So, I decided to make a topic regarding small tips that some people might not now right now. Feel free to post everything that you think might be helpful to other CW3 players.
I will start: If you plan a invasion, build some PCs/sprayers in safe terrain and move them in creeper-covered terrain. Works too when you just nullified a emitter and want to clear the other terrain of leftover creeper. Just move the PC/sprayer on the PZ. When using this tactic keep in mind that you need to have/build a connection.
Quote from: Georg on January 01, 2014, 04:27:07 PM
So, I decided to make a topic regarding small tips that some people might not now know right now. Feel free to post everything that you think might be helpful to other CW3 players.
I will start: If you plan a invasion, build some PCs/sprayers in safe terrain and move them in creeper-covered terrain. Works too when you just nullified a emitter and want to clear the other terrain of leftover creeper. Just move the PC/sprayer on the PZ. When using this tactic keep in mind that you need to have/build a connection.
Very good tip for new players about the Power Zones. I am trying to remember where we learned to use them and I am coming up blank (no surprise there), but I am pretty sure it isn't mentioned during initial game-play dialogue. I am sure someone can let us know for certain. (Also, I am not at all familiar with what might already be posted in Wiki info for CW3).
My contribution:
Click a unit again once it is placed. If you play for a fast time, be sure to Pause first. Many units have options that you wouldn't know about until/unless you click it again to move, destroy or check its status. Even then, you might not notice the options in the Control Panel. For example, Sprayers can also be used to collect Anti-Creeper that you've moved past. I find this especially helpful when using Bombers to move forward while only have access to, say, a single ore mine on a large map. Keep in mind that the Sprayer will load & hold 50 units of AC before it starts sending excess back to the Orbital for reprocessing.
If there are more enemies near a structure you just nullified, place a nullifier on the power zone.
Quote from: Nephthys on January 01, 2014, 07:18:32 PM
Very good tip for new players about the Power Zones. I am trying to remember where we learned to use them and I am coming up blank (no surprise there), but I am pretty sure it isn't mentioned during initial game-play dialogue.
It's mentioned in Telos - 3rd world in Arc Eternal Missions.
Strafers are very good at cutting off strands of digitalis
Bertha's on power zones are 6 times as efficient as normal bertha'sQuote from: Georg on January 01, 2014, 04:27:07 PM
I will start: If you plan a invasion, build some PCs/sprayers in safe terrain and move them in creeper-covered terrain. Works too when you just nullified a emitter and want to clear the other terrain of leftover creeper. Just move the PC/sprayer on the PZ. When using this tactic keep in mind that you need to have/build a connection.
I usually use a PZ mortar to clear leftover creeper. It just doesn't make sure the creeper under the mortar is cleared fast enough to keep it alive but it can shoot over ridges to clear all near creeper =J
on maps with limited totems/energy, you can disarm the forge until you have enough aether to buy energy upgrades
Quote from: JonneeG on January 02, 2014, 02:10:22 PM
on maps with limited totems/energy, you can disarm the forge until you have enough aether to buy energy upgrades
You can charge totems without building a forge by clicking them and selecting "Charge without Forge"
When faced with many spores the start firing early, spread your forces out into many bases, even if one or two are in dangerous positions. It will cause the spores to be distributed between them until you can get a solid spore defense on one or two.
Do not build weapons until you need them. Spend all your energy at the beginning on collectors and reactors.
Quote from: Nephthys on January 01, 2014, 07:18:32 PM
Quote from: Georg on January 01, 2014, 04:27:07 PM
Keep in mind that the Sprayer will load & hold 50 units of AC before it starts sending excess back to the Orbital for reprocessing.
What version of the game are you using? I have never saw this and have made maps that only have an anti emitter on them and put sprayers to collect the AC and once they got full (100 AC ammo) they didn't sent AC to the orbital?
Quote from: Wheatmidge on January 02, 2014, 09:02:57 PM
Do not build weapons until you need them. Spend all your energy at the beginning on collectors and reactors.
But don't forget to build them when you do need them.
...stupid spores that I can't remember to deal with.
Quote from: Clean0nion on January 02, 2014, 07:19:12 PM
Quote from: JonneeG on January 02, 2014, 02:10:22 PM
on maps with limited totems/energy, you can disarm the forge until you have enough aether to buy energy upgrades
You can charge totems without building a forge by clicking them and selecting "Charge without Forge"
I was talking about once you have a forge and a totem, but not enough aether to buy energy efficiency level 1.
Also
on maps with multiple CN's but limited space, sometimes it is worth it to use all of them to build your economy and then send one of them back to orbit to make room for other structures
Quote from: Ringo on January 03, 2014, 12:12:29 AM
Quote from: Nephthys on January 01, 2014, 07:18:32 PM
Quote from: Georg on January 01, 2014, 04:27:07 PM
Keep in mind that the Sprayer will load & hold 50 units of AC before it starts sending excess back to the Orbital for reprocessing.
