You see a lot of strategies showing you how to take out newbs in Starcraft, but personally I think they need help rather than a good whoopin’. If they’re massing Dark Templar and such, it doesn’t mean they’re trying to be cheap. It’s the only way they’re good at playing. So this strategy here is to try to knock off that in Battle.Net, and one of the most intriguing races for the new Starcraft player is the Zerg. They look cool, they’re brutal, they can get four hundred units and mass them against one player (I had fun in my newbie days too), but once a good opponent comes out with one of them newb whoopin’ strategies in mind, it’s all over. So, all you newbs out there who have been criticized for massing, here’s a good strategy to get you started out on my personal fav race since I was eight: The Zerg Swarm.
STARTING OUT:
With the Zerg, there are a few ways of starting out against a good player. A very popular one is the lethal Zergling Rush. Them devilish little beasts can smoke a fledgling base out of inhabitants like you wouldn’t believe. The only problem is, you usually end up defenseless to other players on the map who would just love to rush you. Vengeance in Starcraft is high, and it can be a powerful driving force to both you and your enemies. You’ll know, once you’ve decimated your ally in two minutes and the other sends twelve Zealots knocking on your undefended door. Hehe, you’ll know.
So to avoid this, you have to sort of balance everything out. Do this by scouting. Scout early, scout often, you start out with a perfect one. Overlords. Pin this guy just out of range of Marines on a chokepoint between yours and your opponent’s bases, and its should give you time to get your ass in gear before they get to your base. Send enough Zerglings to keep them occupied (# of Marines x 1.5 = Number of Zerglings to keep em busy, but if you have enough warning you can double the number of marines for your Zergling count and kill em before they kill you).
But there’s one problem here. When playing experienced players, you’ll notice that they get units FAST. So this means, as Zerg, you should be able to keep up to their pace. But as a Zerg player, you have an edge, and you need every ounce of that speedy-production edge to kill your opponent. No matter their race, you still have to be extremely quick and just as vigilant. The rest is up to your personal skill.
But sometimes, no matter how skillful you are at Zergling rushes and even Lurker rushes, sometimes the map is just too damn BIG. So rushes are obsolete. Chances are your opponent will also not rush you, because by the time their units get to your base, you have the means to easily take them out. For example, you send twenty-four Zerglings as a rush in a large map. It’s a fair-sized group for beginning, but by the time you get there, even though you could have easily taken their Marines, they now have Firebats. Six of them take out your army. Now Zerglings are out of the question for unaided attacks. Time for plan B (actually, next time you play this map you can just start with plan
PLAN B
Plan B is sticking inside your base while keeping your opponent out and at the same time getting up tons of units for an all-out attack on all bases. Sounds kinda hard, but it’s not. You only need about three Hatcheries, four if you get bored (you should NEVER get bored playing Zerg. You should always have upgrades, units, and all buildings going for bigger, stronger armies. If you get bored, as you will later realize, it means you need an extra base for more resources). Usually you should try to get 8 Drones on Minerals, then the next to build a Spawning Pool. Then, while you’re waiting, Get another Overlord and a Drone to build an Extractor, then once that’s done start building your Zerglings.
This is a good way to start out for many players, but as you will know later, there are so many differences in Starcraft players you could never keep up. So you can take this beginning strategy, or leave it. I will not describe the rest because after the monotonous beginnings it is not just up to your personal skill. It is also determined by the map you are playing, the enemies you are facing, what interactions you and your opponent have had in the game (he rushed you for example), and a few other aspects.
For example, if you are fighting Protoss, you may want to get your Hydralisks faster so you can try and take out their Zealot armies, then get more Zerglings later to get their Dragoons. If Terrans are your enemies, you might even just give one swift rush then quickly get Hydralisks before they counter with Firebats. And finally, if you’re playing another Zerg, you could be having Zergling duels for quite a while before you switch to more complex units.
But I’ve found that for most opponents, a good way to start out is 12-24 Zerglings. Better for twelve if you’re fighting an enemy different than your race, but if you think you’re off to a good start compared to your opponent (remember, the Overlord has unseen might that cannot be fully understood by the unwary enemy enemy, young grasshopper. Keeping up with the Joneses is very important in Starcraft), then you can strive for the twenties before moving onto the bigger guys.
