So... Starcraft 2?

[Lmnop]

Re: So... Starcraft 2?

I have no problem with that... if they nerf banshees, too.

[DakAttack]

Re: So... Starcraft 2?

What's wrong with Banshees?

Reapers also need to be nerfed. They cost way too little for how effectively they can drop buildings. It only takes a hit squad of ten or so to drop every pylon in a Protoss base in only a few seconds, mid-game. With the terrible map development they can leap up a cliff, knock out a dozen probes/SCVs/drones, hop back down, hop back up, knock out their geysers, hop back down, etc. Sure, they don't take hits very well, but they're way too powerful for their price.

[Lmnop]

Re: So... Starcraft 2?

The 2v2 game must be ridiculously different than my little experience in the field would tell me. Because mass void rays or reapers are almost never a good strategy in 1v1.

[Malacite]

Re: So... Starcraft 2?

lol I'm ashamed to admit I'm having serious trouble against even the stupid medium AI >_>

God damn early Marauders are so annoying. I'll get the hang of it soon enough though, AI's are predictable and thus ultimately stupid. Playing people is always more challenging.

I beat the campaign just fine but campaign's an entirely different animal. I just need to practice more and get my APM up. Been waaaaaay too long since I played a real, aggressive RTS. Playing as Zerg it's tricky trying to figure out if it's better to spread creep ASAP or pump out more larvae.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: So... Starcraft 2?

/em wonders if Dak and the others are preparing a nice hot dish of crow for someone....

[Ufgt]

Re: So... Starcraft 2?

4v4 isn't even playing SC anymore lol. Shit is just getting ridiculous.

[Bricklayer]

Re: So... Starcraft 2?

I wasn't going to play SC2, but I got a free trial with my GTX 470. It was only 7 hours, but I got a ways into the campaign. I'm almost convinced to buy it, but the region locking is a deal-breaker for me. I want the game in English, but I plan on playing multiplayer on the Taiwan servers. Unfortunately, to play on the Taiwan servers, you have to buy the traditional Chinese version (subs, dubs, interface, everything in Chinese). Anyway, until they fix that, I won't be buying. Fluency in Chinese doesn't negate the fact that its my second language (location names always get really screwed up), not to mention that the game is so American, it would just feel stupid listening to the Taiwanese dubbing, etc. Please Blizzard, let us choose which client to run, and which servers to play on.

Edit:

Blizzard says it best:

Select your region carefully.

You will only be able to play with people in the same region, and not all languages are available to each region. Select the region closest in proximity to help ensure the best game performance.

[Malacite]

Re: So... Starcraft 2?

Update: Terran AI can suck a fat one, Reapers FTW bitch. Poor predictable, stupid AI. Throwing itself heedlessly against my Wall (which I'm still getting the hang of perfect placement of the Barracks, but a bunker with 4 marines holds off those f'ing marauders just fine) while my strike team (3~4 Reapers with Nitro Packs) annihilates every last SCV he has

[Ufgt]

Re: So... Starcraft 2?

Why are we talking about playing against AI?

[DakAttack]

Re: So... Starcraft 2?

The 2v2 game must be ridiculously different than my little experience in the field would tell me. Because mass void rays or reapers are almost never a good strategy in 1v1.

Eh, I've been playing 1v1, 2v2, and 4v4, and they are different beasts, entirely, but they do share a few things in common. First, a mass of Void Rays is unstoppable if they're introduced directly into the opponent's base. At that point, any defense they attempt to muster is simply feeding the fire. I played one game where I was chased out of my original base and took up a new one at an expansion site just above an enemy base. My teammate harassed as hard as he could while I massed Void Rays, and, as soon as I made my first strike, both opponents immediately left.

Reapers, on the other hand, are great during 4v4, and perhaps 2v2. During 4v4, certian players are in the hot seat, the ones who will most likely be attacked first, and at least one is in the tech seat, the one that will most likely not be attacked first. If you're Terran and in or around the tech seat you can mass produce Reapers for massive hit and run destruction. You can easily scout the map, hit expansions, and then hit main base geysers to halt their gas production and cripple their unit production.

