Zero-K - User contributions [en]

Dart

2017-04-26T00:34:31Z

Hedgehogs: 40--->35

The '''{{PAGENAME}}''' is a raider/scout vehicle from the [[Light Vehicle Factory]].{{ Infobox zkunit
| name = Dart
| defname = corfav
| description = Raider/Scout Vehicle
| image = http://manual.zero-k.info/unitpics/corfav.png
| cost = 35
| hitpoints = 120
| movespeed = 153
| turnrate = 181
| sight = 580
| transportable = Light
| weapons =
{{ Infobox zkweapon
| name = Laser
| type = LaserCannon
| damage = 55
| reloadtime = 1
| dps = 55
| range = 180
| projectilespeed = 1800
}}
}}==Description==
Cheap and fast, the Dart is deadly in the first minutes of the game if your opponent is caught off-guard. Use missile towers, LLTs or any quick units to stop them.

{{Navbox units}}

Dagger

2017-04-26T00:33:48Z

Hedgehogs: 110--->100

The '''{{PAGENAME}}''' is a fast attack hovercraft from the [[Hovercraft Platform]].{{ Infobox zkunit
| name = Dagger
| defname = corsh
| description = Fast Attack Hovercraft
| image = http://manual.zero-k.info/unitpics/corsh.png
| cost = 80
| hitpoints = 300
| movespeed = 144
| turnrate = 111
| sight = 560
| sonar = 560
| transportable = Light
| weapons =
{{ Infobox zkweapon
| name = Gauss Cannon
| type = Cannon
| damage = 100
| reloadtime = 3
| dps = 33
| shielddamage = 150
| range = 210
| inaccuracy = 0.80
| projectilespeed = 2200
| special1 = Piercing
}}
}}==Description==
The Dagger is the hover plant's scout. It provides a cheap, disposable method of getting intel, and can also hit economic targets of opportunity. Its light Gauss gun can also hit underwater targets.

{{Navbox units}}

Factory tips

2016-11-20T05:12:35Z

Hedgehogs: Created page with "Tips: *Focus on battle. Leave cons be and don't waste time with them, if you are engaged, fighting is your main priority. *Repeat is good. This alleviates some stress from hav..."

Tips:
*Focus on battle.
Leave cons be and don't waste time with them, if you are engaged, fighting is your main priority.
*Repeat is good.
This alleviates some stress from having to constantly babysit the factory, but watch out if someone has found a counter. If that happens change the composition immediately.
*No two factories are the same.
What can counter one thing may not neccesarily counter another, and this is true for factories. Avoid using the same counter compositon repeatedly.
*Close? Or Far? Where should I place my other factory?
If your factory is either a Gunship or Air, it is better to place it far away in the back as the distance is often negligible. The biggest one is for slow ground units, should it be close to the front line, or far? If you are close, an attack can come very quickly towards the factory and destroy it. However, reinforcements arrive much quicker and may be able to destroy an incoming attack. If your far, it is opposite, as the factory can not be attacked easily, but the reinforcements will take some time.
*Switching?
If you switch the factory, you can surprise the enemy and destroy their units quickly and efficiently. However, making the second factory does slow down production and new units will take some time to be built. However, if this can win the game, use it. Once you do this, leave the old factory so in the even the new one is destroyed, the old one can build again. This is perfect if you swapped to air as the enemy will probabaly have anti-aircrafr, and will lose lots of units if you attack with normal ground units.
*Learn the factory.
IF you have a favorite factory, learn [i] everything [/i] about it and how it is used, how it can be used, and what it is best at. These do help in combat.

Manual

2016-11-20T05:00:05Z

Hedgehogs: /* Strategy Guides */

For other languages, [http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=de&sl=en&tl=de&u=http%3A%2F%2Fzero-k.info%2FWiki%2FManual choose your language on translate.google.com]

''"You can Maek D-Fenz, or you can play the game"'' - Ivory King

''"Don't try to make your econ grow faster than his, try to make his grow slower than yours."'' - KDR_11k

== Getting Started ==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyOyFjixIzs Getting Started from the lobby to the game (10 minute video)]
* [[Interface]]
* [[Newbie Guide|Newbie Guide Part 1]]
* [[Newbie Guide 2|Newbie Guide Part 2]]
* [[Economy Guide|Basic Economy Guide]]
* [[Help for other RTS players|Help for Other RTS Players]]
* [[Gameplay dos and don'ts|Dos and Dont's]]

== Units ==
=== Unit References ===
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/epicmenu/robot2.png" height='16' align="center" /> [http://zero-k.info/Static/UnitGuide Unit List]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/advplayerslist/units.png" height='16' align="center" /> [[Unit classes|Unit Classes]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/advplayerslist/war.png" height='16' align="center" /> [[Weapon classes|Weapon Classes]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/commands/states/stealth_on.png" height='16' align="center" /> [[Map icons|Unit Radar Icons]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/module_areashield.png" height='16' align="center" /> [[Commander]]s

=== Unit Abilities ===
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/commands/states/cloak_on.png" width='16' align="center" /> [[Cloak]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/health.png" height='16' align="center" /> [[Shields]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/commands/ramp.png" height='16' align="center" /> [[Terraform]]ing

=== Unit Features ===
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/commands/states/on.png" height='16' align="center" /> [[Unit states|Unit States]] ''(wip)''
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/commands/states/bulb_on.png" height='16' align="center" /> [[Unit AI]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/commands/Bold/embark.png" height='16' align="center" /> [[Transport AI]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/commands/states/retreat_90.png" height='16' align="center" /> [[Retreat|Retreat Command]]

== General Features ==
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/commands/Bold/mex.png" height='16' align="center"/> [[Overdrive|Overdrive System]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/advplayerslist/diplomacy.png" height='16' align="center"/> [[Ceasefire]]s
* <img src="http://packages.springrts.com/zkmanual/unitpics/chicken.png" height='16' align="center"/> [[Chicken Defense]]

== Further Game Info ==
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/epicmenu/control_panel.png" height='16' align="center"/> [[Hotkeys|Customizing Hotkeys]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/epicmenu/questionmark.png" height='16' align="center"/> [[FAQ]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/epicmenu/questionmark.png" height='16' align="center"/> [[Abbreviations]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/advplayerslist/Ranks/rank5.png" height='16' align="center"/> [[Award]]s
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/commands/Bold/build.png" height='16' align="center"/> [http://springrts.com/wiki/UI_commands Engine commands]
* [[File:Soldier.png]] [[Matchmaking]]

== Strategy Guides ==
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/advplayerslist/cpuping.png" height='16' align="center"/> [[Strategy Treatise]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/energy.png" height='16' align="center"/> [[Wind Farm Guide|Wind Farming]]
* [[Factory tips]]

== Tournament Info ==

* [[Tournaments]]
* [http://zero-k.info/Forum/Thread/20258 Archive of Past Tournaments]

== Planetwars ==
* [[PlanetWars|Introduction to Planetwars]]
* [[PlanetWars attack|Attacking]]
* [[PlanetWars influence|Influence]]
* [[PlanetWars initiative|Initiative]]
* [[PlanetWars ships|Ships]]
* [[PlanetWars structures|Structures]]
* [[PlanetWars economy|Economy]]
* [[PlanetWars faction roles|Faction Roles]]
* [[PlanetWars events|Events]]
* [[PlanetWars factions|History]]

{{Navbox manual}}

Manual

2016-11-17T10:05:46Z

Hedgehogs: /* Strategy Guides */

For other languages, [http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=de&sl=en&tl=de&u=http%3A%2F%2Fzero-k.info%2FWiki%2FManual choose your language on translate.google.com]

''"You can Maek D-Fenz, or you can play the game"'' - Ivory King

''"Don't try to make your econ grow faster than his, try to make his grow slower than yours."'' - KDR_11k

== Getting Started ==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyOyFjixIzs Getting Started from the lobby to the game (10 minute video)]
* [[Interface]]
* [[Newbie Guide|Newbie Guide Part 1]]
* [[Newbie Guide 2|Newbie Guide Part 2]]
* [[Economy Guide|Basic Economy Guide]]
* [[Help for other RTS players|Help for Other RTS Players]]
* [[Gameplay dos and don'ts|Dos and Dont's]]

== Units ==
=== Unit References ===
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/epicmenu/robot2.png" height='16' align="center" /> [http://zero-k.info/Static/UnitGuide Unit List]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/advplayerslist/units.png" height='16' align="center" /> [[Unit classes|Unit Classes]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/advplayerslist/war.png" height='16' align="center" /> [[Weapon classes|Weapon Classes]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/commands/states/stealth_on.png" height='16' align="center" /> [[Map icons|Unit Radar Icons]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/module_areashield.png" height='16' align="center" /> [[Commander]]s

=== Unit Abilities ===
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/commands/states/cloak_on.png" width='16' align="center" /> [[Cloak]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/health.png" height='16' align="center" /> [[Shields]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/commands/ramp.png" height='16' align="center" /> [[Terraform]]ing

=== Unit Features ===
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/commands/states/on.png" height='16' align="center" /> [[Unit states|Unit States]] ''(wip)''
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/commands/states/bulb_on.png" height='16' align="center" /> [[Unit AI]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/commands/Bold/embark.png" height='16' align="center" /> [[Transport AI]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/commands/states/retreat_90.png" height='16' align="center" /> [[Retreat|Retreat Command]]

== General Features ==
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/commands/Bold/mex.png" height='16' align="center"/> [[Overdrive|Overdrive System]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/advplayerslist/diplomacy.png" height='16' align="center"/> [[Ceasefire]]s
* <img src="http://packages.springrts.com/zkmanual/unitpics/chicken.png" height='16' align="center"/> [[Chicken Defense]]

