Constructive criticism is definitely a good idea but this forum shouldn’t solely be used to discuss what 343 did wrong or not.
This is a great game altogether and I love it. 
So let’s start with more gameplay-related discussions.
What are your build-orders for deathmatch or domination?
I played quite a few games yesterday (only 2v2 or 3v3 tho) and I felt this opening was pretty solid:
- Scout - Supply - Energy - Supply - Upgrade 3 - Energy - Supply - Upgrade 6 - T2I split the initial units and grab resources in a growing radius around the base.
With the scouts I try to steal resources on the opponents side.
If I focus the gathering on energy I should be close to the costs of T2 after 8.
If I see the enemy pushing or know that the enemy is going for fast Scarabs I go for:
- Initial unit upgrade (Grenades / Scout shield)
- Start building a bunch of scouts and marines/grunts
- Upgrade 2
- Upgrade 4
- Upgrade 7
- T2
What have been your openings so far?
Any comments on mine?
My Ultimate Upgrade/Power build order is as follows:
- build 2 supply pads and upgrade them
- build 2 generators (upgrade them asap!)
- build 1 supply pad but don’t upgrade it!!!
- at 700 supplies destroy your 3rd supply pad that you didn’t upgrade
- immediately build a generator where you destroyed your supply pad and upgrade it asap
- at 1000 power upgrade base
- build 1 generator and upgrade it asap
- your last building will be whatever your trying to get tech 3 for…usually I’ll go for the war council for early scarabs.
- just wait the power out and keep upgrading your base to max tech
While all this is happening you should build 2 more infantry units from your base so you have 4 infantry units to take power locations and resources around the map. Also make sure to grab a mini base and build another war council on it if your going for that scarab/condor rush. use the war council to upgrade your build speed and unit capacity to max. After you have done this immediately destroy it and build a supply pad and upgrade it. Make sure to space out the upgrades in your war council with the build times of your scarab/condor. If done correctly you can have 1 scarab/condor up in 9minutes and all 3 of them up within 13 minutes of the game! Trust me this works! Also don’t take any other bases besides that 1 mini base!!! This is a tactic I developed on my own and the only way to counter it is if they can beat you within 9minutes of the game…which honestly is highly unlikely. This build is completely fluent and there should be no wait times in between building stuff besides waiting on upgrades. You have to be fast to execute it flawlessly. One neat thing about this strat is you can already tell if you won the game: If you take a unit over to their side of the map and they already built their second base then you won! They will not have enough time to build a counter attack because they wasted the time and resources to expand production. The easiest leader to do this with is Atriox because he gets cheaper turrets which will help counter rushers without making a dent into your resources. Go ahead and try it out and tell me what you think. It’s pretty much a cheat code and I have yet to see someone counter it…
Playing as forge, do this for quick grizzlies. Just note that you really need 3v3 for this to work with two teammates rushing or just keeping the pressure on them. If/when the rush fails, you will have 7 grizzlies to battle:
- Before building anything, open leader wheel menu and unlock the very first power he has
- Build 1 generator then upgrade
- Build 1 supply pad
- Build second generator, upgrade it
- Build second supply pad. Start upgrading your supply pads now.
- Build third supply pad and upgrade
- Once everything is upgraded wait for 1,000 energy and go to tech level 2
- On the two new slots, build two garages
- Wait for 1500 energy and go tech level 3
- Once you hit tech 3, you should have enough resources to queue 2 grizzlies in each garage, 4 total.
Major note, don’t forget to use leader points. After immediately buying the first one per instructions, buy the power that lets you build vehicles faster and cheaper. You should be able to upgrade it twice before you start grizzlies.
This build will get you 6 grizzlies before 7 minutes. Don’t forget to send your marines around for resources, that is essential to progressing through this build quickly.
Another note, if Anders is going quick sentinels, stop at tech level 2 with both garages and just pump wolverines. If she is using sentinels, you really only need 6-10 to stop them, then you can continue with grizzlies.
