Copy-paste from the old FX forum. Originally written by Dark.
Efficient RU Collection
Here Im posting a few issues that are important in planning your resource operations... They are easy to overlook small details yet they have great influence on efficiency of collection.
- The sooner in game you max out your colls and prepare efficient RU collection the more RUs you will gather through match... It also allows you to gain great advantage over your enemy. Many players build defenses and combat units first and leave out collection for later... yet this is a short-run tactic. When they loose their units they will be left with nothing but a few small collection spots which must gather the RUs for rebuilding the fleet not to mention all the other costs. The best starting-off tactic is: "Prepare only defenses to survive... rest goes on building economy." Of course this doesnt always hold... if you know that early fighter raid can kill your enemy then go ahead. However most matches turn into a long battles... you better prepare for them soon enough.
- Many FXers still dont use refineries and instead rely on Carriers. It seems irrelevant yet this mistake greatly slows down your resourcing. Carrier can only get in some minimal distance to RU asteroids. To that, docking spots are sometimes hard to reach. Refineries can be placed almost next to the collectors and their small size makes docking fast. Sometimes people dont use the refineries because they are expensive... but a refinery can make up for its costs quite fast so dont hesitate to use them.
- Placing refineries between the asteroids causes collectors to stack. The optimum place for refinery is usually slightly above the RU patch.
- Collection efficiency greatly depends also on our "collectors per refinery ratio"... If colls will be waiting in a queue for docking it will slow them down... while they are supposed to fly smoothly with no delays.
- The best way to find efficient "collector/refinery" ratio is to test it out, however if you need a starting point then very efficient ratio is "max collectors limit / max refinery limit".
- Assigning collectors to a patch always consider the "docking slots" of asteroids... Assigning too many collectors to a patch causes collectors to wait in queue for an empty spot on the RU asteroid... another way to waste valuable seconds.
As said those are just details and the delays in collection caused by overlooking them are just slight seconds... however if you add up the seconds you couldve wasted on every of those points... and to think every collector wastes time like that... Theres a huge difference between a so-so prepared collection and smooth collectors flying straight asteroid-refinery-asteroid over a short distance with no delays nor queues... Besides... all lost seconds span across whole match and in the end it turns out that they costed you a 1-3k RU... amount which does matter in a serious battle.
How to Win
- Intelligence - Always keep an eye on your enemy and any crucial locations of the map. In the same time keep on making this harder for your enemies by killind their scouts, probes and sensors.
- NOTE: Keep an eye for cloaked units.
- NOTE: Remember that your enemies might have something docked in their ships.
- NOTE: Be sure to not only watch your enemy but also regions of tactical importance e.g. RU asteroids.
- TIP: Pay attention to the modules your enemies are building on their ships. This pretty much tells you what theyre up to.
- TIP: If you see your enemy moving into a new area you can consider attacking. Its quite possible that surprising your enemy and attacking him while hes moving his force will give you the upper hand in battle. Besides that sometimes holding enemy away from what he needs may be really deadly.
- Maxed and safe collection - Max out your collection as fast as possible. Keep an eye on them and make sure there is no way you could collect RU any faster.
- TIP: Use RU Platforms to place the drop-off spots as close to asteroids as you can. (Platforms can get closer to the asteroids than carries so use them instead.) Also always keep an eye on your collectors and make sure your enemy is not targeting them.
- NOTE: Common "mistake" is to prepare massive fighters fleet at the start of the game. This is good against rushes but it puts you at a great disadvantage if your enemy is just building up. Use intelligence to check before you waste time and RU on early fleet and not collection.
- Maxed production - Make sure you are always producing units as fast and as many as possible.
- TIP: Keep your factories in the right positions close to the battle to get reinforcements asap but also make sure they are safe from enemy fire.
- Techonological advantage - Always keep on researching. Try to gain technological advantage and if not then at least dont let yourself stay behind your enemies.
- TIP: Build as many research modules/ships as you can. They speed up your research.
- Countering - Watch your enemies and paying attention to the ships classes they use build units to counter them. You yourself try to use units that your enemy is not countering e.g. if your enemy is building anti-fighter corvettes you should use ant-corvette corvettes.
- Hit' n' run - Attack when you are strong and your enemy weak. Retreat when your weak and your enemies strong.
- NOTE: Players sometime rush with an attack even if its clear they stand no chance. If your enemy is stronger then wait and take your time to think up a plan. Consider your advantages and enemy's disadvatages you could use.
- Micromanagement - Keep an eye on all your units during battle. Dock ships that need repair and do it soon enough to not risk they will be killed in front of the dock.
- NOTE: While docking dont let all your units dock at once. If you suddenly dock all your ships it will create many disadvantages e.g. queues of ships waiting to dock, units flying to far away carrier for docking, enemy ships safely shotting at your retreating force. If possible send your units one by one.
- NOTE: Retreating and repairing doesnt only include fighters and corvettes. Retreating capital ships and repairing them is more difficult but it might pay off.
- TIP: Good idea is to always dock one most damaged ship of your fleet.
- Support units - Try to use many support units for your fleets. Command pods/modules and repairers can greatly increase ships efficiency. (Im not sure about this but I believe that command units' effect is additive. Having multiple of those can have really good effects.)
- Sabotage - Try to sabotage units of your enemies. Kill helpless collectors, producing modules, HS modules, engines, turrets, research units/modules etc. Sometimes a small kill may really mess up your enemies' plans.
- TIP: Killing production modules can be very effective. You can destroy modules for units that are the best counter for you e.g. if you are using anti-fighter fighters then killing corvette production modules is a good idea.
- TIP: Also if you are unable to stop your enemy from producing units you can at least make sure hell produce the ship class which you have the best counter for.
- Outmanevouring - Use your units' speed as an advantage. Always try to outmanevoure capital ships to get out of their firing range while still firing at them.
- TIP: If youre at a disadvantage in capital vs. capital battle you might try to move around avoiding combat for a while to win yourself some time. Besides that capitals can also outmanevoure other capitals. Keep this in mind and think where to move your unit.
- Time and place - During your match youll probably find yourself or your enemies in situation when the fleet is divided into two or more groups. When your enemy splits up pick the weaker force and attack it while trying to avoid contact with the stronger fleet.
- HS inhibitors - Keep HS inhibitors across the map if possible and always keep some in front of your base. Giving your enemy freedom of HSing where he wants might turn out to be a fatal mistake.
- Units efficiency - Units are not only firepower. Simple tricks like running away, luring, hiding, outmanevouring etc. can be really effective. If you are to engage into battle first think how to do it in the best way.
- "Diplomacy" - In FFA matches players very often stay defensive which is probably the best tactic. You cant however stay defending forever as someone will have to attack. Keep your eyes open to not miss the moment when your enemy is weaker. Its better to attack then than any other time.
- TIP: You can try to get your enemies to fight against each other. Attacking two or more of your enemies and try luring them to one place. It might turn out after destroying your "bait" force they will start battling each other.
Edited by: WildHeart|GENESIS|
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