Standard Terran Build Order & Guide (NOTE: Newer players, 10/11 means your tenth SCV is finished and you have 11 supply, so on and so forth.) 10/11 -> Supply Depot at Choke -> Hotkey this worker to 2 -> Scout 11/11 -> As the Depot finishes, build a Barracks next to it to block choke 13/19 -> Build a second Depot next to the Barracks, sealing the choke This standard opener seals your main from scouts completely. Unless the opponent decides to send a scout very early they won’t be able to scout you at all. This would be a disadvantage for them because they’d be removing a worker at 6 or 7 supply, effectively putting them behind by almost a minute. So with this opener you just won’t be scouted. 15/19 -> Right as the Barracks finishes, build one Marine 17/19 -> As the 16 SCV finishes (your marine makes 17 supply) upgrade Command Center to Orbital Command (OC) 17/19 -> During the upgrade, build one Refinery 17/19 -> Supply Depot 17/19 -> Put down your second Barracks
Heavy Infantry After your Orbital Command finishes, immediately continue building SCVs and use your MULE. I usually reserve the scan for the 3rd round of energy on my first OC for scanning to figure out what the opponent is going. Also, you should be pumping Marines at this point out of your two Barracks keeping in mind you will be adding add-ons to each of them. After building two SCVs: 19/27 -> Put down a third Barracks 21/27 -> As soon as gas hits 50 add a Tech Lab to the interior (not the walled) Barracks This is where it starts to become up to you to stay on track for your build order. Keep pumping SCVs and Marines, and upgrade your second Barracks to a Reactor. Start pumping Marauders out of your tech lab Barracks once it’s finished. As soon as your third barracks finishes and you have 50 gas build a second tech lab onto your third Barracks. This both prepares you for an upgrade to tanks and gives you sufficient capability to match Marines for Marauders in a 1:3 ratio which is what I find to be most effective. This strategy is a great counter to any tier 1 or 1.5 attack. It beats everything except for Banelings cost effectively. Protoss will need to tech Colossus or have superior micro to beat this combination. If you would like to proceed to tanks from here simply add a gas at SCV 21 and build a factory. Swap out the factory for the Tech Lab addons on your Barracks and produce tanks. Then use your Barracks to make either Tech Labs (against Protoss for sure and against Zerg if they’re going Roach) or Reactors (against Terran). It is very important to get the Shield upgrade for Marines against Terran and Zerg as the added HP makes you more effective against enemy Marines, Tanks, and is essential against Mutalisk.
You can do a triple reactor build similar to this against Terran opponents as it’s difficult for them to counter mass Marines without tanks. If you want to try this rush (it’s only effective if you beat the tanks out of the gate and/or they go Marauder) just build one Refinery and mine only 150 gas. But you should keep in mind you will need tanks if your initial attack fails.
Quick Tank Build: This is a quick factory tech build and has another variation that I use against Zerg which I will detail later in this section. Follow the previous build until 17/19. You will put down your second Barracks and this is where the build strays. You should still use your first and second OC energy pools for MULE. 19/27 20/27 21/27 21/27
-> -> -> ->
Instead of a third Barracks build a second Refinery. As your gas hits 50 use this to create a tech lab at your interior Barracks. Create a tech lab at your walled Barracks Supply Depot
You should still be pumping Marines out of these Barracks when they’re not building their add-ons. Do not build Marauders unless necessary. Conserve the gas for now. Research the Marine shields if you feel you have time but I’d suggest going tanks first as researching that will delay you a few minutes. 23/34 -> Put down your first factory. You get the idea here. Put down your second factory ASAP and swap out your tech labs for the factories. Immediately put down your Barracks for two Reactor addons and start pumping Marines and Tanks as needed. Research siege ASAP as well. This build is fantastic against enemy Terran players as they rarely adapt their build correctly to TvT. You should have the upper hand with your early tanks and can take him down. It’s very effective to place your tanks near the base of the enemy cliff at the choke, scan the choke, and let your tanks blast away. This build is also great against Protoss. Make sure vs. Protoss that you build a third or fourth Barracks and add a Tech Lab and research Marine shields. Marines make an effective meat shield similar to Vultures in SC1. Build Marauders as needed as well. Teching up to the Starport and grabbing Medivacs will also benefit your tanks because the tank’s siege range goes beyond its sight lines. It will also give you cliff vision which is essential in tank battles and against Colossus.
