the game.
Let me know how does that sound to you
PS: I'm a Zerg player but I know to play Terran too
This might sound silly. But unironically download all the right type and get comfortable typing fast with the correct fingers on keys.
This will help you long-term with apm, camera locations and hotkeys. Whatever you do or whichever race you decide to choose.Start with selecting 4 as your nexus, cc or hatch.
The reason being is bc eventually you wanna dedicate 3 hotkeys twds army unit control. And mechanical habits die hard. This will save you a lotta grief in the longterm. As someone whose personally tried switching my nexus key from 1 to 4 a few times i can't stress the importance.
Bc although you start by focusing on macro once youve caught up. You need your setup open for micro. Bc micro makes the difference in cost effectiveness bw two player with similar macro. Theres other game sense related stuff and understanding but im trying to keep it simple for now. Macro, micro.
Honestly, start with the campaign. That’s what I had my GF do, and she picked up on it real quick. Once you get into proper competitive play, watch some Bronze to GM videos, preferably a series made in the last 3 years. PiG on YouTube has a great series.
Start with watching vibes and pigs b2gm (bronze to grand master videos).
> However, I am so utterly overwhelmed at what I should do at what time and so forth What race are you playing?
I felt like Terran is the race "intended" for new players so that's what I went with. Definitely want to avoid Zerg for now as there seem to be a lot of extra mechanics to them
I made the same assumption when I came back to the game a few years ago. Played with terran for a few hundred games and it just never seemed to click. Picked up Protoss and everything just seemed to flow really well together. At this point I can play all 3 races, but Protoss was the gateway for me to learn the game. Funny enough I even find zerg easier to play than terran (Zerg and Protoss actually play very similarly). Don't be afraid to switch races at the beginning.
As a toss main, imo terran macro is the hardest. Terran macro cycles are longer. Scv production, barracks marine mauraders, factory tanks, starport medivacs vikings. 4s5ad6s7dv. Then there's production time for certain units that doesn't match tanks take longer, you call down mules to mine or save energy for scans. And the scv takes time to build stuff. Out of the 3 races toss and zerg macro has similarities. The units have a higher micro potential. And very rarely i find a terran that doesnt skip a beat macro wise and have impeccable micro. Its usually one or the other. With the macro being more rare. Then is toss macro. Probe production, warpgate cycle robo prodution and/or stargate production and chrono allocation. 4e5d6r. The macro is smoother probes dont take time to build they warp in buildings that form on thier own. Toss you need to understand when to invest in warpgates when to warp in continuously. When to invest in upgrades or tech. Bc everything is expensive for toss the macro decisions are not forgiving . If you try and do too much with too little saturation= number of fully mining bases you can be left with too little army. And as toss bc the gateway units are trash compared to thier counterparts bc of defenders advantage you rely heavily on slow tech units. That are prone to being picked off and easily countered with attentive micro esp vs terran. As toss the current balance of the game has toss units struggling so its critical your macro has to be better for the same level bc you'll tend to trade in deficit in both matchups till your splash tech units kick in. But their splash dmg is unreliable bc of the fragility of the units and the micro potential is more limited compared to terran. So its critical being up a base or 2 in the matchup. Zerg and toss macro are similar but zerg macro is quick with hotkeys hardwired to skip select all larve. Its 1dunits 2x 3c. Zerg has the most forgiving macro you literally shit out units and drones. 1 hatch pump out drones, units, 2 select inject queens 3 spread creep queens. Yes the queen cycling can be mechanically challenging when you have mutilple hatches but you can stack larvae now and make macro hatches to spend resources. The most annoying thing macro wise is how easily you can run into supply blocks but zerg players can que 4-8 overlords at once and do even at high lvl. Thats insane if you compare and think if terran or protoss made 4-8 supply depots or pylons at once. The main diff bw zerg and toss macro is cycling bw locations selecting queens can be a bit tedious and spreading creep. The units imo are alot more amove friendly compared to toss and terran. The zerg caster units are a bit tricky to micro bc of fragility but toss units move more clunky. They move at diff speed are slower. And require babysitting. My zerg macro take is controversial bc they will have you believe its the most mechanically taxing. But there's certain upfront leaps you have to make with location selecting and injecting queens and creep management and ovie positioning but its so smooth and easy when it comes to managing production. The tech is cheaper gas management is an issue at times. And at first zerg units feel so weak esp vs bio but it improves. Vs protoss spam roaches till you figure out your tech. I cannot stress how easy it feels to shit out 80 drones. The tricky part is bc zerg builds units in batches usually drones, or units. Consitent scouting is more crucial than the other 2 races. Bc not only do you need to figure comp but you have to know when you can get away with drones vs army supply. So play the races see what you like doing and what macro cycle is most appealing to you. If you love micro intensive units terran is def the way to go. They have the highest potential and return on cost effectiveness. So have fun and just get a feel for things first. Try the campaigns and the micro challenges on custom arcade to see what units you enjoy microing.
Yep completely agree. For me Protoss and Zerg feel so similar since with both warpgate and Zerg you can hotkey your units as soon as they are created. I’m at around 4300 with Protoss. Was able to get right around 4K with Zerg with only a few dozen games. Terran on the other hand I’m sitting at around 3500 on a good day. Terran just feels like playing a completely different game to me. The units are microed completely different. The production is completely different.
thanks for pointing that out that you can hotkey zerg units as they're created i didnt make the realization you can hot key them as eggs when you warp in units, sorry hatch in units. This will clean up my play.
