i really hope you will like it. Please tell me what you think; i wished the user guide was wikish; so you can change this if you like it. I tried my best to emphasize through the tone that in the end, it's the player who makes his own research strategy. Thank you.
Research strategy tips
(10 tips for beginners, until they develop their own personal expert preferences!)
Researching military technologies is a very essential element of playing the game and, ultimately, winning a battle. The research process is almost like an ongoing independent strategy game that accompanies the main strategies and tactics of the battle field. Research strategy can sometimes be the decisive way through which a player can overcome the opponent's defences or repel an eminent attack, and re-balance or advance his forces and power supply against those of his opponents.
The general principle in research strategy is that it is constantly subject to the fluctuations of the situation in the field and of the conditions of the opponents. Thus, sometimes it becomes necessary or beneficial to research defensive technologies in order to confront a new weapon acquired by an opponent (such as anti aircraft) or to better defend a newly structured repair facility or Oil Derrick in the middle of the field. In other times, researching a special type of weapon or vehicles' bodies enables the unites to break through special types of defences; and so on. There will quickly be unlocked a big number of technologies to research and it will not be possible to research them all at once. Prioritizing one technology over another, or researching for one type of unite rather than another (such as turrets, cyborgs, structures, vtol), is what makes up your research strategy. Also, since it is beneficial to build more than one research facility as early as possible, the balance in power supply between factory production and researching new technologies has a strategic dimension. It is important to know when to give more power to research, and when to stop researching in order to meet the needs of the battle field and produce enough military unites.
Technologies may be categorized under 3 categories:
1) Weapons (used by turrets, cyborgs or Aircraft for either attack or defence).
2) Defensive and protective structures.
3) Base and infrastructural technologies (such as power modules to enhance power supply, repair facilities to fix damaged forces, stronger bodies for forces and trucks, upgrades of these, etc.)
tip 1: The first thing you'll research, and which takes almost a couple of seconds, is the *machine gun*, which enables you to build your first gunned turret. with this weapon you venture into the very first phase of the game, usually while you're still looking for further power resources. Then, in order for the research of any of the three categories to unfold, researching *ENGINEERING* is a must. This research will also Upgrade construction speed to 110% and unlock the Combat Engineer cyborg.
tip 2: Following researching engineering, researching *Fuel Injection Engine* (which upgrades vehicle engine output to 105%) opens the way to researching two important weapons, the Flamer and Mini-Rocket Pod. The flamer can be repeatedly upgraded, leading to a very powerful weapon against turrets, cyborgs and bunkers. Upgrading the Mini-Rocket Pod unfolds to stronger automatic upgrades of the same weapon, and also to another powerful weapon: the *Mini-Rocket Array* which is considered by some to be very good to manufacture early on in the game.
tip 3: Fuel Injection Engine also unlocks the *Power Module*, which upgrades power production to 150%. Order your trucks to upgrade your power generators by clicking the trucks then the generators.
At this point you have done seven researches: machine gun, engineering, Fuel Injection Engine, flamer, Mini-Rocket Pod, Mini-Rocket Array and Power Module. You might have decided to also research *Twin Machine gun* and *Heavy Machine gun* to expand your weapons variety and to gain an increased weaponry strength early on in the game.(some players research only machine gun upgrades such as twin machine gun and heavy machine gun and mass-produce unites with these weapons in order to over run their opponents early on in the game). However, now you have more power supply and at least three new types of weapons (Flamer, Mini-Rocket Pod, and Mini-Rocket Array). It's time to seek a more powerful factory production.
tip 4: Engineering will also unlock the *Cyborg Factory*, which is good to begin manufacturing the more cheaply and resistent cyborgs. Researching the Cyborg Factory will in turn unfold the *Factory Module* which enhances the factories production and allows you later to manufacture weapons such as medium and heavy cannons and mortars, and units with heavier bodies to reduce damage. Upgrading the factories works in exactly the same way as upgrading the power generator, but you have to manually order your trucks to upgrade them 3 times, rather than once.
With time and practice, all these previous steps can be done fairly quickly; it's important to go quick in warzone2100, and you might have decided to set out in search for power resources now. Good choice! You have successfully ordered your truck to build an oil derrick farther from the base, but wait now; your opponent has been doing just the same thing, and you have come in contact with his forces for the first time. They're actually firing at your oil derrick and at your truck. Excitement begins, what a game! But don't lose the focus now; maybe it's time to begin thinking of how to defend yourself in terms of research.
tip 5: There are too many defensive and protective structures that could freer your mobile units from their guarding duties. *Hardcrete* comes right after researching engineering, and it unlocks many of these structures. There are towers and bunkers and hardpoints, and it's up to your power supply, strategic experience, and knowledge of your opponent's might, to choose which is best for you. (see defenses). Upgrades of hardcrete makes any defensive structure built of hardcrete more resistant and enduring. Later on in the game, Anti Aircraft (AA) is particularly necessary to fend against vtol raids, which if not repelled, could strike all your base down (Remember that you can order your vtols to defend against vtol raids, see Basics » Ordering Units).
