An Economist's Guide to Galaxy Vampirism

PLEASE NOTE: This will be a guide to the fast mode, NOT the ultra fast mode However, references will still be made to the seldom used venue.

I. Early Game (0:00 - 20:00)

A. Quick Basing

1. In this game of Cat and Mouse, it is customary to arrive at your first base exactly one second after the countdown has finished. To do this, simply hold shift while pressing "g" once, and clicking on the base you wish to teleport to.

2. Once you arrive at your base, quickly put down 1 house (adjacent to the mineral creep) and 2 supply depots next to that house. Subsequently, you should select your house and begin to manufacture probes, setting down a flag while the probes emanate from the command center.

3. When placing a flag, make sure to put it out of the way, possibly in between houses, so that it does not conflict with the placement of your structures, thus slowing down the creation of your base and is prosperity.

4. Once you have garnered 20 minerals, begin to place 2 more supply depots, and then making 3 houses, usually 3 spaces apart. It is never smart to place house next to house; this wastes minerals, and gives more feed to the vampire. It DOES NOT increase the amount of minerals you attain.

5. Immediately after the 4 supply depots are set down, begin to pump out more probes by selecting the 3 new houses you have built, rallying them to any mineral node close to your location, and holding "e." Once you have 100 minerals, begin to upgrade your supply depots by selecting them, pressing "x," and clicking on 2 supply depots. Accomplish this 2 times, covering all supply depots in the upgrade. If done correctly, your supply should amount to 250. This is the maximum supply.

6. In between the upgrading of the supply depots, continue to manufacture more miners until you attain the supply of 240. Your builder does not cost any supply, but the slayer costs 10, so make room! Once you have acquired this many probes (it should amount to 48), select all of them and hotkey them so that if the vampire comes, you can easily detonate all of your probes by pressing the button that they are hotkeyed to and pressing "d" immediately after.

7. Once this is complete, and it is usually by the time the vampires begin to distribute themselves from the center, proceed to create a Slayer's Tavern (this is in the form of a Terran Barracks). Once this is complete, select the Slayer's Tavern (you only need 1) and hold "s" until the slayer has begun its conception. It should take either 40 or 20 seconds for the slayer to be created, depending on the mode your lobby has chosen (fast or ultra fast).

8. Once the slayer is in production, begin the construction of a research center (in the form of a Terran Engineering Bay) and hold "m" to begin the process of upgrading your mineral intake.

9. It is a good idea to hotkey your research center so that when the first mineral upgrade is finished, you can immediately begin the second upgrade. It is also a good idea to upgrade your probe and mule health, an upgrade that may cost 2,000 minerals, but is well worth the price. It will allow you to more effectively deny feed, as well as be able to deny feed in the case that the vampire endeavors to "spore" you, by placing a spore by your mineral line OUTSIDE of your base, attempting to kill as many probes as possible.

10. Once the slayer is complete, immediately hotkey him and teleport him to the leveling area (in the form of a white skull on the minimap, it will say "Slayer Level Area" on the raw map) if a vampire has not yet put one base under siege. If a vampire has attacked a base, press "g" when the slayer is selected, and hover your cursor over any building that the vampire is attacking. Left-click if any blue aura arises from any building, that indicates that either gas or an item has dropped. Once you have teleported to that location, subsequently right-click over any item you find. If the item is in the form of a treasure chest, blink to the center of the map and right-click, left-clicking on any of the shops. It will say that you've acquired 0.75 gas, but it is really 1 gas, gas that you can use. Whether an item has been acquired or not, you should always blink to the center of the map so that your slayer can recharge his or her mana and health points. If you have not acquired a drop, don't give up! You can still stay at the base you've blinked to for the time being, and attempt to get in the way of the vampire, possibly attaining a drop. Regardless, however, you should return to the center and, once the slayer has recharged his or her health and a base is NOT under siege, that slayer should return to the leveling pit.

B. Denial in the Early Game

1. If a vampire happens to come to your base, don't give up and teleport out of it. Most vampires will not go for you if they have a brain, and will attempt to garner feed from your workers and buildings. To combat this, once you've completed your quick base, place command centers in the ramp of your base, completely covering the ramp. This will allow you to quickly detonate your probes and destroy as many of your buildings as possible (with your builder) while the vampire makes his or her way to your structures.

2. In the case that the vampire is trying to kill you, remember, vampires are generally very slow compared to the blinking might of the builder. If the vampire does come for you, proceed to blink as far away from him or her as possible, faking him or her out, and destroying as many structures as you can reach. DO NOT BE A HERO AND TRY TO SACRIFICE YOURSELF TO DENY FEED. IT ONLY WORKS IN THE MID-TO-LATE GAME.

3. If you are indeed found, don't give up. You can still be useful to your team by rebasing in another location, or just blinking back to the place you were just killed in. If you are found 3 times, and there is no possible way of you acquiring a tassadar by the 16-minute mark or 15-minute mark (depending on your mode, again), it is a good idea to invest in the best player in the game by pooling; this will be elaborated upon later in the guide. However, for the time being, use this information as a pooling technique: use the template of quick-basing and donate your funds to the best player.

