Beginner’s Guide
What is StarCraft II?
Gameplay Overview
Campaign Overview
Terran Overview
Protoss Overview
Zerg Overview

Getting Started

Learn about Battle.net accounts, installation, and more

This section covers the StarCraft II installation process and Battle.net account creation. Battle.net profiles and characters are discussed in more detail in the Multiplayer Basics and Social Play sections. If you’ve already installed the game and created your account, skip ahead to Playing the Game.

Setting up a Battle.net Account

Battle.net accounts grant you access to Blizzard Entertainment online services and games with a single login. With your Battle.net account, you can manage purchases at the online Blizzard Store, keep track of authentication keys for your Blizzard Entertainment games, opt in for upcoming beta tests, and much more; we are always looking for other cool web services to add to our sites.

After signing up for your Battle.net account, you will be able to access Battle.net account features and services via the account management homepage. You can use the Manage My Games section to document your authentication keys and download our titles from anywhere with Internet access. Even your World of Warcraft account(s) can be linked, creating a single login for all of your Blizzard Entertainment games. During StarCraft II installation you will be prompted to visit our Battle.net website to enter your authentication key for the game.

Further details can be found on the Battle.net support site.



Digital Purchase

You can buy a digital copy of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. The difference between a digital copy and the retail version of the game is that the digital copy can be downloaded immediately upon purchase and does not include any physical media.

Visit the Battle.net website and select the digital download version of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Once your purchase is complete, you will be able to download and install StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty on your computer. Also, if you ever need to download the game again, you can do so by visiting your Battle.net account management page.

For more information or if you need assistance, please visit the Blizzard Store support pages.

Digital Download
  • Digital copy of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
  • Download, install, and play
  • Can be downloaded again as needed
Buy digitally now!

Retail Box
  • Physical copy of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
  • Includes game box, printed manual, etc.
  • Once registered, can be downloaded as needed.

Installing StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty

PC INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

Place the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty DVD into your DVD-ROM drive. If your computer has autoplay enabled, an installation window will automatically pop up on your Windows desktop. Left-click the Install StarCraft II button and follow the onscreen instructions to install StarCraft II on your hard drive.

If the installation window does not appear, double-click the My Computer icon on your desktop, and then double-click the drive letter corresponding to your DVD-ROM drive to open its contents. Double-click the Install.exe icon in the DVD-ROM contents and follow the onscreen instructions to install StarCraft II.

