Starcraft 2 – Zerg Build Orders
After some intense playing here’s my 2 cents for a sensible Zerg build order. As you may have realized there is no such thing as the perfect build order in Starcraft 2, it all depends on what you want to do and, more importantly, what your opponent is up to. Nevertheless I’ve developed 3 “standard” Zerg tactics for which I would like to present you the build order, so let’s get started!
Standard Zergling Rush
In Starcraft 2 Drones, Probes and SCV’s are pretty good at killing off Zergling, so good in fact that you may even loose your 6 initial Zerglings in a rush without a single kill to your name. Many people actually will save their inital Zerglings as they don’t see a point in “wasting” them on a premature rush, however if done properly a fast rush can be quite sucessful.
In Starcraft 2 you can’t simply rush in and start killing workers as they will gang up and wipe you out. The trick is to move in as if you where planning to kill off your opponents workers and when they do gang up on you simply retreat. Stopping the workers from minning means a loss of about 50 minerals right there. If your enemy keeps chasing your Zerlings even better as it means more wasted minerals and you can usually kill off one or two units.
If you manage to repeat this 5 or 6 times, your Zerglings have been well invested. As always the rush might not win you the game immediatelly but you’ll be in a much superior position to finish off your enemy.
For each race you play against there are slight variations to this tactic:
Terran (if you get in)
Keep harassing the SCVs, as described above, until a marrine comes out. When the marine pops run from the SCVs and kill off the Marine, then get back to letting the SCVs chase you.
Terran (if he walls off)
Attack two Supply depots with three Zerglings each. Normally you should at least get one because it’ll take 3 scv’s on each depot just to keep it standing. After you knock one down kill a few SCVs as described above. By this time you are likely to be almost dead and your oponnent will have a marine. However 1 Supply depot + 1 SCV + repair time on two depots and you allready have made your money back in his losses and hopefully slowed down his unit production.
Protoss
You really need to get there early and be a little lucky for this to work. If you get the Zerglings over soon enough you’ll beat your oponnents first Zealot. When you get there target the Pylon powering the Gateway. The Zealot will more than likely come out while you are still knocking down the pylon. To finish your job you need to micromanage your Zerglings by always moving the one being attacked by the Zealot to the other side of the Pylon. Once the Pylon is down follow the same procedure as described above. While doing this you should be teching to Roaches (see below) because your enemy probably will not have Stalkers out soon enough to deal with them and will be over compensating with Zealots anticipating more of your Zerglings.
The Speedling Rush
Zergs have always been know for their rushes and while a quick rush might not win you the game straightout, it will set the scene for a later victory. The aim of this strategy is to disrupt the oponents economy using speedlings, standard zerglings hyped up on a Metabolic Boost. Speedlings are low-cost and damn fast, allowing you to run around your enemy and pick off workers inside his base. You’re Zerglings will bite the dust after a while but not before doing a lot of harm and generally being a nusiance.
For a speedling rush build 10 drones and then an Overlord. When you hit 14 drones build a Spawning Pool and then an Extractor. Once the Extractor is ready get 3 harvesters to gather vespene gas. Next produce a Queen and purchase the Metabolic Boost. While the Queen and the upgrade are being produced it’s time to start pumping out Zerglings.
Once you feel you have enough Zerglings to do some damage it’s time to attack. Rush for your enemys base and ignore any defenses. Go straight for harvesters and workers. Normally this should cripple your opponents economy enough to give you ample time to grow and produce deadlier units. If you’re feeling especially annoying follow up your first rush with a second wave to kill off any other workers your oponnent might have produced in the mean time.
Take care when you are fighting agains Terran players, they will usually block off their entrance making this tactic useless. Always use your Overlord to scout out the map and anticipate such moves.
The Roach Opener
Another interesting starting tactic employs the Roach unit. The Roach is a Zerg ground unit which is really effective against buildings. Similar to the Speedling Rush, this tactic is aimed at crippling your opponents economy. Even a Terran player may have a difficult time coping with this type of assault. While this initial method is quite effective in lower levels on BattleNet, more experienced players will once again know how to counter this tactic. Don’t try doing this if you know that the Protoss are building Immortals or in the event that the Terrans are creating Marauders, which you can discover by (carefully) scouting with your Overlord.
To get Roaches quickly, use this build order: Build 10 drones, and then an Overlord. Next make 3 additional harvesters and conserve minerals for a Spawning Pool. Then you will need an Extractor, and 3 drones collecting Vespene Gas. At this time you should be near fifteen gatherers, so make one more Overlord. Next build the Spawning Pool, Zerglings, a Queen, and a Roach Warren. Set the Roach Warren near the rear of the base so that your oponent has a more difficult time figuring out what you doing. Create several Zerglings, then continue to build Roaches. When you reach 8 Roaches, strike with your whole army. You should have the ability to break through any protection and get your Zerglings to sneak past and destroy all workers.
As always, if you’ve never tried these build orders before, it is a good idea to practice them against the computer first.
Happy rushing! :D
