¥Zerg¥

Average Tips For Zerg

Evolution Upgrades It's rather stunning just how many players don't go for evolution chambers, even quite far into the game. I admit it's sometimes difficult to get into the habit of upgrading every game but it really pays off. Against both Terran and Protoss you will most often want to be upgrading carapace for two reasons. The first is that they will most likely be upgrading their attack damage as part of a generic rush order. Zealots with 1 attack upgrade only need 2 hits instead of 3 to cut down a Zergling. The second reason is that you should be using combinations of Hydralisk and Zerglings for most of the game if your opponent is quick on their feet. To add to this when you begin upgrading you may notice you're being slightly starved of gas and should be using excess minerals for Zerglings even if you are attempting heavy Hydralisk. One of the basic keys to the game is to be constantly spending your resources even if it means dropping down a level like from Hydralisk to Zerglings.

Sunken Colonies There are some misconceptions about sunken colonies lately. The main one is that sunkens rock. This is only half true. Used in the right situations they are, but most of the time you're better off without them. At most you should not require more than 1 or 2 sunken colonies early or you're doing something wrong. A single sunken colony protecting your main base is often the best route. Just remember to surround it in buildings or keep units in front of it. The reason you don't want very many sunken colonies applies to both singles and team games. In singles, especially against a Zerg you are better off having those drones mining and morphing more attack units. In team games any more than 2 sunken colonies is usually too much and will result in your ally dying early if your opponents had reasonable recon. If you morph too many sunken colonies you lose many drones in the process and spend excess resources for a defense only unit. Although a single sunken may seem weak it is very powerful if protected by other structures. When enemy units attack do not confront them directly with your units, rather use hit and run techniques allowing the sunken to do its damage. If the enemy attacks your units run away letting the sunken pick them off. If the enemy runs at the sunken hit them while their backs are turned. The best situations to build excess sunkens is when you setup an expansion or are trying to defend against standard tank pushes. When setting up expansions sunken colonies will help keep the base alive until you can send units possibly via nydus canal to save it. Sunken colonies are the best way to buy time against annoying tank pushes. Another way you can use sunken colonies is to build them consecutively out of your base toward an expansion site. You will be slowly inching out giving yourself a protected expansion site as well as making it a pain to launch any assaults on your base. If the game runs long enough you could sunken all the way up to his main base. Of course this isn't as useful as simply creeping your way around the map stealing expansions.

Team Games Lately I have been playing tons of very competitive team games and have learned much about applying Zerg to team games. By team games I am referring to 2on2's because they require the most coordination and strategy. Anything over teams of 2 tends to have random wins because of start locations and race combinations. In a team game there are some simple rules to stick to. First of all do not build more than 2 sunken colonies early unless the enemy is putting huge pressure on your base. When playing through the early half of the game do not stick with rushing units for very long. Start the game out building Zerglings while simultaneously working towards Hydralisk or Mutalisk. In most games Hydralisk are the better choice because by the time you have Mutalisk your Zerglings have become useless and you cannot help your ally. In most team games you do not want to expand first. You want to be concentrating on offensive units and drones and teching and leaving expanding for later. If you expand early the enemy will simply put pressure on your ally putting you in an awkward position. Only expand as a strategic advantage because expanding first doesn't put you in better shape most of the time. I have to admit that sometimes expanding works if you let your ally know to setup some defenses. More often than not the game is dictated by rushing to gain map control. Lastly when playing team games you have to talk with your ally about what units you require. Either you are going Zerglings and he's going Dragoons or you're going Hydralisk and he's going Zealots. You most always want a combination of melee and ranged units, keeping the melee units in front. Of course there's nothing wrong with having both of you making mixed armies but a lot of the time one race is much better at melee and vice versa.

