[Q] Overlord Timings

Hi everyone. I am a lowly silver level Zerg player and I am having some trouble that I am hoping you guys can help me out with. When I play, I tend to go for a macro game. I make a few lings at the beginning to hold the watchtowers and camp my opponent's ramp for when they move out. I've found that I tend to make too many drones too soon and have no way to defend myself. But my question is not when to make drones vs. units. When I see my opponent move out, a lot of times I'll make Roaches or lings to defend, but I die because I don't have enough Overlords to allow me enough units to defend. For you Zerg players, my question is this: When do you tend to make more Overlords so that you can make ample defenses to protect yourself if you see your opponent move out? Or do you make enough Overlords so that you always have X amount of supply free?

Thanks for the help!

Torte de Lini Canada. January 28 2011 02:41. Posts 27070

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If I'm popping roaches and lings incrementally, I always get two overlords at a time. Especially in the early-game when 2 food is a lot, you want to have a good leeway with the overlords.

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hun13 January 28 2011 02:45. Posts 55

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i do 9,15,22, and then batches of 2 or 3 at a time after that. i ussualy build them once i get with in 10 of being supply blocked, like 30/40. then once i get close to 100 i just build a huge batch of them because zerg can blow up so fast.

that might be wrong but it works for me

Overpowered Czech Republic. January 28 2011 02:47. Posts 731

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Exactly. When I have 2 base up and running, I do 2 overlords simultaneously in early game. You should have many larvae so thats not throwing out minerals too early and it is useful. Defending as Zerg is not easy and getting supplyblocked while defending is the worst thing ever

Last edit: 2011-01-28 02:47:53

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ScrapBrain United States. January 28 2011 02:58. Posts 50

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I agree. I always feel like if I had supply I could hold just fine, but when I hear that alert, my heart sinks.

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely be working on staying ahead on my supply cap.

Ponyo United States. January 28 2011 03:08. Posts 1231

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So from what my buddy told me a long time ago. In the early game 1 at a time to not get food blocked And then once you get into the 35 + fewd, 2 at a time.Anything after that is 3 + or spam it.

ponyo.848

fusihunter Australia. January 28 2011 03:28. Posts 208

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I remember Ret saying after 42 you do two at once each time. I think it becomes 3 at some point but he didn't say :D

"I actually don't like games. I just like beating people." - Idra

KingOctavious United States. January 28 2011 03:34. Posts 324

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One thought that comes to mind when I read your question is that if you have so many available larvae that you need an extra overlord in order to use them all, you might not be using them efficiently. If you continually produce workers and army units (along with overlords, of course), this shouldn't, I don't think, be a huge problem.

Check out my book, The Year in StarCraft II: 2011, http://yearinsc2.com/ :D:D

thurst0n United States. January 28 2011 03:41. Posts 573

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On January 28 2011 02:47 Overpowered wrote:
Exactly. When I have 2 base up and running, I do 2 overlords simultaneously in early game. You should have many larvae so thats not throwing out minerals too early and it is useful. Defending as Zerg is not easy and getting supplyblocked while defending is the worst thing ever

It's not just the worst thing ever. It's pretty much just GG. :-P

It's pretty obvious you dont' want to get supply blocked. You can plan to lose an overlord that you sacrifice for scouting etc, but it's much harder to account fo the OL lost to enemy harrass.

Others have hit it on the head, double up on overlords at a certain point. I've heard somewhere that mid game it's important to have about 20 supply cussion for zerg. Also as zerg you will/should be mineral heavy, and be needing more gas. So it's easy to make extra overlords.. Imo it's ok to be 60/100 and much better than being 60/59 or whatever the numbers are..

Zerg isn't like other races they don't build as linearly. It's more like drone drone drone oh shit his army is coming, heres 20 roaches. Now.. if you don't have overlords for 20 roaches, or you don't have larvae, you're screwed. You said you're not looking for timings on when to drone vs get army, but keep in mind you need overlords for BOTH! One little trick I do is every time I make a round of units or drones, I throw in an overlord or 2 instead of using all the larvae on units/drones.

Larvae is a zerg resource just like minerals and gas.

Watch your own replays you'll probably find there is a certain point in the game where you forget overlords and things fall apart. It's very apparent in game "need more overlords" but if you watch many replays you'll probably find it's always the same overlord you're forgetting, or that it's always when you get harassed, or when you move out to attack/expand. The point is I'm willing to bet there is a pattern. And if you conciously make an effort to make that overlord instead of forgetting.. :-) GOOD LUCK!

P.S. I'm nub. If you'd like you can follow me @xthurst but its not worth it ill be honest

d_wAy United States. January 28 2011 03:45. Posts 103

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EGMachine taught me a pretty easy way to remember. The rule is past 33-ish you make 2 at every multiple of 11. So it looks roughly like:

9, 15-17, 22, 28, 33, 38, 44(x2), 55(x2), 66(x2), etc.

Whenever you see the two digits the same, make overlords!

Good luck -- zerg fighting!

ScrapBrain United States. January 28 2011 04:49. Posts 50

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That is a great tip! It is easy to remember and is scales really nicely. Every 11 supply you use, you get 2 Overlords for 16 supply so you are always +5. I like that quite a bit. If you use that, by the time you are at 100 actual supply, you would have 146 supply available plus supply from extra hatches. that allows for a huge mass up right away. That's sexy.

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