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[H] How can I deal with low APM? - Page 4

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
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ZealousD
Profile Joined July 2010
United States13 Posts
September 13 2010 20:02 GMT
#61
Honestly it just sounds like you should not be too concerned about ranking in 1v1. You MIGHT be able to hit low diamond with only 30-40 apm, but anything from the mid game further and you're gonna get overwhelmed. Lots of people are saying handspeed isn't so important as strategy, and while that's true, there's still only so far you can go if you are physically limited.

I think it'd be best if you did team games.
mcbrite
Profile Joined April 2010
Germany229 Posts
September 13 2010 22:40 GMT
#62
On September 13 2010 09:54 Bumblebees wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 13 2010 08:00 Touch wrote:
Caffeine. Seriously.


Green tea = tremors so bad I can't play (I do drink it when I get sleep attacks though). Rockstar = hospital. (last 2 times I tried it I ended up staying until I stopped randomly having syncopal episodes)

I am trying to get on provigil though. It seems to be a viable option.

I am pretty glad to see there's other people who manage OK with lower APM though. That makes me hopeful to make it into at least mid-diamond one day.


Buy and try something called GABA... seriously...

Research and buy it via Google... I'd be REALLY surprised if that didn't help you at least a bit...
0c3LoT
Profile Joined May 2010
Canada162 Posts
September 13 2010 23:26 GMT
#63

Go look up some advanced breathing techniques, they might help you out a little bit.
Winning is a lifestyle choice.
Bumblebees
Profile Joined August 2010
United States328 Posts
September 14 2010 00:23 GMT
#64
On September 14 2010 07:40 mcbrite wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 13 2010 09:54 Bumblebees wrote:
On September 13 2010 08:00 Touch wrote:
Caffeine. Seriously.


Green tea = tremors so bad I can't play (I do drink it when I get sleep attacks though). Rockstar = hospital. (last 2 times I tried it I ended up staying until I stopped randomly having syncopal episodes)

I am trying to get on provigil though. It seems to be a viable option.

I am pretty glad to see there's other people who manage OK with lower APM though. That makes me hopeful to make it into at least mid-diamond one day.


Buy and try something called GABA... seriously...

Research and buy it via Google... I'd be REALLY surprised if that didn't help you at least a bit...


I've took 2 GABA analogues (pregabilin aka lyrica and gabapentin aka neurontin) and they are pretty bad. You feel like you're stoned to hell 24/7, and your memory is pretty much shot. When I reached peak dosage on pregabalin, I couldn't even walk. Stuff is not cool, and might I add it's very addictive at therapeutic doses. Despite hating how I felt on it, I still get urges to take it months later.

Thank you for the suggestion though
Bumblebees
Profile Joined August 2010
United States328 Posts
September 14 2010 00:27 GMT
#65
On September 13 2010 23:31 kme wrote:
If you play zerg, you should try to do everything to make it easier and require lower APM. Let's see, the biggest offenders are obviously spawn larvae and creep tumor. If you think about it, without those zerg is probably the easiest race as everything is built from the same building, and most of your units don' t have any special abilities and can be just a-moved.

Getting rid of creep tumors is not that difficult. It will hurt you, but not severely. Spawn larvae is more difficult tough. My suggestion is to only use it on the beginning and later just put more hatcheries.

You also need to work on your hotkeys. Don't just randomly assign them during a game, you have to plan them before. Use all your hatcheries on 4 for example, and you can have 123 for your army. Also you should simply not build units that require a lot of attention or micro (mutalisk, infestor). The best strategy for you will most likely be sitting in your base and macroing carefully and at some time doing a timing attack. This playstyle is actually very strong as many people screw their macro even in diamond. As soon as you move to attack, put down like 2 more hatcheries so you can keep macroing easily with just using one hotkey. It will be less efficient than using queens but it may just be more efficient for you.

By playing like this, you will usually have to outsmart your opponent. Try to get as much advantage as possible from correct army composition and tech switching. Also a-moving 10 lings on their expansion and then forgetting about them requires basically no APM but if timed correctly can win you the game.


This (along with the lower mouse sensitivity suggestion) has helped me a lot so far.

I played a few games focusing almost purely on 'keyboard centric' macro. Hotkeying all my buildings and queens, and box attacking with units. I feel much more confident and much less overwhelmed now.

