• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 22:09
CEST 04:09
KST 11:09
  • 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
Power Rank - Esports World Cup 202513RSL Season 1 - Final Week8[ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall15HomeStory Cup 27 - Info & Preview18Classic wins Code S Season 2 (2025)16
Community News
Weekly Cups (July 14-20): Final Check-up0Esports World Cup 2025 - Brackets Revealed19Weekly Cups (July 7-13): Classic continues to roll8Team TLMC #5 - Submission re-extension4Firefly given lifetime ban by ESIC following match-fixing investigation17
StarCraft 2
General
Power Rank - Esports World Cup 2025 Why doesnt SC2 scene costream tournaments Heaven's Balance Suggestions (roast me) Magnus Carlsen and Fabi review Clem's chess game. Who will win EWC 2025?
Tourneys
Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond) FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $8000 live event RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series $5,100+ SEL Season 2 Championship (SC: Evo)
Strategy
How did i lose this ZvP, whats the proper response
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 483 Kill Bot Wars Mutation # 482 Wheel of Misfortune Mutation # 481 Fear and Lava Mutation # 480 Moths to the Flame
Brood War
General
BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion Corsair Pursuit Micro? Pro gamer house photos Flash Announces (and Retracts) Hiatus From ASL
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL 2v2] ProLeague Season 3 - Friday 21:00 CET The Casual Games of the Week Thread BWCL Season 63 Announcement
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers I am doing this better than progamers do.
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread [MMORPG] Tree of Savior (Successor of Ragnarok) Path of Exile CCLP - Command & Conquer League Project
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
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread The Games Industry And ATVI Stop Killing Games - European Citizens Initiative
Fan Clubs
SKT1 Classic Fan Club! Maru Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Korean Music Discussion [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread
Sports
2024 - 2025 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 NBA General Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Ping To Win? Pings And Their…
TrAiDoS
momentary artworks from des…
tankgirl
from making sc maps to makin…
Husyelt
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Socialism Anyone?
GreenHorizons
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 638 users

[H][D] Supply Depot queuing/making

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
jayman
Profile Blog Joined September 2011
United States78 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-11-01 19:15:18
November 01 2011 18:59 GMT
#1
I really don't know what my title should be, but here's my question. What's the optimal way to queue/make supply depots?

A) Select "x" workers -> Build "x" Depots -> Shift Click Minerals

B) Select "x" workers -> Build "x" Depots -> Wait for "Idle Workers" portrait to come up -> Control Select Idle Workers -> Shift Click Minerals

I currently do A now, but I'm thinking of doing B after analyzing some replays from MVP (my hero). I find A inefficient because of mid-game drops and micros. The time and focus is higher in A than B.

But I'm curious what my Terran brothers do, and if I even should take the leap from A to B.

EDIT 1: Clearing it up.
"Life is a comedy for those who think, a tragedy for those who feel." - Horace Walpole
recklessfire
Profile Joined September 2010
United States373 Posts
November 01 2011 19:04 GMT
#2
im pretty sure 99% of the terrans utilize A. It seems tedious to wait for the idle portraits to come up if theres a ton of stuff going on. What you probably saw was that, when theres too much stuff to do, players forget or choose to ignore to shift queue back to minerals because number 1, their economy is so damn good that one scv wont matter, number 2, they need to immediately focus their apm on something else much more important.
castled
Profile Joined March 2011
United States322 Posts
November 01 2011 19:08 GMT
#3
If by queuing you mean having workers build multiple supply depots in a row, you should not be doing this, because you will end up with minerals tied up in a building that won't even start constructing for a while.

If you mean just having them return to mining after, I don't think it takes me any significant amount of time to shift-click the minerals. If anything I think it takes more focus to execute B, because you have to pay attention to when they are done building.
Enearde
Profile Joined February 2011
France265 Posts
November 01 2011 19:13 GMT
#4
I'm doing A almost every game with the following mindset: If i'm on 1 base, i build supply depots one by one, if i'm on 2 bases, i build two depots and so on until i reach 4 bases where i can easily build enough depot to reach 200 if i'm not already max.