== Further Game Info ==
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/epicmenu/control_panel.png" height='16' align="center"/> [[Hotkeys|Customizing Hotkeys]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/epicmenu/questionmark.png" height='16' align="center"/> [[FAQ]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/epicmenu/questionmark.png" height='16' align="center"/> [[Abbreviations]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/advplayerslist/Ranks/rank5.png" height='16' align="center"/> [[Award]]s
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/commands/Bold/build.png" height='16' align="center"/> [http://springrts.com/wiki/UI_commands Engine commands]
* [[File:Soldier.png]] [[Matchmaking]]

== Strategy Guides ==
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/advplayerslist/cpuping.png" height='16' align="center"/> [[Strategy Treatise]]
* <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/LuaUI/Images/energy.png" height='16' align="center"/> [[Wind Farm Guide|Wind Farming]]
* [[Unit combos and Tips]]

== Planetwars ==
* [[PlanetWars|Introduction to Planetwars]]
* [[PlanetWars attack|Attacking]]
* [[PlanetWars influence|Influence]]
* [[PlanetWars initiative|Initiative]]
* [[PlanetWars ships|Ships]]
* [[PlanetWars structures|Structures]]
* [[PlanetWars economy|Economy]]
* [[PlanetWars faction roles|Faction Roles]]
* [[PlanetWars events|Events]]
* [[PlanetWars factions|History]]

{{Navbox manual}}

User:Hedgehogs

2016-11-05T09:58:15Z

Hedgehogs:

Hedgehogs is a spider factory builder.
He also likes making other factories and trying them out.
He prefers large teamgames over 1v1
Easy strat:
Riot+Riot.
Redback+Venom.
Stun enemy units and keep them that way. Make sure to kite.
Send Redbacks and slay.
9Man squad (My attack, slays many units if done well)
Needs:
1Weaver
2 Recluse
2 Redback
2 Venom
2Flea (Optional)
Super simple.
Set Weaver to "Guard area" so it heals the squad (exclude the fleas, move squad away so you can easily use guard.
Send it Venoms under cover fire from Recluse.
Stun enemy units, hit with Recluse to damage first and make easier.
Slay with Redbacks&Recluse.
Kite any plasma units, stay away from leveler (Massive AOE) and Mace (Very very strong)
Use Recluse to kill these.
Redback is primary, as it does the damage and slays units. Keep alive
Weaver will heal&Reclaim
Flea KOs whatever.
Keep kiting every unit you see.
Have used vs AI&enemy players.
Watchout for Venom/Skester/Rackateer.
Works good with other units.
Artilerry screws over this, unless Venom can stun it.

Reef

2016-11-05T09:50:31Z

Hedgehogs:

The '''{{PAGENAME}}''' is an aircraft carrier (bombardment)from the [[Strider Hub]].{{ Infobox zkunit
| name = Reef
| defname = reef
| description = Aircraft Carrier (Bombardment) & Anti-Nuke
| image = http://packages.springrts.com/zkmanual/unitpics/reef.png
| cost = 3500
| hitpoints = 7500
| mass = 742
| movespeed = 83
| turnrate = 38
| sight = 1105
| weapons =
{{ Infobox zkweapon
| name = Cruise Missile
| type = StarburstLauncher
| damage = 902
| reloadtime = 6
| dps = 150
| range = 1550
| aoe = 48
| projectilespeed = 10000
}}
| abilities =
{{ Infobox zkability intel
| radar = 1200
}}
}}==Description==
The most versatile ship on the high seas, the carrier serves several functions. It is equipped with cruise missiles for long range engagements and it also serves as a mobile repair base for friendly aircraft. Perhaps most notably, the carrier provides its own complement of surface attack drones to engage targets.

{{Navbox units}}

Strategy Treatise

2016-10-29T22:10:13Z

Hedgehogs: /* General Tips */

== General Tips ==
* '''Greed is good.''' Always try to get more metal than you currently have (preferably by claiming mexes), and always try to spend your metal as fast as you can. This cannot be overstated: ''maximize your metal throughput.'' Make more units, claim more ground, reclaim and mex more, repeat.
* '''Team games are not a few 1v1s strung together.''' You have teammates who can help you in your engagements, and whom you can help in theirs. This means you ''don't'' have to attack the guy directly in front of you; it's often more productive to attack the one in front of the ally ''next to you''. This increases your strength as per the Square Law, and can allow for combined arms tactics involving multiple unit types even if either you or your ally have been making only one or two unit types yourselves.
*'''Energy is a good resource'''
Energy should be a very defended building, as they do countless tasks, from overdriving to powering defenses. You should be building energy steadily as the game progresses, and linking the energy to as many mexes as safe as you can.
*'''Have some more buildpower'''
Use caretakers for your factory needs, so other mobile constructors can make other things, and as the caretaker has a high nanopower, it is very good for factories on repeat. This allows you to have spare constructors, so you should make them reclaim,expand,repair, make defenses,create more powerplants, or, simply help the constructor make units.
*'''Scout the enemy'''
Unlike other RTS games, scouting here is very important, as it stops you wasting units and allows you to prepare for a fight, or kill a small enemy group before they are ready. Using advanced radar or simple radar is a way of scouting,but sight via units is more accurate as it doesn't have radar wobble. Those that cloak (Infiltrator/Flea) are better as they are invisible and can close up on an enemy base and not be spotted.

'''Repair your units'''
While a unit gives 40% for it's wreckage, a unit that is still alive and can fight is infinitely better than a dead one. Repair units when they are damaged, and if the fight is too strong, retreat, there may be honor in sacrifice, but alive units do more damage in the end

== Lanchester's Square Law ==
It's no secret that a big army stands a good chance of beating a smaller army. However, the larger force's advantage can be a lot bigger than you think.

Suppose you have a certain amount of artillery, and your enemy has a different amount of identical artillery, and both are steadily shooting at each other and reducing each other's numbers. If everything else is equal, who's stronger? Obviously, whoever has more guns. How much stronger? Obviously, the proportion between the size of the first army and the size of the second, right? Blue has three times as many field guns as red, so blue is three times as strong.

"Wrong!" said Frederick William Lanchester, a British engineer and mathematician who lived from the middle 19th century through the end of World War II.

In 1916, Lanchester devised a series of differential equations to demonstrate the power relationships between opposing forces. Among these were Lanchester's Linear Law (applicable to ancient combat, where engagements on the individual level were purely one-on-one), and Lanchester's Square Law (for modern combat, where multiple individuals can attack a single target). It is the square law that concerns us here in ZK.

According to the square law, the relative strength of two forces is given by the ratio of the ''squares'' of their relative numbers. Thus, while two Stumpies are four times as strong as one, four Stumpies are sixteen times as strong as one. Note that the Square Law does not apply to multiple weak units against a single strong unit: for a lone tank A to be able to compete with four opposing B-tanks, tank A needs to be qualitatively four times better (four times damage, four times HP) than an individual tank B.

The Square Law is why ten Reapers take a lot less than 50% losses when squaring off against five Reapers.

=== Anti-Square Laws ===
So, if numbers are so important, then why doesn't sheer spam win out every time? There are several reasons for this:
* '''Limitations to simultaneous engagement.''' Due to constraints such as range, there is a limit to how many units in a force can engage the enemy at a given time. While both sides are at this limit, the battle will tend to follow the Linear Law; the attrition rate will be based on the linear ratio of combatants currently engaged (unity if the same number of units on both sides can fire at any given moment). Since more expensive units have longer range and higher density, they have a higher engagement limit (ie. more of your metal goes to shooting rather than sitting around) and can thus gain the upper hand over swarmers in choked conditions.
* '''AoE weapons.''' While the Square Law assumes that any individual unit may only fire upon one target at a time, many riot units in ZK have AoE weapons that allow multiple units to be damaged at once. As a result, they tend to do several times more damage to large groups of small units than to smaller, more dispersed groups, or larger units (where usually only one unit at a time takes significant damage, as opposed to several for the swarm).
* '''Weightclass and attrition.''' Because a ZK unit retains full firepower until the moment of death, a group of small units can lose strength over time due to attrition while a single large unit does not. However, as the number of combatants involved increases, the weightclass advantage diminishes as both sides suffer attrition at increasingly equal rates.

=== What does all this mean to me? ===
Due to the squaring effect, you should take note of the following:
* '''Focus fire''' - it's how the law works, after all. The more enemy units you destroy, the bigger your advantage gets.
* '''Pool your forces''', including with allies. Even a few extra units can really tilt the battle in your favor. By creating local superiority during battles, you can even overcome an enemy who has more forces on the global level.
* '''Formate your units.''' A good formation allows more of your boys to be shooting theirs at once; even if this advantage lasts for only a few seconds, it can significantly affect the outcome of a battle. Moreover, the less clumped your units are, the less AoE weapons can hurt them. Always try to have a line or encirclement formation when joining battle.
* '''Don't have metal in your storage.''' When even one tank makes a difference, it goes without saying that you want as many units as you can possibly get.

== Basic Aggression ==
''Why you should be attacking''

This is more a philosophy of how you should be playing, but if you want to be better at the game, one of the key principles is just to be aggressive. Its a war game, so fight! Put simply, you cannot win by defending. The only way you'll ever win by defending is boring the enemy to death. You'll have to attack eventually, so why not attack now instead of later? Sure, later you'll have more units and economy, but so will he.

But, attacking is also a sound economic decision. Metal is the most important resource. The only way to get metal is to expand and take Metal Extractors, or to fight the enemy and reclaim their wrecks. Thus, metal is territorial- you must always be trying to gain territory from the enemy to get more metal. This means aggression.

