Jazoni89 said:
I have recently brought Starcraft 2 and have really enjoyed playing it, but their is one tiny simple flaw.
I totally suck at it!
I just can't seem to multi manage my troops and my economy together. I seem to favour one side of the battle and totally neglect the other. I would either build loads of troops or build loads of buildings and SCV's and its causing me to lose every online game i have ever been in.
I have tried practising with the AI to improve myself but it seems like im just hitting a brick wall. Is their any strategy's or tips you can give me to help me improve my multi managing skills and make me better at the game.
You're not the only one, I suck as well. But there are things you can do to improve.
1. Macro > Micro. What this means is that your economy and unit production are what counts at your level of skill. Focus on having a strong economy, on not letting your money stockpile, on building units and learning what units are good against what. Don't worry about fancy army maneouvers just yet, learn to build an army first.
2. Keep making workers. You need 3 workers for each Vespene Geyser and about 2-2.5 for each mineral patch to get optimal returns. Also, keep making supply (Supply Depots, Pylons, Overlords). You should always have supply on the way BEFORE you reach your cap. So start building that pylon when you're at 14/18 or 16/18, not when you're 18/18.
3. Control groups are your friends. Put your important buildings in control groups, so you can acess them faster. You usually only need 1-3 groups for your units, the rest can be buildings. This will let you control your unit production even while you're managing your army, since you won't have to zoom back to your base as much.
4. Learn the hotkeys. Every build order has a hotkey. Every special ability has a hotkey. Learn them. The best way to do this is to play normally, but when you want to, say, build a Marine, instead of clicking the Build Marine icon, you mouse over it to see which is the hotkey for it and then pressing that. Keep doing this for everything and eventually you'll start to remember without having to mouse over the buttons.
5. Scout. Around 9-11 supply you should have a worker moving to your enemy's base to see what he's up to. This will let you spot things like early Zergling rushes, Banshee rushes and such and let you take steps to protect yourself. Also, keep scouting throughout the game. Every race has units and abilities that help scout. Protoss have the Observer, the Phoenix and Hallucinate; Terran have Comsat, Hellions; Zerg have Overlords and Overseers. But any unit can scout.
6. Play Random. A lot of people will tell you to pick a race and stick with it until you master it. That's bullshit. Playing Random helps you learn the races, the units, how to use them and how to counter them. You'll be playing every possible matchup from each side and while the learning curve will be slightly steeper, it will also help you get better faster.
7. Play against the AI until you can consistently beat the Hard AI with any race matchup. Why Hard? Because it's the toughest AI that doesn't outright cheat. Very Hard and Insane get bonus resources. Hard is on even footing with you and plays better than many people in Bronze League, and even in Silver. Being able to beat it means you have the basics down.
8. Watch replays. Specifically, replays with commentary. Some of the more popular commentators include HD Starcraft and Husky, but if you want to get better at the game, you should watch Day 9. He mostly focuses on teaching the game and explaining the mechanics, and every new player can learn tons from him. Also, watch your won replays, especially when you lose. See what he did that let him beat you. If he brought an army that was two times bigger than yours, see how he managed to afford it.
For anything more specific, ask specific questions
