Hi and welcome to FAF
This guide hopefully will constantly evolve so check back and see if the version number has changed.If you are new start with the "First things first. TUTORIALS, Casts that teach and mods and tools," section below, after you have watched these your skill will improve drastically.
Post one is hints and tips and the second post down is about ladder maps. (Slowly adding more maps)
So you are reading this as you are bored, nosey or a beginner looking for tips, hopefully you will learn something that improves your games and your fun.
About me, i have now played 1,000+ games all ladder 1v1 and won 53% of them so i am speaking as a newbie to a newbie. Yes 1000 games and i am still learning the game and still addicted. Here is some of what i have learnt. Although i aim this for ladder matches much of what you will read here will apply to team games. Although team games tend to be a rush to upgrade your economy and turtle, ladder matches are all about raids, map control and the t1 spam needed to do that better than your opponent. All invaluable skills.
Just click the "show" next to the spoiler to read that section.
Are you noob or newb ? and good manners
Spoiler: show
1. newb http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=newb
2, n00b http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=noob
If you are a newb i really hope i can help you improve with this thread and hope you share your learning experience and tips. If you are a noob and think your opponents are a no life haxxor smurf because they just beat you then get off this thread and go play solitaire or minesweeper.
Good manners don't cost anything
This community has been around for years so as a newbie you should be nice and nice people will help you improve, this includes saying "gl hf" (Good luck have fun) at the start of a game and "gg" (good game) at the end of a game. Remember Rage quitting is for the n00bs. We all get frustrated and angry, trick is not to show everyone by spamming chat with insults.
And when you say "gg" before your ACU (Armoured command unit(thats you)) has died its admitting you are in a hopelessly lost position and you know it, you should select your ACU and hit Ctrl+k to self destruct him and retire from the game with dignity, its bad manners to say "gg" and then go march your ACU into the water and try and avoid dying for ten minutes. If you are going to go for that last ditch attack where you throw all your units at the enemy do it BEFORE you say "gg" not after or you just look like an ass as the other player waits for your surrender you suddenly attack. Of course if your opponent says "gg" don't stop playing as it may be a n00b and you are about to get attacked. Or the player is being cocky and saying they think they won.
2, n00b http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=noob
If you are a newb i really hope i can help you improve with this thread and hope you share your learning experience and tips. If you are a noob and think your opponents are a no life haxxor smurf because they just beat you then get off this thread and go play solitaire or minesweeper.
Good manners don't cost anything
This community has been around for years so as a newbie you should be nice and nice people will help you improve, this includes saying "gl hf" (Good luck have fun) at the start of a game and "gg" (good game) at the end of a game. Remember Rage quitting is for the n00bs. We all get frustrated and angry, trick is not to show everyone by spamming chat with insults.
And when you say "gg" before your ACU (Armoured command unit(thats you)) has died its admitting you are in a hopelessly lost position and you know it, you should select your ACU and hit Ctrl+k to self destruct him and retire from the game with dignity, its bad manners to say "gg" and then go march your ACU into the water and try and avoid dying for ten minutes. If you are going to go for that last ditch attack where you throw all your units at the enemy do it BEFORE you say "gg" not after or you just look like an ass as the other player waits for your surrender you suddenly attack. Of course if your opponent says "gg" don't stop playing as it may be a n00b and you are about to get attacked. Or the player is being cocky and saying they think they won.
First things first. TUTORIALS, Casts that teach and mods and tools,
Spoiler: show
if you have not watched these i suggest you do, an awesome series of tutorials. Pay particular attention to video "#2 Build range" "#5 Reclaim" "#11 Templates" "#25 Adjacency" as those are key concepts you need to learn. But watch ALL of them more than once.
Tutorials https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QhM7oC-t7U&list=PLWe0mYs3ObwL36zemynMh5G4b-3s5vol0
TA4lifes casts have some great learning material.
https://www.youtube.com/user/praisegugleourmaster
His learn the game with POV playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... It4WjuzAZs
Luxun is a top player and his casts teach loads.
https://www.youtube.com/user/17LuXun
Zock is arguably the top player, look for his "lessons" playlist
https://www.youtube.com/user/zock666666
BRNKoINSANITY Has an awesome playlist "Another One Bites the Dust"
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsNXeQ ... xvcP6Pw9gw
FAFChart is a useful tool to help analyse replays as it shows Build orders and CPM (clicks per minute) Don't focus too much on CPM though as a high CPM could just mean the other player is not efficiently clicking. The power of this tool is helping you refine the Build order (BO) The order in which you build your initial base.
http://www.faforever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=2702
"Synced Live Replay server" Is a handy tool to have. Just open a replay and you can see who was clicking what, the chat, and a really cool Heatmap of where all the action took place. Useful for seeing where on a map is contested. Of course you can download any replay on the vault and open it with FAFChart and Synced to analyse them.
http://faforever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=5774&sid=e67dcaf0af0157b19cde34675dce2016
Note: dont copy the file it says to the FAF folder as its currently incompatible but its still a great tool so the n3rds
Mumble
I would also advise getting mumble, although its mainly used for team games talking to other players is a great way to learn.
http://www.faforever.com/teamspeak-3/#.U_d-y_lP6uw
Mods: Two mods i really think should be added to the game, gaz_ui and hotbuild.
edit: now added to FAF
And RK's Explosion mod is awesome to use as it really brings a new life to to the game with meaty explosions and new effects. Won't work in ladder but awesome in team games and practice.
http://www.faforever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=6813
Tutorials https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QhM7oC-t7U&list=PLWe0mYs3ObwL36zemynMh5G4b-3s5vol0
TA4lifes casts have some great learning material.
https://www.youtube.com/user/praisegugleourmaster
His learn the game with POV playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... It4WjuzAZs
Luxun is a top player and his casts teach loads.
https://www.youtube.com/user/17LuXun
Zock is arguably the top player, look for his "lessons" playlist
https://www.youtube.com/user/zock666666
BRNKoINSANITY Has an awesome playlist "Another One Bites the Dust"
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsNXeQ ... xvcP6Pw9gw
FAFChart is a useful tool to help analyse replays as it shows Build orders and CPM (clicks per minute) Don't focus too much on CPM though as a high CPM could just mean the other player is not efficiently clicking. The power of this tool is helping you refine the Build order (BO) The order in which you build your initial base.
http://www.faforever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=2702
"Synced Live Replay server" Is a handy tool to have. Just open a replay and you can see who was clicking what, the chat, and a really cool Heatmap of where all the action took place. Useful for seeing where on a map is contested. Of course you can download any replay on the vault and open it with FAFChart and Synced to analyse them.
http://faforever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=5774&sid=e67dcaf0af0157b19cde34675dce2016
Note: dont copy the file it says to the FAF folder as its currently incompatible but its still a great tool so the n3rds
Mumble
I would also advise getting mumble, although its mainly used for team games talking to other players is a great way to learn.
http://www.faforever.com/teamspeak-3/#.U_d-y_lP6uw
Mods: Two mods i really think should be added to the game, gaz_ui and hotbuild.
edit: now added to FAF
And RK's Explosion mod is awesome to use as it really brings a new life to to the game with meaty explosions and new effects. Won't work in ladder but awesome in team games and practice.
http://www.faforever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=6813
The unit data base.
Spoiler: show
http://faforever.com/faf/unitsDB/
A list of all units and their stats, learn as much as you can. Knowing ranges of your units is handy and the mass cost, but you don't need to know any of these values to play
A list of all units and their stats, learn as much as you can. Knowing ranges of your units is handy and the mass cost, but you don't need to know any of these values to play
Terms and abbreviations
Spoiler: show
I try and put the abbreviations in as i go, so a technology 1 Power generator = t1pg, at tech 2 it would be t2pg. I think thats easier than making a huge long list of abbreviations.
t1=technology level one = tech 1
t2= technology level 2 = tech 2
t3= technology level 2 = tech 3
t4=technology level four = Experimentals
Most are easy to work out if you know the unit names. so TML = Tactical Missile Launcher and TMD = Tactical Missile Defense.
LAB - t1 Light Assault Bot
Some terms you will see in the FAF client chat lobby as healthy discussions on unit balance are frequent there. xD
IMBA = Imbalanced
OP = over powered
UP = Under powered
Terms you will often see in game.
gl hf = good luck have fun
gg = good game
F***ing *#!% = oh dear, you beat me, well played *giggles*
t1=technology level one = tech 1
t2= technology level 2 = tech 2
t3= technology level 2 = tech 3
t4=technology level four = Experimentals
Most are easy to work out if you know the unit names. so TML = Tactical Missile Launcher and TMD = Tactical Missile Defense.
LAB - t1 Light Assault Bot
Some terms you will see in the FAF client chat lobby as healthy discussions on unit balance are frequent there. xD
IMBA = Imbalanced
OP = over powered
UP = Under powered
Terms you will often see in game.
gl hf = good luck have fun
gg = good game
F***ing *#!% = oh dear, you beat me, well played *giggles*
Understanding the point of the game.
Spoiler: show
So this is what you are here for, understanding and playing the game, Well this game is easy, Kill the other ACU. Its that simple. Doesnt matter how you kill him as long as you kill him.
Number one in your mind at all times should be "How do i kill the other ACU" and you should always know or have a very good idea where the enemy ACU is. When you see the opportunity to kill him take it.
Forget the people who whine and say its not "Sportsmanship" to snipe your opponent when you are winning, its war and sportsmanship has no place in war. If you decide not to use "cheese" or "cheap" tactics like ghetto gunships you are pampering your enemy and may as well shake hands and kiss him on the cheek. Quite a few of my games have ended with my enemy replying "FU" to my "gg" thats a double victory for me and should be for you as it means you won when they thought you were weak. Your job is to crush your opponent, murder him, obliterate him, kill him any way you can, take out his radars so he is playing blindfolded, murder his economy and shut down his war machine, kill his power generators (PG), destroy his Mass extractors (MEX) and dance in the dust of his explosion as he goes KABOOOM!!! Got it? good.
When you are behind and know you are losing you should not give in but go for the kill, You can pause all your land factories and you can spam t1 bombers with loads of engineers and kill an ACU if you know where he is. Or spam t2 air, or get a t2 transport and drop your ACU next to the other ACU and try for the win or Draw.
