http://users.bart.nl/~jamin Starcraft Playing Guide Starcraft is all about strengths and weaknesses. Remembering exactly what those strengths are can be difficult, especially when you're under pressure. That's why you need this guide, to look up your particular situation and find the best solution to your problem. THE WINNING STRATEGY Before you tackle some of the stickier tactics, you need to know what you want to accomplish. You want to win, of course, but if you don't have a specific strategy in mind, you're not going to get anywhere. Single player Normally, strategy guides have a walkthrough section with step-by-step instructions on how to finish each mission. There's really no need in this case, because, with the exception of the indoor infiltration missions, the solution to each Starcraft mission is much the same. Here are some general tips: Build up base defences to protect yourself from the computer's initial attacks. Build a new base next to new resources. Create a large army. Inch your army slowly into enemy territory, destroying everything in your path. That's it, really. Every land-based mission can be won like this. Universal tactics Don't hang around in your initial position for too long. He who controls most resources wins the game. Realistically, you can't establish a base at every field, but you do need to grab whatever is within your sphere of influence. In other words, build a base next to new resources whenever you can defend them from attack. Something in the region of six Marines, Hydralisks, or Zealots are enough defenders for your first expansion base. Even if you don't think you have enough to defend a new base, at least secure the resources with a small force to keep your opponent's grubby paws off them. You can build your new base when you feel more confident about your defences. Gathering resources Minerals are your life blood. Your primary goal is to quickly gather as much of the blue stuff as you can. When you start the game, produce new worker units straight away and put your existing workers on crystal duty. As soon as a new worker pops out, put him to work in the crystal field. Only one worker can mine a shard at a time. If you have more than one worker assigned to a shard, he'll have to wait his turn. So, unless your command centre is far away from the shard and you have a lengthy travel time, it's not useful to have more than two or three workers on each shard. You'll lose valuable time if you wait until you're out of supply points before you build more supply units. By the time the number in the upper-right corner of the screen reads 9/9, it's too late. Build supply units when you're two units away from the limit at 7/9. Keyboard commands The mouse is a good enough controller if all you ever do is select units and move them around the screen. Many of the actions you want to perform are slightly more complicated than that. When you click your right mouse button to move units, you're actually invoking the "move without attack" command. This means that two opposing armies will often pass right by each other without firing a single shot, just because the players used the mouse button to give their move orders instead of the keyboard. Therefore use the 'A' shortcut key to move your units and order them to fire on enemy units that they encounter. Unless you're retreating, use the 'A' key to move instead of the mouse button. It's also a handy command for when you've cracked the enemy's defences and want to clear the area out. Use the 'A' key to move your units to a point that cuts a swathe through the middle of the base and they'll systematically raze everything to the ground. 'H' is the hold ground command, for when you want to keep units from moving around. It's best used to keep units with long-ranged weapons away from enemy defences, lest they stray too close and get killed. The other good reason to use the keyboard shortcuts is to cast spells such as irradiate or psi-storm. If you try to click the buttons with your mouse, your quarry will move away before you target them. Using the hotkeys enables you to rattle off volleys of spells extremely quickly. The Shift key lets you queue up a series of movement commands that are executed in turn. A savvy player can use a fast unit to recon large areas of the map with a minimum amount of effort. Just give it a series of commands that walk it over every square inch of the map. Using the CTRL-# unit grouping is vital. Try to group the same types of units to the same numbers in every game. For example, Goliaths on 3, Siege Tanks on 4, and Flyers on 5. This minimises confusion and enables you to call in artillery or air support or whatever whenever you need it. Many players use a keyboard split, allocating numbers 1-6 to unit grouping and 7-0 to quickly zoom to their comsats, nukes, and unit production facilities. Lastly, the spacebar will zoom you to the location of units that are under attack. If you can't find out where those sounds of battle are coming from, a quick tap on the spacebar will put you on the right track. THE ZERGS The Zergs are a good choice if you like overwhelming your opponents by sheer numbers. Anyone can quickly create organised waves of acid-drooling abominations thanks to a deft production system that allows you to multiple-build Zerg organisms. But while they have a strong offensive capability, the Zergs are plagued by expensive defensive structures and inflexibility as regards to where they can place their buildings. On space station maps that lack creep-compatible terrain, this can be the Zerg player's undoing. Opening moves Your opening moves depend on the size of the map on which you start. For single-player missions this doesn't matter as much, but it's a critical issue in multi-player games. For single-player and large multi-player maps: Mine crystals and produce Drones. At 7/9 supply points, create an Overlord. While the Overlord is evolving, continue producing more Drones. The next Drone that pops out should form a spawning pool. The next unit after that, turn into a gas assimilator. Continue making Drones, and assign three of them to gas collection duty. Add an Overlord. When the spawning pool is complete, make Zerglings non-stop until you have at least eight. Scout the surrounding area with one or two Zerglings. Create Hydralisk Den and begin producing Hydralisks. At this point, you're past the build stage, and should start building new colonies near other resources. The Zerg have the fastest unit production rate of any of the races, and each colony doubles the rate at