Balanced Annihilation Strategy guides

[Regret]

General uses for several units and strategies by Gota

How to play on sea/water by Evil4Zerggin


You too can help out creating more useful guides by contributing to this thread, asking questions, answering questions, refining already answered questions and giving them a more coherent look in form of a guide etc. Just post your guide here and it will be included.


Feel free to ask any Balanced Annihilation gameplay/strategy/unit related question, you'll almost surely get a useful answer.

[goduranus]

1. What determines whether a player should be in the front or in the back? I'm new to BA, should I go front or back?

2. What does front and back do?

3. On some maps I see people only building tanks, on other maps kbots, what determines which you build?

4. What late game ground units should I build depending on what situation?

thanks.

[LordMatt]

1. What determines whether a player should be in the front or in the back? I'm new to BA, should I go front or back?

If you're new the better player should be in front and you should be in back doing exactly what the better player in front asks you to do. Feel free to ask your allies for advice, and if they can't give constructive advice they're nubs.

2. What does front and back do?

Both players spam units.

3. On some maps I see people only building tanks, on other maps kbots, what determines which you build?

Vehicles are generally better than kbots on flat terrain, whereas the reverse is true of hilly terrain. Best to follow this guideline unless you have a very specific plan that calls for the other lab.

4. What late game ground units should I build depending on what situation?

I tend to make stumpies and bulldogs as veh, and hammers and snipers as kbot. Of course, specific situations will call for different units. That being said, I don't use level two that much, often going air instead and spamming lvl 1 ground units. You only really need lvl 2 if the enemy has porced heavily, has lvl 2 themselves, or you just feel like making it.

[goduranus]

why do people overlap extractors and moho extractors? do they get more metal that way?

[Evil4Zerggin]

The metal output in the end is the same. However, by leaving the original metal extractor there, you continue to gain metal while the moho metal extractor is under construction. Plus people are lazy. Be aware that the T1 metal extractor drains 3 energy, so you may want to reclaim it after the moho metal extractor is built.

[UAF]

Nice, you made the thread! I have a few questions of my own:

1) I know this is different from map to map, but can I have advice on building good economy fast? I want to be among the first to spam T2 units, not the last...

2) I usualy play Core and go vehicles, and in T2 I mostly use Reapers and Goliaths. But when the enemy get shields it seems that all of Core's vehicles become useless (I'm pretty sure that I've seen sheilds absorb missiles too). Any advice there?

3) Speaking of Core T2 vehicles, when and how is the Banisher useful?

4) And the Intruder?

[Masure]

Nice, you made the thread! I have a few questions of my own:

1) I know this is different from map to map, but can I have advice on building good economy fast? I want to be among the first to spam T2 units, not the last...

- Take as much metal spot as you can by expanding
- Reclaim as much metal as you can
- Use all your resources to build eco
- Pray for your mates not being killed as you are porcing

2) I usualy play Core and go vehicles, and in T2 I mostly use Reapers and Goliaths. But when the enemy get shields it seems that all of Core's vehicles become useless (I'm pretty sure that I've seen sheilds absorb missiles too). Any advice there?

Shields only deflect plasma bullets (yellow/orange spheres) but missiles, lasers, bombs, .. can get into the shields.

3) Speaking of Core T2 vehicles, when and how is the Banisher useful?

Long range & high damage unit. It also can be used as anti air : not efficient regarding to the cost but can save you from massed brawlers.

4) And the Intruder?

Heavy amphib armored transport, you can go through enemy defense line to drop your units out.

[KDR_11k]

- Take as much metal spot as you can by expanding
- Reclaim as much metal as you can
- Use all your resources to build eco
- Pray for your mates not being killed as you are porcing

Since you are taking resources they (or you) could be using for fighting don't be surprised if your team falls apart or loses a lot of territory while you do this.