If you build a lot of energy structures to overdrive your mexes it gives you no advantage- the enemy can do the same thing, and will do so faster if he is more aggressive about taking mexes.

Take the situation of a 4v4. On one team, 3 players fight, one builds economic structures. On the other, all 4 fight.

Given equal skill, the 4 fighting players will win- they will take more territory, more metal spots, and when they destroy their enemies they will get to reclaim all the wrecks (both from their own dead units, and the enemies). All it takes is 1 commander wreck and they have a huge economic lead- probably much more than the player who goes pure economy, while having wiped out all his allies.

What if all players from team 1 porc defences, and on team 2 they attack all out?

Even assuming team 1 manage to take at least half the map (which, given a less offensive approach, is unlikely) an intelligent team 2 will see the amount of defenses they have, and know that this means less offensive units. Having the advantage in offensive units mean they need not fear attack from the enemy- they have more mobiles and can thus always beat him even with only token static defense. Team 2 can spend the rest on economy consolidation, much more than the players who are devoting their resources to defenses.

Even though static defences are, on average, 2.5x as cost-effective as mobile units they must be spread thin over a larger area. This means an attacker can concentrate his forces on a single point in the defensive line (perhaps softening it with an artillery barrage), taking on only a fraction of the enemies turrets while the rest of the defensive structures sit idle and useless.

So attack. It's the only way to win.

== Defending vs Attacking ==

''Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive.''
— '''Sun Tzu'''

Defense structures in ZK are generally a match for twice their cost in mobiles. This, along with the simplicity of managing them, makes it tempting for players (not all of whom are new) to use them a lot (not just in turtling without expansion, but also during confrontations after boundary lines have been drawn).

It goes without saying that this is a Very Bad Idea™ indeed.

Mobile units being, well, mobile, means that they can gather in a single area (namely, where the action is happening), while statics, being rooted to one spot, must be spread evenly across the defensive perimeter. This means that attackers can easily achieve local net superiority over a static-reliant defense, resulting in a line of useless d-fenz and a breach in the line - and that's before we discuss the effects of artillery against statics. In contrast, mobiles can respond to an attack at any point, relying on the few local statics to give them the small but crucial net advantage over the enemy.

Therefore, a better player will concentrate defense only at key points and sprinkle it over the rest of his/her perimeter, relying primarily on mobiles for defense. But is there an even more effective way?

''Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.''
— '''Sun Tzu'''

Yes, the best way to resolve the problem of static vs mobile defense is to leave the question to your opponent. By attacking, you force the enemy into a defensive posture, forcing them to spend more on defense while you have to spend less. With more resources for mobiles, you can contest mex spots and wrecks more effectively, resulting in an even greater resource advantage. Additionally, the psychological pressure will make your opponent more prone to making mistakes, which you can exploit effectively to create a similarly vicious cycle.

Be wary of those who do expand, but slowly as they porc and build up mobile defenses, as they can not only outexpand, but they also have defensive installations, making defenses that cannot be breached easily
''So attack. It's the only way to win.''
— '''Saktoth'''

== Maneuvers ==
=== Crossing the T / Enfilade ===
Most players know that most units (skirmishers in particular) do best in a line or encirclement formation, which allows the maximum amount of forward firepower. The best way to counter this is to run up beside the line, and then down the line (parallel to it). This move, known as crossing the T or enfilade, exploits the weakness of the line formation as units on the far end of the line will often be out of range and/or obstructed by friendly units further up the line. Frontal attacks on a line should be avoided whenever possible.

http://licho.eu/alba/caguide/misc_enfilade.jpg

This maneuver also works on static defenses, although open ends in the line to flank are generally less frequent and it's usually better to ignore the rest of the line and proceed straight to the base once the perimeter is breached.

=== The Shield and the Rapier ===
When a head-on assault on a defense line is called for, one trick to increasing your firepower is to mix some raiders with assault units. The assault units close in first to draw fire from enemy defenses, then the raiders move in for the kill with their superior DPS. In addition to increasing the odds of a successful breakthrough, this also makes a raider force immediately available to attack the enemy's logistics once the enemy's defense line has been penetrated.
===The Bow and the Spear===
When you have lots of skirmishers, mix them with riot bots as you attack an enemy group. The skirmishers can handle the other skirmishers and assaults, units riots have problems fighting (The former will kite and the latter can tank and destroy) while the riots kill swarms of raiders and units that are jinking the fire from your skirmishers. This stops fast units breaking through and slaying your skirmishers, or skirmishers outranging your riots and killing them with no attriton. The riots will also kill the weakened units fast, so the skirmishers don't need to reload to kill the units that survived the barrage

== Aphorisms ==
''Looking for a spiritual successor to the Goatly Maxims.'' - KR
* Speed kills.
* He who defends everything defends nothing.
* When you lose sight of your strategic goal, a thousand tactical victories shall amount to nothing.
* He who plays to achieve victory will accomplish it; he who plays to avoid defeat merely prolongs it.
*Know the enemy and know yourself, and you shall not be defeated, not once in a thousand battles-Sun Tzu
{{Navbox manual}}
[[Category:Strategy]]

Strategy Treatise

2016-10-29T22:07:49Z

Hedgehogs: /* Defending vs Attacking */

== General Tips ==
* '''Greed is good.''' Always try to get more metal than you currently have (preferably by claiming mexes), and always try to spend your metal as fast as you can. This cannot be overstated: ''maximize your metal throughput.'' Make more units, claim more ground, reclaim and mex more, repeat.
* '''Team games are not a few 1v1s strung together.''' You have teammates who can help you in your engagements, and whom you can help in theirs. This means you ''don't'' have to attack the guy directly in front of you; it's often more productive to attack the one in front of the ally ''next to you''. This increases your strength as per the Square Law, and can allow for combined arms tactics involving multiple unit types even if either you or your ally have been making only one or two unit types yourselves.
*'''Energy is a good resource'''
Energy should be a very defended building, as they do countless tasks, from overdriving to powering defenses. You should be building energy steadily as the game progresses, and linking the energy to as many mexes as safe as you can.
*'''Have some more buildpower'''
Use caretakers for your factory needs, so other mobile constructors can make other things, and as the caretaker has a high nanopower, it is very good for factories on repeat. This allows you to have spare constructors, so you should make them reclaim,expand,repair, make defenses,create more powerplants, or, simply help the constructor make units.
*'''Scout the enemy'''
Unlike other RTS games, scouting here is very important, as it stops you wasting units and allows you to prepare for a fight, or kill a small enemy group before they are ready. Using advanced radar or simple radar is a way of scouting,but sight via units is more accurate as it doesn't have radar wobble. Those that cloak (Infiltrator/Flea) are better as they are invisible

== Lanchester's Square Law ==
It's no secret that a big army stands a good chance of beating a smaller army. However, the larger force's advantage can be a lot bigger than you think.

Suppose you have a certain amount of artillery, and your enemy has a different amount of identical artillery, and both are steadily shooting at each other and reducing each other's numbers. If everything else is equal, who's stronger? Obviously, whoever has more guns. How much stronger? Obviously, the proportion between the size of the first army and the size of the second, right? Blue has three times as many field guns as red, so blue is three times as strong.

"Wrong!" said Frederick William Lanchester, a British engineer and mathematician who lived from the middle 19th century through the end of World War II.

In 1916, Lanchester devised a series of differential equations to demonstrate the power relationships between opposing forces. Among these were Lanchester's Linear Law (applicable to ancient combat, where engagements on the individual level were purely one-on-one), and Lanchester's Square Law (for modern combat, where multiple individuals can attack a single target). It is the square law that concerns us here in ZK.

According to the square law, the relative strength of two forces is given by the ratio of the ''squares'' of their relative numbers. Thus, while two Stumpies are four times as strong as one, four Stumpies are sixteen times as strong as one. Note that the Square Law does not apply to multiple weak units against a single strong unit: for a lone tank A to be able to compete with four opposing B-tanks, tank A needs to be qualitatively four times better (four times damage, four times HP) than an individual tank B.

The Square Law is why ten Reapers take a lot less than 50% losses when squaring off against five Reapers.

=== Anti-Square Laws ===
So, if numbers are so important, then why doesn't sheer spam win out every time? There are several reasons for this:
* '''Limitations to simultaneous engagement.''' Due to constraints such as range, there is a limit to how many units in a force can engage the enemy at a given time. While both sides are at this limit, the battle will tend to follow the Linear Law; the attrition rate will be based on the linear ratio of combatants currently engaged (unity if the same number of units on both sides can fire at any given moment). Since more expensive units have longer range and higher density, they have a higher engagement limit (ie. more of your metal goes to shooting rather than sitting around) and can thus gain the upper hand over swarmers in choked conditions.
* '''AoE weapons.''' While the Square Law assumes that any individual unit may only fire upon one target at a time, many riot units in ZK have AoE weapons that allow multiple units to be damaged at once. As a result, they tend to do several times more damage to large groups of small units than to smaller, more dispersed groups, or larger units (where usually only one unit at a time takes significant damage, as opposed to several for the swarm).
* '''Weightclass and attrition.''' Because a ZK unit retains full firepower until the moment of death, a group of small units can lose strength over time due to attrition while a single large unit does not. However, as the number of combatants involved increases, the weightclass advantage diminishes as both sides suffer attrition at increasingly equal rates.

