Subject: From: Host: Date: How mutalisk damage works Avocat ip93-148.tor.interlog.com Sun Jan 10 13:39:05 In the recent discussions of devourers and mutalisks I've seen a lot of different descriptions of how mutalisk damage works. Here's how I understand it: 1) Basic damage is 9-3-1. 2) The first hit gets the full benefit of the damage upgrade. For the first bounce, the upgrade is divided by 3. The second bounce gets no benefit from the upgrade. A fully upgraded mutalisk therefore does 12-4-1. 3) All three hits get the benefit of negative armor (from devourer acid spores). In the best possible situation, i.e. a fully upgraded mutalisk hitting an unarmored target with 9 acid spores, the mutalisk will do 21-13-10. I'm almost certain that's correct, but feel free to let me know if I'm wrong. Subject: From: Host: Date: Re: Need general strategic and tactical help Magister69 dhip-121.west.hillside.residences.colby.edu Sat Jan 9 14:02:49 On Sat Jan 9 13:20:44, Lord189 wrote: > I read Zileas' site, and he desribed a newby as a person who turtles > until he has lots of stuff, and then at some (random) time, goes out > and attacks the world with this mass of units. He must have been > watching the games I play. I need some help developing my playing > style to the next level. Don't worry about it, I think all of us were that way at first. I'm still like that every once in a while if I'm having a rough game. :) And that perhaps is part of the answer to your question, because the times when I start acting like a newbie is when the other person really starts messing with my head. Doing things like attacking the undefended spots right when I'm just starting to think about putting a defense up, getting behind my lines and making drops or irradiating things, stuff like that. When someone does that well, they start to psychologically control their opponent, because their opponent just starts to wonder what's next, rather than deciding for themselves what's next. > To that end, I have a few questions: > 1) When do you start harrassing the others players? Do you wait until > you have a well balanced little force, or do you for instance just > send 8-12 marines, then later some marines, bats and a tank or two? > Or something else? Well, as with all tactical questions, there's no hard and fast answer, but here it's even vaguer. The time to harrass is basically this, when your opponent can't take it. That changes completely from game to game, which is why keeping up with recon is so important. Let me give you some solid examples. It's always a good idea to scout early, and let's say that you happen to find your opponents base, and they're going for a Hydralisk Den, without site of any Zerglings or creep colonies around. I'd try to sneak my scout out, and then immeadiately attack with whatever I've got. If that's 6 marines, then I attack with 6 marines (unless the map is massive and I know that by the time they get there, there will be defenses. If instead there are tons of Zerglings starting to stumble over themselves, I got back to town and throw up an Academy and Refinery ASAP for Firebats. Firebats THRASH Zerlings and Zealots. If, on the other hand, the SCV I sent to scout sees Sunkens everywhere (and probably ends up being killed by one of these), then I got for Refinery, Factory, and Starport. I won't start the harrasment for a while here, because to do so effectivly means that I either am doing so with Seige Tanks, drops, Wraiths, or better yet, all three. Now THAT requires some skill, but if you can coordinate your harrasment, its effect against a human at least goes up exponentially. Launching a nuke is my favorite way of doing this, for if you do that and stage an attack at the same time, your opponent will probably only be able to deal with one of these two. As for forces, it again depends. I usually aim for a Control Group of Wraiths, as they provide a great harrasment squad, but I normally keep them close to my base as they are very expensive and very fragile. The perfect use for them is when your opponent tries to expand without you noticing, at which point you swoop in, kill all the probes and important structures you can, then get out before the cavalry arrives. If I'm doing a ground force through, I always make it pretty substantial, as Terrans just HAVE to do this (well, everyone really should, but its especially important to Terrans). While the force is mixed though, always keep in mind that the only really important unit is the tank. :) The rest is fine and good, but the Seige Tanks are what will do the damage, as they get by everything on the ground (most importantly, towers/cannons/colonies included). All the rest of your forces cannot boast this last fact, and therefore can be countered by your opponent simply building enough defensive structures. I'm sure you've heard of this -- it's called the tank push -- and is pretty popular. Pretty much if you're going against a solid opponent, this is the only real way you're going to get a ground assault to work. Just use 8 or so tanks, marines, firebats, goliaths, keep a few wraiths around, and things tend to work themselves out. Also, a Science Vessel to detect and stave off the templars and mutalisks (irradiate is good against both) is a good idea. Finally, if you have the time, the most enjoyable kind of harrasment is with Science Vessels and irradiate. Against Zerg, you will not have a shortage of targets, but just make sure to try to stay away from spore colonies and irradiate stacks of units if possible (since irradiate hits stuff around it too). It's great on overlords too, especially now that it kills them outright! This is also a good way to scout the map, but just be sure to go slow and keep an eye on that science vessel so that your opponent doesn't see you. Against Terran, your targets are obviously Marines, Firebats, and Ghosts, but it may be tougher to get access to these units. Finally, against Protoss, take out Templars at all costs. The Protoss will have to keep them reasonable close to the front lines since they are slow, but will also probably have them behind cannons or the like. Once you stop one, just try to take the least painful approach route, and get out of there as soon as you irradiate the little monster. I realize the suggestions are sort of random and unorganized, but there just a few good ways to harrass your opponent in my experience. > 2) What is the best way to practice against the computer (I can't > spend too much time on line on battle.net) I would like to practice > off-line... but when I play one computer opponent, I can do whatever > I like and still win; all my strategies seem to work. When I play two > opponents, one jumps on my back while I'm attacking the other. Is > this still a good way to practice? Hmm, I don't have great success with two opponents typically for the same reason, although I've also heard some people can do it, which wouldn't surprise me since I'm not a superb player. If 1v2 is too tough, you can try free for all, but even that isn't great, and once you hit the late game, the computer never seems to do much to stop you from winning. I've found a good way to practice is by controling your bases. Try to take out your opponent without expanding some time, and then try to expand as fast as possible, and try managing resource gathering at three different bases all at once! Also make sure you complete all the campaigns, as those are good practice and helped me a lot even after I thought that I couldn't learn all that much more. > 3) What is the best general map to practice on? I have been playing > on GBH, regular Hunters and Green Valleys. What would be the best 1 > or 2 to practice with at first? Actually, I would suggest, if you're just practicing against the computer, to also switch maps every game. I find that, more than anything else, this will improve your ability to scout the map intelligently, which is very important. It isn't very fun finding out that you seize a tough-to-get expansion right when you notice one waiting for you in an easily-seized spot, but it does teach you to search. Learn Hunters well though, as most everyone online knows it backwards and forwards. > > Thank you in advance for your help > 189 Sorry if any of this is unclear or redundant, but just some suggestions. Mag