C. The Usage and Role of Gas

1. Gas, in this game, is more valuable than a cure for cancer. Gas is like the enzyme that catalyzes certain processes in photosynthesis and cellular respiration. Gas is the only way you will ever win this game. Now, let's get to business. When you have acquired 1 piece of gas, and your 2nd mineral upgrade has been completed, build an academic shop (in the form of a Terran Ghost Academy), select your research center, and begin the 3rd mineral upgrade. After this, you only need to acquire 2 more pieces of gas to be on your way. However, there are certain times at which you should use this gas. In the event that you acquire enough gas, wait until you have acquired 20,000 minerals; then, proceed to select ONE of your houses, and upgrade that house to an orbital house. If done correctly, you should end up with about 17,000 minerals; after that, build a mule. Wait until you've acquired 20,000 minerals again, and proceed to build a refinery in front of the wall that you are going to repair later in the game. If no drops are acquired, teleport your slayer to the middle of the map, near the infestation pit, and buy 1 gas, it should cost exactly 7,500 minerals. Use this to upgrade your mineral-mining capabilities by building an academic shop and acquiring the 3rd mineral upgrade. After that, wait until you have 30,000 minerals at your disposal; then, buy 2 more pieces of gas at the same location. If you are able to garner drops before the advent of this, only buy as much gas as you need (3 is the maximum).

2. Once a refinery is placed, begin to sell gas for a moderate price (usually 4,000 or 5,000 minerals each), unless your refinery is being placed after the 10-minute mark. Use the minerals collected from these sales to upgrade mineral-mining for the mule. Do this 2 times, one following the other. Once this is done, and all patrons have been satisfied, proceed to pump out more mules (12 mules is the cap). Once this is done, DISCONTINUE sales of the gas. If someone wants gas, LET THEM ROT.

3. I see this mistake made too often in GV (Galaxy Vampirism) games: the problem of people NOT SEPARATING THEIR MULES. A smart vampire will not only wand your slayers and use bioplasm on your structures, he or she will also try to exploit the fact that those mules are precious. Mules are big feeders, dying for 15 gas a pop, and, although not usually susceptible to spores, ARE susceptible to the slime ability. If the slime ability is leveled past level 13 (a vampire will usually be past level 20, indicating that he or she does have strong sliming capabilities), that means that it can literally one-shot each mule in a stream, effectively destroying all of your mineral production in a few short seconds. To stymie this, if you're in a large base, simply put your mules 3 spaces apart, each. This will make it costly INEFFECTIVE for the vampire to sit around, garnering 15 feed per every 30 seconds, which is basically something you can get from the gas barrel.

a. I'll admit, there are cases where a base is too small to separate mules effectively, and I must ask, there are plenty of big bases where this is possible, why not choose them? But, that's not my job. What you can do HERE is simply move your mules to a different location, preferably far away from where your main base is. This is a risky tactic, but adequate nonetheless. To do this, simply create a mining base a moderate distance away from your current location, adding herbal walls outside of the base to give you vision, as well as a house alarm at the entrance of your base to alert you of a vampire's presence. Because of the mule's blink ability, it is fast and simply to evacuate them from a quickly failing base. If a base falls, simply rebuild it in a different or same location and start up again until you have full tassadars. Another tactic may be to set up defensive towers at the entrances of the lanes leading to your miners, or at least the outskirts of where your miners are located. An example would be walling off the back of your base (the outside) with the defensive towers, effectively barring the vampire from doing anything back there.

D. Tassadars

1. If you become a professional at the game, you'll start to notice that you acquire tassadars LONG before the 15-minute mark. In most cases, if you remain untouched and are still unable to garner any drops, you should be getting a tassadar about the 13-minute mark. Once the first tassadar has been acquired, continue to detonate mules until you have full tassadars, which you should have before the 20-minute mark, AKA, the transition into mid-game.However, do not, DO NOT forget to build a Centre for New Technologies with your mule, which is in the form of a Terran Armory. I've made that mistake too many times before...

E. The Economy in the Event that a MAIN Vampire Dies

1. I can not stress this enough, because I find that I am the only one who does it. Whenever, WHENEVER a vampire is killed, whether it be by you or one of your teammates, secure that gas. If it IS by one of your teammates, and you do not have a refinery already, immediately state that you will buy 2 or however much more gas you need in order to manufacture a refinery, offering 5,000 minerals each. It works every time, and saves you 5,000 minerals that you would've wasted buying from the infestation pit. If you so happen to kill the vampire, immediately state that you will sell the gas for the price stated above, or any price lower than 7,500 minerals.

