Command & Conquer Tiberian Sun A Player’s Guide By Mole40k © 2013 TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 1 Contents 1) Introduction – a note from the author 2) Getting started 3) Unit descriptions - GDI - Nod - Shared units 4) The basics – scouting 5) The basics – attack 6) The basics – defence 7) Ten tips to become a better player 8) Examples class 9) Advanced tactics - GDI - Nod - Shared 10) Frequently asked questions 11) Appendix - Glossary - Screen resolution - Hotkeys - Glitches considered cheating 12) Credits, acknowledgements and links TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 2 1. Introduction – a note from the author It’s been over 6 years since I launched Tiberian Sun: A Player’s Guide, and a lot has happened in that time. For a start, Tiberian Sun (TS), and its expansion Firestorm have both been made freeware, and are now available to download legally for free. This has led to a whole new generation of players discovering the game that for many of us has played an important part in shaping our lives. It may not be the best RTS game ever made, and it may not even be the most fun RTS ever made, but for many of us Command & Conquer Tiberian Sun holds a special place in our hearts. For those of you who are reading this guide for the first time, I bid you welcome. This guide has been designed with new and improving players in mind. In it I cover the basics of money management, scouting, attack and defence. I also provide a number of examples to demonstrate simple ways to improve your standard of play. To my knowledge, no one has ever written a guide to TS as extensive as this document I present to you now. I hope it serves you well and inspires you to bigger and better things in your TS playing career. If you can take away just one small thing from this guide to help you improve as a player then in my opinion, this guide has done its job. Good luck commander! Mole40k 29th June 2013 TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 3 2. Getting Started Tiberian Sun can be a complex game at times, but at its heart rests a simple philosophy that can sometimes be easy to miss. Though the aim of the game may seem obvious to some readers, the actual thought processes behind decisions you make in-game are very important. Lose sight of the fundamental objective and you will never realise your full potential as a TS player. For now though let me state this one point clearly: the aim of the game is to destroy your opponents’ bases while preserving your own. If you don’t do this, then quite simply, you will not win. Rules At this stage it important to clarify the only rule of TS, and that is this: no cheating of any kind is allowed. Cheating includes using map reveal trainers, exploiting the build anywhere glitch, making non-standard game units and also knowingly causing reconnection or disconnect errors for personal gain or for the annoyance of others. This list isn’t exhaustive, but to be honest it’s all common sense. Don’t cheat. No one will respect you if you do. If you’re going to cheat on TS servers, we don’t want you playing our game. Note that the no cheating rule is the only rule of TS. For clarity, this means: 1. Engineer rush is allowed. 2. Harvesters can be used for whatever purposes a player chooses. As long as you’re not cheating, anything goes. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 4 3. Unit descriptions GDI Light Infantry Prerequisite: Barracks Range: Short Primary Weapon: Minigun Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Medium Description – The mainstay of both Nod and GDI forces, Light Infantry are the generic infantry unit in the game used mainly for scouting and anti-scout purposes. Infantry can also be used to rush your opponent early in the game with the intention of slowing them. Note that if you leave your rush too late you will find your opponent teched and your men bombed or burned to a crispy napalm-fuelled death. Disc Thrower Prerequisite: Barracks Range: Short Primary Weapon: Disc grenades Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Slow Description – An extremely capable unit in the right hands, GDI Disc Throwers give GDI a notable advantage in the early stages of the game. Using the CTRL button to force fire discmen can double their already superior range and can give you a number of tactical opportunities for bouncing discs over cliffs or into blue Tiberium fields. But a word of caution: when engaged in an infantry battle try not to group Disc Throwers too closely together, and try to keep them away from the direct line of fire as they are often inclined to explode when killed, damaging nearby units or if you’re really unlucky, exploding in a chain. