• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 22:01
CET 04:01
KST 12:01
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
TL.net Map Contest #21: Winners9Intel X Team Liquid Seoul event: Showmatches and Meet the Pros10[ASL20] Finals Preview: Arrival13TL.net Map Contest #21: Voting12[ASL20] Ro4 Preview: Descent11
Community News
Starcraft, SC2, HoTS, WC3, returning to Blizzcon!33$5,000+ WardiTV 2025 Championship6[BSL21] RO32 Group Stage4Weekly Cups (Oct 26-Nov 2): Liquid, Clem, Solar win; LAN in Philly2Weekly Cups (Oct 20-26): MaxPax, Clem, Creator win10
StarCraft 2
General
Weekly Cups (Oct 20-26): MaxPax, Clem, Creator win TL.net Map Contest #21: Winners RotterdaM "Serral is the GOAT, and it's not close" 5.0.15 Patch Balance Hotfix (2025-10-8) Starcraft, SC2, HoTS, WC3, returning to Blizzcon!
Tourneys
$5,000+ WardiTV 2025 Championship Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Constellation Cup - Main Event - Stellar Fest Merivale 8 Open - LAN - Stellar Fest Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond)
Strategy
Custom Maps
Map Editor closed ?
External Content
Mutation # 498 Wheel of Misfortune|Cradle of Death Mutation # 497 Battle Haredened Mutation # 496 Endless Infection Mutation # 495 Rest In Peace
Brood War
General
[ASL20] Ask the mapmakers — Drop your questions BW General Discussion [BSL21] RO32 Group Stage BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ SnOw's ASL S20 Finals Review
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL20] Grand Finals [BSL21] RO32 Group B - Sunday 21:00 CET [BSL21] RO32 Group A - Saturday 21:00 CET
Strategy
Current Meta PvZ map balance How to stay on top of macro? Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Should offensive tower rushing be viable in RTS games? Dawn of War IV
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread SPIRED by.ASL Mafia {211640}
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine YouTube Thread Dating: How's your luck?
Fan Clubs
White-Ra Fan Club The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! Korean Music Discussion Series you have seen recently...
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread NBA General Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023 TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
SC2 Client Relocalization [Change SC2 Language] Linksys AE2500 USB WIFI keeps disconnecting Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Recent Gifted Posts
Blogs
Coffee x Performance in Espo…
TrAiDoS
Saturation point
Uldridge
DnB/metal remix FFO Mick Go…
ImbaTosS
Why we need SC3
Hildegard
Reality "theory" prov…
perfectspheres
Our Last Hope in th…
KrillinFromwales
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1357 users

[Q] Stim or Concussive Shells first?

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
StarcraftMan
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
Canada507 Posts
April 10 2010 09:44 GMT
#1
I've asked several top Platinum players about this question and there doesn't seem to be a consistent answer. When I asked Attero about this, Attero thought that Concussive Shells were more useful for Marauders and should be researched before stim. When I asked Gretorp about this, seeing that Gretorp is a top Terran player, he didn't have an opinion on which to research first either.

I've heard various opinions on this issue, including the following:

1) If you are building a marine/marauder group, researching Stim first makes more sense because marines benefit from it

2) Reseraching Concussive Shells first is better for attacking because you can kite (although IMO, you can also kite in your base on defense)

3) Research Stim against Zerg but research Concussive Shells against Protoss (somebody needs to explain this in detail)

Would like to hear the reasoning for both sides on this if you're rushing as Terran. Please explain your rationale, including types of unit composition that favor researching Stim over Concussive Shells, or Concussive Shells over Stim.
StarcraftMan
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
Canada507 Posts
April 10 2010 09:45 GMT
#2
If a mod could add a [Q] to the title as I can't edit the title anymore, that would be appreciated!
Tropics
Profile Joined August 2007
United Kingdom1132 Posts
April 10 2010 09:48 GMT
#3
It depends what you're preparing for. Concussive shells are cheaper and the research is much, much faster so if your focus is on something early game get concussive.
blagoonga123
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
United States2068 Posts
April 10 2010 09:49 GMT
#4
i almost always get concussive shells first.
FOOL! Pain is my friend! Now let me introduce you to it!
StarBrift
Profile Joined January 2008
Sweden1761 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-04-10 09:57:44
April 10 2010 09:53 GMT
#5
Dunno if I agree with going concussive shells first vs toss. He will have an immortal out before it's done and you would rather use that to get faster stim or ghost. Unless you have both stim and EMP vs his first attack you need to pull 15ish scvs to survive assuming you FE and he 4gate robo immortal pushes you.

