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So I'm not an EXCELLENT player or anything but I've found out some cool little tricks you can use for scouting early game (and in general) using the patrol command.
It's simple, and some of you may know it but I haven't seen a thread on it so I decided to post it. Basically if you have a drone/scv/probe or any unit in your opponents base. You can shift click a square using the patrol command and instead of the unit turning around, as it normally would on a patrol route, it continues around the square without decelerating at any of the corners like a shift move would. So basically if you put your scouting worker on a patrol route ,say in a protoss base, it'll be a far bigger pain in the ass for them to kill it, Even though if they're smart they can just position the zealot in your path, not a single player I've played has done it (700diamondlol). Not only that but if they figure it out you can just make a really stupid complicated shape for your drone to run.
The right way:
![[image loading]](http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/6394/patrolright.jpg)
Noooooooo:
![[image loading]](http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/1077/movewrong.jpg)
You can also use patrol instead of move as you click around the map for your scouting drone to check the bases and it gets around slightly faster. The times when this can be important is when your scout gets to a critical xel'naga tower on a four player map first so you're able to see where your opponents scout is coming from and they are still not entirely sure.
Hope this helped someone!
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I never knew you could set multiple patrol waypoints with shift. I will try this trick next time I'll scout, thank you!
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problem is, the other player would probly figure out what you are doing and just intercept you
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patrol rally instead of move rally to scout is just flat out more efficient due to no acceleration on corners
thanks for this!
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I did this all the time before, it takes a little while to set up with the shift and patrol clicks, and it's not amazingly useful, because you should be active with the scout to see what he's building. You should really train your multitasking by moving the drone manually.
But patrol in general is Extremely helpful for scouting several expo locations with one worker/ling marine continually. Usually i can set up a unit to scout 5-6-7 expos on its own on a big map like delta quadrant.
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Hyrule19045 Posts
There is still deceleration at turns, just not as much as Shift Move. Also, quality post, even though I've seen this used since beta (never seen a thread on it though) 
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United Kingdom16710 Posts
i did use alot of shift scouting when i first started playing the game but you really have to get used to microing that scouting worker yourself. good scouting isnt just about keeping the scout alive as long as possible but more about knowing which places to check at which times. still i guess if you cant handle the APM demands, this is a decent way of doing it.
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You can def still micro with shift patrol and I doubt the op intended this to be an APM saver to auto-pilot. This just makes it harder for the enemy worker/zealot to get that hit on corners while you queue some movement commands while macroing
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United Kingdom16710 Posts
On September 10 2010 20:37 nluck wrote:
You can def still micro with shift patrol and I doubt the op intended this to be an APM saver to auto-pilot. This just makes it harder for the enemy worker/zealot to get that hit on corners while you queue some movement commands while macroing
as someone said above, a decent player will realise the pattern and actually intercept the worker. this is useful in that you can free up some time for macro but you really need to be comfortable with switching quickly between micro/macro. i mean if you're having trouble microing 1 worker and a few production buildings, how are you going to handle the mid/late game? even if you suck at it now, you need to keep at it in order to get better and not rely on cutesy things.
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On September 10 2010 20:45 Telcontar wrote:Show nested quote +On September 10 2010 20:37 nluck wrote:
You can def still micro with shift patrol and I doubt the op intended this to be an APM saver to auto-pilot. This just makes it harder for the enemy worker/zealot to get that hit on corners while you queue some movement commands while macroing as someone said above, a decent player will realise the pattern and actually intercept the worker. this is useful in that you can free up some time for macro but you really need to be comfortable with switching quickly between micro/macro. i mean if you're having trouble microing 1 worker and a few production buildings, how are you going to handle the mid/late game? even if you suck at it now, you need to keep at it in order to get better and not rely on cutesy things.
are you honestly saying you don't shift move commands while you are scouting the enemy base?
this thread suggests you can simply replace shift movement with patrol so you 1. get to the rally points faster due to less pause 2. less chance of getting hit by w/e unit chasing you
by no point has anyone mentioned how you can just let that probe run around and do their own thing due to this patrol move, so I have no idea why you keep mentioning micro/comfort level/apm which has 0 relevance
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I really don't see why anyone would want to scout someone without looking at their base...Just get faster.
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Wow, i just got into 800 diamond with this amazing technique. Thank you Leneson. Shalom.
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CruiseR
Poland4014 Posts
cool trick, didn't know this :o , thanks OP  !
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On September 10 2010 21:04 Piy wrote:
I really don't see why anyone would want to scout someone without looking at their base...Just get faster.
What happens when you're scouting and you need to go home to build a couple of buildings?
I usually set a few shift clicks and go back to base, he's just saying replace that with patrol clicks instead to get rid of deceleration, not just set a patrol and never look back at your probe again.
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These are the steps:
1. Set scout waypoint
2. ?
3. Profit (win game)
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Great post. I've been messing with it lately after watching it on someones stream.
At least you're not trying to name it after yourself....
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On September 10 2010 21:51 shawabawa wrote:Show nested quote +On September 10 2010 21:04 Piy wrote:
I really don't see why anyone would want to scout someone without looking at their base...Just get faster. What happens when you're scouting and you need to go home to build a couple of buildings? I usually set a few shift clicks and go back to base, he's just saying replace that with patrol clicks instead to get rid of deceleration, not just set a patrol and never look back at your probe again.
You click forward, go home, make the buildings and go back to your scout before it stops moving.
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You can generally see everything you need to see early game relatively uncontested. Personally I like to start scouting early (9 pylon probe) so I am less likely to lose to early all in strats. This leaves me at a slight econ disadvantage so I shift click (now to try patrol click) my scout and focus on my mineral line. By spending the extra micro on probes coming out of the nexus I can make sure they spend next to 0 time doing anything but mining.
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On September 10 2010 21:04 Piy wrote:
I really don't see why anyone would want to scout someone without looking at their base...Just get faster.
It still helps a little bit. If you're a bit slow, you might be able to catch players buildings as they finish in the process, still allowing you to see whats going on, although it can be a bit late sometimes. So yeah, its not a perfect system, but it can help if one can't keep up with it. I usually do this between towers sometimes if they are lined up with little interference sometimes.
For an average player, I think this would help. Maybe just not an average player on TL.
Still, some people can get some help out of this.
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EPT