which you can mass your insectoid hordes. For small multi-player maps: While larger maps allow you to concentrate on developing your infrastructure, small maps reward those who go for immediate military strength. On small maps, you can usually guess your opponent's location and therefore attack him early on. The best way to win is to ignore his combat units and cripple his resource production by killing his workers. Even if you only kill three or four of them, you'll be well ahead of him in the resource category. Keep up the pressure, and he'll capitulate. Mine crystals, but don't produce more Drones. Scout possible enemy locations with your overlord. When you have 150 crystals, create a spawning pool. While the spawning pool is being built, make another Overlord and a couple more Drones. Make four Zerglings. Kill the enemy Drones with your four Zerglings to badly cripple your opponents. How to defend Zerg defences are resource and time intensive. When you consider that you have to go from Drone to Creep Colony to Sunken Colony, it's far cheaper to use masses of Hydralisks and Zerglings. Also, unlike fixed Sunken Colonies, you can move Hydralisk and Zergling groups wherever you need them the most. When you are rushed early in the game, always defend your Drones first before buildings. This is important. If you lose your Drones, you may never recover. Sometimes nature provides a chokepoint into your base that you can block with Zerglings. Do it, then back them up with Hydralisks that can shoot over the heads of your Zergling barricade. Anything that keeps rushers out of your base is worth doing. Your best defence against air attacks are Spore Colonies combined with Scourge. The Colonies will detect Cloakers, and the Scourge will destroy them. It's precisely because the Zerg have such great anti-air defences that they should try to build Colonies on islands. Such Colonies are practically immune to attack. How to attack Reconnaissance is vital. You need to know where your opponent is before you can do any killing. At the beginning of the game, you can scout with your Overlord. He's slow, but it's better than nothing. Later, when you have Zerglings, you can use them to scout possible enemy locations and to find new resources. One good idea is to leave a unit of some sort at every resource area you find. That way, if an enemy attacks and kills your unit, you know that he has eyes on that area. The power of the Zerg comes from their strength in numbers. It takes some skill to manage 50 or 60 Zerg units at once. Invariably, these units get in each other's way while moving and confuse the computer algorithms. So, alternate movement. Move one group first, and then follow it up with another. When you deal in such large numbers, your units will tend to bind together in tight groups. This renders you very vulnerable to area-affect spells. Either spread your units out, or keep them on the move; if you don't stay in the area of effect, the effect won't hurt you as much. To keep track of your unit producing hives and colonies, assign them to your CTRL hotkeys. Unless you want to get totally confused, assign them according to their position on the map. The leftmost colony should be on CTRL-7, and the rightmost on CTRL-0. That way, you'll always know where the units you create are going to pop up. You can distribute labour by creating land units at the colonies nearest the enemy, and air units at colonies that are farther away. Since air units have great speed; it doesn't really matter where you build them as they can be moved anywhere in a short amount of time. Drones When attacked, burrow your Drones into the ground. You do this for two reasons. The first is to protect them from damage, and the second is to get them out of the way so you can kill the attackers. Zergling Zergling have a vicious attack, especially upgraded, but have precious few health points. This makes them great for laying into enemy workers before defenders turn up. If you're not a rusher, then you should use them as scouts. Burrow them at strategic locations as cheap scouts. They make good base defenders, as attackers are usually more interested in destroying your buildings than your cheap Zerglings. For added flavour, use Zerglings as protective buffers in front of your Hydralisks or Sunken Colonies. Countermeasures: A single Protoss Zealot can slaughter several Zerglings. Large swarms can be killed with a Templar psi-storm. Put Terran Marines in bunkers to protect them from damage, then repair the bunkers during combat. A Firebat wouldn't go amiss here either. Hydralisk The Hydralisk is the backbone of the Zerg, and is the bane of Starcraft players everywhere. Upgrade their movement speed first. Mobility will win you more battles than an extra square of attack range. To use Hydralisks effectively, you have to micromanage your groups by rotating injured Hydralisks to the back of the group i.e. pull out group 1 and let them regenerate while shoving group 2 into the firing line. It's not as easy as letting them fight to the death, but the results are worth your effort. As supporting units, Hydralisks are better at anti-air than anti-ground. Hydralisks are vulnerable to cloaked attacks, so it's not a bad idea to bring along an Overlord. Countermeasures: Protoss Zealots will kill Hydralisks at a 1:1 ratio. Since Hydralisks tend to bunch up, Templar psi-storms will decimate them. So will Reaver attacks. Terran Siege Tanks are very good Hydralisk killers. Cloaked Wraiths will kill Hydras if there are no Overlords around. The Science Vessel's Irradiate spell will also harm bunched up groups. Ultralisk The Zerg Ultralisk is a special unit that you should bring into play when you need staying power. They can endure obscene amounts of damage before expiring, and are thus wonderful defence busters. Countermeasures: The Ultralisk is an advanced unit that requires advanced countermeasures. Terran players should drop spider mines to complement their Siege Tank and Marine defences. Irradiate will hurt an Ultralisk, but won't kill it outright. Protoss forces need Reavers, Archons, and many Zealots. Defiler The spells that the Defiler casts are good for breaking enemy defences. Dark Swarm protects ground units from ranged attacks, so if you cast a corridor full of Dark Swarm into an enemy base, you can attack from underneath with impunity. Dark Swarm affects your ranged attacks also, so send melee-attacking Zerglings or Ultralisks under the cloud cover instead of Hydralisks. Plague will slowly drain the hitpoints of units until they're down