Fungal pass - learning curve gets quite steep!!

[valenti_scott]

Hello-
I'm on the campaign in the Fungal Pass. This is the first region where you have to defeat an enemy base.

The learning curve of the game turns into quite a cliff here, because there are a lot of well-defended enemy positions to attack, and your tech at this point does not allow for very strong units, like, tier 2 at most.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Venorik Barra]

The biggest bottleneck for this Fungal is coal. There simply isn't enough for both power and silicon production, which is why they get you to unlock the cultivator before you go here. Use water into cultivators/steam generator for your power, and all coal goes into silicone/graphite. From there, build as many Dagger factories as you can support, and just attack in waves. Be wary of taking too long though, the enemy does get 2 attack waves each timer, 1 from each base, and will eventually overwhelm you with either stronger units, or a Guardian.

[valenti_scott]

Ok, thanks. I haven't tried cultivators yet. I'll give them a try.

I'm getting ready to start a custom game, just for a change of pace...

[lonesh33p]

First region with enemy base sounds unusual. Bojianh wrote v6 campaign Q&A for v6 but a lot of it is still useful**.

Looks like I used T3-Horizon on my most recent PC playthru and T3-Fortress on tablet. Probably I did Salt Flats and Tar Fields before Fungal Pass in both cases.

Of course (as we always say) there is no wrong way to play. Challenge is good!

**Anuken did modify resources, so the suggestions to capture a numbered sector for a particular resource may not apply to v7.

[valenti_scott]

Thanks for the reply. I haven't done Salt Flats or Extraction Outpost.

Maybe I'll abandon Fungal Pass and try one of these others.

Tar Fields is locked. There are also several numbered sectors I could try, esp. if that would get me thorium. Thanks again.

[lonesh33p]

162 has no thorium in v7. 13 (adjacent to 162) does have thorium, but - I didn't take notes but I vaguely remember thinking I was doing it the hard way. Medium difficulty enemy base maybe. So, no easy path that I know of.

Salt Flats probably unlocks Tar Fields. Salt Flats is doable with T2 Atrax. That is probably the path of least resistance.

Yet one more unsolicited tip. When you do get thorium, max out production (water to the drills, etc.) before you leave the sector. You'll want it for research.

[valenti_scott]

Today I unlocked Tar Fields. Apparently I did this by unlocking the Coal Centrifuge and the spore press.

I did this while securing one of the numbered sectors, and spending some time in the Windswept Island.

[valenti_scott]

Thanks again for the ideas.

I secured Tar Flats and Impact 0078.

At this point I had thorium. I launched to an attack sector, Salt Flats. Here I could build some fortresses. So yeah, learning curve not so steep now.

[ZoidbergMD]

I think the "standard" tactic is "tower rush" when you take their structures with long-range towers such as Hail and Ripple and later Swarmer. Swarmer under cooling can often overcome the defensive turrets. Pyratite and Blast Compound work better than other early ammo. The waves become necessary only when you already have Ripples on the border of the base. Also, there's often an easy route around the defenses.