STARCRAFT BROOD WAR FAQ and STRATEGY GUIDE
Version 1.00
Copyright 1999
By: Alvin Go
http://alvs.hello.to
alvinregan@yahoo.com
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. Introduction
2. Rundown of the Three Races
3. Strategy Guide
4. Cheats
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I. Introduction
Most of you probably know what Starcraft is now, considering it has been
released for quite some time now. This startegy guide aims to help you in
focusing in order to win games. I will not mention about the different kinds of
damages because most of you don't even bother to read it.
In case you don't know what Starcraft is, let me make a short description. There
are three races here, the Terrans (humans), Zergs (beastlike aliens), and the
Protoss (highly-civilized, mysterious aliens).
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II. Rundown of the Three Races:
All three possess different traits, strengths and weaknesses, requiring
different strategies in winning. Here's a rundown of the three races.
ZERGS
Good points:
1. Ease of use.
All units (ground or air) come from the Hatchery (which can be mutated to the
Lair and Hive) while all other buildings allow the creation of units. Additional
units like the Guardian, Devourer and Lurker mutate from other units. All units
come from a larva that comes out from the hatchery for about 30 seconds.
2. Best for rush attacks.
Zergs are the fastest race in Stacraft. It is the only race where you can create
three units at the same time at the start of the game.
3. Zerg Queens.
Queens can parasite a unit (see what the unit can see) and can spawn broodlings.
This is especially useful against Sige tanks and Goliaths. Ensnare can also hurt
an opponents economy when their peons are ensnared.
4. Burrowing ability.
Instead of running away from an attack, Zerg units may just burrow out of harms
way (unless there are detectors around).
5. All units and buildings regenerate by themselves, though it is a slow
process.
Bad points:
1. All buildings must be built from the creep.
The creep is a purple substance coming from the hatchery and creep colony where
all other buildings except for the hatchery itself must be built.
2. Drones mutate to become the building itself.
Zerg Drones mutate into the building itself, so you must add an extra 50
minerals to all buildings.
3. Tend to lose in long games.
If you are using Zerg and you didn't rush attack, then you are liable to lose in
the long run. Ultralisks are no match for strong units of Terrans and Protoss.
Terrans have Battlecruisers, Goliaths, Siege Tanks, Ghosts (for nuking), while
Protoss have Arbiters, Carriers, Reavers, Archons and Templars. Zergs in turn
have only their Queens, Defilers, Guardians and Ultralisks to boot.
4. Quite weak in air to air combat.
Zergs basically has no decent anti-air. Devourers fire very slowly, and their
acid spores can be easily removed (Terran Medics). Scourges are their only
defense, but must be sacrificed. Scourges are also easy to destroy.
5. Air transport is weak and slow.
Overlords have three uses: supplies, transport and detectors. That is why
Overlords don't make good transports: they are also source of supplies. Aside
from that, they move the slowest next to Terran Dropships (Protoss Shuttles move
fastest).
6. Weak structure defense.
Spore colonies damage less than Photon Cannons. Sunken Colonies hit so slow that
they are practically defenseless against a herd of Marines.
7. Weakest basic ground unit.
Their basic units are two Zerglings. Aside from the fact that they do melee and
little damage, they are also ground-based. Marines can kill them before they
even come close. Zealots can absorb damage and inflict heavy damage.
TERRAN
Good points:
1. Build anywhere.
2. Strong basic units.
Marines can fire air and ground targets, and is long ranged.
3. All units and buildings can be repaired.
Medics and SCVs can repair practically all Terran units, and even some units
from other races.
4. Nuclear bombs.
Nuking an opponent can inflict very heavy damage on several buildings and units.
5. Ghosts' Lockdown.
Lockdown is the best defense against huge Battlecruisers, Arbiters, Carriers and
Reavers. Yet they are useless against Zergs.