to one point. Plague is a gradual spell, so it's more useful before a battle than during. Protoss units hit by Plague will have to depend totally on their shields for protection. Defilers can consume Zerglings to replenish their spell power. Countermeasures: The Protoss have to use shield batteries to keep plagued units alive. Terrans, on the other hand, can use an SCV to repair plagued buildings and vehicles. The Protoss Reavers and Terran Siege Tanks have splash damage, so their ranged weapons will still hurt Dark Swarmed units. And, of course, units like Zealots and Firebats aren't affected by Dark Swarm. Infested Terran Infesting an enemy command centre is more trouble than it's worth. If you do manage it, you can bet that the enemy will do everything to destroy it. Thus, once you get the capability to create Infested Terrans, you have to burrow them away for safe keeping so that you can use them later. Use them to destroy buildings. Each does 500 damage. They're not immune to bullets, however, and a bunker load of marines will make short work of any would-be terrorist with explosives strapped to their chests. Overlord Overlords can detect cloaked units. Upgrade their speed so that you can escort combat units without lagging behind. When escorting, send two or three Overlords at a time as a precaution against a smart enemy who targets Overlords above all else. Later on, develop the ventral sac so that you can transport units, and then the scout range enhancement. Enemy bases usually have anti-air emplacements only on the perimeter of their base. If you can find a weak spot and swing over a full load of Hydralisks, you can make short work of enemy workers. Mutalisk These Zerg flying units last a very long time in combat because they only take half damage from Scouts, Wraiths, Goliaths and other units that have explosive weapons. Their attack is quite weak, and against anti-air units you need flocks of eight or more Mutalisks to be effective. Otherwise, they are very good at killing workers, Siege Tanks and Zealots that can't shoot back. If you keep your Mutalisks on the move, you'll escape most psi-storm lightning attacks. Countermeasures: Terran Marines eat Mutalisks for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Missile turret clusters will also chew them up. As Protoss, you'll just have to invest in scouts and dragoons. Guardian These flying crabs have the greatest attack range of any of the Zerg forces. Guardians can destroy missile turrets, photon cannons, and marine bunkers from a great distance, allowing them free entry into even the most heavily guarded base. Protect them from air attack using Scourges and Overlords, and you'll have an invincible, if slow moving, terror squad. Because they are so sluggish, you may want to move your Mutalisks closer to the target before morphing into Guardians. Countermeasures: Unescorted Guardians are easy pickings for any anti-air unit. But if they are escorted by anti-air of their own, things get ugly. Protoss Templar psi-attacks and carriers are just about your only hope. The Guardians are too slow to escape the lightning storms, and the carriers can attack them from outside of Scourge range. The Terran Irradiate spell is good for a slow kill. If you're under direct attack and need to kill them quickly, you have to Yamato blast them with a group of Battlecruisers. Scourge The Zerg Scourge is the most effective anti-air unit in Starcraft. They cost gas to produce, but they are lethal against anything in the air. For best effect, use the 'A' key to move them in the direction of the flying enemy. As soon as they get within attack range, they'll automatically kamikaze the air units. Like Zerglings, you get two Scourge for every larva that you evolve. Coupled with their fast build rate, this means you can churn out Scourge as you need them, and send wave after wave after the enemy. As long as you have the gas, of course. Countermeasures: Scourge can't hit anything on the ground. So, any ground unit with ranged weapons (Marines, Dragoons, Goliaths) can protect expensive Battlecruisers and Carriers from Scourge attacks. Queen Build a Queen's nest as your first advanced building and research the broodling skill. The Queens are very fast air units and have very long sight and attack ranges. Queens also cost gas, but they pay for themselves after broodling just two expensive land units. For scouting purposes, you should cast parasite on enemy SCVs and other worker units so that you always know where the enemy command centres are. Since most people don't bother with killing the animals, you can parasite them and have wandering eyes everywhere. For permanent sight, parasite an expensive unit such as a carrier or science vessel. People are hesitant to throw away such large investments just because of a parasite. Broodling is the Queen's primary form of attack. You can only cast one broodling spell before needing a recharge, so you need four or five queens to do useful damage. Broodling the Terran Siege Tanks and Protoss Templars to protect your combat units from ranged attacks. You can also broodling workers while they gather crystals, then kill the other workers using your Broodling. Casting ensnare will do two things. First, it will slow down fast units such as Protoss Scouts so they can't run away from your attack force. Secondly, you can cast it in the absence of an Overlord to reveal cloaked units. To locate cloaked Wraiths, for example, cast ensnare on the origin of the laser beams, then send Scourge after the little green wobbly bits. Countermeasures: Though risky, Protoss will have to send Scouts after Queens and hope the player doesn't have spell points to cast ensnare. The Terran Science Vessel can cast irradiate on the Queens and kill them. Hatchery When you notice that you're gathering more minerals than you can possibly spend, it's time to build a second Hatchery. Upgrade to a lair as your second hatchery builds. You can research burrowing at the Hatcheries. Burrow units when they are hurt so they can regenerate in peace. Or, burrow Zerglings as forward observation posts. If you get some units behind enemy lines, you can burrow them and conduct hit-and-run attacks on workers and the like to drive your opponent mental. Sunken Colony If you're going to invest the hundreds of crystal needed to make a Sunken Colony, you should make sure you build them in clusters so they can support one another. Countermeasures: Attackers with air-to-ground or long-ranged ground weaponry can destroy Sunken Colonies with impunity. Spore Colony