Hot keys

Hot Keys
Every unit command has a hot key, or keyboard shortcut, associated with it. Holding the cursor over any unit command button will display the name of the command. Note that one of the letters appears in Yellow-- this is the hot key for that command. Using hot keys for special abilities, attacking, and construction can save a lot of time. Selecting Units
Double-Clicking on a unit will select all units of the same type that are on the screen (up to 12.) You can also do the same thing by holding down the Control key and left-clicking on a unit. Sometimes when you group-select a bunch of different unit types you'll want to add or remove units from the group. For example, if you've selected a group of Marines, Ghosts, Firebats, and SCVs, you might want to send the combat units off to fight, and send the SCVs off to work. In the Status Display, hold down Control and select the Portrait of the unit you want to single out. This will select a group of those types of units. Sometimes this is faster and easier than double clicking or control clicking individual units on the main screen, especially while they are moving and/or battles are going on. Hold down Shift and select units you want to be removed from your current selection group. This is useful when an unwanted unit gets caught up in your selection such as an SCV, Dropship and so on. Hold down Alt and click on one unit from an earlier assigned group to select all units of that group. The term "group" doesn't refer to the units designated to a hot key, but to any units that have been selected as a group (by any method). If, for example, you select 5 Marines (by dragging a box around them, holding shift and clicking on them all, holding CTRL and clicking on one of them, etc), then select a different unit, and later hold down ALT and click on one of those Marines again, all five Marines will be reselected (note that these Marines have not been designated to a number key). This ALT-click selection works on the last "group" to which that unit was a member. This will usually lead units hot keyed to a number to be reselected when one of those units is ALT-clicked (since hot keyed units are selected together all the time). Whenever you hear a unit transmission, such as "We're under attack!", "Building complete", etc. press the Space Bar to center the screen on the location of the last transmission. This comes in very handy, especially in the case of a unit being completed. Control Groups
You can assign a building, building add-on, or a group of up to 12 units to a single key. To do this, select what you want to assign, then hold down Control and select a number on the keyboard between 0-9. Then, when you want to select what you assigned, simply press the number of the group that you want. Pressing a group number twice will center the screen on the group. Careful use of control groups can be vital to building up your forces during the heat of battle, and being able to rapidly respond to unexpected attacks. By assigning a control group to your Command Center or Nexus you can quickly center on your town by pressing the group key twice. It also allows you to quickly select the building and begin training a new worker. For example, if you have a Command Center set to group 1, you can press 1 then s to train a new SCV without pulling your attention away from whatever you're currently doing. This is even more effective when done with the Zerg because in addition to the functions of the Terran and Protoss counterparts, the Hatchery produces all Zerg units. Assigning it to #1, you would hit 1 then s (to select all Larvae), then the hot key for the Zerg unit you want to morph the Larva into. By assigning all of your Hatcheries to group #s, you can quickly produce large groups of units. Combined with Rally Points, this allows a Zerg player to very quickly build up an attacking or defending force. Terran players will find that assigning one or more ComSat Stations to a control group they can quickly detect cloaked units and scout out enemy bases. It's usually a good idea to assign the numbers 1-3 to ComSat stations, so you can instantly perform a Scanner Sweep simply by pressing 1 s. You can also use control groups to assign groups of specific units that you want to find and control easily, such as groups of SCVs you want to devote to repairing, or packs of Carriers, Battlecruisers, Scouts, Mutalisks, etc. Use it on spell casters so they will be easier to find. Assign a number to a group of Defilers then Burrow them. In the heat of battle you may not remember where you placed them, but with control #s you can easily find and control them. The F2-F4 Keys
You can use F2-F4 to assign a specific location on the map to a key. For instance you might want to keep an eye on the entrance to your base. Center the screen on the area you want to watch, hold down the Shift key, and press F2, F3 or F4. To center your screen on the location again, simply press the appropriate key. Locations vs. Control Groups
Remember you can assign your main buildings at each town, and expansion towns to 0-9. This allows you to both center the screen on each town you may have, and also quickly train a worker or other unit. However, you can't use control groups to assign a screen location to a place where there are no buildings, or to enemy buildings or towns. That's when F2-F4 come in handy. Use F2-F4 for enemy towns, key ambush spots, and other worthwhile spots you want to watch but can't keep units at. Setting Waypoints
StarCraft allows you to guide units along using waypoints. Select the units, then hold down Shift. While holding Shift down, select Attack then while continuing to hold down shift, repeatedly select attack and click on each point on either the mini-map or main screen you want the units to travel to. When you are done, release shift. You can also do the same thing by right-clicking on the map, but that will issue a Move order instead. As your forces are traveling to the various waypoints, they will not stop or respond to any attacks on them. Move should only be used if you don't think the units will be attacked. Setting waypoints is very useful when scouting by air. Select an air unit, then set a waypoint at each resource spot. The flyer will head off to each resource spot. This is very good when used with Observers and cloaked Wraiths, since they can easily evade most enemies.

