While being flexible is a key aspect of Starcraft 2 strategy, it’s generally a good idea to go a general build route with whatever race you choose in order to make the most out of your upgrades. For many Terran players, focusing on mechanical armies (as opposed to bionic or air) provides the highest chance for success against their opponents. This Terran strategy uses the defensive power of Siege Tanks and the high health of mechanical units such as the Thor in order to control the map. While expansion may be slow, mech builds allow the Terran player to eventually overwhelm the enemy with brute force.

The main strength of a mech build is that many players, even in the highest leagues, heavily rely on “Tier 1″ armies such as Marauders, Banelings, or Stalkers. By planning for and investing into a longer game, you will eventually be able to overpower your enemy with incredibly armored mechs capable of immense destruction. Oftentimes, Terran players using mech builds won’t even go for a major offensive until they have 200 supply. Normally, investing in such an extreme late game would make you extremely vulnerable to a well timed push or rush by the enemy. However, Siege Tanks provide a defensive line that is very difficult to crack, providing ample time to build your army of Thors and Hellions.

Once your army is complete, and you have researched all your upgrades, you can use your mech army to perform the legendary “Doom Push.” This push consists of SLOWLY moving your army around the map, requiring you to constantly unsiege and resiege your Siege Tanks. If you move to quickly, your army may fall out of position of the defensive cover of your Siege Tanks, or the tanks themselves may fall under attack while moving and vulnerable. Slowly move around the map, destroying enemy expansions and then slowly cornering them into their main base, where you can eventually starve them of resources. Oftentimes, enemies will panic realizing their impending doom (hence the “Doom Push”) and try to rush your army in a final gambit. You must be ready for this move, because if you can defeat this attack, it’s a guaranteed win for you.

Use siege tanks as cover for your army as it slowly moves across the map. A good method to use it to only unsiege half at a time, reposition them, siege them, and then repeat for the second half. This will ensure that you will always have a decent amount of coverage. While siege tanks do a ton of damage, they need Thors to protect them. Because of their large amounts of HP, you always want to position your Thors between your Siege Tanks and the enemy army in order to soak up damage. Thors are also your only defense against air units, but their powerful air attacks also do splash damage. Hellions are your fastest units, and should serve as scouts and also as distractions. Have them sneak into enemy expansions and attack workers in order to separate the enemy army. Wherever your army goes, make sure to bring SCV’s in order to repair your army as well as build Missle Turrets for extra protection and detection.

The Terran mech army is very weak against Protoss players though because of the popularity of robotic builds. Immortals are extremely powerful against mech armies. If you do find yourself in such a situation though, try to get a few Ghosts on the field to EMP the Immortals’ shields away.

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Introduction

This Starcraft 2 strategy guide is mainly for new players or players who are having a hard time improving their game and advancing in rank or league. This 3 Barracks guide will be easily countered in high level play, and is not intended for intermediate or advanced players! However, learning and using this build will help less skilled Starcraft 2 players improve their knowledge of the strategy.

This Starcraft 2 strategy build, if followed correctly, WILL get you out of not only Bronze, but will probably even get you into Gold or higher. One of the biggest problems for new players in Starcraft 2 is that they are unable to scout correctly, or even scout at all. Scouting can add too much APM for new players to handle, and even if done, you need to be able to use the information that you scouted; even if you scout that an opponent enemy has no gas collection, what does that mean if you can’t use that information to counter them? This guide requires no scouting at all and therefore is extremely powerful for new players.

The intent of this Starcraft 2 strategy guide is to help you become more familiar with the game while still being able to kick some serious butt. Remember though that expert players will be able to easily counter this build, and thus this build will become weaker and weaker the higher you rank.