[Evil4Zerggin]

- Use all your resources to build eco
- Pray for your mates not being killed as you are porcing

NOES

1. Learn to fight.
2. Start front.
3. Expand quickly.
4. Beat up the opposing team for their metal.
5. Choose your own adventure!

• IF YOUR ALLIES FOLLOWED MASURE'S ADVICE GO TO PAGE 4008.
• OTHERWISE GO TO PAGE 1337.

PAGE 1337:
6. ???
7. Profit!
PAGE 4008:
6. Die as your allies behind you take all your metal and then attempt to hold off the enemy with their Advanced Solar Collectors.

2) I usualy play Core and go vehicles, and in T2 I mostly use Reapers and Goliaths. But when the enemy get shields it seems that all of Core's vehicles become useless (I'm pretty sure that I've seen sheilds absorb missiles too). Any advice there?

Shields only deflect plasma bullets (yellow/orange spheres) but missiles, lasers, bombs, .. can get into the shields.

Also note that shields take energy to deflect shots. If the enemy is short on energy then their shields will not be able to take much fire. Also you can hit the shield generator by closing to point-blank range IIRC.

[BaNa]

1) I know this is different from map to map, but can I have advice on building good economy fast? I want to be among the first to spam T2 units, not the last...

I personally wouldn't advise porcing econ, unless you KNOW your teammates can hold the line for 10-15 mins on their own. But if you do go that route, heres a few tips (note that i am not too good at massing econ (because i like to you know, PLAY), theres much better whores out there):

- reclaim your t1 lab. Thats right, after youve built 2-3 cons, reclaim that sucker.

- make energy buildings and metal makers. You should never be splurging e (that happens when the yellow bar is full), but dont e-stall either (when the yellow bar is empty). The type of e-buildings to build vary a bit from the wind/tidal values of the map, if the (max+min)/2 of wind is over 7, its worth making wind, otherwise make solars at start.

-once you have a good enough e income, switch to advanced solars (im talking like 100 e income). After 1 or 2 of these are built, reclaim your old solars for m

- If your buildpower starts getting low (when you start splurging m for instance), you can make a nano, but note: nanos are expensive and there is no need for a nanofarm if your trying to get quick tech.

- after a few advanced solars, you can mabe start on your t2 lab. you should have some m stockpiled, and if you run into desperate straights, you can allways reclaim your cons and nano :)

- if you just try this out on an empty map (using testglobal.ai) , using only 3-4 mex spots, you will get the hang of it soon enough.

-an alternative way of doing this is going air at some point (probably after you have whored a bit and have a few adv solars), making aircons and sucking the battlefield. If you do go air, dont forget to offer transports to your hardworking allies.


- oh yes, here comes the REAL interesting question. So you have t2 at 7-8 minutes for instance. WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH IT? Making t2 units with 3 mexes and a bit of mm econ is fail. The best you can do is mohoing your mexes, and then going for fusion or something.
HOWEVER!! It is crucial to the survival of your team - that has after all kept you safe so far - to help with the front.
For this reason, you should definitely make a few combat engineers first (if you are arm kbot or core vech than make t2 cons), and send them to the front. Make vipers/pitbulls in crucial places, ask your allies to assist in the building.

2) I usualy play Core and go vehicles, and in T2 I mostly use Reapers and Goliaths. But when the enemy get shields it seems that all of Core's vehicles become useless

banisher and the vertical rocket launcher thing fires thru shields, as does sumo/can (i know you said you go t2 vechs, but if the enemy has massed shields and you are attacking him, you should have a good enough econ/buildpower to build a t2 kbot lab real fast).

Oh. and gators :)

Also, bombing shields is a favorite pastime, especially cause they blow big.

[Masure]

- Take as much metal spot as you can by expanding
- Reclaim as much metal as you can
- Use all your resources to build eco
- Pray for your mates not being killed as you are porcing

Since you are taking resources they (or you) could be using for fighting don't be surprised if your team falls apart or loses a lot of territory while you do this.

