Current Events > Starcraft is fun, but I can only beat singleplayer with cheats >_>

(+) Yeah! (+)

Otherwise it takes like over an hour per mission lol. Plus Im garbage at RTS and I'd probably struggle even on easy if there was a difficulty setting >_>

I'd probably get blown the fuck out in no time online anyway
---

I also had a really hard time with the campaign, I just was never fast enough.

All you have to do in the campaign missions is build a solid defense and then mass 2-3 groups of units. There are really only two difficult missions in vanilla SC (final Zerg mission and Homeland).
---

Yeah just stick with the campaign and you'll get better.

I started a playthrough of the campaign like a year ago. I made it all the way to the Zerg campaign in Brood War (so finished the original 3 campaigns), but I'm stuck on the 3rd from the last mission. I gotta get around to beating that. The campaign gets a lot harder in Brood War.
---

Online and campaign are completely different tbh. Same play styles don't really work.
---

Sativa_Rose posted...

I started a playthrough of the campaign like a year ago. I made it all the way to the Zerg campaign in Brood War (so finished the original 3 campaigns), but I'm stuck on the 3rd from the last mission. I gotta get around to beating that. The campaign gets a lot harder in Brood War.

This is the one where you're fighting against the UED and the controlled Zerg? That's arguably the hardest campaign mission in the game.
---

The Admiral posted...

Sativa_Rose posted...

I started a playthrough of the campaign like a year ago. I made it all the way to the Zerg campaign in Brood War (so finished the original 3 campaigns), but I'm stuck on the 3rd from the last mission. I gotta get around to beating that. The campaign gets a lot harder in Brood War.

This is the one where you're fighting against the UED and the controlled Zerg? That's arguably the hardest campaign mission in the game.

That's it. That's good to know, it'll motivate me to not give up on it. I have some strategy ideas in mind that I haven't attempted yet. I've learned the hard way that creating a large air force is NOT a good idea because the Terran AI likes to mass valkyries
---

A Zerg air strategy works, but it needs to be well implemented. The ideal Zerg attack force in the campaign is 1 group of Mutas, 1 group Devourers, and 2 groups of Guardians. Muta/Devourers are anti-air and Guardians are anti-ground/building wreckers.

24 Guardians will absolutely decimate any group attack and usually destroy a building in a couple volleys if they're concentrated. Their range should be used strategically to eliminate any anti-air ground defenses. The only major threats to them are Psi-storm and Status, which isn't a problem on this map.

The key to successful air domination, however, is using the Devourers properly. The Devourers are support units. They have two functions -- their spores greatly magnify the damage done by other units (i.e. the Mutas in this case) and they're incredibly hardy, meaning a large group acts as a damage sponge to protect the fragile Mutas. Typically, you send in the Devourers first to cover the target with spores, pull them back, send in the Mutas, pull them back, and repeat.

On this particular campaign map, you also get to build Dark Templar. Definitely use them as ground defense at the top and bottom of the base. The first few waves of attacks will not have any detection, so they're great early defense. Later on, the attacks will include Overlords, so you'll need to take them out first with other units.
---

i couldnt ever beat the medium ai in warcraft 3

Sativa_Rose posted...

Yeah just stick with the campaign and you'll get better.

I started a playthrough of the campaign like a year ago. I made it all the way to the Zerg campaign in Brood War (so finished the original 3 campaigns), but I'm stuck on the 3rd from the last mission. I gotta get around to beating that. The campaign gets a lot harder in Brood War.

To Slay the Beast is easily the hardest mission if you approach by trying to doom drop the Overmind--even though you can get there completely free from the south, there's just so many tanks, lurkers, battlecruisers, and scourge nearby that any army comp will be torn apart. Gotta either push through the base nearby and use defilers to creep on it (set up a Nydus to the main to rally troops), or mass Guardians and support them from over the ledge.

Mission 9 will seem hard until you realize that you can just immediately get drop and drop a single drone to make a hatchery and set up a Nydus from your main. Much easier than trying to ferry units, mass air on one gas, or kill enough Terran stuff to expand.

