StarCraft 2

Zaphid

Trakanon Raider
5,862
294
I feel like that was true at first but I already feel the metagame is shifting away from that idea. The same RTS principals apply to HOTS that applied to WoL in that you want to be ahead economically. In HOTS it seems like you can't do the same stuff as in WoL where you can triple expand off one unit producing structure but I feel if you scout you are ahead there is no point to just arbitrarily attacking. I played a TvP yesterday where I used the same build outlined above and he did some funky stalker pressure into Oracles and I scouted he had no other bases up. So even after I parried away his opening gambit I still kept my mines at home and was keeping tabs on his bases with a reaper. I waited for my stim to finish and just a-move killed him with marine+medivac.
Yeah, good defense still beats good offense, however the best way to scout the enemy is to make him show everything he has. Protoss has quite a few ways to disengage now and not taking advantage of that is criminal.
 

Obtenor_sl

shitlord
483
0
Very disappointed at HotS.

Storyline, well, it's crap. like Zaphid says pretty much nothing moves the plot forward, It's like WoL never happened, she's still the same. I expected some "bonus missions" ala Zeratul in WoL where I could play some "protoss" campaigns with the new units, wasn't there.

The S in RTS wasn't really there, build zerglings and ultralisks and attack with OP Kerrigan, faceroll GG.

Yes, cinematics are great and I think Blizzard has always shown that they have some great artists and CG modelers, but the game itself is crap, DEFINITELY NOT WORTH 60$. In a sense, it reminds me of Quake 3, its main focus was multiplayer and they developed a "single player campaign" just to have something.
 

Chris

Potato del Grande
<Banned>
19,985
-10,409
Warcraft 3 was the RPG/RTS hybrid game which was great, but they should have kept those ideas to Warcraft 4 and given us a "pure" RTS game here. Not using the core game for the campaign kinda shows that they don't have confidence in it.

Not sure if I should buy this and try to get good at MP or just skip it?
 

Nirgon

Log Wizard
15,041
24,749
Yeah I could (or at least it looked like I could on multiple attempts) but they're funky. I couldn't get it to fire immediately on a click, it has that weird arming time. I imagine its "hacked" in there like some kind of invisible very slow turn radius? Shrug. Maybe sploitable some how by targeting own units then enemy unit. I shall meddle with it.

Honestly, it's pretty smart on its own I gotta say. It will shoot at slower targets near other units first and shit.
 

Tenks

Bronze Knight of the Realm
14,163
607
Morrow explains it in his post fairly well. Basically once the WM selects a target it has 1.5s to channel until it's spell is released. If you switch a target that 1.5s resets. So if it selects the leading zerging, you kill that ling with marines before 1.5s, then it needs to select another target and re-do it's 1.5s cast.

I heard a rumor you could hold-position so it wouldn't cast but I did not get a chance to test that myself. May try when I get home.
 

Mures

Blackwing Lair Raider
4,014
511
Warcraft 3 was the RPG/RTS hybrid game which was great, but they should have kept those ideas to Warcraft 4 and given us a "pure" RTS game here. Not using the core game for the campaign kinda shows that they don't have confidence in it.

Not sure if I should buy this and try to get good at MP or just skip it?
I don't think that is the case at all, just they decided to go in a different direction in the campaign than from multiplayer. WoL campaign was vastly different from WoL multiplayer also.

Personally I liked the campaign, looks likes most people love it or hate it.

If you don't plan on playing at least 5 ladder games a day or have friends to play multiplayer with then you could probably skip the multiplayer.
 

Zaphid

Trakanon Raider
5,862
294
You can dodge the missile by blinking or putting the targetted worker into gas, which will lead to some hilarious tricks.
 

Quineloe

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
6,978
4,464
Two differences between wol and hots that come to mind:

1. No mutations turning your Basic units shit op. Instead you had expensive mercs in very limited numbers

2. No hero units in almost all missions.

You actually had to win the missions with basis units
 

Maebe_sl

shitlord
67
0
Yeah, it was a bit too much Diablo and not enough RTS. Still enjoyed it. Probably won't go back and play the campaign as often as with WoL though.
 

Tenks

Bronze Knight of the Realm
14,163
607
Realistically the only practical use is blinking the target. And even more realistically you will just blink the entire blob of stalkers. You can also cloak midway through the projectile to avoid damage similar to viking shots against banshees.

Actually if you're doing a blink all-in it would be pretty smart to trip the mine with one stalker and blink it back while the projectile fires. Effectively making the mine a paper weight and keeping the stalker. Would be nice in the new meta where mines are designed to counter that all-in.
 

Zaphid

Trakanon Raider
5,862
294
I'd say the MP is very much worth it, it's one of the last games that doesn't sugarcoat anything, so any win is because you deserved it, not due to planet aligning. It's also really deep and there is currently nothing like it. You also don't have to deal with other people, like in Dota/LoL.
 

Chris

Potato del Grande
<Banned>
19,985
-10,409
Oh god so I bought it. So easy...

I'm playing like shit on hard and still winning.
 

Penance

Silver Baronet of the Realm
7,805
11,579
This game is so overwhelming. I look at streams and am just amazed at the micro/macro they do. I have no idea how to get better. Where should I start? I see shockz guide advertised a lot but I'm skeptical about paid guides plus I'm sure there's a bunch of free info out there. One thing I'm noticing these streamers do is play with super high sensitivity so I figured that's where I'd start. But I guess its with like all games it just develops into muscle memory.
 

Disp_sl

shitlord
1,544
1
The best thing to do is just play. There's no real magic bullet to getting better other than just jamming out a bunch of games. Once you get into Diamond-ish range you need to start looking for certain timings and builds, but prior to that just look up a couple builds and master them. Over time you'll get faster and start understanding the game better.
 

Zaphid

Trakanon Raider
5,862
294
Yeah, until diamond your problem is going to be mostly not building enough stuff, rather than micro or proper unit composition, beyond the obvious, like you need anti-air against flying and so on. Good benchmark is if you can consistently win against Elite AI.
 

Doligan_sl

shitlord
15
0
Play. Maybe get a few friends to ask questions on builds/general strategy questions. They won't always have an answer that is applicable to your skill level, but in general their answers should be pretty accurate.
 

Alexzander

Golden Knight of the Realm
520
39
This game is so overwhelming. I look at streams and am just amazed at the micro/macro they do. I have no idea how to get better. Where should I start? I see shockz guide advertised a lot but I'm skeptical about paid guides plus I'm sure there's a bunch of free info out there. One thing I'm noticing these streamers do is play with super high sensitivity so I figured that's where I'd start. But I guess its with like all games it just develops into muscle memory.
I'm a big fan of Day9's Newbie Tuesday episodes for helping newbs get up to speed. The stickies at the team liquid forums have a lot of good info too.

Here are three newbie tuesdays that are worth watching for new players. They all cover basic stuff you might not know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUohpQKVf_A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKPDKtK4IMo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6nG0AaBl1A
 

Mures

Blackwing Lair Raider
4,014
511
You can search on youtube for dapollo and filtersc's tutorials. They were made before hots, but they do a good job of teaching the fundamentals that are most important.