Starcraft 2 WWI Gas Mechanic

Cavez has posted details about the new gas mining features introduced at WWI.

You will now be able to restore 400 gas back into a depleted geyser for 100 minerals, Blizzard is trying out two geysers at each main, and Cavez covers possible strategies that are brought into the mix with this new feature.

WWI Gas Mechanic - posted by Cavez Here is how it works. All numbers are subject to change. We have changed the balance since the WWI build and will be fiddling with the balance this coming week for sure. You start with two Vespene Geysers in your base and at every expansion (some maps will not do this of course, but all the WWI maps do). Optimal number of workers per gas collection building is 3 (so you need 6 total). All gas collection buildings start with a certain amount of gas (like SC1). I believe it's 1000 in your WWI build. When a gas collector runs out it becomes "depleted" (like SC1). A depleted gas collector still allows you to harvest some gas (like SC1). In the WWI build you collect 6 gas per trip from a working gas collector and 2 gas per trip when depleted. All gas collectors have a "Restore Gas" (name temp) button that you can use to return your gas collector to a non-depleted state. In the WWI build this gets you 400 gas back into your collector. Restoring Gas costs 100 minerals and takes the gas collector down for 45 seconds (all numbers temp). Like all things this is work-in-progress, but here is what we have seen in the games we have played: 1) You can choose how much gas you want. The more gas you want, the less minerals you will have. If you build your 2nd gas collector too soon, you may have the wrong resource mix. If you go gas too late, you may have the wrong resource mix. If you use "Restore Gas" too few times you may not have enough gas to do some of the crazy end-game stuff. If you use it to often early on you may have too much gas and not enough minerals. 2) Some of the more mass-able units are very, very gas heavy. You can scout a player and gain some sense which way he is headed based on how quickly he goes for double gas. 3) Sometimes you don't want to "Restore Gas" if you need just a little more gas in the short term because you are trying to tech or build something critical. Since it takes down your gas collector for 45 seconds you may need to hold if you are close to being able to afford something that requires gas. This of course damages your gas collection for the long haul which makes the choice difficult. Why we are trying it: 1) We think gas could be more interesting than it was in the original StarCraft. 2) We think StarCraft 2 can benefit from additional economy choices. I think that's all of it. Now that you have complete information, please discuss. =) Sorry for the forum spam. I don't have the tools handy to deal with it.

A new tactic for any build order that really allows you to fine tune your approach for maximum macro.