Besides protecting your base from air attacks, they detect Cloakers. If you're playing against the Terrans, you need to place them all around your perimeter so you can spot ghosts who try to nuke your buildings. Countermeasures: The Protoss Carrier and the Terran Battlecruiser with Yamato cannon can both attack from outside the Spore Colony's range. Nydus Canal You can warp units from one point on the map to another by sending them through the Nydus Canal. You must build both the entry and exit points on creep. This is a handy way of transporting ground forces without being seen by enemy scouts. THE PROTOSS This sleek and aristocratic elder race in Starcraft are the antithesis of the cheap and grasping Zerg swarms. The Protoss are few, very expensive and slow to proliferate. But their elite units are the most powerful individuals in the game. The relatively compact Protoss armies make them a more manageable race to play, though their spellcasters' powers of deception and infiltration open up a vast range of subtle and, frankly, despicable ploys to the Protoss player. Probes The joy of the Probe is, of course, that it doesn't hang around waiting for buildings to be constructed. So one Probe can get a well-furnished secondary base under way in very little time if you have the resources available. Versus the Zerg, Probes can defend reasonably well against the early Zergling rush and they are also immune to broodling attacks. Against Terrans they won't set off spider mines and so are a cheap way to clear mine fields. It's often a good idea to protect their work area with a photon tower or two to prevent them going down to guerrilla attacks. Zealots The hardest basic ground unit in the game, a few Zealots can easily handle larger groups of Marines or Hydralisks. When fully upgraded they hit hard and should form the bulk of your ground forces during every phase of the game. Their main weakness is their vulnerability to ranged units and air attack. So to use them most effectively make sure they're supported by Dragoons or other ranged attackers. You'll generally be outnumbered by enemy forces so always concentrate your Zealot attacks. If they spread out, they'll be surrounded and the enemy will get free hits as the Zealot can only fight one unit at a time. So keep them back to back and their double strike rate will chew through the foe. Countermeasures: Mutalisks and Terran flyers will massacre unsupported Zealots. Also, Firebats and Hydralisks can attack from range and outpace Zealots in the early stages before the Protoss player upgrades their speed. Dragoons Dragoons are the standard Protoss tank and formidable as an artillery or anti-air unit. Unfortunately their slow firing rate makes them vulnerable to attack from fast melee units. Therefore they should only really be used in a supporting role for Zealots who can fend off swift troops or close in on ranged attackers. Keep your Dragoons behind your front line troops and let them rain ordnance on the foe while your Zealots soak up return fire. Once range and attack are upgraded they pack more heat than a photon cannon. Defensively, Dragoons in the base will fend off aerial threats. A squadron parked next to a shield battery is an excellent base defence combo. Keep recharging their shields with the battery while they pick off attackers. Countermeasures: Fast moving and numerous Zerglings can quickly close in on Dragoons and overwhelm them by weight of numbers. Siege tanks in siege mode will also massacre them with their greater range. Shuttles Fairly obvious really, your front line taxi service that go down quicker than Geri to anti-air units. Scouts or Carriers can provide escort protection. They can transport up to two Archons (or the equivalent in other types), and if combined with the Arbiter's Recall spell can hold even more. Scouts Scouts have an excellent air-to-air attack that is more than a match for enemy air power. However, their air-ground capability is weak and frittering them away is disastrous because they are very expensive to build. Thus they're best used in a mutually supportive role with ground forces. Scouts also make first-rate reconnaissance units, once they've had their speed and sight upgraded, swiftly zipping around the largest of maps. Squadrons of Scouts can quickly puncture unprotected Overlords and wreck Zerg spying efforts, while large groups should be used to intercept and kill enemy spellcasters like Queens and Science vessels. Combine them with an Observer to annihilate cloaked Wraith's (which you are vastly superior to in the air) or burrowed Zerg units. Countermeasures: Numerous, cheap anti-air units like Hydralisks and Marines chew scouts. Templar The key Templar ability is Psionic Storm. Equivalent to Warcraft II's Death & Decay (minus building damage) it is a lethal area burst when unleashed on large groups of enemy units. A juiced-up Templar can fire it off twice and saturate a wide area. Take note: no additional damage is taken if you concentrate multiple Psionic Storms on a single area. It's usually worth running a couple of Zealots into the heart of the enemy to hold them up while you zero in with your magic. Or just pick off enemy packs laying into your buildings. Make sure you cloak the Templar with an Arbiter though, as a Siege tank has a longer range than Psionic Storm. Try keeping a unit of Zealots on hand as well to finish off tough units like tanks that aren't quite killed by the Storm. Hallucination is a superb 'paranoia' spell that sows confusion among your opponents and distracts them from your real units. Each casting creates two fakes, which cause no physical damage, take double damage and last for a short time only. However, they'll save your true units a lot of pain when you mix real and replica together. Alternatively you can bind the hallucinations to a different key and use them as a diversion, hoping to draw off the bulk of the defence while your actual attack waltzes through the enemy base. Beware, Templars are physically weak and very vulnerable to any enemy attack. So always move them around in pairs. This way if they come under attack while unsupported, you can merge them into an Archon. This will double your shield strength and give you a chance to bail them out with some rapid response units. Similarly, when you're base-defending and your Templars have exhausted their mana, summon Archon's to bring their superior firepower into play. Countermeasures: Area effect spells like EMP or Ensnare will dispel all hallucinations. Reavers A heavy artillery unit, the Reaver is