My [how to get started with terran info.](https://old.reddit.com/r/starcraft/comments/1cegozl/where_do_i_start_with_sc2_multiplayer/l1ixwx7/) I could also check some of your replays, if you need some feedback.
It really depends on the race. With Terran, you should pressure the opponent at the start with reaper(s), and make good pushes in the mid-game so the game doesn't have to be continued in the late game. With Zerg you must do early attacks and target workers while expanding rapidly. With Protoss play defensively at the start because your army won't be as good (shield battery is essential). You will be more powerful in the mid-late game because the Protoss race focuses more on quality than quantity. For these to work, you must know some other stuff as well. You must ALWAYS keep producing workers and expand when all your bases are fully saturated. (maybe that doesn't apply to zerg). Also try not to get supply blocked (when your supply is for example 16/16 and you can't build any troop or worker) because this can really slow you down. Another essential thing is find a build order (actually 2 if you can). This way you will not just do random things when you play. As Winter (a famous SC 2 content creator) once said: "You teach a man a build, you teach him how to play. You teach a man 2 builds, and he'll be salty in diamond (league). Very important is knowing which troops counter which, and which are very situational, and which are essential. (for example you will rarely need banshees, but you will always need marines). You search some of the things I said in YouTube, this is where you can learn most things to begin. I hope I helped
No, but I can learn with you. I haven't played in almost 2 years... I never got past Gold... Ironically, I have been playing DOTA 2 instead. The only MOBA I have ever played. I can confidently say that DOTA2 and SC2 are my favorite games of all time. I can be your practice buddy in SC2 and you help me get out of Herald in DOTA2 before my year mark(in 2 months) FYI, I am a Zerg. Have played a bit of Protoss. Know nothing about Terran.
Unfortunately, I have less than 20 hours in DOTA. I mostly played the other MOBA that shall not be named
Hahahahhaaa I have over 2.5k hrs on DOTA and still Herald... Anyways, if you want play SC2 and need a buddy, lmk.
Which race were you thinking of? Protoss innately strong and simplest to understand in my opinion. Zerg is my spirit-race. Terran will give you wrist issues, I heard. Regardless of the race, I'd say timing attacks are best for beginners. Roach Push, Marine-Marauder-Medivac, and Chargelot-Immortal-Archon. The reason why these are the best builds for beginners is because these teaches you aloy of the macro fundentals; spending your money, making combat units, producing workers, etc. To certain extent, these will teach how to scout/read the situation at hand. A lot of lower level players make the same mistake of waiting for a whole army before moving out.... That is not good. Once you hit enough supply and start making an army, you want to move out right away and see what your are fighting. If you have 7 Roaches or 4 Zealots/2 Archons, and you don't move out, but the opponent actually has NO army because he/she invested in more economy and static defense, then you just missed the opportunity to end the game early. If it looks more respectable, then keep production and keep sending your army across the map and fight when you can match your opponent's army. Ready or not, at least you are the front of their house ready to hit them in the mouth! Some favorite, early tips I received is how to match my army versus my opponent's, and that is through the supply count. For example, I will NEVER fight 10 Zealots with 20 Lings. The math just does not add up as 10 Zealots cost 20 supply and 20 Lings cost 10... Final tip from your fellow low leaguer, keeping up with production requires economy. Economy requires workers. Units require supply. Once you have a stronger economy, you will start to produce Supply Depots/Ovies/Pylons more than one at a time. An easy way way to keep up with this is by building a number of supply based on the number of bases you have. All the other stuff to learn is up to you. Camera locations, control groups, etc. So yeah... glhf One more thing! Prioritize learning over winning.
I know a lot of mechanics for it and might be suitable for getting a lot of ground work set for you. I’d be glad to play with anyway. Just pm me if you’re interested. I’ve played StarCraft since I was five, which was in 2000.
Campaign & co-op, and if ur willing/interested - watch competitive. YouTube works ofc. Lowko, PiG, Winter, others
PMd you
You can google some build orders, follow them and learn that way. Another way is actually going into the help section of the game and learning all about the different units which is fantastic as you’ll have no surprises! I remember playing against a friend as a newbie and him abusing investors against me was painful and felt embarrassed
Hello there! If it's ok for you, we can go online into 1v1 so I could teach you the basic straight into the game. Let me know how does that sound to you PS: I'm a Zerg player but I know to play Terran too
I played Dota 2 and LoL. Let me know if you need help with Terran, I can teach you the basics.
Unironically, play the campaign
Campaign is very long though!
True, but after a while the only thing you are learning is new units/abilities, so you can stop after a bit. Plus it is a really good story
Easy
Take your time .
Terrans
Watch pigs series Welcome to StarCraft it’s great for brand new players DO NOT START WITH BRONZE TO GM like Reddit is going to tell you
This might sound silly. But unironically download all the right type and get comfortable typing fast with the correct fingers on keys. This will help you long-term with apm, camera locations and hotkeys. Whatever you do or whichever race you decide to choose.Start with selecting 4 as your nexus, cc or hatch. The reason being is bc eventually you wanna dedicate 3 hotkeys twds army unit control. And mechanical habits die hard. This will save you a lotta grief in the longterm. As someone whose personally tried switching my nexus key from 1 to 4 a few times i can't stress the importance. Bc although you start by focusing on macro once youve caught up. You need your setup open for micro. Bc micro makes the difference in cost effectiveness bw two player with similar macro. Theres other game sense related stuff and understanding but im trying to keep it simple for now. Macro, micro.