6. Comsat Stations.
Comsat can let you spot unexplored places on the map, and see cloaked and
burrowed units. One of the best detectors because they can sensor sweep any
place on the map, be it far or near. You should definitely hotkey your comsats.
7. Most buildings can move around so you can position them after building.
You can even build beside other Terrans' addons to own them.
8. Decent defense system.
Missile turrets, Bunkers with 2 Marines and 2 Firebats, Siege Tanks in Siege
Modes behind Bunkers, and a couple of Vulture Spider Mines is very hard to
penetrate.
9. Science Vessel.
The EMP Shockwave of Science Vessels can drain energy and Protoss shields to
nil. Defense Matrix can lengthen the lifespan of other units. Irradiate can kill
herds of small organic units like a bunch of Zerglings.
Bad points:
1. Terran buildings take up a lot of space.
2. Heavily damaged buildings (in the red zone) will blow up unless repaired.
That means if you have an isolated and heavily damaged building and there are no
SCVs around then it's bye-bye to that building.
3. You must have two buildings for buildings with two addons.
Aside from that, other Terrans may steal your addon by destroying the main
building and constructing their own beside the addon.
4. Against Protoss in a long game, Terrans are bound to lose.
Terrans are basically the middle class of races. They are not quick, yet they
are not slow either. Basically, Terrans are between Zergs and Protoss. They have
less obvious advantages, yet they can adapt to most situations.
PROTOSS
Good points:
1. Protoss shields.
They lenghten the lifespan of Protoss buildings and units.
2. Best basic unit.
Zealots are the most powerful basic unit and can run past bunkers and attack the
peon line. Zealot rushes win 80% of all games unless your opponent can counter
your rush.
3. Have the best and most powerful units which make them tend to win in long
games.
4. Many useful spells and units.
a. High Templars: Their Psionic Storm are the best defense for large attacks and
can destroy almost all peon lines. Hallucination are great decoys for Arbiters,
Reavers, Archons, Carriers, and Scouts. You must have done plenty of damage now
before you opponent finds the real unit.
b. Reavers: Reavers' scarabs do great damage against many units. It is also long
ranged and finds an opponent before exploding. The Reaver Drop, wherein you fill
a shuttle with two reavers full of scarabs, then run past their defenses and
land them near the peon line for heavy damage, wins a lot of games.
c. Carriers: Carriers can stay out of harms way and instead launch up to 8
interceptors against your opponent. Best used in herds, many interceptors will
confuse an opponent and inflict heavy damage.
d. Arbiter: The only unit in Protoss that has a special building made for them,
Arbiters make great transport and defense units. Recall will warp units under
the Arbiter itself, at the same time cloaking all units around it. Stasis Field
is the best unit paralyzer because it is the only spell that a Terran Medic will
be unable to heal with Restoration.
e. Dark Templars: Cloaked permanently and do 40 base damage, Dark Templars can
practically destroy a base without a detector by themselves. A great stanby for
possible base expansions, killing the peon before even constructing a base.
f. Archons: Made from two High Templars, it is the strongest ground unit for
Protoss (damage-wise). Able to hit both air and ground units with their 30
normal splash damage, the only bad point is their weak HP (10), with only 350
Protoss shield that lengthen their lifespan. Archons are also immune from many
spells, like Lockdown, Spawn Broodlings, Stasis Field, etc.
g. Dark Archons: The strongest unit in the whole Starcraft (spell-wise). All of
the Dark Archons spells can greatly hurt an opponent. Feedback can kill/damage
many units with energy (current HP-current MP, MP becomes 0 spell). Maelstrom
can paralyze many units, and the strongest spell of all, the Mind Control,
allows you to control enemy units (draining the Dark Archons' shield. With Mind
Control, you can control an SCV and/or a Drone and build a base with each race.
You can also go beyond the 200 supply limit. 200 for each race means you can
maximize your power to up to 600 units. In fact even with the full 600 limit,
you can still control more with Mind Control. Even is your Terran supplies are
200 flat, you can still mind control a Terran unit, going beyond 600 units!
h. Corsair-Scout combo: Corsairs can nullify ground attacks with their
disruption web (even missile turrets and spore colonies and photon cannons)
while Scouts and other units do the damage.