2. Let's face it, there will be times when we have vampires that were lobotomized or dropped on their heads as a small child. What I'm talking about are vampires that either don't know how to recall, or put themselves in a bind, trying to break a 10-green cannon, stone-walled base in the early game all by his or herself. In the event that this painfully shitty vampire gets caught in a situation like this, IMMEDIATELY blink your slayer in-back of that vampire, keeping your opponent from escaping. Before the "Recall" ability was implemented, many people complained of this happening very often saying that the vampire was very UP (underpowered). If you are a vampire and you're caught in a situation like this, please use this ability.

F. Dealing with Minions

1. Minions, although annoying, are still a vital part of the game. They help the vampire win (if they so choose), and attempt to hinder the victory of the humans as best they can. I hate it when vampires kick these people, because they're essentially hindering themselves. I ESPECIALLY hate it when a bad vampire is doing this for no good reason. When a minion breaks into your base in the early game, DO NOT TRY TO BE A HERO. I say this because minions have a special ability that main vampires do not: the ability to stun humans, no matter what ability they have. This ability is nothing like fear; humans can't just press "i" and magically escape that death grip. If you are stunned, you are stunned, no way around it. So, try to keep your distance from minions when denying; YES, YOU STILL HAVE TO DENY, REGARDLESS OF WHO IS ATTACKING YOU.

G. Dealing with Harassment in the Early Game

1. Smart vampires will not only attempt to break bases in the early game, but will also spore, shell, and wand the hell out of you as best they can. I will outline how to counter each and everyone one of these pesky means of feeding.

a. Spore: get the health upgrade for miners. Also, spores can kill tassadars too, although very slowly. Nonetheless, you should try to protect your tassadars as well, I've seen many stupid vampires spore tassadars and actually get away with it, coming out with 240 feed (8 tassadars is full supply, 1 tassadar = 30 gas for the vampire). In the event that you are spored with miners of a less caliber, especially if they are probes, AND you have the health upgrade, IMMEDIATELY detonate those probes; you will have enough time, you have about 2 or 3 seconds of leeway before they are past the mark where it doesn't matter if you detonate them or not. This will deny feed.

i. If you have mules, and you are getting spored, DO NOT DETONATE THEM. Blink them out of the area where they are being spored. Once this is done, do not halt mineral production. Proceed to find a different place to mine, while blinking your slayer to the spore about a minute after it has been placed. Once the spore is destroyed, you can either choose to move your mules back to their previous location, or keep them in the place where they are currently mining.

b. Shell: there isn't much you can do about this item, except build refineries in back (leaving exactly 1 grid space for you to repair your wall) of your wall, keeping any potential changelings from entering your base. What you CAN DO, however, is attempt to place your vital buildings closer to the center of your base; this will keep the vampire from shelling those buildings.

c. Wand: there is little to no way to know if the vampire has this item or not until it is used. Rest assured, though, any vampire that is at least semi-competent will acquire this item for its 150-gas price, and subsequently use it on your slayer (usually between the 5 and 20-minute mark). There is a 90% that the vampire will get this item, from the games I've played in (I've played in over a thousand). However, if the vampire does get this item, it will be blatantly shown once you see the sudden death of 1 or 2 slayers in the leveling pit; the wand of blood is characterized by the card that entails the seeker missile ability from the Terran Raven, as well the red aura that emanates from the wand once it is used. Once the wand has been announced, or has been displayed on the lower-left hand corner of your screen, IMMEDIATELY (given your own slayer has not been killed by the wand) blink your slayer out of the leveling pit, and into your own base. NOTE: vampires, as well as humans, are given a sneakpeek at where you are currently, given that the avatar selected has been damaged very recently by the attacker. To combat this, it is smart to blink the slayer to the center, so as to keep the whereabouts of your base shrouded in secrecy. This "sneakpeek" is in the air for about 1 or 2 seconds, so you don't have to wait long for it to leave. You may put your slayer back into the leveling pit whenever you please, given that the slayer has some items from the academic shop that allows it to withstand a 5,000 damage shot (the damage dealt by the wand of blood).

2. Dealing with "Creative" Vampires

a. Most vampires know what they're doing, while others may not, but will continue to experiment with the items at their disposal nonetheless. Vampires may try to spore you into oblivion, while others think that zealots will instakill your builder. Zealots are usually used to kill those that think they are safe just because they have a refinery in front of their wall, while houses are behind their wall. To fight this, simply place 3 cannons behind those houses, upgrading all 3 of them to level 3, characterized by a green Protoss Photon Cannon. Once the houses directly behind your wall (there should only be a couple) of them are replaced by refineries, you can choose to either destroy the cannons or keep them until further notice.

b. The blood ring is a very dangerous item if used correctly: it has been used to assassinate many builders countless times. About a year ago, the blood-ring strategy was the scariest tactic known to the humans; if used in the way it was supposed to, it could insta-end the game, which is why it was nerfed, hooray. However, the blood ring, coupled with a few spores and the fear ability, can make for a nasty recipe of death. Vampires will usually acquire this item by the time most people are finishing off their mules, which means that space suits (the upgrade in the Centre for New Technologies which increases your builder health to 1,000 points) will be acquired subsequently. This, along with a little firepower from your cannons, can easily counter the weakened strategy, along with a few healing obelisks. If, however, the spores are out of view, make sure to get vision of the structures IMMEDIATELY, or just build a Xel'Naga tower near your defenses to counteract the lack of sight.