I said to pray before. No use advising me not to porce, I'm always playing in the front and fighting.

[UAF]

Thanks for the advice. However I didn't mean that I want to porc and let my allies defend me. I'm just trying to figure how people constantly attack with T1 units and still get T2 and generally better economy then I do.

But I think I'll just have to study more replays for that.


Regarding the Intruder - You suggest to use it to go through enemy defense lines. Does it mean that units inside it will emerge when it is destroyed? Because just unloading seems too slow to me to just unload it before it's destroyed...
And if I'm trying to pass water I think using amphibious tanks or hovers (or hover transport) is better then the Intruder.

[Evil4Zerggin]

The Intruder honestly isn't used that much, and any units inside die when it goes down. It's not terribly cheap or fast either especially considering its lack of weapons. Although I've always wanted to try an Intruder combomb just for the lulz.

[Masure]

A transport that dies makes all the transported units die. I never use core T2 transport though, I suppose it bahaves like air transport.

You have to plan a succesful transport. Spamming scouts can help to agro the defense shots and prevent your transport to die.

And as people said, the best way to get solid eco is to fight with your team. If you win a fight, you can reclaim the metal to build your eco with.

[Day]

It used to be able to comnap, much like the Hover transports and their Sea counterparts.

[Acidd_UK]

Rather than trying to get fast T2 via eco whoring, you are better off using T1 units to take territory / reclaim and get a T2 lab that way. If you are a new player this counts double, you won't learn much if you are just eco whoring.

[UAF]

More questions:

1) What the heck is a Juno, and how does it work?

2) The Spoiler's description is "Minelayer/Minesweeper" - How do I use the minesweeper part?

3) What good is the SAM for? It seems that building 3 Pulverizer for the roughly price will always be better. If I wanted more range and power I'd combine them with Eradicators, not SAMs.

[Evil4Zerggin]

A Juno is an anti-radar/sonar/jammer/mine weapon. Like nuclear silos, it is a stockpile weapon, which means that you have to queue up ammo and target manually. It destroys all radars, sonars, jammers, and mines in a large radius around ground zero (not including ships and aircraft). Make sure you have a lot of energy if you want to use one--it drains more than 200 energy while it is stockpiling. The Juno also deals 1 point of damage to other units, making it one of the game's least efficient commsassination methods.

You sweep mines by attacking (use A to force-attack). The minesweeper weapon has a large area of effect, but affects only mines. The minelayer is also somewhat resistant to mine damage, but clearing mines by driving over them is much less efficient.

The SAM/Packo's advantage is its durability. The SAM has good hit points, while the Packo only takes 20% damage when closed. However, what you say is true, and you see SAM/Packo less often than other AA turrets. Once you reach T2 I would recommend building only mobile AA.

Juno Trivia: The Juno was once perhaps the most ridiculed unit in BA. Only after NOiZE reduced its price by almost a factor of 3, made it T1 instead of T2, halved its reload time, and enabled it to destroy mines did it become a respected weapon. Although still rarely used, skillful use of the Juno can give you a great lead in information warfare.

[UAF]

Sorry I keep bombarding with questions, but:

1) Decoy Commanders - Why? The Decoy effect is rarely if ever worth it. If your real Commander got hit while he is at the middle of your base it usually means that you lost your base and the game anyway...

2) How do I make good use of the Bladewing? It seems that even tanks can take them down!

3) How and when to use Commandos? It seems that I need to manually target what to capture, and then it takes too long...

[BaNa]

Sorry I keep bombarding with questions, but:

1) Decoy Commanders - Why? The Decoy effect is rarely if ever worth it. If your real Commander got hit while he is at the middle of your base it usually means that you lost your base and the game anyway...

Comends games. Getting the enemy to show strength by attacking an apparently unprotected decoy.

2) How do I make good use of the Bladewing? It seems that even tanks can take them down!

they are very very useful, but they need to be used in fairly big groups, and always together with other units that can kill the paralyzed enemies.