hanago9
10th Mar 09, 12:00 PM
I'm planning on starting a number of general threads for my own note keeping. I may eventually put these together into a full FAQ. Feedback is welcome.
These notes are specific to the Multiplayer game which is very different from the single player game. Hopefully these notes will evolve into a guide that will help with the difficult learning curve. Items marked with a * are things I’m not certain about.
Resourcing. Along with the concept of hard counters (using the right units to counter your opponents units), resourcing is the corner stone of all Real Time Strategy games. Resources come in over time, and are put to use in defeating your opponent. Gaining a resource advantage (either by gaining more resources or denying your opponent resources) is key to victory.
DOW2 builds on the resourcing concept of DOW1. Namely, you gain resourcing by capturing points on the map. Resourcing advantage therefore is tied to map control. There are 3 types of nodes that can be captured, each tied to a different resource:
Requisition
Power
Victory points
Global ability bar
Wait, that’s 4! The global ability resource (named as such because it is race dependant) is not tied to map control. I’ll talk more about it in the advanced concepts.
Victory points: Let’s look at this first since they’re only relevant if the control victory condition is active. When playing with this condition, there is a power bar at the top of the screen that represents the balance in victory points. You and your opponent both start out with 500 points. You cannot ever gain Victory points. The team that controls less Victory Nodes (Stars) will start to loose victory points. The more uneven the number of victory nodes controlled, the faster the points will trickle away. The first team to reach zero victory points looses.
If the victory condition is set to annihilate, Victory Nodes are removed from the map.
Requisition: This is the bread and butter of DOW2 resourcing. The minerals/gold you use to buy every unit in the game. You get this resource over time. If you want to gain more of this resource, you need to control resource points (orange Triangles*). Unlike in DOW1, you cannot reinforce Requisition nodes, and therefore you cannot ever increase your requisition gain* short of controlling more nodes (if there is a way of gaining more req, please tell me).
Note: I think this is the first big change that trips new players. This resourcing shift means that you CANNOT turtle. If you’re not out there controlling the map, you’re getting less req, period.
All MP maps are balanced. Each team has even resource points on their side of the map, with the odd points in the middle. This means that all things being equal, requisition will come in at an equal rate for both teams (assuming the middle point changes hand evenly).
Observation: Requisition Nodes can yield more requisition if you control them longer*.
Power: This resource is used to purchase upgrades, tech up, and buy higher tier units. Just like requisition, it comes in over time, but can be accelerated by controlling Power Nodes (Blue Lightening Bolts*). Unlike Requisition Nodes, Power Nodes can be reinforced and upgrade to yield better returns (like building listening posts in DOW1). You need to invest Req to upgrade your Power Nodes. Each upgrade increases the node by 5 power* and costs 100 reqs*. The first upgrade locks the power node by builing a pylon on it, and further upgrades add separate pylons. Power nodes cannot be uncapped unless you first destroy the first pylon (the one built on the node itself).
Note: If an upgraded Power Node changes hand, it will continue to yield the increased amount (even if the pylons were built by another faction).
In general, you do not need a lot of power in the early game. Tier one units need no or little power. You will need power if you are teching up/upgrading your units, but you will also need requisition. Upgrading every power node you find will cripple your economy (you’ll have tons of power, but no requisition to spend it on).
Note: In team games, resources are gained by all members of a party, regardless of who did the capping/upgrading. Everyone on a team will gain equal amounts of Req/Power.* This is not resource sharing: everyone has a separate wallet, but everyone has an equal income.
Map Control. Map control is intrinsically tied to resourcing in DOW2. The more nodes you control, the more resources you get. The more of the map you control, the less your opponent controls, the less resources he/they get.
Node Capping/Decapping. It takes twice as long to cap a node than to decap it. If you see an unguarded node, decap it. If no one comes to dispute it, stay around to cap it. The point is, decaping is resource denial, which is almost as good as resource stealing.
Requisition node capping is huge huge huge. Because these nodes cannot be reinforced, they change hands all the time. You should always try to have at least one squad running around capping/guarding req nodes. Even if you are totally loosing and trapped in your base! I’ve managed to turn games around at the last second by sneakily stealing Req nodes.
Power Node capping/upgrading. Obviously, since you’re investing precious requisition into upgrading power nodes, you should only upgrade nodes you can easily defend and make sure your opponent doesn’t steal them. If you see an un-upgraded power node, cap it! Conversely, you should consider buying the first pylon of disputed power nodes, to stall the opponent from stealing it from you.
Finally, if you manage to get the advantage and get control of your opponents upgraded power node, but don’t think you can keep control of it, destroy the added pylons! This reversed scorched earth technique is very effective in locking an opponent in earlier tiers. Its probably a better strategy to just burn down pylons than try and cap an enemies power node (the time spent capping it can be put towards burning pylons).