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 5 Engineer Prerequisite: Barracks Range: N/A Primary Weapon: N/A Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Slow Description – Slow and unarmed, Engineers are one of the most useful and important units in the game. Useful both in attack and defence Engineers can often be a game winning unit if used effectively to repair important buildings when under attack, or to steal buildings in an Engineer rush. Medic Prerequisite: Barracks Range: N/A Primary Weapon: N/A Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Slow Description – Rarely used except in conjunction with a Ghost Stalker, Medics are solely responsible for healing infantry units in your GDI army. Medics can also be used together with an infantry rush to heal units as you go, though this is rarely done in the modern game with players instead preferring to spend the money on extra men giving them less to think about in the control-frenzy that is an infantry battle. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 6 Jump Jet Infantry Prerequisite: Barracks, Radar Range: Short Primary Weapon: Rifle Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Medium Description – An extremely useful scouting unit, Jump Jet (JJ) infantry are good for scouting over difficult or impassable terrain such as cliffs. Note that in order for your ally to see what you have scouted with your JJ, you need to land them. As well as scouting JJs can also be used in a nuisance role when attacking an enemy base as they force your opponent into spending money on either an MLRS or a SAM. JJs are particularly useful in games on big maps. Ghost Stalker Prerequisite: Barracks, Tech Centre Range: Short/Medium (Rail Gun) Primary Weapon: Rail Gun Secondary Weapon: C4 Speed: Medium Description – With the ability to shoot through multiple enemies at once while also being armed with invaluable C4 explosives, the Ghost Stalker (GS) can be a powerful unit in the right hands. A GS can be used both in an offensive or defensive role, and when combined with medics as a bodyguard can be very effective at slowing your opponent. The GS’s ability to take out a building with a single round of C4 makes it very useful if you can avoid your opponent’s base defences. Remember though that in a one-on-one battle, a Cyborg Commando (CC) can kill a GS in a single shot. Avoid Cyborg Commandos at all costs. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 7 Wolverine Prerequisite: War Factory Range: Short Primary Weapon: Chain Gun Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Fast Description – Though they may be classed as an anti-infantry unit, in general, Wolverines are ineffective and expensive. They can however be quite useful as a scouting unit on large maps due to their high speed and light armour that can sometimes allow them to sneak past infantry guards surrounding an enemy base. Amphibious APC Prerequisite: War Factory Range: N/A Primary Weapon: N/A Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Fast Description – A multi-purpose unit, the GDI APC can be used to launch attacks, defend against infantry attacks (squashing men) and scout over water with its amphibious ability. The GDI APC is a very useful unit that gives a player many tactical possibilities in-game. Do not underestimate it. Titan Prerequisite: War Factory Range: Medium Primary Weapon: 90mm cannon Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Medium Description – Titans are quite possible the best all-round unit in the game. Not only is the humble Titan fairly cheap and a very effective defensive unit against pretty much anything, it can also be put to good use in attack with its ability to ‘Q move’ (move and shoot); something which its Nod counterpart the Tick Tank cannot do. From an opposing player’s point of view it is important to note that as with all vehicles the Titan is vulnerable to EMP. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 8 Hover MLRS Prerequisite: War Factory, Radar Range: Medium Primary Weapon: Rockets Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Medium Description – Like the Amphibious APC, the hover MLRS is capable of crossing both land and sea. This makes it an ideal unit for launching surprise attacks over rivers. You should remember when planning such attacks that the MLRS has weak armour so try not to expose it to your opponent’s defensive units if at all possible. Note also the MLRS ability to shoot at both land and air targets making it a useful unit for defending against JJ scouts. Mobile Sensor Array (MSA) Prerequisite: War Factory, Radar Range: N/A Primary Weapon: N/A Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Medium Description – A non-fighting unit that cannot be done without when fighting against Nod opponents, the MSA allows a player to detect stealth and subterranean units within its radius of operation once deployed. As well as being used in a stationary defensive role, the MSA can also be used aggressively against a stealthed opponent, driving it near to an opponent’s base and deploying so as to be able to either mark a base or coordinate an attack later on in the game. Disruptor Prerequisite: War Factory, Tech Centre Range: N/A Primary Weapon: Disruption beam Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Medium Description – An extremely powerful unit that can – if used correctly – destroy a Refinery or War Factory in a single shot, the Disruptor is one of the mainstays of the GDI attack. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 9 Mammoth MK II Prerequisite: War Factory, Tech Centre Range: N/A Primary Weapon: Rail Gun Secondary Weapon: SAM missiles Speed: Slow Description – Useful both in attack and defence the Mammoth MK II (MK) is armed with similar rail guns to that used by the Ghost Stalker. As such the MK is capable of shooting through multiple units at a time, though needs to be used in conjunction with a Carryall in order to be at its most effective given its slow movement speed. Mobile EMP (Firestorm Unit) Prerequisite: War Factory, EMP Cannon Range: Short Primary Weapon: EMP pulse Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Medium Description – An interesting (if little used) unit the Mobile EMP is primarily a defensive unit, though some players have been known to use Mobile EMP vehicles as the first unit of an attack . Juggernaut (Firestorm Unit) Prerequisite: War Factory, Radar Range: Long Primary Weapon: Light artillery shells Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Medium Description – A very useful unit in the TS Firestorm expansion, the Juggernaut is the GDI answer to Nod Artillery. Useful against infantry thanks to its wider spread of fire the Juggernaut can also be used effectively as an offensive unit when placed out of range of an opponent’s defences. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 10 Orca Fighter Prerequisite: Helipad Range: N/A Primary Weapon: Rockets Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Medium Description – Good when used in large units against buildings or vehicles, Orca Fighters should not be used against non-cyborg infantry. Orca Bomber Prerequisite: Helipad, Tech Centre Range: N/A Primary Weapon: Bombs Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Slow Description – A powerful unit in both attack and defence the Orca Bomber is particularly useful for defending against infantry/Titan rushes and also in a harassment role to take out enemy Helipads and defences. When grouped together in large numbers Orca Bombers can ‘power bomb’ main enemy structures such as MCVs, War Factory Factories and Refineries. Carryall Prerequisite: Helipad, Service Depot Range: N/A Primary Weapon: N/A Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Fast Description – Possibly the most useful unit in the game. Be it Disruptor drops, MK control, moving Harvesters to new Tiberium patches or working an MCV, the GDI Carryall is a unit that should figure in every GDI battle plan. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 11 Nod Light Infantry Prerequisite: Hand of Nod Range: Short Primary Weapon: Minigun Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Medium Description – As with the equivalent GDI unit, Light Infantry are the generic infantry unit in the game used mainly for scouting and anti-scout purposes. Infantry can also be used to rush an opponent early in the game. Control of Light Infantry is particularly important to a Nod player as GDI have the advantage in infantry battles with their superior anti-infantry units. Rocket Infantry Prerequisite: Hand of Nod Range: Short Primary Weapon: Bazooka Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Slow Description – A very important unit in defending against aerial units, Titans, Disruptors and MKs, Nod Rocket Infantry need to be controlled very carefully in order to keep them away from Light Infantry and other anti-infantry units. Cyborg Prerequisite: Hand of Nod Range: Short Primary Weapon: Machine gun Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Slow Description – The unit of choice for players new to the game, Cyborgs are a poor choice except in certain circumstances where they can be used in an early scouting role. Cyborgs are both slower and more expensive than other infantry units and their ability to regenerate in Tiberium fields is no compensation in normal non-mod-map play. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 12 Engineer Prerequisite: Hand of Nod Range: N/A Primary Weapon: N/A Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Slow Description – Slow and unarmed, Engineers are an extremely important unit for Nod players. Useful both in attack and defence Engineers can often be a game winning unit if used effectively to save important buildings when under attack, and equally importantly to steal buildings in a Subterranean APC-Engineer rush. Please note, Engineer rushes are a perfectly legitimate form of attack. Mutant Hijacker Prerequisite: Hand of Nod, TON Range: N/A Primary Weapon: N/A Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Medium Description – Hijackers are a useful but expensive unit that can only be built with a Temple of Nod. Hijackers are mainly used as a defensive unit for capturing Disruptors (or if you’re really lucky, a MK) and are also a legitimate way of MCV swapping with an allied player. Cyborg Commando Prerequisite: Hand of Nod, TON Range: N/A Primary Weapon: Plasma Cannon Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Slow Description – The most powerful infantry unit in the game the Cyborg Commando (CC) gives the Nod player a very capable unit of dealing with infantry, vehicles and buildings alike. Vulnerable to concentrated fire, you should be sure to control your CC carefully and return to base to heal and repair the attached Subterranean APC if necessary. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 13 Attack Buggy Prerequisite: War Factory Range: Short Primary Weapon: Chain Gun Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Fast Description – Nod’s answer to the Wolverine, the humble Attack Buggy is only really useful in a scouting role. Attack Cycle Prerequisite: War Factory Range: Short Primary Weapon: Missile Launcher Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Fast Description – Faster than the Attack Buggy and less well armoured, the Attack Cycle is armed with missiles that make it more effective against vehicles. Tick Tank Prerequisite: War Factory Range: Medium Primary Weapon: Cannon Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Medium Description – Nod’s answer to the Titan the ability to burrow into the ground really doesn’t compensate adequately for the Titan’s ability to ‘Q move’. Tick Tanks are an average unit mainly suited to defensive duties. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 14 Artillery Prerequisite: War Factory, Radar Range: Long Primary Weapon: Artillery shell Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Medium Description – New players love to use Artillery but often forget their uses as an offensive unit also. Nod Artillery are actually less powerful in the Firestorm expansion pack, but still deliver an effective attack especially when massed in numbers. Good against infantry attacks and Titans when they are at long range try to keep your Artillery away from close range confrontations. Mobile Repair Vehicle Prerequisite: War Factory Range: N/A Primary Weapon: N/A Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Medium Description – A very useful unit in multiplayer games. In contrast with the GDI service depot, the Mobile Repair Vehicle doesn’t cost any resources to repair units once it has been purchased. As such you should think of your allies and try and include a repair vehicle in your plans to repair allied Disruptors, Carryalls and MKs if at all possible. Placing this unit in guard mode will enable it to automatically repair any vehicles in its immediate vicinity. Stealth Tank Prerequisite: War Factory, Tech Centre Range: Medium Primary Weapon: Dragon Missiles Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Slow-Medium Description – Expensive, time consuming to build and fairly ineffective, the Stealth Tank is rarely used in competitive play. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 15 Subterranean APC Prerequisite: War Factory, Tech Centre Range: N/A Primary Weapon: N/A Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Medium Description – Nod’s most useful unit, the Subterranean APC (sub) is useful for Engineer rushes and transporting Cyborg Commandos round the battlefield. Though it has weak armour and is fairly slow compared to the GDI Carryall, the Subterranean APC is nonetheless an important weapon in the Nod arsenal. Be warned that there is a slight delay to duck underground so you should take this into account when trying to control your Subterranean APC closely. Devil's Tongue Prerequisite: War Factory, Tech Centre Range: Short Primary Weapon: Fireball Launcher Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Medium Description – Perhaps best described as something of a ‘glass cannon’, weak armour renders the Devil’s Tongue unusually vulnerable to massed infantry. Use this unit with extreme care. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 16 Cyborg Reaper (Firestorm Unit) Prerequisite: War Factory, Tech Centre Range: Medium Primary Weapon: Multi Missile Secondary Weapon: Web Speed: Medium Description – A good unit that helps redress the Nod/GDI balance in the Firestorm expansion pack, the Nod Reaper has a good regeneration rate in Tiberium fields and an antiinfantry net that makes it very good against infantry units. But be warned: the Reaper’s multi-missile weapon system is notoriously inaccurate and so Reapers should never be used in large numbers in a base defence role. Mobile Stealth Generator(Firestorm Unit) Prerequisite: War Factory, Stealth Gen Range: N/A Primary Weapon: N/A Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Medium Description – Quite expensive and at the very top of the tech tree, Mobile Stealth Generators can be useful in that they don’t drain your power reserves, however their radius of effect is rather small. Harpy Prerequisite: Helipad Range: N/A Primary Weapon: Chain Gun Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Slow Description – Good at picking out disc throwers in an infantry rush and for cross-scouting across shroud, Harpies are a more anti-infantry focused fighter than the GDI Orca. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 17 Banshee Prerequisite: Helipad, Tech Centre Range: N/A Primary Weapon: Plasma Gun Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Fast Description – Fast and precise, the Banshee is the plane of choice for attacking main buildings. Four Banshees in three runs can take out any main building and ten can take out a main building in a single run. Banshees are also good in an anti-Disruptor role though lack the explosive, indiscriminate bombs of a GDI Bomber for taking out massed groups of infantry or Titans. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 18 Shared Units Harvester Prerequisite: War Factory Range: N/A Primary Weapon: N/A Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Slow Description – Critical to the financial success of both sides, Harvesters should be controlled closely in order to maximise in-game economy. Always make sure Harvesters are collecting the closest Tiberium to your base and have not gone ‘wandering off’ as they are sometimes want to do. Mobile Construction Vehicle Prerequisite: War Factory, Tech Centre Range: N/A Primary Weapon: N/A Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Slow Description – Included for completeness’ sake, a spare MCV is often vital in long games and it is a good idea to pay attention to the areas your opponent has scouted in and around your base so you can keep your spare well out of sight. Limpet Drone (Firestorm Unit) Prerequisite: War Factory, Radar Range: N/A Primary Weapon: N/A Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Medium Description – Fairly redundant as a unit in online play, the Limpet Drone is rarely used by human players as there are other more effective methods of scouting a base. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 19 Mobile War Factory Factory/Fist of Nod (Firestorm Unit) Prerequisite: War Factory, Tech Centre Range: N/A Primary Weapon: N/A Secondary Weapon: N/A Speed: Medium Description – In long game situations it is often useful to have a spare War Factory in the form of a mobile War Factory Factory/fist of Nod. It can be used to good effect as an aggressive unit, deploying near an enemy base to build vehicle units to put pressure on an opponent. However be warned that buildings cannot be built off of a deployed mobile War Factory so such forward bases are often very exposed. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 20 4. The Basics – Scouting Scouting is possibly the most important thing you can do on TS. Failing to scout properly will almost certainly lose you the game and at worst will certainly mean you don’t win the game. Remember – if you can’t see your enemy then you can’t attack effectively and you can’t react to whatever your opponent is doing. At the start of the game, deploy your MCV, build a Power Plant, a Barracks, and then a Refinery (remembering to always make your Barracks before your first Refinery). Light Infantry are a cheap unit, and are good for early scouting. Scout as much of your base and surrounding area as possible in the early game so you don’t get any nasty surprises later on and to help you later in the game when you come to expand. Knowing the map here helps too as you will know where to send men to scout most effectively, but even if you don’t know the map, scouting to all four corners is always useful. See-Observe-React While you’re scouting your base and its surrounds, you should also be scouting out your enemy. If your opponent is any good he or she will try and kill your scouts. This is to be expected and should not deter you from trying to scout as much of the area around your opponent’s base as possible even if you can’t actually see the base itself as everything you scout early on will help you and your allies later in the game. What if infantry aren’t enough? Nod Cyborgs can be effective, but only in certain circumstances. In general they are slow and expensive and easily stopped if your opponent expects them. They should not be considered your first choice for scouting your opponent unless you really know what you’re doing. If you are GDI then the obvious next choice is to use a JJ. These are very good at scouting but you should remember to land your JJs as your allies can only see what you scout with them when they have landed. If SAMs stop you getting too close to a base the best tactic here is to try and land away from the base and then walk in on foot. The main remaining methods of scouting fall under the broad categories of APCs, planes and fast vehicles. If rivers or such like block your infantry, filling a GDI APC with men and sending it over the river is good as it can be deployed on the other side to release its cargo and then used as an effective scout itself. The Nod Subterranean APC can also be used in a similar fashion though the fact it comes higher up the tech tree means you will be slower in scouting with this method. Planes are another good method for scouting and the main way these can be used is to send a plane across shroud between two points you have already scouted. This is good if you have scouted either side of your opponent as you can now cross scout them with a plane. Remember planes cannot fly directly into shroud, so be sure that you have scouted both sides of the area you want to scout. If your opponent has SAMs then scouting the remaining base with the same plane will be hard but you should have revealed enough to see what you need, or at least see a spot where you can launch an attack. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 21 Finally a short mention should be made of fast vehicles. Attack Cycles are good, but have weak armour. Attack Buggies and Wolverines have slightly better armour, but are also slightly slower. Fast vehicles can be used in certain situations, but in most competitive games you won’t see a single unit of this type put to use. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 22 5. The Basics – Attack In games of Tiberian Sun your opponent is rendered effectively dead once you have destroyed all unit producing buildings with the addition of any MCVs they may have. By destroying all of your opponent’s Refineries you can force them into selling buildings in order to get their money supply going again. Which building do I take first? Assuming you have units capable of taking out a building and you have scouted sufficiently the answer to this question very much depends on the situation. It’s only really with experience that you can decide for sure what building will cause your opponent the most damage. There are however a few things you should consider: 1. Is your opponent teched? If not then you might like to consider taking the MCV first depending on your opponent’s economy. 2. If your opponent is teched then you should consider taking the War Factory first as this will slow them on two fronts. Firstly they won’t be able to build units such as Disruptors to attack you with, but also means they have to rebuild not only a War Factory but also a Tech Centre. These aren’t the only things you should bear in mind though. If for instance you are under constant pressure from Titans then taking out the War Factory or a Refinery is much preferable to taking the MCV just to relieve yourself of some pressure while you recover and prepare for the next wave. Taking Refineries is often a safe bet if your opponent’s MCV and War Factory are well defended. If your opponent has 1-Reffed then you can take any of the three to good effect. Remember also the benefit of taking out Helipads (to stop the construction of Bombers, Carryalls, or Banshees) and Barracks – especially if your opponent has sold their Temple of Nod. Anything that slows your opponent is a good thing, but think carefully before committing your attack. Which attack will do the most damage? In long games an additional area you can consider attacking is power. If your opponent has stealth/firestorm/ SAMs/EMP, taking out power can seriously disrupt their defensive capabilities and enable you to then move in to take main buildings such as MCVs and War Factories. Because by this stage both you and your opponent will be well defended, another common tactic is to take out Harvesters. This can be effective for a number of different reasons. Firstly, and most obviously, it means your opponent has fewer Harvesters, which means less money. Secondly, it means you are able to draw defensive units out of your opponent’s base opening up opportunities for launching separate attacks to weaker areas or just forcing your opponent to buy more defensive units and thus spend less on attacking you. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 23 6. The Basics – Defence Equally as important as attack is defence. Obviously if you go all-out attack against your opponent you are going to be weaker in defence, and as such you should be adequately equipped to defend with however much or little you have. Over the years many bases packed with SAMs and RPGs have been overcome by a few well-placed Disruptors and equally a few sneaky Disruptors have been overcome with as little as a few infantry and a couple of Lasers. Remember: it’s not how much defence you have, it’s how you use it. EMP It’s at this point that we must seriously consider the uses of EMP. The EMP cannon is very useful against vehicles and cyborg units. It’s especially good against Titan rushes or that unexpected Disruptor attack to the undefended corner of your base. The downside of course is that an EMP cannon uses up a lot of power, is slow to charge and is also slow to fire. Placing an EMP cannon where your opponent can’t see it or where they can’t attack it is a very useful option; as is making a spare that’s hidden out of the way just in case your first one gets destroyed. Obviously you have to weigh up the benefits of having EMP defence over the drawbacks on power and your money management. It’s also useful to have a rough idea of the radius of the EMP cannon’s effects. If you know your enemy is attacking with a Titan rush, always try and move your units out of the cannon’s radius when firing so you have as many of your own units available to destroy Titans and/or defend the follow-up attack. It is common practice amongst the better GDI players to combine Titan rushes with Disruptor drops and so lure you into using your EMP and committing defensive units. Do not be fooled. SAMs and SAM