The Build Order:

Constantly make SCV’s. At 10 supply, construct a Supply Depot. Continue making SCV’s until you hit 12 supply, and build a Barracks. At 13 supply, build a Refinery and switch 3 SCV’s to it once it finishes (resist the urge to build a second Refinery!). At 15 supply, build an Orbital Command and build a Marine from your Barracks. Build a second Supply Depot at 16 supply. Once your first Marine comes out, immediately add a Techlab to the Barracks. Once the Techlab is complete, start Stimpack Research from the Techlab and a Marauder from the Barracks (from this point forward, constantly make Marauders). Once you hit 24 Supply, build another Supply Depot. At this point forward, the SCV making this Supply Depot should constantly be making more nonstop (make sure to hotkey it!). Once you reach 300 minerals, build 2 more Barracks and immediately attach Reactors to them when they are complete (once the Reactors are complete, constantly pump Marines from the attached Barracks). Around the same time, once Stimpack research is complete, start researching Concussive Shells at the Techlab.

At around the 7:30-8:00 mark, your Concussive Shells should be nearing completion and you should move out to the enemy base with your Marines and Marauders (you should have around 6 Marauders and 12 Marines). In lower leagues, this is very likely an automatic victory for you as your forces will be too powerful to stop. However, you must also play smart. If the opponent has spammed Photon Cannons, Bunkers, or Spine Crawlers at their chokepoint, don’t bother engaging. The fact that they’ve wasted so much resources on defensive buildings means their economy is EXTREMELY weak. In this case, just make an extra base or two and continue making an army. The opponent will not be able to push out of his base and will become resource starved.

More Information:

Even in lower leagues, this Starcraft 2 strategy build will lose sometimes even if you follow it perfectly, mostly due to opponent cheeses. The most dangerous cheese is a Zergling rush. If you see Zerglings extremely early and know that you are being rushed, stop whatever you’re doing and pump out as many Marines as you can. You will also need to take your SCV’s off of minerals and help fight the Zerglings. If you’re fighting a Protoss opponent and you see a Probe inside or near your base, send an SCV after it. If the probe builds a Pylon, you are being cheesed. Again, pump out Marines to destroy the Pylon, it’s also a good idea to bring some SCV’s to help. Other cheeses might get you, but are rarely seen in Bronze or Silver league games.

I hope this helps new and lower level players out! Enjoy the wins but most of all, practice using hotkeys and improving your APM while doing this build. It will eventually fail, but only because YOU are getting better. When this happens, you will feel much more comfortable with more difficult builds.

Blizzard has just released information on their new units coming with the StarCraft 2 expansion, Heart of the Swarm. These new units will definitely bring a whole new level of StarCraft 2 strategy and it will be interesting to see how they turn out. Keep in mind that all unit information is tentative until release!

Terran Battle Hellion

The Battle Hellion is the first of the revealed HotS units and is a Terran unit. It will likely be some sort of upgrade to the existing Hellion that will allow it to transform into a walker mode very similar to a Transformer. When in walker mode, the Battle Hellion becomes more durable while also dealing more damage. The walker mode also modifies the Battle Hellion’s splash effect, decreasing the distance length but increasing the width. While the Battle Hellion is likely to be used for raid attacks against enemy expansions, not much else is known about the unit at this time.

Terran Shredder

The Terran Shredder is the second unit intended for HotS, and is a very defensive unit that has both a mobile and immobile form. While mobile, the Shredder apparently has no offensive abilities but may move around the map. The Shredder may at any moment be “deployed” for combat, which requires it to spend a second or two in order to burrow into the ground. Once deployed, the Shredder emits an extremely deadly field of radioactive activity around it. Any ground units (maybe air too?) within the field take damage until they exit. Shredders seem to be extremely powerful in defending tight positions such as chokepoints.

Terran Warhound

An interesting multi-purpose unit, the Terran Warhound will likely become a staple in most Terran armies, especially in TvT matches. Having both a ground and anti-air attack, the Warhound will probably be a cheaper version of the existing Thor. Because the Warhound’s ground attack does extra damage to mechanical units, it will become invaluable against other Terran opponents. Similar to the Thor, the Warhound’s air attack does splash damage which will be effective against massed lightly armored units such as Mutalisks.

