When you are playing Starcraft II, the game depends on 2 main parts: Micro and Macro. The macro is your "economy", how many bases you have, how many workers you have, what additional abilities are you using (M.U.L.E or Chrono Boost, Spawn Larvae), etc. This is another part, discussed in another topic. What I want to tell you about is the other main part, the micro game.
So what is 'micro' or 'micromanagement' exactly?
 |
Apm counter - Higher is betterThis term is used for the part of the game, when you actually have to use your mouse or hotkeys to give certain commands. It includes things like giving attack orders, move orders, using different abilities, managing groups of units, etc. It really matters if you have a decent micro skill or not. APM(Actions Per Minute) descirbes your skill in a way. It measures your clicks and button pushes per minute. |
Why is it important?
Micro is a decent part of the game, and you can't do without it after certain levels of the ladders. For example, can you take out 4 zergling with only one zealot? Can you hold against an enemy zealot group with just a few marauders? If you have a good micro skill, you can.
How to improve?
Practice, practice, practice. This is the key. Pay attention and use your mouse and hotkeys. I can show you some ways to improve, but the main part is on you. It can't be learned from watching videos, or reading articles. You really have to try it yourself
Ok, I'm in, what should I do?
|
| You can find the hotkey in brackets '(T)'. Just hit the key and cast the spell.I think the first and most important step is to learn Hotkeys. It's easier if you play only one race, because you won't mix things up. Why would you learn them you can ask. Because it really speeds up your game. For example you Hit B, B and click, there's a Barracks placed by an SCV. The other method is to find the Build icon, click on it, find the Barracks icon and click. A lot longer. Learning hotkeys not just speed up your game, but it also helps you in multitasking. That means you can pay attention to train units, handle gathering and fight with your troops in the same time. |
Secondly, you have to practice a lot with your race's units. You must know them! Understand their abilities, their strenght and weaknesses. Don't try to kill an Ultralisk with Zerglings. This is not really in connection with micro, but it can help it. You should draw the weak part of your army back, and place tougher units in the front.
This means that you know the unit counters. For example Roach is good against Zealot, beacuse it's armored and ranged. You should really know every unit and every counter. It can help if you play with random for a while.
I'm gonna show you in an example, to be clear:
 |
| Zealots in the first row protecting 'caster' units. |
Situation: You got 2 zealots and 2 stalkers against 8 zerglings.
What would you do?: Using the zealots as meat shield, you attack the zerglings. Of course they will kill the lings, but you'll lose 1 zealot in the fight.
What should you do?: Instead of attacking them directly, draw back your zealots, and use your stalkers to hit and run. That means you use the A button to attack, and Right-Click to move backwards. You move back, hit A+Left-Click, Stalkers shot 2 lasers, and repeat. The key is not to stop here. When you weakened some zerglings or even killed some, you can turn back with your zealots and finish them. You will only lose shileld, but that regenerates quicky. That means 8-0 in the units killed counter.
So this it one of the real strenght of micro. You should pay attention to:
- Low HP units - send them backline and bring them back, if the enemy units stop targetting it.
- Unit counters - use the best unit against certain enemies.
- Casters - They usually can't attack, so don't use them as meatshield (they should stay back and cast abilities).
I just mentioned caster units. These are units with abilities, that can turn the tides of battle in seconds. A well placed psy-storm can wipe out a group of hydras in 6 secs. Hotkeys are important here aswell, beacuse you don't want to search for the skill icon, when you are in the middle of a battle. It's best to take your caster units, and hotkey them to a different group (Ctrl+2 for casters and Ctrl+1 for everything else), so when you hit 2 you select your casters and if you hit the ability hotkey, you can cast 'spells' instantly. Good to know, isnt' it?
Beta is down, doh; where can i try these things out?
We all know that, but we have a lot of talented people working for us. We can still use the Galaxy Editor while Beta is down. There are custom maps made for micro practicing. One of the best you can find is Riley's micro olympics map, Riley's Micro Olympics. Multitasking Trainer map is good if you want to practice multitasking, paying attention to all parts of the game in the same time. Here's a description how to start these maps:
- Download the map with the Download button on the right side.
- Start Galaxy Editor, which can be found in the Starcraft II Beta folder (C:/Program Files/Starcraft II Beta for example). Hit StarCraft II Editor to start it.
- Chose Open file and find your downloaded map, click Open.
- File -> Test Document or CTRL+F9. Starcraft 2 will load the map for you.
I hope this article helps a bit. Try to practice micro if you have time, even it the game is down. If you want to be better in the game, you will need it. Comments, ideas and critics are always welcome!