These notes are specific to the Multiplayer game which is very different from the single player game. Hopefully these notes will evolve into a guide that will help with the difficult learning curve. Items marked with a * are things I’m not certain about.
Resourcing. Along with the concept of hard counters (using the right units to counter your opponents units), resourcing is the corner stone of all Real Time Strategy games. Resources come in over time, and are put to use in defeating your opponent. Gaining a resource advantage (either by gaining more resources or denying your opponent resources) is key to victory.
DOW2 builds on the resourcing concept of DOW1. Namely, you gain resourcing by capturing points on the map. Resourcing advantage therefore is tied to map control. There are 3 types of nodes that can be captured, each tied to a different resource:
Requisition
Power
Victory points
Global ability bar
Wait, that’s 4! The global ability resource (named as such because it is race dependant) is not tied to map control. I’ll talk more about it in the advanced concepts.
Victory points: Let’s look at this first since they’re only relevant if the control victory condition is active. When playing with this condition, there is a power bar at the top of the screen that represents the balance in victory points. You and your opponent both start out with 500 points. You cannot ever gain Victory points. The team that controls less Victory Nodes (Stars) will start to loose victory points. The more uneven the number of victory nodes controlled, the faster the points will trickle away. The first team to reach zero victory points looses.
If the victory condition is set to annihilate, Victory Nodes are removed from the map.
Requisition: This is the bread and butter of DOW2 resourcing. The minerals/gold you use to buy every unit in the game. You get this resource over time. If you want to gain more of this resource, you need to control resource points (orange Triangles*). Unlike in DOW1, you cannot reinforce Requisition nodes, and therefore you cannot ever increase your requisition gain* short of controlling more nodes (if there is a way of gaining more req, please tell me).
Note: I think this is the first big change that trips new players. This resourcing shift means that you CANNOT turtle. If you’re not out there controlling the map, you’re getting less req, period.
All MP maps are balanced. Each team has even resource points on their side of the map, with the odd points in the middle. This means that all things being equal, requisition will come in at an equal rate for both teams (assuming the middle point changes hand evenly).
Observation: Requisition Nodes can yield more requisition if you control them longer*.
Power: This resource is used to purchase upgrades, tech up, and buy higher tier units. Just like requisition, it comes in over time, but can be accelerated by controlling Power Nodes (Blue Lightening Bolts*). Unlike Requisition Nodes, Power Nodes can be reinforced and upgrade to yield better returns (like building listening posts in DOW1). You need to invest Req to upgrade your Power Nodes. Each upgrade increases the node by 5 power* and costs 100 reqs*. The first upgrade locks the power node by builing a pylon on it, and further upgrades add separate pylons. Power nodes cannot be uncapped unless you first destroy the first pylon (the one built on the node itself).
Note: If an upgraded Power Node changes hand, it will continue to yield the increased amount (even if the pylons were built by another faction).
In general, you do not need a lot of power in the early game. Tier one units need no or little power. You will need power if you are teching up/upgrading your units, but you will also need requisition. Upgrading every power node you find will cripple your economy (you’ll have tons of power, but no requisition to spend it on).
Note: In team games, resources are gained by all members of a party, regardless of who did the capping/upgrading. Everyone on a team will gain equal amounts of Req/Power.* This is not resource sharing: everyone has a separate wallet, but everyone has an equal income.
Map Control. Map control is intrinsically tied to resourcing in DOW2. The more nodes you control, the more resources you get. The more of the map you control, the less your opponent controls, the less resources he/they get.
Node Capping/Decapping. It takes twice as long to cap a node than to decap it. If you see an unguarded node, decap it. If no one comes to dispute it, stay around to cap it. The point is, decaping is resource denial, which is almost as good as resource stealing.
Requisition node capping is huge huge huge. Because these nodes cannot be reinforced, they change hands all the time. You should always try to have at least one squad running around capping/guarding req nodes. Even if you are totally loosing and trapped in your base! I’ve managed to turn games around at the last second by sneakily stealing Req nodes.
Power Node capping/upgrading. Obviously, since you’re investing precious requisition into upgrading power nodes, you should only upgrade nodes you can easily defend and make sure your opponent doesn’t steal them. If you see an un-upgraded power node, cap it! Conversely, you should consider buying the first pylon of disputed power nodes, to stall the opponent from stealing it from you.
Finally, if you manage to get the advantage and get control of your opponents upgraded power node, but don’t think you can keep control of it, destroy the added pylons! This reversed scorched earth technique is very effective in locking an opponent in earlier tiers. Its probably a better strategy to just burn down pylons than try and cap an enemies power node (the time spent capping it can be put towards burning pylons).