UEF is not very versatile ?

[Mr.Tabasco]

Hi everyone, first post here.

I am by all means a noob, and it is probably because of that, but I have the feeling, that UEF is less versatile than other factions.
And to add some completly uninformed fuel into the fire pitt, I get the impression that Cybran is the most versatile.

In my noobish ways, I often find myself in the situation that in a team game, mainly on realy big maps, where I won my side, drove my opponent back and burned his base to a crisp and then... I sit there. Especialy, or only on naval maps, where the enemy can hide on a giant island or on setons, I often dont know how to follow up that win. The enemy has cuddled into their doomfortress, and I can just find no effective way to attack them. Of course, my lack of experience is a part of that problem, but I still often start to wish in these situations I could switch to cybran, to just ram two monkeys into their base, or let my boats walk up on to land.

The whole UEF doctrine seems to only know one thing: Big Guns. Not that I have anything against that, big guns are great, but sometimes the situation seems to require a different approach. (mainly monkeylord. I love these things!)


What do you think ?

[Hawkei]

Firstly, welcome to the forums.

I will say first of all that I am not the best player in FAF. I am however sitting somewhere around the middle skill level and 'am something of a specialist in using UEF. I will first of all say that your initial impressions are correct. UEF often has the perception of being underpowered, and this is due to it's comparative inflexibility. Which is brought about by slow moving units and limited tactical options.

You will find that it is not as great for sniping as Aeon. It is not as aggressive or as versatile as Cybran or Seraphim. As these are the faction strengths of those races. Characteristically, UEF units are slow and more heavily armoured. The also have comparatively lower DPS. Which basically means that UEF makes for a great "punching bag". It is however great for defence, but, considering that it is aggression which wins games, this puts UEF at a natural disadvantage.

I am sure that there are others which can give much more useful pointers. But, I will simply state that using UEF effectively relies upon appreciating their faction strengths and understanding how to use them. Their strengths can be simply stated as follows:

1. Great Defence - UEF is able to heavily fortify and hold down positions better than any other faction.
2. Excellent Transports - The UEF is the best faction when it comes to air-lifting your armies around the map at ever stage of the game. It's T2 gunship even comes with a transport hook - allowing it to perform dual duties as both a transport and attack unit. In the late game, being able to pair the strength and armour of the Percival, with the mobility of the Continental T3 transport is a game winning combination.
3. Excellent Air-to-Ground damage - Although Aeon is generally preferred for air superiority, UEF is not that far behind and when it comes to actually using that air superiority to inflict damage the UEF is the best by far. With units such as the Broadsword, Strat-bomber, and Janus bombers for carpet area damage. This when coupled with point 2 above makes UEF the king of air mobility combat.
4. Excellent supporting T4 - The UEF doesn't have direct assault experimentals. But it's T4 units to perform valuable supporting functions, and when used to complement a proper mixed army, make for much stronger army formations overall in the late game.
5. UEF has the best combat SACU.
6. UEF has the best synergy with other factions. When used in team games the strengths of UEF make an excellent counter-point to all of the other factions. Such that UEF+Aeon, UEF+Cybran, or UEF+Serpahim are generally the strongest faction combinations in team games.

[Iszh]

I thought i can make a list to explain it but after some time i noticed it would be to big. UEF is less versatile thats not completely correct. Their units can fight as well as all other and uef can be played agressive on every tech level. UEF is a bit less versatile because of just a few units with huge impact. Here a short overview:

Factions.JPG (24.68 KiB) Viewed 2367 times

Sparky drop has the problem it needs training has lots of preconditions so is overall not easy to do. All other stuff (not mentioned here) is more or less even in battle. T3 i didnt mention that would be absurd to tell uef is weaker there. The have a 100% useless bot at t3 which is called titan. That does not mean their t3 is bad.

The counterpart for mercy and Corsair is Janus bomber. It is bugged atm and spreads the damage over a huge area. But the damage is so low that i even sometimes see them not killing t1 pgens. Nevertheless it is now another t1 unit devastator in the collection together with T3 titan bot and t2 mongoose xD At least you can get it in ladder games, in one of my last ladder games i killed 50 t1 units with this thing.

Counterpart to hover tanks beetles and stuff like this does not exist at all in uef army. UEF got sparky at t2, cannot say that sparky can be as dangerous as those other weapons. Sera is suffering like uef, except t1 arti they cannot really show a lot of super weapons. But this t1 arti makes already a difference. Soon the acus will be nerfed and uef got one of the best early and lategame acus. With this beta i think it is possible they kill the only strength of uef at t1 and t2 stage -> a t2 acu standing like a stone in the waves.

