work in progress
Introduction
Firstly, why should you even attempt to read this guide? Well, I am a experimenter by nature and I have experimented the hell out of exploiting the use of the bot as a legit tool to help me improve. You should too.
What this guide will not do for you -Play the game for you
Win for you
Make you go from bronze to grand master overnight(if you do please notify me immediately for free cookies)
What this guide can help you do -Improve faster then people not using the bot
Use the tool to learn not just rely on like a crutch
Get a better understanding of sc2
Have the correct mindset
The Bot
Features and UsesRadar
Feature - Provides mini-map vision
Use - Map awareness
Observer Panel/Opponent Units
Feature - Status of opponent
Use - Achieving comfort
Macro Keys/ Auto Macro
Feature - Help you macro better
Use - Training Wheels for Mechanics
Audio Alerts
Feature - Audio Alert
Use - Subconscious Training for Mechanics/Macro
Hotkeys
(in-game)
This is the most important sectionBefore you ever play starcraft 2 again set up you hotkey's correctly!
This is to give you a guideline/ideas on what you can achieve with hotkey's.
Do NOT use default setting or grid! They are garbage! Worse than....
The grid is a step in the right direction in terms of memory but why use it when you can customize every key.
MemoryYour hotkey set-up should be instinctive. You should not have to ever use your mouse to check what the hotkey actually is. This slows down your improvement rate.
EfficiencyYour hotkey set-up should be quick, responsive, easy, and efficient. You should not have to reach very far for keys that are used frequently. Also, you should be able to macro incredibly fast(less then a second to create 10 drones or 10 army units). Why? Because to get better you need to multitask in the sense that you can watch a battle and without thinking or moving you screen, create some reinforcements or macro(including inject, but this WILL require screen movement away from battle).
LogicalYour hotkeys need to make sense to
you.
These are the main guidelines for creating your hotkey set-up. These in mind it becomes apparent why I do not recommend the blizzard created hotkey set-ups, especially for zerg.
Example ideas from my own hotkey set-up. I know that the human brain works quicker in beats or continual rhythms(tap-tap,tap-tap,tap-tap or tap-tap-tap,tap-tap-tap,tap-tap-tap). I have based my hotkey set-up on that fact. Hint: It has to do with the anatomy of your fingers. The second most-used macro key is on my space bar. My queens are individually hot-keyed(fastest most effective, and non erronious method). All my hatcheries are on one key that allows me to create units in one hand motion without stuttering(1or4567etc > s > d Is IMMENSELY less efficient then my method).
I will not post my own hotkey set-up because it only makes sense to me and it needs to be a personal endeavor for you so it is easily memorized.
Using these guidelines your goal should be :
To macro quickly and efficiently without any extra effort. To be able to inject faster then panties dropping at the after party for a rock concert. To have efficient camera movement and build quickly and easily.
For upgrades(and as an example of a good hotkey set-up): Save one hotkey, use TAB to cycle through the buildings and hotkey every upgrade to a different hotkey. Example : 1(all upgrade buildings) > qwer > TAB > qwer >TAB > qwer > TAB > qwer (should take less then a second and you have cycles through all your upgrade buildings)
You can have roach burrow as q. Ranged attack as w. Carrapace as e. Air attack as r. You just researched all of them filling up one hotkey space without clicking or looking at your base.Macro
Macro is simply constantly building drones and overlords and injecting perfectly. This is hard for 90% of people because they are :
A - Afraid of an attack that isn't coming
B - Lazy
C - Have shitty hotkeys
D - Don't care
E - Any/all Above
This should be separated in your mind from building units and teching.
Units Tech and Scouting
Since the last section disappointing me this HAS to be complicated right? No.
Cheap trick: Rely on mappro - Keep one round of drones ahead of your opponent. ZvZ? Literally one drone ahead until mid-game(10-12mins)
"I actually want to improve":
Scout constantly. With your new hotkey set-up this should be very easy. To practice play the game only with your screen on a pack of zergling/overlord. Constantly move this unit around while staring at the mini-map. Your peripheral vision will work for the giant view screen. Which rarely needs to be looked at except for food/minerals/gas, but eventually even that does not need to be looked at.
"OMG He teched Pheonix I r Dead DANM NUB DO ONE TING ALL TIME AND WINN AGAINST ME WITH MAPPRO FML OMG I HATE THIS GAME!!"
Here is a secret to open your eyes: Hydras SUCK against phoenix. The real counter? Roaches. Yes, no joke.
The simple goal to follow: Is he expanding or is he building units? If he is expanding, then expand .5 to One base more then him. (.5 = a macro hatch or half-saturated base). Building units? Then build more then him.(easy as zerg, once a zerg decides to produce even if he is behind on drones he will out produce even a protoss with a bajillion warpgates not really but almost ^.^)
Congrats if you can do everything in this guide, you are a high master or grand-master Zerg.