Beginner Builds: ZvX Your First Build Order – Part 2

In part 2 in beginner builds, I will be going over teching in the mid game, taking your fourth base and overall Droning up to about the 6 minute or so. If you missed the first part of the beginner builds series, you can check that out here!

In general there are three things that you should focus on around this stage in the game as a Zerg player. (the time I am talking about is generally around the 3:00-6:00 mark).

• First is scouting and defending what your opponent is doing. This is the time in the game where pressures from your opponent such as Hellion pressures, Liberator multi-prong, Oracle harass, Archon drops, Ling Bane pressures etc. There will be a separate guide on basic scouting and reacting for new players that will be coming out after this series is complete! Watch out for that article for more information on this point.
• Second is Droning as hard as possible. This is when the Larva and injects from 3 Queens and 3 Hatcheries really starts to kick in. Zerg economy improves exponentially because of the way production works. Essentially the more Drones you have, the more mineral income you have and the more Drones you can make. What this means is you should aim to make as many Drones as possible and nearly only Drones until you have to make army units.
• Lastly during this phase you should be teching with the additional income you have after making Drones. This is the part I want to focus on in this guide. It is done instead of putting that extra money into more economy through a fourth Hatchery or something similar because a lot of tech takes a long time to take effect (especially upgrades). So your priority list should be 1st – spend all of your minerals and Larva on Drones, 2nd – start your tech path so that it is ready later on in the game for what you need it for.

Next Step

• As a next step (in ZvP and ZvT especially) the fourth thing to focus on in this section of the game is creep spread. However, you should focus on being comfortable with the first three steps first before really spending time on improving your creep spread.

Build Order

44 – 4th Queen
46 – Overlord
@35 Drones – ~12x Zerglings
@100% Third Base – 5th Queen
>In ZvZ you can use these Zerglings to defend your third base or pressure your opponent if they don’t send units to attack you.
>In ZvT these Zerglings are important for defending Hellion pressures.
>In ZvP these Zerglings can be used to defend light adept harass or to pressure/delay your opponents third base.
58 – Overlord
@4:00 – Tech Structure | Either Roach Warren OR Baneling Nest. You can pick one and use it in every match up, or you can switch between the two based on the match up you are playing.
@4:30 – Lair + 2x Extractors | You should have at least ~41 Drones when you start these Extractors to be able to afford them.
@5:00 – 2x Evolution Chambers
@50 Drones – 3x Extractors | Only make these if you are still producing Drones at the same time, if you need to make units to defend, you can delay these Extractors until you start Drone production again.
@100% Lair – Roach Speed OR Baneling Speed | Depending on the Tech you chose
@100% Evolution Chambers – +1/+1 (depending on what tech you choose, get +1 range attack or +1 melee
@6:00 – 4th Hatchery + Macro Hatchery | A Macro Hatchery is an extra Hatchery in your main base that you use only for Larva. You can use your main injecting Queen to inject this Hatchery when this Queens energy builds up from missing injects.
@60 Drones – Lair Tech Structure | Either Hydralisk Den or Spire for Mutalisk

Note on Queens – You can build extra Queens from your Hatcheries past the 5th Queen described in this build order. In terms of high level play, the number of Queens you build often depends on the match up and what you scout.
In ZvZ generally you only build 3 Queens with maybe a 4th depending on the situation and add on more later if your opponent goes for Mutalisk.
In ZvP generally 5 or 6 is a good number of Queens, 3 for injecting Hatcheries and 2 or 3 for defending things like Oracles or Warp Prisms and spreading Creep.
In ZvT Generally a minimum of 6 Queens is a good idea, with more for playing against specific strategies, like Hellbat attacks, Battlecruiser openings or other more dedicated openings like the 2-1-1 (fast 2 Medivac 16 Marine with stim attack).
If you can’t react to your opponent and decide how many Queens to build yet, or you aren’t sure then I would recommend 6 or 7 Queens as a starting point. (Build them after your 4th and 5th Queens from your natural and third bases).

Benchmarks:
@4:00 – You should have a minimum of 35 Drones with your ~12 Zerglings finished, ideally with more Drones on the way. 3 Queens finished with 2 more on the way. Tech Structure just starting. ~60 Supply.
@5:00 – Aim to have at least 50 Drones at this point in the game (it is possible to have 60! depending on what your opponent is doing).
@6:00 – Aim to have at least 60 Drones at this point, but ideally have 66.

Notes on Benchmarks: If you are being all ined, or you have had to hold an all in, these benchmarks will have to change. For example, its not realistic to hold a 32 Probe Chargelot all in from Protoss which hits at 5:00 with 50 Drones. For that specific example, you would want to hold with ~41 Drones. The basic scouting and reacting guide will have information on when to make units instead of Drones to hold attacks.

Next Steps

• Deciding your tech based on the match up and what your opponent is doing.
  • As you learn this basic build order, you can eventually start choosing your tech based on the match up and what your opponent is doing. For example, Ling Bane Hydra or Ling Bane Muta is generally better against bio Terran strategies compared to Roaches. In contrast, Roach Hydra is generally better against Terran Mech strategies.
• ZvZ Tech
  • In ZvZ you should have both techs. As a simple stepping stone, once you have learned the next step in the previous part (adding the baneling nest early in ZvZ) you can then start the Roach Warren at 4:00 and follow this build order from there, opening with Ling Bane and then transitioning to Roach Ravager.
• In addition to these tech paths, you can start to learn other tech paths which are a little more complicated, such as Ling Bane Ravager or Roach Swarm Host Nydus as a next step.
• Lastly you can learn more specific timings for tech based on the match up and what your opponent is doing. Examples include getting your Roach Warren early (3:30) as well as Extractors against Protoss players who open with a Robotics Facility or Twilight Council so that you can more easily defend early all ins.