EPT PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE POST BEFORE POSTING.
I've updated the post with information about speedlings, where to get the map, and how to set up hotkeys. Apparently people are still posting about these.
I've updated the post with information about speedlings, where to get the map, and how to set up hotkeys. Apparently people are still posting about these.
Tired of seeing your marines explode into green goo? Do you watch Marine King execute perfect splits and lament that you'll never be able to pull off such a high APM task?
Stop frantically box clicking small groups of marines and use this simple trick to pull off splits you never thought were possible!
As as a group of banelings rolls towards your marines, patrol click them away at a slight angle. From there you can shear off smaller groups with patrol click in a Y or T formation. The effect is that the marines nearest the banelings will turn and fire, while the rest continue to run. This gives you maximum spread since each banelings hits very few of your units, allowing you to increase your cost efficiency dramatically. As a bonus, moving in patrol formation maintains a magic box, whereas move command tends to clump your units.
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/ovzJ2.png)
Banelings are coming! Patrol away at a slight angle after stimming.
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/iFfrm.png)
Box select some of the marines and patrol click them in the first branch of the Y.
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/qPECu.png)
Do the same with another set.
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/Ubdfk.png)
The result is an extremely cost efficient split and trade!
This trick was discovered while using Griffith's Marine Split Challenge map. I strongly recommend Terran players use it to work on their splitting micro.
Replay in Griffith's map:
[url blocked]
Enjoy!
Additional Information:
- Thread for Griffith's map: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=206136
You can do a search on Bnet for "Marine Split Challenge" by Griffith too. Currently the map should be on the NA and EU servers, and should be released to others in the future. More details should be in that thread.
- I remapped patrol to Q. You can also use attack move but patrol gives a nice after-effect of spreading as well.
How to do this:
+ Show Spoiler +
Go to Menu -> Hotkeys -> click a unit -> click the patrol icon -> set it to whatever you want -> click accept
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/WG2mz.png)
- Manually splitting I was having trouble getting past level 13 on the map.
Using patrol splitting I managed to get to level 21 in about an hour. I can consistently get to level 18 in under 10 minutes now, after less than 2 hours of practice.
- Keep in mind this technique is situational. You still need to be able to manually split for some game scenarios, especially two pronged attacks and surrounds (well... you're already screwed in that case
). You also have to start moving before enemy units get in range. However, it's great to have this technique in your arsenal.- A lot of people are saying speedlings nullify this technique. In fact, this technique still yields great results against a speedling/baneling mix compared with manual splitting. You will still get a decent spread, and the benefits of spreading vs banelings far outweigh the costs of spreading vs lings. It's just that against such a mix, it's MUCH harder to trade cost effectively no matter what you do. To test this, type "sling" in Griffith's map without quotes before level 6. On sling mode I got to level 10.
- The best way to deal with ling/baneling is to have your units spread ahead of time, or incorporate other units into the mix such as tanks. Attack upgrades are also extremely beneficial.