(A Snipe is like using a sniper rifle, a good clean direct kill. Snipes can be with TML, t2 air, t3 air and things like ghetto gun ships)
Number one in your mind at all times should be "How do i kill the other ACU" and you should always know or have a very good idea where the enemy ACU is. When you see the opportunity to kill him take it.
Forget the people who whine and say its not "Sportsmanship" to snipe your opponent when you are winning, its war and sportsmanship has no place in war. If you decide not to use "cheese" or "cheap" tactics like ghetto gunships you are pampering your enemy and may as well shake hands and kiss him on the cheek. Quite a few of my games have ended with my enemy replying "FU" to my "gg" thats a double victory for me and should be for you as it means you won when they thought you were weak. Your job is to crush your opponent, murder him, obliterate him, kill him any way you can, take out his radars so he is playing blindfolded, murder his economy and shut down his war machine, kill his power generators (PG), destroy his Mass extractors (MEX) and dance in the dust of his explosion as he goes KABOOOM!!! Got it? good.
When you are behind and know you are losing you should not give in but go for the kill, You can pause all your land factories and you can spam t1 bombers with loads of engineers and kill an ACU if you know where he is. Or spam t2 air, or get a t2 transport and drop your ACU next to the other ACU and try for the win or Draw.
(A Snipe is like using a sniper rifle, a good clean direct kill. Snipes can be with TML, t2 air, t3 air and things like ghetto gun ships)
IMPORTANT: Understanding the importance of map control vs eco
Spoiler: show
Here is a basic map but its a simple picture to explain the mechanics of every 1v1 map.
This map has two spawns, 4 mex close to each spawn and 12 mex spread out around the map.
Both players spawn and do identical builds and get their 4 mex at spawn and build a land factory.
As you see the mass income for both players is 8 from the mex they control.
Both players spend the mass exactly the same, they spread out on their side of the map and build an army.
As you see 20 mass income each and an army of 20 tanks. So far so good and a typical 1v1 match. However...
..Red decides to upgrade his eco and spends 900 mass on gaining a T2 mex. At the same time Blue decides to spend his next 900 mass on more tanks and gets about 17 more tanks.
As you see red now has a superior economy but blue has a better army.
Blue has to scout and look and see that red is upgrading his eco and is behind in units.
If all blue can see on the map is..
..then he is doomed to lose as Red will always be able to make more tanks than him and Red wins.
Blue must attack at this point in the game to balance out the eco.
Blue attacked and both sides lost ten tanks. You will notice though as Blue pushed he took and captured 2 mex from Red so the mass income is 24 to Blue and only 20 to Red even though Red has a t2 mex giving him +6 mass.
Blue now has greater map control, a better economy and a larger army. BUT only because he scouted and was aggressive with his extra units.
Lesson: Scout and look and when you see your opponent upgrading his economy you have a window of opportunity to push and deny his eco and take more for yourself with your extra units. You will also get the battle reclaim and be in an even better position than you see in the picture.
Lesson: Aggression at the right time wins.
Lesson: These Blue units did not sit idle, they were used. If you build it use it.
Yet again Red upgrades his eco with 900 mass and Blue builds about 17 more tanks with his next 900 mass.
NOTE: At this point in a game blue can also upgrade a mex and attack at the same time to keep in front.
As you see the economies are now back to even, 24 mass each, but Blue still has a huge advantage with a larger army.
Blue must use his advantage to take control and grow his eco with more cheap t1 mex and deny his enemy of those mex.
Blues pushed and denied another two t1 mass extractors and built them for himself. As you see Blue has 28 mass income and Red only 20.
Both sides lost 10 tanks again but blue controls the reclaim field of a total of 40 tank wrecks and Blue now has the superior economy simply because he has map control, and a superior army as Reds army lies in wrecks.
Blue can now just roll over Reds base and easily kill the ACU with 34 tanks and his own ACU.
Red's mistake was upgrading his eco too early. BUT he only lost as Blue saw it as a mistake and punished him for it. If Blue had sat back and waited he would now be 8 mass behind not in front and RED would simply outproduce him in units and tech and roll him over.
Lesson: Early map control wins over eco. On small maps upgrading eco too early is suicide against a player that is aggressive and scouts.
Lesson: Getting just 2 more t1 mex (72 mass for both ) gives you the same mass income as upgrading one mex to t2 (900 mass) and if you can take those off your enemy even better as his mass goes down and yours goes up.
Here is a great example of tech vs t1 spam.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2P4fI9uY0k
Understanding chess. What!? KEY CONCEPT
Spoiler: show
Chess is a war game, you could say pawns are t1, nights and bishops t2, rooks t3 and the queen is an experimental and of course the King is your ACU, kill the king you win. Although chess is played with few pieces and the "map" never changes and see just how complex those game get, you could say that but like me you would be nuts to say that 
KEY CONCEPT..Now two chess players of the same skill playing a game will always draw. Most top level games are a draw. What's true of every game of chess is for one player to win three things MUST have happened..
1, One player made a mistake
2, His opponent saw his mistake.
3, His opponent made him pay for that mistake.
Understand this, The winner did not win because he was better, the loser made a mistake and the winner made him pay for his mistake.
Yes i know its going to be controversial but thats lesson one you learn if you want to master chess.
So when you think about your games and watch replays don't ask why the winner won, he didnt. Ask why the loser lost, find that mistake and learn from it.
Don't think he lost because he was sniped by Tactical Missiles, he lost as he had no Missile defense.
Don't think he lost because his opponent bombed him back to the stone age, he lost because he had no Anti Air or didn't see it coming as he didn't Scout.
See the win and how he won, yes the winner played a better game, but learn to see the mistakes that cost the game so you can make your opponents pay for their mistakes and avoid making them.
Take ownership of your losses and learn from them. Don't rage, don't blame the faction, map, skill level of your opponent or cheesy tactics used, blame yourself and watch the replay for all the little mistakes.
Learn to spot the mistakes in a game and you won't be doomed to repeat them and as soon as you spot your enemies mistake go and make him pay for it before he fixes it or before the window of opportunity closes.
Watch ALL your replays as a newbie from both sides and learn from all the good points and all the mistakes. You will soon improve with the right mindset and desire to improve.
KEY CONCEPT..Now two chess players of the same skill playing a game will always draw. Most top level games are a draw. What's true of every game of chess is for one player to win three things MUST have happened..
1, One player made a mistake
2, His opponent saw his mistake.
3, His opponent made him pay for that mistake.
Understand this, The winner did not win because he was better, the loser made a mistake and the winner made him pay for his mistake.
Yes i know its going to be controversial but thats lesson one you learn if you want to master chess.
So when you think about your games and watch replays don't ask why the winner won, he didnt. Ask why the loser lost, find that mistake and learn from it.
Don't think he lost because he was sniped by Tactical Missiles, he lost as he had no Missile defense.
Don't think he lost because his opponent bombed him back to the stone age, he lost because he had no Anti Air or didn't see it coming as he didn't Scout.
See the win and how he won, yes the winner played a better game, but learn to see the mistakes that cost the game so you can make your opponents pay for their mistakes and avoid making them.
Take ownership of your losses and learn from them. Don't rage, don't blame the faction, map, skill level of your opponent or cheesy tactics used, blame yourself and watch the replay for all the little mistakes.
Learn to spot the mistakes in a game and you won't be doomed to repeat them and as soon as you spot your enemies mistake go and make him pay for it before he fixes it or before the window of opportunity closes.
Watch ALL your replays as a newbie from both sides and learn from all the good points and all the mistakes. You will soon improve with the right mindset and desire to improve.
Understanding the 1v1 rating system and why I lost my first ten games
Spoiler: show
There are 2 options with the rating system as i see it when you start playing FAF.
1 You can be auto set as a zero Newbie player,
2 or set as it does as a 1200 advanced player
Now you could have never played the game or you could be a hardcore player from steam or GPG before it died and you are returning to the game. The system is not psychic and needs to learn your skill.
Option one, You are set at zero and never played.
You will immediately play equally skilled players in theory and have balanced games.. but.. you will get constantly bashed by better players because of the following players.
Option one, you are set at zero but have played thousands of games before you found FAF.
You will immediately be killing complete newbs, and each win will push you a little up the ladder and eventually you will meet players of equal skill but only after newb bashing for a long time.
Option two, You are set at 1200 and never played.
You will lose your first probably 10 games as the system learns your skill. After that you wont suffer the example above where you get bashed by many players starting on FAF who have played before. That was how i started, 7 losses in a row before i won a hard fought match.
Option two, you are set at 1200 and played thousands of games.
You are probably where you should be and have balanced matches from the start.
Now i am sure you will agree, its better as a complete newbie to lose a few games at the start and then get good solid matches than to play your first hundred games constantly getting picked on by better players. Yes, i know how frustrating the system is but its very fair once it learns your skill. Just stick with it and use the loses to learn from the replays and start to copy what better players do.
1 You can be auto set as a zero Newbie player,
2 or set as it does as a 1200 advanced player
Now you could have never played the game or you could be a hardcore player from steam or GPG before it died and you are returning to the game. The system is not psychic and needs to learn your skill.
Option one, You are set at zero and never played.
You will immediately play equally skilled players in theory and have balanced games.. but.. you will get constantly bashed by better players because of the following players.
Option one, you are set at zero but have played thousands of games before you found FAF.
You will immediately be killing complete newbs, and each win will push you a little up the ladder and eventually you will meet players of equal skill but only after newb bashing for a long time.
Option two, You are set at 1200 and never played.
You will lose your first probably 10 games as the system learns your skill. After that you wont suffer the example above where you get bashed by many players starting on FAF who have played before. That was how i started, 7 losses in a row before i won a hard fought match.
Option two, you are set at 1200 and played thousands of games.
You are probably where you should be and have balanced matches from the start.
Now i am sure you will agree, its better as a complete newbie to lose a few games at the start and then get good solid matches than to play your first hundred games constantly getting picked on by better players. Yes, i know how frustrating the system is but its very fair once it learns your skill. Just stick with it and use the loses to learn from the replays and start to copy what better players do.
Common mistakes by the Newbies that cost the game.
Spoiler: show
Bad 'Build order' (BO)
Many times the newbie will lose because they power stall or mass stall and simply have less units on the field because of it.