What version of the game are you using? I have never saw this and have made maps that only have an anti emitter on them and put sprayers to collect the AC and once they got full (100 AC ammo) they didn't sent AC to the orbital?
1.50, Colonial Space beta. It's been available since the start, I believe. Do you have the "Dispatch Excess AC" checkbox on Sprayer units? That makes it send back everything over half to the command nodes. It does have to be connected to the network for that to work, however.
If it's in a location that can't be connected directly, you can use an Ore Guppy - but you must build the Ore Guppy in the remote location where the ore is being collected by the Sprayer (or remote mine), then send it to a location on the command node's network. That can be done by sending a regular Guppy to the remote location to build the Ore Guppy (and remote mine if there's ore). You will also need to build a collector or relay so the Sprayer can connect to the Ore Guppy.
Quote from: Ringo on January 03, 2014, 12:12:29 AM
Quote from: Nephthys on January 01, 2014, 07:18:32 PM
Keep in mind that the Sprayer will load & hold 50 units of AC before it starts sending excess back to the Orbital for reprocessing.
What version of the game are you using? I have never saw this and have made maps that only have an anti emitter on them and put sprayers to collect the AC and once they got full (100 AC ammo) they didn't sent AC to the orbital?
If you have a Command Node charge a sprayer, it will not charge it more than 50 ammo. To get 100, you need to go the rest of the way by sucking up Anti-Creeper, like for instance from an Anti-Emitter, like what you did. Then to get it to send Anti-Creeper over 50 back as Ore into a Command Node, there's the option Grayzzur mentioned. "Dispatch Excess AC". This is very useful for charging sprayers far away from your Anti-Emitter, rather than having to send every single sprayer back to the AC pool to collect more each time.
Quote from: Grayzzur on January 03, 2014, 11:36:06 AM
Quote from: Ringo on January 03, 2014, 12:12:29 AM
Quote from: Nephthys on January 01, 2014, 07:18:32 PM
Quote from: Georg on January 01, 2014, 04:27:07 PM
Keep in mind that the Sprayer will load & hold 50 units of AC before it starts sending excess back to the Orbital for reprocessing.
What version of the game are you using? I have never saw this and have made maps that only have an anti emitter on them and put sprayers to collect the AC and once they got full (100 AC ammo) they didn't sent AC to the orbital?
1.50, Colonial Space beta. It's been available since the start, I believe. Do you have the "Dispatch Excess AC" checkbox on Sprayer units? That makes it send back everything over half to the command nodes. It does have to be connected to the network for that to work, however.
If it's in a location that can't be connected directly, you can use an Ore Guppy - but you must build the Ore Guppy in the remote location where the ore is being collected by the Sprayer (or remote mine), then send it to a location on the command node's network. That can be done by sending a regular Guppy to the remote location to build the Ore Guppy (and remote mine if there's ore). You will also need to build a collector or relay so the Sprayer can connect to the Ore Guppy.
Yeah i normmally use both settings but never seen it go to my HQ either in packet form or in my HQs ore hold.
Maybe its cause i am using 1.04 because i have not had to time to update it.
That feature has been in since sprayers were first added, back in Alpha.
Quote from: Ringo on January 03, 2014, 04:20:24 PM
Quote from: Grayzzur on January 03, 2014, 11:36:06 AM
Quote from: Ringo on January 03, 2014, 12:12:29 AM
Quote from: Nephthys on January 01, 2014, 07:18:32 PM
Quote from: Georg on January 01, 2014, 04:27:07 PM
Keep in mind that the Sprayer will load & hold 50 units of AC before it starts sending excess back to the Orbital for reprocessing.
What version of the game are you using? I have never saw this and have made maps that only have an anti emitter on them and put sprayers to collect the AC and once they got full (100 AC ammo) they didn't sent AC to the orbital?
1.50, Colonial Space beta. It's been available since the start, I believe. Do you have the "Dispatch Excess AC" checkbox on Sprayer units? That makes it send back everything over half to the command nodes. It does have to be connected to the network for that to work, however.
Yeah i normally use both settings but never seen it go to my HQ either in packet form or in my HQs ore hold.
Maybe its cause i am using 1.04 because i have not had to time to update it.
This may be obvious, but you have to increase storage level via the Forge
if the default level of 200 has already been reached. In other words, if the silo is full you cannot add more corn unless you make it bigger. :)
Quote from: Nephthys on January 03, 2014, 04:53:31 PM
This may be obvious, but you have to increase storage level via the Forge if the default level of 200 has already been reached. In other words, if the silo is full you cannot add more corn unless you make it bigger. :)
...or eat some of the corn!