Zerg Swarm Host

The Swarm Host is a cool new siege unit for Zerg armies, and will undoubtedly be a thorn in the side and constant annoyance for enemies such as the Terran Siege Tank is right now. The Swarm Host automatically knows the Burrow ability before being researched, and once burrowed, continually and endlessly spawns broodling like units known as locusts that will constantly harass nearby enemy units or structures.

Zerg Viper

The Zerg Viper is a support unit much like the current Infestor. It’s first ability, “Ocular Parasite” allows it to grant any allied unit, including itself, with the ability to detect invisible units. The second ability, “Abduct” is undoubtedly the coolest as it allows players to grab a far off unit, whether it be allied or enemy, and drag it to the Viper’s position. Lastly, “Blinding Cloud” is an area of effect spell that reduces the range of all units within to 1.

Protoss Oracle

Just by taking one look at the Oracle, you should be able to tell it’s a Protoss unit, and likely from the Dark Templar sect judging by its colors. The Protoss Oracle has three very unique abilities, most of which require it to be near an enemy base. The first of these abilities is “Phase Shift” which shifts a unit or building out of existence for a certain amount of time, effectively both stunning the unit while also making it invulnerable. Using Phase Shift, the Oracle will be able to temporarily disable defensive buildings, halt research in buildings such as the Cybernetics Core or Tech Lab, or take out menacing units like the Ultralisk or Thor in large battles. The second ability,”Pre-Ordain” lets the Oracle mark an enemy building, giving both vision of the building and also showing whatever it is researching or producing. Lastly, “Entomb” is an area of effect ability that encases enemy minerals in a sort of timed and destructible forcefield which prevents enemy workers from harvesting them.

Protoss Replicant

Replicants may be the most interesting of all the units revealed for Heart of the Swarm as it has no attack and has only one ability: being able to transform into any non-massive unit in the game. Unfortunately, next to nothing has been revealed about them.

Protoss Tempest

The last of the new Heart of the Swarm units and perhaps the coolest looking of them all is the Protoss Tempest. A capital ship similar to the Protoss Carrier, the Tempest will likely be a new fan favorite much as the Carrier was in the original StarCraft. The Tempest has a powerful anti-ground attack, but truly shines against other air units, dealing massive splash damage. Interestingly, the Tempest was originally in the alpha version of StarCraft 2 but was dropped for being too similar to the Carrier.

Shortly after StarCraft 2 came out, it was generally believed that Ghosts were very weak units that didn’t have much of a place in the game. Besides being used to EMP Protoss shields, many players didn’t believe they had much of a role in StarCraft 2 strategy. Since then though, with many patches and a different meta game, Ghosts have been gaining popularity among Terran players especially when fighting Zerg opponents.

Previously, Zerg players had two units that were incredibly powerful not only in normal matches, but even more so against Terran opponents. The first of these units was the dreaded Broodlord. Back when MMM (Marine, Marauder, Medivac) was in its hayday, Broodlords absolutely dominated. Just a handful of them could stop a large Terran army in its tracks because of its long range and its ability to spawn Broodlings. If the Terran player was simply attack moving, his Marines would, by default, attack the Broodlings instead of the Broodlords. If the Marines were micro managed and ordered to attack the Broodlord directly, they would often get stuck behind Marauders and Broodlings and simply be out of range. Many Terrans responded by adding Vikings to their army to deal with the Broodlords, but this strategy was easily countered by using Corrupters. Soon enough though, Terran players found that the Ghost’s Snipe ability was perfect for taking out Broodlords, especially when used in tandem with Cloak. Snipe’s long range and high damage quickly executed Broodlords and by using Cloak, Ghosts could get a lot of free kills.