Dont over build power at the start as its a waste of mass, or underbuild power as power stalls can be fatal, this balance you will learn by practice and watching other players opening moves. It takes one t1pg to power a t1 factory. The reason why you build at least 5 pgens before your second factory (or 1 or 2 and a hydro)is because it takes power to build things like factories and mass extractors but little power to power them when they are built.
You need to read the BO sections of this guide and watch the replays on BO's and write them down and copy them in game and reclaim to push your BO faster than your opponent.
Not reclaiming
There is a section on reclaim, read it. I cannot stress just how important a part of the game reclaim is.
Nothing stopping you dropping a few engineers in the middle of a reclaim field with a transport, just don't get it shot down.
Nothing stopping you having engineers following your army to clean up during and after a fight.
If you are not reclaiming at all times you are not playing.
Not expanding fast enough.
The start of this game is the slowest time you will be clicking and thinking, you will only have a few units made and not much to do, however this is a lie as the start is a race and the fastest person to build and expand will often win. Grab as many mass extractors (MEX) as early as you can and as safely as you can.
Grab and secure every expansion faster than your opponent. If there are 4 mex close to you sending one engineer to get them all is not as fast as sending 4 engineers. Keep in mind its often better to send 2 engineers and some troops just to be safe.
Again you will learn this by copying what other players do on the same map.
Upgrading MEX too early
1v1 is not a team game where its a rush to eco. 1v1 is a rush to take map control and kill your opponent with more units.
On small maps i have won so many times simply because my opponent upgraded 2 mex to t2 in the first few minutes and i spent that 1,800 mass on tanks to take map control and more mex, so i had the same mass income, yet i had 40+ more tanks and rolled over his base.
This is one of the hardest lessons to learn, one way i learnt it was to play many games without upgrading a single mex and seeing how far it got me.
5v5 maps try not to upgrade a mex until you have built all your factories and have an army and an upgraded ACU, then use reclaim from fights to upgrade your Economy. Having an economy three times larger than your opponent does not win you the game, units do.
On larger maps you should concentrate on economy and build just enough units to secure map control and defend.
Not raiding.
At the start and during the game you should raid. If you kill your opponents expanding engineers early or deny your opponent getting reclaim you will be at the front of the race. Use light assault bots and scouts for super early land raids and bombers for raiding from the air, in the first 2 mins or so after that use tanks and scouts to raid and raid in more force.
If you look at your side where your expanding engineers are its a safe bet thats where your opponents are, if you kill just one more than him you are leading as he has to send another engineer out and you dont.
There is an art to raiding. Learn by copying others.
Having no plan.
A strategy comes with practice but you should have an idea at the start, are you going to land spam or go for early tech 2 or try and play defensively and get a better economy for later game. A strategy should be fluid and change as the game changes. But you should have a plan in mind as soon as you look in the corner and see what faction is against you.
V Aeon you want air as bombers wipe out their paper armour floating t1 tanks.
V Cybran you need to watch for fast early Hunter and Mantis raids and remember their t2 stealth.
V Uef you need to be on the lookout for fast Mech Marine raids, the deadly t2 pillar and floating t2 Riptide, and the usual turtle play that comes later.
V Seraphin you don't need to worry about early raids as much but their floating t1 arty is brutal so is their t2 bots.
PRO TIP v Seraphin, if you cant build a mex or hydro it means there is a cloaked scout sat on it denying you, just get the engineer and set him on an attack move (alt + right click) just over the mex or hydro and laugh as the cloaked unit is reclaimed.
You need to learn all this as a newbie and most of it comes from game and map experience, but you have to have a plan at the start that depends on the faction you face, the map you are on and to a lesser degree the opponent you face but you learn about your opponent by playing them a few times.
Not using what you have built.
So many times in a game you will see an army of 100 units just sat on the battlefield drinking tea and eating cake. Your units should not be sat on their phones chatting to friends they should be used as the units of destruction they are or you wasted mass on them. They should raid or attack or deny your opponents expansions or deny his reclaim, or protect your ACU.
If you built it, USE IT. The best defence is a strong offense, attack and be aggressive, just dont gift the opponent mass needlessly.
Remember your opponent is a human being and probably sat in a chair in the comfort of their mothers basement, you should use your units to pressure them, stress them out so their mind is occupied on reacting to you and not on their plan to kill you.
Not controlling your units right
There is a section here on unit control. Watch the replay by VEE so you understand how to position your army.
Micro like this takes practice but soon you do it without thought.
Not using walls.
Walls are perfect for blocking choke points or funneling his units into your kill zone of troops and point defence.
Not using drops.
Learn the art of drops. If you haven't seen this Gyle video watch it and go and practice drops. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6c77KH ... cYLkh-gixM
Drops rule.
Drop higher tech units into areas they are needed to tip the balance of power in an area.
Drop engineers to reclaim things or take far expansions quicker.
Drop to make secret bases.
Drop units into the back of bases for quick raids or take islands.
Learn to drop.
Not scouting or scouting and not looking.
There is a section on scouting. Read it.
Scout always. Never stop scouting.
Scout before you attack to know what you are going to be fighting.
Scout to know where the other ACU is, if he is alone you can often just go and kill him with 30 t1 tanks or snipe him so many other ways.
Scout to know if the other ACU is upgrading.
Scout to know if you are in front or behind in economy.
MOST IMPORTANT. Scout and LOOK. Sending a scout is good but sending a scout and looking to see what the scout plane flies over is better. Many new players scout because they know they should but forget to actually look at what the scout reveals.
Its easy to make decisions if you know exactly what you face.
No radar.
Use radar, it cost 20 power, 1 t1pg and reveals many things, on a small map you often only need 2 for almost total map coverage. Get into the habit of making a radar as soon as you have the power to run it.
Isolated ACU
NEVER leave your ACU sat alone on the battlefield, you may feel safe knowing there are no units close to him but a good player will soon flood every unit he has to your ACU and kill you.
Going Turtle
Many new players go turtle, they fill their spawn base with point defence, rush a shield, eco up, get t3 and more point defence and feel safe, meanwhile their opponent has got the rest of the map and has more mass and units and its just a matter of time until you lose. 1v1 is not a team game it's a game of cat and mouse and if you are playing the mouse your opponent is the cat.
Expand and get more of the map than your opponent then you are in a position to win.
Many times the newbie will lose because they power stall or mass stall and simply have less units on the field because of it.
Dont over build power at the start as its a waste of mass, or underbuild power as power stalls can be fatal, this balance you will learn by practice and watching other players opening moves. It takes one t1pg to power a t1 factory. The reason why you build at least 5 pgens before your second factory (or 1 or 2 and a hydro)is because it takes power to build things like factories and mass extractors but little power to power them when they are built.
You need to read the BO sections of this guide and watch the replays on BO's and write them down and copy them in game and reclaim to push your BO faster than your opponent.
Not reclaiming
There is a section on reclaim, read it. I cannot stress just how important a part of the game reclaim is.
Nothing stopping you dropping a few engineers in the middle of a reclaim field with a transport, just don't get it shot down.
Nothing stopping you having engineers following your army to clean up during and after a fight.
If you are not reclaiming at all times you are not playing.
Not expanding fast enough.
The start of this game is the slowest time you will be clicking and thinking, you will only have a few units made and not much to do, however this is a lie as the start is a race and the fastest person to build and expand will often win. Grab as many mass extractors (MEX) as early as you can and as safely as you can.
Grab and secure every expansion faster than your opponent. If there are 4 mex close to you sending one engineer to get them all is not as fast as sending 4 engineers. Keep in mind its often better to send 2 engineers and some troops just to be safe.
Again you will learn this by copying what other players do on the same map.
Upgrading MEX too early
1v1 is not a team game where its a rush to eco. 1v1 is a rush to take map control and kill your opponent with more units.
On small maps i have won so many times simply because my opponent upgraded 2 mex to t2 in the first few minutes and i spent that 1,800 mass on tanks to take map control and more mex, so i had the same mass income, yet i had 40+ more tanks and rolled over his base.
This is one of the hardest lessons to learn, one way i learnt it was to play many games without upgrading a single mex and seeing how far it got me.
5v5 maps try not to upgrade a mex until you have built all your factories and have an army and an upgraded ACU, then use reclaim from fights to upgrade your Economy. Having an economy three times larger than your opponent does not win you the game, units do.
On larger maps you should concentrate on economy and build just enough units to secure map control and defend.
Not raiding.
At the start and during the game you should raid. If you kill your opponents expanding engineers early or deny your opponent getting reclaim you will be at the front of the race. Use light assault bots and scouts for super early land raids and bombers for raiding from the air, in the first 2 mins or so after that use tanks and scouts to raid and raid in more force.
If you look at your side where your expanding engineers are its a safe bet thats where your opponents are, if you kill just one more than him you are leading as he has to send another engineer out and you dont.
There is an art to raiding. Learn by copying others.
Having no plan.
A strategy comes with practice but you should have an idea at the start, are you going to land spam or go for early tech 2 or try and play defensively and get a better economy for later game. A strategy should be fluid and change as the game changes. But you should have a plan in mind as soon as you look in the corner and see what faction is against you.
V Aeon you want air as bombers wipe out their paper armour floating t1 tanks.
V Cybran you need to watch for fast early Hunter and Mantis raids and remember their t2 stealth.
V Uef you need to be on the lookout for fast Mech Marine raids, the deadly t2 pillar and floating t2 Riptide, and the usual turtle play that comes later.
V Seraphin you don't need to worry about early raids as much but their floating t1 arty is brutal so is their t2 bots.
PRO TIP v Seraphin, if you cant build a mex or hydro it means there is a cloaked scout sat on it denying you, just get the engineer and set him on an attack move (alt + right click) just over the mex or hydro and laugh as the cloaked unit is reclaimed.
You need to learn all this as a newbie and most of it comes from game and map experience, but you have to have a plan at the start that depends on the faction you face, the map you are on and to a lesser degree the opponent you face but you learn about your opponent by playing them a few times.
Not using what you have built.
So many times in a game you will see an army of 100 units just sat on the battlefield drinking tea and eating cake. Your units should not be sat on their phones chatting to friends they should be used as the units of destruction they are or you wasted mass on them. They should raid or attack or deny your opponents expansions or deny his reclaim, or protect your ACU.