Use Waypoints to guide your troops through difficult areas.

There is a limit of the number of Waypoints you can use. You will receive a message indicating when you have reached that limit.
Queuing Commands
Assigning waypoints and queuing commands are effectively the same thing. To queue commands, hold down the shift button, and issue commands to the unit, clicking on the mini-map or on the main screen. When you have issued all your commands, release the shift key. Each unit is capable of queuing several commands at once singly or when group selected. You can queue most commands such as left-clicking, right-clicking, Stop, Attack, Hold Position, Repair, Move, Patrol, and Load/Unload. There is a limited number of commands that can be queued-- you will receive a message indicating when you have reached that Queue limit. For example:
You can tell a group of Terran SCVs to repair a group of Wraiths by holding down Shift and either right-clicking, pressing R, or clicking the Repair Button and targeting all the damaged Wraiths. If you attempt to repair a Wraith that is not damaged you will receive a warning message that the Wraith doesn't need to be repaired, but it won't cancel out your previous queued repair commands, so don't worry. The same can be done with buildings, and the last command can be to return to mining resources. Another use is to tell an SCV to build then mine. Hold down Shift and select the building you want to build and click where you want it built. Then right-click on either a Mineral patch or a Refinery. When the SCV is done building, it will start mining. The same can be done with Protoss Probes. This cannot be used with Zerg because the Drones morph into the buildings, causing the loss of the Drone.

