Starcraft 2 Noob

[Duronos]

Hey peeps, I've been having this issue about trying to learn SC2... The problem I have is everyone says there isn't to huge of a learning curve but for me it feels like there is. Granted I love the game and it's great to watch the professionals play and I really actually want to get better.

It's just every time I try to play it I can't learn anything and I just don't know how to make groups properly and is hotkeying a necessity. I have been trying to learn Zerg forever which I know is the hardest team to learn and play efficiently. If anyone can help, give advice and some tips I would be extremely happy. If I get another beta key from somewhere I might just be willing to give it away to the person who helped the most but that's if, I've been seeming to get lots of beta keys recently.

EDIT: Most likely a SMITE Beta key if I get anything.

[zeo]

Welcome to SC2, I don't who told you that game has not a huge learning curve but they are mistaken, since being an RTS it DOES have a huge learning curve and the game itself hasn't been figured out yet by pros 2 years later.
I cannot suggest anything but to visit http://www.teamliquid.net/ , the best SC reference on the web. You'll learn a lot there, there are practice groups thread, coaches, tons of VODs and so on. Check it out, it's a must if you want to learn this game and avoid Bnets forums at all costs.

[skatblast]

Not that high of a learning curve? lol

Best bet is to go to teamliquid.net and look for some strategies on there. And yes key binding IS necessity even at lower leagues. The only way to get better in SC2 is to practice. Start out playing 4v4 or 3v3 and once you get ahold of the basics like all of the building keybinds and hotkeys start looking at some builds to use in 1v1. It wont be like picking up a FPS ill tell you that. When you first start playing 1v1 for the first time you will probably get crushed for a while till you pick up the small things about the game through practice.

[Berteh]

As the posters above me have recommended, Liquidpedia is a great source for builds and strategies, and I would highly suggest you browse that site up and down.

Personally, I never found that looking at a site, searching certain builds, and then practicing them was the most proactive way for me to better my game. Sure it helped, but once you head into mid-late game, Liquidpedia will leave a lot for the imagination in terms of mechanics.

I am going to recommend that you go to YouTube and start watching Day9. This guy is basically a fucking personal coach when it comes to new Starcraft players trying to get out of that lower league 'grind'. I would suggest to you that you watch his "Day9 Dailies" and "Newbie Tuesdays", as there is ~500 of them combined if I remember correctly. Watching these and putting them into practice WILL make you a better Starcraft player.

Also, if you don't currently watch any YouTube casting, that is also another great way to learn even more about Starcraft. Often casters like Husky and HD will explain why X is doing Y and so on and so forth. I've found these to be very informative and it's always nice to be able to spectate Pro players and see how they go about their games. If you watch enough of them, you will start to notice smaller things that happen during the game (micro being the most obvious) and you will also pick up on a tonne of useful tricks/mechanics/information, which you can implement into your game.

Last of all, don't give up just because it is too hard now, you WILL get better if you practice. Team games are your friend, as it is experience that will help you in the long run. Don't be afraid to ladder either; 1v1 can be very daunting for new players, but once you get over that first hurdle, laddering can quite easily become the biggest source of satisfaction and improvement.

I hope I have been at least a little help And I will leave links to Day[9] and some of my other favorite casters down below.

Just remember, don't give up! Zerg is quite the race to wrap your head around!

Day[9] - http://www.youtube.com/user/day9tv
Husky - http://www.youtube.com/user/HuskyStarcraft
HD - http://www.youtube.com/user/HDstarcraft
Artosis - http://www.youtube.com/user/ArtosisTV

And since you are a zerg, watching another zerg play is always good! So,

Psy - http://www.youtube.com/user/PsyStarcraft

GLHF!

[Larynx]

Here's a useful link, http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Zerg_Strategy

Don't feel bad if you can't get the hang of Starcraft 2. It has a very steep learning curve, and it is a difficult game regardless of what people will tell you. Personally I have trouble with it since I have difficulty managing everything at once. I'm fine with an FPS, since most of the reactions are instant and I hardly have to think, but with Starcraft 2, everything you do is deliberate and planned out... and honestly it's a lot to take in at once. I really admire the top level players like Flash or Boxer, just because I have no idea how they can manage that.

Screw microing an army or a unit around, just managing my macro as a zerg is difficult in itself.

[Syce]

Day 9, has some really amazing Noobie Videos, hes made over the years, he goes into detail about things you should learn and thinks you should try to avoid.

if i could ever find the links to them i would share them with ya.

P.S. Berteh actually posted the link to Day9s youtube area, if u scroll down a bit theres a area that says newbie tuesday. click on that and even the first video is quite amazing to listen to.

[Berteh]

I really admire the top level players like Flash or Boxer, just because I have no idea how they can manage that.

Screw microing an army or a unit around, just managing my macro as a zerg is difficult in itself.

I saw this http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=Gk81D2_FwSA today on Reddit.

To say I was blown away is a complete understantment!

[Larynx]

I saw this http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=Gk81D2_FwSA today on Reddit.

To say I was blown away is a complete understantment!

The fuck did I just watch.

It's like he got faster and faster as the music intensified. o_O

[Ighox]

I saw this http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=Gk81D2_FwSA today on Reddit.