If you built it, USE IT. The best defence is a strong offense, attack and be aggressive, just dont gift the opponent mass needlessly.
Remember your opponent is a human being and probably sat in a chair in the comfort of their mothers basement, you should use your units to pressure them, stress them out so their mind is occupied on reacting to you and not on their plan to kill you.
Not controlling your units right
There is a section here on unit control. Watch the replay by VEE so you understand how to position your army.
Micro like this takes practice but soon you do it without thought.
Not using walls.
Walls are perfect for blocking choke points or funneling his units into your kill zone of troops and point defence.
Not using drops.
Learn the art of drops. If you haven't seen this Gyle video watch it and go and practice drops. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6c77KH ... cYLkh-gixM
Drops rule.
Drop higher tech units into areas they are needed to tip the balance of power in an area.
Drop engineers to reclaim things or take far expansions quicker.
Drop to make secret bases.
Drop units into the back of bases for quick raids or take islands.
Learn to drop.
Not scouting or scouting and not looking.
There is a section on scouting. Read it.
Scout always. Never stop scouting.
Scout before you attack to know what you are going to be fighting.
Scout to know where the other ACU is, if he is alone you can often just go and kill him with 30 t1 tanks or snipe him so many other ways.
Scout to know if the other ACU is upgrading.
Scout to know if you are in front or behind in economy.
MOST IMPORTANT. Scout and LOOK. Sending a scout is good but sending a scout and looking to see what the scout plane flies over is better. Many new players scout because they know they should but forget to actually look at what the scout reveals.
Its easy to make decisions if you know exactly what you face.
No radar.
Use radar, it cost 20 power, 1 t1pg and reveals many things, on a small map you often only need 2 for almost total map coverage. Get into the habit of making a radar as soon as you have the power to run it.
Isolated ACU
NEVER leave your ACU sat alone on the battlefield, you may feel safe knowing there are no units close to him but a good player will soon flood every unit he has to your ACU and kill you.
Going Turtle
Many new players go turtle, they fill their spawn base with point defence, rush a shield, eco up, get t3 and more point defence and feel safe, meanwhile their opponent has got the rest of the map and has more mass and units and its just a matter of time until you lose. 1v1 is not a team game it's a game of cat and mouse and if you are playing the mouse your opponent is the cat.
Expand and get more of the map than your opponent then you are in a position to win.
Your Commander is your friend, and your enemy.
Spoiler: show
At the start of any game the strongest unit is your Armoured Command Unit (ACU). He/She is formidable, the gun does massive amounts of damage, his armour is as thick as a herd of elephants and on small maps if he is not at the front line with troops in support you are wasting the most powerful weapon you have. Dont forget you need to build an energy storage (250 mass) to have the 5000 power to Overcharge. The overcharge is a very powerful burst weapon that when aimed into groups of units can take down large numbers. I get excited about using overcharge, pew pew pew "System enabled" as the sexy voice tells you you are ready to overcharge again. BOOM!!!, pew pew pew "System enabled" BOOM!!! pew pew pew "System enabled" BOOM!!! Its glorious.
To fight effectively with your ACU he should be in front of your units as he can take more damage than they can. Always have units to support him, if he gets isolated he is likely to die very fast. Practice makes perfect with using the commander this way, you want him to kill units as he gets veterancy which adds even more health to him but be just a little too aggressive and your opponent can block him in and murder him quickly so always keep one eye on your supporting troops number and avenues of retreat and one eye on his health. Always try to keep him moving in small zig zags in the heat of battle to avoid artillery which will predict where he is walking and aim there. and water is his best friend when the going gets tough as land cant shoot him and he can regenerate some health. Beware subs and torpedo launchers.
Of course all this works two ways so block the opposing ACU with your units and mess with his pathfinding, cut off his lines of retreat and reinforcements and if you can force him into the water have some Submarines waiting to pop him And be very careful feeding the enemy ACU units to kill as he will gain Veterancy and be much harder to kill.
In base the ACU is worth 2 engineers, out in the field he is worth about 20 t1 tanks, you decide.
When t2 arrives in large numbers get him in the base or a firebase with shields and pd and aa to protect him, after your ACU gets popped a couple of times you will learn when to stay and fight and when to retreat to safety.
EDIT: Removed some incorrect advice on overcharge based on the feedback from Vee, thank you
You can read Vee's post as he talks about the cost and investment of powering your overcharge and the tip of pausing things to release more power when needed.
http://www.faforever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=6613&start=10#p65129
#15 of the tutorials videos Overchange https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYWos5t24sY
To fight effectively with your ACU he should be in front of your units as he can take more damage than they can. Always have units to support him, if he gets isolated he is likely to die very fast. Practice makes perfect with using the commander this way, you want him to kill units as he gets veterancy which adds even more health to him but be just a little too aggressive and your opponent can block him in and murder him quickly so always keep one eye on your supporting troops number and avenues of retreat and one eye on his health. Always try to keep him moving in small zig zags in the heat of battle to avoid artillery which will predict where he is walking and aim there. and water is his best friend when the going gets tough as land cant shoot him and he can regenerate some health. Beware subs and torpedo launchers.
Of course all this works two ways so block the opposing ACU with your units and mess with his pathfinding, cut off his lines of retreat and reinforcements and if you can force him into the water have some Submarines waiting to pop him
And be very careful feeding the enemy ACU units to kill as he will gain Veterancy and be much harder to kill.In base the ACU is worth 2 engineers, out in the field he is worth about 20 t1 tanks, you decide.
When t2 arrives in large numbers get him in the base or a firebase with shields and pd and aa to protect him, after your ACU gets popped a couple of times you will learn when to stay and fight and when to retreat to safety.
EDIT: Removed some incorrect advice on overcharge based on the feedback from Vee, thank you
You can read Vee's post as he talks about the cost and investment of powering your overcharge and the tip of pausing things to release more power when needed.
http://www.faforever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=6613&start=10#p65129
#15 of the tutorials videos Overchange https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYWos5t24sY
Build order tutorials and Theory
Spoiler: show
DO watch #2 - Build range https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow1PSPO8Wc8&list=PLWe0mYs3ObwL36zemynMh5G4b-3s5vol0 This is very very very important!!!
DO watch basic build orders https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRKoxUx9zSk&list=PL5BE347F15601899C
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_m53YcP9OA&list=PLWe0mYs3ObwL36zemynMh5G4b-3s5vol0
For extra credit watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4POwAacRPms&list=PL5BE347F15601899C and you will see how different build orders can affect the speed you get your war machine started.
And https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT4NkV1NXjU&list=PL5BE347F15601899C
Build order, theory.
There is no magic build order (BO) that works for every map or we would all be using it, BO depends on your playstyle, map and skill level. The ideal BO would have you hovering just above empty on both mass and energy but not stalling and much of that is down to where the reclaim is on a map to keep you going with power and mass.
A build order (BO) is just the first few things you build in the first 2 or 3 mins, after that its down to maps and what's happening around you and what you are planning to do to kill the other ACU.
You want to turn the following pic
into something like the one below.
NOTE: on the above picture without the reclaim this BO would be mass stalled. Reclaim reclaim reclaim.
If the following picture happens you need to reclaim rocks and wrecks to help you build faster as your base is draining too much mass and you are probably trying to build too much too fast.
NOTE: one you are established you want to play the game with a small negative mass as that means you are using mass as soon as you get it.
If the following picture happend you need to reclaim trees and bushes to help you build faster as your base is draining too much power and everything is going very slowly, or you have built too much before you built enough Power generators (PGens) to power it. In this case two factories before any power. A good thing to do is pause some of the drain on your power and get some engineers making power and dont forget to unpause things when you have enough power.
NOTE: Each engineer takes -30 power to build a PGen so if you panic and try and spam a line of t1 pgens with 4 engineers you will add -120 to your power stall and slow even more. Pause everything and then see where your power is and then put as many engineers as you can afford on power spam and start unpausing things. Its all about balance and takes time to learn but soon power stalls will be a thing of the past as you will just make the right amount of power without thought.
Practice.
If you want to run FAF offline you will find if in the following folder "C:\ProgramData\FAForever\bin"
Programdata is usually hidden so look for folder options on control panel and show hidden folders.
You can set the game options to Sandbox victory condition and then just play alone or play against an Easy AI and practice your opening BO on a map. Try and build the most you can the fastest way you can without stalling. You will need to understand Reclaim so look on this guide for the reclaim section.
DONT: Place your first factory on top of trees or rocks as your ACU will walk to it and have to reclaim what is under the factory before he builds it, very annoying and often a game ender as you are then playing catch up the entire game.
DO watch basic build orders https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRKoxUx9zSk&list=PL5BE347F15601899C
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_m53YcP9OA&list=PLWe0mYs3ObwL36zemynMh5G4b-3s5vol0
For extra credit watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4POwAacRPms&list=PL5BE347F15601899C and you will see how different build orders can affect the speed you get your war machine started.
And https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT4NkV1NXjU&list=PL5BE347F15601899C
Build order, theory.
There is no magic build order (BO) that works for every map or we would all be using it, BO depends on your playstyle, map and skill level. The ideal BO would have you hovering just above empty on both mass and energy but not stalling and much of that is down to where the reclaim is on a map to keep you going with power and mass.
A build order (BO) is just the first few things you build in the first 2 or 3 mins, after that its down to maps and what's happening around you and what you are planning to do to kill the other ACU.
You want to turn the following pic
into something like the one below.
NOTE: on the above picture without the reclaim this BO would be mass stalled. Reclaim reclaim reclaim.
If the following picture happens you need to reclaim rocks and wrecks to help you build faster as your base is draining too much mass and you are probably trying to build too much too fast.
NOTE: one you are established you want to play the game with a small negative mass as that means you are using mass as soon as you get it.
If the following picture happend you need to reclaim trees and bushes to help you build faster as your base is draining too much power and everything is going very slowly, or you have built too much before you built enough Power generators (PGens) to power it. In this case two factories before any power. A good thing to do is pause some of the drain on your power and get some engineers making power and dont forget to unpause things when you have enough power.
