EPT[G] TheStaircase - An Alternative Improvement Method - Pag…
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MonkeyBot
United States125 Posts
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JaKaTaKSc2
United States2787 Posts
Sorry we couldn't find you an officer yesterday. Pop in any time, it'll work out soon enough  Thanks for bringing up that question I missed. Step 0 should be 3 queens injecting and 1 spreading creep. The time it takes to complete is less important than keeping the energy down. If you're less than 50 energy for 4/5 games, it's time to move on. | ||
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MonkeyBot
United States125 Posts
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hymn
Bulgaria832 Posts
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rubor
Sweden19 Posts
 Do you think that, for a semi-new player, setting the goal at Masters is too ambitious? Should I start with a lesser goal and aim for Masters when I have the first goal down? | ||
nadavu
44 Posts
So I've been trying the staircase out and am in Terran level 1. I am a little confused though in regards to the saturation speed parameter. For my main base, I constantly rank as masters, but my second base saturation speed is only bronze or silver. Obviously, if I waited longer to expand so I had more SCVs in my main to send to my natural just as the CC finishes, I'd get a better saturation speed, but is that really what we're trying to achieve here? And then my third base saturation speed is masters again, simply because I can saturate it immediately with extra SCVs from my main and natural. I'm just not sure how to interpret these parameters in the context of improving my macro. If anyone can explain this to me, I'd be very grateful.. | ||
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JaKaTaKSc2
United States2787 Posts
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esports_Swag
Canada11 Posts
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JaKaTaKSc2
United States2787 Posts
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william_h
3 Posts
I'm not sure if these have been asked in the previous 59 pages, but could you please kindly clarify 1. Do I need to win to pass the 4 out of 5 matches or I just need to spend and saturate 3 bases; then I can call GG. 2. Do I need to play against ladder or can I count Elite AI as a match (since I got 0 chance of winning anyway) 3. At Level 2, can I only mine 2 gases and saturate 4 minerals with my 66 workers instead of 6 gases since I can never spend my gas if I take too many 4. One of your [Outdated] Toss level 2 guide actually shows a proxy 2 gate win; does it mean that I don't need to build 2nd and 3rd base to pass the 4 out of 5 5. Do I need to expand within benchmark or can I wait expanding indefinitely if I want, as long as I saturate it ASAP as soon as they are completed? Thank you for your clarification. On additional note, I was a big sceptic of your method at the start. But reading these thread, you seems to be more open minded than some of the fanatic of this method that says that Macro, Macro, Macro is all that everyone ever need until they hit Masters. I think the biggest benefit of this method is that I started to get a good "feel" of how many bases and how many minerals I need to support certain kind of units (e.g. at level 3, I can't support Stalkers on 2 gas, but at level 2, I bank too much if I only build observers with gas, so I can stop mining gas once my upgrades hit 2/2/2). This also let me see the outcome of fights that I would not normally see because I would not build units composition based on pure Zealot; and that forces me to play defensive with cannons and counter attacking with zealots instead of facing the enemy balls (which I can never beat) head on. | ||
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JaKaTaKSc2
United States2787 Posts
2. You do not have 0 chance of winning. I've personally made it to platinum using only step 2 of each race and gold with step 1. That being said, play melee Sc2. vs computers, in team games, whatever is most fun for you. That is what will keep you playing and build your endurance most. 3. Yes, only get the gas you need, no more. The saturation benchmark works based on what you'd make with X bases in minerals, so don't worry about the # of workers as much on step 2, just get the minerals saturated. 4. Correct, you are free to get as many bases as you want. Any strategy you can come up with within the restrictions is fine. 5. Expand when you want, saturate as quickly as possible. Thanks for saying I seem open-minded. It's one of the things I work on the hardest; it's very important to me. What your saying is very much the goal. Getting the feel of the units and economy, getting away from the deathball a-move style and doing some counter attacking. (which is why everyone gets drops on step 2). I'm glad you're enjoying it. Share it with your friends, even if they haven't played Sc2 and especially if they are scared of the difficulty of the game, I have found this method to be very effective for helping take out the fear and anxiety from Sc2. | ||
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esports_Swag
Canada11 Posts
On February 08 2014 08:05 JaKaTaK wrote: You decide how challenging you want it to be. I suggest GM spending and masters saturation. Lot to ask for a silver leaguer! Also where do I find these benchmarks, is it in GGtracker? | ||
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JaKaTaKSc2
United States2787 Posts
 Yes, these benchmarks are shown on GGTracker. | ||
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william_h
3 Posts
Unfortunately all my friends started in Plat and quit when they hit top Diamond a year ago; while I have to scrub it up in bronze for a year and got stuck in gold for another year. When I ask them whether they have heard of staircase method they replied "There is no shortcut in SC2, stop doing stupid thing and keep laddering". Lol. I think one of the advantage (or disadvantage, depends on the point of view) of AI is that they don't cheese and ruin the spending / saturation measure =( It's hard to saturate 2nd base when I have to pull all probes or when Oracles pop up and I haven't setup cannon. I am wondering if this can be useful addition to your system: I am working on cycling through my 1-7 control groups as reminder of what to do next: 1-3 units: do I need to scout?, re position my army? 4: my bases: is it time to build more workers, use the special abilities? 5. my production facilities (queen when I play Zerg): check float, check supply cap, build units 6. my upgrades: anything completed? 7. my supply producing workers - usually only if I play terran: time to queue another depot. So using my control group as mental checklist, I am hoping to remove thinking from an "action cycle". | ||
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JaKaTaKSc2
United States2787 Posts
Maximize all of theses things and you will maximize your improvement. They suggest only time, and while time is a factor, how focused you are during that time and the quality of practice during that time will multiply your rate of improvement | ||
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Brindled
United States508 Posts
I like this method of improvement because it's more like "let the wins come to you." | ||
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Morbidius
Brazil3449 Posts
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JaKaTaKSc2
United States2787 Posts
You have stumbled upon one of the many lessons learned in TheStaircase. That Sc2 isn't just about one skill, (like spending), or a small collection of skills, (like macro), but a complex web of many skills. Spending and Saturation are an important foundation for learning Sc2, but it is a far deeper game than just that. | ||
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Stiino0
Belgium5 Posts
I am going to give the Staircase Method a go, but I'm not sure about the following: In the PDF you say #2 rule: NO more than 2 queued units. Is this per facility or just in general? (Like having 3 rax, does this allow me to have 3 units produced, while having 3 units queued?) I would REALLY REALLY love to have some videos about this. Are they going to come? Thanks in advance for your answer! Stiino0 | ||
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JaKaTaKSc2
United States2787 Posts
The videos are on the way! I need to make February not only a productive month, but a successful one, so I'll be cranking out videos as fast as I can and trying to make the most popular kind of videos as well. When the first video for TheStaircase comes out It needs to be successful or I can't justify prioritizing it over other videos. One of the unfortunate things about doing this as my job and not for the fun of it. | ||
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