A strategy guide from Happypuppy / Reprinted by Saboteur (Home)
The answer to this really depends on what end you are building for. However, in general, your first building steps should be two metal extractors, three solar energy units and then a Kbot Lab (or a vehicle or air production facility, depending on your preferences). Then your biggest concern is going to be metal. Find metal patches as if your life depended on it. While you can produce energy almost at will, metal is a different matter.
The importance of metal can be illustrated by a simple experiment. When playing equal players, look at who wins and then look at the total amount of metal produced. We have found that nine out of 10 times, the person who produces the most metal wins the game.
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That depends mostly on the maps. On Core worlds, the ground itself is made of metal. Just plop down a metal mine anywhere and it will produce over two units of metal a tick. Besides the Core maps, some planets are metal-rich. When you put down a metal mine anywhere it will produce .5 metal every tick.
On these types of worlds, the metal problem is moot. Just build lots of mines in concentrated patches.
However, on most planets, metal can only be gained through finding metal patches and building mines on them. This requires prospecting for metal patches. The best way to do this is to build two or three cheap, light Kbots (A.K.s or Peewees) and send them out to run around all the areas near your base. Then send out construction Kbots or your Commander to set up mines.
This, of course, leads to one small problem: you end up with mines spread out over a pretty large, mostly indefensible, area making easy pickings for enemy air. Which leads us to. . .
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There is a definite cost/benefit ratio to defending far-flung mines. First you need the metal. But areas far from a main base grouping are a hassle in both time management and resources to defend. What's the answer?
Our rule of thumb is that when two or more metal patches are in close proximity (less than one full screen at 1024x768 res), set up at least a few missile towers to keep the small opportunity forces from knocking out your metal production.
On the other hand, we tend to let solo mines on anything but the most metal-scarce map fend for themselves in order to conserve our resources and time management ticks.
Defense of mines, of course becomes a much smaller priority when you get your first fusion reactor up, as shall become obvious in a moment.
With UTASP, leaving mexes to fend for themselves becomes a literal option. Laser extractors stop the occasional level 1 gold diggers dead in their tracks, but are easy to destroy with a larger number of units. They are, however, more expensive than their unarmed counterparts, so it's not a good idea to build only these. Once you're stretching out further from your base, they do become a potentially viable investment. They will still be vulnerable to air attacks, so the rule about covering closely positioned mexes with missile towers remains valid.
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In the very opening phases of the game, they don't. Metal makers, which take 60 energy per tick, eat too much of your energy at the opening phases of the game to be cost-effective. However, in the long run, the proper use of Metal Makers is the key to winning.
Once you get a Fusion Reactor, with a whopping energy output of 1000 per tick, Metal Makers suddenly become a very viable alternative to Moho Mines and normal Mines. As a matter of a fact, they become the only real alternative for the winner.
When you have a Fusion Reactor up, the very first thing you should do is throw up 12 or so Metal Makers and watch the metal roll in. Think about that 12 for a second. That is the equivalent of six good mines. Very nice.
Obviously Moho Metal Makers are the key here. They are slightly more cost-efficient than 12 metal makers and take up less time and space to build. The downside is, obviously, that they are a hot target for the enemy, and as such they are more vulnerable as well as harder to protect than 12 metal makers. An octopus can spread those 12 metal makers all over the place, making for very secure, if a bit lossy, metal generation. Another option is to build several of them, as they are practically free to construct by the time you have a fusion reactor, and leave the ones you don't need turned off.
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AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! Our most successful players make getting a Fusion Reactor up their No. 1 priority. Enough power means enough metal means winning the game. In a game with a 10,000/10,000 power/metal limit, you can get right down to it. Build your Kbot Lab, Advanced Kbot Lab, Advanced Construction Kbot and then have it start on a Fusion Reactor right away.
However, in games with lesser starting totals, you are going to have to wait a bit, but not really all that long. With five mines and six to 10 solar plants, you should be in a good position to start your Fusion Reactor as soon as you have an Advanced Construction Kbot to build it.