the home improvement arm of the Protoss army. Their Scarab ammunition out-ranges towers so they should always be used to pummel any base into submission. Ensure that you have built plenty of ammunition before you attack to avoid unnecessary embarrassment later. They do, of course, move pitifully slowly, so protect them with Dragoons and Zealots and entertain the possibility of shipping them in via shuttle or the Arbiter's Recall spell. For solid defence, place a pair of Reavers just behind a Photon cannon. Their area effect shells will slaughter massed ranks of light enemy wholesale and they can give Ultralisks and Siege tanks a fair old wallop as well. Always aim their shots into the centre of an enemy pack for maximum splash damage amusement and try to ensure they all choose different targets. Countermeasures: Reconnaissance is vital for spotting approaching Reavers on the ground or in shuttles. Fast moving flyers can then tear into them until air defence turns up (Reavers have no air defence of their own). Burrowed units can also surprise Reavers lagging behind the front line. Spread out when approaching Reavers to minimise casualties and take them on with many small groups, someone is bound to get through. Observers These infiltration units are the key to Protoss control of the battlefield. Build plenty and leave one in every possible area of strategic interest, particularly expansion sites. Surround the enemy base with them so you'll be able to keep constant tabs on his murky toings and froings. Also attach one to any attacking force to put a rapid stop to the pranks of enemy cloakers. Countermeasures: Enemy towers and detector units will blow the Observer's cover. Archon Arguably the most powerful unit in the game, this mighty Protoss warrior is equally at home against flyers and ground forces. Though very expensive they are fantastically well armoured and heavily armed, but their reload rate is slow. Use them late on in the game to lay waste to the enemy's most potent threats. They have little to fear and should wade in against virtually anything, just remember to pull them out in time to return them to your shield batteries. Countermeasures: Use massed firepower, or, the Archon's only predator: Terran Science vessels and their hit-point sapping EMP ability. Carrier Indisputably the most awesome airborne unit Starcraft knows. Mass interceptor swarms can cause an extreme mess and if you create Carrier fleets, cloaked by Arbiters, then you have the the ultimate combination of firepower and subterfuge. Carriers are slow, however, and so should always be accompanied by giving Scout escorts that will absorb anti-air fire. Two Scouts per Carrier is a good balance. Don't commit your Carriers to battle until you've upgraded their attack and Interceptor capacity. Then you can maximise their terror value by casting hallucination on them, darkening the skies with their deadly sleekness. Countermeasures: Zerg Scourges are made for Carrier carnage while cloaked Wraiths give many a Protoss general sleepless nights. Arbiters The Arbiter's ability to automatically cloak any Protoss unit within a short range is extraordinarily powerful. If you choose your approach carefully, you can use this to march straight into the enemy base with a mighty taskforce underneath your stealth apron. But that's not the end of the Arbiter's jolly handy powers. With Recall you can manoeuvre an Arbiter into position in the enemy base and then immediately use the spell to pick up a group of Protoss units anywhere on the map and teleport them to the Arbiter's spot. Calling in a massive assault force to lightly defended and remote areas of the enemy base is guaranteed to have him banging his panic button. Try six Reavers at the back of the base. Stasis renders units (friend or foe) immobile and invulnerable. Thus you can freeze out important enemy defenders for the duration of an assault while you pick off their support. Or you can protect your own key units until reinforcements arrive. Countermeasures: Enemy detectors. Pylons Simultaneously act as 'farms' and provide power for Protoss structures. Always build multiple Pylons to act as back-ups for Photon Cannons and other important structures otherwise the enemy will render you helpless by singling out infrastructure. Photon Cannons The only Protoss static anti-air or anti-ground facility. They provide limited firepower and are very vulnerable to attack from longer range Zerg and Terran units. Unfortunately you still need them for their detection abilities. Build them in clusters and support them with Reavers and Dragoons. Shield Battery Recharge your unit's shields almost instantaneously. Arrange Shield Batteries near your base's main defensive points so your troops can fall back to them. Very powerful defences can be formed by arranging Dragoons and Carriers around Batteries. They can recharge whenever damaged and the enemy will sustain massive losses trying to dig them out. PROTOSS STRATEGIES Opening moves Early on in the game you should concentrate on pumping out Zealots. Ideally, if you have the resources, you'll have three or more Gateways popping out as fast as they possibly can. Though Zealots are the cheapest Protoss unit, they are more than a match for their Zerg or Terran counterparts and will savage any enemy they can close with. They're also Vespene-free so you don't need to build an Assimilator and divide your workers between resources early on as the other races do. Keep chipping away at the money mineral growths so you can keep churning out Zealots. Once your field is completely covered with Probes, build your Assimilator. Put your Forge or Cybernetics Core on hold until the Assimilator is running and you're collecting Vespene gas apace. Though the Forge provides Photon Cannons and unit upgrades, you can't upgrade until you've stockpiled some gas. And at this stage you're better off with more Zealots than a Photon Cannon. Again there's no point investing in a Cybernetics Core when it accesses your more advanced buildings, but they need large amounts of gas. Send the first few Zealots out on a scouting mission. Then when you've amassed around eight Zealots it's time to go on the offensive (providing you're playing a reasonably manageable map). Harassing your opponent early on is worth doing as you gain information on his strategy (is he building multiple 'barracks' and preparing an infantry assault? Or is he throwing his efforts into early air superiority?), and you'll prune back his military development. Early assaults should avoid attacking durable