Then again. Don't FE, it's a freewin scenario for toss. There is no way on any map to defend an FE vs the 3 immortal push unless you have PF and if the toss scouts that he just expands to the gold mins. Been trying like 10 different scv cut builds to try and maintain the FE in this patch. Only the PF one worked. But obv not on Blistering Sands, Desert Oasis or Kulas Ravine as they can just enter your base where your PF isn't defending.
Talic_Zealot
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
688 Posts
April 10 2010 11:43 GMT
#6
I am not terran but it seems dependant on whatever you scout and/or which race you are playing against. Both are huge upgrades in any case. Although imo rushing for stim before you have medivacs never seems reasonable.
There are three types of people in the universe: those who can count, and those who cant.
lim1017
Profile Joined April 2010
Canada1278 Posts
April 10 2010 12:08 GMT
#7
stim first. its only 50/50 less and so much more useful.

cant really kite in large battles w/o stim anyways
kme
Profile Joined March 2010
Serbia176 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-04-10 12:29:55
April 10 2010 12:29 GMT
#8
The impact of concussive shells was biggest in the super early game, and now unless you rush it you won't have it in that stage. Stim gives much better DPS and movement speed, it is better then CS in every respect. I'm willing to bet that A moving with stim is more effective than heavy microing with concussive shells. IMO CS seems like a situational upgrade now.
Knutzi
Profile Joined July 2009
Norway664 Posts
April 10 2010 13:05 GMT
#9
if your going to do a fast expand i would get slow first, if not id say stim is better
duckhunt
Profile Joined June 2009
Canada311 Posts
April 10 2010 13:19 GMT
#10
get 2 tech labs lol
TurboMaN
Profile Joined October 2005
Germany925 Posts
April 10 2010 13:24 GMT
#11
On April 10 2010 22:19 duckhunt wrote:
get 2 tech labs lol


That answer won't help any1
Ranix
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
United States666 Posts
April 10 2010 13:50 GMT
#12
I always research stim first because sometimes I may have to transition out of marauders into marines (for example, if they tech switch to mutalisks). I like to have both building at the same time so stim and slow finish at about the same time.
Legends never gg
Craz
Profile Joined June 2004
United States69 Posts
April 10 2010 14:11 GMT
#13
I get stim first almost always. One of the few times I'll get Concussive Shells first is vs a reaper rush as it keeps him away from my scv, he can't escape unless right next to a cliff and it doesn't cost me 20 hp to kill the reaper before it gets to scv line when I don't have medivacs yet. Stim helps kill faster, move faster (micro). In a straight up even marauder vs marauder matchup stim will beat the guy who gets Concussive Shells.
Darox
Profile Joined October 2009
New Zealand3 Posts
April 10 2010 14:31 GMT
#14
On April 10 2010 18:44 StarcraftMan wrote:3) Research Stim against Zerg but research Concussive Shells against Protoss (somebody needs to explain this in detail)


The reasoning for this is probably because of zerglings.

Against roaches and zealots, attack/move/attack with conc works well because it keeps them out of range and they have enough hp for the slow to have any effect.

Zerglings are a lot faster (especially on creep) and have very little hp each, which means one attack volley will usually kill them outright rather than hurting and slowing them, making the conc worthless.
ImBa_JaCkAsS
Profile Joined September 2009
Canada200 Posts
April 10 2010 14:35 GMT
#15
I go Stim first. seems more efficient if I am trying to timing push or w.e
If I am dodging then maybe the shell thing
5 Pool for late games
StarcraftMan
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
Canada507 Posts
April 10 2010 17:54 GMT
#16
On April 10 2010 23:31 Darox wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 10 2010 18:44 StarcraftMan wrote:3) Research Stim against Zerg but research Concussive Shells against Protoss (somebody needs to explain this in detail)


The reasoning for this is probably because of zerglings.

Against roaches and zealots, attack/move/attack with conc works well because it keeps them out of range and they have enough hp for the slow to have any effect.

Zerglings are a lot faster (especially on creep) and have very little hp each, which means one attack volley will usually kill them outright rather than hurting and slowing them, making the conc worthless.