In the few games I've played, I've also focused on playing "slower" and subsequently I feel like I'm getting more done. I've had much fewer misclicks, which means redoing things, missing fewer injects and I actually end up with time to scout! WOO!
TogTogTogTog
Profile Joined September 2010
Australia2 Posts
September 14 2010 01:28 GMT
#66
My friend has a problem as well where his hand shakes all the time. He doesn't play SC2 but he does play a lot of other games and while they aren't as speed intensive he did drastically improve his game in a couple of ways.

One was to buy a wrist band thing, the kind you might see some athletes sporting... I'm sure there's better ones for PC use but anyway. The elastic in the glove helped dampen the shakes and kept everything a lot straighter and smoother.

He also learnt how to move with his forearm and not his wrist. By moving like this it didn't require his wrist to move at all, everything was done by moving his forearm and keeping the wrist as still as possible. This also allowed him to increase the resistance in his glove to dampen the shakes more as he didn't require the flexibility in the wrist. With the forearm you can get just as much movement with a wrist and with the same speed, it just requires a small mental adjustment. The downside is your arm will get very tired after a couple of games. The upside? You will build muscle () and you stated you don't play a lot of games, so its not really a huge downside :D

Secondly: Turn off "Enhance Pointer Precision" (EPP) if you have it on. Waste of time imo.

Thirdly: I don't know how much this might help you... But try something like http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/MouseCage-Download-28569.html Its a piece of software thats designed to reduce the mouse shakes. I don't know how well, or even if it will work with SC2 but hey, worth a shot! :D
CrimsonWall
Profile Joined September 2010
United States27 Posts
September 14 2010 03:20 GMT
#67
I'm having a similar APM problem.

My APM is around 30 and I top out at 45ish. I notice in early game I'm fine but around mid-game there is too much going on.

I was just going to practice against Medium A.I. but I'd rather play against a human opponent.

If you (or anyone else reading this thread) would like a practice partner, I'm CrimsonWall # 407 on the US servers. I work all day so I'm only available after 5pm EST and on the weekends. If we do play I'm no where platinum league so you can easily roll me LOL.

I'm a Zerg player too so I'd be willing to chat and trade tips and strategies.

P.S. I don't think you should worry that Zerg might require higher APM. Just play the race you love and have fun!
Vega08
Profile Joined September 2010
United States17 Posts
September 14 2010 03:25 GMT
#68
The absolute best way to increase your apm and multitasking is simple; use the multitasking trainer v0.95. If you need help running it send me a pm.
shiNe.
Profile Joined July 2010
Canada120 Posts
September 14 2010 04:29 GMT
#69
imo with a disorder that doesnt allow you to go over 30 apm, I really think it can have a massive impact on your gameplay.. However, if you practice strategies and tactics you can probably break into diamond with just game knowledge and strategy alone
KRSTWO
Profile Joined September 2010
United States3 Posts
September 14 2010 04:58 GMT
#70
Honestly man roll one up I bet it would help
Arcanne
Profile Joined August 2010
United States1519 Posts
September 14 2010 07:59 GMT
#71
I'm 1500 Diamond w/ ~80 apm
Professional tech investor, part time DotA scrub | Follow @AllMeasures on Twitter
leser
Profile Joined May 2010
Croatia239 Posts
September 14 2010 08:50 GMT
#72
if you love the game, I'm sure everything will work out fine. 30-40 apm doesn't sound like much when you compare it to most people that play this game on a high level, but I'm pretty sure you can get to at least 1k diamond with it if 95% of your actions are useful actions and good decisions. Also, if you are really into the game you probably have pretty massive adrenaline rushes, and those are bad for everyone, especially you with your condition. If I were you, I'd try working on not getting excited while playing, you should see a significant apm boost if you manage to stay calm and collected and it will also be good for your in game performance in the long run, as opposed to having adrenaline rushes and panic attacks.
lulz
Zeroes
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States1102 Posts
September 14 2010 09:00 GMT
#73
I reccomend playing another race. Even if zerg was balanced it is still a very apm heavy race. Also you should switch because zerg has no good way of ending games early since late game requires a lot of apm and multitasking.
Check out my SC Lan pics Here: http://picasaweb.google.com/bunk.habit
ZealousD
Profile Joined July 2010
United States13 Posts
September 14 2010 09:09 GMT
#74
On September 14 2010 16:59 Arcanne wrote:
I'm 1500 Diamond w/ ~80 apm


Again, this guy is around 30 apm. There's a huge, huge difference between 30 and 80 apm.

