I would argue that APM doesn't matter in the sense you are talking about.

APM comes largely and by far comes from just spamming for 99.9% of anybody who isn't a pro.

You can easily spike 300-500+ Actions Per Minute as Zerg in just re-creating an army for example, Hell, you can crack 300 APM in the first 2 seconds without damaging your game at all just by spamming s + hatchery hotkeyed.

Your actual Thoughtful Actions related to what's on the field I'd argue wouldn't extend much more than say 50-60 Actions per minute if you counted it in terms of say:

Building 5 Marines off 5 Raxes as Two actions - Which really, when talking hotkeys, Pressing "X" + "A" For example, 5 times, is really only one thoughtful action, and thus only one action that is going to influence anything on the field (i.e. producing 5 marines).

APM should be renamed "Keystrokes/Clicks Per Minute".

last edited by Mephz at 13:42:55 30/Jul/10

Sorry, the other reason I forgot to mention that APM is largely and by bulls***, is that even pro's spam at the start when there is literally NOTHING you can do, and it's evenly openly admitted this is solely "to keep average APM higher", or otherwise argued as "It's easier to maintain spamming actions at the start so that when you need that APM later, you're already at that pace and don't need to ramp up to it"

I believe a comment like that has been mentioned on a HD Invitationals Replay quite a few times.

You can't tell me you are maintaining 150 actions per minute of any thoughtful relevance while waiting for the first drone/scv/probe to build, and all the starting ones are mining automatically..

I also forgot, having 150 APM against a 60 APM player isn't going to help you if your game mechanics are just plain wrong.

last edited by Mephz at 13:54:24 30/Jul/10

Oh Yet another post:

SC2's APM is a lot lower than SC1's APM calculation (apparently) just in what is counted etc.

Here's an example of what your Pro APM should look like, if your fingers aren't moving like this and your screen like that, but you've got a high APM, then sorry but your APM is useless spam:

Korean Gamers 300 APM, video of keyboard/mouse + screen Starcraft 1

so i've started playing online

i've been giving the protos a go

they're kind of s*** though i don't think i'm using them right, like what the f*** do i do against a good battlecruisers? they don't see to have anything that can really deal with them like nothing i could mass to counter that?

from the few friendly FFA's ive had with mates, my carriers always owned battlecruisers.. not something you can quickly pump out tho.

Pave: high templars feedback ability are perfect for battlecruisers + use stalkers with blink and blink right under the c***s so they cant escape.

god zerg are f***ed

Just bought this yesterday so only about 3 hours into the campain. The thought of online terrfies me, I would get pwned.

god zerg are f***ed

Zerg ftw.

Just need to stay 1 expansion ahead at all times, fast expand is a must.

i reckon zerg will be the reason i stop playing this game

7 probe gas then
8 probe pylon WUT?

Isn't the starting food pool out of 11.
I'm flat out building probes until 9 just so I can afford the pylon. All while still pumping out the probes.

Am I missing something?

Im very very early in, just did the mission where you have to defend at night and destroy the bases during the day. failed miserably, was f***ing hard, even on normal!

Yeah playing that mission on Hard I had to lift my buildings off then collect minerals and spam marines during the day from the resources at the top of the map.

i usually open with 9 pylon, and gateway at 11 or 12. i find even if a zerg 6 pools me, i can have a zealot out and another half built when they get to my base. a bit of probe micro/assistance and im in good shape with 2 gateways producing zealots and a 3rd not far away. For a zerg to 6 pool, it assf***'s their economy so i tend to counter pretty early with 6-8 zealots.

I always 8 Pylon and then usually Gateway at 11, or 10 if it's Zerg and they're not 6 pooling. If you scout a Zerg and they've 6 pooled, it's good to have 8 Pylon, then two Gateways before you build any more Probes.

i usually open with 9 pylon, and gateway at 11 or 12. i find even if a zerg 6 pools me, i can have a zealot out and another half built when they get to my base. a bit of probe micro/assistance and im in good shape with 2 gateways producing zealots and a 3rd not far away. For a zerg to 6 pool, it assf***'s their economy so i tend to counter pretty early with 6-8 zealots.

I think early pool only works because of players afraid to get their workers out and micro... it really is a terrible strategy that's easy to defend and leaves the zerg economy in bad shape for midgame unless they have amazing micro on the lings.

I ALWAYS drop a hatch/fast expand prior to pool, it's just very hard to beat an equivalent skilled P/T with an equivalent economy.

Hi guys, im new to this forum so nice to meet you all.

As this is my first time playing this kind of game i got a lot out of this thread. 4gate rush is helping me through the bronze league and I have my 1v1 win loss to nearly positive now after completely failing at the start :)

Keep the strategies coming!

hey noob question....how do you hotkey buildings?

the same way you hotkey units... control + 1 (through to 9)

Just bought this yesterday so only about 3 hours into the campain. The thought of online terrfies me, I would get pwned.

Ditto. Im not to bad at the single player but online? f*** that!

Im very very early in, just did the mission where you have to defend at night and destroy the bases during the day. failed miserably, was f***ing hard, even on normal!

I find sometimes its best to go do other missions, get different hardware then comeback to it. ie get tanks or something if you haven't got them, then set them up to be able to long range blast at anyone attacking while your marines in bunkers defend against anything that gets close to your tanks.

I had to do this for the last Haven mission.

reapers ftw on that mission btw

Don't stress about online, you will eventually end up with a 50/50 ratio due to matchmaking so you end up winning just as much as losing regardless of skill.

Best to jump straight into the placement matches, get steamrolled 0/5 and learn a stack just by losing, get placed at 100 rank Bronze and work from there.

last edited by CHUB at 19:17:35 23/Aug/10

I learnt quite a bit from playing coop which is fun. Sometimes I accidentaly click on the competetive games instaed of going into coop and am suprised that I win those ladder games.

Play in ladder matches. When you get rolled, watch the replay and find out why, usually it is pretty obvious. Then next game adapt your strategy to resist what happened, don't build to totally counter it as that will open you up to other issues. Instead just be aware of it.

Learn to scout as soon as your able, it pays HEAPS to send 1 scv/drone/probe to check out the other guys base especially on maps where there is more then 1 start location.

Sometimes if the other guy is Terran and isn't paying attention you can attack his scv that is building a barracks or supply depo with your scout unit and destroy it before it goes up, slowing down his opening economy.

Make sure you scout around your base near the start of the game. A popular strategy in silver/gold league is to sneak a builder into the other base and build just out of sight. Protos tend to build a pylon then plasma turrets, Terran tend to build a barracks and bunker, while zerg will drop that tunnel thing.

If you counter it easily then they have wasted a bit of cash doing that and you should have the advantage, so push them. Check if they have an expansion and bust it up. If they don't, don't let them get one while you do.

Once past the early game there are heaps of options, scouting their base regularly will show you what they are building and you can counter it, try to prevent them from scouting you.

O and when playing against Zerg I've found that I have to assume they are going to zerg rush me unless my scout shows otherwise. I still have a little bit of trouble defending against a zerg rush with those little bomber bug things. I'm fine once I get out a siege tank with siege mode, but if they bust up my wall before then I've lost.


last edited by Tollaz0r! at 23:15:30 23/Aug/10

banshees, build lots of banshees

Don't forget about micro too, even at a very low level play.

Last night I was 100% sure I was done but I managed to beat 4 void rays with 4 mutas + 1 hydras only losing 1 muta, then went straight for his mineral line and got the gg.

People can get into the higher leagues with good build orders/strats but still have very low APM/micro ability so play smart and never give up.