c. Fearing is an ability usually not seen by humans until the mid-game, but is sometimes used on miners. If the vampire is frustrated with those miners because he or she can not slime them, some vampires will scan those miners and use the fear ability on them, provided those miners are all placed in one spot. This may not seem big, but the fear ability lasts for roughly 30 seconds, which means that 30 seconds of mining have just been lost. That, coupled with the tassadars, can amount to the loss of about 30,000 minerals, the cost to upgrade a refinery! Most vampires won't do this, but if they do, it can be catastrophic towards your economy. It's a sad fact that you can't do anything about it, either, except blink your builders away.

H. Refinery Placement

1. Most people would be puzzled to know that there is an actual science as to where you should place your refineries. Refinery placement has long been overlooked, but is a crucial part to the geographical success of your base. It is a common rule in GV to keep your structures compact and tight, so that you can build more refineries in the late game. This is a stone-cold fact, meaning that refineries should be placed in very important places, such as near your wall, on the borders of your base, or AROUND blink spots. Never EVER place refineries near the middle of your base, it's a complete waste of space and money. Instead, outline your base with refineries, covering any potential blink spots (trust me, there are a shitload of blink spots in every base that no one knows about but, if the vampire wants to win enough, will be found easily...). If the vampire starts attempting to use the bioplasm item on your refineries (the combination of the recipe for bioplasm, wand of blood, and shell dragon), he or she may be able to use a changeling to break into your base. This can be solved by either upgrading your refineries, or destroying the refineries that lead into your base and replacing them with Level 2 Defensive Towers (in the form of an orange Protoss Dark Shrine). Another remedy may be to destroy the structures behind your wall, replacing those structures with walls themselves, and upgrading them to copper.

2. Not many people know this either, but DTs (Dark Templars) exist in this game too. Most people won't know what a DT is until they actually see one in action, not killing the builder, but the builder's miners! The DT is a common tactic used for killing mules, tassadars, and, occasionally, hybrids. To stop this 1x1 unit from breaching your base's defenses, simply double-line the structures in back of your wall, adding houses in back of the refineries that line your base.

I. Usefulness in the Face of Complete Annihilation

1. I've heard this too many times before: "I've been found 3 times, this game is impossible. I'm not going to build anymore." DON'T EVER FUCKING DO THIS. This just makes you useless to your team and, therefore, their cause and vying for victory over the vampires. Instead of just blatantly giving up, try to help their cause by pooling them. Pooling is the act of building a base, pumping out miners, and giving the money acquired from these miners to the best person on the human team. This, like gas, catalyzes their economy, thus giving them the financial means to kill the vampires. Simply make a base, hotkey your miners, and when the vampire comes or tries to harass you, detonate the miners, destroy as many buildings as possible, and teleport to the new base. Rinse and repeat. Upgrades that you should acquire to do this include the attack speed upgrades for the builder, the mineral upgrades, probe health, and a Staff of Teleportation from the academic shop.

J. Measuring the Feed Board

1. Too many people turn a blind eye to the amount of feed being garnered by the vampire. They will still be using their refinery as a wall during the 10s, even if the vampire has exceeded 500 or 600 feed. They continue to do this, even if there are 4 vampires on the map. Don't fall victim to the creativity of the vampires in question. Instead, be ready for them: better safe than sorry. Don't be jealous of the people that are economically ahead of you, their risks will soon get them into deep trouble. So, I will give you rules of what to do when a certain feed amount has been exceeded.

a. 100 feed at the 10-minute mark: You shouldn't even take the vampires seriously. Just use a refinery as a wall, place it in front of your real wall (which can stay herbal), and keep econing (building your economy and teching up). Get the first wall armor upgrade in this case, just to be safe.

b. 200 feed at the 10-minute mark: Still shouldn't take them seriously. Refinery in front of your real wall, but upgrade that real wall to either wood or stone.

c. 300 feed at the 10-minute mark: Take them A BIT seriously. Refinery in front of your wall, which should still be herbal. Also, acquire the first two wall upgrades, maybe the third if you feel it is needed.

d. 400 feed at the 10-minute mark: Not too serious, but you should have a refinery in front of that herbal wall. Acquire the 3rd armor upgrade and separate your mules. Also, place a defensive tower ON THE GROUND, where the unit blinks FROM, effectively blocking any attempt to place a DT in your base. A good thing to remember is that if your wall is more powerful than the refinery in front of your wall, there isn't a point in keeping that refinery around if you already have tassadars. To expand, there is no point in having a stone wall either; with the wall design derived from this guide, and the fact that the vampire has a range of 1 instead of melee, he or she can attack the stone wall behind the refinery, attaining unneeded feed. If you're going to build a wall, have it either be herbal or aluminum and above.

