Barkspawn Profile Joined June 2011 United States 8 Posts Last Edited: 2011-12-15 16:28:30 #1



Edit: added an alternative way to wall off on Arid Plateau

Arid Plateau:



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The cannon covers all buildings, and the only way for lings to run into the main is to go around the nexus, and through the small area between the vespene geyser and the mineral patch. This area is easily blocked with probes, or a pylon, as seen here:







An additional building can be placed to reinforce your pylon and cannon from banelings:







What i find most promising about an FFE on this map shown below:







These three pylons form a complete wall off. Its certainly not an impenetrable wall off, but it can serve to buy time and protect cannons placed behind the pylons. This feature will help immensely for dealing with roach-ling allins.



Finally, one more building is enough to completely wall off the mineral line if this is deemed necessary:







Here's an alternative way to wall-off taken from the thread.



On December 15 2011 18:19 Wookyman wrote:

Is it just me or is this one more viable?



The cannon completely defends both nexus and forge from lings.

Like Tekakan says you can still place a cannon on the ledge to defend you from roaches.

You almost can't see it but there's a pylon in the top of the picture obstructing ling runby's avoiding the cannon completely whilst making good room for a second cannon in that area.

These placements are not well thought through I only tried twice. Is it just me or is this one more viable?The cannon completely defends both nexus and forge from lings.Like Tekakan says you can still place a cannon on the ledge to defend you from roaches.You almost can't see it but there's a pylon in the top of the picture obstructing ling runby's avoiding the cannon completely whilst making good room for a second cannon in that area.These placements are not well thought through I only tried twice.



The basic wall-off looks like this:The cannon covers all buildings, and the only way for lings to run into the main is to go around the nexus, and through the small area between the vespene geyser and the mineral patch. This area is easily blocked with probes, or a pylon, as seen here:An additional building can be placed to reinforce your pylon and cannon from banelings:What i find most promising about an FFE on this map shown below:These three pylons form a complete wall off. Its certainly not an impenetrable wall off, but it can serve to buy time and protect cannons placed behind the pylons. This feature will help immensely for dealing with roach-ling allins.Finally, one more building is enough to completely wall off the mineral line if this is deemed necessary:Here's an alternative way to wall-off taken from the thread.





Entombed Valley:

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The purpose of the second pylon is to both wall off, and give the power radius required for your second cannon. This cannon covers the rocks from zergling attacks, and also covers most of the ramp for additional defense. Note that like on Nazarim Crypt this cannon does not need to be built right away, or even at all if zerg chooses not to try to kill the rocks with lings. However, unlike on Nazarim Crypt it is hard to use a zealot to defend this kind of harass.



In case of an all in a gateway and a cannon can wall off your side entrance, and cannons can be positioned to defend both entrances:



There are a few ways to go about walling off, but this is the way i found to be most effective.The purpose of the second pylon is to both wall off, and give the power radius required for your second cannon. This cannon covers the rocks from zergling attacks, and also covers most of the ramp for additional defense. Note that like on Nazarim Crypt this cannon does not need to be built right away, or even at all if zerg chooses not to try to kill the rocks with lings. However, unlike on Nazarim Crypt it is hard to use a zealot to defend this kind of harass.In case of an all in a gateway and a cannon can wall off your side entrance, and cannons can be positioned to defend both entrances:

A few hours ago blizzard announced these two maps for the upcoming season, and the biggest complaint I've noticed is the inability to FFE on arid plateau. After playing around on these maps, I have found that FFE appears to be completely viable on arid plateau, so I've decided to share what I've found on both the maps.Edit: added an alternative way to wall off on Arid Plateau

Kznn Profile Joined March 2011 Brazil 6223 Posts #2 very nice. Thank you

dAPhREAk Profile Blog Joined July 2010 Nauru 12390 Posts #3 lol at "banlings." they are going to break your wall and ban your ass. =) i think your wall would be better if you do a forge, gate and cyber (or 2 gate) between ramp and nexus. that way you arent blocking yourself. its kind of like xelnaga caverns.