=== What does all this mean to me? ===
Due to the squaring effect, you should take note of the following:
* '''Focus fire''' - it's how the law works, after all. The more enemy units you destroy, the bigger your advantage gets.
* '''Pool your forces''', including with allies. Even a few extra units can really tilt the battle in your favor. By creating local superiority during battles, you can even overcome an enemy who has more forces on the global level.
* '''Formate your units.''' A good formation allows more of your boys to be shooting theirs at once; even if this advantage lasts for only a few seconds, it can significantly affect the outcome of a battle. Moreover, the less clumped your units are, the less AoE weapons can hurt them. Always try to have a line or encirclement formation when joining battle.
* '''Don't have metal in your storage.''' When even one tank makes a difference, it goes without saying that you want as many units as you can possibly get.

== Basic Aggression ==
''Why you should be attacking''

This is more a philosophy of how you should be playing, but if you want to be better at the game, one of the key principles is just to be aggressive. Its a war game, so fight! Put simply, you cannot win by defending. The only way you'll ever win by defending is boring the enemy to death. You'll have to attack eventually, so why not attack now instead of later? Sure, later you'll have more units and economy, but so will he.

But, attacking is also a sound economic decision. Metal is the most important resource. The only way to get metal is to expand and take Metal Extractors, or to fight the enemy and reclaim their wrecks. Thus, metal is territorial- you must always be trying to gain territory from the enemy to get more metal. This means aggression.

If you build a lot of energy structures to overdrive your mexes it gives you no advantage- the enemy can do the same thing, and will do so faster if he is more aggressive about taking mexes.

Take the situation of a 4v4. On one team, 3 players fight, one builds economic structures. On the other, all 4 fight.

Given equal skill, the 4 fighting players will win- they will take more territory, more metal spots, and when they destroy their enemies they will get to reclaim all the wrecks (both from their own dead units, and the enemies). All it takes is 1 commander wreck and they have a huge economic lead- probably much more than the player who goes pure economy, while having wiped out all his allies.

What if all players from team 1 porc defences, and on team 2 they attack all out?

Even assuming team 1 manage to take at least half the map (which, given a less offensive approach, is unlikely) an intelligent team 2 will see the amount of defenses they have, and know that this means less offensive units. Having the advantage in offensive units mean they need not fear attack from the enemy- they have more mobiles and can thus always beat him even with only token static defense. Team 2 can spend the rest on economy consolidation, much more than the players who are devoting their resources to defenses.

Even though static defences are, on average, 2.5x as cost-effective as mobile units they must be spread thin over a larger area. This means an attacker can concentrate his forces on a single point in the defensive line (perhaps softening it with an artillery barrage), taking on only a fraction of the enemies turrets while the rest of the defensive structures sit idle and useless.

So attack. It's the only way to win.

== Defending vs Attacking ==

''Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive.''
— '''Sun Tzu'''

Defense structures in ZK are generally a match for twice their cost in mobiles. This, along with the simplicity of managing them, makes it tempting for players (not all of whom are new) to use them a lot (not just in turtling without expansion, but also during confrontations after boundary lines have been drawn).

It goes without saying that this is a Very Bad Idea™ indeed.

Mobile units being, well, mobile, means that they can gather in a single area (namely, where the action is happening), while statics, being rooted to one spot, must be spread evenly across the defensive perimeter. This means that attackers can easily achieve local net superiority over a static-reliant defense, resulting in a line of useless d-fenz and a breach in the line - and that's before we discuss the effects of artillery against statics. In contrast, mobiles can respond to an attack at any point, relying on the few local statics to give them the small but crucial net advantage over the enemy.

Therefore, a better player will concentrate defense only at key points and sprinkle it over the rest of his/her perimeter, relying primarily on mobiles for defense. But is there an even more effective way?

''Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.''
— '''Sun Tzu'''

Yes, the best way to resolve the problem of static vs mobile defense is to leave the question to your opponent. By attacking, you force the enemy into a defensive posture, forcing them to spend more on defense while you have to spend less. With more resources for mobiles, you can contest mex spots and wrecks more effectively, resulting in an even greater resource advantage. Additionally, the psychological pressure will make your opponent more prone to making mistakes, which you can exploit effectively to create a similarly vicious cycle.

Be wary of those who do expand, but slowly as they porc and build up mobile defenses, as they can not only outexpand, but they also have defensive installations, making defenses that cannot be breached easily
''So attack. It's the only way to win.''
— '''Saktoth'''

== Maneuvers ==
=== Crossing the T / Enfilade ===
Most players know that most units (skirmishers in particular) do best in a line or encirclement formation, which allows the maximum amount of forward firepower. The best way to counter this is to run up beside the line, and then down the line (parallel to it). This move, known as crossing the T or enfilade, exploits the weakness of the line formation as units on the far end of the line will often be out of range and/or obstructed by friendly units further up the line. Frontal attacks on a line should be avoided whenever possible.

http://licho.eu/alba/caguide/misc_enfilade.jpg

This maneuver also works on static defenses, although open ends in the line to flank are generally less frequent and it's usually better to ignore the rest of the line and proceed straight to the base once the perimeter is breached.

=== The Shield and the Rapier ===
When a head-on assault on a defense line is called for, one trick to increasing your firepower is to mix some raiders with assault units. The assault units close in first to draw fire from enemy defenses, then the raiders move in for the kill with their superior DPS. In addition to increasing the odds of a successful breakthrough, this also makes a raider force immediately available to attack the enemy's logistics once the enemy's defense line has been penetrated.
===The Bow and the Spear===
When you have lots of skirmishers, mix them with riot bots as you attack an enemy group. The skirmishers can handle the other skirmishers and assaults, units riots have problems fighting (The former will kite and the latter can tank and destroy) while the riots kill swarms of raiders and units that are jinking the fire from your skirmishers. This stops fast units breaking through and slaying your skirmishers, or skirmishers outranging your riots and killing them with no attriton. The riots will also kill the weakened units fast, so the skirmishers don't need to reload to kill the units that survived the barrage

== Aphorisms ==
''Looking for a spiritual successor to the Goatly Maxims.'' - KR
* Speed kills.
* He who defends everything defends nothing.
* When you lose sight of your strategic goal, a thousand tactical victories shall amount to nothing.
* He who plays to achieve victory will accomplish it; he who plays to avoid defeat merely prolongs it.
*Know the enemy and know yourself, and you shall not be defeated, not once in a thousand battles-Sun Tzu
{{Navbox manual}}
[[Category:Strategy]]

Strategy Treatise

2016-10-29T22:05:58Z

Hedgehogs: /* The Bow and the Spear */

== General Tips ==
* '''Greed is good.''' Always try to get more metal than you currently have (preferably by claiming mexes), and always try to spend your metal as fast as you can. This cannot be overstated: ''maximize your metal throughput.'' Make more units, claim more ground, reclaim and mex more, repeat.
* '''Team games are not a few 1v1s strung together.''' You have teammates who can help you in your engagements, and whom you can help in theirs. This means you ''don't'' have to attack the guy directly in front of you; it's often more productive to attack the one in front of the ally ''next to you''. This increases your strength as per the Square Law, and can allow for combined arms tactics involving multiple unit types even if either you or your ally have been making only one or two unit types yourselves.
*'''Energy is a good resource'''
Energy should be a very defended building, as they do countless tasks, from overdriving to powering defenses. You should be building energy steadily as the game progresses, and linking the energy to as many mexes as safe as you can.
*'''Have some more buildpower'''
Use caretakers for your factory needs, so other mobile constructors can make other things, and as the caretaker has a high nanopower, it is very good for factories on repeat. This allows you to have spare constructors, so you should make them reclaim,expand,repair, make defenses,create more powerplants, or, simply help the constructor make units.
*'''Scout the enemy'''
Unlike other RTS games, scouting here is very important, as it stops you wasting units and allows you to prepare for a fight, or kill a small enemy group before they are ready. Using advanced radar or simple radar is a way of scouting,but sight via units is more accurate as it doesn't have radar wobble. Those that cloak (Infiltrator/Flea) are better as they are invisible

== Lanchester's Square Law ==
It's no secret that a big army stands a good chance of beating a smaller army. However, the larger force's advantage can be a lot bigger than you think.

Suppose you have a certain amount of artillery, and your enemy has a different amount of identical artillery, and both are steadily shooting at each other and reducing each other's numbers. If everything else is equal, who's stronger? Obviously, whoever has more guns. How much stronger? Obviously, the proportion between the size of the first army and the size of the second, right? Blue has three times as many field guns as red, so blue is three times as strong.

"Wrong!" said Frederick William Lanchester, a British engineer and mathematician who lived from the middle 19th century through the end of World War II.

In 1916, Lanchester devised a series of differential equations to demonstrate the power relationships between opposing forces. Among these were Lanchester's Linear Law (applicable to ancient combat, where engagements on the individual level were purely one-on-one), and Lanchester's Square Law (for modern combat, where multiple individuals can attack a single target). It is the square law that concerns us here in ZK.

According to the square law, the relative strength of two forces is given by the ratio of the ''squares'' of their relative numbers. Thus, while two Stumpies are four times as strong as one, four Stumpies are sixteen times as strong as one. Note that the Square Law does not apply to multiple weak units against a single strong unit: for a lone tank A to be able to compete with four opposing B-tanks, tank A needs to be qualitatively four times better (four times damage, four times HP) than an individual tank B.

The Square Law is why ten Reapers take a lot less than 50% losses when squaring off against five Reapers.