Yes, we know that SC2 isn't like SC1. We know that you can become pro with <150 apm. WhiteRa hovers just over 100 apm IIRC. But 30 apm is slooooooooow. There's no way you can survive in mid to high diamond with only 30 apm unless you're executing some sort of perfectly immaculate 1 base strategy that has a perfectly tuned individual build order that's optimized for each individual ladder map.
Bumblebees
Profile Joined August 2010
United States328 Posts
September 14 2010 15:11 GMT
#75
On September 14 2010 16:59 Arcanne wrote:
I'm 1500 Diamond w/ ~80 apm


What race do you play, and would you be willing to share replays? I'm really curious to see what "lower apm" looks like in action. It's really difficult to find replays of such stuff.

Arcanne
Profile Joined August 2010
United States1519 Posts
September 14 2010 15:42 GMT
#76
Sure PM me. I play toss.
Professional tech investor, part time DotA scrub | Follow @AllMeasures on Twitter
Jzerg
Profile Joined October 2009
84 Posts
September 14 2010 16:00 GMT
#77
On September 14 2010 09:23 Bumblebees wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 14 2010 07:40 mcbrite wrote:
On September 13 2010 09:54 Bumblebees wrote:
On September 13 2010 08:00 Touch wrote:
Caffeine. Seriously.


Green tea = tremors so bad I can't play (I do drink it when I get sleep attacks though). Rockstar = hospital. (last 2 times I tried it I ended up staying until I stopped randomly having syncopal episodes)

I am trying to get on provigil though. It seems to be a viable option.

I am pretty glad to see there's other people who manage OK with lower APM though. That makes me hopeful to make it into at least mid-diamond one day.


Buy and try something called GABA... seriously...

Research and buy it via Google... I'd be REALLY surprised if that didn't help you at least a bit...


I've took 2 GABA analogues (pregabilin aka lyrica and gabapentin aka neurontin) and they are pretty bad. You feel like you're stoned to hell 24/7, and your memory is pretty much shot. When I reached peak dosage on pregabalin, I couldn't even walk. Stuff is not cool, and might I add it's very addictive at therapeutic doses. Despite hating how I felt on it, I still get urges to take it months later.

Thank you for the suggestion though


Have you tried a different kind of CNS stimulant besides caffeine? Caffeine is really a terrible representative of stimulants, it works in a different manner than most other ones.

I take Vyvanse myself for ADHD, and I've read up on patients with your condition taking Vyvanse. Vyvanse will keep your blood pressure up for sure, keep away any brain fog, and certainly give you a memory boost. (And again, it doesn't work like caffeine).
TrogdorBurninate
Profile Joined May 2010
United States104 Posts
September 14 2010 16:05 GMT
#78
Ok, this is totally a shameless plug, but it's completely on topic and answers your question. Frankly I'm just lazy and don't want to type up a paraphrased answer. Anyway, I write for FTWins.com. I wrote an article last week about APM, what the underlying issue it (not just faster hands), why good players really spam, and how to work on your own APM.

http://www.ftwins.com/ftwins-pro-strategy/starcraft-2-confessions-of-an-apm-spammer/
EriktheGuy
Profile Joined September 2010
Canada132 Posts
September 14 2010 16:17 GMT
#79
Which method are you using for queen injects? I think the backspace method requires less APM than others. alternatively, try some of the 'no queen' strategies floating around, which probably require less APM to execute. Queens are a major part of the reason zerg requires such high APM.
Good luck.
In mathematics you don't understand things, you just get used to them. -Neumann
ionize
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Ireland399 Posts
September 14 2010 16:43 GMT
#80
I just browsed the first dozen or so replies. Well my advice is two-fold. 1.) You suffer from low blood pressure, do you? Is it possible for you to do physical exercise? Maybe some minor work out before you play will raise the BP and keep you steady. 2.) A lot of people stated it and will state it. Work with hotkeys a lot. You say you lack fast mouse movement and efficiency, so take it to your keyboard and learn to have a good keyboard setup.
I just love video games, what's your excuse?
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