e. 500 feed at the 10-minute mark: This is getting serious. Your teammates are feeding and, therefore, you need to be ready. Do everything you would do in the case of the 400-feed scenario, except, if there are 4 or more vampires on the map, upgrade your wall to aluminum.

f. 600 feed at the 10-minute mark: If you are the furthest ahead, prepare to buy the Steroids item from the academic shop, and get every slayer upgrade possible at the time. Get as many items to KILL the vampires. DO NOT save for tassadars, you won't have time to get them until your slayer is completely amped up, past 1,000 damage. If you are not the furthest ahead, DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NEEDED. Instead, try to implore the person farthest ahead to do the job for you, as well as your teammates. This "roid-rush" strategy works much better if 2 people do it.

g. 700 feed at the 10-minute mark: Balls to the wall, bro. You have to be mindful of everything. You have to be...in the zone. Copper wall by 12:30. Acquire any and all upgrades you absolutely need, and hope for the best.

h. 800 feed at the 10-minute mark: As much as I hate to say it...why are you still in the game? If 800 feed has been given by this time, chances are that the amount will triple, if not, double by the 15-minute mark, which means that you'd have to rush silver and try to get gold by 30.

i. 900 feed at the 10-minute mark: If the vampire is good, all bases should've been destroyed by then. If the vampire doesn't know what to do with the feed, rest assured, he or she will find SOME WAY to utilize it...revert to what you would do at 800 feed, no matter who the vampire is.

j. 1,000 feed at the 10-minute mark: Leave the game. There is NO HOPE. No new vampire can get that much feed in 10 minutes; chances are the vampire is good and KNOWS HOW TO USE THAT FEED. If you TRULY want to win, though, there may be a way. Try to convince your teammates to invest in you, supplying you with the funds needed to either tech up and kill the vampire, or use steroids to kill the beast (although I don't believe that steroids will work at this point). If you are not the best player in the game at the current moment, bequeath your income upon the best player, and convince him or her to either end it quickly or tech up as quickly as he or she can. Always try if there is a chance; there is no shame in losing. Hell, always try period.

K. Saving for the Secret Building

1. Before we get started, no, getting the secret building is not a secret. You get it from the academic shop, it costs 125,000 minerals and 20 gas, gives you 250 supply (so you can destroy your supply depots right after), and it is in the form of a Terran Factory. You should start saving for the secret building once you have only 3 mules left; this means that you DO NOT build any more refineries once you have 3 mules left. The transition into full tassadars and a secret building should be extremely smooth, without any ramifications. Simply do what you would do when creating tassadars, and work on the secret building once you have all tassadars.

2. Wall-upgrading procedure: this does not mean that you upgrade your wall, but your wall's health and armor. Do not be fooled into thinking you're safe just because you have a copper wall; if this isn't upgraded from the 2nd armor upgrade and past, it's essentially a grade B aluminum wall with a red coating. Timings for upgrading your wall's armor and health are as follows, given that the vampire has exceeded 400 feed: first armor upgrade after first refinery, second armor upgrade after second refinery, third armor upgrade after third refinery; fast forward to the 15-minute mark: upgrade your wall to aluminum, and also buy the first wall health upgrade, do this one after the other, until you have only the final health and armor upgrades left; get copper at the 18-minute mark. If feed has exceeded 600, get bronze, immediately. If you get the secret building before the start of mid-game, subsequently order the final health and armor upgrades after that; if it's the beginning of mid-game, fully upgrade your health and armor for the wall, regardless of whether you have the secret building or not. If you so desire, you can upgrade your wall's health and armor after each refinery built; this method seems to work much more effectively than the former.

II. Mid-Game (20:00 - 30:00)

L. Mid-Game Harassment

1. Contrary to popular belief, the mid-game is not just a spamfest where you defend bases that are being attacked by a belted vampire. Yes, most vampires will acquire the demonic belt, but they will find it ineffective without mid-game harassment, methods including bioplasm, fearing units, finishing off last minute mules, and much more. The mid-game, although small, is what decides the game, in general. The early game can be a good decider, but, given that the feed used incorrectly, can be fatal to the vampire. So, this section will give a detailed summary of how to counter mid-game harassment.

a. Bioplasm: this is basically an upgraded version of the shell dragon. Differences: it can hit multiple targets, and does about 2 to 3 times more damage. If Bioplasm is used correctly, oh god, it can be as devastating as the bubonic plague. And no, it's not devastating because it's a strong item; it's devastating because PEOPLE DON'T KNOW HOW TO PLACE THEIR STRUCTURES. Again, place your important structures near the center of your base and, once bioplasm has been used, which is when you'll know the vampires have it, you should immediately try to either upgrade your refineries to advanced, which, 1% of the time, will fall to bioplasm; get level 2 defensive towers; or, place herbal walls behind your original wall, upgrading those herbal walls to aluminum or copper, perhaps even bronze if more than one vampire decides to stock up on bioplasm, among other pesky items. Any 1 of these 3 should work. For the other 2 forms of harassment, I refer you to the separation of mules, as well as the blinking of units away from the mineral line upon being scanned.