[biass]

uef have a bunch of very handy tools, you just need to try them out instead of making t2 pd every game

contrary to iszh, i deem how insanely early and spammy the pillar is a "strength"
and best ghetto 10/10

[KeyBlue]

I love how you mention UEF being a Big Gun faction and then praise the monkeylord which is basicly a walking laser gun. xD

If you have issues finishing games, maybe its a good idea to start learning to use the generic units that almost all factions have?
bombers, gunships, T3 spam, nukes, ...
This way you'll always have an alternative strategy in a situation where you think only a monkeylord can fix your problem.

[Plasma_Wolf]

In my noobish ways, I often find myself in the situation that in a team game, mainly on realy big maps, where I won my side, drove my opponent back and burned his base to a crisp and then... I sit there. Especialy, or only on naval maps, where the enemy can hide on a giant island or on setons, I often dont know how to follow up that win. The enemy has cuddled into their doomfortress, and I can just find no effective way to attack them. Of course, my lack of experience is a part of that problem, but I still often start to wish in these situations I could switch to cybran, to just ram two monkeys into their base, or let my boats walk up on to land.

If this is a problem it can be because of two things:

1. You want a direct assault experimental. The UEF don't have that.
2. You'll not be able to finish the game, no matter the faction.

On #2, I've often had about 60-70% map control and I've been able to put in one attack after another, but eventually I lost. This is because I'm fighting on my opponent's front line, my supply lines are the longest and as a result he has the mass from the battles. With the build power my opponent can somehow maintain, he'll soon have a larger economy and the first attack of me that fails completely, will be followed up by the first attack of him in 15-20 minutes and it's the direct knock-out.

If this is the problem, you'll have it with any faction, in the late game at least. In fact I think you'll have it more with other factions the immediate response to an attack failing is to build a Monkeylord, GC or Ythota if you're playing Cybran, Aeon or Seraphim. Those experimentals will fail as quickly as a load of T3 bots/tanks. With UEF, the "problem" of only building percivals may be an advantage at the late stage.

If it's #1, then your opponent will be weak enough at the late stage that a direct assault experimental will do the job. Put that amount into percivals and be done with it. The UEF may not be the most versatile but they're the most head-on if it comes to T3. If head-on doesn't work, send the percivals just outside their range, back it up with a fatboy and be done with it.

I think you're just having some trouble with the late game stage. If that is the case, find something for yourself to do. Are you winning the water on your side of Setons, expand your economy even more than you already are. Send engineers to the water and reclaim every wreck, use that to build some fun things if you think your eco is large enough already. Rambo SCUs, Atlantisses which build broadswords and ASFs, Fatboy Fatboy Fatboy is always a fun thing. Nuke launchers, Novax or a Mavor. If you have too much mass and you only know what to build to maintain your frontline, help others. Thre's bound to be an Aeon player in the game. Ask him to build a naval factory on your side and spam torrents. Or let him build GCs and help him do that. Attack with the GCs and assist with as many percivals as possible.

Are you winning a piece of land, on any map? Send engineers over, reclaim, build mexes and if it is in/near a choke point, build a shield generator and add PDs. T2 PDs are good enough against T1/T2, build T3 PDs if you're at the late stage. Don't build more than necessary. If there is more than one choke point, you'll want enough to stop him, but not so much that he can break through in another position.

Are you really winning and do you have map control, building T2 artillery is expensive but always an option.

I almost forgot the most important thing: intel. If you feel like you're winning the battle but not yet able to finish it completely (which is your problem), then scout, or build an omni sensor. It's a strategy I like to use, because then I know I'm in full control. Then I don't really attack until I know my single attack can completely take the game. You need intel for that, to know that your opponent doesn't have a secret advantage in either units or economy. If you know that, upgrade your eco, build whatever you want (except Titans).

The UEF may not be very versatile, but it is well balanced and extremely difficult to get them out of a base. Use that to your advantage. Build bases in positions you just took and watch your opponent get frustrated about not being able to put a stop to it. Basically, you're turning the situation around then.

[Iszh]

Hey biass i just wanted to point the real differences. Yes sure striker are strong but mantis are as well strong on their way as well as aurora. If i mention any value difference i can do an ethernal list called unit db. Those snipe tools and the two hover units make the main differences. Ghetto can be built by other factions as well so it isnt some kind of very strong unique weapon. The difference why uef feels not so versatile is no rocket science .... missing snipe abilities or like sera has simply t1/t1 tech super units like t1 hover/t2 chicken are missing in uef faction.