buildings and instead try to victimise his work force to slow down his economy. Split your initial force into two groups so you can draw off his defences with one while the other canes his Drones. Middle Ground The Protoss air force is probably the best in the game so once your economy is thriving, it's worth trying to establish mastery of the skies. Upgrade your Scout's speed and then use marauding packs of them to attack enemy flyers. Though break off if you meet any ground-air resistance. Zerg Scourges and Queens are prime targets if you spot any. Upgraded Scouts are fast enough to intercept the enemy, loose off a broadside and then retreat from danger unharmed. If you do take damage then pull your Scouts back to the Shield Batteries and replenish them. Once Carriers come into play, your Scouts should mostly be used as an air cordon: dealing with units that might otherwise threaten the Carriers. Carriers should obliterate the enemy from maximum range, and you should prioritise targets who can still fire at you from that distance. Once Carrier threats are eliminated then turn your wrath upon the ground targets. Units of Zealots can also be used to suppress ground units that are giving your Carriers grief. Once your second base is up and running, build a Citadel of Adun and research Zealot speed. This is the key upgrade that allows the Zealot to overcome its lack of ballistic attack. Now you should build the Templar Archives. From now on you should never be without Templars and can use their Psionic Storm attack to butcher enemy troop formations en masse. Strike with Psionic Storm when his troops are occupied fighting yours. If he can move them then the Psionic Storm will be mostly ineffective. Bear in mind that the Templars are physically very weak, so they should generally lurk to the rear of your forces ready to decimate foe from a position of safety. End Game If you can fend off your insatiable adversary long enough, then you will truly be able to demonstrate the full power of the Protoss. By now your Scouts and Carriers should control the skies; while Zealot packs, the Templar's Psionic Storm and Carriers scour the enemy on the ground. Hallucination and Cloaking allow you to successfully disguise your intentions from your opponent and Recall allows you to harry him with surprise attacks. Hallucination will become increasingly important as your major units start to dominate. Apart from the panic value of the spell, it is great for drawing fire from your expensive Carriers, etc. and so increases their survivability (See the Arbiter entry earlier on). Information Warfare The key to Starcraft is intelligence. The more you know of his movements and build-ups, the more efficiently you can use resources to stop him while minimising your own casualties. The Observer is obviously the crucial unit for the Protoss in this regard. First put all the main routes to the enemy's base under surveillance. Place Observers at choke points like ramps and narrow paths so that you will always know when he is expanding or launching an attack. The next stage is to place Observers around the fringe of his base so that you know what kind of base, and therefore strategy, he's working on and where his soft underbelly is (presumably where your Observers aren't being detected and killed). Eventually you should try to infiltrate his base by carefully threading a couple of Observers past the detectors. In time-honoured real-time strategy fashion, the best routes are usually flush against the map edge. Then once your man has moved in, try placing him on top of a building. This will give him some measure of camouflage, so even if he's lit up on the map, your opponent may miss him on screen. Of course, you don't want your enemy to enjoy the same luxuries, so space your Photon Cannons and defensive Observers so that no Ghost can enter undetected. You can try patrolling with Observers and positioning Photon Cannons at choke points for complete security. THE TERRANS Of all the races, the Terrans, representing dear old Earth, are most closely related to Warcraft's happy peons. They comfortably blend cheap infantry fodder with expensive war machines that are extremely powerful under the right circumstances. Thus the Terrans are the most flexible army of the three, though they are tricky to co-ordinate well. SCV The common peon, foundation of your civilisation and all-round donkey. You must protect them from hit-and-run raids, which will bring you to your knees as surely as any battlefield rout. Pepper their workplace with one or two bunkers and missile towers to give them some measure of protection. If they're caught completely exposed, it's usually better to run away than slug it out. Their attack is very weak, though they can handle Zerglings if you're caught without Marines. The one redeeming SCV feature is that they can repair any Terran vehicle or building. So try to get in the habit of pulling out damaged vehicle groups from battle and repairing them, while another group presses home the attack. By holding down Shift and right-clicking on multiple vehicles, you can repair in sequence. SCVs can also abandon construction projects mid-job to concentrate on something else and then return to finish the task later. Marine Basic grunts, Marines are cheap and cheerfully killed. Your first few are best used as Scouts to locate resources, enemy bases and territorial infringements. They'll provide you with rudimentary ground and air cover, but they're most effective in a bunker. The marines enjoy a purple patch at the beginning of any game because they're the only basic unit with a ranged attack - so they can hit and run against the melee-only Zealots and Zerglings. Later on, use them in a supporting role for your tanks and keep popping their stim-packs. Countermeasures: There's not much that can't hurt a Marine, but lots of Hydralisks or Zealots are particularly effective early on, as are Reavers and Psi-Storm. As the game matures, Archons, Ultralisks and Carriers are major Marine-worriers. Firebat Your little pyromaniacs have almost three times the hitting power of Marines and are an integral part of any Terran's comfort zone. They're generally happiest in a mixed group with Marines, although they have half the range, no anti-air capability and a slightly slower fire rate than their fodder-brothers. Always stick one in a bunker along with three Marines for first-class anti-air and ground defence. They are especially useful in numbers against Zerglings and Zealots as their splash attack mops up. Make sure you keep