Which race is best for 1v1 on smaller maps?

[Lunagirl]

Hello all,

Which race is best for 1v1 on smaller maps? I know the game and I have some apm to spare to micro.
But I have no clue which race to play at the moment and which units/abilites to exploit.

Thank you!

[Bliss]

zerg

[ColonelSheppard]

doesnt matter on low level
aeon requires more attention so it might not be recommendable to start with

[ZLO_RD]

You can retreat micro auroras and macro to get correct amount of scouts aa and t1 arty in your aeon t1 armies (1-2 scouts 1-2 t1 arty and all other should be auroras, mix aa if you have no air and opponent have air)
You can have fast mantis that you have to micro to not let them turn to fast (they can't shoot while turn) and surround enemy units (you can targetfire some and retreat), and if map or situation allows utulize medusa spam and retreat micro with medusas
You can be Sera and spam decent Thaam + zthuee combo for all game, just micro to thaam take damage and zthuee not take damage, also zthuees are acu killers if youre able to block enemy acu with tanks (or just half block)

for uef/cyb/aeon you also have Light Assoult bots, and uef ones are great against mantis especially

sera have selens that you can leave in key areas on map to have constant intel, also they can harras unprotected ingeners (1 selen kills 1 engy if you micro)

uef/sera t1 tanks can fully utulize dodge micro (cause they can shoot and dodge)

only uef have bad t1 bomber, for other factions you can micro t1 bobmer and it is pretty hard, need accurate clicks

for uef/aeon/cybran you have ghetto gunships
and also cybran have jester and jester or ghetto can harras for really long in games on small maps (just run on enemy base and kill engyes before he made aa, also will will forse him to make aa, then run around map and poke and avoid aa until he make enought ints to overwhelm your int spam

also air plays overall pretty micro intencive

also you can go fast t2 for cyb and try to use hoplites but they are pretty fragile

Not sure if i said all things right, but i like t1 phase of this game

also air 1rst is a possibility on small maps

Edit: do not forget to mix engyes to reclaim and make radars
and 2 mechmarines can kill mantis if they run around it (or even one mechmarine, but i have not seen this often)

[Bliss]

to answer seriosuly , i find seraphim tank/arty to be the best compromise between cost/speed/damage/easiness in micro...

or just take cybran and make a shitload of mantises

[RoLa]

On small maps the acu is the most important combat unit. If I win against better opponents(my rating is 1100) it's mostly on smaller maps because of my ACU upgrade. With AEON you can choose beetween Rate of Fire, Range or T2 suite. So you can choose what fits best so you can make with a small investement some serious damage. My favorite is the range upgrade. More than 1 energy storage helps you with the upgrade and later with overcharge. oc is the key! you can destroy t1 pd in a matter of seconds with 2 oc shots. also early t2 units or even a single bad protected t2 pd is easy to kill. You can kite the opponent ACU because of your range.

[Bliss]

Overcharge can save your ass vs t2 units , at early t1 level i think there are many other things which are more important

[Plasma_Wolf]

The ACU really comes into play with upgrades and the energy for overcharging, but there is a catch. You can have multiple armies at different places, but not multiple ACUs. An ACU can take a great deal of damage and dish it out (1 ACU is about 20 tanks, but only if you have OC available), it can then reclaim units it killed and build a new factory on the spot if you want it.

An army can do all of that if it has some engineers right behind it, but it lacks the 10K - 12K HP. It does not need energy available in storage for a high load of DPS, but the DPS level drops as the units die. This is an army you If ymay lack if you go for ACU upgrades. And the ACU can't move during the upgrade session (which is annoying if your enemy launches a TML strike or large attack 20 seconds before the upgrade is done).

When you get the ACU upgrade, here are some very good combinations:

Cybran: Stealth+Range/RoF upgrade: you outrange enemy PD visual range (but not the actual firing range, so you'll have to pay attention and walk back and forth a lot, and also far enough, if your ACU is scouted).

UEF: T2+Range/damage upgrade: +25% HP (HP goes to 15000) and you can quickly build T2 PDs, T2 AA flak if you are about to get ambushed, or spawn T1 PDs if you suddenly are in the middle of it. Other ACUs can do this too, but at a lower HP level and for the Cybran, the gun upgrade is lost on the tech upgrade (for the Aeon 50% is lost). You could also try something with the TML upgrade...

Aeon: Range+RoF upgrade, or Range+Sensor Upgrade, or RoF+Tech Upgrade. The first allows you to fire further than any other ACU at a higher rate of fire. This really comes into play against higher techs (Against T1, some shots are lost at the maximum range, but that is a moot point because others don't even have this maximum range to begin with) or against enemy ACUs (outranging them and they are as fast as you). The second is an early omni sensor for no additional energy cost like the T3 radar. Useful against Cybrans because they can't use their ACU (or stealthed hoplites) to outrange PDs visual range. So put your ACU in the firebase at the front in such a case.
The third option is not unlike the UEF T2+Range/damage upgrade, but it is less effective because you don't get the range upgrade with it and you lack 1000 HP compared to the UEF.

I'm not good with the Seraphim upgrade system, but I'm sure that that has some nice tricks as well.

So in conclusion, whether a faction is "the best" at the smaller maps, really depends on whether you can use your ACU (so which of these combos are the easiest for you to pull off if it comes to that in terms of play time) and whether you can use it in combination with your army. That is more important than the factional differences of the T1 tank.

[RoLa]

The idea with Aeon ACU upgrades is you can first upgrade one thing, fight a bit(20 kills or 40 kills) and then make eventually a second upgrade, while regenerating some points. I prefer first Range (RoF against cybran mantis spam), because so i dont need any arty with my acu to destroy t1 pd. This is especially useful on small land maps. if you backup your acu with enough units or a t1 pd it's a tough call for the opponent to engage your ACU. If your opponent tries to counter your range he has to make t2 suite (~800m) + t2 pd (~500m) while Range upgrade just needs 500m and even less energy than t2 engy suite. The thing is you just outrange anything at t1 level, and most units at t2 level. even a single t2 pd is not a great problem. You can put really pressure on your opponents acu or base with your range advantage.

You can kite his acu to death. For some minutes you can outrange anything. With enough energy for OC combined with range your ACU will get more veterancy than your opponent's. You can get the same health with aeon acu with veterancy than other acu with t2 upgrade.

And dont forget to build radar, or to counter cybran stealth with ACU omni. Aeon ACU is only as good as your reconnaissance.

So if you have "some apm to spare to micro" aeon acu "is best for 1v1 on smaller maps".