placement SAMs are useful, but too many SAMs can be a hindrance for similar reasons to an EMP cannon in terms of power drain (if Nod) but also because many players will try and use SAMs to their advantage and force their dying planes to crash into a damaged building. If you see a player trying to do this to you the solution is to turn off your SAMs (using the power function) and repair the buildings in question. When the planes go to leave turn on your SAMs as quickly as possible and you should take out the suicide planes before they make their escape. This issue aside, a few SAMs are always useful. If an enemy MK lands in your base it will invariably try to take out the SAMs first as with no SAMs the controlling player is free to lift his or her MK around your base at will. Placing SAMs so as to cover yourself and/or your allies from JJ infantry scout is also extremely important on the larger maps such as Forest Fires, as scouting is one of the most important things that can win or lose you the game. If your team are all open to the enemy then that means they are all open to attack. Clearly, you want to avoid being attacked if at all possible. Killing scouts is therefore very important, and SAMs can help do this where JJs are concerned. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 24 When considering SAM placement bunching SAMs together in one area of your base is never really a good idea as it means their field of fire is very limited. Remember you can be attacked from all sides and if your opponent sees yours SAMs concentrated in one particular area then they will just fly around your SAMs and thus render them useless. If your SAMs are useless then there was no point in buying them in the first place! Engineers Engineers are an important unit. If you see your enemy has more than three Banshees you should always have at least one in your base at any one time – more if possible. If resources are limited then you need to consider which of your buildings is most important to guard with the one or two Engineers at your disposal. If you are teched it may seem preferably to save your War Factory over your MCV as it means you can still attack. Obviously this is all very situation dependant, but the same sort of thinking that goes into attack needs to go into defence. Defending against Banshees Ten Nod Banshees can destroy a main building in a single attack run. A good trick to defend against ten Banshees is to have your main buildings with one bar of health removed so that you can send in an Engineer just at the right moment to save the building. Of course you will need a few spare Engineers to save the building on the second and third run, but with a bit of practise and some good timing, Engineers can save you from defeat. Prioritising targets Prioritising what to defend becomes more important when you have a more spread out base or when you get attacked from multiple directions possibly by multiple players. In cases such as these you need to know what is the most important thing to defend and what is most likely to succeed. If you have an EMP cannon you might consider EMPing one prong of the enemy attack and using your units on the attackers that are still functional. Remember that if you EMP a Disruptor it will keep on firing to the end of its cycle so if it was placed to 1-shot kill a Refinery you will still need to be quick to send an Engineer in or sell the building before it dies. With more experience, prioritising defence should become second nature. Building management It’s surprising how little this is done or thought about by some players, but if you are under attack, stop building. If you then lose your Refineries you should still have some money left but equally it means you can build that vital Engineer, that vital Laser or even if you’re really good, build a Silo or something similar to glitch a Carryall landing. As soon as you know you’re going to come under attack you should stop building unless you have nearly finished a crucial building. If you are ¾ through building a Tech Centre this is possibly one of the few exceptions to the rule, especially if your MCV is the building under attack. In this situation, place the Tech Centre as quickly as possible and sell if need be. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 25 Selling Selling can be quite a skill when under attack. Selling at the right moment means you get some money back from the building and so make the best of a bad situation. However the trick is all in the timing. Sell too early and your opponent can attack another building; sell too late and you won’t recoup your losses. Don’t sell unless you have to, but if you do, try and time it right so that your opponent wastes their attack. Defending against Engineer rushes If you are playing a Nod opponent then you should expect an Engineer rush so it is a good idea to gather infantry round your most important buildings. Some GDI players like to have a Bomber or two on a waypoint guard system. Obviously an MSA is also crucial against Nod so you can see where the attack is coming. Lasers can be quite good at defending against Engineers though you must take into account their drain on power reserves. GDI of course have the advantage of having disc throwers that are great for taking out lightly armoured Engineers and a few of these scattered in with your Light Infantry greatly enhance your chances of beating an Engineer rush. Obviously, if you see a Subterranean APC suddenly pop up in your base you should always be sure to control your defences into attacking the Engineers and not the APC. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 26 7. Ten tips to become a better player 1. Scout. The more you can see, the more you can react to. You can’t attack your opponent if you can’t see them, and if you try you’ll often end up failing. In large multiplayer games scouting is key. If you don’t scout you won’t win. It’s as simple as that. 2. Observe. It’s all well and good scouting, but if you don’t actually see what it is you’ve uncovered and react to what you see then you’re going to struggle. You shouldn’t ever have a quiet moment in a game of TS when your buildings are building and all your units have orders as you should be checking the map for incoming attacks and watching out both for yourself and for your allies. If you see something – react to it. 3. Money management. If you don’t have any money then you can’t attack or defend effectively. If you manage your money well then you’re on the road to success. Watch out for Harvesters going for Tiberium fields that they shouldn’t be and make sure you have enough Refineries and Harvesters to supply your style of play. 4. Speed. As your building is in the process of being built, think about where you’re going to place it and think about what you need to build next. At the split second it is completed click to place it instantly and click to build the next building straight away. Any time gained by being faster than your opponent means you can attack that little bit faster. Speed is a basic prerequisite for being a good player. 5. Have a plan. Whether you choose to plan and act out a specific build order or prefer to take a more reactive approach to play you should always have a plan as to where your build order is going to take you and how you plan to attack. Spamming Artillery is not considered a plan. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 27 6. Know your enemy. On a basic level, this means knowing whether your opponent is Nod or GDI and reacting to this with appropriate defence. Here, you should clearly know to make an MSA against Nod or Disruptor defence against GDI. On a more complex level this means scouting your enemy, observing your enemy and knowing what your enemy is doing. If you know your enemy is going to 1-Ref you then get defence as quickly as possible. If you know your enemy is going to go mass planes then take out sources of money, take out Helipads etc. Remember, SeeObserve-React. 7. Know your allies. As above, it’s often a good idea to know whether your ally is Nod or GDI for the simple fact you can choose a strategy that supports them. Communication is key, but so is observation. Again, scout your enemy, observe your enemy and react to what your enemy does. If they are attacking your ally then you should consider either helping your ally (if they need it) or counter attacking against a now under-defended opponent. You should always aim to ally as quickly as possible so that you can both see what each other scout. 8. Know the map. A simple concept but one that some players simply don’t follow. The best example is if you are top middle or top left on Forest Fires then you must get the top middle bridge as soon as you can produce men. If you do not then not only will your allies get annoyed but your team will also get scouted. On a more advanced level, on whatever map you are playing you should look out for where to expand to and the areas that are important to control in the long game. 9. Expand. Expanding is central to playing (and winning) the long game. If you can’t expand then you will lose. There’s no way of getting around it – expanding is a skill you must learn and a skill you must master. 10. Teamwork. Communication, communication, communication. Warn your allies if they are about to come under attack. Support your allies if they need it. Watch your opponents and see what they are doing. Strike where your enemy is weakest and work closely with your allies. With successful teamwork, two ‘lesser’ players can beat two ‘better’ players easily. No teamwork TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 28 and you are essentially fighting as individuals. Remember a team can be greater than the sum of its parts. TS: A Player’s Guide © M.J.Ryder 2013 29 8. Examples Class Here follows a series of example screenshots of Nod and GDI bases built to differing standards. Included with each are points as to mistakes, things to improve on and general hints and tips. Example 1 – a poor Nod base In this example the player has bad money management, has made no clear attempt at putting together an attack and has failed to react to multiple enemies in his base.