To say I was blown away is a complete understantment!

That's not even that impressive compared to BoxeR in BW:


Now that's impressive.

[Berteh]

That's not even that impressive compared to BoxeR in BW:


Now that's impressive.

Sadly, I didn't play SC1, nor have a I watched ANY Pro games of it, which makes it somewhat less glamorous in my eyes. Still, it's BoxeR, I bet that shit would've been near impossible to pull off

Taeja's marine splits are another absolutely stellar display of micro as well. Taeja marine's - They. Just. Don't. Die.

[Wildmoon]

The only way to get better is to play the shit out of it. Whether it's SC1 or SC2 mechanic is the most important thing and will benefit you the most in the long run. Just pick 1 build order that willl lead to macro game per each match up and then play with it over and over. If you have decent mechanic you will be able to excute any strategy you want.

[Lillpapps]

I can recommend dApollo's Learn to play series.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux_nslpWqaE

[PizzaSHARK]

I saw this http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=Gk81D2_FwSA today on Reddit.

To say I was blown away is a complete understantment!

Nothing special. MKP's micro is a lot better, and only a really bad Zerg would allow that kind of wall to happen - probably played super-greedy, didn't make any lings, didn't pool until 16 after hatch, and he got called on it. Stupid, stupid play.

SC2's not terribly hard to learn. Use resources like Liquipedia, Day9's newbie videos, Apollo's learn to play series, etc to learn the basics. Pick a race, memorize a single build order for it, and do that build order every. single. game. Do not deviate from it even a little bit. If your BO tells you to extractor at 40, you don't extractor until 40.

You'll probably reach Gold simply by knowing and properly playing that single build order, and once you improve your macro and learn how to make smooth adjustments to that build order, you'll easily rocket through Platinum. Diamond may supposedly be like the top 15% or something of players, but you'll pretty quickly learn that the vast majority of people playing SC2 ladder are awful and aren't making any efforts to get better.

If you've chosen Zerg as your favorite race, focus on your injects. There's a direct, strong line connecting "number of injects" with "number of wins." The fewer injects you miss, the more games you will win. Maintaining perfect timing on injects is the cornerstone of absolutely every single zerg build and the closer to those perfect injects you get, the better your build will be.

I wouldn't recommend Terran if you're new and having problems. Terran is, by far, the absolute hardest race to play, especially once Protoss and Zerg players figure out how to make Infestors/Templar/Colossi (usually happens around high Gold/low Plat.)

Most importantly, when you lose, you need to be critical of your loss. Why did you lose? Watch the replay:

- Were you floating resources when the engagement that lost you the game happened? What about your enemy's resources? Were you supply blocked from forgetting to build depots/overlords/pylons? Did you not have enough gas to keep up with upgrades and advanced units?

- Did you have good vision? Did you lose the fight because you blundered into a trap? Did you engage a Colossus-backed army in a chokepoint? Did you run a ball of mutas into three waiting thors? Were you making Roaches when he was pumping Immortals?

- Did you miss a lot of injects when you were playing? Were your Orbital Commands sitting with 150 energy? Did your Nexii have a bunch of Chrono Boost energy?

- Did you forget to keep making workers?

That last one's important. You should never really stop making workers. Zerg can have up to 90 drones at times, and Terran and Protoss should never have less than 60ish for most of the game. A lot of new or just plain bad players stop making workers once they begin making fighting units, and it costs them a lot of games. Don't be one of those guys with 24 workers at 15 minutes.

Oh, one more: STICK TO 1v1!

A lot of new players want to start with team games because they don't feel confident in their ability. There's two things wrong with this: first, the game isn't properly balanced in team games (horrible map design that isn't relevant to the 1v1 meta); you won't learn jack shit in team games and it'll just instill and reinforce bad habits. Second, if you're teamed with someone who knows how to play, you're just going to piss them off by being dead weight.

[Kuniku]

I got SC2 on release, I've finished the campaign etc, but never really got into the online pvp aspect, although it is tempting to do so, but I figure I'd be pretty rubbish for the most part =p

is there an order of "ease" for learning different races? or is it just a playstyle preference?

[Wildmoon]

I got SC2 on release, I've finished the campaign etc, but never really got into the online pvp aspect, although it is tempting to do so, but I figure I'd be pretty rubbish for the most part =p

is there an order of "ease" for learning different races? or is it just a playstyle preference?

It's mostly playstyle preference but terran is easiest to get into just because it works the same as any other rts races but you will hit a huge wall at some point as terran because terran is positional race which is something that is quite hard for new player to understand and terran is also the most mechanic demanding race. Zerg and Protoss has their difficult aspect too but your skill will improve smoothly if you play those two.

[Krolikn]

I make sure to stay away from multiplayer except custom games. You are not alone. If you really care about it do a lot of research and learn builds, then practice them. Expect to get slaughtered often....

Me, well I didn't care enough :/

[Blackdecker]

Bought a week ago, this game is so amazing when you start to Win.

Watch these youtuber's and go watch some Streams on Twitch.tv, you can learn amount of things when you see the pro's playing.

[Tiev]

I think the biggest reason why Terran is easier to START with is because the single player campaign is largely based on terran gameplay.