NOTE: Each engineer takes -30 power to build a PGen so if you panic and try and spam a line of t1 pgens with 4 engineers you will add -120 to your power stall and slow even more. Pause everything and then see where your power is and then put as many engineers as you can afford on power spam and start unpausing things. Its all about balance and takes time to learn but soon power stalls will be a thing of the past as you will just make the right amount of power without thought.
Practice.
If you want to run FAF offline you will find if in the following folder "C:\ProgramData\FAForever\bin"
Programdata is usually hidden so look for folder options on control panel and show hidden folders.
You can set the game options to Sandbox victory condition and then just play alone or play against an Easy AI and practice your opening BO on a map. Try and build the most you can the fastest way you can without stalling. You will need to understand Reclaim so look on this guide for the reclaim section.
DONT: Place your first factory on top of trees or rocks as your ACU will walk to it and have to reclaim what is under the factory before he builds it, very annoying and often a game ender as you are then playing catch up the entire game.
Build orders you must know explained
Spoiler: show
First land.
Land factory (Lf), 2 power gens (pg), 3 mass extractors. (mex)
First land is your bread and butter opening, and should be the opening you use as a newbie. You can then decide to go "Second land" or "Second Air" and be in a good strong position with minimum risk.
Factory queue for First land.
A few engineers, unless its a big map and no chance of an early raid then just one engy set to infinite.
Units for quick raids, usually light assault bots (LABs), some scouts to spot incoming raids or bombers and some tanks to protect yourself from raids. Then engineers and troops ready to make and defend what is needed and where.
THis factory should be set on attack move, select the factory, hold 'alt' then right click on the ground and any engineers will start to reclaim, this waypoint can be dragged around the map where reclaim engineers are needed. Dont forget later in the game to come back to the first factory and remove the tanks from the queue if you are now at t2 or t3.
A good solid normal queue for the newbie learning would be.
3x engy, 1 scout, 2 lab, 2 engy, scout, 2 tanks, and then repeat (2 engy, scout, 2 tanks)
This would give you, a scout to spot early bombers and raids, some LABs to raid and small groups of defensive units and scouts covering the expanding engineers, and a constant stream of scouts to join your main armies and engineers to reclaim and build or assist.
Of course there is nothing "normal" about this game and factory queues are unique to each player and map. For instance if you look at my second post and look at "Summer dual" map, i would recommend. engy, lab , 2engy, as the first four units and sending the second LAB to the enemy reclaim field. You will soon learn to alter the basic "newbie factory queue" to what you need to win on the map and depending on what you have planned.
Plus points for First land.
You get units out fast and can raid fast and expand fast and defend.
Minus points for First land.
If your opponent has gone first air and early bomber you have no defence and MUST stop your factory queue and produce 3aa then redo your normal queue of units. 3aa is enough to kill the bomber or scare it away. DONT make static aa as you will waste mass and probably power stall as Static AA is expensive.
Static AA mass: 150, energy: 1500, build time: 188
1 mobile AA mass: 28, energy: 140, build time: 140
As you see Static AA takes over 10 times the energy of a Mobil AA and Over three times the power of 3 mobile AA
Second land.
Second land no hydro is, 'first land' followed by 3pg and a Lf
And the 'first land factory' expanding engineers would take a 4th mex and grab some reclaim and expand grabbing mex.
Factory queue for this factory would be almost all tanks, the occasional scout and anti air if you have spotted any air from your enemy, and the occasional arty in case you find a t1pd that needs destroying. Maybe 3 tanks, scout, 3 tanks, 1 arty, 3 tanks set to repeat. However on a small map 100% tanks is normal as you need a big Damage per second (dps) army.
NOTE: The larger the army becomes that you are facing the more effective artillery becomes as it will always hit something. Slowly increasing the ratio of artillery to tanks depending on the army size you face is one sign of a good player.
Plus points for Second Land.
You can aggressively defend and raid and aggressively expand on the map. Of course second land is better used on smaller maps as bigger maps usually require "Second Air"
Minus points for Second Land.
You will have no Air so have to rely on mobile aa for air defence.
Second Air.
First land followed by usually 4 pg and then the air factory, make sure the power is touching the air factory for the adjacency bonus and spread around the factory to make it impossible for early bombers to kill them all at the same time. Second Air is the normal opening on any map larger than a 5v5km
Plus points for Second Air.
You get scouts early and see exactly what the opponent is doing. You can take a bomber to the enemy base and force him to make AA in his base if he went second land and then go and kill any expanding engineers you can find.
Minus points for Second Air.
On small maps you can lose map control easily and fall behind against a player going second land unless you micro the bomber and cause some damage to the base and then take out as many expanding early engineers as you can.
The ACU Hydro Rush.
Rushing a hydrocarbon power plant when they are very close to you, maps like Theta, Summer duel, Winter Duel is the most efficient way to get power fast.
Factory, 1 t1pg, three mex and send acu close to the hydrocarbon.
First engineer to the hydrocarbon. and then ACU assist the building of it.
Then you can usually get out air or 3 land factories without needing more power, this of course depends how many mex you grab in expanding as each mex costs power to run. A little practice and you will get it.
Plus points for The ACU Hydro Rush.
You get fast cheap power.
Minus points for The ACU Hydro Rush.
On maps like open palms a hydro rush can leave you a little behind. These maps are better second air with acu and build the hydro with just engineers.
Because you are rushing the hydro and are relying on that power income if you lose it early you are likely to powerstall hard.
Advanced openings not recommended until you have a good solid understanding of the game.
First Air (Bomber)
1pg, air factory, 1pg.
First bomber out the factory or a small number of engineers then the bomber.
First air is an advanced opening and not recommended for the newbies. this is because to be effective you have to micromanage (micro) the bomber and still micro your base for it to pay off.
Plus points for First Air (Bomber).
A fast bomber can both scout and damage a base and with effective micro kill much of the opponents power and engineers giving you a quick lead in the game. It will force AA to be produced and panic many players.
Minus points for First Air (Bomber).
Small maps this opening not paying off can cost you the game as you will lose too much ground to get back as you have no offensive ground units.
First Air (Cybran Jester)
2pg, air factory, assist the factory to get out the jester then 1pg as soon as you can as you will power stall getting out the Jester.
First Air (Cybran Jester) is an advanced and very risky opening and not recommended for the newbies. This is because to be effective you have to micro manage the jester and still micro your base for it to pay off, and as the cybran air factory is very slow at producing engineers you will be behind in the game unless you rack up a good kill count. If your opponent has gone first air a quick interceptor will ruin your day.
Plus points for First Air (Cybran Jester).
Fast mobile raiding unit capable of killing every engineer in a base and killing the mobile AA almost as fast as the factory can produce them. A real psychological blow to your opponent as his plans are destroyed in seconds and he has to recover.
Minus points for First Air (Cybran Jester)
You will be way behind to "first land", at huge risk to "First Air" You will be power stalling and you will be very slow at producing engineers needed to get a base built and get a land factory out.
Land factory (Lf), 2 power gens (pg), 3 mass extractors. (mex)
First land is your bread and butter opening, and should be the opening you use as a newbie. You can then decide to go "Second land" or "Second Air" and be in a good strong position with minimum risk.
Factory queue for First land.
A few engineers, unless its a big map and no chance of an early raid then just one engy set to infinite.
Units for quick raids, usually light assault bots (LABs), some scouts to spot incoming raids or bombers and some tanks to protect yourself from raids. Then engineers and troops ready to make and defend what is needed and where.
THis factory should be set on attack move, select the factory, hold 'alt' then right click on the ground and any engineers will start to reclaim, this waypoint can be dragged around the map where reclaim engineers are needed. Dont forget later in the game to come back to the first factory and remove the tanks from the queue if you are now at t2 or t3.
A good solid normal queue for the newbie learning would be.
3x engy, 1 scout, 2 lab, 2 engy, scout, 2 tanks, and then repeat (2 engy, scout, 2 tanks)
This would give you, a scout to spot early bombers and raids, some LABs to raid and small groups of defensive units and scouts covering the expanding engineers, and a constant stream of scouts to join your main armies and engineers to reclaim and build or assist.
Of course there is nothing "normal" about this game and factory queues are unique to each player and map. For instance if you look at my second post and look at "Summer dual" map, i would recommend. engy, lab , 2engy, as the first four units and sending the second LAB to the enemy reclaim field. You will soon learn to alter the basic "newbie factory queue" to what you need to win on the map and depending on what you have planned.
Plus points for First land.
You get units out fast and can raid fast and expand fast and defend.
Minus points for First land.
If your opponent has gone first air and early bomber you have no defence and MUST stop your factory queue and produce 3aa then redo your normal queue of units. 3aa is enough to kill the bomber or scare it away. DONT make static aa as you will waste mass and probably power stall as Static AA is expensive.
Static AA mass: 150, energy: 1500, build time: 188
1 mobile AA mass: 28, energy: 140, build time: 140
As you see Static AA takes over 10 times the energy of a Mobil AA and Over three times the power of 3 mobile AA
Second land.
Second land no hydro is, 'first land' followed by 3pg and a Lf
And the 'first land factory' expanding engineers would take a 4th mex and grab some reclaim and expand grabbing mex.
Factory queue for this factory would be almost all tanks, the occasional scout and anti air if you have spotted any air from your enemy, and the occasional arty in case you find a t1pd that needs destroying. Maybe 3 tanks, scout, 3 tanks, 1 arty, 3 tanks set to repeat. However on a small map 100% tanks is normal as you need a big Damage per second (dps) army.
NOTE: The larger the army becomes that you are facing the more effective artillery becomes as it will always hit something. Slowly increasing the ratio of artillery to tanks depending on the army size you face is one sign of a good player.
Plus points for Second Land.
You can aggressively defend and raid and aggressively expand on the map. Of course second land is better used on smaller maps as bigger maps usually require "Second Air"
Minus points for Second Land.
You will have no Air so have to rely on mobile aa for air defence.
Second Air.
First land followed by usually 4 pg and then the air factory, make sure the power is touching the air factory for the adjacency bonus and spread around the factory to make it impossible for early bombers to kill them all at the same time. Second Air is the normal opening on any map larger than a 5v5km
Plus points for Second Air.
You get scouts early and see exactly what the opponent is doing. You can take a bomber to the enemy base and force him to make AA in his base if he went second land and then go and kill any expanding engineers you can find.