b. Helping others: while it seems taboo, helping others is actually a very good way of denying feed, despite the fact that your chance of death will increase by about 50%, because the AI for builders is just that bad. You can do this easily if you're next to base that is under attack; it is when the base under attack is all the way across the map that it becomes tricky. To help someone that far away, there is a special item called the Staff of Teleportation, which teleports you to ANY human building on the map, for just the measly price of 1 mana point, while if you were to spam blink, you would run out of all of your energy in a few seconds, only making it half way across the map. If you do this, you'll find that by the time you actually get to the base under attack, the base will either not be under siege anymore, or just be plain broken into, thanks to you. Another way of helping others is acquiring the global teleportation upgrade within the Research Institute, a structure usually built in the middle of the mid-game, or close to the late-game. This is a good investment if it's NEEDED. This does not just go for the mid-game, either; help people as much as possible. This not only helps them: it may also help you if you need their pooling in the future. Games are a good way to make friends; bottom line: DON'T BE AN ASSHAT.

M. Mid-game Economies

1. I needn't say it, mid-game economies should consist of full tassadars and advanced refineries (in the form of a green Terran Refinery). If you are still on mules during the mid-game, and it's past the 23-minute mark, please destroy your base, and pool someone with the miners you have, unless the vampires are below 700 feed. You will only feed if they are above that.

a. Tassadars should be maxed, at the latest, by the 23-minute mark. Advanced refineries should be coming out in quick succession, one after the other, whenever you have 30,000 minerals, which may take about 30 seconds to amass, or less. The Research Institute should be manufactured between the 23 and 25-minute marks, if you've followed this guide down to the word.

b. During this period, if the vampire has exceeded 500 feed, you should subsequently upgrade your wall to bronze (note that you should upgrade your wall to copper if feed has exceeded 400, and upgrade to bronze if the feed board exceeds about 500, regardless of what the time is, as long as it's past the 15-minute mark). This will ensure that you're not rushing bronze while having to deal with a belted vampire and having to whip out medics.

c. How to tell if you should rush silver or not: if even ONE aluminum to bronze base is broken into, or if feed exceeds 600, rush silver. Get silver by 30, I promise, you will not regret it. People who don't will see that the overlord upgrades are catastrophic to not only themselves, but the people who actually DID prepare. They will insta-kill you if you have the nerve to stay bronze by 30.

d. Procedure in reacting to belt: if the vampire gets belt, do this: get immunity and the space suit from the Centre for New Technologies, get medics and a Mystical Helmet for the slayer, build 2 or 3 obelisks, depending on the composition of your base, destroy the refinery in front of your wall and the defensive tower that is blocking off your blink spot (replace the blink spot with an ultra feed box, the spot at which the unit blinks TO, NOT from, do this 2 times, 2 ultra feed boxes 1 space from each other, and place advanced refineries around the feed boxes), upgrade your wall to bronze if you haven't already done so, and, later, once you've gotten a research institute or right after you've gotten silver, or whenever you need it, proceed to build ONE tower: the tank. That is all you need. Leave a spot close to your wall and place your slayer there: he or she will be able to detect invisible units now that he or she has the mystical helmet. You may also need a Xel'Naga tower, depending on how much vision you have outside the entrance of your base.

i. Contrary to popular belief, towers are NOT FOR KILLING THE VAMPIRE. NEVER USE IT AS SUCH. Towers are used to kill whatever the vampire uses against you, such as lyotes, spores, zealots, and the like. Wall first, turret second. The only time I would ever envision using towers for a homicidal purpose constitutes that you are the only human left of your squad, it is the beginning of the game, and there are a bunch of vampires that you need to defend against. You may also need to do this if you control the only base left standing during the early game.

ii. Medic procedure: never EVER place all of your medics in your wall repair pit. Spawn them a little ways away from your wall, and blink 2 of them into the repairing pit. This will allow you to place new medics in the pit if the vampire chooses to fear those medics. Also, make sure that you announce that you're going to use medics; lack of communication can lead to more than one person dropping down medics, which can hinder the repair of other people's walls, leading to deaths upon deaths.

N. Saving for the Research Institute

1. NOTE: you will be getting silver before the RI if you want to stay safe if the vampire has been fed like fuck. The Research Institute is a sign of the end-game, a catalyst for the economy more powerful than any other structure since your first gas in the game. The RI allows you to acquire the gold wall, the hard counter to the vampire attaining the Suit of Dracula, and also allows you to manufacture hybrids, miners that will give you 4,000 minerals A POP. 45 gas to buy one of these isn't too shabby either; by the time you get RI, 45 gas will seem like chickenshit money to you. So, if you're not in a state of urgency with the amount of feed that the vampire has acquired (in which case you should try to rush gold), then begin and continue to manufacture hybrids until you're maxed out, upgrading your advanced refineries to elite refineries (should be in the form of a red Terran Refinery). And, with that, you should start saving for the game-ender, the laboratory.

