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I want to get better at StarCraft 2, and have started a series of posts on my off-site blog exploring the basic concepts and ever-evolving struggle to improve. My goal is to both ascend through the leagues of StarCraft 2 play and intelligently apply the principles of Sun-Tzu's Art of War to my playstyle. I play Terran. Thus was born The Art of Thor.
![[image loading]](http://images.wikia.com/starcraft/images/5/51/Hydralisk_SC2_Art1.jpg) Somebody's gotta feed these boys before they go out fightin', and that somebody is you.
Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been associated with long delays.
You don't get bonus points for unspent resources at the end of a match.
It's a concept that can be difficult for new players to wrap their heads around. The biggest, baddest units in any given race's arsenal costs quite a bit of minerals and gas. However, while you're saving up for that shiny fleet of capital ships primed to rain death and destruction on the foolish folk arrayed against you, they're likely to be churning out squadrons and legions of lesser units for a fraction of the cost. And those 'lesser' units just might walk into your compound while you're sussing out all of the tech necessary for that pinnacle of your race's achievements.
Let's do a bit of math on this very subject.
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images2/0/05/Marine.gif) "This is my C-14 Impaler Gauss rifle! There are many like it, but this one is mine!"
This is a Terran Marine. He costs 50 minerals, consumes 1 supply ("food") and is produced in 25 seconds. He comes from a Barracks, a structure costing 150 minerals built after a construction period of 60 seconds. In turn it cannot be produced until you make a Supply Depot, costing 100 minerals and 30 seconds. And you need an SCV to build all this stuff. That's another 50 minerals, 1 food and 17 seconds production time.
So the total cost of your first marine is 350 minerals, 2 food and 132 seconds total.
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images2/d/d9/Battlecruiser.gif) The Yamato is loaded. And so am I!
Arguably the most powerful single unit in the Terran arsenal, the Battlecruiser costs 400 minerals and 300 gas by itself. It is produced at a Starport, which cannot be built without a Factory. The Factory is dependent upon the Barracks. Additionally, you must produce at least one Refinery and sortie a number of SCVs to harvest Vespine gas from it. Oh, and you can't build one without a Tech Lab on the Starport and a separate building called a Fusion Core. So, crunching numbers like so, here's the total cost of your first Battlecruiser, listing minerals/gas/time for each building and minerals/gas/food/time for each unit:
Supply Depot (100/30) + Barracks (150/60) + Refinery (75/30) & 4 SCVs (50/1/17 x4) + Factory (150/100/60) + Starport & Tech Lab (200/125/75) + Fusion Core (150/150/65) + Battlecruiser (400/300/6/90) = 1425 minerals, 675 gas, 10 supply & 478 seconds.
See where I'm going with this? For the cost of a single Battlecruiser, you could field 10 Marines quite comfortably. And with the surplus gas you could give them a weapons upgrade, combat shields or stimpacks.
Now, if your macro is good and your economy humming along, you can produce a cadre of bloodthirsty, Gauss-toting Marines while teching you way up to a Battlecruiser or two, but the point of this little exercise in arithmetic is to demonstrate how much easier it is to produce the basic units of a race, and how important that habit can be to a burgeoning player. Any race's macro can and should include constantly producing workers and basic units along with climbing up a chosen tech tree as a strategy begins to grow. As your skills improve, producing a 'backbone' of basic warriors concurrently with your shiny high-tech units will become second nature. And when thinking about this process no longer becomes entirely necessary, your mind will be free to worry about things like counters to your opponent's units and canny ways to apply pressure and exploit map advantages.
But you have to walk before you can run, and in StarCraft terms that means spending your resources quickly and effectively. Start with the basics, and go from there.
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Moderators here don't really like blogs with links to other sites, to continue reading the blog, or if is a taste maker.
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16978 Posts
We generally don't mind if some content is posted here as well. We only categorically close threads that have something along the lines of "hey guys check out my website there are cool articles [link]."
EDIT: And please keep the 4chan lingo at the door <_<
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On May 12 2011 02:10 DamnTasty wrote:Moderators here don't really like blogs with links to other sites, to continue reading the blog, or if is a taste maker. + Show Spoiler +But I'm a newfag myself so I''ll shut up.
They also dont like anything that smells like 4chan XD
Edit- LOL Empyrean beat me to it :p
Nice write up, I think you touched on the number one issue that plagues bronze league. the mentality that tells people to skip warpgate tech and get carriers :p
Low level players trying to improve should pay heed and learn why rushing for the strongest unit isnt usually the strongest strategy!
Edit 2- Where did the awesome picture at the top come from?
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On May 12 2011 02:16 PassiveAce wrote:
Nice write up, I think you touched on the number one issue that plagues bronze league. the mentality that tells people to skip warpgate tech and get carriers :p
Low level players trying to improve should pay heed and learn why rushing for the strongest unit isnt usually the strongest strategy!
Edit 2- Where did the awesome picture at the top come from?
Thanks for your comments!  The picture is a bit of Blizzard's art, I found a copy in the right dimensions on the StarCraft wiki.
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On May 12 2011 02:14 Empyrean wrote:
We generally don't mind if some content is posted here as well. We only categorically close threads that have something along the lines of "hey guys check out my website there are cool articles [link]."
That's a load off of my mind, thank you. I just want to make sure my commentary remains coherent and in-context. This will mean the occasional link or (when I get my FRAPS setup working) commentated video.
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On May 12 2011 02:31 BlueInkAlchemist wrote:Show nested quote +On May 12 2011 02:16 PassiveAce wrote:
Nice write up, I think you touched on the number one issue that plagues bronze league. the mentality that tells people to skip warpgate tech and get carriers :p
Low level players trying to improve should pay heed and learn why rushing for the strongest unit isnt usually the strongest strategy!
Edit 2- Where did the awesome picture at the top come from? Thanks for your comments! The picture is a bit of Blizzard's art, I found a copy in the right dimensions on the StarCraft wiki.
Thanks, i had never seen that one before, its really funny.
Good Luck on your adventures!!
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On May 12 2011 02:31 BlueInkAlchemist wrote:Show nested quote +On May 12 2011 02:16 PassiveAce wrote:
Nice write up, I think you touched on the number one issue that plagues bronze league. the mentality that tells people to skip warpgate tech and get carriers :p
Low level players trying to improve should pay heed and learn why rushing for the strongest unit isnt usually the strongest strategy!
Edit 2- Where did the awesome picture at the top come from? Thanks for your comments! The picture is a bit of Blizzard's art, I found a copy in the right dimensions on the StarCraft wiki.
I think the picture is one of the in-game "eye candy" pieces in the Campaign that no-one ever clicks on =P
OT: nice blog, very coherent and helpful for low-level players.
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On May 12 2011 03:03 Gara wrote:
I think the picture is one of the in-game "eye candy" pieces in the Campaign that no-one ever clicks on =P
OT: nice blog, very coherent and helpful for low-level players.
I'm just one of those freaks who clicks on everything. It's probably an old adventure/RPG reflex. I got that 'Stay Awhile and Listen' achievement for a reason...
Thanks for your comments & support. I'm glad people are finding my experiences useful, if not entertaining.
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EPT
