How many workers should you have mining minerals per base? I have a friend who says that, as a rule, you should have: 2 workers per mineral patch, 3 per vespene. Now I know that 3 is the best number for vespene, but what about minerals? I've watched replays and I see it vary from 2 workers per patch to 3 per patch, and everywhere in between. I myself have played with 3 per patch and found that it works quite well, but I don't know if I'm being wasteful. Should you use 2 or 3 workers per mineral patch? Are there certain situations where 2 would be better than 3/ vice versa? Thanks for any help in advance!
I generally subscribe to the philosophy of as many workers as possible. As soon as your next expansion goes up, grab a big group and send them over there! Then I don't really worry about rebuilding any at the original base because the minerals may be winding down by that point, and vespane is usually the limiting factor by then. Same reasoning why I don't worry about getting too many on the expansion.
I get 20 + scv's just for my main mineral patch. When I expand I usually average a lot less though, more around 10-15.
Usually with me, I get the amount of workers for one each mineral patch, but then add another one or two depending on how many patches there are. With Vespene, I use three per geyser, but add extra workers if it is further away.
Well i tested worker mining rates and it was increasing up to my 22nd worker sadly i got bored and just attacked the computer with my drones at this point. You'll see 38-57 minerals per minute with 1 drone on 1 crystal . With 2-3 on a crystal its approx 20-40 a minute per additional drone. When i'm playing zerg i normally forget to top up my drones but keep my expansions at max capacity so if i get pushed back i can still keep mining >> I didn't run this for long enough to get more accurate numbers...i'm sure they're somewhere on the internetz
For max efficiency it is two per Mineral Patch, and Three per Vespene Geyser. That said, never stop making workers. It helps to get expansions up and running a lot quicker if you have more then enough workers at your main, just dragging them over.
What I usually do is 2 per mineral patch and 3 per vespene geyser. However, when I start building my command center, I start pumping SCVs again. By the time my command center is done, I usually have quite a bit of SCVs to transfer.
3 per ves. as many as possible minerals. Usually I end with about 40 miners. I only lose if they they have more. The way I do it. build miners until I get 100 spare resources. Build a pylon, overlord etc, build 1-2 more, build 2 gateways. build 3 more. 1 zelot, 1 pylon. From their I either try to have constant output or I build 3 ever time I'm out of resources
I like to get 30, but more for when I expand. That said I think I've been dropping the ball because I normally don't get like 60 workers but more like maybe 45 or something. I need to chrono boost and pump more workers... I don't like 2 per mineral patch at all. Why have less production when you can have more? Cutting probes is one thing, but only when it's for a good cause.
From what I understand your income increases untill you have three workers per patch. So you want 24 workers on minerals for a starting point with 8 mineral patches. However, to immedietly supply your expansions with workers you want to keep a constant production. (guessing the last part does not hold true for zerg)
As a general rule, atleast for the first 10-20 min of the game you should always, always, always be building more scv/probe/drone. You want that main building working non stop without delay. In a long game I'll usually end up with 60 or more total workers. as soon as you seem to have too many at your main base, expand and split them in half, then build from both command centers/nexus/hatch to get double your production. As soon as you have too many minerals... build some more production and spam your opponent into submission. The game usually comes down to economy and map control late in the game, assuming you don't just get totally out microed/outplayed/countered.
I've done some quick calcutations and I noticed there is a diminishing return once you have more than 16 probes mining a base(minerals only). (Speed Fastest) 1) With 16 probes(2 per patch), you should mine out the base in about 9:08 minutes (12000-500 for probes) and have 11,500 minerals. At 8:10 minutes it is 10,100 (for comparison) 2) With 24 probes(3 per patch), you should mine out in about 8:10 minutes (12000-900 for probes) and have 11,100 minerals. I havent checked these calculations out so use this info cautiously. Flash
3 per patch for 'optimal' harvesting - according to blizz (it's in the tips) that's 24 on minerals, 6 on gas. my rule of thumb is the minute I hit this, expand and keep building probes/drones/scvs with them rallied on the expo's mineral field/gas. I find this a good automatic response because you can rinse/repeat you'll always have exponential growth of economy. And if late game hits, you'll have a strong base for map control ________ vaporizer review