Sometimes i'm doing B but a problem arise when you are counting on the idle worker icon as you can't use ctrl+F1 to select any other idle worker.

I know some people love to do B because almost everytime you'll need to start an other depot almost as the same time your current one is finishing so...it's a matter of playstyle.
Iksf
Profile Joined March 2011
United Kingdom444 Posts
November 01 2011 19:13 GMT
#5
Can you explain what you mean by finding A inefficient, i really cannot think of a time B would be superior in any way, if MVP did this he probably forgot to rally back to minerals or something
jayman
Profile Blog Joined September 2011
United States78 Posts
November 01 2011 19:13 GMT
#6
On November 02 2011 04:08 castled wrote:
If by queuing you mean having workers build multiple supply depots in a row, you should not be doing this, because you will end up with minerals tied up in a building that won't even start constructing for a while.

If you mean just having them return to mining after, I don't think it takes me any significant amount of time to shift-click the minerals. If anything I think it takes more focus to execute B, because you have to pay attention to when they are done building.


The reason why I'm thinking of doing B is because it can also apply to some raxes, factories and other stuff. It could work both ways: once the Idle Worker portrait pops up, you know those buildings you queued are already done.

Also, It's not queuing multiple buildings to tie-up minerals. It's like making three supply depots at the same time. Sorry if it wasn't clear.
"Life is a comedy for those who think, a tragedy for those who feel." - Horace Walpole
jayman
Profile Blog Joined September 2011
United States78 Posts
November 01 2011 19:24 GMT
#7
On November 02 2011 04:13 Iksf wrote:
Can you explain what you mean by finding A inefficient, i really cannot think of a time B would be superior in any way, if MVP did this he probably forgot to rally back to minerals or something


So let's say I'm moving my army to the middle and then setting up a drop near enemy's base. I check minerals and supply and I can make supply depots or build more barracks. So... I leave my army, go to my main, select workers, check mini-map, build depots/barracks, check mini-map, scroll to minerals, check mini-map and then shift click minerals.

Or... I leave my army, go to my main, select workers, check mini-map, build depots/barracks, return to my army and do carnage.

That, or I may just be too paranoid of leaving my army for a second.
"Life is a comedy for those who think, a tragedy for those who feel." - Horace Walpole
zakmaa
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Canada525 Posts
November 01 2011 19:32 GMT
#8
On November 02 2011 04:24 jayman wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 02 2011 04:13 Iksf wrote:
Can you explain what you mean by finding A inefficient, i really cannot think of a time B would be superior in any way, if MVP did this he probably forgot to rally back to minerals or something


So let's say I'm moving my army to the middle and then setting up a drop near enemy's base. I check minerals and supply and I can make supply depots or build more barracks. So... I leave my army, go to my main, select workers, check mini-map, build depots/barracks, check mini-map, scroll to minerals, check mini-map and then shift click minerals.

Or... I leave my army, go to my main, select workers, check mini-map, build depots/barracks, return to my army and do carnage.

That, or I may just be too paranoid of leaving my army for a second.


"Scroll to minerals"?
Selecting one worker and making him build a depot and then shift-clicking him back to a mineral patch shouldn't take you more than 1 second. Probably around .5 to do it all, I don't understand. Are you going to be clicking an SCV, scrolling your screen down, building the depot, grabbing a different SCV, scrolling your screen down and building the barracks, then going back to the first one and telling him go to the minerals?
I play Zerg but I off-race as Terran and I normally do A as it is much faster and much more efficient as there is much less downtime. Also, what if I'm in the middle of microing a battle as the idle worker portrait pops up? Then it will sit idle the whole time I finish microing etc., until I move him to a patch. With the first method you don't need to worry about that.
Antisocialmunky
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States5912 Posts
November 01 2011 19:35 GMT
#9
I like camera macro where I zoom to my various bases and queue buildings. I need to know % completed when I macro so I don't queue.
[゚n゚] SSSSssssssSSsss ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Marine/Raven Guide:http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=163605
SheffiTB
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
Canada223 Posts
November 01 2011 19:42 GMT
#10
Am I the only one who has scvs that constantly make supply depots and never go back to mining minerals?
Gold level player who watches day9 and loves helping other low level players.
jayman
Profile Blog Joined September 2011
United States78 Posts
November 01 2011 19:46 GMT
#11
On November 02 2011 04:32 zakmaa wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 02 2011 04:24 jayman wrote:
On November 02 2011 04:13 Iksf wrote:
Can you explain what you mean by finding A inefficient, i really cannot think of a time B would be superior in any way, if MVP did this he probably forgot to rally back to minerals or something


