TwoTimer
The Helpful One
Strategy and Tactics FAQ
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Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: What is micro?
A: Micro is any actions taken to get the most out of and prolong the life of any unit(s). A few of the names (among many) involve luring (sending one unit out there to pull in the enemy army), focus fire (a group of units targetting enemy units one at a time), popping (dropping and picking up a unit out of a dropship to prevent damage from enemy fire, typically done with reavers and tanks), flanking (attacking from both the front or rear/side), or moving damaged units out of enemy fire to prolong their life. In general any action that prolongs the life of a unit or a group of units can be considered micromanagement (micro for short).
Q: What is macro?
A: Macro is the process of building up your army. It includes making an appropiate amount of productiong buildings depending on your economy, building up that economy, pumping units out of those buildings, expanding, and defending harassment. Multitasking is the ability to do all of these things efficiently (including attacking as necessary).
Q: What is APM?
A: APM stands for Actions Per Minute. It is a number that seems to indicate your productivity level in a game by the minute. It has been said and generally understood that a higher number = better productivity = better player, however that is not the end-all statistic and other factors come into play. A program called BWChart measures APM by analysing replays and it can be found here.
Q: What is a turbonewbie?
A: A Turbonewbie (TN for short) is a term used to describe harassing the enemy economy using a nearby cliff/ledge/island. At first, it is used to indicate when Terran "TN's" someone's ledge on Lost Temple using tanks (with marines versus zerg, with vultures against protoss), but using this definition, Protoss (with cannons, templars or dragoons), and even Zerg (with lurkers) can achieve the same effect. As a result the meaning has been expanded to include any unit who's range can reach the economy below.
Q: What is cloning?
A: Cloning is the act of issuing the same command to a set of units, but at different targets. The simplest form of it is when some people send their first four miners to mine. They send all four to one patch, then deselect one and send the other three to another, repeating the process until all four are mining at different patches. It is a good way to cast area-effect spells that do not stack (like Psi Storm) to different locations at the same time without selecting each temp. A word of advice: Stick to low numbers of spellcasters if you do not know how to clone quickly. It is not wise to have 6+ temps if 3 or 4 of them never get to cast a storm.
Q: How do I convert the B-net (EST+4) or Blizzforums (EST) time zones into my own?
A: A link (courtesy of Staind) to convert those times into your own can be found here.
Q: What are waypoints? How can I set them?
A: Waypoints are multiple commands given to the same unit (or group of units). The unit will complete these commands in the order in which they were given. The most common waypoint commands are used with scouting (mostly other starting positions in multiplayer). With waypoints, a worker can be told to scout every position and expo on the map before he leaves his base, allowing the player to focus on other parts of his macro. Likewise, a worker can be told to do several tasks (build gateway, then pylon, then pylon, etc) as long as there is money and space to do it. Waypoints can be set before the first task has started, and can be reset and changed throughout the process. To set them, issue a command to a unit, then press+hold (shift) and issue others.
Q: What is a Gundam Rush?
A: Gundam Rush is a Terran versus Protoss quick push that was named after the popular but not so great Terran player V-Gundam. It consists of 4 rines built from the barracks (made before the factory has finished), 2 or 3 vultures with mines upgraded, and 1 tank with siege mode upgrading but not finished, and 2-3 scvs for repair and making a bunk. It is effective against a 1 gate-robo-obs Pvt build order, and less effective against openings that produce more goons.
Q: What is Sauron Zerg?
A: Sauron Zerg refers to a particular Zerg versus Protoss build plan. It consists of making mass mining drones with lings, expanding fast and often to a mass nonstop hydra pump.
Q: What is The Stove?
A: The Stove refers to a Protoss versus Terran suprise build. It consists of a quick stargate after the core, from which a scout (the air unit) is built (while making goons as money allows). While this is occuring, the scout flies into the terran base to see which mech build he decided upon. On occasion it might be able to steal a dropship. The scout determines where to expand (take your nat if he went 2 fact, another main if he went starport). From here its up to archive tech, and DT harassment. The point of this build is to get early arbiters (which you need archives+stargate to have, tech trees not rushed to in normal Pvt) and abuse their ability to cloak units underneath.
Q: What is The Furnace?
A: The Furnace refers to a Protoss versus Terran build that involves a series of drops (to hurt economy). The first drop consists of (1 goon + 2 zeal), the second (2 zeal + 1 reaver), and the third (1 reaver + 2 DT) or (2 zeals + 2 DT). It was designed as a counter to that back, jump-the-gap push terran likes to do in 6v9 on temple.
Q: What are the numbers before the buildings/units in any build order? (e.g. 9 pool)
A: Those numbers refer to your current supply at the time, and not the supply limit (which may be higher). Keep in mind that when executing these numerical build orders, take account for any units that may have died (usually the scout worker).
Q: What is the elevator?
A: The elevator refers to lifting an army up or down off a cliff with a transport of two. It can be done with any kind of ground units, and can create an effective flank (units coming from both behind and below a ramp). It is done when it is an economically poor idea to frontal attack. Be sure to perform the elevator to a part of the base the opponent cannot see.
Q: What is a build order?
A: A build order is a general set of commands performed at the beginning of the game. It guides you to make early on your basic force (whether its to attack or defend). A set of build orders are available in the Build Order Archive.
Q: What is a Maynard transfer?
A: Maynard transfer is the act of sending a portion of your workers from one base to mine at another, either an expansion or your natural. The act specifically refers to just the first transfer of eco to your natural, but it has been expanded to include any worker transfer in the early or midgames. Make sure not to send the majority of your workforce at that base, otherwise it will turn into an eco-hit.
Q: What is the optimum mining efficiency for each race?
A: Optimum mining for all of the races is generally between a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 3 workers per mineral patch. Maynard transfers allow optimum mining to be reached substancially faster at multiple bases by moving extra workers from one base to another. Keep a mental note of your worker population, it should not exceed 40.
Q: What are the meaning of some general terms used in StarCraft chat circles?
A: An ever growing list of general terms are as follows (I will not include every single one out there):
Bio - Terran marines, medics, or firebats.
Mech - Terran Vultures, Tanks, or Goliaths.
Workers/Peons/Eco - Drones, SCVs, or Probes.
Range - Refers to range upgrades for marines, dragoons, or hydralisks.
Push - Slow attack that advances by moving units in the back to the front (also known as leapfrogging). Done usually by tanks or lurkers.
Legs - Refers to the zealot leg enhancement.
Cracks - Refers to zerglings with adrenal glands.
Swarm/Cloud - Refers to the zerg defiler spell dark swarm.
Blimps - Protoss carriers.
Web - Protoss corsair spell disruption web.
Harassment - Timed strikes on enemy economy or key units (usually spellcasters) by a small force.
A full description can be found at here: http://www.b.kth.se/b95_wam/
Inform me in a PM if the site changes.
Q: What are all the damage types in the game?
A: Damage types are listed below:
Normal - Full damage applied to all units and buildings.
Explosive - Full damage to large, 75% to medium, 50% to small.
Concussive - Full damage to small, 50% to medium, 25% to large.
Melee - Attack Range of 0 or 1, the attack is dealt directly from ground unit to ground unit (no damage to air units).
Range - Attack Range greater than 1, the attack travels through the air to any unit or building (can damage air units). All air units except scourges have ranged attacks.
Splash - Proportional damage dealt based on proximity (this varies per unit).
Double - Damage dealt in the format Ax2, where A is the base attack.
Ground - Attack travels on or below the ground.
*Note: Dark Swarm only affects Ranged attacks.*
*Note: Protoss Shields always take full, normal damage.*
*Note: Buildings are considered Large Units.*