Mutalisk & Air Maps Mutalisk in Brood war are almost non existent on any map with difficult or no gas expansions. Mutalisk are even harder to use in team games. The reason for all this is that there are too many low cost yet highly effective counters to Mutalisk, 2 of which being corsairs and valkyries. Mutalisk only become really good later when they have Devourer support. The problem is that you wont get that far if you concentrate solely on Mutalisk. In team games Mutalisk are usually a bad choice for tech jumping unless you have secured an extra gas mine early. The same goes for 1on1s most of the time. On air maps Mutalisk are mostly useless because of corsairs and valkyries. You are far better off directing full attention to Hydralisk, securing an expansion, and then working towards Devourers. If you still want to use Mutalisk setup spore colonies and learn to micromanage scourge as best as you can. Right now, without scourge, Mutalisk have become very close to being a vulture. Their rather high cost and low effectiveness in brood war is making them only useful in specific situations. Of course it would be rather difficult to 'tweak' Mutalisk because they are still terribly powerful in normal Starcraft.

Ultimate Orders It seems that lately everyone is sticking to the same order and conforming to whatever units are necessary. 90% of the time you should do a quick two hatch, followed by a spawning pool and another hatchery. You can easily support 3 hatcheries on a single gas mine and should construct them as early as possible. The earlier the better because if you designate one hatchery to building drones you want to have 2 hatcheries for attack units as soon as possible. Build a sunken or two to stay alive during the short wait. Unfortunately few persons can confess to using a better order because rushes for Mutalisk are mostly useless now and quick lurkers in team games result in dead allies. When playing Zerg lately you might notice you have to have a solid game right after your 3rd hatchery is up. The reason being is that until hive the Zerg are put into a moderately defensive state because of the slower larva rate. To back this up just think - attack upgraded Zealots or Tank push :)

Zerg VS Terran

The biggest early threat to a Zerg brood when facing a Terran opponent will be the Marine and Firebat. Both of these units tear trough the Zergling hordes when either Stimpacked or protected by bunkers. Should the Terran ingantry be backed my Medics, the situation becomes even worse. The best early game solution is to outproduce your opponent and use a mixed force of zerglings and hydralisks. While Zerglings will not fare very well againest Firebats, the Zerglings can distract the Marines while your own Hydralisks take out the Firebats. If the Marines and Firebats are accompanied by medics, you will need much larger numbers, better upgrades, or a favorite defensive piece of terrain to hold the Terrans with just zerglings and Hydralisks. The Subterranean spines of the luker are the first definitive counter the zerg has againest Terran infantry.

If your opponent continues to massively produce Marines or Firebats during the later stages of the game, use Ultralisks to mow through the enemy infantry lines. If the Ultralisk's carapace is fully upgraded, the marines and firebats inflict very little damage. Enen a single Ultralisk can destry wntire squads at time. T he fast and long ranged attack of the Guardians will also annihilate terran infantry in an effective manner.

Siege tanks are a rather powerful componet of the terran arsenal. Siege tanks in siedge mode protected by bunkers of marines and missle turets can annoying and difficult to uproot. The zerg swarm does have a few good counters available for the power of the siedge tank.

The single best counter to a siedge tank is the queen's ability to spawn broodlings. Each use will instantly destry a siege tank. A group of queens can quickly clear out an entire tank blockade. Since the ability is reusable, queens only need to recharge their energy before able to wreck havoc againest more siedge tanks. When using Spawn broodling, be sure to pick the tanks that are in the middle of a tank group or right next to a bunker or missle turret. As soon as that tank is destroyed, any other tanks within range will open fire on the broodlings in their midst. The siege tank will cause splash damage to any units that are nerby, friendly or not.

More Zerg Vs Terran Tips

Plague is another extremely useful Defiler spell. Although Medics can restore a Plagued unit, damage is still taken. There is no better way for a Zerg player to tear down a fleet of Battlecruisers than with Plague!

Always have a good force of Queens out and about. Use them liberally: spawn broodlings in every vechile and Medic you come across. Make the Terran player paranoid to deploy his Siege Tanks and Goliaths. Parasite Critters. Try to infest a Command Center, and use Infested Terrans against enemy defenses. Don't bother parasiting enemy units, as the Medic's Restore can kill the parasite.

