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The war between the Post-Human Coalition and the AI Substrate is complicated. The sheer number of moving pieces, the scope of the conflict, and the need to juggle multiple resources all make conducting a war effort difficult for new players. There are, however, some basic tips that can make the process easier for beginners. Here are some tips that every player new to Ashes of The Singularity: Escalation should know.
6 Choosing A Faction
Though some mechanics are shared between the factions, the PHC and Substrate both have significant differences as well, and learning these differences is an important first step. Not only do these differences help to shape a player’s strategies, but they also inform the playstyles that are reasonably available to them. Whether the player is a newcomer to the genre or a veteran, this choice should be straightforward.
The PHC includes heavy, hardy units, including strong artillery, and are great for straightforward bruising. The Substrate, meanwhile, lacks the brute force of the PHC, but they are more versatile and also excel at overwhelming the opponent with large numbers of units early on. Both sides have viable paths toward victory, so ultimately personal taste is the largest determining factor. Even so, it helps to know whether one wants to aim for a simple “kick in the door” style of attack or something a bit more refined.
5 Creeps Take A Minute
Creeps, the unaligned AI units crawling around the map, don’t spawn on resource nodes for the first minute of the game. From that point forward they will continuously spawn. This means that the player has a chance to use the initial Engineer unit with which they begin to game to make an important strategic move before the creeps appear.
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By sending an Engineer to one’s preferred resource node to capture and build upon the node right away, the player will be able to claim it early and shut down any resistance that they would otherwise face from creeps in that area. By zooming out, the player can see the tactical map which will reveal the nodes upon which the player can build. It’s helpful to get a bird’s eye view of the map before making too many decisions, since doing so will allow the player to better plot their own future movements as well as anticipate the enemy’s.
4 Scout Early, Scout Often
The PHC and Substrate both possess the ability to build scout units (Pans and Searchers, respectively) using the Nexus. Once the player has finished constructing the essential building blocks of their economy, it’s good to build a couple of scouts and send them out across the map to start gathering intel on the enemy’s activities.
Radars, Sensor Arrays, and Listening Posts can all be used for scouting as well, though scouts themselves remain the bedrock of the player’s intelligence-gathering. In any RTS, knowing what buildings and units the opponent has, what their economy looks like, and what their most likely means of attack is are essential bits of knowledge if the player wants to win.
3 Learn To Counter
Every RTS worth its salt includes a variety of unit types for players to choose between. Whether these are small, fast recon types or ponderous, heavy-hitting tanks, these units each fill a unique role on the battlefield. It pays to dabble with all unit types when first starting out, even if the player isn’t sure about their optimal usage. After all, playing around with units, making mistakes, and losing are some of the only real ways to learn.
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Just as every unit has a purpose, every unit has a counter in the form of another unit that excels at stopping it. This fact creates a rock-paper-scissors dynamic in which players are constantly trying to outmaneuver one another by deploying units that are perfect for shutting down the opponent’s plan, whatever that may be. The Zeus (PHC) and Avenger (Substrate) excel at taking down Frigates, but are themselves countered by Maulers and Athenas. Learning to rapidly assess and respond to the enemy’s army composition takes time, practice, and patience, but it’s well worth the effort.
2 Self-Defense
Escalation may not be the most difficult RTS, but defending oneself in it is no small task. With tons of buildings, units, and resources to worry about, all of which are spread across a huge map, it’s easy to get lost or fail to react to threats. It doesn’t take much for new players to spread themselves too thin, which is why it’s important to find a way to automate one’s defenses as much as possible. Fortunately, there’s a painless way to do this.
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Turrets, launchers, and cannons can all be built in order to defend one’s resources and territory and make enemy incursions painful if not impossible.Turrets are strong on their own, but, with the backup of nearby units acting as a support force, they can shut down even aggressive enemy pushes. By identifying which of their areas are most vulnerable, the player can more easily distribute their defenses, ensuring that a key strategic location isn’t left undefended.
1 Maintain A Healthy Economy
Ashes Of The Singularity: Escalation features three resource types: Metal, Radioactives, and Quanta. Metal forms the backbone of the player’s economy in the early game. It is the main resource for constructing Frigates, and those light, weak units will do much of the player’s heavy lifting before more substantial units can be brought into play. Radioactives power late-game units as well as turrets. Quanta, meanwhile, provide army-wide upgrades, including army capacity and logistics, as well as orbital abilities and the construction of juggernauts.
While extractors pull the resources themselves, amplifiers increase their output, accelerating the player’s plans by boosting their overall economy and allowing them to get more units and buildings into play. Refineries, harvesters, and generators all play their own role in the economy as well. While the nuances of maintaining a healthy economy are too many to discuss here, some basic guiding principles apply: don’t waste resources investing in areas that aren’t useful yet, don’t overreach, and don’t let production falter just because there’s a war’s worth of distractions at hand.
Ashes Of The Singularity: Escalation is available now for PC.
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