[Lmnop]

Re: So... Starcraft 2?

the problem I have with stuff like "mass void rays own everything" is the investment of getting mass void rays. Mostly, the time investment. You can say "I was clever and hid my stargates and they never even got scouted" but your army is tiny in the meantime. In order to survive with mass voids, you'll usually see toss clogging their choke with a forge and multiple pylons -- they obviously have no interest in getting out by land. It's a tell and you can use it against them.

[DakAttack]

Re: So... Starcraft 2?

I'll do that if I'm going Stalkers.

[Aeni]

Re: So... Starcraft 2?

Void Rays are easily countered if you scout it. Here's a good tip for people going against a Protoss player. Scout at the 3 minute mark. If you see 2x gas assimilators by this time, chances are VERY good that they're teching up and 50/50 it's Void Rays (The other guess is Immortals, but you can figure this out if you know how many gateways are up already)

1. 2 Gateways indicate NO void rays.
1. 1 Gateway + 2 gas indicates very strongly they are going early void rays. Stargate seals the deal on this one.

No guarantees that even with a 4 gw push that they won't go void ray mid-game, but this is how you prepare for early game.

How to counter early VR? GO MASS MARINES as Terran and make sure you got Stim + Combat Shields researched (Try also going for a 1/1 at the EB) Don't drop a 2nd refinery, just keep the mineral income flowing (optimal worker count should be 32 at a base for 2 gas, but in this case with just gas mostly going to researching, you should be focused on 29 at mineral line + gas and save energy at comsat for scans) DON'T FUCKING SUPPLY CAP YOURSELF ... number one rule for terran because it requires an SCV off mineral lines to make an sd ... another tip, build sd and shift+right click on a mineral node so you don't have to worry about him idling.

As zergs, go all the way lings and mass that shit because they won't have a ground army to stand a snowballs chance in hell. Take pylons down and remember to get the speed upgrade at the spawning pool. You just harvest enough gas for this and put up a second hatch with another queen. Mass lings and ball em up and keep pressure on toss player. They will eventually lose because they will be behind since they cannot keep up with your production.

Protoss versus Protoss? Just go mass zealot + charge. Even if they do put out a VR or two, who cares? You'll wipe em out faster than they can keep up and they need to put more GWs down as just one GW + chrono boost isn't going to save them. Alternately you can go for the Korean 4 GW all-in as well as you can have 4 GW + warp gate in 4 min and drop proxy pylons all over their base to screw them over. That's what they get for early VRs. Remember to drop a forge and put a cannon or two at your base and then eventually lead-in to stalkers to deal with any VR they have left (you should've wiped them clean of probes and their base by then)

[Malacite]

Re: So... Starcraft 2?

I read somewhere you only need like 21~24 workers for full saturation in SC2 because they're more efficient; 2 per mineral patch and 3 per gas vs 3 and 4 in SC1.

[Aeni]

Re: So... Starcraft 2?

I read somewhere you only need like 21~24 workers for full saturation in SC2 because they're more efficient; 2 per mineral patch and 3 per gas vs 3 and 4 in SC1.

No, it's 2.5 workers per node, not sure where you get that. You can test this very easily yourself. It's 26 + 6 (min + gas) This is probably why so many players are failing right now ... I noticed that they lose because their resource flow is falling behind over time, especially in 10 min games ... Maybe at the high yield bases you won't need very many, but it's the same for zerg, protoss and terran: 32.

---------- Post added at 10:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:14 AM ----------

So, I was having an exchange above with a discussion on PvT. Sans the colossi, here's a match where my arguments are beautifully illustrated. It takes a lot of micro and a ton of pure skill, but it's very doable.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt2cGNq_Wvg]YouTube - Merz vs NightEnd - Game 3 - Part 1/2 - StarCraft 2 Craft Cup Finals[/ame]

It requires a lot of GW as well but you need to do that anyway with an expansion. Scouting is important (always is) but note that response to offensive pushes and then quickly counterattacking is just as important.