heha Profile Blog Joined November 2010 Australia 416 Posts #4 Thanks for this! Sir/madam, you are a scholar and gentleman/ladyThanks for this! Random for life! phoneheha

pure_protoss Profile Joined April 2011 148 Posts Last Edited: 2011-12-15 06:15:35 #5 On ARID, I am pretty sure your canon doesnt cover your forge entirely...therefore, any roach pressure or early pool can easily break it and get in your main...not a good map for FFE...On the second map, your FFE seems good however, it will once again be vulnerable to early pool (as on TDA however). Also, the fact that they can push both the rocks or the main makes it dangerous...we will see in the future how it goes...But for the first map...it is definatly not viable...sorry

See.Blue Profile Blog Joined October 2008 United States 2411 Posts #6 Yeah, you'd def need 2 cannons on arid plateau, roaches could bust your forge safely

Barkspawn Profile Joined June 2011 United States 8 Posts #7 On December 15 2011 15:10 pure_protoss wrote:

On ARID, I am pretty sure your canon doesnt cover your forge entirely...therefore, any roach pressure or early pool can easily break it and get in your main...not a good map for FFE...On the second map, your FFE seems good however, it will once again be vulnerable to early pool (as on TDA however). Also, the fact that they can push both the rocks or the main makes it dangerous...we will see in the future how it goes...But for the first map...it is definatly not viable...sorry





The cannon(on arid) does cover the forge from lings, but not from roaches. so a second would definitely be needed against roaches. When i say FFE is viable i compare it to metalopolis. As someone who always FFEs on metal, from what I've seen i expect roaches to be easier to deal with on this map than on metal, because on metal they can simply maneuver around your nexus to find a weak spot, whereas on Arid if one entrance is heavily defended they have to run around the big hole in front of your nat to get to the other entrance, and the ability to wall off your second entrance strengthens your defense and buys you time.



Of course, the map hasn't been out long enough to be tested thoroughly, so this is speculation. My purpose in writing this guide isn't to say an FFE will be easy, but rather to say it is much more viable than a lot of people think it is.



The cannon(on arid) does cover the forge from lings, but not from roaches. so a second would definitely be needed against roaches. When i say FFE is viable i compare it to metalopolis. As someone who always FFEs on metal, from what I've seen i expect roaches to be easier to deal with on this map than on metal, because on metal they can simply maneuver around your nexus to find a weak spot, whereas on Arid if one entrance is heavily defended they have to run around the big hole in front of your nat to get to the other entrance, and the ability to wall off your second entrance strengthens your defense and buys you time.Of course, the map hasn't been out long enough to be tested thoroughly, so this is speculation. My purpose in writing this guide isn't to say an FFE will be easy, but rather to say it is much more viable than a lot of people think it is.

Shield Profile Blog Joined August 2009 Bulgaria 4822 Posts #8 I don't like the cannon on Arid Plateau. Gas mining seems to be screwed. Any suggestions?

pure_protoss Profile Joined April 2011 148 Posts #9 On December 15 2011 15:32 darkness wrote:

I don't like the cannon on Arid Plateau. Gas mining seems to be screwed. Any suggestions?



I didnt see that but now that you are mentionning it...Gas mining would not be screwed but would be crippled severely...The second canon would definatly be a need...therefore, it might be a good idea to place your first canon on the left of the left geyser and then place a second one in the mineral line...

I didnt see that but now that you are mentionning it...Gas mining would not be screwed but would be crippled severely...The second canon would definatly be a need...therefore, it might be a good idea to place your first canon on the left of the left geyser and then place a second one in the mineral line...

mizU Profile Blog Joined April 2010 United States 11896 Posts Last Edited: 2011-12-15 07:08:35 #10 Your guide is about building placement, not actually forge fast-expanding...



You should also include weaknesses like those horridly exposed pylons. if happy ever afters did exist <3 @watamizu_

Yoshi Kirishima Profile Blog Joined July 2009 United States 9392 Posts Last Edited: 2011-12-15 07:13:57 #11



Great, thanks for this! I wonder if the blizz people take into account things like this when creating maps, or expect the players to be able to find an OK way to sim city



On December 15 2011 16:02 pure_protoss wrote:

Show nested quote +

On December 15 2011 15:32 darkness wrote:

I don't like the cannon on Arid Plateau. Gas mining seems to be screwed. Any suggestions?