=== Anti-Square Laws ===
So, if numbers are so important, then why doesn't sheer spam win out every time? There are several reasons for this:
* '''Limitations to simultaneous engagement.''' Due to constraints such as range, there is a limit to how many units in a force can engage the enemy at a given time. While both sides are at this limit, the battle will tend to follow the Linear Law; the attrition rate will be based on the linear ratio of combatants currently engaged (unity if the same number of units on both sides can fire at any given moment). Since more expensive units have longer range and higher density, they have a higher engagement limit (ie. more of your metal goes to shooting rather than sitting around) and can thus gain the upper hand over swarmers in choked conditions.
* '''AoE weapons.''' While the Square Law assumes that any individual unit may only fire upon one target at a time, many riot units in ZK have AoE weapons that allow multiple units to be damaged at once. As a result, they tend to do several times more damage to large groups of small units than to smaller, more dispersed groups, or larger units (where usually only one unit at a time takes significant damage, as opposed to several for the swarm).
* '''Weightclass and attrition.''' Because a ZK unit retains full firepower until the moment of death, a group of small units can lose strength over time due to attrition while a single large unit does not. However, as the number of combatants involved increases, the weightclass advantage diminishes as both sides suffer attrition at increasingly equal rates.

=== What does all this mean to me? ===
Due to the squaring effect, you should take note of the following:
* '''Focus fire''' - it's how the law works, after all. The more enemy units you destroy, the bigger your advantage gets.
* '''Pool your forces''', including with allies. Even a few extra units can really tilt the battle in your favor. By creating local superiority during battles, you can even overcome an enemy who has more forces on the global level.
* '''Formate your units.''' A good formation allows more of your boys to be shooting theirs at once; even if this advantage lasts for only a few seconds, it can significantly affect the outcome of a battle. Moreover, the less clumped your units are, the less AoE weapons can hurt them. Always try to have a line or encirclement formation when joining battle.
* '''Don't have metal in your storage.''' When even one tank makes a difference, it goes without saying that you want as many units as you can possibly get.

== Basic Aggression ==
''Why you should be attacking''

This is more a philosophy of how you should be playing, but if you want to be better at the game, one of the key principles is just to be aggressive. Its a war game, so fight! Put simply, you cannot win by defending. The only way you'll ever win by defending is boring the enemy to death. You'll have to attack eventually, so why not attack now instead of later? Sure, later you'll have more units and economy, but so will he.

But, attacking is also a sound economic decision. Metal is the most important resource. The only way to get metal is to expand and take Metal Extractors, or to fight the enemy and reclaim their wrecks. Thus, metal is territorial- you must always be trying to gain territory from the enemy to get more metal. This means aggression.

If you build a lot of energy structures to overdrive your mexes it gives you no advantage- the enemy can do the same thing, and will do so faster if he is more aggressive about taking mexes.

Take the situation of a 4v4. On one team, 3 players fight, one builds economic structures. On the other, all 4 fight.

Given equal skill, the 4 fighting players will win- they will take more territory, more metal spots, and when they destroy their enemies they will get to reclaim all the wrecks (both from their own dead units, and the enemies). All it takes is 1 commander wreck and they have a huge economic lead- probably much more than the player who goes pure economy, while having wiped out all his allies.

What if all players from team 1 porc defences, and on team 2 they attack all out?

Even assuming team 1 manage to take at least half the map (which, given a less offensive approach, is unlikely) an intelligent team 2 will see the amount of defenses they have, and know that this means less offensive units. Having the advantage in offensive units mean they need not fear attack from the enemy- they have more mobiles and can thus always beat him even with only token static defense. Team 2 can spend the rest on economy consolidation, much more than the players who are devoting their resources to defenses.

Even though static defences are, on average, 2.5x as cost-effective as mobile units they must be spread thin over a larger area. This means an attacker can concentrate his forces on a single point in the defensive line (perhaps softening it with an artillery barrage), taking on only a fraction of the enemies turrets while the rest of the defensive structures sit idle and useless.

So attack. It's the only way to win.

== Defending vs Attacking ==

''Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive.''
— '''Sun Tzu'''

Defense structures in ZK are generally a match for twice their cost in mobiles. This, along with the simplicity of managing them, makes it tempting for players (not all of whom are new) to use them a lot (not just in turtling without expansion, but also during confrontations after boundary lines have been drawn).

It goes without saying that this is a Very Bad Idea™ indeed.

Mobile units being, well, mobile, means that they can gather in a single area (namely, where the action is happening), while statics, being rooted to one spot, must be spread evenly across the defensive perimeter. This means that attackers can easily achieve local net superiority over a static-reliant defense, resulting in a line of useless d-fenz and a breach in the line - and that's before we discuss the effects of artillery against statics. In contrast, mobiles can respond to an attack at any point, relying on the few local statics to give them the small but crucial net advantage over the enemy.

Therefore, a better player will concentrate defense only at key points and sprinkle it over the rest of his/her perimeter, relying primarily on mobiles for defense. But is there an even more effective way?

''Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.''
— '''Sun Tzu'''

Yes, the best way to resolve the problem of static vs mobile defense is to leave the question to your opponent. By attacking, you force the enemy into a defensive posture, forcing them to spend more on defense while you have to spend less. With more resources for mobiles, you can contest mex spots and wrecks more effectively, resulting in an even greater resource advantage. Additionally, the psychological pressure will make your opponent more prone to making mistakes, which you can exploit effectively to create a similarly vicious cycle.

''So attack. It's the only way to win.''
— '''Saktoth'''

== Maneuvers ==
=== Crossing the T / Enfilade ===
Most players know that most units (skirmishers in particular) do best in a line or encirclement formation, which allows the maximum amount of forward firepower. The best way to counter this is to run up beside the line, and then down the line (parallel to it). This move, known as crossing the T or enfilade, exploits the weakness of the line formation as units on the far end of the line will often be out of range and/or obstructed by friendly units further up the line. Frontal attacks on a line should be avoided whenever possible.

http://licho.eu/alba/caguide/misc_enfilade.jpg

This maneuver also works on static defenses, although open ends in the line to flank are generally less frequent and it's usually better to ignore the rest of the line and proceed straight to the base once the perimeter is breached.

=== The Shield and the Rapier ===
When a head-on assault on a defense line is called for, one trick to increasing your firepower is to mix some raiders with assault units. The assault units close in first to draw fire from enemy defenses, then the raiders move in for the kill with their superior DPS. In addition to increasing the odds of a successful breakthrough, this also makes a raider force immediately available to attack the enemy's logistics once the enemy's defense line has been penetrated.
===The Bow and the Spear===
When you have lots of skirmishers, mix them with riot bots as you attack an enemy group. The skirmishers can handle the other skirmishers and assaults, units riots have problems fighting (The former will kite and the latter can tank and destroy) while the riots kill swarms of raiders and units that are jinking the fire from your skirmishers. This stops fast units breaking through and slaying your skirmishers, or skirmishers outranging your riots and killing them with no attriton. The riots will also kill the weakened units fast, so the skirmishers don't need to reload to kill the units that survived the barrage

== Aphorisms ==
''Looking for a spiritual successor to the Goatly Maxims.'' - KR
* Speed kills.
* He who defends everything defends nothing.
* When you lose sight of your strategic goal, a thousand tactical victories shall amount to nothing.
* He who plays to achieve victory will accomplish it; he who plays to avoid defeat merely prolongs it.
*Know the enemy and know yourself, and you shall not be defeated, not once in a thousand battles-Sun Tzu
{{Navbox manual}}
[[Category:Strategy]]

Strategy Treatise

2016-10-29T22:04:44Z

Hedgehogs: /* The Archer and the Pikeman */

== General Tips ==
* '''Greed is good.''' Always try to get more metal than you currently have (preferably by claiming mexes), and always try to spend your metal as fast as you can. This cannot be overstated: ''maximize your metal throughput.'' Make more units, claim more ground, reclaim and mex more, repeat.
* '''Team games are not a few 1v1s strung together.''' You have teammates who can help you in your engagements, and whom you can help in theirs. This means you ''don't'' have to attack the guy directly in front of you; it's often more productive to attack the one in front of the ally ''next to you''. This increases your strength as per the Square Law, and can allow for combined arms tactics involving multiple unit types even if either you or your ally have been making only one or two unit types yourselves.
*'''Energy is a good resource'''
Energy should be a very defended building, as they do countless tasks, from overdriving to powering defenses. You should be building energy steadily as the game progresses, and linking the energy to as many mexes as safe as you can.
*'''Have some more buildpower'''
Use caretakers for your factory needs, so other mobile constructors can make other things, and as the caretaker has a high nanopower, it is very good for factories on repeat. This allows you to have spare constructors, so you should make them reclaim,expand,repair, make defenses,create more powerplants, or, simply help the constructor make units.
*'''Scout the enemy'''
Unlike other RTS games, scouting here is very important, as it stops you wasting units and allows you to prepare for a fight, or kill a small enemy group before they are ready. Using advanced radar or simple radar is a way of scouting,but sight via units is more accurate as it doesn't have radar wobble. Those that cloak (Infiltrator/Flea) are better as they are invisible

== Lanchester's Square Law ==
It's no secret that a big army stands a good chance of beating a smaller army. However, the larger force's advantage can be a lot bigger than you think.

Suppose you have a certain amount of artillery, and your enemy has a different amount of identical artillery, and both are steadily shooting at each other and reducing each other's numbers. If everything else is equal, who's stronger? Obviously, whoever has more guns. How much stronger? Obviously, the proportion between the size of the first army and the size of the second, right? Blue has three times as many field guns as red, so blue is three times as strong.

"Wrong!" said Frederick William Lanchester, a British engineer and mathematician who lived from the middle 19th century through the end of World War II.

In 1916, Lanchester devised a series of differential equations to demonstrate the power relationships between opposing forces. Among these were Lanchester's Linear Law (applicable to ancient combat, where engagements on the individual level were purely one-on-one), and Lanchester's Square Law (for modern combat, where multiple individuals can attack a single target). It is the square law that concerns us here in ZK.

