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Friday, November 12, 2010

Thinking Strategic: Choke Points and Wall-ins

Hello! How are you today?

Today I'm going to be taking a bit of a different approach. No replays, no specific strategies or tips, but rather an overall mindset in starcraft. I find that many of the worse players I've come across really drop the ball when it comes to wall-ins or overall base protection and the better players have exceptional strategies for keeping enemies out of their base. This brings me to my point, if you want to get better at starcraft, you must have some semblance of how to build defensively. This is especially true with protoss and zerg, as it becomes much harder for these races to build defensively as compared to terran who can lower supply depots easily.

Today I'll talk about the overarching strategy, and for tomorrow I'll go into more detail on how to exactly go about building in this fashion. Most lower tier players see buildings as merely that, just buildings. Cybernetics core leads to stalkers and higher tech, engineering bay is good for upgrades, etc. This is much different from the more experienced player. The more experienced player will see buildings as opportunities. They take up a large portion of land space and have high amounts of health and/or shield. 

Generally, all maps have some very specific choke points at or near the base, and most have ramps up into the base that becomes the main danger to the player. This is where one should focus down on their defense.

Terran is obviously the easiest in securing the ramp with a barracks and a couple of supply depots. It is important to note, though, that the wall can easily be interchanged later on in the game due to the nature of the terran buildings and their ability to lift off. This is something important to keep in mind in securing the terran wall.


Protoss is a bit more difficult as there is no supply depot doorway, but the gateway and cybernetics core have a wealth of hp and armor that can defend well against early attacks, especially when used in conjunction with a couple of units to seal off the entrance.

For zerg of course, buildings becomes exponentially more important as they are the one thing keeping you between only building drones, or building end tier ultralisks. With zerg, the early buildings are much often better placed around the mineral line, blocking a quick entrance into the workers and the later tier buildings should be protected as much as possible, especially the spire. Zerg buildings are perhaps the most dangerous to play around with as they are the hardest to rebuild and leave the player the most vulnerable if they come down.

The main point of this post is to make you think more thoroughly about how to set up your buildings. It actually is important in where you place your buildings and it would do you well to play a few games and discover where it is most effective.

To be continued in pt. 2 tomorrow.

77 comments:

  1. Awesome! Maybe I'll finally beat my friend!

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  2. I'd have to agree with the points made here.

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  3. yeah, its important how you build your base in almost every strategic game :P

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  4. The Protoss depot issue can be really frustrating but I'll try your suggestion. I've never been good at the layout and need some practice.

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  5. Nice post. With Zerg, I like to have Spine Crawlers around the ramp since they take apart most early game units like marines, lings and zealots - plus, they can move forward when you move your creep!

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  6. This reminds me a lot of the game Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine for the Sega Genesis (which I was playing last night!)

    If you want to beat the other person, you HAVE to set up 2- or 3- bean combos. The more combos, the more boulders get dropped on your opponent, making their field smaller and hiding their set up combos. It took me a little while to get the hang of the practice of it, but when I did, I was winning consistently. Alright, he had a handicap but still!

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  7. this is an interesting change of pace from your usual posts. interesting tips too.

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  8. Cool post! You should check out my new posts on how to earn money on the web www.mytopclicks.com

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  9. great post i think some of those tips I will try the next game :)

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  10. Great tips, thanks!

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  11. Thanks for the great SC2 Tips :)

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  12. Great post, I will be thinking more when placing my buildings in the future

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  13. learned a lot, my building will be better positioned from now on

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  14. these are my favorite strategies to use, i think they can really change the tide of a battle

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  15. this is a good follow up to your last post

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  16. nice, I'm looking forward to the next one

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  17. thats really interesting to know!thanks for sharing

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  18. This is good info. The only thing I'd add is to press NOT walling off with a pylon as protoss.

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  19. So, you should only use low tier buildings for meatshields when you play Zerg? Hm.

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  20. Awesome, but i always feel cheap walling up or using chokes :(

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  21. Nice tips, let's see if I play better after this.

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  22. Choke points are crucial in any combat.

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  23. thanks i will try this strategy :)

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  24. Dang, maybe this will help me out, cant wait for the next part.

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  25. chockpoints are your best option in my opinion

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  26. While I didn't know the terminology, I can imagine the strategy you are talking about. From other games I've played, positioning can make-or-break a battle. Personally, I'm a fan of the narrow battlefield to limit intruders in games.

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  27. Awesome post...I'll try to remember this the next time I play

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  28. i'm getting season passes. great site!!

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  29. good post! Thanks for checking out my blog!

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  30. good strats. can't wait for the (eventual?) part 2

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