Starcraft new players general and a bit of a beg

Carkito

I can't seem to find a Starcraft general thread that was aimed at new players. Also I would like to ask a favor.

I'll lead with the Tl;dr. Big SC fan, apparently lied to about the minimum requirements, any trials going?

I bought the original starcraft and the Brood war expansion a while back. I loved it and became a bit obsessed with SC2. Watching a lot of tourneys and team streams.

Anyways, when I had some spare money to spend, I planned to get SC2, but I was advised to check my laptop's specs to make sure that it met the minimum requirements. I did and I was told it didn't. So I went off and bought something else with my money.

Now I recently found out that my laptop can play SC2, but only on low settings, and of course I can't get it now because Christmas has left me skint. So I'd really appreciate it if anyone who had a trial key would give me it to keep me going for the time being

I know it's a bit scabby to be looking for a trial, but christmas has left me broke so I wont be able to get the full game for a while at least.




Anyways, to the general.

I tended to go with Terran in BW, as they were, to me, the most accessible race. I'm curious to know how the terrans transferred to SC2 in terms of user friendlyness. I know how the pro players use them, but how do some of the lower league players find them? What are the best builds for them? Ect. Ect. Would any of the more experienced players suggest an particular tactics to use with Terrans? Or would I be better off moving to Protoss or Zerg? Any tips would be appreciated.

Sabre0001

PM-ing you a guest pass now.

I picked up Protoss myself as a new player (new to SC) so unfortunately can't help out with tactics.

Carkito

Thank you for the trial, your a true bro

I see, and how do you find protoss? In BW, they were a very melee-heavy race, but from what I've seen of SC2, their ground units have begun to favor more ranged types, such as the colossus, sentries and stalkers being introduced. Would you say they are a good starter race for new players?

Sabre0001

They're an interesting bunch to use - seems to be a bit of variety and you can do some interesting tactics with gateway warps. I haven't even touched placement league / practice matches so I could very well be switching away when I'm shown up

The downfall of course of gateway warps is that you can't just set a nice rally point for all reinforcements to flood to. That takes a bit of getting used to so I try to hotkey a pylon that I am more likely to need.

Carkito

Aye, I'd imagine you'd need good micro to manage warped in troops. It's one of the reasons I play with terran more than zerg or protoss, the micro involved doesn't seem to be anywhere near the level of the other two.

gearoidof

There's an SC2 demo out now, if you want to try it out, too

Carkito

I downloaded it the other day, which is how I know my laptop runs SC2. But playing matches against the AI is too repetitive, it follows pretty much the exact same build order on every difficulty, so I pretty much know exactly how to beat it every time. Although it is helping me iron out my build order and timings.

GerardB

hey, new enough SC:BW player here (been playing for a few months, haven't gone online yet)

Carkito wrote: »

Aye, I'd imagine you'd need good micro to manage warped in troops. It's one of the reasons I play with terran more than zerg or protoss, the micro involved doesn't seem to be anywhere near the level of the other two.

i find protoss seems like an accessible and new-player-friendly race. you only have a handful of units to worry about and the food cap means you won't have too many units to manage at any one time. they're quite strong- but expensive. micro wise, protoss aren't too bad, although i've mainly been focusing on macro so far. but at higher levels of play terran seem to be quite hard mechanically.

you also mentioned that they're melee focused. as a terran player i can see why you'd think that. its more that terran are ranged focused- they're the only race with a basic combat unit with ranged attack: the marine. yes, zealots and dark templars are melee, but so are zerglings and ultralisks, and 'toss have dragoons, high templars, carriers etc. for ranged attack.

i'm only talking bout the original SC though. i know there aren't dragoons in SC2, but they're the base ranged unit for ranged attack in SC- although their AI is terrible xD still, i'd give protoss another go