According to the square law, the relative strength of two forces is given by the ratio of the ''squares'' of their relative numbers. Thus, while two Stumpies are four times as strong as one, four Stumpies are sixteen times as strong as one. Note that the Square Law does not apply to multiple weak units against a single strong unit: for a lone tank A to be able to compete with four opposing B-tanks, tank A needs to be qualitatively four times better (four times damage, four times HP) than an individual tank B.

The Square Law is why ten Reapers take a lot less than 50% losses when squaring off against five Reapers.

=== Anti-Square Laws ===
So, if numbers are so important, then why doesn't sheer spam win out every time? There are several reasons for this:
* '''Limitations to simultaneous engagement.''' Due to constraints such as range, there is a limit to how many units in a force can engage the enemy at a given time. While both sides are at this limit, the battle will tend to follow the Linear Law; the attrition rate will be based on the linear ratio of combatants currently engaged (unity if the same number of units on both sides can fire at any given moment). Since more expensive units have longer range and higher density, they have a higher engagement limit (ie. more of your metal goes to shooting rather than sitting around) and can thus gain the upper hand over swarmers in choked conditions.
* '''AoE weapons.''' While the Square Law assumes that any individual unit may only fire upon one target at a time, many riot units in ZK have AoE weapons that allow multiple units to be damaged at once. As a result, they tend to do several times more damage to large groups of small units than to smaller, more dispersed groups, or larger units (where usually only one unit at a time takes significant damage, as opposed to several for the swarm).
* '''Weightclass and attrition.''' Because a ZK unit retains full firepower until the moment of death, a group of small units can lose strength over time due to attrition while a single large unit does not. However, as the number of combatants involved increases, the weightclass advantage diminishes as both sides suffer attrition at increasingly equal rates.

=== What does all this mean to me? ===
Due to the squaring effect, you should take note of the following:
* '''Focus fire''' - it's how the law works, after all. The more enemy units you destroy, the bigger your advantage gets.
* '''Pool your forces''', including with allies. Even a few extra units can really tilt the battle in your favor. By creating local superiority during battles, you can even overcome an enemy who has more forces on the global level.
* '''Formate your units.''' A good formation allows more of your boys to be shooting theirs at once; even if this advantage lasts for only a few seconds, it can significantly affect the outcome of a battle. Moreover, the less clumped your units are, the less AoE weapons can hurt them. Always try to have a line or encirclement formation when joining battle.
* '''Don't have metal in your storage.''' When even one tank makes a difference, it goes without saying that you want as many units as you can possibly get.

== Basic Aggression ==
''Why you should be attacking''

This is more a philosophy of how you should be playing, but if you want to be better at the game, one of the key principles is just to be aggressive. Its a war game, so fight! Put simply, you cannot win by defending. The only way you'll ever win by defending is boring the enemy to death. You'll have to attack eventually, so why not attack now instead of later? Sure, later you'll have more units and economy, but so will he.

But, attacking is also a sound economic decision. Metal is the most important resource. The only way to get metal is to expand and take Metal Extractors, or to fight the enemy and reclaim their wrecks. Thus, metal is territorial- you must always be trying to gain territory from the enemy to get more metal. This means aggression.

If you build a lot of energy structures to overdrive your mexes it gives you no advantage- the enemy can do the same thing, and will do so faster if he is more aggressive about taking mexes.

Take the situation of a 4v4. On one team, 3 players fight, one builds economic structures. On the other, all 4 fight.

Given equal skill, the 4 fighting players will win- they will take more territory, more metal spots, and when they destroy their enemies they will get to reclaim all the wrecks (both from their own dead units, and the enemies). All it takes is 1 commander wreck and they have a huge economic lead- probably much more than the player who goes pure economy, while having wiped out all his allies.

What if all players from team 1 porc defences, and on team 2 they attack all out?

Even assuming team 1 manage to take at least half the map (which, given a less offensive approach, is unlikely) an intelligent team 2 will see the amount of defenses they have, and know that this means less offensive units. Having the advantage in offensive units mean they need not fear attack from the enemy- they have more mobiles and can thus always beat him even with only token static defense. Team 2 can spend the rest on economy consolidation, much more than the players who are devoting their resources to defenses.

Even though static defences are, on average, 2.5x as cost-effective as mobile units they must be spread thin over a larger area. This means an attacker can concentrate his forces on a single point in the defensive line (perhaps softening it with an artillery barrage), taking on only a fraction of the enemies turrets while the rest of the defensive structures sit idle and useless.

So attack. It's the only way to win.

== Defending vs Attacking ==

''Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive.''
— '''Sun Tzu'''

Defense structures in ZK are generally a match for twice their cost in mobiles. This, along with the simplicity of managing them, makes it tempting for players (not all of whom are new) to use them a lot (not just in turtling without expansion, but also during confrontations after boundary lines have been drawn).

It goes without saying that this is a Very Bad Idea™ indeed.

Mobile units being, well, mobile, means that they can gather in a single area (namely, where the action is happening), while statics, being rooted to one spot, must be spread evenly across the defensive perimeter. This means that attackers can easily achieve local net superiority over a static-reliant defense, resulting in a line of useless d-fenz and a breach in the line - and that's before we discuss the effects of artillery against statics. In contrast, mobiles can respond to an attack at any point, relying on the few local statics to give them the small but crucial net advantage over the enemy.

Therefore, a better player will concentrate defense only at key points and sprinkle it over the rest of his/her perimeter, relying primarily on mobiles for defense. But is there an even more effective way?

''Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.''
— '''Sun Tzu'''

Yes, the best way to resolve the problem of static vs mobile defense is to leave the question to your opponent. By attacking, you force the enemy into a defensive posture, forcing them to spend more on defense while you have to spend less. With more resources for mobiles, you can contest mex spots and wrecks more effectively, resulting in an even greater resource advantage. Additionally, the psychological pressure will make your opponent more prone to making mistakes, which you can exploit effectively to create a similarly vicious cycle.

''So attack. It's the only way to win.''
— '''Saktoth'''

== Maneuvers ==
=== Crossing the T / Enfilade ===
Most players know that most units (skirmishers in particular) do best in a line or encirclement formation, which allows the maximum amount of forward firepower. The best way to counter this is to run up beside the line, and then down the line (parallel to it). This move, known as crossing the T or enfilade, exploits the weakness of the line formation as units on the far end of the line will often be out of range and/or obstructed by friendly units further up the line. Frontal attacks on a line should be avoided whenever possible.

http://licho.eu/alba/caguide/misc_enfilade.jpg

This maneuver also works on static defenses, although open ends in the line to flank are generally less frequent and it's usually better to ignore the rest of the line and proceed straight to the base once the perimeter is breached.

=== The Shield and the Rapier ===
When a head-on assault on a defense line is called for, one trick to increasing your firepower is to mix some raiders with assault units. The assault units close in first to draw fire from enemy defenses, then the raiders move in for the kill with their superior DPS. In addition to increasing the odds of a successful breakthrough, this also makes a raider force immediately available to attack the enemy's logistics once the enemy's defense line has been penetrated.
===The Bow and the Spear===
When you have lots of skirmishers, mix them with riot bots as you attack an enemy group. The skirmishers can handle the other skirmishers and assaults, units riots have problems fighting (The former will kite and the latter can tank and destroy) while the riots kill swarms of raiders and units that are jinking the fire from your skirmishers. This stops fast units breaking through and slaying your skirmishers, or skirmishers outranging your riots and killing them with no attriton

== Aphorisms ==
''Looking for a spiritual successor to the Goatly Maxims.'' - KR
* Speed kills.
* He who defends everything defends nothing.
* When you lose sight of your strategic goal, a thousand tactical victories shall amount to nothing.
* He who plays to achieve victory will accomplish it; he who plays to avoid defeat merely prolongs it.
*Know the enemy and know yourself, and you shall not be defeated, not once in a thousand battles-Sun Tzu
{{Navbox manual}}
[[Category:Strategy]]

Strategy Treatise

2016-10-29T22:03:39Z

Hedgehogs: /* Aphorisms */

== General Tips ==
* '''Greed is good.''' Always try to get more metal than you currently have (preferably by claiming mexes), and always try to spend your metal as fast as you can. This cannot be overstated: ''maximize your metal throughput.'' Make more units, claim more ground, reclaim and mex more, repeat.
* '''Team games are not a few 1v1s strung together.''' You have teammates who can help you in your engagements, and whom you can help in theirs. This means you ''don't'' have to attack the guy directly in front of you; it's often more productive to attack the one in front of the ally ''next to you''. This increases your strength as per the Square Law, and can allow for combined arms tactics involving multiple unit types even if either you or your ally have been making only one or two unit types yourselves.
*'''Energy is a good resource'''
Energy should be a very defended building, as they do countless tasks, from overdriving to powering defenses. You should be building energy steadily as the game progresses, and linking the energy to as many mexes as safe as you can.
*'''Have some more buildpower'''
Use caretakers for your factory needs, so other mobile constructors can make other things, and as the caretaker has a high nanopower, it is very good for factories on repeat. This allows you to have spare constructors, so you should make them reclaim,expand,repair, make defenses,create more powerplants, or, simply help the constructor make units.
*'''Scout the enemy'''
Unlike other RTS games, scouting here is very important, as it stops you wasting units and allows you to prepare for a fight, or kill a small enemy group before they are ready. Using advanced radar or simple radar is a way of scouting,but sight via units is more accurate as it doesn't have radar wobble. Those that cloak (Infiltrator/Flea) are better as they are invisible

== Lanchester's Square Law ==
It's no secret that a big army stands a good chance of beating a smaller army. However, the larger force's advantage can be a lot bigger than you think.