> 2533274806490005;3:
> Playing as forge, do this for quick grizzlies. Just note that you really need 3v3 for this to work with two teammates rushing or just keeping the pressure on them. If/when the rush fails, you will have 7 grizzlies to battle:
>
> 1. Before building anything, open leader wheel menu and unlock the very first power he has
> 2. Build 1 generator then upgrade
> 3. Build 1 supply pad
> 4. Build second generator, upgrade it
> 5. Build second supply pad. Start upgrading your supply pads now.
> 6. Build third supply pad and upgrade
> 7. Once everything is upgraded wait for 1,000 energy and go to tech level 2
> 8. On the two new slots, build two garages
> 9. Wait for 1500 energy and go tech level 3
> 10. Once you hit tech 3, you should have enough resources to queue 2 grizzlies in each garage, 4 total.
>
> Major note, don’t forget to use leader points. After immediately buying the first one per instructions, buy the power that lets you build vehicles faster and cheaper. You should be able to upgrade it twice before you start grizzlies.
>
> This build will get you 6 grizzlies before 7 minutes. Don’t forget to send your marines around for resources, that is essential to progressing through this build quickly.
>
> Another note, if Anders is going quick sentinels, stop at tech level 2 with both garages and just pump wolverines. If she is using sentinels, you really only need 6-10 to stop them, then you can continue with grizzlies.
Haven’t played forge yet but I’ll have to try this because I haven’t seen anybody grizzly rush. Also that last part about Ander’s Sentinels is pretty funny because my friend likes to do a Sentinel rush.
> 2533274822252224;2:
> My Ultimate Upgrade/Power build order is as follows:
> 1. build 2 supply pads and upgrade them
> 2. build 2 generators (upgrade them asap!)
> 3. build 1 supply pad but don’t upgrade it!!!
> 4. at 700 supplies destroy your 3rd supply pad that you didn’t upgrade
> 5. immediately build a generator where you destroyed your supply pad and upgrade it asap
> 6. at 1000 power upgrade base
> 7. build 1 generator and upgrade it asap
> 8. your last building will be whatever your trying to get tech 3 for…usually I’ll go for the war council for early scarabs.
> 9. just wait the power out and keep upgrading your base to max tech
> While all this is happening you should build 2 more infantry units from your base so you have 4 infantry units to take power locations and resources around the map. Also make sure to grab a mini base and build another war council on it if your going for that scarab/condor rush. use the war council to upgrade your build speed and unit capacity to max. After you have done this immediately destroy it and build a supply pad and upgrade it. Make sure to space out the upgrades in your war council with the build times of your scarab/condor. If done correctly you can have 1 scarab/condor up in 9minutes and all 3 of them up within 13 minutes of the game! Trust me this works! Also don’t take any other bases besides that 1 mini base!!! This is a tactic I developed on my own and the only way to counter it is if they can beat you within 9minutes of the game…which honestly is highly unlikely. This build is completely fluent and there should be no wait times in between building stuff besides waiting on upgrades. You have to be fast to execute it flawlessly. One neat thing about this strat is you can already tell if you won the game: If you take a unit over to their side of the map and they already built their second base then you won! They will not have enough time to build a counter attack because they wasted the time and resources to expand production. The easiest leader to do this with is Atriox because he gets cheaper turrets which will help counter rushers without making a dent into your resources. Go ahead and try it out and tell me what you think. It’s pretty much a cheat code and I have yet to see someone counter it…
Interesting build.
But my guess is, that 9 minutes is definitely enough time to see that coming…
Usually, I should have quite a few hornets, cyclopses and nightingales at that point.
Would be interesting to see if that’s enough to hold back the Scarab.
If so, you should be in a very bad position with only one base and literally no map control.
I’m really not a fan of these all-in strategies.
> 2533274806490005;3:
> Playing as forge, do this for quick grizzlies. Just note that you really need 3v3 for this to work with two teammates rushing or just keeping the pressure on them. If/when the rush fails, you will have 7 grizzlies to battle:
>
> 1. Before building anything, open leader wheel menu and unlock the very first power he has
> 2. Build 1 generator then upgrade
> 3. Build 1 supply pad
> 4. Build second generator, upgrade it
> 5. Build second supply pad. Start upgrading your supply pads now.