So let's say I'm moving my army to the middle and then setting up a drop near enemy's base. I check minerals and supply and I can make supply depots or build more barracks. So... I leave my army, go to my main, select workers, check mini-map, build depots/barracks, check mini-map, scroll to minerals, check mini-map and then shift click minerals.

Or... I leave my army, go to my main, select workers, check mini-map, build depots/barracks, return to my army and do carnage.

That, or I may just be too paranoid of leaving my army for a second.


"Scroll to minerals"?
Selecting one worker and making him build a depot and then shift-clicking him back to a mineral patch shouldn't take you more than 1 second. Probably around .5 to do it all, I don't understand. Are you going to be clicking an SCV, scrolling your screen down, building the depot, grabbing a different SCV, scrolling your screen down and building the barracks, then going back to the first one and telling him go to the minerals?
I play Zerg but I off-race as Terran and I normally do A as it is much faster and much more efficient as there is much less downtime. Also, what if I'm in the middle of microing a battle as the idle worker portrait pops up? Then it will sit idle the whole time I finish microing etc., until I move him to a patch. With the first method you don't need to worry about that.


Not clicking one SCV, but boxing (if I'm precise and lucky) three SCVs. As soon as I box three, I scroll to the nearest vacant patch, drop depots or barracks, return to minerals and shift click minerals.

I would say that most of the time, A will be utilized more because it does make sense to shift back to minerals. I brought the question up for B because I do notice some Terran players idling some workers after dropping some structures and then picking them up to return to mining.
"Life is a comedy for those who think, a tragedy for those who feel." - Horace Walpole
sandman1454
Profile Joined June 2011
United States96 Posts
November 01 2011 20:00 GMT
#12
just fyi if u box all the scvs that are mining minerals then press build depot, 1 scv will go build 1 depot and if u build 2 then 2scvs will do it. only problem with this is when u want to shift click back to minerals u have all ur scvs selected instead of a few and the scvs still mining will do shift command to mine minerals too. TBH this is not an important topic in the slightest and i still dont know y i clicked on it......
ishboh
Profile Joined October 2010
United States954 Posts
November 01 2011 20:07 GMT
#13
I do a combo of both, at a certain point (when on 2 bases or more) you need at least one scv constantly making depots, so that one I dont bother shiftclicking to the minerals because when he becomes idle i just have him make another depot.

however if i get supply blocked ill often pull off 2-3 scvs to all build depots simultaneously and shift-click those back to the minerals when they are done as I dont need those all to be building depots constantly.

in the beginning though, if making depot after depot is too many depots i shift click those scvs back to the mineral line
Kaitlin
Profile Joined December 2010
United States2958 Posts
November 01 2011 20:09 GMT
#14
Not that I'm suggesting this, but it's worth noting that the 'Idle Workers' function brings your camera to that location automatically. So, if you choose not to queue back to minerals, then adding selecting idle workers to your cycle might save you the steps of grabbing and finding a place for the supply depot. The SCV will be at the location of the last-completed depot. Of course, there are many occasions for workers to become idle, however, it probably isn't a bad thing to have it as part of the cycle so you notice it quickly.
Leargle
Profile Joined October 2010
United States173 Posts
November 01 2011 20:22 GMT
#15
Never go by the "idle worker" portrait.

What I do: select X scvs, build depot(s), select scvs as they run out of my mineral line, shift click to minerals.

