Beginners guide to getting started.

[Padds]

This is by no means an exhaustive guide, its going to detail one way to go about the tricky start phase, its almost certainly not the absolute best and its definitely not the only way to go about it but it does work and will give a new player a basic grasp of most of the core mechanics.

Research
As will be the theme as we go through the 4 main sections its all about getting a good return for your time. that means more combat power, better economy etc. research is the foundation its what unlocks your ability to progress the rest.


Alien Bio tech- to unlock the advanced warfare center

Resistance comms - allows you to start building your economy, this will probably not be available just yet it becomes available when central starts talking about the need to contact the local resistance until it is ready progress down the list theres also the tech to make radio towers pick that up when you start to need it

Hybrid materials , just to get access to

Magnetic weapons - lets you build t2 rifles pistols and shotguns, you must build rifles in engineering take pistols to if supplies are plentiful and skip shardguns , your rangers can equip the rifles instead so save teh supplies for something better.
Gauss weapons- unlocks t2 sniper rifles for your sharpshooters and t2 cannons for the grenadier.

Advent officer autopsy - to unlock proving ground

modular weapons to unlock

PLated armour.

then its up to you go for psionics if you want to build psych troopers or progress down the suggested route.


Engineering

Lets talk about the workshop first as its the key building to understanding how to lay out your base efficiently.
Any adjacent building to it can be staffed/built by the gremlins the workshop creates. so we want to put buildings in those spots that want to have Engineers stationed in them.

Prioritise excavation over building as buildings can build themselves but you have to use an engineer to excavate.


guerrilla tactics school (built on either side of the top row)- Take the improved squad size upgrade asap. when supplies are plentiful pick up vulture and the lightning movement (faster concealed movement) it also allows you to train a rookie to a squaddie and pick their class

Advanced warfare Center- built int eh middle of the top row ,This facility will give your troops occasional bonus skills out of their normal pool available pool for free when they level which is great, but the reason its such a priority is when an engineer is stationed here injury recovery time for your soldiers is halved! less down time for injuries means more leveling up a ore squad and less having to take mass rookies on a mission.

Power relay - because you now need it! build it in the last side space on the top row.

Resistance comms - Built on either side of the second row, time to start building up your economy making contacts

At some point on the map screen you will be offered a scanning opportunity to increase avenger power once you have done it

Workshop built in the middle of the second row. now one engineer stationed here can give you permanent staff in the comms and one to move about between the advance warfare facility and the proving grounds you will build soon on the workshops either side.

Now you want to find a power coil to build your next relay on , with luck its directly below your workshop but doesnt matter if not. you will need an early supply of alloys, you can get this either by excavating a section of machinery or wait for a resource raid to pop on the map screen.
After you have your next power relay built on a shielded core build the proving grounds adjacent to the workshop and then its up to you to start choosing where you need to go most.


The main map screen

Always take time sensitive missions as they pop , always. but between them its a matter of prioritising what you really need.

1-spread your network . this is prime as your capacity for contacts grows fill it. build radio tower in junctions and never go more than two squares without building one. it costs 30 60 90 intel as you go 1 2 3 steps away from a tower. and intel is precious , far more so than supplies.

2. supplies despite what i say in 1 , at the very start supplies will be the thing you need to focus on you have a lot of rooms , equipment and troops to purchase.

3. Avenger power and contacts - great rewards very valuable grab them asap!

3. Soldiers loot and equipment - these things tend to be very low reward for time and should generally be acquired last unless you have a specific set of circumstances that dictate other wise for eg being low ont roops out of supplies and needing more meat for the grinder.


It doesn't matter when in a supply cycle you improve infrastructure , dont spend the time just after a supply drop making contacts if theres something that will give a more immediate tactical advantage to get now.

keep an eye on the expected times for retaliation strikes (comes up on the dark events screens) these tend to be some of the harshest combat missions , and if your expecting one in a week might be a good idea to not send your A team out on a supply raid if there going to miss the main event injured.

spread your contacts towards known shadow facilities and large junctions to maximise your chance of being able to reach new ones.


Boots on the ground

Its getting late im tired and my chickens almost roasted! so this sections going to get a bit short changed , for now at least.

1. pick a scout, i use a specialist, its a bit counter intuitive to send the medic in on point but it makes game logic sense, hes the least firepower if i cant bring his guns to bare it doesn't matter half as much as not being able to lay down marksman fire because i moved the sniper earlier in the round.

The scout moves first. the scout is the only character that ever discovers Enemy pods. every other moves to cover with the area safely scouted by the first guy. if your last guy triggers a pod you have no way to act before they do. if your first guy finds them the other 4-5 can kill most if not all of them before they shoot.

Only ever trigger one pod at once, think about where your scouts going, are you revealing a lot of space in multiple directions? thats a good way to get swamped.

Dont ever double move into the fog. always do a blue move then a yellow if theres any chance of finding an enemy

Cover is life , hug it! not only are you far less likely to be hit even in low cover the odds of that hit being a critical are massively lower, never not be behind cover. the inverse is equally true. dont allow your foe to take cover. set up over-watches to shoot them between cover or before they get there. blow it up with a grenade, move to flank


Use everything. being above them gives you 20% bonus to hit, hitting explosive scenery is always a 100% shot it might be nigh impossible to hit that viper but perhaps there is a gas tank nearby you can hit.

Thing about any synergy or abilities you have, the grenadiers canon tree is great. and should always be the first guy to shoot. it can shred off armour and holo target giving everyone else a +15% chance to hit

get in close range to get a better shot , unless your using a sniper rifle.

dont waste shots on slim chances, theres no point shooting at a 25% or less unless its hail mary time, look for a better angle a different option a way to modify the field or just go for over watch and hope they move giving you a better shot. your not just wasting that action you are increasing reloads to.

Use mods that make sense, +ammo and free reloads are best on low ammo weapons like caanons and snipers. if your sniper has 80 aim high ground squad sight and your teams diligent on removing cover perhaps that +15% aim scope might be better on the grenadier , after all your scout shoots less and your rangers are stabbing more than shooting.

RNG happens if you have no backup plan to deal with that critical enemy , even if your doing 90% accurate flanking shots 1 time in 10 your going to find your cheese in the wind so always have a reserve move. maybe instead of firing first with the sniper use it as a safety net.

look for the red bars. the map is always outlined by red bars you can see, work out what corner you are in and dont blindly run through the middle of the map. its a great way to run into mass enemies, instead go along a side. or at least parallel to one


Turn limits. so long as you play sensibly but to a safe limit there is plenty of time to progress forward achieve teh goal and get out without taking silly risks still have turns to spare, im talking on average here. of course you will get easy ones and rough ones when it hits the fan. but generally the average mission should be comfortable. if your routinely running into too much heat check your scouting, if your running out of time, well nut up and be more aggressive. theres always a chance you have fallen behind in gear/levels the timed missions will show that up before anything else because they require a level of efficiency normal missions do not.

[PRSRVRE]

Great stuff. Thanks!

[Psycho Judge Metal Gear]

Thanks for the tips!

So are you suggesting to save building a workshop for later on, after having built those several other things?

So far I've only built a Proving Ground and cleared a couple nearby rooms.