> 6. Build third supply pad and upgrade
> 7. Once everything is upgraded wait for 1,000 energy and go to tech level 2
> 8. On the two new slots, build two garages
> 9. Wait for 1500 energy and go tech level 3
> 10. Once you hit tech 3, you should have enough resources to queue 2 grizzlies in each garage, 4 total.
>
> Major note, don’t forget to use leader points. After immediately buying the first one per instructions, buy the power that lets you build vehicles faster and cheaper. You should be able to upgrade it twice before you start grizzlies.
>
> This build will get you 6 grizzlies before 7 minutes. Don’t forget to send your marines around for resources, that is essential to progressing through this build quickly.
>
> Another note, if Anders is going quick sentinels, stop at tech level 2 with both garages and just pump wolverines. If she is using sentinels, you really only need 6-10 to stop them, then you can continue with grizzlies.
Is there a specific reason why you upgrade your supply pads in T1?
They are actually very expensive energy-wise and lengthen your duration in T1 significantly.
Your HQ is at that point probably the only building that can produce units so once you click T2 you cannot benefit from the additional supplies anyway.
Without the upgrade you still have a lot of supply left.
(Definitely enough to go for a second exe until you hit T2)
> 2533274806490005;3:
> Playing as forge, do this for quick grizzlies. Just note that you really need 3v3 for this to work with two teammates rushing or just keeping the pressure on them. If/when the rush fails, you will have 7 grizzlies to battle:
>
> 1. Before building anything, open leader wheel menu and unlock the very first power he has
> 2. Build 1 generator then upgrade
> 3. Build 1 supply pad
> 4. Build second generator, upgrade it
> 5. Build second supply pad. Start upgrading your supply pads now.
> 6. Build third supply pad and upgrade
> 7. Once everything is upgraded wait for 1,000 energy and go to tech level 2
> 8. On the two new slots, build two garages
> 9. Wait for 1500 energy and go tech level 3
> 10. Once you hit tech 3, you should have enough resources to queue 2 grizzlies in each garage, 4 total.
>
> Major note, don’t forget to use leader points. After immediately buying the first one per instructions, buy the power that lets you build vehicles faster and cheaper. You should be able to upgrade it twice before you start grizzlies.
>
> This build will get you 6 grizzlies before 7 minutes. Don’t forget to send your marines around for resources, that is essential to progressing through this build quickly.
>
> Another note, if Anders is going quick sentinels, stop at tech level 2 with both garages and just pump wolverines. If she is using sentinels, you really only need 6-10 to stop them, then you can continue with grizzlies.
Works really good
> 2533274822252224;4:
> > 2533274806490005;3:
> > Playing as forge, do this for quick grizzlies. Just note that you really need 3v3 for this to work with two teammates rushing or just keeping the pressure on them. If/when the rush fails, you will have 7 grizzlies to battle:
> >
> > 1. Before building anything, open leader wheel menu and unlock the very first power he has
> > 2. Build 1 generator then upgrade
> > 3. Build 1 supply pad
> > 4. Build second generator, upgrade it
> > 5. Build second supply pad. Start upgrading your supply pads now.
> > 6. Build third supply pad and upgrade
> > 7. Once everything is upgraded wait for 1,000 energy and go to tech level 2
> > 8. On the two new slots, build two garages
> > 9. Wait for 1500 energy and go tech level 3
> > 10. Once you hit tech 3, you should have enough resources to queue 2 grizzlies in each garage, 4 total.
> >
> > Major note, don’t forget to use leader points. After immediately buying the first one per instructions, buy the power that lets you build vehicles faster and cheaper. You should be able to upgrade it twice before you start grizzlies.
> >
> > This build will get you 6 grizzlies before 7 minutes. Don’t forget to send your marines around for resources, that is essential to progressing through this build quickly.
> >
> > Another note, if Anders is going quick sentinels, stop at tech level 2 with both garages and just pump wolverines. If she is using sentinels, you really only need 6-10 to stop them, then you can continue with grizzlies.
>
> Haven’t played forge yet but I’ll have to try this because I haven’t seen anybody grizzly rush. Also that last part about Ander’s Sentinels is pretty funny because my friend likes to do a Sentinel rush.
