Basic Tips StarCraft: Remastered Guide
Last update: 22 September 2017
- Starcraft is based on two currencies: minerals (also known as crystals) and Vespene gas. The first item is used to construct buildings and to recruit units, while gas is used to acquire additional units as well as all upgrades and technology. Your consumption of gas becomes higher with each completed mission and can help you track your progress in the singleplayer campaign. Mining minerals is a simple action that requires a worker (SCV/Drone/Probe) and a matching building (Command Center/Hatchery/Nexus) nearby (Remember to build the main building next to the crystal in order to save time). Mining gas requires a Refinery and a group of units that will mine the resource for you. All mineral sources can be depleted - you can continue to gather gas from gas sources but your workers will transport 2 units instead of 8. Large supply of resources will enable you to field a larger army in a shorter period of time. Begin each match by taking care of the economy, otherwise you'll have major problems with completing the mission in a reasonable time frame.
- Your army is limited by a population cap. Each race refers to this statistics differently (Supplies/Control/Psi) but the mechanic works the same in every case - the cap is built by the main building and further increased by a secondary one (Supply Depot/Zerg Overlord - a flying unit/Pylon). The units are valued differently, mostly dependent on their size and power. Always keep a small amount of free population points to be able to mount a counter attack.
- Base building and additional expansion. Begin each game by acquiring additional workers and focus on mining. Then, increase the population cap and find a new source of gas to continue. You can now start building a basic defense and construct initial production buildings - built a few of those to be able to train more than one unit at once. Having a few Barracks, Hatcheries, or Gateways is practically a must. Continue by building an expansion - a new base that enables you to mine more resources. Enemy AI often focuses on the weakest part of your base and army, so prepare a unit or construct a viable defense.
- Upgrades. Getting past the few initial missions unlocks access to research structures. Some of these upgrades increase the armor or attack power of certain units e.g. land or air units. Upgrade those units that you use often or those that are needed during the given mission (e.g. you've chosen to upgrade the air forces, as the whole map is built from isolated islands). The next category contains the abilities for the individual units, such as an increased fire range for Marines, artillery mode for Siege Tank or a transport troops ability for Overlord. The final category contains new perks for special units, e.g. Cloak for Ghosts/Wraiths, or a Yamato Cannon for Battlecruisers. Such units are equipped with Energy (an equivalent of mana from fantasy titles) that is used to cast their special skills.
- Group your units with the numeric keypad. StarCraft enables you to mark and lead 12 units at once. Unfortunately, you'll soon need a bigger amount of troops to perform successful attacks. To get by this limitation, you can mark a chosen group of units and ascribe it to a numeric key. You can go even further than this and divide your units by their type. For example, "1" and "2" will activate two infantry units, "3" activates a group of heavy units that work well against buildings, "4" represents air units, while "5" takes you to siege units of large firepower and range. This method will allow you to lead a large army without spending additional time on choosing the individual units.
- Special "spellcaster" units. Each faction has access to 2-3 spellcaster units with special abilities. Most of them are not armed and cannot engage opponents on their own, but their active abilities can support your army immensely e.g. by facilitating an attempt to storm the enemy base. Such units are equipped with an Energy bar that is spent on certain abilities. A single spellcaster unit will be enough to reinforce an offensive, but consider building 3-4 of those to have access to additional charges (replace the depleted spellcaster with a new unit etc.)
- Cloaking units and detectors. Rare units that can become invisible and engage the opponent when cloaked. Cloaked units cannot be targeted, yet can receive damage from the area of effect attacks. Zergs can burrow their units, which will make them invisible but make them unable to attack. Detecting such units is performed by using detectors such as Science Vessel, Overlord, and Observer. All of the aforementioned units are equipped with a passive ability (known as Detector) which enables them to detect all hidden units found in their range.
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