Minus points for Second Air.
On small maps you can lose map control easily and fall behind against a player going second land unless you micro the bomber and cause some damage to the base and then take out as many expanding early engineers as you can.
The ACU Hydro Rush.
Rushing a hydrocarbon power plant when they are very close to you, maps like Theta, Summer duel, Winter Duel is the most efficient way to get power fast.
Factory, 1 t1pg, three mex and send acu close to the hydrocarbon.
First engineer to the hydrocarbon. and then ACU assist the building of it.
Then you can usually get out air or 3 land factories without needing more power, this of course depends how many mex you grab in expanding as each mex costs power to run. A little practice and you will get it.
Plus points for The ACU Hydro Rush.
You get fast cheap power.
Minus points for The ACU Hydro Rush.
On maps like open palms a hydro rush can leave you a little behind. These maps are better second air with acu and build the hydro with just engineers.
Because you are rushing the hydro and are relying on that power income if you lose it early you are likely to powerstall hard.
Advanced openings not recommended until you have a good solid understanding of the game.
First Air (Bomber)
1pg, air factory, 1pg.
First bomber out the factory or a small number of engineers then the bomber.
First air is an advanced opening and not recommended for the newbies. this is because to be effective you have to micromanage (micro) the bomber and still micro your base for it to pay off.
Plus points for First Air (Bomber).
A fast bomber can both scout and damage a base and with effective micro kill much of the opponents power and engineers giving you a quick lead in the game. It will force AA to be produced and panic many players.
Minus points for First Air (Bomber).
Small maps this opening not paying off can cost you the game as you will lose too much ground to get back as you have no offensive ground units.
First Air (Cybran Jester)
2pg, air factory, assist the factory to get out the jester then 1pg as soon as you can as you will power stall getting out the Jester.
First Air (Cybran Jester) is an advanced and very risky opening and not recommended for the newbies. This is because to be effective you have to micro manage the jester and still micro your base for it to pay off, and as the cybran air factory is very slow at producing engineers you will be behind in the game unless you rack up a good kill count. If your opponent has gone first air a quick interceptor will ruin your day.
Plus points for First Air (Cybran Jester).
Fast mobile raiding unit capable of killing every engineer in a base and killing the mobile AA almost as fast as the factory can produce them. A real psychological blow to your opponent as his plans are destroyed in seconds and he has to recover.
Minus points for First Air (Cybran Jester)
You will be way behind to "first land", at huge risk to "First Air" You will be power stalling and you will be very slow at producing engineers needed to get a base built and get a land factory out.
Understanding Economy, the theory and tactical thinking.
Spoiler: show
A very helpful thread to read is "Economy for New Players"
http://www.faforever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=1610
Economy is one of the hardest things to learn to balance, but its really simple to understand as you have two things to keep an eye on Mass and Energy.
Mass: You need mass to make stuff, after all all stuff has mass. If you have no mass you cant build anything. You get these from Mass Extractors (MEX) and Reclaim. More on reclaim later. But i hope you watched the tutorial video on reclaim?
Never waste mass, at the end of the game look on the scoreboard on the resources tab and if you waste mass try and make more build capacity like engineers or factories, or more structures as wasting mass is a bad habit to start.
Wasting under 10 is the best you can hope for as thats the delay you have to place down that first factory before you start spending it.
You really don't want to see a full bar of mass in game. Start spending it because wasted mass can never be got back. Tip: It's a perfect time to upgrade mass extractors so its not wasted, or upgrade a factory. but you really should not let it have get that full.
Don't worry about wasting power as its always best to have a surplus on power and +20,000 power is not unusual later in the game as t3 air costs insane amounts of power to build. Just don't build power if you don't need it or plan to use more soon.
Mass Extractors, MEX, these should be built early, very early and as many as you can safely get your hands on, also as they are valuable and at Tech1 give you +2 mass a second they are natural points to fight over and natural points to raid with a few units, remember "kill your opponents economy" beware though as he will try to kill yours so protect your economy. As with everything in this game its about balance and you only learn balance by practice... lots of practice.
Tactical thinking about Mass.
You can upgrade a T1 Mex to T2 but it will cost you 900 mass and 5400 energy. Ask yourself what is best at that point in time, that 900 mass could have bought you about 17 tanks. Which is better at that moment in the game?, units or a T2 mex?. You learn when to upgrade your economy with practice. Many 1v1 games are won because one player upgraded his economy and sunk 1800+ mass and 10,000+ energy into 2 Mex upgrades in the first five minutes on a small map when the other player simply spent his on 30+ units and ran over the top of him. Again its balance and yes you got the idea now its Practice and experience. If you have a full bar of mass and are wasting mass thats the perfect time to upgrade a mex, but get more build power to spend it or as soon as you get the upgrade you will have even more mass getting wasted. Build power is engineers, factories and later Support Command Units (SCU)
Power: Power is needed to turn your raw parts (Mass) into those shiny new units you are going to obliterate your opponent with. Now i know you are sat at a computer or other device that uses power reading this, now imagine there is a power cut.. oops you cant do anything now can you? Sat all alone in the dark. Same as this game if you stall power and have none its like turning the power off and on and off and on and EVERYTHING gets built slower, your MEX's produce less mass and suddenly your economy is in a mess and your factories slow down and your radar and shields start failing and its scary sitting in the dark so dont forget Power Generators. Again its all about balance. Build too many and you waste mass on them which could have been used on shiny new airplanes or tanks to go kill his economy and units, but too few and you stall and slow down your war machine. Practice to find the balance that suits your play style, map and whats happening.
Tactical thinking about power.
As you now know stalling your power is fatal so there are two things to learn. Protect your own power and murder your opponents.
Opponents love to group all their power in one place so a few well placed bombs can shut down their war machine.
When you watch the replay back from your opponents point of view keep an eye on his economy and if you can make the following picture a reality you can get way ahead of him as he struggles to make more power and because he is stalled he will make it slowly, very slowly.
Tip: If you badly stall power you can pause everything to stop the drain on your economy and immediately make power generators, remember Air takes huge amounts of power so start by pausing your air factory.
Because a Hydro carbon deposit (Hydro) gives 100 power it makes a great early target as many players rely on the power it gives, if you can deny him building it or better yet kill the engineers making it and then blow it up just before he finishes it, as that way he just wasted some mass and wont have built powergens, you can get a huge head start in the ability to wage war. Of course a good opponent will try to do he same to you so beware.
Now we could get all complicated about economy and talk about investment and time and inflation but instead you can watch this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DXvaPKOGNQ
You can skip to 1:40 and yes its 20mins long but i would reccomend you watch it once and read whats on the screen and listen and then just forget it and leave the info in the back of your mind for your brain to absorb.
The points it raises like inflation you need to understand. 100 brand new Tech 1 (T1) tanks at the start of the game are powerful, once t2 in large numbers or t3 or experimentals appear those 100 t1 tanks are worthless (inflation), especially if there isn't even a scratch on them and they haven't been used as you just wasted mass on them. There is no shame in bringing t1 forces back to your base and blowing them up with CTRL+K and reclaiming their mass and making something better, that's far better than throwing them at the enemy units to be slaughtered as the enemy will gain veterancy and be able to reclaim all the wrecks and build himself some new and shiny toys with your hard earned mass. If you see an experimental and you have a force of 100 engineers or t1 tanks in its path kill them, Ctrl+k them or you will suddenly find that experimental gets ranks of veterancy and more hitpoints and becomes even harder to kill. T1 arty is maybe the only exception when facing large amounts of t2 as its always handy to lob a few arty in the mix.
http://www.faforever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=1610
Economy is one of the hardest things to learn to balance, but its really simple to understand as you have two things to keep an eye on Mass and Energy.
Mass: You need mass to make stuff, after all all stuff has mass. If you have no mass you cant build anything. You get these from Mass Extractors (MEX) and Reclaim. More on reclaim later. But i hope you watched the tutorial video on reclaim?
Never waste mass, at the end of the game look on the scoreboard on the resources tab and if you waste mass try and make more build capacity like engineers or factories, or more structures as wasting mass is a bad habit to start.
Wasting under 10 is the best you can hope for as thats the delay you have to place down that first factory before you start spending it.
You really don't want to see a full bar of mass in game. Start spending it because wasted mass can never be got back. Tip: It's a perfect time to upgrade mass extractors so its not wasted, or upgrade a factory. but you really should not let it have get that full.
Don't worry about wasting power as its always best to have a surplus on power and +20,000 power is not unusual later in the game as t3 air costs insane amounts of power to build. Just don't build power if you don't need it or plan to use more soon.
Mass Extractors, MEX, these should be built early, very early and as many as you can safely get your hands on, also as they are valuable and at Tech1 give you +2 mass a second they are natural points to fight over and natural points to raid with a few units, remember "kill your opponents economy" beware though as he will try to kill yours so protect your economy. As with everything in this game its about balance and you only learn balance by practice... lots of practice.
Tactical thinking about Mass.
You can upgrade a T1 Mex to T2 but it will cost you 900 mass and 5400 energy. Ask yourself what is best at that point in time, that 900 mass could have bought you about 17 tanks. Which is better at that moment in the game?, units or a T2 mex?. You learn when to upgrade your economy with practice. Many 1v1 games are won because one player upgraded his economy and sunk 1800+ mass and 10,000+ energy into 2 Mex upgrades in the first five minutes on a small map when the other player simply spent his on 30+ units and ran over the top of him. Again its balance and yes you got the idea now its Practice and experience. If you have a full bar of mass and are wasting mass thats the perfect time to upgrade a mex, but get more build power to spend it or as soon as you get the upgrade you will have even more mass getting wasted. Build power is engineers, factories and later Support Command Units (SCU)
Power: Power is needed to turn your raw parts (Mass) into those shiny new units you are going to obliterate your opponent with. Now i know you are sat at a computer or other device that uses power reading this, now imagine there is a power cut.. oops you cant do anything now can you? Sat all alone in the dark. Same as this game if you stall power and have none its like turning the power off and on and off and on and EVERYTHING gets built slower, your MEX's produce less mass and suddenly your economy is in a mess and your factories slow down and your radar and shields start failing and its scary sitting in the dark so dont forget Power Generators. Again its all about balance. Build too many and you waste mass on them which could have been used on shiny new airplanes or tanks to go kill his economy and units, but too few and you stall and slow down your war machine. Practice to find the balance that suits your play style, map and whats happening.