I find that kiting is easier to execute against Zealots without charge because they don't have range, whereas against Roaches, although marauders have longer range than Roaches, it's harder to kite and stay outside the Roaches' range.
DrainX
Profile Blog Joined December 2006
Sweden3187 Posts
April 10 2010 18:02 GMT
#17
I almost always get stim first or both simultaneously. With stim you can still kite since you get a higher movement speed and your damage output is higher. I usually mix in more marines since the last patch too.
Kakisho
Profile Joined January 2010
United States240 Posts
April 10 2010 18:22 GMT
#18
Then because of possible builds your opponent can be going, I'm pretty sure there shouldn't be a single better one to choose first. Mass lings? Stim, mass Zealots? Concussive. When players start getting more diverse compositions (i.e. 2 zealots, 2 sentries, 1 stalker early push) then it becomes more complicated than that.

I would say that one of the reasons why Blizzard made Concussive missiles besides ability to early kite a lot, it would make the decision of which tech first something that Terran had to consider rather than "Ok, get stim, and then get concussive."

IMHO, it depends on how early a confrontation it is. Earlier it is, then that means less units, meaning that concussive shells help slow easily a large portion of the army (because there are so few units total....).

Stimming 7 units will barely help it compared to the hp loss. When you have enough units, the overlapping fire makes stim much, much better.
Cold wind, chilling.
ahcho00
Profile Joined March 2010
United States220 Posts
April 11 2010 07:33 GMT
#19
i would say that if u see the toss pump zealots, concussive shells would be more useful as stim would just kill ur units faster. if u see stalkers/immortals go with the stim first and get EMP asap as u'll need it against the immortal.

it would depend on the scout but like some people i'm almost always getting concussive shells first because i like to slow the units down.
Chairman Ray
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
United States11903 Posts
April 11 2010 07:48 GMT
#20
concussive shells if you are defending since kiting stalls the enemy very well. Stim when attacking since it increases your DPS. When the enemy is retreating, even though it would be nice if they were slowed down, but you can just attack their buildings.
1 2 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Korean StarCraft League
03:00
Week 82
davetesta48
HKG_Chickenman13
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
RuFF_SC2 174
Nina 112
ProTech104
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 18794
NaDa 59
Dota 2
monkeys_forever192
NeuroSwarm64
Super Smash Bros
C9.Mang0658
amsayoshi34
Other Games
tarik_tv15517
summit1g13812
JimRising 436
FrodaN143
Models3
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick1030
Counter-Strike
PGL125
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 11 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Stunt85
Upcoming Events
CranKy Ducklings
6h 59m
IPSL
14h 59m
dxtr13 vs OldBoy
Napoleon vs Doodle
LAN Event
14h 59m
Lambo vs Clem
Scarlett vs TriGGeR
ByuN vs TBD
Zoun vs TBD
BSL 21
16h 59m
Gosudark vs Kyrie
Gypsy vs OyAji
UltrA vs Radley
Dandy vs Ptak
Replay Cast
19h 59m
Sparkling Tuna Cup
1d 6h
WardiTV Korean Royale
1d 8h
IPSL
1d 14h
JDConan vs WIZARD
WolFix vs Cross
LAN Event
1d 14h
BSL 21
1d 16h
spx vs rasowy
HBO vs KameZerg
Cross vs Razz
dxtr13 vs ZZZero
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
2 days
Wardi Open
2 days
WardiTV Korean Royale
3 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Kung Fu Cup
4 days
Classic vs Solar
herO vs Cure
Reynor vs GuMiho
ByuN vs ShoWTimE
Tenacious Turtle Tussle
4 days
The PondCast
5 days
RSL Revival
5 days
Solar vs Zoun
MaxPax vs Bunny
Kung Fu Cup
5 days
WardiTV Korean Royale
5 days
RSL Revival
6 days
Classic vs Creator
Cure vs TriGGeR
Kung Fu Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

BSL 21 Points
SC4ALL: StarCraft II
Eternal Conflict S1

Ongoing

C-Race Season 1
IPSL Winter 2025-26
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 4
SOOP Univ League 2025
YSL S2
BSL Season 21
Stellar Fest: Constellation Cup
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
Thunderpick World Champ.
CS Asia Championships 2025
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual

Upcoming

SLON Tour Season 2
BSL 21 Non-Korean Championship
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
HSC XXVIII
RSL Offline Finals
WardiTV 2025
RSL Revival: Season 3
META Madness #9
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026: Closed Qualifier
eXTREMESLAND 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8
SL Budapest Major 2025
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.