But if you're going to stick to one of those two, definitely the first one.
Maphack supply depot overlord
Perfect
Profile Joined August 2010
United States322 Posts
November 01 2011 21:00 GMT
#16
I can't remember which pro i remember said this but they build a depot and let the scv go idle and he uses that as his queue to build another depot all game.
cristo1122
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Australia505 Posts
November 01 2011 21:05 GMT
#17
On November 02 2011 04:42 SheffiTB wrote:
Am I the only one who has scvs that constantly make supply depots and never go back to mining minerals?


yeah i do this but only in the mid-late game in the early game tends to result in a bad hit to ur economy.
ZvP imbalanced blizzards solution nerf terran
jayman
Profile Blog Joined September 2011
United States78 Posts
November 01 2011 21:22 GMT
#18
On November 02 2011 06:00 Perfect wrote:
I can't remember which pro i remember said this but they build a depot and let the scv go idle and he uses that as his queue to build another depot all game.


Please remember.

Anyway, this thing has been in the back of my mind. I have to be honest, I only watched one game from MVP where he idled some workers after dropping 1 CC, 2 Raxes and 2 Supply Depots, and then jumping in to Micro. I watched a stream of Jinro and was watching out for an idle worker, and there was one game where he did after dropping some buildings.
"Life is a comedy for those who think, a tragedy for those who feel." - Horace Walpole
pepperman
Profile Joined June 2011
United States180 Posts
November 01 2011 21:28 GMT
#19
I always do A if I'm just sitting around in my base macroing but if I'm moving out to attack or doing something that I need to focus a lot on I just do B.
Mun Seong-Won!
SheffiTB
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
Canada223 Posts
November 06 2011 23:47 GMT
#20
On November 02 2011 06:05 cristo1122 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 02 2011 04:42 SheffiTB wrote:
Am I the only one who has scvs that constantly make supply depots and never go back to mining minerals?


yeah i do this but only in the mid-late game in the early game tends to result in a bad hit to ur economy.

well I've memorized how many supply depots I need to produce per minute to not get supply blocked at pretty much every point in the game, so I never have too much supply or scvs idle. How is this a hit to my economy?
Gold level player who watches day9 and loves helping other low level players.
1 2 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 7h 51m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Nina 294
RuFF_SC2 170
ProTech55
Vindicta 47
StarCraft: Brood War
NaDa 70
Icarus 7
Dota 2
NeuroSwarm57
League of Legends
JimRising 721
Counter-Strike
Fnx 1849
taco 547
Coldzera 442
Super Smash Bros
C9.Mang03699
hungrybox753
Other Games
summit1g16125
tarik_tv7558
shahzam814
Day[9].tv752
Maynarde191
Trikslyr77
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick2061
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 14 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 110
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Rush1074
Other Games
• Scarra1386
• Day9tv752
Upcoming Events
Esports World Cup
7h 51m
ByuN vs Astrea
Lambo vs HeRoMaRinE
Clem vs TBD
Solar vs Zoun
SHIN vs Reynor
Maru vs TriGGeR
herO vs Lancer
Cure vs ShoWTimE
Esports World Cup
1d 7h
Esports World Cup
2 days
Esports World Cup
3 days
CranKy Ducklings
4 days
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
4 days
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
4 days
Bonyth vs Sziky
Dewalt vs Hawk
Hawk vs QiaoGege
Sziky vs Dewalt
Mihu vs Bonyth
Zhanhun vs QiaoGege
QiaoGege vs Fengzi
FEL
5 days
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
5 days
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
5 days
Bonyth vs Zhanhun
Dewalt vs Mihu
Hawk vs Sziky
Sziky vs QiaoGege
Mihu vs Hawk
Zhanhun vs Dewalt
Fengzi vs Bonyth
Liquipedia Results

Completed

CSL Xiamen Invitational
Championship of Russia 2025
Murky Cup #2

Ongoing

Copa Latinoamericana 4
Jiahua Invitational
BSL20 Non-Korean Championship
Esports World Cup 2025
CC Div. A S7
Underdog Cup #2
FISSURE Playground #1
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025
Asian Champions League '25

Upcoming

CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
BSL Season 21
RSL Revival: Season 2
SEL Season 2 Championship
uThermal 2v2 Main Event
FEL Cracov 2025
HCC Europe
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 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.