4. Best defense structure.
The Photon Cannon not only can hit both ground and air units, but is also a
detector.
5. Probes can just make a warp ball while continuing with their work.
Instead of morphing into the buildings themselves (Zergs) or standing near the
building until the building is finished (Terran), Protoss Probes can continue
with collecting minerals while the warp ball is warping the building.
6.Two structures provide supplies.
Both the Pylon (8) and Nexus (9) provide supplies, but it is the Pylon which is
cheaper.
Bad points:
1. Very expensive.
The units and structures of Protoss are most expensive.
2. There are many structures.
There are 16 structures needed to max Protoss' abilities, making them way slow.
In short games, Protoss tend to lose.
3. All structures must be built near the Pylon.
The Pylon is also the power generator. All buildings aside from the Nexus and
Assimilator needs power. Once a structure is built near a certain Pylon and
there is no other Pylon powering it, all your opponent has to do is destroy the
Pylon. Then all the buildings it powered before will be useless. Unpowered
buildings cannot warp units, recharge shields, upgrade, nor fire.
4. Very hard to master.
Because of the complicated structure and tech tree, the Protoss is the hardest
to master. It takes time and experience to learn.
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III. STRATEGY GUIDE
A. Zergs:
Before you play Zerg, you must first know how they operate. All units are made
in the hatchery and other buildings just allow you to make other units. Upgrades
can also be found in othe buildings, and many can be mutated.
First, mine with the 4 Drones. Make another Drone. Mine until you have about 150
minerals. That's the time to make a Spawning Pool.
With Zerg, it is recommended to rush attack.
10 Minute Win: (Melee, 2 players vs. Computer)
Mutate about 6 Zerglings and go about an enemy base. Lure their units
(Marines/Zealots/Peons/Zerglings) to go to your base. While on their way there,
mutate 6 more Zerglings. If they enter your base, attack the 12 Zerglings. Once
they are defeated, rush to their base and attack their Peon line. Destroy the
remaining buildings.
For short games, align your structures like this:
{} [SC][SC]
[SC] {} [Hatchery] XXXXXXX
{} XXXXXXX
[Ex] [SC][SC]
Construct lots of Spore and Sunken Colonies. Burrow about 6-12 Lurkers around
the base. You may also burrow Hydralisks and Zerglings, but if you are
preoccupied with other things and you fail to notice a base attack, then those
burrowed Hydralisks and Zerglings won't help. Lurkers attack while burrowed,
making them great defense units.
Avoid this kind of structure alignment in long games, especially if there is
high ground near the building cluster. That is a great nuke site. To prevent
nuking, either scatter them or place several spore-sunken clusters near them. If
there is high ground near them, place Overlords and Hydralisks there.
Scattering your structures are harder to eliminate, but they are also harder to
defend. Never leave a site without protection and detectors.
When attacking, bring an Overlord for cloak detection (except for rush attacks).
Always have extra Overlords, because Overlords are the best targets for airborne
units like Valkyrie and Wraiths.
When trying to annihilate an enemy base, mutate some Mutalisks to Guardians and
take out their defense system. Note though that Guardians have no air attacks,
so bring a few Devourers or Hydralisks with them. Guardians are also pretty
slow, so if possible, move the Mutalisks nearer to the attack place (yet safe
from attacks) and mutate to Guardians there.
Mutalisks are the weakest air unit. Guardians and Devourer are better air units.
Although quick, Mutalisks serve no big purpose aside from the fact that they can
attack both ground and air targets. Yet, they are great aids for strayed
Overlords because of their speed.
Ultralisks are not really the best unit, considering your Overlord-Ultralisk
ratio is 1:1. They are also ground-based and is melee. Yet they are best when
upgraded and getting past defenses because they can absorb hell of a damage
before dying.