Suppose you have a certain amount of artillery, and your enemy has a different amount of identical artillery, and both are steadily shooting at each other and reducing each other's numbers. If everything else is equal, who's stronger? Obviously, whoever has more guns. How much stronger? Obviously, the proportion between the size of the first army and the size of the second, right? Blue has three times as many field guns as red, so blue is three times as strong.

"Wrong!" said Frederick William Lanchester, a British engineer and mathematician who lived from the middle 19th century through the end of World War II.

In 1916, Lanchester devised a series of differential equations to demonstrate the power relationships between opposing forces. Among these were Lanchester's Linear Law (applicable to ancient combat, where engagements on the individual level were purely one-on-one), and Lanchester's Square Law (for modern combat, where multiple individuals can attack a single target). It is the square law that concerns us here in ZK.

According to the square law, the relative strength of two forces is given by the ratio of the ''squares'' of their relative numbers. Thus, while two Stumpies are four times as strong as one, four Stumpies are sixteen times as strong as one. Note that the Square Law does not apply to multiple weak units against a single strong unit: for a lone tank A to be able to compete with four opposing B-tanks, tank A needs to be qualitatively four times better (four times damage, four times HP) than an individual tank B.

The Square Law is why ten Reapers take a lot less than 50% losses when squaring off against five Reapers.

=== Anti-Square Laws ===
So, if numbers are so important, then why doesn't sheer spam win out every time? There are several reasons for this:
* '''Limitations to simultaneous engagement.''' Due to constraints such as range, there is a limit to how many units in a force can engage the enemy at a given time. While both sides are at this limit, the battle will tend to follow the Linear Law; the attrition rate will be based on the linear ratio of combatants currently engaged (unity if the same number of units on both sides can fire at any given moment). Since more expensive units have longer range and higher density, they have a higher engagement limit (ie. more of your metal goes to shooting rather than sitting around) and can thus gain the upper hand over swarmers in choked conditions.
* '''AoE weapons.''' While the Square Law assumes that any individual unit may only fire upon one target at a time, many riot units in ZK have AoE weapons that allow multiple units to be damaged at once. As a result, they tend to do several times more damage to large groups of small units than to smaller, more dispersed groups, or larger units (where usually only one unit at a time takes significant damage, as opposed to several for the swarm).
* '''Weightclass and attrition.''' Because a ZK unit retains full firepower until the moment of death, a group of small units can lose strength over time due to attrition while a single large unit does not. However, as the number of combatants involved increases, the weightclass advantage diminishes as both sides suffer attrition at increasingly equal rates.

=== What does all this mean to me? ===
Due to the squaring effect, you should take note of the following:
* '''Focus fire''' - it's how the law works, after all. The more enemy units you destroy, the bigger your advantage gets.
* '''Pool your forces''', including with allies. Even a few extra units can really tilt the battle in your favor. By creating local superiority during battles, you can even overcome an enemy who has more forces on the global level.
* '''Formate your units.''' A good formation allows more of your boys to be shooting theirs at once; even if this advantage lasts for only a few seconds, it can significantly affect the outcome of a battle. Moreover, the less clumped your units are, the less AoE weapons can hurt them. Always try to have a line or encirclement formation when joining battle.
* '''Don't have metal in your storage.''' When even one tank makes a difference, it goes without saying that you want as many units as you can possibly get.

== Basic Aggression ==
''Why you should be attacking''

This is more a philosophy of how you should be playing, but if you want to be better at the game, one of the key principles is just to be aggressive. Its a war game, so fight! Put simply, you cannot win by defending. The only way you'll ever win by defending is boring the enemy to death. You'll have to attack eventually, so why not attack now instead of later? Sure, later you'll have more units and economy, but so will he.

But, attacking is also a sound economic decision. Metal is the most important resource. The only way to get metal is to expand and take Metal Extractors, or to fight the enemy and reclaim their wrecks. Thus, metal is territorial- you must always be trying to gain territory from the enemy to get more metal. This means aggression.

If you build a lot of energy structures to overdrive your mexes it gives you no advantage- the enemy can do the same thing, and will do so faster if he is more aggressive about taking mexes.

Take the situation of a 4v4. On one team, 3 players fight, one builds economic structures. On the other, all 4 fight.

Given equal skill, the 4 fighting players will win- they will take more territory, more metal spots, and when they destroy their enemies they will get to reclaim all the wrecks (both from their own dead units, and the enemies). All it takes is 1 commander wreck and they have a huge economic lead- probably much more than the player who goes pure economy, while having wiped out all his allies.

What if all players from team 1 porc defences, and on team 2 they attack all out?

Even assuming team 1 manage to take at least half the map (which, given a less offensive approach, is unlikely) an intelligent team 2 will see the amount of defenses they have, and know that this means less offensive units. Having the advantage in offensive units mean they need not fear attack from the enemy- they have more mobiles and can thus always beat him even with only token static defense. Team 2 can spend the rest on economy consolidation, much more than the players who are devoting their resources to defenses.

Even though static defences are, on average, 2.5x as cost-effective as mobile units they must be spread thin over a larger area. This means an attacker can concentrate his forces on a single point in the defensive line (perhaps softening it with an artillery barrage), taking on only a fraction of the enemies turrets while the rest of the defensive structures sit idle and useless.

So attack. It's the only way to win.

== Defending vs Attacking ==

''Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive.''
— '''Sun Tzu'''

Defense structures in ZK are generally a match for twice their cost in mobiles. This, along with the simplicity of managing them, makes it tempting for players (not all of whom are new) to use them a lot (not just in turtling without expansion, but also during confrontations after boundary lines have been drawn).

It goes without saying that this is a Very Bad Idea™ indeed.

Mobile units being, well, mobile, means that they can gather in a single area (namely, where the action is happening), while statics, being rooted to one spot, must be spread evenly across the defensive perimeter. This means that attackers can easily achieve local net superiority over a static-reliant defense, resulting in a line of useless d-fenz and a breach in the line - and that's before we discuss the effects of artillery against statics. In contrast, mobiles can respond to an attack at any point, relying on the few local statics to give them the small but crucial net advantage over the enemy.

Therefore, a better player will concentrate defense only at key points and sprinkle it over the rest of his/her perimeter, relying primarily on mobiles for defense. But is there an even more effective way?

''Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.''
— '''Sun Tzu'''

Yes, the best way to resolve the problem of static vs mobile defense is to leave the question to your opponent. By attacking, you force the enemy into a defensive posture, forcing them to spend more on defense while you have to spend less. With more resources for mobiles, you can contest mex spots and wrecks more effectively, resulting in an even greater resource advantage. Additionally, the psychological pressure will make your opponent more prone to making mistakes, which you can exploit effectively to create a similarly vicious cycle.

''So attack. It's the only way to win.''
— '''Saktoth'''

== Maneuvers ==
=== Crossing the T / Enfilade ===
Most players know that most units (skirmishers in particular) do best in a line or encirclement formation, which allows the maximum amount of forward firepower. The best way to counter this is to run up beside the line, and then down the line (parallel to it). This move, known as crossing the T or enfilade, exploits the weakness of the line formation as units on the far end of the line will often be out of range and/or obstructed by friendly units further up the line. Frontal attacks on a line should be avoided whenever possible.

http://licho.eu/alba/caguide/misc_enfilade.jpg

This maneuver also works on static defenses, although open ends in the line to flank are generally less frequent and it's usually better to ignore the rest of the line and proceed straight to the base once the perimeter is breached.

=== The Shield and the Rapier ===
When a head-on assault on a defense line is called for, one trick to increasing your firepower is to mix some raiders with assault units. The assault units close in first to draw fire from enemy defenses, then the raiders move in for the kill with their superior DPS. In addition to increasing the odds of a successful breakthrough, this also makes a raider force immediately available to attack the enemy's logistics once the enemy's defense line has been penetrated.
===The Archer and the Pikeman===
When you have lots of skirmishers, mix them with riot bots as you attack an enemy group. The skirmishers can handle the other skirmishers and assaults, units riots have problems fighting (The former will kite and the latter can tank and destroy) while the riots kill swarms of raiders and units that are jinking the fire from your skirmishers. This stops fast units breaking through and slaying your skirmishers, or skirmishers outranging your riots and killing them with no attriton

== Aphorisms ==
''Looking for a spiritual successor to the Goatly Maxims.'' - KR
* Speed kills.
* He who defends everything defends nothing.
* When you lose sight of your strategic goal, a thousand tactical victories shall amount to nothing.
* He who plays to achieve victory will accomplish it; he who plays to avoid defeat merely prolongs it.
*Know the enemy and know yourself, and you shall not be defeated, not once in a thousand battles-Sun Tzu
{{Navbox manual}}
[[Category:Strategy]]

Strategy Treatise

2016-10-29T22:03:13Z

Hedgehogs: /* Aphorisms */

== General Tips ==
* '''Greed is good.''' Always try to get more metal than you currently have (preferably by claiming mexes), and always try to spend your metal as fast as you can. This cannot be overstated: ''maximize your metal throughput.'' Make more units, claim more ground, reclaim and mex more, repeat.
* '''Team games are not a few 1v1s strung together.''' You have teammates who can help you in your engagements, and whom you can help in theirs. This means you ''don't'' have to attack the guy directly in front of you; it's often more productive to attack the one in front of the ally ''next to you''. This increases your strength as per the Square Law, and can allow for combined arms tactics involving multiple unit types even if either you or your ally have been making only one or two unit types yourselves.
*'''Energy is a good resource'''
Energy should be a very defended building, as they do countless tasks, from overdriving to powering defenses. You should be building energy steadily as the game progresses, and linking the energy to as many mexes as safe as you can.
*'''Have some more buildpower'''
Use caretakers for your factory needs, so other mobile constructors can make other things, and as the caretaker has a high nanopower, it is very good for factories on repeat. This allows you to have spare constructors, so you should make them reclaim,expand,repair, make defenses,create more powerplants, or, simply help the constructor make units.
*'''Scout the enemy'''
Unlike other RTS games, scouting here is very important, as it stops you wasting units and allows you to prepare for a fight, or kill a small enemy group before they are ready. Using advanced radar or simple radar is a way of scouting,but sight via units is more accurate as it doesn't have radar wobble. Those that cloak (Infiltrator/Flea) are better as they are invisible

== Lanchester's Square Law ==
It's no secret that a big army stands a good chance of beating a smaller army. However, the larger force's advantage can be a lot bigger than you think.

