Build: v.50256 If you are on the build posted read on, if not, check patch notes for changes before commenting please and thank you. This guide will not tell you how to play, as the game's simple mechanics teach that quite easily on your first or second playthrough, however take notes of whats about to be said. List of Dominating units: Tanks (Tier 1 & 2) Bombers(Tier 2) List of Useless Units: Anything Built out of the Bot Factories Reasons: Tanks & Bots: Tanks at the moment are overpowered for their ability to easily cripple buildings (intentional), ability to easily decimate ground forces (probably intentional) and the underlying factor...THEY CAN ATTACK AIR (probably not intentional). By massing Tanks Tier 1 and 2, you do not need to spam anything else as the Rockets you can build from it(the factory) are useless against ground and buildings, and an army of tanks will take down any weak air they come into contact with anyways, the bot equivalent is useless in that it CAN'T attack air, deals next to no damage against buildings, but deals moderate damage to ground forces. This may be fine, however since you can build bots and tanks at the same stage in the game (no previous tech required) you might as well opt for tanks and just overpower your opponent. And since bot build times hardly differ from the T1 tanks, they literally offer no purpose as of yet seeing as you can rush both just as fast. Tier 2 Bombers: Tier 2 bombers seem op for this simple mechanic which I have won 8/8 games in which I've tested it on. Here it is...Build 4-6 (5 is usually sufficient) T2 Bombers, manually control them to scout for an enemy commander and do a Kamikaze run, the bombers will more often than not Die, but so will the enemy commander and half his/her base with them. I've won army games by having teammates provide economy, myself provide economy, and Single FFA with 6 players, this tactic almost never fails. Developers Pay attention to Tanks and Bots: Simple ways to balance out the playing field and see a higher utilisation of more units. Tanks (T1&T2)- Remove their ability to target Air units Bots(T1)- Reduce their build times, that way rushing bots has a purpose (potential zerg rush/Quick reinforcements...just two things that quickly come to mind) Players Pay attention to Bombers: I placed the T2 bombers here as a lot of people complained, HOWEVER... Tier 2 bombers ARE NOT Overpowered, and here is why! Players who rush T2 Air Bombers usually have a wide open defense, meaning if you actually utilize any of the scout units (plane/buggy) you can spot the player building a rushed T2 Air factory and have a window of opportunity to destroy him before he makes his move. T2 Bombers although deal significant damage ARE EXTREMELY WEAK, an army of 5 bombers can destroy 1 commander this is true, however 4 Anti Air turrets can destroy them before they even reach your commander. Usually a smart player when seeing Anti Air will do one of two things: 1.Retry the strategy from a different Angle (meaning you should now be on FULL Alert of another attack and should fortify with MORE anti Air turrets from OTHER ANGLES!), 2.Stop production of T2 air and switch into Tanks (so if you were already going tanks as you should be [remember Bots=Useless] you are now at an Advantage) If he's not smart he will just keep rushing Bombers, but at this point the tactic didn't work and continuing this is about as useful as giving CPR to block of Wood, here you can just end his/her suffering by: -Attacking his base with Tanks -Build a handful of simple T1 fighter craft and send them on patrols while you build an EVEN BIGGER army of Tanks -Stream it and post a copy on youtube called "How to lose with T2 Bombers" after of-course you destroy him with Tanks. ================================================================== [Edit: #1] Thank you for the replies thus far gents, but it would seem I am getting messages that aren't exactly directed to my points, so although thank you for replying as I do love discussions let me clarify. Before I explain my Rant I will post another Tidbit for people suffering against Tanks. Gentlemen, I love bots more than you may come to know from this one post in which it looks like I am flaming them. Notice my argument was towards Tier 1 bots, NOT Tier 2. Tier 2 Bots function as well as Tier 2 Tank factory, the only main difference is Tier 2 Tank > Tier 2 Assault bot, and that Tier 2 Artillery Bot > Tier 2 Artillery Tank. The problem with this, is if you are just rushing Tier 2 land, you will be overrun by Tier 1 units meaning you need to build Tier 1 units to defend long enough for Tier 2 to arrive (as turrets alone are very weak atm). With this in mind since you need Tier 1 Bots to build Tier 2 Bots, unless Tier 1 bots get a slight balance in build times (to maintain the cheap and fast unit mentality) they offer no advantage. Also the AI and Pathfinding is too weak as of this buiild to actually try and use flanking tactics as the units do not respond well to single orders, they are more like walking turrets from a tower defence game (if in range, they shoot at whatever they want) When a new build gets released with significant changes I will update this "article" to give people what they need to know right away. I hope this clarifies any mistells about Tier 2 bots, and why although the Tier 2 ARE good units, the sacrifice to get them is not. NOTE: Please do not leave comments based on "live streams", unless you play the game and can feel these mechanics yourself, your opinion will be extremely biased as YOU ARE NOT PLAYING, meaning you can't experiment/experience the imbalance yourself. You can leave opinions on them, but unless you are out in the alpha playing, please do not argue against me on Points I am not discussing. The main reason is an actual player can feel a slight imbalance right away and use it, while a spectator will only notice this if they are watching a player BLATANTLY ABUSING it. Tidbit #1 Since the AI has a weak targeting system at the moment, if you are defending against a tank assault construct a few wall nodes and place your units near them. Once the AI targets the wall it will serve as a strong decoy for your units to overcome the armada. Cheers ------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you voted in the Poll: Please state a short little comment so I know why you found this useful or perhaps why you didn't. Constructive Criticism goes a long way in improving Posts.
in my opinion tanks always should be high hitpoint, slow movement, while bots should be low hitpoints, high movement, high dps. But in PA right now, what I saw from livestreams, all units are quite fast destroyed. so bots would be one shot if they had less hitpoints than tanks. But this is balancing. There is time in august, and beta for this. First they need all units.
T2 bots can be good to raid around the planet. They are also not that bad in direct fights. An important hint is that it is really really important to have radar or air-vision while fighthing, because unit vision ranges are lower than weapon ranges.
In direct fights they are outmatched, and since they can't outnumber they prove unfortunate. The raiding is a good suggestion as they do move faster than tanks but for hit and run Tactics a few tweaks need to be made first. The "hint" on radar/air-vision is a very valid point and people should take from that regardless their unit composition.
A group of T2 bots using their speed to outpace an enemy army, and march in an open place can utterly ruin a player. Their speed is their strength.
