"StarCraft II Secrets of the Masters
by Daxxarri // Oct 22, 2010 11:53:26 PM UTC 45

StarCraft II Game Director Dustin Browder, Battle.net Project Director Greg Canessa, Game Balance Designer David Kim, and Associate Game Balance Designer Matt Cooper took to the Development Stage on the first day of BlizzCon to share unique insights and expertise with newer players seeking to improve their StarCraft II gameplay during the Secrets of the Masters panel early Friday afternoon.

Leagues & Ladders

One of the most basic elements of competitive StarCraft II gameplay is the league and ladder system, since it determines how you are ranked and what kind of opponents you're likely to face. The Battle.net matchmaker is an adaptive system, which means that the more a player plays, the better the system gets to 'know' his or her skill level, with the ultimate goal being for each player to be paired with opponents of equal skill so they win around half of their games. The matchmaker tracks wins and losses and creates a hidden skill rating for a player over time (which is actually a rolling average composed of several different numbers). It can't see how you won a match, so it doesn't know if you won with a cannon rush, or as the result of a lengthy, well-executed strategy. How much your rating changes after a win or loss is determined by how your skill rating stacked up against your opponent prior to the start of the match. On that note, a given player's skill rating is tracked separately for 1v1 and team games, but is not tracked separately by race. While a player's skill rating changes over time, it remains intact from season to season, even if other stats are wiped. A player is initially assigned to a ladder and a division of 100 players based on the results of the placement matches played when first venturing into multiplayer, and that assignment will change over time based on overall performance. Wins and losses will change a player's hidden skill rating as well as a visible public rating, and it is that visible rating number (not the raw win-loss record) which determines their position within the division. The goal, of course, is to ascend to the top of your division and graduate to higher leagues as you become a better player. There are 5 leagues (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond), and all StarCraft II players in a region are split into these leagues by 20% increments. So, Diamond league players represent the top 20% of players in their region.

Just as units are constantly being monitored and adjusted for balance, the leagues and ladders system has also been steadily tweaked and improved since StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty launched, and that process will continue. Several adjustments have been made over time to improve the quality and speed of 1v1 matchmaking, as well as to improve matchmaking in team games. Players who perform exceptionally well can expect to see promotions to higher leagues more quickly. Meanwhile, other adjustments are being made to improve the ladder experience for players just getting into competitive gameplay.

There are also some pretty exciting changes coming to Battle.net in the future that have been based on our players' feedback and our own research. Season 2 is coming, and it will bring with it a ladder wipe, but at the same time, each player's profile will be upgraded with new UI elements, including awesome new artwork which denotes a player's rank within their division, as well as a record of performance in prior seasons, improved detail pages that are more colorful and rewarding for top players, featured replays, and many more. Matchmaking rating will be preserved, so a single placement match will be all that it takes to find your place on the ladder once again. On top of all these new features, two new leagues will be introduced to highlight the top players in each region: the Master League, which places roughly the top 5% of Diamond players in their own league, and the Grandmaster League, a very special, elite league which is comprised of the top 200 players in each gameplay region, which will be visible to other players

Improve Your Game



Many players seem to believe that in-born talent is the primary factor regarding whether a player has the potential to go pro in StarCraft II -- that either you've got the nerves that let you get to 300 APM (actions per minute) or you don't. While talent does play a role, no one emerges from the womb ready to own face at StarCraft II. The truth of the matter is that pro players work, and they work hard to become the best of the best. Most pros play 12+ hours a day, both on the ladder as well as in custom game scrimmages against teammates and associates. Pros also spend a lot of time studying the game when they aren't playing. They analyze their own replays, as well as the replays from other professionals from league games, custom games, and tournaments to formulate strategies, identify weaknesses, and find ways to improve. Most pros also focus their efforts intently on playing a single race, getting to know it inside and out, upside down and backwards, so play always feels second nature. The most important thing to keep in mind is that, even if you aren't a great StarCraft II player now, you can become a great StarCraft II player with practice, study, and commitment. A few pros lent their insights to panel attendees via quotes, and they reflect the kind of attitude that it takes to be a champion:

