now i would like to bring you a simple guide into a deterrence against mutas
now I've actually used the search function to look for turret guides / discussions and most of them are pretty outdated
so before anyone goes: "wow dude really we all know that you need to get turrets"
actually read before you set your mindsets to "criticize" mode
It takes a fair bit of time to actually write up and prepare a guide nicely, so I strongly urge that you guys will do me a small ounce of respect and actually read it through before you set your fingers to "flame on"
Intro
+ Show Spoiler +
for those of you watching high level plays like in the GSL, I'm sure you guys have seen how devastating the effect mutas can have on your base when you poop out that single thor only to have it magicbox-ed and killed
or when you go marine tank with 1 or 2 turrents but the muta ball is just too big and so the harassment tends to keep you locked in your base while zerg takes map control
WELL NO MORE I SAY
its time to understand why more than 2 turrets can save you hundreds of minerals and possibly push zerg into another unit composition
first off a very important upgrade:
+ Show Spoiler +
HI-Sec Auto Tracking: Gives + 1 range to turret and planetary range
this upgrade is game changing in your deterrence against mutas. where before mutas were barely out of reach of your second turret, they will most likely be taking a few more shots than they should, and of course they would be taking oncoming fire slightly earlier than they'd expect
The Problem
+ Show Spoiler +
Now you might be thinking, yeah 2 turrents on either side of the mineral line should be enough to stop mutas
really? do you really believe they wont hit around 15-20 mutas and just blow up that turret and move on to your workers next?
how many times have you had mutas:
1. just fly in, take out your turrets and a few SCVs,
2. fly off, you rebuild,
and then they fly back in again and steps one and 2 are repeated over and over
effectively you already losing minerals and workers leading to a worse economy if you had built more turrets
really? do you really believe they wont hit around 15-20 mutas and just blow up that turret and move on to your workers next?
how many times have you had mutas:
1. just fly in, take out your turrets and a few SCVs,
2. fly off, you rebuild,
and then they fly back in again and steps one and 2 are repeated over and over
effectively you already losing minerals and workers leading to a worse economy if you had built more turrets
Deterrence
+ Show Spoiler +
Now when I say deterrence, I mean when they make mutas, they are going to be just as useless as lings to a walled off base.
and heres how you are going to achieve it:
You're not going to build, 1 turret, not 2, but 3 and maybe even 4 turrets by your mineral line/production facilities
and heres how you are going to achieve it:
You're not going to build, 1 turret, not 2, but 3 and maybe even 4 turrets by your mineral line/production facilities
Turret Placement
+ Show Spoiler +
Below, on Xelnaga Caverns you will see how these 3 turrets will not only do a large amount of dmg to mutas, but it might also cause a hesitant reaction in the zerg player, the question for them being, "how much dmg do i wanna take to make my mutas cost effective"
this amount of turrets will also allow a sufficient delay time for reinforcements to come, generally, once they are done with the turrets and want to work on the workers, my reinforcements would arrive just in time to shoo them off
on the same map, but at the expansion mineral line
these 3 turrets deter any form of muta harass that might come your way. I place all the turrets on one side because I know that the other side that mutas usually fly in from after destroying my turrets in the main will be well defended
This is how i protect my addons and important upgrade buildings. These 4 turrets ensure that mutas wont fly in and pick off emerging siege tanks, armories/ebays (while upgrading), depots, and of course addons
as you can see, my siege tank is warmly nuzzled in there without a care in the world
on maps where there is only 1 point of entry for mutas to enter your main for harass, a prime example being Shakuras Plateau, you can effective defend your whole main from any muta harass as follows:
of course you can build the turrets a bit further out if you want more space for your buildings but either way the end result is: you have effectively blocked off ANY possible destruction of tech labs, upgrade structures, depots or SCVs with just 400 minerals
The Argument
+ Show Spoiler +
now before you go: "u mad bro? I need those minerals for marines"
let me ask, how much minerals have you lost having your tech labs, SCVs, turrets, supply depots and those small groups of marines next to that 1 turret you thought would hold off against those mutas a few hundred?
having your techlabs or reactors destroyed which seriously hinder you unit count or even supply depots destroyed which could possibly lead to a supply block at critical moments, this is the price you pay when you make only 1 or 2 turrets
The Logic
+ Show Spoiler +
you know yourself that 1 turret and 8 marines wont hold off 15 mutas, losing that alone is gonna cost you 500 minerals, and then you just add whatever else the mutas destroy to that list
why invest 200 minerals into 2 turrets when you are going to lose it to a big murder of mutas? Just invest 400 minerals immediately just one time, and have complete deterrence
heres a good example of what happened when i built only 2 turrets to protect my addons
and heres how safe I will be after investing 400 minerals
effectively, the 400 minerals are a long term and a worth it investment
I cannot stress enough how just 400 minerals will save you lots of time having to rebuild techlabs, units, depots, and reactors (oh god dont even get me started on how long it feels to rebuild one)
What will be achieved
+ Show Spoiler +
1. mutas will not destroy your turrets repeatedly saving you minerals on rebuilding them and lost SCVs
2. you can save the addson for important unit structures like your factories or reactor-ed barracks/starports
3. a slight possibility that zerg will go into a different unit composition
4. it brings you the knowledge of security, you can push out of your base knowing that you wont have to turn around your hold army
important to know
+ Show Spoiler +
you aren't going to immediately just drop down 4 turrets just for the sake of it, scout out the spire first, scan it.