O. Measuring the Feed Board in the Mid-game

1. Yes, there are different types of feed for each section of the game. 500 feed at 5 minutes differs completely from 500 feed at 20 minutes: one is VERY bad, one is just sad for the vampire. I'm going to trust you to guess which one is bad.

a. 100 feed at 20 minutes: Vampire should be dead. 'Nuff said.

b. 200 feed at 20 minutes: Same as 100 feed at 20 minutes.

c. 300 feed at 20 minutes: Fuck's sake. Seriously, if this is happening, I don't know who's shittier, the vampires, or the humans.

d. 400 feed at 20 minutes: Not even close to belt. Vampire should try to harass, but you've pretty much got everything under control, just make sure you have copper.

e. 500 feed at 20 minutes: You thought that this was going to be serious, didn't you? No, vampire is still shitty. Should 'roid rush to stop the cancerous vampires. Copper, you know the drill.

f. 600 feed at 20 minutes: Meh, enough for belt, but not much else. Means that you should have bronze and it's full upgraded in both guises. MAYBE some health upgrades for the builder, just build a small turret that can take small stuff out.

g. 700 feed at 20 minutes: Well, that escalated quickly. If it's this, will probably get to 1,000 in a few. Might want to rush silver.

h. 800 feed at 20 minutes: Definitely rush silver, no question. Feed may double in 10 minutes, be ready.

i. 900 feed at 20 minutes: Ok, your team may be in serious trouble. Bases may fall, silver, possibly gold by 30.

j. 1,000 feed at 20 minutes: Vampires know what they're doing, to an extent. Be ready with gold by 30, AT LEAST TRY FOR IT.

k. 1,000+ feed at 20 minutes: Too late to 'roid rush at this point. Feed will double, if not, triple by 30. Be ready, ask for someone to pool you.

l. 2,000 feed at 20 minutes: Leave the game. If you still think you have a chance, you better rush all the walls you can and hope for the best.

III. Late Game

P. The Late Game Economy

1. The late game economy should consist of you acquiring 6 hybrids, amounting to 240 supply, and attaining the laboratory, which costs 1,300 gas, NO MINERALS. During this time, all you should be doing is keeping a firm watch over the vampire's acts; if the vampire has made it this far, chances are that he or she is pretty strong, but not strong enough to kill you...or you just kept him or her around, toying with that person. Evil bastard. Anyway, this means that the vampire still thinks that he or she still has a chance: they have a chance because the chances of getting gas in order to further their quest to kill you become ever more ubiquitous. This means that you have to kill the vampire AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. Only wait for end-game items like the Einstein or Frostmourne when you want an achievement or you just feel like fucking around. If the case of the vampire is serious, kill him whenever you can. You can wait for anabolics, nothing more, nothing less. Besides, you'd get enough damage to kill the vampire much more quickly by using the items in the center at your disposal, rather than waiting to garner enough gas for one of those super items in the lab. If you have time, you should get the "final" harvester (not final because of the Einstein, but people rarely get the Einstein), the dark harvester, which gives you 20,000 minerals a trip EACH. However, there ARE times at which game circumstances necessitate an Einstein and thus, an osmium wall. When spawning the Einstein, make sure to keep in perspective his HP: he may cost 10,000 gas, but he only has 600 HP. This is less than the builder itself, and the Einstein goes for a lot of feed if killed (the two main vampires can kill him if they put their slimes together, this has been done before). This means that he can also be spored. To counteract this, place obelisks and a Xel'Naga tower around him; keep watch over him, and make sure to replenish resources with HIS replenishment ability. He mines mineral fields at an exponential rate. If needed, and it probably will be needed, expand to other bases and place golden refineries in those bases, doubling your gas income. All that matters at this point is not only protecting yourself; it is also killing the vampire.

a. Gas Reliance: the late-game is MADE of gas, minerals are almost completely irrelevant by this time. The only reason minerals would be put into play is if you need to upgrade and build more gold refineries (in the form of golden Terran Refineries), or acquire the platinum wall, which is optional, depending on how much feed the vamp has, as every other wall depends on the feed amount.

b. Killing the Vampire: get all the slayer upgrades and anabolics, then proceed to use tomes in the hydralisk den in the center. Also, try to get tomes from the building that gives you Ancient Claws. Armor tomes help TREMENDOUSLY. Try to get a few suits, then kill the vampire. Most vampires will only need that, that IS unless they were fed a fuckton by your idiot teammates... If required, save up for the items placed in your laboratory. Another tip: the Research Institute and Laboratory make great walls for vampires that don't have anything above the Demonic Belt...as long as they are repaired; they're easy to repair due to the fact that they are larger than ordinary walls.

c. The Importance of NOT Feeding the Vampire: I see this so much when new people are in the game. They think they should help the vampire just because that vampire is low on feed, and not getting it his or herself. Never EVER do this. This just makes the game longer and, because of the large amount of noobery, it creates the domino effect: one base falls after the other, generating more feed. Sometimes. one ultra feed box can be what pushes it over the edge. So, never feed intentionally, and never feed in general, if you can avoid it. You should especially veer away from feeding the vampire in the late-game; the late-game is SO unstable that just a little feed can change the path that the game goes in.