"Don't stress over losses. Use them to learn your faults. No pain no gain." - Select

"First of all be a fan of the game and enjoy it, then make sure to be 100% committed or you will fail, and last watch day9!" - Huk

"If you're not attacking you're probably losing" - QXC

"Practice a hell of a lot, watch replays of the top players and check out their strategies, and in most cases copy them :). After that refining your play mainly consists of watching your own games -- and ironing out the faults." -Demuslim

The panelists took some time to share insights on each of these points. Keep your head in the game -- wins and losses don't matter as long as you're learning; after all, the matchmaker is working at its best if you're losing half of your games to equally skilled opponents. Psychology is a huge factor in StarCraft II, and if you let yourself get psyched out by a loss, it can cost you games. If you enjoy StarCraft II, then you'll be dedicated to playing, and having fun is vital! Getting better at the game means putting on your thinking cap; don't discount what you can learn from members of the StarCraft II community, such as day9 and others, who provide commentary for the game and take the time to deeply analyze StarCraft II's mechanics and game theory. The insights these members of the community have can go a long way toward you take your game to a new level. Stay aggressive -- it's easy to develop tunnel vision and lose track of what your opponent is doing. Don't get complacent in your own little world, stay on top of them, harass them, and don't let them get into a groove. Sometimes defense is the right way to go, but if you can force your opponent to react to you, and keep reacting, then you've taken control of the game. Finally, find strategies that work, but it's important to keep reaching -- winning is good, but reaching new plateaus as a player is better, and hopefully, more satisfying.

Know Your Limits

Of course the vast majority of StarCraft II players aren't pros. While pro advice is valuable and watching their replays is an excellent way to learn tactics, strategies, build orders, and maps, that doesn't always mean that what the pros are doing (or not doing) is best for you! Watching the replays of pro-gamers is useful if you want to get better, but so is knowing your limits as a player. Some choices seen in pro replays may rely on the kind of skill and execution that's out of bounds for the average player, and so may not be the right approach for someone who isn't at a pro's level of ability. Conversely, don't be afraid to try new strategies, including strategies that would never fly on the pro level. For example, hidden expansions almost never pay off in pro games, but your league game might be a whole different story. Your opponent may not have the multi-tasking skills to deal with your harassment, keep his own economy going, and scout every expo on the map at the same time, so you might be able to turn a tactic like that to your advantage. Don't limit yourself, try new things, and use what works at your gameplay level and against the kind of opponents that you face on the ladder.

Economy



One way that a lot of newer players falter in StarCraft II is how they handle their economy. It's easy to get distracted by building new combat units and teching up. At a certain point, you might get involved in combat and stop making workers or get involved with other tasks. A number one tip for new players: never stop producing builders! Stay ahead of your unit cap, but hotkey your base and when one worker finishes, build another and keep building them -- the income they provide can make the difference between success and failure. You don't even have to have amazing micromanagement skills if your economy (macro) is great -- you might be able to overwhelm an opponent with sheer numbers.

Vespene gas is another source of confusion. When should a refinery be built? How many refineries? How many workers to commit to gas production, and when? It can seem almost random, and the choices to be made in the early moments of a match regarding how much gas to collect, and how many workers to commit can be significant. It's definitely not random, though, and it's best to have a plan, run a build order, and figure out how much gas you're going to need and when you'll need it. Is it a small map with short rush distances, and you plan to overwhelm your opponent with a ton of zerglings with some roaches on backup? You probably don't need to max out two extractors, since one might give you just enough gas to achieve your goals, and you'll want a lot of minerals. On the other hand, a protoss player might want to push a stalker and colossus build. That takes a lot of gas, so maxing out two assimilators fairly early on might be the right way to stay ahead of the curve and keep unit production and tech improvements on track. Of course, if you find that you frequently have a surplus of gas and a deficit of minerals, then it could be that scaling back your early gas production a bit is the right way to go. What's important is making choices that back your overall strategy. Of course, these are the early moments of the game; as you move into mid-game, there's every reason to make sure that you're well supplied with gas, hopefully including income from an expansion or two.