Tactical thinking about power.
As you now know stalling your power is fatal so there are two things to learn. Protect your own power and murder your opponents.
Opponents love to group all their power in one place so a few well placed bombs can shut down their war machine.
When you watch the replay back from your opponents point of view keep an eye on his economy and if you can make the following picture a reality you can get way ahead of him as he struggles to make more power and because he is stalled he will make it slowly, very slowly.
Tip: If you badly stall power you can pause everything to stop the drain on your economy and immediately make power generators, remember Air takes huge amounts of power so start by pausing your air factory.
Because a Hydro carbon deposit (Hydro) gives 100 power it makes a great early target as many players rely on the power it gives, if you can deny him building it or better yet kill the engineers making it and then blow it up just before he finishes it, as that way he just wasted some mass and wont have built powergens, you can get a huge head start in the ability to wage war. Of course a good opponent will try to do he same to you so beware.
Now we could get all complicated about economy and talk about investment and time and inflation but instead you can watch this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DXvaPKOGNQ
You can skip to 1:40 and yes its 20mins long but i would reccomend you watch it once and read whats on the screen and listen and then just forget it and leave the info in the back of your mind for your brain to absorb.
The points it raises like inflation you need to understand. 100 brand new Tech 1 (T1) tanks at the start of the game are powerful, once t2 in large numbers or t3 or experimentals appear those 100 t1 tanks are worthless (inflation), especially if there isn't even a scratch on them and they haven't been used as you just wasted mass on them. There is no shame in bringing t1 forces back to your base and blowing them up with CTRL+K and reclaiming their mass and making something better, that's far better than throwing them at the enemy units to be slaughtered as the enemy will gain veterancy and be able to reclaim all the wrecks and build himself some new and shiny toys with your hard earned mass. If you see an experimental and you have a force of 100 engineers or t1 tanks in its path kill them, Ctrl+k them or you will suddenly find that experimental gets ranks of veterancy and more hitpoints and becomes even harder to kill. T1 arty is maybe the only exception when facing large amounts of t2 as its always handy to lob a few arty in the mix.
SCOUTING WINS GAMES!!!
Spoiler: show
Imagine putting on a blindfold and walking across a busy highway/motorway.. (whatever you call them)
You wont will you?! Be silly wouldn't it?! Would be much better if you made your enemy do it. And thats scouting and blinding your enemy.
Radar: Build radar like you get free points for it, its cheap (75 mass but requires 20 energy to run, 1 Power generator @80 mass) and it lets you see exactly whats happening, only t2 stealth defeats a radar and that only works until you get T3 omni radar up and running (note the omni range is far less than the t3 radar range) or simply fly spy planes over head.
A t1 bomber kills T1 radar in a single pass so look for enemy radar and kill it. Build scouts in your army as the radar means your units can shoot further into unseen territory. You should always try to fight inside radar coverage as its a free range upgrade for many units, be it from radar or scouts.
Tip: if you put the Power Generator (PG) next to the radar you get an adjacency bonus and its cheaper on power to run. However a quick bomb and you lose both so dont do it on your forwards radars.
Spy planes: They are cheap and fast and reveal exactly what your opponent is doing, use as many as is needed, If you are stuck on what to click on send another spy plane or better yet two. Check every corner of the map for secret bases as stealth is countered by spy planes flying over the top and looking. And if you see an enemy spy plane shoot it down and make him cross the road blindfolded. Its easy to plan if you know where the enemy is, if you see him move 5 units go kill him with 10. If you don't see him you cant kill him. And if he can't see you because you blinded him?? got it? good
Always scout your opponents base as early in the game as you can as that way he can't surprise you with super early technology, and keep scouting his base even if your planes get shot down over his base, the more you see the better you can plan.
Scouting in action.
Here is an enemy base (pic below) when i first flew over it, i went third air, land, naval, air. What wins on this map i believe, last oasis, is the arrival of T2 navy, so that's what i was aiming for. Kill his navy then kill his air with cruisers then kill his Acu.
Now i am not sure why or how long the effect of "after intelligence" works but this next picture (pic below) shows an icon has gone darker. This means that that structure has changed. In this case a t2 mex upgrade. At this point i had only scouted once and the icon changed all by itself.
So again i scout it and yes he has upgraded a mex to T2 and built a few more but as i am scouting i can see exactly what he is doing. Note the two little lines under the icon that went dark, that shows the technology level.
And then after a few more scout runs where i see he is now running tech 2 land and is upgrading many Mex's (pic below) icons go darker showing the intelligence is cold again.
and when i next see his base its from the radar of my T1 and T2 fleet that has parked in his harbor and is ready to punish him for upgrading and not building enough units to stop me. Note: All the grey dots are units or structures but as i cant see them visually they dont show what they are.
Tip: Engineers are slow so you can usually tell if you see them on radar, but so is the ACU so...
If you look at the above examples if i had not scouted i would not have seen the window of opportunity i had to punish him. At that point in the game he was way ahead of me in Economy but way behind in the ability to wage war, if my shiny new boats had remained in my harbor i would have lost to superior ground technology and a superior economy driving it. As it happened he threw up the "gg" as his base came under fire from destroyers and my cruisers obliterated his air force. I won simply because i scouted and new exactly what he was doing. He spent his mass on mexes, i spent mine on Shiny boats
Assuming you scout and see your opponent is upgrading Mex's and you havnt you have a window of opportunity to go and punish him with your extra units, its easier on small maps as you have time to get your extra units to where they are needed, you scouted right? you know where he is weak? go punish him, destroy some mex's or power or expanding engies and then upgrade your mex and you will now be in the lead. If you miss the window of opportunity because you didn't scout chances are you are now behind as the tech 2 mex gives +6 mass per second and +9 if you then spend another 800 mass and get the adjacency from 4 mass storages.
Scouting lets you plan to meet what your opponent is doing and lets you stay one step ahead,
Scouting lets you spot your opponents mistakes so you can go punish him for them.. end of.
You wont will you?! Be silly wouldn't it?! Would be much better if you made your enemy do it. And thats scouting and blinding your enemy.
Radar: Build radar like you get free points for it, its cheap (75 mass but requires 20 energy to run, 1 Power generator @80 mass) and it lets you see exactly whats happening, only t2 stealth defeats a radar and that only works until you get T3 omni radar up and running (note the omni range is far less than the t3 radar range) or simply fly spy planes over head.
A t1 bomber kills T1 radar in a single pass so look for enemy radar and kill it. Build scouts in your army as the radar means your units can shoot further into unseen territory. You should always try to fight inside radar coverage as its a free range upgrade for many units, be it from radar or scouts.
Tip: if you put the Power Generator (PG) next to the radar you get an adjacency bonus and its cheaper on power to run. However a quick bomb and you lose both so dont do it on your forwards radars.
Spy planes: They are cheap and fast and reveal exactly what your opponent is doing, use as many as is needed, If you are stuck on what to click on send another spy plane or better yet two. Check every corner of the map for secret bases as stealth is countered by spy planes flying over the top and looking. And if you see an enemy spy plane shoot it down and make him cross the road blindfolded. Its easy to plan if you know where the enemy is, if you see him move 5 units go kill him with 10. If you don't see him you cant kill him. And if he can't see you because you blinded him?? got it? good
Always scout your opponents base as early in the game as you can as that way he can't surprise you with super early technology, and keep scouting his base even if your planes get shot down over his base, the more you see the better you can plan.
Scouting in action.
Here is an enemy base (pic below) when i first flew over it, i went third air, land, naval, air. What wins on this map i believe, last oasis, is the arrival of T2 navy, so that's what i was aiming for. Kill his navy then kill his air with cruisers then kill his Acu.
Now i am not sure why or how long the effect of "after intelligence" works but this next picture (pic below) shows an icon has gone darker. This means that that structure has changed. In this case a t2 mex upgrade. At this point i had only scouted once and the icon changed all by itself.
So again i scout it and yes he has upgraded a mex to T2 and built a few more but as i am scouting i can see exactly what he is doing. Note the two little lines under the icon that went dark, that shows the technology level.
And then after a few more scout runs where i see he is now running tech 2 land and is upgrading many Mex's (pic below) icons go darker showing the intelligence is cold again.
and when i next see his base its from the radar of my T1 and T2 fleet that has parked in his harbor and is ready to punish him for upgrading and not building enough units to stop me. Note: All the grey dots are units or structures but as i cant see them visually they dont show what they are.
Tip: Engineers are slow so you can usually tell if you see them on radar, but so is the ACU so...
If you look at the above examples if i had not scouted i would not have seen the window of opportunity i had to punish him. At that point in the game he was way ahead of me in Economy but way behind in the ability to wage war, if my shiny new boats had remained in my harbor i would have lost to superior ground technology and a superior economy driving it. As it happened he threw up the "gg" as his base came under fire from destroyers and my cruisers obliterated his air force. I won simply because i scouted and new exactly what he was doing. He spent his mass on mexes, i spent mine on Shiny boats
Assuming you scout and see your opponent is upgrading Mex's and you havnt you have a window of opportunity to go and punish him with your extra units, its easier on small maps as you have time to get your extra units to where they are needed, you scouted right? you know where he is weak? go punish him, destroy some mex's or power or expanding engies and then upgrade your mex and you will now be in the lead. If you miss the window of opportunity because you didn't scout chances are you are now behind as the tech 2 mex gives +6 mass per second and +9 if you then spend another 800 mass and get the adjacency from 4 mass storages.
Scouting lets you plan to meet what your opponent is doing and lets you stay one step ahead,
Scouting lets you spot your opponents mistakes so you can go punish him for them.. end of.
RECLAIM WINS GAMES !!!!
Spoiler: show
You watched the tutorial "#5 Reclaim"? and you watched the replays from Ubergeek ? You know where the reclaim is ? good
The thing you have to understand about reclaim is its worth more at the start of the game than later but you should never stop reclaiming from start to finish. 500 mass at minute 1 is like having 250 t1 mex's turned on for one second and giving you the mass from it. You can put it into factories, units, power and expand your war machine and if your opponent doesn't and just uses mass from his few mexes he got then you are way ahead in the ability to wage war, he made a mistake and you can now go punish him.
