What's a test without a tester? Nothing I say. After all
January 16, 2008
Starcraft Strategy for Protoss on BGH
The goal of this article is to get you've playing expert Protoss strategy in Starcraft BGH maps. The protoss race is arguably the easiest to play among all the races. This is because the basic Protoss
combat unit, the zealot, is very hardy and do not require much attention to deal great amount of damage while absorbing sizable punishment from enemy fire. In the early game the bread and butter strategy of expert Protoss players just to simply mass up massive armies of zealtots and move them into strategic locations to assist and or attack. Even if your army of zealots can't kill anyone directly, it is nonetheless are very intimidating and will deter opponents from attacking you while you build.
An army of zealots by itself is not as effective as an army of marines and then medics. This is because zealots are melee units and only a limited amount of them can attack a particular target at one time, limiting the amount of damage they could do. This is why worker blocking- surrounding defenses structures with workers is such all popular and effective technique to ward off zealot attacks. However a shrewd protoss player will aim at the opponent's workers and kill as many of them to severely crippled his economy. Although limited in effectiveness by themselves, an army of zealots combined with an army of marines is practically unstoppable, provided both players know what they're doing and play with some semblance of cooperation. Against any one opposing player, if he does not receive aid from his allies, there is no chance he can survive such an attack.
The basic build for the zealot army is three gateways and enough pylons to support continuous production. As soon as you have to massed more than six zealots, you should take the initiative to launch an attack with your allies if you are not engaged in combat already. While your zealots are at work, continue producing zealots to support your attack and to launch counterattacks. Take no hurry to tech because even if one of your opponents is teching hard to mutalisks or tank drops, you can still protect yourself with cannons. Try your best to take it out one of your opponent with the forces that you have. Also, don't forget to continously produce probes to enlarge your economy.
While the core of your early game army should be zealots, the core of your mid-game armies should be the dragoon. Dragoons are the best standalone units in Starcraft as they are hardy, has great range, and are effective against both air and ground. This reinforces the notion of the Protoss race being the easiest to play. You can never really go wrong with dragoons because an army of them will be effective against pretty much anything your opponent can send and you. Dragoons only cost 25 more minerals than zealots and consume only 50 gas, and since Protoss players do not consume a lot of gas from building up zealots, dragoons end up being very cost efficient.
However the transition from zealots to dragoons is not easy, and if you're not careful, a cooperative attack by your opponents could send you out of the game. While goons are formidable in a massed army, a few of them alone make easy targets for your opponents, and can't make any noticeable impact in the game. Therefore, you need an impact unit to protect herself and to assist distressed teammates while you're making the transition from early to middle game. That impact units for the protoss race is that dark templar. Without detection in his base, a few dark comforts can easily cripple or kill an opponent. And even that your opponents are well prepared in their base defenses, you still take the initiative with dark Templars because you can take over at the middle of the map and force your opponents into teching to detectors before they can fight back. In addition, dark templars are great for helping out fellow allies when they get attacked by multiple opponents. Chances are your opponents do not yet have detectors and even if a Terran has scanner ready, a couple of careful well micro-managed DT's will still be effective. Known informally as the "DT Effect", as soon as dark templars have to show their faces on the battlefield, your opponents tend to go into a defensive stance, and you can use this time to make the full transition to mid-game Starcraft strategy.
Expansion is highly recommended for Protoss players, as the Protoss also happen to have the best defensive structure in the game- the photon cannon. Notorious for being mass-produced by newbies, the photon cannon is insanely effective and cost-efficient for defending against ground and air attacks. This again reinforces the notion that the Protoss race is the easiest to play in the game. Probes are also more efficient at gathering minerals than SCV's or drones, resulting in you having more money to build an expansion for yourself. You should take advantage of this opportunity to increase your production capability and turn yourself into a powerhouse in the game.
Although an army base on dragoons is good, it is still vulnerable to massive small-unit armies of zerlings and marines. High templars provide the extra kick to your army to make itself stand out. They are the perfect counter to marine-medic and massive zerglings.
Unlike with Terrans, playing into the late game as Protoss is advantageous. High templars, carriers, arbiters, and an upgraded army of zealots and dragoons is a force to be reckoned with, enough to take out an opponent all by yourself.
Tags: starcraft bgh map, Starcraft StrategyJanuary 1, 2008
Tribute to Big Game Hunters
Big Game Hunters (BGH) is by far, the most popular Starcraft map in public Starcraft games. BGH owe its popularity to these factors:
- It greatly simplifies resource management, yet does not do away with the concept completely like the "Fastest" maps. Possessing just one expansion gives you a huge edge over your opponents, effectively allowing you to pump out twice as many units as you would with no expansion.
- It mitigates the skill gap between expert and mediocre players. To the average player, expert Starcraft play is more labor than love. As you can't select multiple buildings in Starcraft and queuing units come at a price, you have enough little nitty, gritty details to worry about without having to ponder expanding and having more bases to manage. BGH simplifies things a lot. Almost everyone who has units becomes a threat in BGH.
- BGH gets more players involved. Few other maps in Starcraft can do this, and still guarantee enough action to satisfy everyone's lust for violence. As a result, 3v3 BGH is by far the most popular type of game found of Starcraft. It is the embodiment of true online, multiplayer strategy game, with involving plenty of teamwork, trashtalking and pure pwnage. Many players go online to play with other people, and as the saying goes, the more the merrier.
- Shorter games- an average BGH games take no longer than 12 minutes. Longer games are usually justified because opposing teams are well matched and game play is of high quality, although you do occasionally have to chip through the enormous amounts of stationary defenses of a turtling newb.
- Speaking of gameplay, it is intense. With six players involved, you're looking at almost constant waves of attacks and counter-attacks. with a few wrinkles and tricks scatterred here and around. Everything eventually leads up to major conflicts (if the game gets there) that are thrilling and highly entertaining.
The popularity of Big Game Hunters has stunned many since its introduction to Battle.net. This was not how a typical Starcraft game should be like. More than anything, its prevalance on Battle.net reflects the many mechanical flaws of Starcraft. As a Real Time Strategy game, Starcraft should be about strategy and action. Gameplay should be focused on building, expanding, and strategic maneuvers, and not who can click the fastest or who makes a better robotic queue. It's still puzzling to me why with continous releases of hacks like Oblivion, whose selection hack reveals such macro are possible, the Blizzard team remains diligent on eliminating that feature and go back to the nitty, gritty details. Hopefully, these flaws will be fixed to improve gameplay in the the next, highly-anticipated release of Starcraft 2.
Tags: Misc, starcraft bgh, starcraft mapsStarcraft-maps.com is officially online. Forum will be added soon. Updates will be periodic to bring you the best content on Starcraft you can find. Thank you for visiting!
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