Don't be a miser. Another common mistake from less experienced players is that they don't spend their minerals and gas! Being rich is bad -- minerals in the bank mean units that aren't on the field! Spend those resources, and spend them all the time. Are you attacking? Hotkey your unit-producing structures and keep manufacturing units. Those units you're building now can help secure your victory, or stave off defeat if your opponent counterattacks!

Another vital part of StarCraft II that players struggle with at first is expanding. When is the right time to expand? Where should you expand to? A good rule of thumb to follow is that if you've got a good enough army to protect your expansion, then it's reasonably safe to go for it. You can also expand during a successful attack, but it's usually not a good idea to expand undefended, because you become very vulnerable. Where you should expand, and how swiftly, is dictated by the map you're playing on and the kind of army you've got on the field. Sometimes the decision is easy, and some maps include close, easily defended natural expansions. Do you have a highly mobile force though? Perhaps expanding rapidly, and further away is an option, whereas a slower moving army might want to 'turtle up' on a few expos that are close together and feature useful chokes or exploitable terrain.

Scale it up! Once you do expand, don't keep the same number of unit producing structures. Unit producing structures are pretty cheap, and always good to have around. Best of all, they let you use your newfound riches to build a larger army faster. A good rule of thumb in a situation like this is to double up. If four gateways was good with your starting location, then 8 to 10 is better once you've got your expansion going.

Maps

Map knowledge is an extremely important aspect of StarCraft II gameplay, and one that is often overlooked by players still learning the ropes. There are a few basic things to look for when you take into account your strategy and what to expect from an opponent on a given map. Is it a small map with short rush distances? You might want to adjust your strategy to take that into account. Even if you aren't planning on rushing yourself, it's the sort of strategy you can expect from your opponent on a map like that. On the other hand, some maps, such as Scrap Station, have long ground travel times, but very short distances between bases by air. It's wise to anticipate an air attacks or drops on a map like that, or take advantage of the short air distance in your own build. Also, every map has choke points. Where are the chokes on the map? Most players are familiar with the chokes close to the starting positions,but it's useful to learn and take advantage of the chokes that exist elsewhere on the map. In some cases, controlling the right choke point can yield massive map control and opportunities to expand, such as the central choke on Lost Temple. Learning them and using them to your advantage, or avoiding engagements near them if your units are vulnerable at a choke, is key. Finally, where's the natural expansion on the map? Is it close, and easy to defend? Is it hard to cover and vulnerable to attack? How do cliffs and chokes factor in? What about other expansions on the map? This information plays a critical role regarding if, when, and how you'll expand in a given match.

Combat

One of the most compelling and fun, yet hardest to master elements of StarCraft II is combat strategy and micromanagement. Micromanagement is the fine control which lets you get the absolute most out of your units. While a player's skill in maneuvering units on the small scale can decide a battle, it's equally important to know the terrain and how it affects a matchup. Terrain can dramatically and powerfully alter the balance of power between opposing forces. A good example is the role that choke points play. Take, for example, a small group of zealots and a group of marines of equal value. If the zealots catch the marines out in the open, they'll make short work of them. On the other hand, the marines' gauss rifles offer them a range advantage, so even units not on the front line can still attack. Defending the zealot attack from a choke will turn the tables and give the marines a victory. Even backing up against a handy wall or cliff can prevent an enemy from flanking you or getting a 'surround' and cutting your units to ribbons.