The final mission is hella fun, though--you can get a super economy almost immediately (just recklessly expand and immediately set up Nydus networks) and just swarm with like 8 hatches of constant hydra/ling production through the map (I suggest you put them all in one spot in the main so you can just ctrl-click the larvae). Might want to do Arcturus last, though, because he'll have mass tanks and you can steal a shitton of resources from the other factions' bases and fund a mass air transition.
---

The last mission (Omega) is easily my favorite of the game. It is hard as hell, though, but it doesn't have the frustration of To Slay the Beast, which is just brutal. The challenge always feels quite fair.

The one piece of advice I will give on Omega is to take out the Protoss base relatively early, because if given a chance to tech all the way up (they do it slowly), you're fucked. At the peak of their tech, they'll use mind control to turn any large units against you, freeze ground forces with Maelstrom, send in at least a couple templar to cast psi-storm, send in an Arbiter to stasis half your forces, shred your remaining ground forces with Reavers, and throw a ton of Archons at you. Not only this, they're very efficient at rebuilding structures, so suicide strikes are useless. I actually cleared both other bases and ran out of resources when I left the Protoss for last (this was after about 5 hours). I literally maxed out my army, sent everything, and still lost. I legitimately thought it was impossible to win at that point.

I will still usually take out Arcturus first, though, since he is easily decimated by air attacks. A group of 12 Mutas and 12 Guardians -- which you can get fairly quickly -- are enough to take him down. The only resistance is a couple of Science Vessels and some Wraiths, but he doesn't seem to replenish those forces. With his base gone, defense becomes much easier and you can focus on establishing a large strike force for the Protoss.
---

the biggest thing tbh is getting used to hotkeying groups of units and using that to better manage more than 1 group at a time. Once I learned that, alot of the missions became easier since I could take and win more fights without having to wait till I like max the supply and just send everything to the enemy lol
---

Get good at scooting and shooting, and kiting

Learn magic boxing
---

Become Korean
---

http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/Magic_Boxes
---

i played starcraft a long time ago,
but If i recall i passed all the missions without cheats.
I remember that one mission with the endless swarms of enemies coming, i tried to see if you could beat all the waves with and without cheats.

For mp, I was average at SC, by broodwar I went more into 1v1 and micro stuff,
by SC2 I wasnt so good in mp, my hands got slower O.o
---

Not sure why magic boxing is relevant to single player, but okay.

The real best advice I can give you is to look up videos here:

http://speeddemosarchive.com/Starcraft.html
http://speeddemosarchive.com/StarcraftBroodWar.html

and copy them, with the exception of levels that say they need to be done on a patch with lower cannon/sunken damage or which use the lurker glitch to make free mass mutas with crackling upgrades. So many levels can be done in crazy fast ways that are actually easier than anything else. To Chain the Beast is just a matter of dropping two dropships full of medics (using just one like the speedrun is super hard) nearby and quickly running for the beacons. Homeland (vanilla Protoss 7) is literally "box Dark Templar and immediately just go kill the orange Nexus, no other units, skill, or luck required". The Overmind is easy to slay in the vanilla campaign by just nuking it twice, and Zerg has a lack of detection to the south if you kill off two specific spores.

You still have to learn how to play for real for the BW Zerg campaign, at least.
---

the_rowan posted...

Not sure why magic boxing is relevant to single player, but okay.

it's not, it's just joke "git gud" advice I give to anyone who wants to play starcraft

"just learn how to kite and magic box and you got it"
---

Couldn't beat Omega.
---

I might be missing something but I too find it incredibly slow. I'm quite new to SC do I don't know how to hotkey units and the like.

*I just looked it up. I'll truck through SP eventually.
---

Regular Starcraft missions were pretty easy.

Brood War can get difficult at times, but if you focus on macro you can usually win out.
---

St0rmFury posted...

Couldn't beat Omega.

I just recorded myself beating it a few days ago. I mean, I took forever because I made some really basic mistakes like forgetting to bring overlords when I attacked the Protoss and in general being really sloppy with unit control, but the mission is an absolute joke overall if you just play it economically since you can literally afford like 12 hatchery production (though you don't need quite that much since you'll be maxed after a while).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVESOc9vYl4
---

Definitely cheating through Brood War lol
---