Defilers are very underrated. Dark Swarm nullifies ground attack, so Ultralisk-
Defiler combos are very hard to defend. Plague reduces the HP to less than 10,
and is great for Protoss units. If you also control a Science Vessel, EMP
Shockwave Protoss units, then cast Plague will leave them in a desperate
position. Archons are not so affected with Plague, considering their HP is just
10.
Queens are very useful in scouting, especially with the Parasite spell. Cast
them on Observers, Science Vessels, Overlords, Shuttles and Dropships. Spawn
Broodlings is a very powerful spell that not only kills the unit, but creates
two broodlings under your control. Siege Tanks are the best target. Cast Ensnare
on units chasing the Queen to slow them down. You can also cast it to cloaked
units to reveal them. Attacking units lose their mobility when Ensnared by a
Zerg Queen.
Scourges are cheap and a good investment, always have about 6-12 Scourges in
your base patrolling around. Hydralisks must be upgraded from the start.
If you know the Zerg units, it is easy to win. Zerg's structures are easy to
learn, because many are named after units. Defiler Mounds, Ultralisk Cavern,
Queen's Nest and Hydralisk Den are some. Evolution Chamber upgrades ground unit
attack damage and armor. Spawning Pool creates Zerglings. Spire upgrades air
units and creates Scourges and Mutalisks. Greater Spire allows Guardian and
Devourer mutations. Nydus Canals allows fast transport, no matter the distance.
It can also be created on your opponents' creep.
B. Terran
Terran structures can be created anywhere. That gives them an edge. Defense for
Terran consist of Missile Turrets, Bunkers, Siege Tanks and Goliaths. Here is a
diagram for an ideal Terran defense.
X M M M-Missile Turrets
==========B G S G B-Bunkers with 2 Marines and 2 Firebats each
G X G-Goliaths
==========B G S G S-Siege Tank in Siege Mode
X M M X-SCV (optional, for repairs)
Marines and Medic combo is a sureway of defense. Align 10-12 Marines and 8-10
Medics behind them. Always attack with Medics around. Scatter cloaked Ghosts
around in case big units come by.
Goliaths are great air defense units. Always place some near your peon line to
protect yourself from Reaver Drops.
Vultures are great for running past defense and attackin your opponents' peon
line. Scatter Vulture Spider Mines around strategic spots of your base. They can
also detect cloaked units (but they are not detectors). It will also prevent
rushes from Marines and Zealots.
Valkyrie works best in groups, so never have only one of them. Every base must
have a Science Vessel. The Defense Matrix is very important and useful. Target
your Medics and SCVs with them during an attack. The EMP Shockwave drains
Protoss Shields and MP to 0. This can decloak units (except for Obsevers and
Dark Templars) and stop Yamato Guns. Shield Batteries' shields and energy is
drained in one shot. Archons and Dark Archons are very afraid of them, because
their primary health is their shields.
Battlecruisers are important in long games. Their Yamato Cannon can destroy many
Missile Turrets and Spore Colonies in a few shots. Be careful for Lockdowns. One
Lockdown can destroy it if other supporting units fire at it.
Siege Tanks are great defense units. With 70 base damage when in Siege mode, it
can fire units in far distances.
Terrans are easiest to learn. Try the Marine rush for sure win. Same as the
Zergling rush, Marine rush takes a little bit longer but is more useful.
If you are willing try the SCV rush. Attack with the four SCVs while the fifth
one collects minerals. It usually works. For more detailed information on the
SCV rush, e-mail me at alvinregan@yahoo.com. It goes like this:Three SCVs take
on the five enemy peons while the fourth SCV does the repairs.
You can also use the Science Vessel-Battlecruiser combo. Two Science Vessels use
the Defense Matrix to each other while one of them use it to the Battlecruiser.
C. Protoss
Protoss have shields which makes them harder to destroy. The Protoss are the
most difficult race to become good at. Their units are very expensive compared
to the other two races, but they possess the best units.
