In the somewhat long and varied history of StarCraft2Forum.org, we’ve tried our best to bring you knowledge of StarCraft 2. Within our limited scope, we’ve provided tips on gameplay, opinions on balance, and as the beta has progressed, we’ve started to give you winning strategies and guides (mostly for Terran since that’s what I play).
It’s become pretty clear that there’s no way that I can be an expert on all three races. I like to think that I’m a very knowledgeable and talented Terran player, but in order to keep my level of play high with one race, I have to skip the other two for the time being.
That has left a gap in the knowledge I can provide to our users. That’s why I’ve always taken the suggestions of various community members to hear when they’ve asked me about guides. I’ve heard a lot of guides downplayed because they were useless, and I’ve even taken a look at a couple (Joana’s Guide and Star2Pros) and completely disregarded them because they were ridiculously expensive for what they provided.
So last week when Shokz StarCraft 2 Guide approached me about a review I was a little apprehensive. But hey, I’m willing to give anything a shot once. After reading the guide and talking with its owner, I’ve been convinced that it is a useful tool in any StarCraft player’s arsenal. While I don’t necessarily recommend the use of guides in general for more advanced players (because you become reliant and more of a copy-cat player) I would definitely suggest a guide for new players who are just starting out with StarCraft 2 or are new to the RTS genre in general.
The Shokz guide covers the basics, and does it well. There is a large amount of material that is presented in an easy to understand format that is improving as we speak. I was particularly impressed with the Unit Guides in which Shokz outlines the strengths and weaknesses of each unit in the context of other units it will encounter on the battlefield. This is often the area which is the easiest to learn but some players are slow to pick up to the point where they can detect the correct counter in situations where it will win them the game. His collection of build orders and unit-specific tricks are also very helpful (I even learned something—who knew scanning instead of getting MULEs could hurt you so bad? I’m also going to start using his Barracks trick for scouting).
So what’s my advice here? If you’re new to the Starcraft universe (that includes WarCraft 3 players) I would suggest taking a look at his guide. Whether it’s worth the $27 lifetime subscription is ultimately up to you, but it couldn’t make you worse, right? Good luck out there!
Click this link to take a look at the Shokz Guide!
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