by codepants » 23 Mar 2016, 18:59
Hope you got a trainer and are all squared away, but in case not --
There are a few things that I think transition people from being "okay" to being "good" and then "great." This is just my opinion, other people may feel differently, and many will, of course be situation-dependent. Also, I'm only a lowly 1400, so take this all with a grain of salt.
Most have to deal with the idea of exponential growth. You have to understand that your economy grows exponentially. Thus, getting 1 or two mexes up on your opponent early game can have a multiplicative effect late game, and denying him/her 1 or two for a few minutes the same. To this effect:
- Don't over- or under-build power. Until you get your first t2 pgen there's never any reason to have a full bar. Overbuilding 200 power = 10 pgens = 750 mass = 15 tanks you do not have that your opponent does.
- On large multiplayer maps, start your first t2 mex early. Many people start as soon as they finish their hydro.
- Very early aggression pays off more often than not (first LAB, first tank, first bomber, etc). The longer you wait, the less effective it will be (3 engies then lab = lab will probably die).
- If you don't use units (like if you have t1 tanks leftover when t2 phase is well along), ctrl+k and reclaim them.
Lastly, a few random things that I've found useful:
- Most players under 1200 will react poorly to gunships or bombers -- building too much AA, sacrificing air control to kill them, or not building any AA or inties at all. Raiding with t2 gunships is, IMO, often underutilized and underestimated.
- In a multiplayer game, you can (and often should) build your own air. Your getting mercy sniped is always your fault. An air player that is everywhere at once is a bonus, not a standard.
- If you start upgrading your ACU, assist with an engie, then pause your ACU, the upgrade will continue with the build power of the engie. This a great way to get early upgrades without having to build much power.
- If you don't scout, you can't react. If you can't react, you will lose.
- Leaving things on repeat can be costly. Ex: mid- to late game people often leave scouts on repeat. A scout is 40 mass and builds from a t1 air fac in 6 seconds. Over 10 minutes you have spent 4000 mass - enough for more than 3 Percivals or 2 t2 mexes or most of a t3 mex. From a t3 air fac, quadruple that.
Good luck!
