Tips and Advice

Tips and Advice on how to play Supreme Commander Forged Alliance better

Intro

I do recommend people to get forged alliance forever as thats where the majority of the community is.
I will explain some build orders and give you a better understanding of the game, how to keep a balanced economy, reclaiming, tactics, some benefits of the factions.

BUILD ORDERS & ADVICE

First thing I'm gonna explain is the maps, depending on the map will determine the build order, if the map has close spawns it would make sense to go for a land factory as the land factory is the least expensive in terms of unit cost. If the map has quite a bit of distance between the spawns it doesn't hurt to go Air Factory first as you wouldn't have to worry about being outnumbered and contained early on. The map will depend on the strategy, the amount of mass, the chokes, even reclaimable objects come into play for build orders. Survey the map and see whats most acceptable, if you aren't sure you can play it safe and build Land Factory first.

Land Factory = Mass focused
Air Factory = Power Focused
Navel Factory = Mass and Power Focused

No matter the map always build a factory first, never build power or extractors first in forged alliance, you lose time and will fall behind.
Land Factory is the most common first structure; it takes 2 power generators and 2 mass extractors to have the land factory self sustain.

In most cases I will Build with my commander:
Land Factory
2 Power Generators
2 Mass Extractors

Thats a basic startup, as soon as the Factory finishes queue up some engineers and start capturing more extractors and building more power generators, If there is a Hydrocarbon near your spawn, order an engineer to start building it, after the commander finishes doing the startup build tell him to assist in constructing the Hydrocarbon generator, as soon as he starts helping, order your engineer to do something else. Once the Hydrocarbon generator is complete, having support for an Air Factory is easier (since its power focused the hydrocarbon will compensate for the lack of T1 Power Generators)

Adjacency bonus is also something to keep in mind in the early game as it can help reduce costs of unit production (building a power generator beside an Air Factory for example would reduce the cost of its power)

To learn more about Adjacency bonus: http://supcom.wikia.com/wiki/Adjacency_bonus

Other Build Order

Air Factory
2 Power Generators
2 Mass Extractors
continue building more power generators
= This can support a quick bomber =


Also remember that if you are running low on resources reclaiming is helpful (simply select and engineer, hold down the ALT key and Left click behind a forest and the engineer will start reclaiming anything on its way) it will slow down the rate of losing resources and can give you an advantage in staying positive longer. There is many different reclaimable objects on the map, from trees to structures to destroyed units.

If you stay positive (both in Mass and Power) your production continues at normal speed, if either Mass or Power becomes completely negetive (no storage supply left and negetive income) production slows down. NOTE: If you run out of power, radar stops working, shields stop working so keep that in mind.

The Objective for resources is to avoid wasting but not run out. For example its okay to have negetive income, as long as you have resources in the storage you will not suffer from not having enough.

Storage units will increase the total amount of resources of Mass or Power you can hold at anytime. But are expensive and are not recommanded to build until you are about to or have reached Tech 2

To Learn more about Storage units: http://supcom.wikia.com/wiki/Storage_unit

FACTIONS

UEF:
Have good range and good damage
Good T1 Bombers
Good T2 Defences (has a T3 point defence also)
Good Commander (personal Shield generator, Tactical Missile, Mini Engineers)
Fragile Experimentals
Units move slower then other factions

Cybran:
Rapid Fire weapons but lack in range
T1 Gunship
Stealth and late game Commander (Stealth Generator, Microwave laser, Teleport Pack)
All purpose Experimentals
Units move quickly
T2 Defences can miss their targets constantly (no T3 point defence)
Less Damage

Aeon:
Amphibious units
Good Range and decent damage
T2 Intercepters
Good T2 Defences (no T3 point defence)
Adaptive Commander (Resource Generator, Fire rate and Range Weapon, Shield Generator)
Powerful Experimentals
Weaker Units (rely on shields)
Not many all purpose units

Seraphim:
Good damage and good health
Decent T2 Defence (can miss their targets constantly)
Powerful Air Experimental
Very Strong T2 Ground units
Strong Commander (Nano-Repair System, Restoration Field, Resource Generator)
Adverage Air units
Less units

TACTICS

If you have time to setup formations for open combat do so, the units spread out and organize themselves so that fragile units are in the back. This will help avoid AoE (area of effect) damage and avoid losing artillery early.

T1 Artillery is very useful as they have AoE and deal a lot of damage (they can take on Tech 2 units) They can also outrange a T1 Point Defence.
UEF Artillery have more AoE damage
Cybran Artillery have EMP projectiles
Aeon Artillery have faster fire rate
Seraphim Artillery have faster fire rate and more AoE Damage

Always remember that in the early game is best to have some scouts with your army as scouts have radars allowing them to be able to spot enemies for your moving army.

Sometimes its a good idea to build T1 Radars in key positions such as near chokes, Enemy expansion spots, ect. It will provide useful information on enemy positions and allow you to better plan.

Conclusion

I hope this was useful information, and help the newbies figure out the game better, just keep practicing. If you have any other questions I will try my best to anwser them. :)

If you think something else should be added to the guide let me know.

[Eat Your Tapeworm]

nerd

[erikandruscarpentry]

You should note that aeon T1 bombers also have emp attacks. When fighting a friend that has beaten me a few times in the past, the T1 bombers have allowed me take them down pretty quickly and easily.

Also, seraphim T1 artillery can hover.

[Brebs]

Thanks for the tips!

[Vanille_Essence]

thank you, good tips ill keep in mind

[ChAoS]

best help i have gotten ever!!
nice guide
100% helpfull

[masterch33f]

Very helpful

[Alpharius]

Pretty good tbh

[TheDevilNextDoor]

as someone who has had problems finding the differences in the factions this was very useful

[Juny Foo]

this guide was very useful

[MadTraXx]

if its no rush its best to build ike this.
extractor
generator
extractor
2 generators
upgrade extractor.
2 extractors.
factory.
(optional) a few engineers.
t2 upgrade.

those 650 starting mass == 68%++ of that extractor upgrade.
wich gives you enoug mass to instantly upgrade to t2,or go for another extractor upgrade.
now look at your points,if you done everything right you should be at the top.
and youll only be at -1 mass for about 5 sec.

also note if your just gonna build engineers,air factory costs less mass.