Lol, I do a sentinel rush in strongholds.
Can you explain what upgrade 3, upgrade 6, and so on are? I don’t quite understand what it is you’re upgrading.
> 2533274933478052;6:
> > 2533274806490005;3:
> > Playing as forge, do this for quick grizzlies. Just note that you really need 3v3 for this to work with two teammates rushing or just keeping the pressure on them. If/when the rush fails, you will have 7 grizzlies to battle:
> >
> > 1. Before building anything, open leader wheel menu and unlock the very first power he has
> > 2. Build 1 generator then upgrade
> > 3. Build 1 supply pad
> > 4. Build second generator, upgrade it
> > 5. Build second supply pad. Start upgrading your supply pads now.
> > 6. Build third supply pad and upgrade
> > 7. Once everything is upgraded wait for 1,000 energy and go to tech level 2
> > 8. On the two new slots, build two garages
> > 9. Wait for 1500 energy and go tech level 3
> > 10. Once you hit tech 3, you should have enough resources to queue 2 grizzlies in each garage, 4 total.
> >
> > Major note, don’t forget to use leader points. After immediately buying the first one per instructions, buy the power that lets you build vehicles faster and cheaper. You should be able to upgrade it twice before you start grizzlies.
> >
> > This build will get you 6 grizzlies before 7 minutes. Don’t forget to send your marines around for resources, that is essential to progressing through this build quickly.
> >
> > Another note, if Anders is going quick sentinels, stop at tech level 2 with both garages and just pump wolverines. If she is using sentinels, you really only need 6-10 to stop them, then you can continue with grizzlies.
>
> Is there a specific reason why you upgrade your supply pads in T1?
>
> They are actually very expensive energy-wise and lengthen your duration in T1 significantly.
> Your HQ is at that point probably the only building that can produce units so once you click T2 you cannot benefit from the additional supplies anyway.
> Without the upgrade you still have a lot of supply left.
> (Definitely enough to go for a second exe until you hit T2)
wow you just morphed my game play with your words of wisdom i had been struggling to hit tier 2 to fight off mass chopper or jack rabbits but with your words i am hitting t2 at like 3 minutes
> 2535449076192416;9:
> Can you explain what upgrade 3, upgrade 6, and so on are? I don’t quite understand what it is you’re upgrading.
Sorry for the confusion.
With “Upgrade 3” I meant upgrading the building of step 3.
I try to buil a supply pad and generator then build an armory to get a hero unit, then I build another supply pad and generator then I will usually try to build a third supply pad and an air pad to get nightingales for support then I start fully upgrading everything while simultaneously trying to clear out the lower level units that you get at the beginning of the game with my hero to try and get an early veterancy, I don’t use this strategy all the time but when I do it works it’s just a little slower than others.
> 2533274933478052;5:
> > 2533274822252224;2:
> > My Ultimate Upgrade/Power build order is as follows:
> > 1. build 2 supply pads and upgrade them
> > 2. build 2 generators (upgrade them asap!)
> > 3. build 1 supply pad but don’t upgrade it!!!
> > 4. at 700 supplies destroy your 3rd supply pad that you didn’t upgrade
> > 5. immediately build a generator where you destroyed your supply pad and upgrade it asap
> > 6. at 1000 power upgrade base
> > 7. build 1 generator and upgrade it asap
> > 8. your last building will be whatever your trying to get tech 3 for…usually I’ll go for the war council for early scarabs.
> > 9. just wait the power out and keep upgrading your base to max tech
> > While all this is happening you should build 2 more infantry units from your base so you have 4 infantry units to take power locations and resources around the map. Also make sure to grab a mini base and build another war council on it if your going for that scarab/condor rush. use the war council to upgrade your build speed and unit capacity to max. After you have done this immediately destroy it and build a supply pad and upgrade it. Make sure to space out the upgrades in your war council with the build times of your scarab/condor. If done correctly you can have 1 scarab/condor up in 9minutes and all 3 of them up within 13 minutes of the game! Trust me this works! Also don’t take any other bases besides that 1 mini base!!! This is a tactic I developed on my own and the only way to counter it is if they can beat you within 9minutes of the game…which honestly is highly unlikely. This build is completely fluent and there should be no wait times in between building stuff besides waiting on upgrades. You have to be fast to execute it flawlessly. One neat thing about this strat is you can already tell if you won the game: If you take a unit over to their side of the map and they already built their second base then you won! They will not have enough time to build a counter attack because they wasted the time and resources to expand production. The easiest leader to do this with is Atriox because he gets cheaper turrets which will help counter rushers without making a dent into your resources. Go ahead and try it out and tell me what you think. It’s pretty much a cheat code and I have yet to see someone counter it…
>
> Interesting build.
