[Search] Search   [Recent Topics] Recent   [Hottest Topics] Hottest   [Login] Login
What does it take to be great
Forum Index » General Discussion
[Avatar]
Fool

Messages: 10,
Joined: Mar 10, 2012,
Location: England
Offline

[Avatar]
Fool

Messages: 10,
Joined: Mar 10, 2012,
Location: England
Offline
So i have been playing for a while now and found my "level" - for the moment at least. I'm sort of curious as to the way people who are very very good at this game approach it. There are obviously a lot of people out here that know the stats for the units intimately so do the high level players have so much of an understanding of the mechanics they can predict the exact outcome of any given unit vs unit interaction?
Is there a chess-like approach which works on plans 3,4,5 moves ahead of the current position?
Im happy being an enthusiastic semi-casual player im just curious about how people who are very good at the game approach it.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Apr 18, 2012 22:12


"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool."
ggggg

Messages: 7,
Joined: Jan 17, 2011,
Offline

ggggg

Messages: 7,
Joined: Jan 17, 2011,
Offline
I'm not sure how what you mean by "great", but as a player with a 2400 rating, I can tell you a few rules of thumb I always follow whenever I play:

1) At the start of every turn, always buy the unit with the greatest vision you can afford, then immediately undo the purchase. This gives you a glimpse at lurking enemy units you might otherwise not get to see. It is crucial you do this before buying anything for real because that reduces your available credits, limiting the amount of temporary vision you can get. Failure to do this can get yourself suckered very easily, for example, if the opponent tries to teleport a mecha two spaces from an empty base of yours, with the intent of trying to make a cheap capture.

2) Always try to plan out your entire turn before you move anything. Do not make one move, then start thinking about your next move. Occasionally, you might need to modify your plan after the fact if a battle turns out differently than you expected, for instance, if you need one more attack to get a kill than you thought you did. However, the planning principle still applies - before you move anything, plan for contingencies in case you get bad battle luck and think about what you're going to do in that case.

3) Don't be over-aggressive. Probably the number one mistake I see people make is moving towards the opponent's bases too fast and getting their units killed in the process. I still struggle with this myself, on occasion, as the temptation to run towards an enemy at full speed can be emotionally difficult to resist. But if you take the time to build your forces, then move in a coordinated assault, you'll do much better than if you move units forward one at a time to get themselves killed. This is especially true if you're Titans, as Titans work on building up strength slowly, not making a quick rush. There is one important exception to this rule, though. If you have a chance to kill an enemy battery/walker/wyrm, it's almost always a good idea to do so, even if you get some of your units killed in the process. Giving up a Marauder to kill a Walker is a huge win, as is giving up a speeder to kill a wyrm.
ggggg

Messages: 7,
Joined: Jan 17, 2011,
Offline

ggggg

Messages: 7,
Joined: Jan 17, 2011,
Offline
4) Strive to maintain balance in the game. Always pay attention to the credit value of the dead enemy units vs. your own dead units. If you're killed 1000 credits worth of units, but lost only 500 credits worth of units, you're most likely winning. If you've lost 1000 credits worth of units, but you've only killed 500 credits worth of units, I'd strongly suggest you find a way to kill another 500 credits worth of units and quickly, otherwise you're probably losing. (In looking at the kill totals, I ignore the absolute number of kills by both players, since that's meaningless - it's the number of credits worth of kills that really matters). For example, if I'm playing Khraleans against Titans and I can't stop the enemy's plasma tank from killing my Pinzer, I might react by moving a wyrm, or another pinzer in position so if he kills my Pinzer, I can kill his plasma tank the following turn. I lose 450 credits worth of units, but kill 500 credits worth of units, and balance is maintained.

5) Plan your future purchases now. For instance, if you currently have 300 credits, make 200 credits per turn, and are trying to save up to buy a walker, if you buy nothing, you will have wait three turns until you have enough money to buy your walker. If you buy a Mecha now, you will still have three turns before you can afford the walker, thus from the standpoint of saving up for your walker, buying a mecha now is "free". On the other hand, if you buy a speeder now for 250 credits, you're left with 50, which means you'll have to wait 4 turns to buy your walker. This can be ok, for instance, if you think the speeder is important to keep your walker well defended. But it's important that you be aware of the consequences of your actions.
[Avatar]
waxoid

Messages: 442,
Joined: Aug 07, 2010,
Location: Seattle, WA
Offline

[Avatar]
waxoid

Messages: 442,
Joined: Aug 07, 2010,
Location: Seattle, WA
Offline
Yes, I plan out an entire move in advance, think about counterplay my opponent will have available, think about modifications to my desired approach to better defend against that counterplay. Like chess, I think in some general strategic concepts (say, I want to be able to set up a wyrm here where it can cover these two bases and be defended from helis), and in addition commonly looking at select lines 2-3 moves ahead in areas where the play is 'sharper' (where stakes are higher and small differences in approach/placement may swing a big difference in outcome, e.g. when base captures or threats are underway). Yes, I calculate the likely damage very closely and review whether different combinations or order of attack yield better overall outcomes (considering gang-up, damage delivered and damage incurred to which units), and consider how the turn may have to adapt if I get weak rolls on any given attack.
s3m420

Messages: 40,
Joined: Apr 22, 2012,
Offline

s3m420

Messages: 40,
Joined: Apr 22, 2012,
Offline
All of the above tips I agree with 100%. I'm only at 2200 currently. But is lower than my true skill level. (Spent many months not caring about my rating). Anyways, I would like to add knowing the actual damage formula is crucial. Not just looking at the little dots under units that display how much dmg they will give/recieve because they are not always accurate. Mainly in situations where a unit will do 4.5 dmg but rounded to 4 in the display. The formula has been released in the forum if you search for it. Maybe / most likely anyone around 2200 and up know this but its a point to bring up.

Edit: forgot why I originally posted this. LOL. Free for all's are generally a bad idea. It is too easy to get ganged up on in the beginning and lose. Hardly ever a fair fight. At least that is where I lost most of my rating in. Those and team games with random people that could care less about using team chat and even ignore reading it. Stick with 1 on 1 or team games with people you know.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Apr 22, 2012 06:30

[Avatar]
Cpt Hawaiian

Messages: 199,
Joined: Sep 12, 2010,
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Offline

[Avatar]
Cpt Hawaiian

Messages: 199,
Joined: Sep 12, 2010,
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Offline
All very good tips, from very good players.

Another thing you can do is track credits of your opponent. This takes some effort, but can be a big payoff and make a difference in a tight matchup. The way to do this is to calculate from the beginning how many credits your opponent starts with, each turn add the amount of turn credits to the total and deduct the value of his/her current/new units in the field as well as the value of those units of his/hers you have killed. (you can find some of these figures in the War Report screen). Sometimes you can't see all the enemy's units, but if you scout well and track everything you can often know exactly what build options your opponent has, which can affect your approach and build as well.

Keep in mind that blue and red often start with different amounts of credits. I have used this technique in ranked matches as well as tournaments to great effect. I don't bother with unranked matches however because it takes a lot of tracking haha.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Apr 22, 2012 19:54


---------------------------------------
MODERATOR has spoken.
[WWW]
Forum Index » General Discussion
Powered by JForum 2.1.9 © - 2020-04-14 v124 - UniWar website