Reconnaissance

Recon is one of the most important elements in strategy games. You must first locate the enemy, then keep track of what they are doing. If you can immediately locate expansion towns and destroy them, and always meet your opponent's forces with counter-forces, victory will be assured. Your first recon task is to find the enemy. This is important so you will know what direction attacks will be coming from, and where you need to send attacks of your own. It's also good to know what direction your opponent is going in-- if you see a Protoss player building several Gateways, you can expect a heavy Zealot attack. Recon Rush
In Allied games, sometimes a team member might send out a worker early to scout the map, using shared vision to pass that information to the other team members. In one on one games, this can be damaging as even a single worker is very important at that stage in the game to build up, but in allied games you can usually count on your teammates to cover for you. After finding the enemy you can make team decisions as to whom to attack, what person will attack which enemy or, most likely, who you will all concentrate your forces on. Zerg Players have the ability to send out Overlords to scout the map at that early stage in the game, but because Overlords initially travel very slow, it might be faster to send a Drone instead. Keep in mind that this will get that scouting player behind, and they might need to be protected early on until they can recover economically from losing a worker at such an early stage in the game. Zerg players can park their Overlord over the enemy town fairly early in the game if they happen to find them. This works very well against Protoss because to attack the Overlord they must build Dragoons or a Photon Cannon. You can often sit over their town and watch them for quite a while. Protoss players should use a Dragoon to get rid of the spy as soon as possible. Generally, as soon as the Zerg player sees a finished Cybernetics Core, they should move their Overlord away to high ground or a safe territory. Terran players can use a Marine to get rid of the Overlord so this isn't a concern with them. Zerg players must wait until a Hydralisk is done before they can get rid of the Overlord. If at all possible, move under the Overlord before attacking it to increase the chance of killing it before it gets away. Losing even a single Overlord at that stage of the game will disrupt the Zerg player's buildup strategy. Standard Recon
More conservative players can wait until their first attack unit (Zergling, Marines, or Zealots) before sending out a recon mission. It is up to you to decide how many you want to send out scouting, and it depends greatly on the map size. On large maps, only one Marine or Zealot will take forever to explore the map and find the enemy unless you get lucky. Most likely the enemy will be well established before you find them. So the larger the map is, the more scouting troops you should probably send. Keep in mind that if you get attacked by a full force while your troops are out scouting, it could spell the end for you. Scouting is a risky maneuver but it can pay off. Sometimes it's simply a matter of luck. If the enemy gets lucky and finds you early, it can be over. After you find the enemy you have to make a decision if you want to attack or continue to build up. If you see a definite advantage, attack. Keep in mind though that the enemy may be able to build up a defense in the time it takes you to walk your troops across the map. Watching the Enemy
It is important to make periodic checks on the enemy town to see what units are available to them, and possibly what strategy they might be trying for. It's important to become familiar with the tech tree for all three species, even if you specialize in playing only one of them. For example, if you find a Protoss player with four Gateways, a Nexus, and nothing else except Pylons, you know that they are probably going for Zealots. If they have one Gateway, a Cybernetics Core, and a Robotics Facility, expect a Reaver drop. Stopping various strategies is often as simple as catching the enemy while they are attempting them. Examples of this are enemies building Bunkers/Shield Batteries/Barracks/Gateways outside your town, trying to set up defensive formations in high traffic or key locations, or expanding to new resource nodes. As noted above, it's also important to determine what units are available to your opponent, and whether they are focusing on a one-unit strategy or not. Terrans
For this task, Terrans have the easiest time. They can use the Scanner Sweep ability of the ComSat Station, after building a Barracks and an Academy. This cannot be countered by the enemy without destroying the ComSat Station. Terrans can use Marines initially to scout until the ComSat station is available. Vultures with the Ion Thrusters upgrade make incredible scouts. Send them around the resource spots using waypoints. You can lay Spider Mines at the resource spots to spot and attack anyone trying to build by them (keep in mind that Mines are not activated by hovering workers.) Mines make incredible scouts-- lay them in well traveled areas, and outside the defensive perimeter of your town to spot and harass enemy troops. An upgraded Vulture can also be used to run right through enemy towns-- their fast speed sometimes allows them to zip right past defenses. You can also use cloaked Wraiths to scout the enemy if they do not have detection yet. Usually a ComSat is more effective, though, especially if you remember to use it every time its energy reaches full charge. Protoss
Protoss have a hard time with spying until they are able to use Observers. Use Zealots and Probes to scout the map until Observers are available. Unless you are really doing well, you won't want to leave your expensive combat units like Zealots and Dragoons sitting around resource spots. Once you have enough Probes gathering Minerals and Gas at your main base, send them out to sit and wait until you're ready to start on an expansion town. Once Observers are available, use them. They make perfect scouts, since they are small, fast (when upgraded), and, of course, invisible. Hide them over the resource spots, send them over the enemy towns, leave them along land routes between your bases, plant them any place that you can. Researching their speed and sight upgrades makes them the best scouts available to any species. Zerg
The main Zerg scout is the Overlord. Be sure to research the speed and sight upgrades. Overlords are visible, vulnerable, and valuable, so a better scout is... The lowly Zergling! Place a burrowed Zergling at every resource spot. This will only cost a little of money because they are so cheap. You will find that the computer Zerg AI uses this strategy quite well. You can burrow larger forces as more Minerals are available-- 6-12 Zergling won't impact your economy much, but can quickly destroy and enemy attempt to expand. Place Zergling at other high traffic areas to watch enemy movement. Often your Zergling will be able to sit there untouched for quite a while, giving you a free scout on the map. This also works with Drones and Hydralisks. Burrow Drones at resource spots until you have enough money to build a Hatchery. Queens can parasite units and let the units do recon for them. Starving the Enemy
Often winning the game is as simple as making good recon on enemy expansion. It is important to grab multiple resource spots (especially geysers) in order to build more units, or to afford the more expensive units such as Carriers, Battlecruisers and Guardians. If you can deny the enemy these additional spots, they will not be able to fund further troops and you will eventually be able to overpower them if you use your troops effectively. Many inexperienced players don't realize this, and when they lose the game they wonder why they lost. Often the reason is that their enemy mined more resources than they did. Take a look at the stats after each game, and find out if that was true. If so, you know that it is an area you want to improve at. There are always corners that can be cut to make resource gathering faster. It is up to you to find out what those corners are. While having the most resources doesn't guarantee victory in and of itself, it certainly makes it easier!