> But my guess is, that 9 minutes is definitely enough time to see that coming…
> Usually, I should have quite a few hornets, cyclopses and nightingales at that point.
> Would be interesting to see if that’s enough to hold back the Scarab.
> If so, you should be in a very bad position with only one base and literally no map control.
>
> I’m really not a fan of these all-in strategies.
Well that’s the thing about this strategy is your not relying on that one scarab to win the game for you. The 1st scarab is to apply pressure until your 2nd one comes up. I’ve had a situation where they actually managed to kill the first scarab and my 2nd one was already walking toward their base while my 3rd one was in the process of being built. I only use this strategy in 2v2 so I don’t think it’s a good 1v1 strategy. So it doesn’t put you in any bad position either because by the time 1 scarab gets destroyed you will have another one on the way. It’s a really messed up strategy honestly but my friend and I have won 5 games in a row without the enemy team even touching our base. I’m gonna keep using it until I see someone successfully counter it.
> 2533274933478052;6:
> > 2533274806490005;3:
> > Playing as forge, do this for quick grizzlies. Just note that you really need 3v3 for this to work with two teammates rushing or just keeping the pressure on them. If/when the rush fails, you will have 7 grizzlies to battle:
> >
> > 1. Before building anything, open leader wheel menu and unlock the very first power he has
> > 2. Build 1 generator then upgrade
> > 3. Build 1 supply pad
> > 4. Build second generator, upgrade it
> > 5. Build second supply pad. Start upgrading your supply pads now.
> > 6. Build third supply pad and upgrade
> > 7. Once everything is upgraded wait for 1,000 energy and go to tech level 2
> > 8. On the two new slots, build two garages
> > 9. Wait for 1500 energy and go tech level 3
> > 10. Once you hit tech 3, you should have enough resources to queue 2 grizzlies in each garage, 4 total.
> >
> > Major note, don’t forget to use leader points. After immediately buying the first one per instructions, buy the power that lets you build vehicles faster and cheaper. You should be able to upgrade it twice before you start grizzlies.
> >
> > This build will get you 6 grizzlies before 7 minutes. Don’t forget to send your marines around for resources, that is essential to progressing through this build quickly.
> >
> > Another note, if Anders is going quick sentinels, stop at tech level 2 with both garages and just pump wolverines. If she is using sentinels, you really only need 6-10 to stop them, then you can continue with grizzlies.
>
> Is there a specific reason why you upgrade your supply pads in T1?
>
> They are actually very expensive energy-wise and lengthen your duration in T1 significantly.
> Your HQ is at that point probably the only building that can produce units so once you click T2 you cannot benefit from the additional supplies anyway.
> Without the upgrade you still have a lot of supply left.
> (Definitely enough to go for a second exe until you hit T2)
Minibases can keep up production while your main base goes to T2. I build base infantry from minibases while going to T2 and then upgrade base infantry to rockets or extra brute.
> 2533274822252224;2:
> My Ultimate Upgrade/Power build order is as follows:
> 1. build 2 supply pads and upgrade them
> 2. build 2 generators (upgrade them asap!)
> 3. build 1 supply pad but don’t upgrade it!!!
> 4. at 700 supplies destroy your 3rd supply pad that you didn’t upgrade
> 5. immediately build a generator where you destroyed your supply pad and upgrade it asap
> 6. at 1000 power upgrade base
> 7. build 1 generator and upgrade it asap
> 8. your last building will be whatever your trying to get tech 3 for…usually I’ll go for the war council for early scarabs.