UEF will get a buff in the balance patch. I never understood why it was removed at all. It was never op or something that was simply in the times when people thought wow lets buff cybran into heaven (mantis turret turn rate, beetle damage and so on). UEF t1 arti had for long years 205 hp so enemy acu needed 3 shots. An arti spam is very dangerous from uef vs enemy acus. Finally they bring it back, maybe that will be enough to make uef t1 feel more versatile again

Cybran had as well as uef a few useless units. Beetles for example have been total shit in gpg. Somebody decided lets buff all those to be useful even for deadly snipes. Nobody ever moved a single finger to make units like titan or janus even a bit useful. Can somebody please explain me why the f*** cybran got out from a shit a golden weapon and when people try to nerf it back to normal they start to complain. If those cybran fanboys dont stop complaining about beetles t2 size in transports nerf they should get back their gpg beetle just to feel the taste. The same for their retarded acu hp regen and lots more!

[Lieutenant Lich]

T1 UEF: Lobo + strikers = com killing combo.
T1 Cybran: Fast and deadly Mantis, Medusa stuns units, PDs and ACUs.
T1 Aeon (AKA gaeon because of their units): Hover tank + hover scout can take out 2 Mantis with some micro.
T1 Seraphim: Hovering arty

T2 UEF: Mongoose = All auroras die if Mongoose is microed properly, other T1 dies with more micro and if there is a lot of open space for manuevers; Sparky drops are powerful if done properly, Pillar is spammable, it is often rushed and used to steamroll the enemy; Stinger + Riptide drop combo is known to make people ragequit (Hawkei did it twice on Open Waters, the whole enemy team ragequit ); High capacity T2 transport, 2nd best after Seraphim.
T2 Cybran: stealth (Deceiver); Beetle snipes, Corsair snipes.
T2 Aeon: Obsidian (AKA OPsidian due to its high HP and damage) - shielded T2 unit, Hovering T2 tank, flak AND shield (water assaults just got real);
T2 Seraphim: T2.5 bot (Ilshavoh), Excellent hover tank and flak.

T3 UEF (my favourite): Titan: best anti-T2 spam weapon so far, good for raiding but will die fast in a direct fight vs. Loyalists and anything stronger than them; Percival - T3.5 unit, kills T2 - T4 well, excellent for a head-on assault.
T3 Cybran: Loyalists stun units around them on death.
T3 Aeon: rushable, Harbs kill any tech well in proper numbers AND they are shielded, Serenity can fire while moving.
T3 Seraphim: Spammable and powerful Othuums, paired with a T3 shield generator, can wipe out bases. Excellent combination for steamrolling.

As for storming bases, Tabasco... Look at this http://supcom.wikia.com/wiki/You_shall_ ... e_stratagy article and realize a simple thing: It is usually not necessary to storm a fortified base of a turtle. Attack a weak expansion, a base, an undefended group of factories, etc.

[Morax]

2. Excellent Transports - The UEF is the best faction when it comes to air-lifting your armies around the map at ever stage of the game. It's T2 gunship even comes with a transport hook - allowing it to perform dual duties as both a transport and attack unit. In the late game, being able to pair the strength and armour of the Percival, with the mobility of the Continental T3 transport is a game winning combination.

I would argue that the Seraphim have the better option as far as transports go. Yes, the Continental is a beast, but its viability in late-game is oft low as a group of ASF could take it out in a short time, and with it the expensive cargo (up to 6 percivals, or 1000s in mass).

Sera t1/t2 transports can carry 50% more than their faction counterparts as you can fit up to 3 Ilshavoh in one T1 transport (quite a hard-hitting drop). The t2 transport can carry up to 4 Othuums or other t3 assault units... You can get those drops out well-before asf are on the scene in 1v1. In team games it is a bit of a different story yet I'd probably ask for a Sera t2 transport to make a lethal drop over waiting for a Continental, unless it's super-late game.

Also, in general, abuse Pillar spam with t2/gun UEF comm (pending balance patch release) and you can stop loyal/harb rush before it gets going.

[Plasma_Wolf]

Titan: best anti-T2 spam weapon so far, good for raiding

I'm slightly sceptical on this one. The titan has ridiculously low DPS and those T2 units are quite strong. In numbers, T2 geels a bit unstoppable to me when you give me titans.

I must admit that I haven't tried Titans in a long time. If I'm UEF and it's going to T3 I go with percivals immediately. It can have to do with the fact that I usually have a lot of T2 at that point. Then I can use that against his T2 spam instead.

As for the raiding, I agree with that completely. I'll try to use them sometime on Emerald Crater if I get UEF there and it goes that far.

Then again, my air game may be so strong I use T2 gunships instead.