Gaz_ui which is now a part of FAF shows how much reclaim you get. Think of this number as a little side game, when you watch the replay back you can click your name and your opponents and always always try to beat his reclaim score. There are two main ways to reclaim, put an engy on patrol or better yet use an attack move, shift+alt+click and a red line appears. The engy will follow that red line and reclaim everything he can get his greedy little hands on. When the engy gets to the end of the attack move he goes idle so you can quickly see on the side you have an idle engineer and give him another job to do.
Tip: Manual reclaim is very powerful at the start, send an expanding engy to get a few rocks (mass) or trees (power) then build a mex then get a few more rocks or trees on his path, you can just shift+right click over mass to add it to his work queue.
Tactical thinking about reclaim.
Reclaim is mass and power, mass makes shiny new toys, and power the ability to do so. I can not stress how important reclaim is in winning a game. All the wrecks of dead units give reclaim and those fields of twisted wrecks are worth their weight in gold, well, in mass. You should have spare engineers following your army to pick up as much reclaim as you can during and after a fight. Dont forget your ACU can also reclaim and that t1 tank you just killed is worth around 50 mass, reclaim reclaim reclaim.
Where you have those fights is therefore important, if you send 100 t1 units to your opponent's base and meet his 100 t1 units and every one of those 200 units die your opponent will think its his birthday as he can reclaim all that mass and probably build another 150 units from it.. If you gift him mass like that make sure it pays, if you didn't cripple his economy at the same time or took out his ability to make war you just made a huge mistake, one that a few engineers on reclaim will punish you for.
Its often a nice tactic to lure your opponents army towards your territory with a small force and then ambush him and take all the reclaim for yourself. Imagine you see on one of your many radars a group of 20 enemy units and you have 40, you could just roll him over and start reclaiming with spare engines but chances are as you are in enemy territory and he has reinforcements and will push you off the reclaim field and take it for himself. You could just tickle his army with 5 units and he will see blood and run after your small force and then you can ambush him and the reclaim field is in your safe hands.
The thing you have to understand about reclaim is its worth more at the start of the game than later but you should never stop reclaiming from start to finish. 500 mass at minute 1 is like having 250 t1 mex's turned on for one second and giving you the mass from it. You can put it into factories, units, power and expand your war machine and if your opponent doesn't and just uses mass from his few mexes he got then you are way ahead in the ability to wage war, he made a mistake and you can now go punish him.
Gaz_ui which is now a part of FAF shows how much reclaim you get. Think of this number as a little side game, when you watch the replay back you can click your name and your opponents and always always try to beat his reclaim score. There are two main ways to reclaim, put an engy on patrol or better yet use an attack move, shift+alt+click and a red line appears. The engy will follow that red line and reclaim everything he can get his greedy little hands on. When the engy gets to the end of the attack move he goes idle so you can quickly see on the side you have an idle engineer and give him another job to do.
Tip: Manual reclaim is very powerful at the start, send an expanding engy to get a few rocks (mass) or trees (power) then build a mex then get a few more rocks or trees on his path, you can just shift+right click over mass to add it to his work queue.
Tactical thinking about reclaim.
Reclaim is mass and power, mass makes shiny new toys, and power the ability to do so. I can not stress how important reclaim is in winning a game. All the wrecks of dead units give reclaim and those fields of twisted wrecks are worth their weight in gold, well, in mass. You should have spare engineers following your army to pick up as much reclaim as you can during and after a fight. Dont forget your ACU can also reclaim and that t1 tank you just killed is worth around 50 mass, reclaim reclaim reclaim.
Where you have those fights is therefore important, if you send 100 t1 units to your opponent's base and meet his 100 t1 units and every one of those 200 units die your opponent will think its his birthday as he can reclaim all that mass and probably build another 150 units from it.. If you gift him mass like that make sure it pays, if you didn't cripple his economy at the same time or took out his ability to make war you just made a huge mistake, one that a few engineers on reclaim will punish you for.
Its often a nice tactic to lure your opponents army towards your territory with a small force and then ambush him and take all the reclaim for yourself. Imagine you see on one of your many radars a group of 20 enemy units and you have 40, you could just roll him over and start reclaiming with spare engines but chances are as you are in enemy territory and he has reinforcements and will push you off the reclaim field and take it for himself. You could just tickle his army with 5 units and he will see blood and run after your small force and then you can ambush him and the reclaim field is in your safe hands.
Unit control wins games
Spoiler: show
Vee made a great replay showing unit control, http://faforever.com/faf/vault/replay_vault/replay.php?id=2043937
As you see the most important thing about using your units is to present the longer side of your formation against the shorter side of your opponents. What this does is make your damage per second (DPS) higher than your opponents and your units will roll over them. Note also if your opponent does it to you you will lose so keep an eye on unit formation.
As you see the most important thing about using your units is to present the longer side of your formation against the shorter side of your opponents. What this does is make your damage per second (DPS) higher than your opponents and your units will roll over them. Note also if your opponent does it to you you will lose so keep an eye on unit formation.
Point defence DO's and DONT's.
Spoiler: show
Stop thinking of point defence (PD) as your first line of defence as it isn't. You have watched too many war films where troops are cut down my the machine gun emplacement on top of the hill. In war as in SupCom all you need to do is call in the artillery.
It takes 1, yes ONE t1 artillery to destroy a T1PD. Thats about 40 mass to kill 250 mass without a scratch on your troops.
The best use of T1PD is to secure a fallback position or to keep an enemy ACU at bay. Your troops should be IN FRONT of your PD not behind so they can kill any artillery and if the going gets tough fallback to some cover of the T1PD.
T2PD should be placed just behind the T1PD as this is a perfect way to outrange the arty trying to kill the T1PD. This way you make a strong position that can only be broken by air bombing or T2 Mobile Missile Launchers (T2MML), T3 artillery, or T3PD, or vast numbers of t1 troops with heavy losses and your troops should still be in front to kill the T2MML's or T3 Artillery that is used to break these positions.
DON'T just make T1PD all over the place and forget about them as 250 mass each one is a waste of mass unless its going to be effective. Remember it only take 1 T1 Arty to kill it.
DO make T1PD in your base if an enemy ACU is about to walk in to it.
DO make T1PD behind where your ACU will spend most of his time fighting as falling back to it drives the other ACU away.
DO put walls around your T1PD and make a template for it. As you see here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6jnFTB ... pfDdz9RMcy RA_ZLO tests T1PD for you.
It takes 1, yes ONE t1 artillery to destroy a T1PD. Thats about 40 mass to kill 250 mass without a scratch on your troops.
The best use of T1PD is to secure a fallback position or to keep an enemy ACU at bay. Your troops should be IN FRONT of your PD not behind so they can kill any artillery and if the going gets tough fallback to some cover of the T1PD.
T2PD should be placed just behind the T1PD as this is a perfect way to outrange the arty trying to kill the T1PD. This way you make a strong position that can only be broken by air bombing or T2 Mobile Missile Launchers (T2MML), T3 artillery, or T3PD, or vast numbers of t1 troops with heavy losses and your troops should still be in front to kill the T2MML's or T3 Artillery that is used to break these positions.
DON'T just make T1PD all over the place and forget about them as 250 mass each one is a waste of mass unless its going to be effective. Remember it only take 1 T1 Arty to kill it.
DO make T1PD in your base if an enemy ACU is about to walk in to it.
DO make T1PD behind where your ACU will spend most of his time fighting as falling back to it drives the other ACU away.
DO put walls around your T1PD and make a template for it. As you see here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6jnFTB ... pfDdz9RMcy RA_ZLO tests T1PD for you.
Playing your faction.
Spoiler: show
Many times now i have won a game because i played my faction and the other player did not. What do i mean? There is Faction diversity and each faction has its own strengths and weaknesses. Play to your strengths and don't expose your weaknesses. i would advise reading all of these even if you only play one faction like myself.
A handy read.
http://supcom.wikia.com/wiki/How_to_build_an_effective_army
These following guides are very very outdated as much has changed in FAF, you can read them to get an idea of faction diversity but dont treat them as truth.
Understanding Seraphim Strategy
http://supcom.wikia.com/wiki/Understanding_Seraphim_Strategy
Understanding Aeon Strategy
http://supcom.wikia.com/wiki/Understanding_Aeon_Strategy
Understanding UEF Strategy
http://supcom.wikia.com/wiki/Understanding_UEF_Strategy
Understanding Cybran Strategy
http://supcom.wikia.com/wiki/Understanding_Cybran_Strategy
A handy read.
http://supcom.wikia.com/wiki/How_to_build_an_effective_army
These following guides are very very outdated as much has changed in FAF, you can read them to get an idea of faction diversity but dont treat them as truth.
Understanding Seraphim Strategy
http://supcom.wikia.com/wiki/Understanding_Seraphim_Strategy
Understanding Aeon Strategy
http://supcom.wikia.com/wiki/Understanding_Aeon_Strategy
Understanding UEF Strategy
http://supcom.wikia.com/wiki/Understanding_UEF_Strategy
Understanding Cybran Strategy
http://supcom.wikia.com/wiki/Understanding_Cybran_Strategy
Lastly ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS watch your replay right after you finish a game, never just jump straight into another game or say you "will look later" Watch them preferably three times on maybe +5 speed or something, watch as the observer and as your enemy and as you and maybe observer again if it was a good game, and look for the mistakes, even the pros make loads of mistakes as they too are human. Teach yourself to see those mistakes and learn to punish them
Planned,.
tidy up economy section and add build rates
add a section on keyboard use, like shift to add and select.
Basic strategies and counters ike t2 rushes.
How to deal with turtles
How to deal with t2 air snipe.
Thats about it so far but here is a thread which has some good points but its written by a noob about noobs.
http://www.faforever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=1949
Insane right ?
The truth is, a lot of it is superfluous nonsense. Intellectual masturbation. I will tell you the reality of this game, don't listen to this guy. I have been through the stage he is going through right now. I have watched countless replays/casts/guides, analysed strategies/tactics. I don't do that anymore. Reason being that I have played coming up to 1500 games and I am still getting beaten by people with under 200 games. 