Variation of Quick Tank (Hellion Rush): So here’s a variation of the tank build. This is effective against Protoss and Zerg situationally. It’s the same as the tank build except you substitute one tech lab add-on on your Barracks for one Reactor add-on. So when you build your two factories and swap them you you’ll now have a Factory with a Reactor and a Factory with a Tech Lab. As soon as you have this instead of going straight for Siege and Tanks, upgrade the Hellion’s damage. This gives the Hellion an additional +10 damage vs. Light units. While you’re doing this start pumping Hellions. If you’re able to, tech siege tanks as well and build a few of those out of your Tech Lab factory. This should prepare you for any counter attacks. This strategy is a hard counter for Banelings. Banelings can’t even get near 4 Hellions with damage upgrades and can’t get up a ramp with only 2 Hellions at the top when damage is upgraded. Use these Hellions however you want. Mineral raids are great against Zerg as any Zerg player worth his salt is going for Mutalisks. Any harassment you can do with these is going to go a long way toward a victory. Hellions aren’t great at taking out the Queen but they will do the job if the opportunity presents itself. But mostly you should go for the workers. With the +10 damage two Hellions will 1shot a drone. This makes them very effective mineral raiders. There is some micro involved in correctly using the Hellions for mineral raids. If you have four, place two on either side of the Hatchery. This means when the Zerg player inevitably runs his Drones from your Hellions, they will line up in a straight line on either side. If you do it correctly and the Zerg player does it wrong, the Drones will line up perfectly and you will kill every drone in two shots. Remember, the Hellions are only effective against light units. Focus on the workers and ignore Roaches or Hydralisks. You can afford to lose your 400 minerals if you kill enough workers. To make it an effective raid you need to kill at least 5 workers. But you only have a couple tries at this raid, so make it count.
The Fortified Expand: So let’s say your first attack was reasonably successful but didn’t GG the match right there. You should press your advantage by expanding. Lots of players think, “Hey, my first attack worked, let’s try it again.” I wouldn’t suggest it. Most often the opposing player is aware of your strategy now and is preparing against it. They’re also probably on the defensive since your attack (hopefully) did some damage. Now is the perfect time to switch up your strategy, go economy, and come back at them with an even larger force and better tech. (NOTE: There is somewhat of an exception against Zerg. You really don’t want them to go Mutalisk if they’re good. Mutas are the devil right now. It’s your choice to press them or not depending on how successful your attack was. If you killed his Queen, then go for it!!) Terran has an advantage when it comes to expanding. Their buildings lift, obviously, so you can build your expansion in your base. I always suggest this against Protoss and Zerg. It’s not as big a deal against Terran as they’re not as mobile and likely if they find your expansion your units will be there to fight them anyway. But let’s assume you build your expansion in your base. Once your start your new CC, make sure you put down an Engineering Bay if you haven’t already. As soon as that Command Center is completed you should lift it (if you don’t see any major enemy forces headed your way) and place it at the natural. Put it where you think the enemy will come at you from on the ground. Don’t shy away from conflict. This is a fortified expansion. You want them to attack this like the fools they are!! Once it’s landed build a Planetary Fortress immediately. Send half your SCVs from your main to mine. This is essential as it both boosts your economic output immediately and gives your Planetary Fortress triple the HP because of repair. If your new PF is attacked by anything except the following units, you should immediately start repairing to boost its HP:
More than 3 Colossus (or if they have range upgrade) More than 4 Siege Tanks Mass Baneling High Templar Mass Void Ray
In the case of the mass Void Ray the only reason I say don’t repair is that it’s a waste of minerals. Unless you think you’re reasonably going to be able to kill the Void Rays before they destroy the outpost, don’t bother. You’re just going to waste 200 minerals on a dying structure. In any case, that’s about it. Put up some turrets if you’d like, build out your refineries, and now you can put pressure on the enemy without being as scared about a counterattack! They’re going to need a serious force to take down that expo down. That’s about all I have for you except for a couple general tips:
If you think your Zerg opponent is going to send Banelings at your choke, put a bunker behind the wider side of the choke and put some Marines in it. Sure, you’ll lose your supply depot and the Bunker, but they will absorb most of the damage, leaving your Marines and Marauders untouched. This should let you counter whatever is behind/with the Banelings. Be careful with units you have in front of your Siege Tanks. Don’t let them stray too far both for the sake of your tanks and your meat shields. You want to protect your tanks from Melee
units, and you also don’t want to take splash friendly fire damage. If you’re facing mainly Zealots, it’s okay to shell them from a distance, but unsiege once they’re close-up. Don’t get back-doored: Watch any rocks you have in the rear of your base. Put a supply depot there to make sure it’s not getting hit. Use your Planetary Fortress as an anvil. If your opponent is foolish enough to hit your PF, make them pay. Bring your main force around behind them and trap them between your PF and your main force. Press the advantage. If you destroy their main force you have a good chance of at least taking out an expansion. Again, press the advantage. Whenever you beat an attack you need to press. Again, press! The Terran’s job is to provide a push. If you don’t un-turtle at tier 2 then you might as well GG because you can’t concede map control. Push, push, push!
Good luck out there! This guide was written by our good friend Joneagle_X over at starcraft2forums.org. If your looking for a great Starcraft 2 forum community site then check it out it’s one of the largest Starcraft 2 forums and one of the best communities I’ve seen.