your Firebats stimmed, and when fighting the formidable Zealots always concentrate fire on an individual until it's dead, before moving onto the next. Firebats are of limited use beyond the early stages, however, so upgrade as quickly as you can to Vultures and tanks. Countermeasures: Mutalisks and Scouts chew through the aerially defenceless Firebats, otherwise read as Marines. Vulture A super-fast, light attack recon craft, the Vulture becomes your primary scout once you've got the factory on-line. Their grenade attack is reasonably effective, but Vultures are too weak to do much front-line fighting. The reason you bother with them is the spider mine. When laid, these smart bombs chase after the enemy on their patch and wreak ample havoc. You only get three per Vulture so use them economically to carpet choke-points that the enemy will almost certainly have to funnel through. Or place them round your vital installations as a last line of defence. Don't put them too close together, however, or they'll blow each other up. You can also use mines for reconnaissance. By placing a couple in every resource area you'll be alert to any expansion attempt and knock him back with a lightning strike before he's established. Friendly units won't trigger mines, though they will take damage if caught in the blast. Countermeasures: Air units, workers, and Archons can all clear detected spider mines. Dragoons and Hydralisks can also shoot them from a safe distance. Goliath This bipedal deathmonger is basically a walking anti-air gun. Ideal for supporting your Siege tanks, the Goliaths should be kept on a separate group number so that you can manually target aerial threats as they come in. Once they've cleared the skies then they can help mop up on the ground. The ratio of Goliaths you have to Siege tanks will be determined by your opponent. The more he relies on airpower, the more Goliaths you'll require. Whenever you expand to areas accessible only by air, make sure you always drop in a group of Goliaths in your first wave. They will fend off enemy flyers until your missile turrets are up. Countermeasures: Any ground unit from Hydralisks and Zealots up can handle Goliaths one for one. Siege tanks Terran military power is built on Siege tanks. They are the backbone of the army and all other units should be considered as support. In particular, your tanks are completely at the mercy of airpower and should never go anywhere without Goliaths. Research their Siege capability as swiftly as possible. In Siege mode, your tank's shot is more than twice as powerful as normal and they out-range every other unit in the game. Obviously this is the key to unravelling enemy fortifications. Pull up your tanks just beyond enemy tower range and demolish them with impunity. Be advised, though, that your tanks have a minimum range as well as a maximum. They can't fire at units at short range. So space out your Siege tanks so they can support one another. You'll also need Goliaths and infantry to close down attackers. Bear in mind that Siege tanks can fire much further than they can see, so send in Scouts to spot, or use the Comsat station to sweep the area. Another useful combination is two or three groupings of Siege tanks, one of which supports from Siege mode at the back while the other group rumbles forward. This then takes up Siege mode with the other group taking up the forward position in a continuously cycling advance. Countermeasures: Air power in the form of Mutalisks, Guardians and Carriers makes a big mess of unsupported Siege tanks. Broodling and Psi-Storm are also highly effective. Try and get melee units like Zealots, Hydralisks and Ultralisks into contact, as the Siege tanks will cut each other to pieces with blast damage cross-fire. Wraith The bottom-of-the-range air-to-air fighter that can cause merry hell when cloaked, assuming there aren't any enemy detectors nearby. The Wraith is too light to take on Protoss Scouts single-handedly, so research cloaking as soon as possible. When cloaked they can strafe workers and other units until detectors force them to retreat. If you can't rely on cloaking, then use Wraiths as additional air support for your attack groups, and in large numbers to hunt for ground units like Ultralisks and Siege tanks wandering around without air cover. They are also useful escorts for Dropships, Science Vessels and Battle Cruisers, buying time for the more valuable vehicles, throwing themselves in the way of Scourges, that sort of thing. The Wraith is most vulnerable to attack from ground-level ack-ack thanks to its weak air-to-ground capability. Countermeasures: Observers, Photon cannon and Overlords expose cloaked Wraiths after which most forms of anti-air attack can make short work of them. Dropship More blatant than a punch in the mouth, this is the Pullman's of the Terran forces, bussing your troops to the enemy's soft underbelly. They can carry two Siege tanks each or four Goliaths, and have a much longer life expectancy when escorted by Wraiths. Battle Cruiser The most powerful ship in the Terran line, once you've invented the Yamato cannon. Without it Battle Cruisers are next to useless, with it they can clearly do ridiculous amounts of damage. Battle Cruisers are painfully slow to build, steer like a cow and take ages to make up their mind to fire, so don't let them out by themselves. Always give the enemy something else to think about while pummelling him with Battle Cruisers. Escort them with Wraiths, and use them in conjunction with a ground attack. Defensive matrix is obviously ideal for Battle Cruisers - use a matrixed Cruiser as a spearhead, supported by unshielded Cruisers slightly further back. Comstat scanners will reveal targets for long range Yamato strikes. Try to take out enemy detection units so you can move your Ghosts in to Lockdown major threats. Countermeasures: Scourge, Plague, Psi-Storm and swarms of smaller anti-air units all spell the end for Cruisers. Ghost Agents of espionage and deception, your Ghosts should be researched to the hilt before you deploy their dastardly skills. Cloaked units must be used with caution as the enemy is only too aware of the havoc they can cause. Creep up on the enemy position and then bring down nukes on the front-line defences. Ghosts (with Ocular implants) also make good spotters for your long-range Siege tanks and Yamatos. A timely cast of Defensive Matrix can ensure your Ghosts last long enough to do the job. The Ghost's Lockdown ability prevents vehicles from moving or firing - use it on