Flanking is another tactic to learn and put into one's arsenal, though it's most useful with fast moving melee units or burrowed zerg. Take a large group of zerglings facing off against a group of marines that they've caught out in the open. All is well, right? The zerglings manage to surround the marines and start going to work, but it takes them time to get into position, and by then the marines are already firing away. A well timed stim, and the zerglings lose the engagement, leaving a few marines to wipe zerg parts off of their armor and gloat. On the other hand, split the very same group of zerglings into three, get a faster surround on the marines -- and even with stim used at the same time, the zerglings come out on top, making mincemeat out of the marines.

Things get fancier when individual unit micro starts coming into play. For example, two opposing forces of protoss stalkers, evenly matched, face each other in battle. If every unit is attacking, one side or the other may come out just slightly ahead. If one group of stalkers is carefully microed -- blinking damaged units to the back of the line and focusing fire on one foe at a time, one group can eliminate the other without taking any casualties at all!

Needless to say, developing unit micromanagement skills is vital to becoming a better StarCraft II player, but there are times when investing too much micromanagement might win you a battle, but cause you to lose the war. As always, tunnel vision is the enemy. While you were busy microing your units to victory against a small enemy force, your opponent might be mopping up the last of your workers halfway across the map. It's important to gauge when and how much to invest in microing your units. Sometimes the right way to go is to attack move your army at a target, then get busy building your economy and more units.

Finally, getting to know counters is important. There are hard counters (units which have massive advantages against others) and soft counters (units which situationally or in sufficient numbers might counter another) in StarCraft II. Once you know what the enemy has, it's usually a good idea to build the right units to counter what they've got, right? That's almost always the case, but there are exceptions. First, there are a few 'true' hard counters. There's not much that a marauder can do against a void ray attacking from the air, for example. Not all counters are absolute, nor are they supposed to be. Some counters can be broken by good micro. A group of marines is normally a hard counter to a couple of banshees, but a skilled player can take advantage of the banshees' superior range and mobility to stay just out of range as the marines advance, and 'kite' them to death. The same is true of other counters, so making do with what you have and learning how to use micro and terrain can turn a losing situation around."

"BlizzCon 2010 StarCraft II Invitational






by Lylirra
// Oct 19, 2010 1:17:35 AM UTC


429






After three months of intense battles on Battle.net, we've selected sixteen of the best StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty players from across the globe to compete for glory in this year's BlizzCon StarCraft II Invitational Tournament. Today, we're excited to announce the official roster and reveal the first round of upper bracket matchups.



So, without further ado, here are your BlizzCon 2010 StarCraft II Invitational competitors!









Region



Competitor






China

Dai “Loner” Yi



China

Ye “Luffy” Hao



Europe

Benjamin “mTwDeMusliM” Baker



Europe

Dario “TLAF-Liquid`TLO” Wünsch



Korea

Min-Soo “NEXGenius” Jung



Korea

Han-Eul “MakaPrime” Kwak



Latin America

Jian Carlo “Fenix” Morayra



Latin America

Patricio “Capoch” del Olmo



North America

Christopher “HuK” Loranger



North America

KyeongHyun “SeleCT” Ryoo



Russia

Dima “mTwDIMAGA” Filipchuk



Russia

Oleksiy “White-Ra” Krupnyk



Southeast Asia

Daryl “ice” Xiang



Southeast Asia

Thanapol “RedArchon” Kuachat



Taiwan

Chia-Cheng “SEN” Yang



Taiwan

Jen-Yu “SoftBall” Chan








Join us this Friday and Saturday, October 22 and 23, as these players go head-to-head for the chance to win over $45,000 in cash prizes. Matches begin at 1:30 p.m. PDT on Friday in Hall B of the Anaheim Convention Center, so we encourage all BlizzCon 2010 attendees to grab a seat! The matches will be hosted by a rotating all-star team of shoutcasters including StarCraft II Game Director Dustin Browder, Rob "Voice" Simpson, Sean "Day[9]" Plott, Nick "Tasteless" Plott, and Dan "Artosis" Stemkoski. If you're unable to attend BlizzCon this year and want to experience all the action from the comfort of your own home, don't forget to tune in to the BlizzCon 2010 Tournament stream or DIRECTV.






