This has become such a deep game with so many intricacies and complications that it can get overwhelming for new players, even in the Practice League. It can get pretty dicey for veterans as well, since having to do so many things all at once can be very stressful. As such, mistakes are commonplace in multiplayer, ranging from simple things to minor details during the heat of battle that can mean the difference between victory and defeat. Learning about these mistakes can help make a rookie become a hardened veteran.

Bad Resource Management

Some of the biggest and most obvious mistakes made by beginners is regarding economy. Around 85% of the game is all about economy, so it’s definitely the first thing that must be ironed out before you try to improve on other aspects.

The very first thing that must be pointed out is the number of harvesters in every base. Most Bronze level players tend to have too few workers in their mineral line, which is the most fundamental error in playing Starcraft II. This must be drilled into players’ heads because it really does mean the difference between a noob and a pro. Having too few harvesters is like a glass ceiling, preventing you from improving further, even though you have gotten better in other aspects of play.

With that said, once you’ve improved in your macro, you should then practice on spending those minerals. If you see your resource count go to four digits, you are doing something very wrong. Hoarding resources means that you’re not building units and structures fast enough. Macro is also about time management, which mostly consists of keeping your tempo up and developing your army as quickly and efficiently as possible. You should only hoard if you’re saving up for something, like a Protoss Mothership, some Terran Thors, Zerg Ultralisks, or other high-tier units. As for buildings, it is a good pointer to have at least one worker putting up new ones in your base at all times when your macro has gotten to the point where you regain minerals and gas within seconds.

Lazy Military

Most beginners would build a Barracks or Gateway and leave it at that, which is just sad. Don’t think that just because you’ve build an infantry building, that means you can leave it at that. Two is better than one since it lets you produce units twice as fast. For example, you can have one Barracks with a Reactor churning out Marines while another one is producing Marauders. Of course, you don’t want to build too many at the start of the game since you won’t have enough resources left over to build your army. Double up on your structures once your economy is solid enough.

Getting Every Unit Aimlessly

Another thing that beginners tend to do is to build everything and make all the units they can get during the course of the game without any particular direction. You can do this in AI games to get a feel for the tech tree of your chosen race. However, you’d want to be more focused against a human opponent by building certain units that correspond to a general strategy. For example, if you’re Protoss, you may want to make some Stalkers with some Sentries for added defense and some Immortals to pack a bigger punch. If that fails, you may then make other units to counter what the opponent has, like air units to overwhelm a Terran Thor. It’s like in real life where a single gun with a thousand bullets is way better than a thousand guns each with a single bullet.

Trusting Your Combat AI

Being an absentee general will only mean death to your soldiers and a massive letter L on your forehead. What most beginners do is to have a bunch of units attack, then pour his attention on his base while his army dukes it out with enemy forces. This usually does not end well since much of combat effectiveness lies in micro-management and using your units’ abilities whenever possible. Don’t just let the computer take care of your battles and control your units in battle. You can direct attacks to specific enemy units to kill them quickly if they’re that much of a nuisance, as well as use abilities and retreat when you’re getting nailed.

Your military is the most important aspect of your game since the whole point of Starcraft II is to destroy your opponent. While your economy is quite important, you’ll survive if a few workers get killed or if an upgrade gets delayed. You won’t survive if your forces are blown sky high. That’s why you should prioritize battles over base management most of the time.

Splitting Up Forces Too Early

During the late game, especially if you’ve reached 200 supply, a good strategy is to divide and conquer. For example, you can have your ground forces attack one place and distract the enemy’s attention, while air units destroy a base somewhere else, thus maximizing damage. However, doing this early in the game is bad practice. Godwin’s Law not withstanding, this is what a certain Austrian did that later cost him the war during the 20th century. Focus your attacks and do as much damage at one part and keep at it until you achieve your objective.

If you do split too early, what will happen is that one half will get steamrolled by a larger enemy force, then the other half also gets destroyed when they go back to help or attack a heavily fortified enemy base since there isn’t enough units to break through.

Not Backing Off

This is quite a common mistake since a lot of beginners would have deer-in-headlights syndrome when they see their army crumble into dust in battle. Reasons for not retreating can range from doing so too late, not being decisive enough to do so in the first place, right down to just being plain stubborn and bitter. If things aren’t going your way, stay calm and commence a tactical retreat.

Besides, things can turn to your favor when retreating since it’s likely for enemy forces to follow you, only for you to spring a trap on them or lead them to a choke point where you can pick them off more easily.

Not Monitoring Units’ Health

In Starcraft II, you can see how much health your units have by pressing the ALT key. This is important since you can know when you’re being trounced by your opponent in battle, which lets you know that you should retreat right away. A beginner would gather up a large army, then shout expletives when his units becomes chowder. In these situations, it’s most likely that the enemy forces had units that are strong against your units, which is why they were defeated. They were all destroyed because they weren’t able to back off when they still could, which is most likely due to the player not knowing that they’re losing health very quickly. That’s why it’s very important to monitor your army’s health with the ALT key.

No Scouting

There will always be a wall blocking the player who does not send a scout to an enemy base. Perhaps it’s due to fear of losing a unit or just being plain lazy. Not knowing what you need to know is quite an obstacle since your opponent would most likely be scouting you anyway. Sun Tzu’s Art of War states that you must know your enemy if you want to defeat him. Heed these words and send a scout, which may get killed but the information gained would be worth more than that unit anyway.

Scouting your opponent lets you know where he is and if he’s planning to rush you or build certain units that can land you into trouble. Once you have this information, you can then do what you can to counter whatever he’s planning to do, then attack him quickly since you know his location. Scouting before attacking shows you where his defenses are and if there are any holes you can exploit.

Don’t be lazy and scout your opponent. This way, you can stay one step ahead of him and give you more opportunities for victory.

Ignoring Xel’Naga Watch Towers

Those eye things in your mini-map are there for a very good reason. They show you where Xel’Naga Watch Towers are, which are important strategic points that can be used to see a large area of the map. Holding such a tower can help you spot advancing enemies and show certain locations that may be of use to you. Not using these towers is what can be expected from a beginner, so quit being one and start using these towers to your advantage.

Conclusion

Learn from these mistakes to rise in rank and be a better player in Starcraft II. You can then leave the confines of Bronze league and venture forth to higher levels of competition. If you learn enough, perhaps you’d even reach Diamond and pose a serious threat. Always remember though that mastery is really just advanced basics, so learn what you can and keep practicing.

Supplementary Videos

Here are some videos that can help you understand more of certain fundamental concepts.