Aun wrote:Felix the Cat wrote:Aun wrote:(AA) Do not dgun single lvl1 kbots! I've seen lots of people dgun peewees, AKs and even fleas, when the comm laser can kill them off in seconds. Resources are very precious at the start of the game, so do not waste them.
Remember that a regular corpse has a whole lot more metal than whatever might be left after a dgun shot.
Nothing...
If there's a group of, say, Peewees, and you dgun them, occasionally one or two will have their final death be due to explosions of fellow Peewees rather than the dgun. In that case, they leave behind the tiny amount of metal in the metal-dust-on-the-ground corpse.
[edit] I tend to disagree with a lot of the long tutorial on this page, but it makes some good points.
It's worth noting here that (according to what I've been told, and it seems to be true) wind generators are more efficient than solars when the average wind is above 7; if it's below 7, you're better off with solars. In addition, watch the wind spread and especially the minimum wind. If the wind is 0-30, you need solars or else you risk losing your entire energy supply if the wind is at zero. To contrast, if the wind is 10-15, you don't need solars for pure energy production purposes, though they can be useful as walls still.
I would disagree with starting with 6 solars and a mex before building your factory; you need that factory early, while you still have your starting metal.
Nanostalling on metal is tolerable on many maps because of low metal content; nanostalling on energy is NEVER tolerable. If you find yourself out of energy, turn off all metal makers and stop all non-essential production, and immediately build energy producing structures.
I usually set three or four cons to build a large (5x5 or so) block of advanced solars; the constant increase in energy takes care of my needs.
As you increase energy production, remember to increase the number of metal makers you have. Remember: a full energy bar is a wasted energy bar. Ideally, you want to use slightly less than you make. If you find yourself with lots of excess energy and nothing to do with it, build energy storages so you have more flexibility in the future, when you may want to build energy-intensive things.
Speaking of building energy-intensive things, metal generators (free metal makers in AA) are very good. However, they cost a large outflow of energy to build, so ensure that you have sufficient income so as to not to stall. They are currently very efficient (as in, more efficient than moho mexes); look out for the changelog in the next few versions, as I bet they'll be nerfed a bit. Remember that they chain-explode, so space them out A LOT. (On the other hand, you can take the viewpoint that I do, which is that if they are made to chain-explode, I'm probably losing the game anyways, because it means that my base is overrun.)
CTRL-B is your friend. Use it. Idle cons are wasted cons. Remember to reclaim trees, rocks, wreckages, etc. until your bars are full if you do have idle cons but are stalling on something and so cannot build more.
Dragons' Eyes (cloaked perimiter cams) are underused. Build them in front of all of your defenses. If you have LOS to an enemy, your fire is very accurate. In addition, they are excellent for spotting snipers.
Know what sorts of units to combine and what sorts to use separately. Use speed to judge combinations. It's bad news on the battlefield if you have one unit going 5 km/h and another going 50 (i.e. Fatboy vs. Flash). Use fast units to aggressively scout and gain LOS for your slower, heavy units.
Don't be afraid to use tactics. Tactics are good. If your enemy has a large mass of peewees that he is using to defend his base, then split your attack force - send half in front of his defenders to draw them off, and send the other half to rampage through his undefended base. I slaughtered a superior enemy on Altored Divide this way just the other day.
Never use the same attack twice. If you rush Peewees at your enemy's defenses and they are unsuccessful, don't do it again and expect a different result, or I will call you slow in the head. Use a different tactic or a different unit, or attack a different area. There are two exceptions to this rule: if your attack is successful, and if you are trying to lull your enemy into complacency.
Reserves are good, reserves are great, reserves make me want to master Spring! Keep some units back when you attack. There are lots of things you can do with reserves. Your attack fizzled out just as you broke through? Send in the reserves. Your attack is drawing off a lot of his forces? Use reserves to attack elsewhere. The enemy is attacking from elsewhere? Use reserves to counter it. Unexpected raiders in your base? You can kill them with reserves. I try to keep several groups of units in reserves. Fast units make the best reserves - Flashes, Fidos, and Recluses. They can respond to threats quickly and forcefully.
Mix unit types. 10 Flashes, 5 Shellshockers, and 5 Slashers are more likely to be successful (if properly managed) than 20 Flashes. Use artillery to destroy an enemy's defenses and then rush through the opening with your fast units; if your enemy is advancing, defend in front of him with Fatboys and Bulldogs (prefereably mixed with stationary defenders or in good defensive terrain, like behind a bottleneck or on top of a hill) and circle to the back with Fidos and Recluses. This is especially good if your enemy is mixing Dominator L2 rocket kbots with Pyros or some other faster unit; your mobile force - your cavalry, so to speak - can destroy his longer ranged, slower units (like Dominators) that would ordinarily pound your defenses to pieces, while your defenses should handle Pyros if they are not backed up with the Dominators.