Introduction to APM
When trying to improve your game, the most important thing you can do is work on your StarCraft 2 strategy such as build orders, timings, and counters. These strategic elements are at the heart of StarCraft 2, and mastering them are the only way you can master the game. However, there is another and more technical aspect of the game that revolves around the individual player’s technical skill. Although less important than actual StarCraft 2 strategies, it can make all the difference between two equally intelligent and knowledgeable players.
This skill is called APM, which is short for “actions per minute” and describes exactly what the name implies: how many actions a RTS (real time strategy) player makes per sixty seconds. The importance of a high APM should be quite obvious to anyone who has played StarCraft 2 and has become overwhelm with trying to maintain their economy, expanding their base, building units and structures, and engaging with skirmishes (sometimes all at once!).
One of the reasons a high APM is so important is that it affects nearly all dimensions of Starcraft 2 strategy. If you have poor micro, improving your APM will allow you to move your units more fluidly, react to ambushes more quickly, and allow you to cast special abilities such as Force Field or Point Defense Drone more quickly. A high APM will help you kite melee units with Marauders or cut off and surround enemy units with Zerglings. Alternatively, if you suffer from bad macro, increasing your APM will result in quicker expansions, more efficient unit production, and will help prevent being supply capped. A high APM will provide more Chrono Boosts, Larvae Injections, and MULE drops resulting in more minerals and units.
Example of a Professional Player’s APM
Improving Your APM
While your APM will naturally improve the more you play Starcraft 2, there are several things you can do to further increase it. The best way to improve your APM is to use control groups for both your units and structures; nearly every unit and most buildings should be in a control group. To create a control group, simply select a unit or structure (groups work too). Once selected, hold down the Ctrl key and then hit a # key (0-9). Now, whenever you hit that # key, the game will automatically select the corresponding unit or units. By doing this, you can easily switch between a group of Marines, a Barracks, and your Command Center.
Another great way to improve your APM is to memorize hotkeys and to use them liberally. You should never have to click abilities on units to activate them or units in buildings to train them as this wastes precious time. By memorizing hotkeys for units, structures, upgrades, and abilities, you can easily double your APM which will significantly increase your StarCraft 2 strategies. Additionally, by using both control groups and hotkeys in conjunction with one another, a great “fluidity” can be created in your gameplay. For example, if you scouting with a group of Zerglings that are in control group 3, you might realize that you are nearly supply capped and will need to spawn more Overlords. Luckily, you have your Hatchery in control group 1. You can spawn an Overlord and then reselect your Zerglings in under a mere second by simply pressing the following keys: 1, V (the hotkey for spawning an Overlord with your Hatchery selected), 3. The possibilities are nearly endless once you become accustomed to control groups and hotkeys.
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