INSTALLING DIRECTX
You will need to install DirectX 9.0c in order to run StarCraft II properly. While installing StarCraft II, you will be prompted to install DirectX if you do not already have the most up-to-date version on your computer.
MAC INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
Place the StarCraft II DVD into your DVD-ROM drive. Double-click the StarCraft II DVD icon, and then double-click the Installer application to copy the required game files to your hard drive.
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Alpha #854
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Alpha
8/15/2012
well have you tryed switching the card in it?
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Gick #949
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Gick
10/14/2012
@Alpha: I am having the same problem as edhill is. I am a computer novice. How would one go about switching the video card in ones computer? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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AftermathMT #570
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AftermathMT
8/12/2012
I can't play multiplayer or versus ai, or the challenges, the only thing that works for me is the campaign, i try anything else and the game freezes, anybody have any suggestions?
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Awesomeness #380
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Awesomeness
8/10/2012
hi
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llllllllllll #231
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llllllllllll
8/4/2012
Please help me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I keep getting this
http://i.imgur.com/ffChp.jpg
please help, i need to play in a tourney :(
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RockManZX #949
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RockManZX
7/15/2012
It says I need to verify it with the game code but I DONT HAVE ONE!?!?! This is downloaded from battle.net. Augh, where can I get my code to verify it? Cuz I reinstalled sc II
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Drake #1997
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Drake
7/7/2012
Installed game on new computer, downloaded updates & patches ect... Now every time I try to run the game nothing happens. I 'click' on the starcraft 2 icon and nothing happens. I start the task manager up to look at the 'processes' tab and it shows that (SC2.exe*32) and (SC@Switcher.exe*32) are both running.
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Acidframe #958
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Acidframe
8/3/2012
@Drake: I am right there with you...any luck fixing this?
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protosmesiah #116
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protosmesiah
6/11/2012
once i have downloaded starcraft 2 can i get rid of the 7 gb download tome without getting rid of starcraft 2 because i am trying to make my computer go faster for starcraft 2?
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dylaneater #510
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dylaneater
6/4/2012
i have a account but i got a new computer anyone no how to download it again with out haveing to pay
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Echoic #228
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Echoic
7/6/2012
@dylaneater: go to manage acc on battlenet and click starcraft II in the bottom right corner then click download game client
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Bogie #231
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Bogie
4/17/2012
i bought SC2 from the blizzard website. I have to uninstall windows. will i be able to get SC back without having to pay for anything?
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AsainSWaGG #267
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AsainSWaGG
4/7/2012
I downloaded starcraft 2 on my account and i dont have my key anymore i threw it away on accident do i still need it if i download it from my account?
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TheTurtleW #656
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TheTurtleW
2/29/2012
please tell me you didn't throw away the cd case. I'm looking for something right now, and running out of time, so i cant walk you through it, but under no circumstancese throw out the cd case until you get it verified. Maybe someone more helpful will come along and explain.
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jhon #699
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jhon
2/10/2012
i bought the start craft 2 wings of liberty how and it keeps telling me if i want to upgrade or continue starter adition dot i supose to have axces to everything or what
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Metal #816
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Metal
2/28/2012
@jhon: You must first master the English language.
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maroonfur #766
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maroonfur
1/26/2013
@jhon: type your code on your game disc at blizzard
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Mikel #216
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Mikel
2/5/2012
Just bought myself a new iMac. Os X version 10.7.3 i5. i downloaded it all up and went to play it. Started great. Wouldn't let me play single player or multiplayer. all grayed out. then i tried to close the appllication. Guess what? it like froze. my mouse still worked. I couldn't even Force quit. I have tried repairing the permissions and a bunch of other really random crap that the support told me to do. Nothing. Anyone know why a brand new computer that is all up to date is having problems with Starcraft 2?
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crizdawg #907
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crizdawg
2/24/2012
@Mikel: y u playing sc on a mac fool? delete the whole game and try again. thats what i am doing after i had a power outage during patching
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chrischamp #726
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chrischamp
1/28/2012
lol jk
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ThelVadam #584
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ThelVadam
1/7/2012
I have been trying to re download Starcraft 2 but every time I reach 23% it tells me that my download is not authenticated and to repeat the process of re downloading the downloader and I have done this multiple times and it just keeps doing it. What do I do to fix this problem?
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JimTwo #210
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JimTwo
1/4/2012
PLZ HELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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JimTwo #210
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JimTwo
1/4/2012
FORGOT HOW TO DOWN LOAD WITHOUT DIGITAL DOWNLOAD OR DISK!!!!!!!!
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Echoic #228
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Echoic
7/6/2012
@JimTwo: um buy it
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Tarren #937
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Tarren
12/29/2011
https://us.battle.net/account/download/sc2/download.html?gameRegion=NA&lang=en-US&platform=win
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Darkquest #630
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Darkquest
12/27/2011
how the !@#$ do u download
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Sol
12/16/2011
where are the extra missions to be downloaded? it sent me out of the game, but nothing there??
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Dubgee #114
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Dubgee
11/18/2011
open up finder
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TheGrayGhost #636
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TheGrayGhost
11/12/2011
I tried downloading the game client, but when it finished the download screen disappeared nothing happened and now i can't find it on my computer at all except for the same file that i clicked to start the download, any ideas on where that 14 hours of time went?
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Echoic #228
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Echoic
7/6/2012
@TheGrayGhost: first of all 14 hrs wow and second after the download is finished a installation screen should pop up (according to ur dwnload time it should take 4 hrs) if it doesnt pop up then u might have saved it wrong
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trig #910
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trig
11/2/2011
i treid to download starcraft2 .. i had originally bought the game digitally on the imac of the house i was staying at.. now i have my own pc... i would like to know how to Get the game on here.. it wont let me download..
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PwnZer #146
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PwnZer
10/25/2011
For the 2 comments below:
1)Sign into your battle.net account
2) Click account
3) Scroll down to Starcraft 2 and click it
4)Click download game client
5) ???
6) Starcraft
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Echoic #228
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Echoic
7/6/2012
@PwnZer: step 4.5) rage about how long it takes to download
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Jeff #2190
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Jeff
10/21/2011
my computer broke can i get starcraft for free?
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zeratul #1984
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zeratul
10/17/2011
i deleted my starcraft how do i get it back for free
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Canibalz #312
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Canibalz
10/10/2011
Is there a way to play SC2 without connecting to the internet. I mean the single player campaign?
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TTBMeltdown #308
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TTBMeltdown
10/17/2011
@Canibalz: No, because you have to connect to the internet to access your profile, where your progress in the campaign is saved. Sorry.
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TheGrayGhost #636
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TheGrayGhost
11/12/2011
@Canibalz: you can still play, but no achievements will be saved if you get them.
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Meathead #316
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Meathead
9/26/2011
I used my key then a while later i uninstalled the game and i recently installed it again now my key wont work what do i do? (STarcraft 2)
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Trogdor #597
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Trogdor
8/24/2011
when you buy a digital copy, does the cd key come before you download, or must you download the game. My friend wants to buy the game, but use my copy of the game to install without downloading and wasting internet.
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