Resources

In order to build up your army, you will need to collect the raw materials necessary to develop and build your war machines. There are two types of resources, Minerals and gas. You will need to procure both in order to build your full complement of troops. Mineral Deposits
The planets along the rim are often dotted with clusters of precious Mineral crystals, which are collected and smelted to create the armored hulls of starships, vehicles, and personal armor. Even the Zerg require Minerals to harden their carapaces and develop strong teeth and bones. The crystals take some time to gather, and only Terran SCVs, Zerg Drones, and Protoss Probes have the necessary equipment to break off bits of the crystals and return them to the proper building. Gathering Minerals
Each Mineral spot can only be mined by one worker at a time. If there is a free Mineral spot available, workers will try to head to it. If there are no free Mineral chunks available, miners will get in line behind one of the chunks and wait their turn. Because of this, there is a point where you can have too many miners working a group of Minerals, and you won't be able to gather any faster no matter how many workers you add. A good rule to follow is to have 2-2 1/2 miners for each Mineral chunk. If the main headquarters is further away from the deposits, this rule changes, and you will need to add more miners to bring in Minerals at the fastest possible rate. Placing Your Command Centers/Nexus/Hatchery
Try to move your headquarters as close as possible to the Minerals if they aren't pre-placed. Players of all species should try to place their resource centers as close to the Minerals as possible to reduce walking distances for their workers. The further away from the Minerals gatherers have to go, the longer they will take to return the resources. You will notice a difference. When given the choice to place the building closer to Minerals or gas, pick Minerals. When you place it closer to gas, you have to build more workers for each of the Mineral chunks, but when you are closer to the Minerals, you need only build more workers for one gas spot, rather than 5-10+ Mineral spots (since you can only mine geysers with one worker at a time). Since Minerals come in multiple chunks and do not require a building to extract them they are much more plentiful. More often than not, gas is a worry while Minerals are not. Minerals are required for all buildings and units but there are many Mineral-only units, consisting of the lower tech tree units like the Terran Marines, SCVs, and Basic Buildings; Protoss Probes, Zealots, and Basic Buildings; and Zerg Drones, Zergling, Overlords, and basic buildings. While players can survive on Minerals only it is not recommended, since both upgrades and high-level units will be unavailable. Gatherers bring back 8 Minerals per trip. To see how many Minerals are left in a particular patch, select it then look at the status display. A number will indicate how many Minerals are left. When you initially start the game, it is a bad idea to select all four workers and right click on a Mineral patch. What happens is that all four workers go to the same patch and try to mine it. Since only one can mine at a time, the other three wait in line for that specific Mineral. This makes for a very slow start early in the game when it's vitally important not to make mistakes. A faster way to do this is to individually select each worker and then right click on a different patch for each worker. The fastest way, which requires more micro management, is to initially select all four then right click on the same Mineral patch to get them moving, then individually select each one as they are moving and move them to their own patch. Either method is a significant improvement over simply ordering the entire group to mine one location. Vespene Geysers
Vespene gas has an unusually high potential energy rating, and as such is highly valued for use as a fuel in high-performance engines and energy reactors. The Zerg have adapted themselves to use raw Vespene as a source of nourishment to drive their greatly accelerated metabolisms. Even the Protoss require Vespene to work as a catalyst for their psi-driven machines. Geysers of this powerful green gas can be found on many planets along the Rim, and several space stations have been built over Vespene-rich asteroid belts. A Refinery of some sort must be built over an active geyser to process and package the gas for its collection by the difference species. Terran players must build a Refinery to extract the gas, Protoss must warp in an Assimilator, and Zerg players must morph a Drone into an Extractor. While an individual geyser has an effectively unlimited amount of gas within it, after a certain point the geyser "collapses" and only trace amounts of Vespene can be refined from it. Most players would do well to seek fresh geysers to ensure they have enough fuel to maintain their military. When a geyser collapses, you will receive the message: "Geyser has been depleted" and you'll hear the collapse. Pressing the space bar will center your screen on the collapsed geyser. At this point, it is not worth it to further mine the geyser unless there are no further fresh geysers available. If you do not find a new geyser, you will soon notice a large decrease in your gas gathering. Select all the workers mining the collapsed geyser and move them to another spot. When moving workers carrying gas, be sure to right-click them on the new geyser so they will start returning from the new gas mine. If the gas mine is as close as possible to your headquarters then you don't need more than four workers collecting gas from that location. If you place any more on mining gas they will be wasted. If the gas mine is further away, you may need an additional worker or two to collect gas at the fastest speed. If you see more than one gas miner stacked up waiting for the gas mine to be free, you know you have too many mining it. Gas is by far the most coveted resource. It is used for upgrades and to build all the higher tech tree units and buildings. One should attempt to get multiple gas mines until gas is not a worry. It is not uncommon to need 3-4+ gas mines to properly power a high-tech war machine. Generally it is not a wise idea to specifically attack workers mining gas. Only 4 workers are usually mining the gas at a time, and it is really easy for your opponent to make another 4 workers if they are destroyed, then put them back on gas. Target the workers mining Minerals specifically because there will be many more workers in that area, and they will be fully exposed while they're harvesting. To see how much gas is left in the geyser, select it or the Refinery (Assimilator, Extractor) then look at the status display. A number will indicate how many gas is left. A depleted mine will simply read "depleted". You might want to select a few units and destroy your own Assimilator, Refinery, or Extractor after the geyser is depleted so you know which geysers are still worth mining or not. Just select a few guys and destroy it. With multiple towns it can be quite confusing which geysers are depleted and which aren't, and this method can help.