first off understand what unit composition hes going for
if its muta ling bane then yes, most likely hes going to be pretty muta heavy and you might wanna get more turrets
if he however is going for maybe just 6-8 mutas for light harassment, 2 turrets do just fine
secondly, you want to gradually build up the turrets. by gradually i mean you can do it one at a time, or you can build 1 and have the SCV building it Q up the next one, but remember to Q another as you go
you don't ever wanna send 4 SCVs at a time that's just, a waste of mining time and not to mention a waste of immediate minerals (key word immediate)
also another important thing, to maintain a healthy unit production and defense, make sure you have already expanded and you have kept up with your worker count
also the turret range upgrade is extremely important,
do not bother making more than 2 turrets if youre not going to get this upgrade
this is by no means a form of deterrence off 1 base
first off understand what unit composition hes going for
if its muta ling bane then yes, most likely hes going to be pretty muta heavy and you might wanna get more turrets
if he however is going for maybe just 6-8 mutas for light harassment, 2 turrets do just fine
secondly, you want to gradually build up the turrets. by gradually i mean you can do it one at a time, or you can build 1 and have the SCV building it Q up the next one, but remember to Q another as you go
you don't ever wanna send 4 SCVs at a time that's just, a waste of mining time and not to mention a waste of immediate minerals (key word immediate)
also another important thing, to maintain a healthy unit production and defense, make sure you have already expanded and you have kept up with your worker count
also the turret range upgrade is extremely important,
do not bother making more than 2 turrets if youre not going to get this upgrade
this is by no means a form of deterrence off 1 base
Building Armor Upgrade
+ Show Spoiler +
props to Antisocialmunky for the numbers
Mutas are:
9(+1.000) first hit
3(+0.333) first bounce
1(+0.111) second bounce
+3 Mutas are:
12
4
1
+2 building armor makes that:
10
2
0.5.
Or with just +1 on the standard timing:
8
1
0.5
This applies to depots and add-ons as well.
So vs mutas, with +2 building armor reduces their damage by 4.5 out of a max of 17 damage or around 25% at +3 or 33% of 15 damage at +1.
personally I've never had a reason to get building armor but I guess you can get it if you opponent is one of those "diehard must kill something with these mutas" kind of people
these things are may seem really basic, and you can choose to dismiss what I've written down immediately
but remember that sometimes the basics are the most important things
Replay
+ Show Spoiler +
here's a replay on how powerful of an effect turrets have against a flock of 30 mutas:
http://www.mediafire.com/?cx11cwu44jslzde
- around the 13min mark his mutas fly into my base and achieves absolutely no dmg at all except killing one SCV. he loses 3-4 mutas instead
- at 23:50 mark, he flys 30 mutas into my main, with 3 turrets guarding my production structures
- literally in seconds, 1 muta goes down, and shortly after 2 more before all 3 turrets die
- by that time my reinforcing units have already arrived to deal with the mutas
although he has terribly muta control, the key point is to note the amount of dmg he takes with just 3 turrets with +1 range at the 23:50 mark, compared to what I've lost
http://www.mediafire.com/?cx11cwu44jslzde
- around the 13min mark his mutas fly into my base and achieves absolutely no dmg at all except killing one SCV. he loses 3-4 mutas instead
- at 23:50 mark, he flys 30 mutas into my main, with 3 turrets guarding my production structures
- literally in seconds, 1 muta goes down, and shortly after 2 more before all 3 turrets die
- by that time my reinforcing units have already arrived to deal with the mutas
although he has terribly muta control, the key point is to note the amount of dmg he takes with just 3 turrets with +1 range at the 23:50 mark, compared to what I've lost
Some Extra Stuff
+ Show Spoiler +
I will be doing a short update on my helion harass tips guide
you can find it here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=233188
I will also be writing up a new TvZ guide when I have the time which will incorporate this kind of heavy turret defense while being able to heavily produce units, so look forward to that in the next couple of days
I guess that's pretty much it, discuss and let me know what you think
I welcome all criticism as long as it remains constructive
Please read this following bit carefully
a lot of people seem to be overlooking some of the stuff written so I'll add it here again:
1. No you do not blindly make 4 turrets, as mentioned in the *important to know section*, you should scout out timing of the spire + the unit composition your enemy is going for before you decide how many turrets to build, but usually 2 is the normal amount for light muta harassment (6-8 mutas)
2. you do not want to make as many turrets as I've mentioned if you're going for a timing push
3. neither do you want to make as many turrets if you do not have the resources for it, check the resources on the pictures to see how much minerals I have as well as my army size
Stuff I should have mentioned
these are somethings that i forgot to mention and I apologize but here they are:
1. Once again, this strategy is NOT for someone doing a timing push, especially if youre going marine tank
2. this build doesnt not rely on, but it does work well with heavy mech builds that include 1 or 2 thors
3. DO NO ATTEMPT to build that many turrets if you dont have the income for it (obviously I do which is why i have that many turrets)
4. this kind of defense works very well with mech style play, but that doesnt mean marine tank doesnt work well with it either
but note that if you do go marine tank, then you are most likely going for a timing push and if thats the case you do not want to make that many turrets as stated in point #1