tip 6: Speaking of your opponent's might, this might be exactly the time when you should begin researching the *Sensor Turret*, which unlocks the *Sensor Tower*. Sensors enable you to see the movement of your opponent's forces in their range, and you can assign your mortar (artillery) units to them, to strike with precision and from a location far from the back-fire range of the opponent's forces. (see how sensors work). The sensor tower research will unlock the *Command Relay Post*, which after building it, enables your factories to manufacture *commanders*, which work in a similar way to the *sensor turret* but you can assign any forces to it, and not just mortars. There has been some debate over the worth of commanders, but you must try it and make your own valuation! (see how commanders work).
tip 7: Yet even if you don't find commanders useful, There is a big importance to researching the Command Relay Post; it unlocks the *Research Module*, which enhances the work of your research facilities themselves, thus making research goes faster and unlocks various technologies in the tech tree. There are series of research facilities upgrades, first time is manual, then automatic as you just research the new upgrades.
At this point, the situation in the field is probably wild! You have managed to acquire some new power resources and built oil derricks, your opponent did the same, each one of you know their borders and is trying to breach beyond them. It is here that the strategic and tactical experience will be most needed, and what are you going to research now is just a very important part of that experience. But remember, what's happening in the fairly chaotic field should be your first guide.
Up till now you have researched some defensive structures, power, factory, and research modules, cyborg factory, sensor turret and tower. But what about WEAPONS?! There is for the time being only the Machine Gun, flamer, Mini-Rocket Pod, and maybe also Mini-Rocket Array; is it not time to go wholly prepared for the big battle?
You might have favoured researching weapons over other technologies for the sake of maintaining weaponry mastery in the field (such as postponing the sensors or the defensive structures). And you might have decided to build more research facilities to be able to research more than one technology at the same time (note that this will consume from your power supply!). These "strategic" decisions make up the game itself and the enjoyment of playing it. But before talking about weapon development, maybe it's important to speak of the repair turret and repair facility.
tip 8: Engineering allows you to research the *Mobile Repair Turret*, which after manufacturing, you can order it to repair damaged unites if it does not repair them automatically (it does so only if it is close enough to them, thus, its placing can make a difference in the middle of the battle). This research (along with the factory module) will in turn unlock the *Repair Facility* technology; it is a structure that you can build anywhere, and instruct your unites to retreat to for repair when they reach a certain threshold of damage (you do this through the "Unit orders menu"; see Basics » Ordering Units). Repair is essential to avoid loss of unites and maintaining their number and sustaining their health; the earlier you build a repair facility the better.
tip 9: Preferences in researching weapons are wildly varied, but one principle remains: "upgrades" play a very important role in developing a strong, and sometimes VERY strong weapon. Sometimes developing such a weapon before your opponent could simply mean that winning the battle becomes only a matter of time. The *Heavy Cannon*, *Inferno flamer*, *Pepperpot mortar*, *Ripple Rockets*, *Tank Killer*, and *VTOL Heavy Laser*, are good examples of such very strong weapons that you acquire only after a long series of upgrades, and which also cyborgs and defensive structures can use (see Turrets > Weapons). Another principle is to think in terms of "what is it" that you want to attack and plan your research accordingly. A dozen Aircraft fighters can take ages to rid you of a little bunker, where few Inferno flamers can finish the job in a blink of an eye. It is through experience and observation, and sometimes through chatting with other players, that you will develop the knowledge of such combinations and matches.
tip 10: Connected to the power of attack is also how strong and enduring are the bodies of the attacking unites. In the middle of the battle and somewhere while researching all these different technologies, it will make a big difference when to research a heavier body for your unites or for a specific type of your unites. Sometimes such research will be necessitated by defence duties or to avoid unites loss. A heavy cannon *Mantis* turret, and let alone *Tiger* or *Vengeance* or *Dragon*, will take all the fire and penetrate through all the defensive towers, bunkers and hardpoints, destroying them one by one, and striking down any mobile unite that comes in its way, and finally get back to its repair facility without being destroyed yet. (see Bodies and Propulsions). Regarding *propulsions*, there are all in all 4 types of propulsions for turrets. The *Hover* enables your unites to move on water surfaces, and also, it's particularly significant because it unlocks the VTOL (Aircraft) propulsion, thus enabling you to start building aircraft unites in vtol factories.
A final word regarding "combinations" of research technologies. In many occasions, especially as you move ahead in the game, a new technology will be unlocked not only after having followed one thread of research line and upgrades, but SEVERAL. For example, to unlock any of the heavy bodies mentioned above, you will have to research more than just the medium body and Composite Alloys preceding it within the same threat, but also an upgraded versions of *engine* and research facility, and you'll need to have upgraded factories to produce them. etc.
Have a nice and enjoyable game!
Maysara Omar