I didnt see that but now that you are mentionning it...Gas mining would not be screwed but would be crippled severely...The second canon would definatly be a need...therefore, it might be a good idea to place your first canon on the left of the left geyser and then place a second one in the mineral line...

I didnt see that but now that you are mentionning it...Gas mining would not be screwed but would be crippled severely...The second canon would definatly be a need...therefore, it might be a good idea to place your first canon on the left of the left geyser and then place a second one in the mineral line...



All you need to do is put that third building there right below the gas, so that you can move the gateway down so there is a crack between the cannon and gate.



If you do that, you could move the forge down 1 matric as well; this way, if a baneling bust comes and hits any of those 3 buildings, the pylon behind it won't get splashed. However if the forge is 1 matric farther south, i don't think the cannon can reach the very corner of the forge, but if it's just 2-3 lings it shouldn't be a big deal. Seems like I should have read Blizzard's full post, hah. It's on PTR I'm guessing ^^Great, thanks for this! I wonder if the blizz people take into account things like this when creating maps, or expect the players to be able to find an OK way to sim cityAll you need to do is put that third building there right below the gas, so that you can move the gateway down so there is a crack between the cannon and gate.If you do that, you could move the forge down 1 matric as well; this way, if a baneling bust comes and hits any of those 3 buildings, the pylon behind it won't get splashed. However if the forge is 1 matric farther south, i don't think the cannon can reach the very corner of the forge, but if it's just 2-3 lings it shouldn't be a big deal. Mid-master streaming MECH ONLY + commentary www.twitch.tv/yoshikirishima +++ "If all-in fails, all-in again."

chadissilent Profile Blog Joined September 2010 Canada 1186 Posts #12 Both of these placements will die to 7pool. It's one of those situations where you have to abandon your natural and hope to plop a cannon down in your main.

Duckvillelol Profile Blog Joined July 2009 Australia 1207 Posts #13 I'm just going to downvote the first map, seems far too annoying for FFE, which I love doing. But great job figuring them out Former SC2 commentator: facebook.com/duckville.casting || youtube.com/duckvillelol || twitter.com/duckvillelol

teh_longinator Profile Joined March 2010 Canada 725 Posts #14 Wait? These maps are ALREADY playable? I thought we had to wait for the new season to start.

blabber Profile Blog Joined June 2007 United States 4380 Posts #15 that's nice and pretty and everything, but it's not viable and no one in their right mind will FFE on that map blabberrrrr

Verator Profile Joined June 2010 United States 220 Posts #16 On December 15 2011 16:43 blabber wrote:

that's nice and pretty and everything, but it's not viable and no one in their right mind will FFE on that map



We see less viable ffe builds from people all the time, on dual sight/ metal/ bel'shir. This is hardly any worse than those. We see less viable ffe builds from people all the time, on dual sight/ metal/ bel'shir. This is hardly any worse than those. So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence. -- Bertrand Russell

cywinr Profile Joined February 2011 Canada 172 Posts #17 You can also just sit in one spot and defend the entrances to 4 bases...

Warzilla Profile Joined December 2010 Czech Republic 310 Posts #18 However those maps are looking typhon peaks like pretty much Does anyone know which maps will get removed ? Nice job manHowever those maps are looking typhon peaks like pretty muchDoes anyone know which maps will get removed ? "AFTER LOST GAME - I usually run around in circles yelling "WHY OH GOD WHY" in my room, pointing towards the sky. After 5 to 10min ,i get tired and go back to playing"

caradoc Profile Blog Joined January 2011 Canada 3015 Posts Last Edited: 2011-12-15 09:26:47 #19 wow, interesting. I assumed it was impossible, but this completely changes everything! Lots of surface area though. . .



EDIT: top of second page is better. Salvation a la mode and a cup of tea...

CygNus X-1 Profile Joined March 2011 Canada 169 Posts #20



User was warned for this post You must be gold league. close thread. Attention all Planets of the Solar Federation: We have assumed control.

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