Saturday, January 8, 2011

Terran Scouting Strategies for Starcraft 2

By Eric Bator


Successful scouting in Starcraft 2 is the key to victory. Prevailing players are regularly scouting so they can find out what their opponent is building, predict the opponent battle strategy, and then defend against it while creating their own attack strategy that can penetrate the adversary's defenses.

The Protoss and Zerg races in Starcraft 2 do not have a scouting skill that the Terran race has - the Terrans are the only race with the skill to scout an opponent without risking any soldiers. Terran's can use the Scanner Sweep ability on a large section of the map, which will detect buildings and troops, even those that are cloaked and/or burrowed. This can be done on any portion of the map throughout the whole game (as long as you have 270 minerals to use).

Of course don't only use Scanner Sweep as a Terran - make sure to use units and your buildings to scout as well. SCV units, Reapers, Vikings and Hellions all can make good scouting units depending on the circumstances.

Terran Early Battle Scouting Tips

One of the most useful starting units for scouting is the SCV that built your earliest supply depot. SCV units 12 or 13 can also frequently be used for scouting, if you've opted for the right battle options at the start of the game. Games with an unknown opponent or larger maps mean you usually should start scouting earlier than smaller games.

Because Protoss have slow build times and expensive units, if you find yourself facing lots of units yet have only found one or two Pylons, there are most likely many more of them that you haven't found yet. They probably have hidden Pylons and other tech buildings in out of the way places that you have yet to scout. When fighting against the Protoss, be certain to recall that if you identify a Forge, a Cannon Rush or Void Ray attack is what you should prepare for. If you troops see two Gateways, it is very likely that your adversary is arranging a Zealot Rush or Robotics Bay.

A Zerg Spawning Pool discovered early is a strong sign that you will face a 6-8 Zergling rush and should get ready for it immediately. If you find Zerg Hatcheries early on, your opponent is probably spawning either Mutalisks or Hydras, or may be preparing for a large scare Roach attack.

Terran Scouting Tactics for Later in the Battle

In the middle of the game, it's a good idea to use units other than your SCVs to scout - Hellions, Vikings and Reapers are all excellent scouts with unique abilities during this part of the game. It's also possible to use your buildings in addition to your units to scout your enemy. Constructing barracks or factories and flying them over your adversary can reveal plenty of information about your adversary buildings and troops, like the locations, number of and type of each.

Hellions have great speed and can do large amounts of damage when facing light units. The are also cheaper than a Reaper. Reapers are also speedy and have the ability to leap off of cliffs. Vikings have the ability to fly above the opponent and are excellent for scouting and harassing your enemy.

Terran's become much more challenging to scout once they wall up. Three easy ways to wall in are by using three Supply Depots, with the use of a Barrack and two Depots, or a Factory and Barrack at the choke point.




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