Dragoons, Reavers, Carriers, enemy-Siege tanks, Battle Cruisers and anything else hard. Needless to say, it doesn't do much against the Zerg. Lockdown is the ideal way to stall enemy air attacks, turning Protoss Carriers (who will recall their Interceptors if locked) into sitting ducks. Just make sure you have plenty of anti-air units on hand to blow them away. When playing Protoss deploy a Science Vessel with your Ghosts to pick up Observers. Remember Ghosts are all too fragile so build them in numbers to keep the pressure on. Countermeasures: Enemy detection units. Science Vessel An extremely powerful unit, the Science Vessel is nevertheless fragile and expensive. Handy for surveillance, it will keep track of enemy Cloakers and pick them out for your Siege tanks. EMP drains all shields and energy in its blast area - friend or foe - and so causes a wide range of knock-on effects. It'll decloak units, nobble Queens, Defilers and other spell-casters, rob Battle Cruisers of Yamato power, and is a key tactic for stopping Archons and Templars. Irradiate works against any organic unit, whether on the ground or in the air. It excels at wasting Ultralisks and Hydralisks. Defensive Matrix doesn't make units invulnerable, but temporarily ramps up their hit points to the point where they can take just about any abuse. Use it on any tank, Ghost, Battle Cruiser or Science Vessel that needs to cling on that bit longer. Countermeasures: Mutalisks and Scouts swallow Science Vessels whole and prevent the loss of more expensive units to Terran spells. Bunkers Bunkers are most potent when manned by Firebats and Marines. Firebats provide hitting power while Marines chip in with extended range and anti-air capability. Always try to cluster two or three bunkers so they can provide mutual support. One method is the pyramid defence which has a bunker of Firebats at its apex, supported by two bunker-fuls of regular Marines slightly to the rear. The Marines will be able to fire at will while your opponent deals with the Firebats. Keep SCVs on hand to repair the bunkers for longer-lasting defence. If there's time before an enemy assault, try unloading your bunker troops, Stim them up and shove them back under cover. The health hit is nullified by the bunker shield and they fire like maniacs. ComStat Scanner (Command Centre upgrade) Remember to sweep enemy positions regularly with the scanner to see what mischief they're making. Use it prior to combat to expose Cloakers and Burrowers, and to gauge the most potent threats in an approaching enemy force. If you hot-key one or two Comstat stations, then you'll find yourself scanning instinctively, which will vastly increase your awareness of the battlefield. Barracks/Factories/Starports These are the workshops which churn out the bulk of your army. You'll be hard-pressed to build too many. As long as your resource supply is secure, then you'll be able to build armies and counterattack more swiftly the more factories you have on-line. Once your front-line forces have been chewed up, the only way to get more units into the fray quickly enough to press home an initial attack is to have a massive amount of units constantly in production. How many factories you build depends on the size of the map, but four is a good working minimum. STRATEGIES Opening Moves The early build order should be along the lines of: supply depot, barracks, depot, barracks, depots as needed, gas refinery, factory, factory. After your barracks are up and running, make bunkers as needed. This order ensures you have enough Marines in the early stages to defend against rushing and to scout. Have a few wander about a bit, and if they should happen upon enemy workers, they'll slaughter them. On larger maps, it may be advisable to delay the second barracks and build a second factory instead. Then continue to build more factories and establish a superior ground force. If the enemy takes to the air, you should build an armoury and churn out Goliaths. If you face an early rush threat, build bunkers after the first barracks. Place them to cover your entire base, including mineral seams, and you should survive any premature Zealot/Zergling attack. This should buy enough time to get Vultures rolling out and planting mines to break up large ground assaults by Hydralisks and the like. Vultures are also adept at hit-and-run attacks versus Zealots and Hydralisks, so make the most of their speed and pull them out before the enemy strikes back. You can turn choke-point approaches to your base into death traps by covering them with two Marine-filled bunkers. Lay spider mines in front and position Siege tanks behind to secure the area. If necessary, seal off the route by plugging a barracks into the gap between the bunkers. Keep an SCV or two on stand-by to repair the buildings. The barracks is your front door and can be raised to let your forces out. Mid Game As your coffers swell, it's time to start expanding. Start building a command centre while your scouts find and prepare a suitable site. Then you can just fly it in and be up and running straight away. Ideally you'll have a couple of barracks pumping out infantry and three or four factories (with machine shop) churning Goliaths for anti-air and tanks for ground-based wrecking. Research stim-pack so your infantry can swing the balance in key battles. With tanks, infantry and Goliaths in the front-line backed by Siege mode tanks acting as artillery, enemy bases will fall if you protect your tanks. Use Comstat stations to spot, or cloaked Wraiths/Ghosts. Keep an eye on expansion sites with an innocuous Marine or cloaked unit, and have a fast attack force ready to nip the enemy in the bud when he moves in. And always rotate your attacking forces, pulling out damaged units for repair while the next group presses the attack. End Game This is when your more specialised units come into play. Carefully husband your Science Vessels, your only mobile detectors. Irradiate large Zerg concentrations and EMP Protoss attacks. Building a Covert Ops at the science facility will enable your Ghosts. Their Lockdown ability can neutralise the Protoss Carriers, which will prove very hard to handle otherwise. Battle Cruisers are only of use when protected by sufficient numbers of supporting units. The Yamato cannon will devastate large targets and base defences, while their secondary weapons can cripple Scourges and Scouts. But they must be escorted by tanks, Goliaths and Ghosts. Take out the obvious threats with the Yamato, while Ghosts lock the Protoss and Science Vessels irradiate the Zergs.