INVASION AND ITS MANY (many, many) ASPECTS
Hydralisks. I love Hydralisks. By the end of this strategy you will KNOW that I love Hydralisks. Very first thing when I saw my friend playing Starcraft when we were 8 years old were Hydralisks, and they looked SOOOOOOOO DAAAAAMMMMNNNNN COOOOOOOLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Turns out they’re also SOOOOOOOO DAAAAAMMNNNN UUUUUSEFULLLLLL!!!!!!!!
These things seem as if they are almost invincible. They’re cheap, long ranged, hard AND fast hitting, but that doesn’t mean you can mass them. You need to get other units too, ‘cuz even Hydras have some weaknesses. Spells, mostly. Big, long ranged spells, like Psyonic Storm and Maelstrom, Irradiation and multiple Siege Mode Siege Tanks, and even your fellow Zerg can turn on you with the Defiler’s spell, Dark Swarm. Many newbies think they know Hydralisks, but really all most of them know is their strengths, mostly against the computer players. So how do we make the tremendous use of these beasts that they were meant to be used, while trying to avoid all these hazards?
The answer: multiple groups. Yes, multiple groups. Quite a frightening thought, but using more than one unit in an army amplifies its strength tenfold. Actually, I don’t know how many folds, but it’s enough to get a leg up against the average player. With Hydralisks, a good two-group is Hydras and ‘Lings. The Hydras attack from a distance, pounding them like hell, and the Zerglings keep em occupied while really getting on their nerves as they try to get to the long-ranged Hydras. Just make sure to make lots ‘o ‘lings, cuz some units can burn through ‘em pretty fast. That’s why you make sure to take out Firebats, Archons, Lurkers, anything that can hit multiple enemies at once. These units spell bad news for Zerglings, so kill them quickly with your Hydralisks.
So what we’ve got is a symbiotic relationship here. The Lings keep all the units that can hinder your Hydralisks away, while the Hydralisks kill all them splash damagers. It’s a powerful force, do not underestimate it.
AND NEVER FORGET TO THROW IN AN OVERLORD WITH PNEUMATIZED CARAPACE INTO YOUR FORCE! YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN THEY MAY SEND IN DARK TEMPLAR, WRAITHS, AND OTHER NASTY INVISIBLE THINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also, always pay attention to your invasion. Never let your guard down, always search around to get a good strategy. A good thing to do is get your ‘Lings to just attack-move while your Hydralisks use sort of a fire-fighting technique (Get them all to attack one unit after the other, taking out the dangerous units quickly with the concentrated fire). This can win you the battle if your opponent can’t get their Firebats to your Lings in time, before 24 spines rain down on his gas-filled ass.
Now, if you’re VERY fast you can stomp a few bases, maybe even the whole competition with that kind of group, but, again, there are weaknesses. These weaknesses are quite small but it can mean the different between victory and defeat. So once your opponent catches onto you and kills your precious combo it’s time to get out the bigger boys.
Mutalisks don’t do much damage, but their bouncing Glaive Wurm is very effective, and it has more hit points than your average Hydralisk. These can be a good addition to our Hydra-‘Ling group back there, and are also a nice attack force on their own if you can manage them properly. By this I mean picking off the right units from the start. Anti-air units should be avoided as well as possible and ground units that can attack air, like Marines, should be killed quickly by the same fire-fighting technique as with the Hydralisks.
And don’t be afraid to retreat. Mutas cost quite a bit for their worth, they’re not worth losing just because you were too headstrong and let your 12-group die.
No, the Mutalisk’s real worth is in with other units. A six-group of Mutalisks, a six-group of Devourers, and a 12-group of Guardians can be insane (just sub in Mutalisks for Devourers if you’re not playing BW). This 24-group can be expensive, so it’s good to have a couple extra bases (see below), but it’s very effective. I’ve taken out entire maps with these guys all together and an Overlord at their side, of course. If you’ve got this and you’re smart enough to kill things that must be killed with Guardians, as well as first hacking at a potential air threat with Devourers then finishing them off with the Glaive Wurms (these are great because if the opponent has six Acid Spores on them. The Wurm increases its damage from 9-3-1 to 15-9-7). It’s a morbidly beautiful sight. You’ll swear that the wreckage will never go away.
Queens are very useful scouts with their Parasite. Pararsiting critters even works. Bengalaas are very good involuntary sentries. Kakaru, as well, as they fly randomly about the map, revealing potential nodes. Detector units, like Overlords and Science Vessels, and even Observers after a splash of Ensnare, are even more useful, especially the ones within your opponent’s base. Then if you’re discovered just Spawn Broodling to distract them and get the hell outta there.
