What are Build Orders?

Jul 27, 2010

I remember when I was a youngin I would always be totally lost when looking at build orders. If you dont know what a build order is here’s a quick expample:

STANDARD QUICK EXPANSION BUILD ORDER
10 Extractor Trick and use the 11th drone to scout
10 Overpool (Overlord then Pool)
13 Drones
14 Extractor
14 Lings
15 Queen
17-18 Lings
Lair with first 100 gas

Now as you probably can see build orders can quickly become confusing. They are very short and to the point. But once you understand everything behind them they soon become extremely helpful by condensing what could be a huge build.

Build Orders Explained

Alright, the numbers on the left are the supply count (food count). They pretty much tell you when you need to build something. So with the build used above it says “14 extractor”. This means at 14 supply you should have enough minerals to build a extractor. At the same time you should also be building 2 lings because it is mapped at 14 supply.

Now your probably thinking, what do I do after I build my lair? It doesn’t say on the build order right? The build order doesn’t continue because after that point there would be no use for it. At that point you need to be countering what your opponent is doing and that isn’t the build orders purpose. Instead it is used to guide you to what your initial units will be or in this case a quick expansion.

What do you think of build orders? Would you like me to post one after all my strategy’s?