As a special bonus, we'll also be featuring a StarCraft II exhibition match between StarCraft: Brood War legend SlayerS_`BoxeR` and recent TG-Intel GSL Season1 champion Fruit Dealer (aka Cool). Don't miss out on these epic matches taking place on Friday at 7:30 p.m. PDT at the RTS Tournament Stage. "

"New StarCraft Lore Short Story: Marauder
by Daxxarri // Oct 19, 2010 8:41:57 PM UTC 218

Isaac White is a good soldier and a better bomb tech, but he's haunted by a dark past and chained by his prejudices. Redemption is at hand, but absolution can demand a heavy toll. Will Isaac have what it takes when it comes time to pay?

If you ever wanted to know what it would be like to step into a Marauder hardskin, throw some ordnance into the face of your enemies, and walk out of the firestorm with your cool intact, then you'll want to check out the latest action-packed short story addition to the StarCraft Lore section of the game guide: Stealing Thunder by Micky Neilson."

"Patch 1.1.2 Now Live
by Blizzard Entertainment // Oct 14, 2010 5:36:37 PM UTC 3916

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty patch 1.1.2 is now live! This patch features adjustments to protoss, terran, and zerg balance and several bug fixes. Be sure to check out the full patch notes below to learn all about the latest changes.



StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty – Patch 1.1.2

General

• Players will no longer receive achievement toasts while their status is set to "Busy."
• The messaging when attempting to load a saved game or replay from a previous version has been clarified.
• Adjusted the amount of points earned and lost by random team participants to properly reflect the strength of a player's teammates.


Balance

• PROTOSS

o Buildings

• Nexus life and shields increased from 750/750 to 1000/1000.

o Void Ray

• Damage level 1 increased from 5 to 6 (+4 armored).
• Damage level 2 decreased from 10 (+15 armored) to 8 (+8 armored).
• Flux Vanes speed upgrade bonus decreased from 1.125 to 0.703.

• TERRAN

o Buildings

• Barracks requirement changed from Command Center to Supply Depot.
• Supply Depot life increased from 350 to 400.

o Medivac

• Acceleration reduced from 2.315 to 2.25.
• Speed reduced from 2.75 to 2.5.

o Reaper

• Nitro Packs speed upgrade now has a Factory Requirement.

o Thor

• Energy bar removed.
• 250mm Strike Cannons is now cooldown-based on a 50-second cooldown. Ability starts with cooldown available (useable immediately after upgrade is researched).

• ZERG

o Buildings

• Hatchery life increased from 1250 to 1500.
• Lair life increased from 1800 to 2000.
• Spawning Pool life increased from 750 to 1000.
• Spire life increased from 600 to 850.
• Ultralisk Cavern life increased from 600 to 850.

o Corruptor

• Energy bar removed.
• Corruption is now cooldown-based on a 45-second cooldown. Ability starts with cooldown expired (must wait for full 45-second cycle before usable).

o Infestor

• Fungal Growth now prevents Blink.

o Roach

• Range increased from 3 to 4.



Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where players could not cast the Feedback spell on Point Defense Drones.
• Fixed an issue where the Phoenix would continue to channel Graviton Beam after the target died.
• Fixed an issue that would cause Larvae to spawn and be hidden behind Zerg eggs.
• Fixed an issue where players were unable to navigate to the Single Player page or watch replays after canceling map downloads from the queue.
• Fixed a desync that could occur on user-created maps with custom mod dependencies."

"Situation Report: Patch 1.1 and Beyond
by Blizzard Entertainment // Aug 27, 2010 5:00:00 PM UTC 10684

Greetings, citizens of the Koprulu sector! StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is celebrating its one-month anniversary and we’re extremely excited to witness the amazing community that’s come together around the game. To that end, we want you to know we are hard at work on the first feature and balance patch, and expect to have it completed and available by the middle of September. Patch 1.1 will contain a number of improvements including additional mod features, Editor improvements and bug fixes, some custom game improvements, support for NVIDIA’s 3D Vision, and more. We'd also like to share some specific plans for this patch with you.