The second main Zerg strategy used against Terran players was an army heavy with Infestors. The Infestor’s two main abilities, Fungal Growth and Neural Parasite, were perfect for countering nearly every aspect of Terran strategy. Fungal Growth was perfect for decimating bio builds and halting the kiting of Terran ranged units while Neural Parasites turned powerful units such as Thors against their own allies. Just like with Broodlords, Terrans found that Ghosts were great counters to Infestors not because of their Snipe ability, but rather EMP Shot which drains 100 energy in an area of effect. Because Infestors are spellcasting units, having no energy makes them absolutely useless. With a few well placed EMPs, Terran players could completely neutralize Infestors.

The 1 Gateway Fast Expand is a StarCraft 2 strategy that is gaining a lot of popularity among Protoss players as of late because it draws its strength from the pressure of Warpgate technology along with the economy of fast expanding. If you follow StarCraft 2 tournaments, this is a strategy that HuK is highly fond of.

Build Order:

9: Pylon
13: Gateway
15: Assimilator (you may be able to get at 14 depending on your speed)
16: Pylon (you may be able to get at 15 depending on your speed)
17: Cybernetics Core
20: Nexus at your Natural Expansion
22: Stalker
23: 2 Gateways

For this build, you only need 250 gas from your Assimilator in order to research Warp Gate from your Cybernetics Core and produce 4 stalkers. The best way to do this is to only put 2 probes initially in the Assimilator, and to only add a third once your additional Nexus is being warped in. For Chrono Boosts, you will want to spend your first two on your Nexus in order to produce Probes. After the first two Chrono Boosts, you will want to save any additional until your Cybernetics Core is finished. Once you can research Warp Gate technology, you will want to pump all your Chrono Boosts to get it finished as soon as possible. Once Warp Gate is finished researching, and all three Gateways have been transformed, warp in 3 additional Stalkers and move out with them to scout and poke at the enemy.

Because this build has late unit production, it is weak against rushes. Against typical builds though, this Protoss strategy is incredibly powerful. Additionally, this build doesn’t fare as well on small maps with only two spawn locations (I’m looking at you Steppes of War). The larger the map and more possible spawn locations, the more powerful this strategy becomes. If you scout that your Terran opponent has no Refinery, this build will almost definitely score you a victory. If you do initially scout a gas, check back again with your 4 Stalkers. If the Terran player has Bunkers, he will probably all in you very quickly and you will need to start massing Zealots in order to stop the all in. Alternatively, if you scout Bunkers the Terran player may be teching to Siege Tanks. In this case, you will need to start producing Immortals. If there is no bunker, the Terran player is probably fast expanding and you should go for a quick kill, especially if you have a proxy pylon near his base.

This is a classic StarCraft 2 strategy that Terran players have been using since release. It is an “all in” cheese that revolves around pumping out as many Marines as possible in a very short period of time in order to overwhelm your opponent. While this cheese is very powerful and can be adjusted depending on the circumstances, it’s very hard to transition out of if something goes wrong. In other words, if it fails you are likely going to lose. Also, while strong in 1v1 matches, this strategy is absurdly good  in 2v2, 3v3, or 4v4.

Build Order:

10: Supply Depot
12: Barracks
15: Orbital Command

That’s pretty much it, pretty simple right? Once your Orbital Command is done upgrading, you should stop making SCVs but remember to keep calling down MULEs. Build a few Marines with your Barracks and try to intercept the enemy’s scout. If your opponent can figure out your strategy you will be at a huge disadvantage. Save up for 750 minerals and once your base is clear of all enemy scouts, drop down an additional five Barracks. Keep producing Marines until you have anywhere from 15-20 and then push out to the enemy’s base. Make sure to keep producing Marines from your Barracks and have them rallied to the opponent’s base.

A lot of players are tempted to get a gas and make Reactors for their Barracks with the idea that they will be able to produce more Marines. As this is a quick rush, getting gas and making Reactors actually slows you down so don’t bother with getting Reactors. You may want to construct a Refinery if there is an enemy scout in your base though to confuse him; once the scout is dead, cancel the Refinery.