Don't underestimate the sprayers or bombers on lower amounts of creeper. Sprayers also only require energy to build them, but none to fire them.
Quote from: Nephthys on January 03, 2014, 04:53:31 PM
Quote from: Ringo on January 03, 2014, 04:20:24 PM
Quote from: Grayzzur on January 03, 2014, 11:36:06 AM
Quote from: Ringo on January 03, 2014, 12:12:29 AM
Quote from: Nephthys on January 01, 2014, 07:18:32 PM
Quote from: Georg on January 01, 2014, 04:27:07 PM
This may be obvious, but you have to increase storage level via the Forge if the default level of 200 has already been reached. In other words, if the silo is full you cannot add more corn unless you make it bigger. :)
If my ore hold is emety in the 1st place like on the maps i have made that only have a AC emitter?
But like i said i am using a old verion because i have not had the time to update it yet so yeah.
_______________
Freeze weapons
After getting up save it.
Build a few big bad brethas.
A guppy.
Upgrade build speed/packet speed a bit.
Set targets of the big bad brethas around a big emitter/inhibtor.
Wait for the big bad brethas to get to the targets.
Wait for them to recharge.
Send the guppy.
Wait just before it lands.
Fire the freeze then the big bad brethas.
Build nuiffer.
Win map.
Quote from: Ringo on January 06, 2014, 11:09:24 AM
Quote from: Nephthys on January 03, 2014, 04:53:31 PM
Quote from: Ringo on January 03, 2014, 04:20:24 PM
Quote from: Grayzzur on January 03, 2014, 11:36:06 AM
Quote from: Ringo on January 03, 2014, 12:12:29 AM
Quote from: Nephthys on January 01, 2014, 07:18:32 PM
Quote from: Georg on January 01, 2014, 04:27:07 PM
This may be obvious, but you have to increase storage level via the Forge if the default level of 200 has already been reached. In other words, if the silo is full you cannot add more corn unless you make it bigger. :)
If my ore hold is emety in the 1st place like on the maps i have made that only have a AC emitter?
But like i said i am using a old verion because i have not had the time to update it yet so yeah.
_______________
Freeze weapons
After getting up save it.
Build a few big bad brethas.
A guppy.
Upgrade build speed/packet speed a bit.
Set targets of the big bad brethas around a big emitter/inhibtor.
Wait for the big bad brethas to get to the targets.
Wait for them to recharge.
Send the guppy.
Wait just before it lands.
Fire the freeze then the big bad brethas.
Build nuiffer.
Win map.
...which is why I always try to disable berthae in my maps.
And please, sort out those quotes!
Freeze weapons
After getting up save it.
Build a few big bad brethas.
A guppy.
Upgrade build speed/packet speed a bit.
Set targets of the big bad brethas around a big emitter/inhibtor.
Wait for the big bad brethas to get to the targets.
Wait for them to recharge.
Send the guppy.
Wait just before it lands.
Fire the freeze then the big bad brethas.
Build nuiffer.
Win map.
Actually the order should be a bit different.
You need to fire the Bertha before the guppy is in place and BEFORE the freeze weapon. And fire the freeze weapon 3 sec before the bertha shot hits. As the time for the shot to reach it's target is often longer then the animation for the freeze.
Quote from: pawel345 on January 06, 2014, 12:39:33 PM
Freeze weapons
After getting up save it.
Build a few big bad brethas.
A guppy.
Upgrade build speed/packet speed a bit.
Set targets of the big bad brethas around a big emitter/inhibtor.
Wait for the big bad brethas to get to the targets.
Wait for them to recharge.
Send the guppy.
Wait just before it lands.
Fire the freeze then the big bad brethas.
Build nuiffer.
Win map.
Actually the order should be a bit different.
You need to fire the Bertha before the guppy is in place and BEFORE the freeze weapon. And fire the freeze weapon 3 sec before the bertha shot hits. As the time for the shot to reach it's target is often longer then the animation for the freeze.
True i left out a bit.
Normally i fire the freeze then the berthas just has the guppy stops and began its landing.
Be aggressive
Building as much resources as possible before engaging is important. But don't forget that creeper is building up while you're doing it. An extra couple minutes at the beginning can cost you 10 fold later
And to specify the above tip:
Gain control of some choke points early on. Sometimes a single well placed PC can keep the creeper out of a large part of terrain.
One beam should be able to kill 2 spores with a full ammo reserve.
However the power drain of fully recharging 2-3 beams will likely drive you into energy depletion, potentially allowing your ground units to be overrun. Building more beams allows them to destroy the spores while individually using only part of their power supplies and this seems to place a lot less stress on your power grid when recharging them than having to fully recharge just a couple of them. No idea why - might be the second and third beams to hit the same spore do more damage or some such.