To begin, we've heard a lot of feedback from our global community about standardized hotkey options. We're happy to announce that in patch 1.1 we are going to make the Standard (US) and Standard for Lefties (US) hotkey options available in all regions.

Balance Changes

We have several balance changes in store. One general change we're making is that friendly units will no longer provide vision after being killed. Enemy units previously revealed will no longer be targetable. Now let's break down the additional balance changes we're implementing.

Maps

We're going to be adding destructible rocks to the Desert Oasis map to make natural expansions easier to protect. In addition, the center map watchtower area is being narrowed.

Protoss

We have two key changes in mind for the zealot: the build time is being increased from 33 to 38 seconds, and the warpgate cooldown is being increased from 23 to 28 seconds. Zealot rushes are currently too powerful at various skill levels, particularly those that rely on rapidly assaulting an enemy base from nearby "proxy" gateways. We feel the window players have to scout for and fend off this rush is too small. We also want to address the problem of protoss being able to dump minerals a bit too quickly with the combination of warpgates and Chrono Boost.

Terran

There are several changes in the works for terrans. Reapers against zerg are stronger than expected. Due to the zealot build time increase, reapers would be a bit problematic in combination with proxy barracks, bunkers, and/or marauders against protoss. Therefore, we have decided to increase the build time of reapers as well from 40 to 45 seconds. Fast reaper + bunker, or fast marine + bunker rushes are problematic against zerg. Although this rush would never outright destroy the zerg player, we feel zerg suffers too much of a disadvantage from either having to cancel the fast expansion, or getting trapped inside the main base for too long, so we are also increasing the bunker build time from 30 to 35 seconds.

Siege tanks in large numbers are performing too well in all matchups. In the mid- to late-game, siege tanks are too dominant against all ground units. We want a small set of light and unarmored ground units to perform better against siege tanks. With this in mind, we're changing the Siege Mode damage of the siege tank from 50 to 35, +15 vs. armored; to correspond with this, damage upgrades will be changed from +5 to +3, +2 vs. armored. This change reduces the base damage of the siege tank against light and unarmored units, as well as the splash damage.

Battlecruisers currently lack good counters from the ground and still perform very well against a wide array of unit types. We're aware that it is not easy to get battlecruisers out for the cost, but at the same time, it is possible in both 1v1s and team games to create stalemate situations to bring them out. Overall, we feel that battlecruisers are too strong for their cost, and the terran-forced stalemate situations are causing less interesting gameplay. We will be lowering their damage against ground units from 10 to 8.

Zerg

Ultralisk damage is being decreased from 15, +25 vs. armored to 15, +20 vs. armored. This reduction is comparable to the changes being made to the battlecruiser and siege tank. Like the battlecruiser, ultralisks are simply too powerful for the cost, even though they are difficult to muster. Also, in combination with other units, ultralisks are difficult to counter from the ground. The ultralisk building attack (Ram) is being removed because the damage rate is too similar to its normal attack, which will be used against buildings instead. When ultralisks target tightly packed smaller buildings such as supply depots, the Ram attack is actually outputting considerably less overall damage than its normal attack, as Ram only hits a single target.

And Beyond...

We are reading your posts on the forums and creating lists of features and bugs to address in future patches. We have mid- to long-term plans to further evolve the Custom Game experience, and soon, enhance our social features with the addition of chat channels. We will be sharing more specific information in the coming weeks. As with all of our previous games, we will support StarCraft II for many years to come. Your feedback and participation is critical in making this not only the best game it can be, but also the most engaged gaming community in the world. We look forward to the implementation of patch 1.1, as well as sharing our plans for our future gameplay and Battle.net features.

We'll see you online!"