Strategy guide for CW2

[Karsten75]

I thought it might be a good idea to start compiling hints and tips that Virgil can incorporate into a Strategy Guide for new CW2 players.

Post your hints and tips here and I'll compile them into the top post with attribution to the original poster.

Here goes:

Getting started

1. Energy is critical. Don't overbuild in the early stages. At the same time, don't waste energy by having a full green bar.

2. A gem early on can give you a critical boost in energy to help you rush a few weapons or a reactor farm.

3. Delay Research domes until you have stabilized your position and can safely advance against the Creeper.

4. Don't build weapons that do not need to be anchored on top of terrain that can be used to build an anchored unit such as a reactor. One exception is Phantom Coils. You want these at the lowest level of your tunnels, where they can protect and shield higher levels of your tunnels.

5. Think ahead. Unlike most of the time in CW1, you often decide when to first attack, and the different weapons take different lengths to build. Makers take more than twice as long to make than blasters, and since you often want to start with a "supply" of good creeper before you attack, building makers should be your first weapon to be built to insure its unique usefulness. [Fisherck]

6. The Ore rig efficiency upgrades are effective, not only for the extraction of ore, but also for the conversion of ore into anti-creeper. So a double-dip improvement. Don't start extracting ore until you have as many as possible Ore rig efficiency upgrades in place - unless, of course, you need ore earlier. But don't stockpile large quantities of extracted ore.

tbc...

[Karsten75]

Reserved for expansion.

[Karsten75]

Reserved for expansion.

[Aurzel]

i'd say putting a phantom above the line of anchored units is ok too, i havent had any trouble doing that so far

[Fisherck]

Think ahead. Unlike most of the time in CW1, you often decide when to first attack, and the different weapons take different lengths to build. Makers take more than twice as long to make than blasters, and since you often want to start with a "supply" of good creeper before you attack, building makers should be your first weapon to be built to insure its unique usefullness.

I consider tech domes, micro rifts, repulsers, and to a lesser extent launchers "accessories". If I could choose only 4 techs for a map (not including nullifiers), I would pick blasters, makers, reactors, and beacons. The reactors and beacons are a neccesity, while makers and blasters are a backbone of any assult. These should always (in my opinion) be the first things built.

[Aurzel]

i would consider makers and launchers interchangeable, the launcher is better in some cases than the maker and vice versa

[Fisherck]

True, in uphill battles I would not use makers nearly as much. But otherwise, I see it as an invaluable cushion, especially in dense creeper. If you need to move a blaster up you do not need to worry that much, because the good creeper will keep the bad creeper at bay long enough to do so.

[Aurzel]

on the other hand if you're attacking a narrow corridor there's little surface area for creeper to work against each other but a launcher could wreck havoc further in

[thepenguin]

ok, most important techs for a map (in my opinion)


1.Reactor
2.Beacon


3.Blaster
4.Nullifier
5.Repulsor


6.Shield
7.Micro-rift


8.Maker


9.Ore Rig


10.Launcher
11.Phantom Coil


12.Tech dome

[Aurzel]

lol phantom coil cant be graded, its useless when there's no phantoms and necessary when there is

[Grauniad]

Just moved this over from Beta in case it can help people. Feel free to add additional hints/tips

[UpperKEES]

ok, most important techs for a map (in my opinion)

Like in CW1 this entirely depends on the type of map you're playing.

A repulsor at #5 and a launcher at #10? :o
A microrift at #7 and a tech dome at #12? That just doesn't make sense at all....

[Katra]

Which units are most useful/necessary depends on the map. OK; blasters and reactors are necessary for all - but I can see cases where everything else could be essential or useless. (No ore = makers useless; and they aren't much good fighting uphill.)

[Grauniad]

I don't think this should devolve into a discussion of the relative importance of each unit or build order per se. As someone once remarked: "If you only have a hammer, everything looks like a nail."

Instead focus on general tips or strategies such as the fact that repulsors on short beams can keep some densities of creeper at bay with less energy consumption than a continuously firing blaster, etc.

It may be hard to update the first post in this topic due to the OP's absence, so if someone starts a new topic I may replace that topic with this one.

[Karsten75]

I'll add some stuff if people post helpful hints/tips.