Always have your important structures like the Gateway, Shield Batteries, Photon
Cannons, Robotics Facilities, and Stargate powered by two Pylons.
Try the Zealot Rush. It takes longer than the Marine rush, but Zealots can run
past defenders anyway.
For midgame attakcks, the Reaver Drop is one of the best offense. Also you may
try the Arbiter Warp Attack. Have an Arbiter run past defenses to the peon line
and warp up some Dark Templars, High Templars and Zealots. Have the High
Templars Psionic Storm the peon line and Hallucinate the Arbiter. Dark Templars
can take the Commamd Center/Hatchery/Nexus. Zealots can take care of the
defenders.
You may also want to try the Carrier-Arbiter-Dark Archon attack. The Carrier
attacks (with the interceptors), the Arbiter cloaks the two units, while the
Dark Archon tries to Mind Control a peon while a Shuttle stands by. I do this
every time and it never fails. Sometimes I also add a Corsair to the combo, but
it is seldom needed.
The Corsair-Scout combo is a common attack scheme. The Corsair takes out air
based defense structures with the Disruption Web while the Scouts take out the
ground based ones (Sunken Colony/Siege Tanks/Bunkers/Photon Cannons) or the
airbased ones themselves (Photon Cannons/Spore Colonies/Missile Turrets)while a
group of Zealots attack.
Always have the Observer around when attakcing or scouting for base expansions.
Their mobile detector and permanent cloaking status makes them very ideal in any
base.
Have a few Dark Templars near your base entrance to take out attackers without
detectors. Dark Archons are much better near your base and Shield Batteries. Try
to Mind Control units worth Mind Controlling, like Battlecruisers, SCVs or
Drones, Carriers or Arbiters. Better yet, Mind Control other Dark Archons. Be
careful not to Mind Control Hallucinations. High Templars are for defense, while
Archons are better for attacking. But once the Archons' shields are drained, be
sure to have a Shuttle on standby to take the Archon to the nearest Shield
Batteries.
Do not waste your money on unworthy investments. Avoid making too many Arbiters,
unless necessary. Also, try not to create too many Zealots in the endgame.
Dragoons are best for long games, while Dark Templars are best to scout for
possible base expansions.
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IV. CHEATS
These are for people who don't want to learn Starcraft the hard way. It is
recommended to use cheats only if you have already played Starcraft well enough
or if you are stuck. I only cheat when I'm using Protoss, because it is fun when
you Mind Control all those units. Note that Power Overwhelming nullifies all
damages made by the computer. This means that if you nuke your own base, expect
your base to crumble. This also means that in Free for All game modes, the
Computer cannot hurt another computer also. Something for nothing should also be
typed thrice, because all in all there are three levels of upgrades. I really
don't see the use of noglues. Try them yourself.
black sheep wall Shows entire map without fog of war
breathe deep Free 500 vespene gas
food for thought Ability to build units beyond the supply
limit
game over man Makes you lose (useful?)
medieval man Gives free upgrades to units
modify the phase variance Ability to build any building regardless of
requirements
noglues Enemy can't use magic
operation cwal Speeds up building and upgrading time
ophelia Type ophelia then press enter, then type in
any mission name to warp (ex. terran6, for
Brood War type x before the level. ex.
xterran6)
power overwhelming God Mode
show me the money Gives you 10,000 mineral and gas points
something for nothing Gives all available upgrades (type thrice)
staying alive You will not be able to complete the mission
you are on
the gathering Unlimited casting ability
there is no cow level Completes the mission you are on
war aint what it used to be Disables fog of war
whats mine is mine Free 500 minerals
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Acknowledgement:
1. www.game-revolution.com for the cheats
2. John Miaso's FAQ for the use of spells (Parasite, EMP Shockwave...)
3. www.blizzard.net for some terms and strategy (Reaver drop)
4. Kate (my inspiration)
