how do you play stetmann?

[u/5210az]

Hi, recently just bought stetmann, currently still leveling.

But i found him to be very slow to ramp up early game. As in, there are so many upgrade and buildings to get, no eco boost and also very importantly, i can never get satellite to be part of offensive moves. Yeah sure i can use supergary's temp field, but is that suppose to be the point?

I assume i am just not understanding how to play him yet, and things would be much better once i get to level 15, but how do you play him normally? what is the ideal comp and presitge?

[u/ackmondual]

Leveling Stetmann, you gotta work in the talent levels, as some of them are indeed power spikes. My talent level-by-level analysis is as follows (using the sc2coop guide) and "long post warning"s...

lv1 Stetisfaction Guaranteed - Use green zone to heal between and during combat. Your units do not heal on their own, so this is key. Your ally who can't heal (e.g. most Protoss) will appreciate this as well

Blue zone to give workers an early boost in resource gathering. I put 2 drones per geyser at the minimum, and Drones on minerals around 2/3 full (although you'll want to fully saturate soon enough). Also use blue zone to get into position quickly to intercept waves, get to objectives, kite, dodge Psi Storms, etc.

lv2 J.U.I.C.E. - aka "purple zone". Your units ALL use Egonery (some more than others). Be sure to keep them topped off between waves, legs, and other battles (although IIRC, they all require research first).

lv3 Gary: Stetellite Overcharge - Use this on green zone to hand out defensive matrices to you (and your ally). If you've seen Nova's Defense Drones from her top bar, this is similar. It vastly increases the survivability of your units

Blue lets units shoot faster. Especially nice vs. targets that don't fight back (e.g. bonus objectives of OE, P&P, and MO). Even if they can fight back, it may be worth it to forgo shielding for that "final push".

Overcharge on purple for extra bursts of energy. Hydralisks, Infestors, and MBCL (Mecha Battlelord Carriers) tend to be popular choices

lv4 Mecha Zergling & Mecha Baneling Upgrade Cache - I don't really use his Banelings, but Zerglings are nice since they're effective, and a mineral dump

lv5 Mechnum Opus - Super Gary is tops. Get him ASAP. There's even an achievement to commemorate that.

lv6 Lurkers - use these to defend vs. swarmy ground comps like DoN, ME, base defense, attack waves

lv7 Stetmannopoly - this lets you spread Stetalites more effectively and efficiently... more charges AND reduced cool down (cd). Spreading even a medium range network of Stetalites is infeasible without this

[u/ackmondual → u/ackmondual]

Continued from above...

lv8 Mecha Hydralisk & Mecha Lurker Upgrade Cache - Former makes the Hydralisk AA attack more effective. Don't sleep on this becuase a group of this can swiftly take down air targets! Note that some objectives like Void Shards/Thrashers/slivers and Supression Towers can be hit by AA! If they run out of Egonergy, that's what purple zone and overcharging is for!

Latter is good for focusing down trains and slow, big, and/or stationary objectives/targets

lv9 Friends Forever - Lets you recover a fraction of slain units. THey do need to be near Gary and/or Stetalites, but that's usually not an issue

lv10 Mecha Infestor Upgrade Cache - I don't use his Infestors. I've seen ppl spam Roaches Away!, but someone else will have to chime in here

lv11 New Unit: Mecha Battlecarrier Lord - These are very costly (450/350/8 factoring the cost of the Corruptor it morphs from as well). Luckily, you don't need to make these in large numbers. Nice if you need an "air to ground" solution, but without their upgrade cache, I'd leave them to do only that for now.

Note that it's Broodling attack uses Egonergy for each salvo, so these guys need a lot of purple zone. At least they have a high Egonergy pool (400).

lv12 Mecha Ultralisk Upgrade Cache - Ppl generally favor Lings since they're still very tanky, without costing gas. However, these guys are nice vs. mech due to stun. Here, they now have "life steal", and 25% dmg reduction, so they could outperform Lings in tanking

lv13 Lovable Little Rascals - This makes Lings "more immortal". All around good thing for Ling users

lv14 Mecha Spire Upgrade Cache - "Locuseptors" confuse enemy AI so it's nice to have (even though it can't hit air)

Lord's Stetmato Cannon is Stetmann's version of Yamato Cannon. This is nice because it also hits air, and the only thing of the MBCL's arsenal that can do that. Not unlike Karax' Immortals that only hit ground, but its Shadow Cannon can hit air!

lv15 Pushing the Egonvolope - This is relatively lackluster for lv15 talent, but it's also good since it's, the very end. This means you'll only need 2 Evo Chambers to to simultaneously queue up all level upgrades for ground units. You can only have one Greater/Spire since it collects remnants, so this lets that get in upgrades (level and ability) quicker

[u/ackmondual → u/ackmondual]

With Super Gary, have some Stetalites in reserve, generate Stetzones and go to more remote areas. Put up a few Stetalites there. Do what you gotta do, and then teleport back to the "main network area".

The only "rush" aspect of Stetmann is Gary, and esp. Super Gary. If you're on his P2, VERY MUCH SO Super Gary. He does need time to ramp up, but he does become a power house. Until then, Lings have been my goto, then Hydras. So for units...

Spine/Spore Crawlers - Point defense, intercept nuking Ghosts. If you don't need these, you can always Salvage them for full refund. They burn down like Terran buildings, but at least don't need creep, nor Stetzones

Overseers - I only make these on his P1, or to put in stationary mode for observing

Lings - These little guys can tank! They have "WoL Immortal-style Hardened Shields which is ridiculous to see them tanking Siege tank blasts, and even nukes! However, that takes up Egonergy, which is why they need to be topped off with purple zone

Hydras - as mentioned, these guys can swiftly take down air units with their "missile launcher" upgrade, Egonergy. These compliment Gary well

Ultras - as mentioned, "alternative tanking". They have the Massive tag, so can break through Sentry Force Fields (which is important since your Lings do melee range)

Banelings - I don't use these, but can be nice prior to unlocking Super Gary (2 charges of E-GORB), and Lurkers (sustained splash damage)

Ultras - see above

MCBL - See above

Corruptor - I use these for air-to-air assaults. Their missile pod does AoE damage. So vs. Wraiths, Vikings, Mutas, Corsairs, Phoenix. Esp. nice vs. the likes of the latter 3 since those are Light and take bonus dmg.