While this build will generally decimate tech or econ builds, there are counters to it. Protoss players have two StarCraft 2 strategies they can use to counter you. If the Protoss players is rushing and massing Stalkers, you are going to have a hard time overwhelming them. Your best bet is to try and bait the Stalkers away from the base with a few Marines or try to back them into a corner where it will be hard for them to kite you. Additionally, if the Protoss player has Sentries he may be able to block his ramp for a considerable amount of time. Just continue to mass Marines and break through once his Sentries run out of energy. Zerg players will be able to counter this build with the dreaded Banelings. If your kiting is extremely good you may be able to destroy them before they reach your group. If they reach you though, it’s probably a gg. Lastly, if your Terran opponent is rushing Siege Tanks, you will have difficulty breaking through his base.

As a Terran player, dealing with Protoss opponents can be extremely difficulty and finding the right strategy troublesome because of one particularly annoying unit: the Protoss Colossus. While not overpowered, the Colossus’s extreme attack range coupled with its ability to attack multiple units at once makes it powerful against a typical Terran player’s ground army; it’s even more painful if you decide to go a heavy bio build with medivacs. While most Terrans rely on Vikings to deal with Colossi, there is another less known StarCraft 2 strategy you can employ.

This strategy is known by several different names, but focuses on fast expanding, getting four Starports, and then pumping out a lot of Banshees. Banshees are one of the most neglected Terran units in the game, even though they strike fear and perhaps even rage into most opponents. And when they are used, most players only create a few just to harass the enemy’s mineral line and keep them contained in their base. This is because many Terran players have had their handful of Banshees easily countered by Protoss Stalkers. However, Banshees are a Light unit and DO have the advantage over Stalkers AND Colossi if you mass them. So, while it may sound silly, a great StarCraft 2 strategy to use against Protoss players as a Terran player is to simply mass Banshees.

Build Order:

10: Supply Depot
12: Barracks
13: Refinery (Place 3 SCV’s in)
15: Orbital Command
16: Marine (After the Marine completes, create a Tech Lab, research Stim Packs, and keep producing Marauders)
16: Supply Depot

At this point you have a little liberty in the build depending on your personal strategy preferences and your scouting efforts. Generally, you will want to research Concussive Shells for your Marauders shortly after Stim Packs is finished upgrading and create a second Barracks solely for the reason of creating Marines. Right around when your second barracks goes up, you will want to fast expand a new Command Center in your natural expansion, add a second gas to your original CC, and start building a Factory. Once the expansion comes up, immediately upgrade it into a Orbital Command (once it is done producing, halt Marauder production), pop up two more gas, and bring around 10 SCV’s from your main base to your expansion to gather the new gas and minerals.

At this point you will want to construct a few Bunkers in order to defend your expansion and then you get to the fun part: creating four Starports. Make sure one of the Starports has a Tech Lab to create a Raven to scout Observers, attach Reactors to the remaining Starports and then start pumping out Banshees as quickly as possible. Depending on the strategy the Protoss player has used, you will want to engage in several different ways. The most popular Protoss strategy is heavy Stalker/Colossi, and if this is the case in your opponent, your Banshee army should rip it to shreds. If the Protoss player is using a heavy High Templar strategy, you still have an advantage but will need to pull off some decent micro. An easy way to avoid Psionic Storms is to seperate your Banshee army into 2 or 3 seperate control groups so they don’t all get bunched up. Lastly, if the Protoss is very Phoenix heavy, DO NOT ENGAGE. This is one of the biggest weaknesses of this build and you will need to transition into a heavier ground army and wish for the best.