Quote from: mykael on January 15, 2014, 01:32:48 AM
However the power drain of fully recharging 2-3 beams will likely drive you into energy depletion, potentially allowing your ground units to be overrun. Building more beams allows them to destroy the spores while individually using only part of their power supplies and this seems to place a lot less stress on your power grid when recharging them than having to fully recharge just a couple of them. No idea why - might be the second and third beams to hit the same spore do more damage or some such.
That's odd, I would have expected the opposite. The more beams that fire in a round, the more your CN has to charge at once, like when you try to build 10 collectors as soon as your CN lands. I thought I had seen it happen that way before, but I was never paying the strictest attention to it, so I guess it could still be that. I'm gonna try this out. I recommend someone else does as well, for fair results.
Edit: My tests were inconclusive, simply because I'm terrible at tests. Sorry all.
If it's charging one beam, it can only do that at certain speed. But if it's charging thirty just a little bit each, sure, it'll fall into deficit, but it'll get the job done quicker.
You can control that stress to you grid by press "stop resupply" on some less important things.
On a lot of scenarios I find that if I just build 2 or 3 beams, they'll fully discharge on the first wave of spores, then the network will fall into deficit and they'll not be recharged by the time the second wave arrives....game over
If I build 6 or 7 however, the network doesn't go into deficit and they are ready to fire again before the next wave arrives. Total energy usage seems to be lower...
I'm wondering if the cost of firing a beam is independent of the number of beams that come out of it. So if 1 tower takes 5 seconds to kill 1 spore it'll loose 100% of the energy needed to kill it, but if 5 towers each shoot 5 spores, each will only loose 20% of the energy needed to kill a single spore as they are only firing for 1 second.
This is with 1.09.
I believe it's because if the network has to resupply 20 energy to 3 units then there is a lot of network strain since the the energy network operates on demand per frame. If there is more units that request less energy each and also they ask for different amounts, that energy demand will be met more easily.
Since when there are many beams hitting one spore they will not activate in the same frames, instead first beam 1 requests 1 energy then beam 2 then beam 3 then beam 1 again. Such a demand is more easily met than a spike in demand when beam 1 suddenly requests 4 or 5 energy.
I made a small map to test varying numbers of spores vs different beam setups (attached in case someone wants to play around with it). Result:
It takes ~12.5 energy to shoot down a single spore, independent of both the number of beams used and the number of spores sent at the same time.
Quote from: 4xC on January 13, 2014, 03:02:36 PM
One beam should be able to kill 2 spores with a full ammo reserve.
While that is true, don't you also need to take into account the size of your network? If you're playing on a large map with a 2 Spore Tower, and you're using 3 CNs spread out quite a bit, you'll need to build more than one Beam to protect everything, right? I guess what I'm trying to say is a single beam for 2 spores will work on a smaller map, but not necessarily on a larger one. Someone straighten me out if I've got that wrong. :)
While your little ship is flying round a planet, hit a certain key combo to mark it as completed.
I think, at least. And apparently I should be more reluctant to reveal said key combo.
Quote from: Nephthys on January 16, 2014, 05:35:17 PM
Quote from: 4xC on January 13, 2014, 03:02:36 PM
One beam should be able to kill 2 spores with a full ammo reserve.
While that is true, don't you also need to take into account the size of your network? If you're playing on a large map with a 2 Spore Tower, and you're using 3 CNs spread out quite a bit, you'll need to build more than one Beam to protect everything, right? I guess what I'm trying to say is a single beam for 2 spores will work on a smaller map, but not necessarily on a larger one. Someone straighten me out if I've got that wrong. :)
No, you're on to it.
With regard to resupplying the Beam ammo, CleanOnion covered that well.
However:
As a rule, I put my Beams in pairs - mostly for the faster knock-down power of having twin beams, but also for the double ammo capacity.
If you just have one standard beam (i.e. non PZ) taking on a/two incoming spores, the chances are good that, if it was targeting the front of your lines, it'll land/detonate before a single Beam can destroy it.
now, something non beam related.
If you set one sprayer set to 'always on' with another sprayer beside set to 'enable AC collection' you can store massive amounts of AC for a future assult
(works with 1 collecting sprayer and bombers too)
picture
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/97e5tuon3bv4orn/cw3ss_1.jpg?m=)
map
https://www.dropbox.com/s/khf9orij0g0bspq/Sprayers.cw3 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/khf9orij0g0bspq/Sprayers.cw3)
(more than 1 sprayer used for greater effect)
(needs ~7 mins to be able to fully charge the bombers)