IV. Tips and Tricks

Q. 'Roid Rushing

1. This strategy must be planned for, and must be executed correctly by the 20-minute mark. This strategy is used usually when the vampire has too little feed, or has too much, and is ordinarily executed by professionals. However, new people can do it as well, provided they have some fiscal responsibility. To execute this, you shouldn't get tassadars until your slayer has over 1,000 damage. Get both mineral upgrades for the mules, and wait until you have 30 gas and 30,000 minerals; then, proceed to buy the Steroids item from your academic shop. Then, upgrade your slayer (there should be 3 slayer upgrades at your disposal, 2 in the research center, 1 in the Centre for New Technologies). It would also be a good idea to get Universal Shield and the Mystical Helmet from your academic shop. Then, have fun killing vampires! You have until the 20-minute mark to kill them all; if you fail, you may be subjected to the destruction of your own base because the vampire got belt. Try to enlist people to aid you in your cause to lessen the chance of failure.

R. Searching for the Vampire

1. A new ability was added not too long ago: global scan for the humans. This is located on the command card for the osmium wall; you may need this, but it is not necessitated if you know how to look for the vampire. Other methods include killing a miner (this only works if you haven't attained the Einstein yet), and using the newly gained supply to buy changelings, among other creatures that can be placed in multiple bases, furthering your search for the vampire. Changelings are king because of the fact that they are detectors above all else.

Very nice game. The most important problem is that it's IMPOSSIBLE to win as human. This game is completely imbalanced and the Vampire MUST win if he has already played a game like that (Catch'n'run or other). It's just at the beginning that it is possible to hold the vampire, but passed 10 minuts he is just too powerful to be stopped. If he can kill someone, he gets too powerfull and can kill everyone. I played 10 times and we always die easily.

EDIT : First time I play as Vampire, i've never played WC3 game, but I won easily, starting of the game was quite hard but when you reach the Vampire upgrade it's gg.

I just did a 2 hour game with a vamp. 10 warp towers couldn't kill it because it would just run away. My slayer maxed in stats and it takes too long to up damage. There needs to be a draw. 2 hours is too long or need to lower vamp max stats so that the game can actually end.

If you want to replay I have it saved.

hello i am Louis IV i just played after being away for a while im most sure this is a bug in the game of the humans being able to buy all items from all shops that the vampires have in doing so being able to get mutiple suits of dracula for them selves leaving there heros to be extremely overpowered if im wrong about this being a bug you can tell me on SC2 Louis IV 800 ive played the version in wc3 i know human were not able to buy everything from the vamp shops if this is a bug plz fix it before this game gets ripped off the most pop top 5 pages

I'v been enjoying the game and hope it remains popular but I have recently noticed some problems with the balance. Within only a few minutes the humans are able to construct walls that cannot be breached if they are being repaired, even if both vamps are attacking together. The game then becomes pointless as the vamps are powerless to do anything. One of my games tonight I went straight to the base at top left immediately after spawning but could not break in because 2 scvs were repairing. They didn't even need cannons up to stop me as I could not cause any damage. Just about every game I have seen tonight has resulted in the vamps having zero ability to feed within only a few minutes. Even using a roach or changeling and TP does not work as most players know to cover the small edges around their wall. Also, I have noticed that most minions leave the game as soon as they are killed as a human but their leaving does not appear to award the vamps any money. Losing a minion is a huge loss and I suggest that the vamps should get a sizable amount of money for this. Both vamps should also have to consent to kicking a minion from the game.

@rustywenus: Go

Actually its well within the map, the blink offers a "short" blink (example 1 wallhop)

If u look closely at the bases you see small spaces or big spaces at the sides, you cover the small spaces by the minerals with feed boxes, as you can build them anywhere

You cover large spaces with A certain tower that has regenerative abilities, (i forgot the name)

Hellow, there is a glitch with the vampiric sphere. it is able to blink vampires on ledges and past defenses. This being said, this item and it's blink ability defies the logic of this custom map.

@Killerrj: Go

in the original vampirism fire (which this was based off) there was something invisible called a "Shade", most likely the vamps had placed one in the humans bases before they built there

Hey guys, im posting to warn about a glitch that i accidentally discovered in which the vamps can use scroll of TP to teleport to a human base and then kill the players easily especially if used at the same time as the 20 sec immortallity item to avoid the tower damage. Thanks for the attention.

hey message me i know some game problems that need fixing urgently as i like the game and want it to stay around

Dude on WC3 the votekick was from a BOT, you cant votekick in normal games

If you played Vamp Fire recently there's a bot hosting it and that's where votekicks come from

Also what i think he is trying to say down there is that when a human doesnt move till vamps spawn to send them to the "safe area" or in vamp fire "dance pool"

Peace i got this page bookmarked so ill check here often