The basic difference in the two approaches is how much production help to put into the project. Assigning extra construction units to a project reduces the construction time. When you have plenty of resources for the project you are trying to build, such as in the 10000/10000 scenario, you should throw everything you have into speeding the production of that Reactor. However, in lower total games, the extra resource drain this produces will leave you high and dry. You might be better served having only one Kbot working on putting up the Fusion Reactor while your other units are out trying to find more metal to help with the building process.
Important safety tip: while it is critical to get that Fusion Reactor up as quickly as possible, be sure to put up at least a rudimentary defensive perimeter before you start. Normally, unless you know a Swarmer is gunning for you, just a few missile towers to keep out the opportunists will do, but without those, it is going to be easy for your opposition to disrupt your building process with just a token force.
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That's easy: the second Fusion Reactor. Real games with real players aren't won on a single Fusion Reactor alone. We here at the Happy Puppy Destructive Testing Team are pretty much unanimously agreed that the right number of Fusion Rectors is three. One is enough to get you started, two is enough to run on with no sweat and three gives you an extra for when the enemy takes one out.
And remember, with the building of the second plant, build about 16 Metal Makers to go with it.
For most games played on maps smaller than 20x20, this is still valid information (apart from the bit about using normal metal makers). However, with maps getting bigger and bigger, games also get longer. And with UTASP, long games ultimately mean that bigger and bigger units will be taken into play. For a UTASP game that lasts over an hour and a half, you can be almost certain that three fusions won't cut it, regardless of map size. Be fairly warned, however - the really big UTASP units are overkill for most games. They tie up all the resources you can spare, and most likely a lot more. They are not worth sacrificing your production rates, at least not if you're up against a swarmer. I'd suggest a gradual migration to high level tech - spend only the ticks that would otherwise go to waste. (Then again, as time passes, you'll get a whole lot of those spare ticks, so be prepared).
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Simple. Set construction units to guard your production plants, automatically adding to the plants' production speeds. And don't think small about this. If you are serious about launching air or ground waves at the opposition, put three or four construction units on each plant to get the maximum bang for your buck. Also note that the best units for speeding production are Level 2 construction units, which pack more punch than their Level 1 counterparts.
Early on, the best way to boost unit production is to set up a new plant. Even later it's always better to increase the the amount of plants and keep the number of helpers on each plant lower than to crowd one plant with dozens of helpers. This gives you multiple advantages, such as the oct tactic of spreading your crucial plants and the freedom to accomodate your tactics to new situations by changing to producing different units. You will avoid situations where the plant's efficiency is hampered by a horde of helpers blocking the exits.
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Short answer: not until late in the game. The reason is simple. They are great at cranking out metal, but are a pain to build. If you are smart, you put the building time and resources into your Fusion Reactor/Metal Maker combos, which produce not only copious quantities of metal, but can also give you mucho power.
Later in the game, when unit limits are starting become a real consideration, then you should build some Moho Mines, get rid of some Metal Makers and construct more units to pummel the enemy.
Moho mines are mostly a curiosity, due to their high build cost. Especially for CORE, whose moho mexes have weapons, moho mines are good for replacing lost mexes later in the game. Personally I think moho mexes are fun - I usually replace a few normal mexes if I have spare time later in the game. The metal gain isn't worth making an effort for, but they do have a 'cool'-factor worth taking into consideration. Arm commanders will want to take a look at Mining Stations, as the metal gain they produce is actually pretty good. Not cost-effective, but still mentionable if you can spare the ticks.
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Our advice is don't bother unless you are getting hammered in the metal department and are forced to. Units on patrol have some really annoying traits, and one of them is to wander out into the line of fire to get really good metal chunks. That blows large. Generally, if a unit's patrol route is far enough to the rear not to get hammered trying to scavenge, then it is too far out to get enough metal to make it worth it.
Another good side effect, which we will talk about again under Defensive Tactics, is that the excess metal on a battlefield often makes it more difficult for ground units to get through your defensive fire.
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