An example of a variation of the build:

Dealing with Protoss Counters:

• If you scout a heavy Phoenix build, bring along a Thor or two with your initial push for their ability to deal AoE damage to air units.
• See a lot of High Templars? Spread out your Banshees and try to bait Psionic Storms.
• Stalker Blink Rush is very powerful against this build, if you scout it, research Banshee Stealth more quickly than usual. You may also want to produce a few more Marauders.

The PvP Phoenix Build is not only an extremely powerful build to use against Protoss players, it is also an extremely fun strategy to execute. While there have been Phoenix builds in the past (HuK recently used one in a popular StarCraft 2 tournament), they have always been extremely situational. This build however is much more viable and versatile. If you know that your opponent favors units such as the Immortal or Colossus, this build is even more powerful. Why is that? Many Protoss players rely on the brute strength of these units and they have become the backbone of many Protoss strategies. This build exploits this trend.

Another huge benefit of this build is that many players become very confused when they see it and often fail to respond correctly. This StarCraft 2 strategy offers an element of surprise that will send your enemies panicking for a solution to counter your gameplay.

Protoss Phoenix Build Order

9: Pylon
12: Gate
14: Gas
16: Pylon
17: Cybernetics Core
19: Zealot
22: Stalker
23: Pylon
26: Gas
26: Gateways x 2
26: Sentry
30: Stalker
32: Stargate

Once your StarGate is warping in, continue usual play until it finishes. Once it’s done, you will want to start Chrono Boosting out Phoenixes as soon as possible.

38: Forge (drop a Photon Cannon at your chokepoint whenever the Forge is completed)

Once you have three Phoenixes, you will want to head out to the enemy’s base as covertly as possible. If scouted, the effectiveness of this strategy is diminished. Sneak up to the enemy line, and harass him by using Gravitron Beams on his Probes to kill them. During this harass, make sure to continue unit production. One thing to look out for is if the enemy has a large number of Stalkers as they are very efficient at protecting mineral lines. If you lose a Phoenix or two, a counter attack will come that will be hard to defend.

Heart of the Swarm Concept Art

First up is some pretty interesting concept art. There are a few pictures of Char, where the Zerg seem to still be planning out their strategies even after the Terran invasion. The Zerg mission debriefing room seems to be some sort of Hive spawning room, where Kerrigan probably mutates and advances her Swarm. There also seems to be some sort of expedition to an icy world. In the original StarCraft, Samir Duran was working on Zerg and Protoss DNA on an icy planet. Any connection? Lastly, some interesting images of a Zerg Adjutant which looks extremely similar to a human as well as what looks like to be some sort of new Zerg unit: the Zerg Army Mutator.

Heart of the Swarm Cinematic Trailer

A short teaser trailer, which shows that Kerrigan might not be fully aligned with the Terran forces. Just like in the original StarCraft 2, both Nova and Raynor seem to be pursuing Kerrigan.

Heart of the Swarm Gameplay Trailer

Definitely the best video released, this has some awesome gameplay. Similar to the Zerg campaign in Brood War, it appears as if Kerrigan is trying to reunite the Zerg Swarm. After her recent transformation, the Zerg Queens have broken free from Kerrigan’s will and Kerrigan must regain their trust and obedience. Looking at her abilities, it seems as if she gains different skills throughout the campaign including Psyonic Storm and some sort of Ensnare or Plague.

Heart of the Swarm Q and A

Lastly, a question and answers session with some of the developers of StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm. A highlight from the Q&A:

“Heart of the Swarm’s campaign will include approximately 20 new missions. Players will be able to evolve their swarms with unique, campaign-only units and abilities, and this evolution will happen in an organic manner befitting of the expansion’s Zerg theme. As an example, zerglings can be induced to evolve the ability to split into broodlings upon death. Further evolution can yield specialized sub-species of zerglings such as the swarmling, a variant that spawns three swarmlings per larvae instead of the standard two zerglings. The fearsome raptor is another evolutionary offshoot of the zergling that has more health, and the ability to leap short distances to quickly close the gap on an enemy.”