Infesting Terran Command Centers can also be very useful in the right maps. It may seem a bit inconvenient at first, but then you realize that these things remain able to lift off. After you discover this amazing ability you can transport it around your bases, and even deliver it closer you your enemy’s base. When the Command Center is right at the opening of their base let loose a few Infested Terrans against their large groups of units, and unleash your minion’s explosive wrath against their main buildings. And when they figure out that there’s an infested building right at their doorstep spewing out endless amounts of these living bombs, you can try and get away by lifting off. That usually doesn’t work, but what does it matter? It was free, wasn’t it? So many great strategies come from the art of Infested Command Centers.
Many perfectly good players have lost to newbies because of their massing of insane units. They give them a break; they leave them alone for the first few expansions of the game, only to find twenty-five Battlecruisers knocking at their door after fourty-five minutes of game play. Now, you can still be lenient with your previously fellow beginners. You can still take it easy on them, because there is a Zergish answer to those huge battleships, no matter how many there are. And surprisingly, it costs 25 minerals and 75 vespene for two of them. I am talking about Scourge, of course. For half the price of a Battlecruiser you can knock one flat in no time at all with these little living cannonballs. Hurl them in huge, quickly built groups at your opponent’s prized motherships. Teach that newb a lesson, and if you have massed Carriers against someone before, let it be a painless lesson to you now, lest you learn the hard way.
Defilers are usually one of the last units you will get, but make sure that when you do get them that you at least upgrade Plague. Using this against other Zerg players will kill them extremely quickly, coupled with a good group.
Terran buildings also fall to Plague, and you don’t even need to have a single Zergling to take out that last hit point. They’ll burn down that last point of health if an SCV doesn’t come to the rescue. This is also useful for draining a resource-deprived base minerals and gas. If they repair the building as it suffers, you will slowly deprive them of valuable minerals. If they don’t, you will slowly deprive them of valuable buildings. Either way, very useful if you haven’t got the right crew to take out their base at the moment, and they will never get to you in time before your Defiler has time to hide if you’re quick.
And against the Protoss, Plague will wear down their entire HP, completely ignoring their shield, and that cannot be repaired. So when you go down to actually kill stuff, all you gotta do is kill their shields, and it’s all over.
Dark Swarm is also useful against the Terrans. Nearly all of their units have ranged attacks, so you can kill entire armies with just a 24 group of Lings, or a few Ultralisks while your Defiler constantly throws out the shields.
And when you’re not using these, you can hang out undetected, burrowed at the edge of the enemy’s base, waiting for your energy to recharge (Consume a few Lings while you’re at it). Defilers are very under appreciated, but can be very useful if you can use them properly.
And then we get to the big ol’ Ultralisks. They’re big, tough, do lots of damage, are the only Zerg with hair ( o_O ), and yet they keep to the Zerg style of getting tons of units, because you can still get a twelve group with some work.
Ultralisks are the Zerg’s powerhouses. Though they can’t attack air, they do 29 damage fast, move as quickly as an upgraded Hydralisk, have 5 armor and 400 hit points when fully upgraded. Therefore they are a force to be reckoned with, even against air units. By the time the Wraiths and Scouts finally manage to take out your heavily armored Ultralisk 12 group, their base is basically toast. Add a few Hydralisks in to the brawl and it’s about as powerful as the Guardian/Devourer/Mutalisk combo up there.
Lurker rushes can be really fun. If your opponent decides to ignore their detection units early on in the game and advance up in masses of units, Lurkers will stomp them even if they have 200 Firebats. They are the Zerg’s only invisible attackers, and if you’re fast you can pull off instant victory with the six-legged demons.
Now we get into advanced techniques, not only involving units tearing up their enemies, but also the way you pull off your opponent’s destruction:
Nydus Canals, very useful for back-up for your extra bases. You can attack with these mysterious caverns as well, but that usually involves lots of Parasites to see the best place in your opponent’s creep to lay the entrance, and is often dangerous because they could have Lurkers hidden beneath the infested soil. But if it’s pulled off right, it’s really fun to use and just as fun to laugh at your LAN opponent’s face when you pop out right beside their mining line.
Drops are great, and you always have Overlords on hand. If you can get an army dropped right on your opponent’s resource line that’ll get them really mad, and really dead. If they run out of Command Centers/Nexuses/Hatcheries and all their workers, they basically lose with the lack of reinforcements. So even if your army dies after they’ve killed all their workers, you still win. Sort of ironic, really. This is crucial to the making of a good player, so keep three or four Overlords at least just sitting near your Hatcheries.