> 9. just wait the power out and keep upgrading your base to max tech
> While all this is happening you should build 2 more infantry units from your base so you have 4 infantry units to take power locations and resources around the map. Also make sure to grab a mini base and build another war council on it if your going for that scarab/condor rush. use the war council to upgrade your build speed and unit capacity to max. After you have done this immediately destroy it and build a supply pad and upgrade it. Make sure to space out the upgrades in your war council with the build times of your scarab/condor. If done correctly you can have 1 scarab/condor up in 9minutes and all 3 of them up within 13 minutes of the game! Trust me this works! Also don’t take any other bases besides that 1 mini base!!! This is a tactic I developed on my own and the only way to counter it is if they can beat you within 9minutes of the game…which honestly is highly unlikely. This build is completely fluent and there should be no wait times in between building stuff besides waiting on upgrades. You have to be fast to execute it flawlessly. One neat thing about this strat is you can already tell if you won the game: If you take a unit over to their side of the map and they already built their second base then you won! They will not have enough time to build a counter attack because they wasted the time and resources to expand production. The easiest leader to do this with is Atriox because he gets cheaper turrets which will help counter rushers without making a dent into your resources. Go ahead and try it out and tell me what you think. It’s pretty much a cheat code and I have yet to see someone counter it…
if you destroy the war council do you lose the build speed upgrade ?
> 2535411828645004;15:
> > 2533274822252224;2:
> > My Ultimate Upgrade/Power build order is as follows:
> > 1. build 2 supply pads and upgrade them
> > 2. build 2 generators (upgrade them asap!)
> > 3. build 1 supply pad but don’t upgrade it!!!
> > 4. at 700 supplies destroy your 3rd supply pad that you didn’t upgrade
> > 5. immediately build a generator where you destroyed your supply pad and upgrade it asap
> > 6. at 1000 power upgrade base
> > 7. build 1 generator and upgrade it asap
> > 8. your last building will be whatever your trying to get tech 3 for…usually I’ll go for the war council for early scarabs.
> > 9. just wait the power out and keep upgrading your base to max tech
> > While all this is happening you should build 2 more infantry units from your base so you have 4 infantry units to take power locations and resources around the map. Also make sure to grab a mini base and build another war council on it if your going for that scarab/condor rush. use the war council to upgrade your build speed and unit capacity to max. After you have done this immediately destroy it and build a supply pad and upgrade it. Make sure to space out the upgrades in your war council with the build times of your scarab/condor. If done correctly you can have 1 scarab/condor up in 9minutes and all 3 of them up within 13 minutes of the game! Trust me this works! Also don’t take any other bases besides that 1 mini base!!! This is a tactic I developed on my own and the only way to counter it is if they can beat you within 9minutes of the game…which honestly is highly unlikely. This build is completely fluent and there should be no wait times in between building stuff besides waiting on upgrades. You have to be fast to execute it flawlessly. One neat thing about this strat is you can already tell if you won the game: If you take a unit over to their side of the map and they already built their second base then you won! They will not have enough time to build a counter attack because they wasted the time and resources to expand production. The easiest leader to do this with is Atriox because he gets cheaper turrets which will help counter rushers without making a dent into your resources. Go ahead and try it out and tell me what you think. It’s pretty much a cheat code and I have yet to see someone counter it…
>
> if you destroy the war council do you lose the build speed upgrade ?
no. pretty certain you can destroy your armory or garage or anything and your upgrades persist. I’ve had it happen where the enemy killed a part of my base but I rebuilt it and didn’t have to start from scratch.
Fastest way to build a rush army of warthog or framers?
Me and a buddy do a scarab rush while he just throws infantry/counter infantry at them to prevent any counter on vehicles, I don’t remember my exact build but we’ve won like 8 games in a row with that and I normally have two scarabs up by like 12-13 minutes, sometimes he wins with just the infantry rush
ErictheRed1588 You just revived a thread from the very early days of HW2. Much of what has been said is no longer true. Better start a new thread if you want to discuss more recent build orders.
I think it’s hilarious I can confirm this strat no longer works anymore for reasons beyond me. Maybe they tweaked the units too much but back then Scarab was Bae.