The Terrans are extremely vulnerable to Ultralisk. Ultralisk with fully-upgraded armor are impermiable to Wraiths, infantry, and Vultures (since Vultures attack with concussive damage-type). Even Goliaths will only do 6 HP of damage. The biggest threats to Ultralisk are Siege Tanks, Spider Mines, and Battlecruisers. When engaging a Terran's defenses, target the Siege Tanks first. Next, hit lone infantry units, focusing on Firebats before Marines. Ignore the Bunkers by simply running out of their range; the units inside will have to hop out to attack, at which point they can be quickly dispatched. Supporting Ultralisk with Dark Swarm or against air units with Devourers, Scourge, or Hydralisk will solve the Battlecruiser problem. Be very wary of Spider Mines. If your Ultralisk are tightly packed, only a handful of mines can ruin your day. Once the perimiter defeses are down, bring in a few Overlords and use Hydralisk or Zergling to root out the Mines before cleaning the base off.

Devourers work extremely well against Battlecruisers; the Acidic Spores both nullify the Battle Cruiser's heavy armor and slow down their attack rate. Guardians are a Terran player's worst enemy, but be sure to support them against air units. Accompany your Guardian force with a pack of Hydralisk or some Scourge, and a few Overlords to reveal cloaked Wraiths.

Be wary of Science Vessels equipped with Irradiate. If you see a Science Vessel, try to destroy it immediately. Irradiate can be a real hastle, especially when used against expensive units like Queens and advanced air units. Ultralisk are strong enough to survive a few irradiations, but they are still vulnerable to its effects. If a unit is irradiated, isolate it from the swarm immediately! Irradiate is a ranged attack, and will affect surrounding units with devastating results. When a ground units has been irradiate, burrow it immediately; Irradiate does not have its ranged effects when the irradiated unit is burrowed. If you can't burrow it, try to run/fly the unit into a pack of Terran infantry.

Valkyries and their spalsh missiles chew up Scourge. Don't waste a whole pack of Scourge if a pair of Valkyries are in the area. Instead, try hit the Valkyries with Plague or Hydralisk. When facing Valkyries in the air, spread your units out as much as possible. A pack of Devourers can tear through Valkyries.

The Six Points To Beat A Terran With Zerg

• In Zerg vs Zerg games, the "mutalings" combo works superbly; since zerglings rape hydras, and mutaliskss rape lings.
• Always attack first, ALWAYS, even if u dont have much, just attack and try to micro the battle. It has a HUGE psycological (spelling?) impact. I observed a few games, when one of the players attacked first and then he double expanded; it WORKED!
• In Zerg VS Toss games, never gather all ur army once and attack. Because area effect spell will "smoke" you. Always keep attacking at regular intervals, but make sure that each time you do significant damage.
• Also, in Zerg vs Toss, make an expansion before the spawning pool, it works. But scout first, if toss is goin 3 gateway or 2 gateway without gas, he prolly will go zeals, which could spell "sunken-up" for your expansion, but keep making lings.
• CAUTION: In Zerg VS Terran games. Never quick expand! Go for Fast lair and lurkers. Most terran do M&M rush or M&M&T rush...also get "burrow"..it works. Burrow glings and hydras, where you think he might "siege-up" and then send a "distraction" force, and as soon as the tanks go into seige mode, unborrow. I tried this twice, but it hasnt worked for me yet, probably because, the marines are on stims. Next time I will aim for the tanks.
• Also in terran games, dont bother making mutalisks. Make a few scrouge to counter science vessels. I like guardians, but i feel the guardians are now "old", like i said, terran players have become much more smarter lately. Goliaths with charon booster and wraith really screw guardians.
• DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE ULTRALISK. When in the late game against toss or terran...you are probably at a disadvantage already, you just cant play with zerglings and hydralisks anymore. Ultralisks are not ment to fight anything, they have special uses. Ultras ARE GREAT tank and reaver killers. Tanks and reavers are the major threat to zerg in the middlt to late game. I remember I played this game once, where the terran had bunkered up his expansion and i was having problems getting in, prolly because of tanks on the cliff. I then ran in 3 ultras and started pounding the tanks, I killed at least 7 tanks, before the Ultras fell to wraiths and marines. Ultras have the same effect against reavers because they can obsorb so much attacks.

©Tranman2001