And the Zerg (at least their first few units) are different from other races. It requests more attention paid to battles they are engaged in. Alone, most of the Zerg forces are weak, so you must focus their attacks one unit at a time rather than using the attack-move command. This is commonly called fire fighting and is owed the success of many a Zerg master.
But even the greatest offense isn’t always a good defense. While you have emptied your units from you base, other enemies may be hacking away at your Hive cluster, and you could use all your buildings before you can take all them and their allies out, so here’s a few pointers for
DEFENSE
Zerg are a specialized race, and this does not end for their defensive structures. They are the most powerful in the game, but if you don’t place them properly they can be useless. Personally, I’ve found that one Sunken Colony every three spaces at the entrances and a Spore Colony between each Sunken (two layers of this defensive layout. Also, if air units can get in through the back and sides, put one Spore and one Sunken every 4 spaces around there). But that’s just me; some people may find that their bases are still too open and build extra layers.
But as useful as the Colonies are, you still need to keep a few units at your base for back up. Zerglings and Hydralisks do well, as they can burrow. Mutalisks can also cause some mayhem for potential attackers. And though these are good, Lurkers make the pack complete. Put two or three Lurkers at a chokepoint, or one for every Sunken Colony. They have good range, are invisible, mobile, fast and best of all, do 20-26 damage in a straight line. Perfect for attacking Marines.
Defense is quite a quick, simple subject, but crucial. Set it up early in the game, soon after your first attack if not prior to it. It could save you a defeat.
EXPANDING
In almost every map in Starcraft you have to expand, even with the cheap, reliable Zerg. And you’ve got to expand fast. If you get bored (as said before, you should NEVER, EVER be bored), go and build a new Hatchery, because that’s telling you that you aren’t getting enough minerals and vespene. The game is speaking to you, man! Answer it! And serve it well; because it’s no fun to start a new base then have it blown up in your face a minute later because it wasn’t defended enough. Make sure to have a few Colonies guarding your fledgling base and also a few well-rounded units (that’s long for ‘Hydralisks’).
You can shorten the load a bit if you connect your mines with Nydus Canals. Keep units nearby the entrances so they can reinforce a base under attack within a moment’s notice. Of course, there shouldn’t be such thing as a moment’s notice for you, because you have Overlords on the outskirts of your base, DON’T YOU???!!!!!
But the hardest part of expanding is getting to the node. For God’s sake, don’t send a single Drone out after you’ve scouted. And don’t just send Zerglings in there, or even Mutalisks. Hydralisks work well (love them Hydras), but use them to support those Mutalisks or Zerglings and you should make it just fine. I’ve seen many otherwise good players send a single worker out once they’ve scouted. Of course I’ve got Overlords all over the place so I can see the route his Probes were taking and I kept taking out his workers until finally he sent some Dragoons and Zealots to help out. So, why don’t you skip the first part of this guy’s strategy and go right to BEING SMART, like I should have done?
EXPERIMENTING
Ah, the hardest part of Starcraft. So many players, with so many unique personalities and strategies. I couldn’t make a single strategy for every Zerg player on Earth (not to mention Char), so I tell you now that you can follow this strategy as a baseline. Learn from it, and alter it to your tastes. You may find that a Zergling rush works very good for you, even in larger maps. That’s fine. You may find that defending with fewer Colonies and more units is more effective for you. That’s fine. The true beauty of Starcraft isn’t its diverse storyline, diverse races, or diverse gameplay. It’s the diverse players that make this game what it was really meant to be, so experiment. Find what really makes you tick as the Zerg.
You may have also noticed that I did not put any ‘tried-and-true’ methods into this strategy, save a few of my opinions. There was no sure-fire Zergling Rush directions, no perfect ‘Getting Started as the Zerg’, because I have found that usually about 75 per cent of people reading these kind of strategies don’t work for them. This is solely because everyone’s different, and I think players nowadays have to realize that and make up their own personal strategies just for them. Some people are faster. Some people are better at getting their ass in gear when time is crucial. Maybe you’ll find that you are better with the Protoss or Terran. That’s fine. You are you. You’re not the average Zerg player. No Zerg player is average. Find your strengths and weaknesses and go from there. It’s all up to you.
by Shotaku » Sun Oct 19, 2008 2:43 am 
. What race do you play?
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