Suppose you have a certain amount of artillery, and your enemy has a different amount of identical artillery, and both are steadily shooting at each other and reducing each other's numbers. If everything else is equal, who's stronger? Obviously, whoever has more guns. How much stronger? Obviously, the proportion between the size of the first army and the size of the second, right? Blue has three times as many field guns as red, so blue is three times as strong.

"Wrong!" said Frederick William Lanchester, a British engineer and mathematician who lived from the middle 19th century through the end of World War II.

In 1916, Lanchester devised a series of differential equations to demonstrate the power relationships between opposing forces. Among these were Lanchester's Linear Law (applicable to ancient combat, where engagements on the individual level were purely one-on-one), and Lanchester's Square Law (for modern combat, where multiple individuals can attack a single target). It is the square law that concerns us here in ZK.

According to the square law, the relative strength of two forces is given by the ratio of the ''squares'' of their relative numbers. Thus, while two Stumpies are four times as strong as one, four Stumpies are sixteen times as strong as one. Note that the Square Law does not apply to multiple weak units against a single strong unit: for a lone tank A to be able to compete with four opposing B-tanks, tank A needs to be qualitatively four times better (four times damage, four times HP) than an individual tank B.

The Square Law is why ten Reapers take a lot less than 50% losses when squaring off against five Reapers.

=== Anti-Square Laws ===
So, if numbers are so important, then why doesn't sheer spam win out every time? There are several reasons for this:
* '''Limitations to simultaneous engagement.''' Due to constraints such as range, there is a limit to how many units in a force can engage the enemy at a given time. While both sides are at this limit, the battle will tend to follow the Linear Law; the attrition rate will be based on the linear ratio of combatants currently engaged (unity if the same number of units on both sides can fire at any given moment). Since more expensive units have longer range and higher density, they have a higher engagement limit (ie. more of your metal goes to shooting rather than sitting around) and can thus gain the upper hand over swarmers in choked conditions.
* '''AoE weapons.''' While the Square Law assumes that any individual unit may only fire upon one target at a time, many riot units in ZK have AoE weapons that allow multiple units to be damaged at once. As a result, they tend to do several times more damage to large groups of small units than to smaller, more dispersed groups, or larger units (where usually only one unit at a time takes significant damage, as opposed to several for the swarm).
* '''Weightclass and attrition.''' Because a ZK unit retains full firepower until the moment of death, a group of small units can lose strength over time due to attrition while a single large unit does not. However, as the number of combatants involved increases, the weightclass advantage diminishes as both sides suffer attrition at increasingly equal rates.

=== What does all this mean to me? ===
Due to the squaring effect, you should take note of the following:
* '''Focus fire''' - it's how the law works, after all. The more enemy units you destroy, the bigger your advantage gets.
* '''Pool your forces''', including with allies. Even a few extra units can really tilt the battle in your favor. By creating local superiority during battles, you can even overcome an enemy who has more forces on the global level.
* '''Formate your units.''' A good formation allows more of your boys to be shooting theirs at once; even if this advantage lasts for only a few seconds, it can significantly affect the outcome of a battle. Moreover, the less clumped your units are, the less AoE weapons can hurt them. Always try to have a line or encirclement formation when joining battle.
* '''Don't have metal in your storage.''' When even one tank makes a difference, it goes without saying that you want as many units as you can possibly get.

== Basic Aggression ==
''Why you should be attacking''

This is more a philosophy of how you should be playing, but if you want to be better at the game, one of the key principles is just to be aggressive. Its a war game, so fight! Put simply, you cannot win by defending. The only way you'll ever win by defending is boring the enemy to death. You'll have to attack eventually, so why not attack now instead of later? Sure, later you'll have more units and economy, but so will he.

But, attacking is also a sound economic decision. Metal is the most important resource. The only way to get metal is to expand and take Metal Extractors, or to fight the enemy and reclaim their wrecks. Thus, metal is territorial- you must always be trying to gain territory from the enemy to get more metal. This means aggression.

If you build a lot of energy structures to overdrive your mexes it gives you no advantage- the enemy can do the same thing, and will do so faster if he is more aggressive about taking mexes.

Take the situation of a 4v4. On one team, 3 players fight, one builds economic structures. On the other, all 4 fight.

Given equal skill, the 4 fighting players will win- they will take more territory, more metal spots, and when they destroy their enemies they will get to reclaim all the wrecks (both from their own dead units, and the enemies). All it takes is 1 commander wreck and they have a huge economic lead- probably much more than the player who goes pure economy, while having wiped out all his allies.

What if all players from team 1 porc defences, and on team 2 they attack all out?

Even assuming team 1 manage to take at least half the map (which, given a less offensive approach, is unlikely) an intelligent team 2 will see the amount of defenses they have, and know that this means less offensive units. Having the advantage in offensive units mean they need not fear attack from the enemy- they have more mobiles and can thus always beat him even with only token static defense. Team 2 can spend the rest on economy consolidation, much more than the players who are devoting their resources to defenses.

Even though static defences are, on average, 2.5x as cost-effective as mobile units they must be spread thin over a larger area. This means an attacker can concentrate his forces on a single point in the defensive line (perhaps softening it with an artillery barrage), taking on only a fraction of the enemies turrets while the rest of the defensive structures sit idle and useless.

So attack. It's the only way to win.

== Defending vs Attacking ==

''Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive.''
— '''Sun Tzu'''

Defense structures in ZK are generally a match for twice their cost in mobiles. This, along with the simplicity of managing them, makes it tempting for players (not all of whom are new) to use them a lot (not just in turtling without expansion, but also during confrontations after boundary lines have been drawn).

It goes without saying that this is a Very Bad Idea™ indeed.

Mobile units being, well, mobile, means that they can gather in a single area (namely, where the action is happening), while statics, being rooted to one spot, must be spread evenly across the defensive perimeter. This means that attackers can easily achieve local net superiority over a static-reliant defense, resulting in a line of useless d-fenz and a breach in the line - and that's before we discuss the effects of artillery against statics. In contrast, mobiles can respond to an attack at any point, relying on the few local statics to give them the small but crucial net advantage over the enemy.

Therefore, a better player will concentrate defense only at key points and sprinkle it over the rest of his/her perimeter, relying primarily on mobiles for defense. But is there an even more effective way?

''Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.''
— '''Sun Tzu'''

Yes, the best way to resolve the problem of static vs mobile defense is to leave the question to your opponent. By attacking, you force the enemy into a defensive posture, forcing them to spend more on defense while you have to spend less. With more resources for mobiles, you can contest mex spots and wrecks more effectively, resulting in an even greater resource advantage. Additionally, the psychological pressure will make your opponent more prone to making mistakes, which you can exploit effectively to create a similarly vicious cycle.

''So attack. It's the only way to win.''
— '''Saktoth'''

== Maneuvers ==
=== Crossing the T / Enfilade ===
Most players know that most units (skirmishers in particular) do best in a line or encirclement formation, which allows the maximum amount of forward firepower. The best way to counter this is to run up beside the line, and then down the line (parallel to it). This move, known as crossing the T or enfilade, exploits the weakness of the line formation as units on the far end of the line will often be out of range and/or obstructed by friendly units further up the line. Frontal attacks on a line should be avoided whenever possible.

http://licho.eu/alba/caguide/misc_enfilade.jpg

This maneuver also works on static defenses, although open ends in the line to flank are generally less frequent and it's usually better to ignore the rest of the line and proceed straight to the base once the perimeter is breached.

=== The Shield and the Rapier ===
When a head-on assault on a defense line is called for, one trick to increasing your firepower is to mix some raiders with assault units. The assault units close in first to draw fire from enemy defenses, then the raiders move in for the kill with their superior DPS. In addition to increasing the odds of a successful breakthrough, this also makes a raider force immediately available to attack the enemy's logistics once the enemy's defense line has been penetrated.
===The Archer and the Pikeman===
When you have lots of skirmishers, mix them with riot bots as you attack an enemy group. The skirmishers can handle the other skirmishers and assaults, units riots have problems fighting (The former will kite and the latter can tank and destroy) while the riots kill swarms of raiders and units that are jinking the fire from your skirmishers. This stops fast units breaking through and slaying your skirmishers, or skirmishers outranging your riots and killing them with no attriton

== Aphorisms ==
''Looking for a spiritual successor to the Goatly Maxims.'' - KR
* Speed kills.
* He who defends everything defends nothing.
* When you lose sight of your strategic goal, a thousand tactical victories shall amount to nothing.
* He who plays to achieve victory will accomplish it; he who plays to avoid defeat merely prolongs it.
*Know the enemy and know yourself, and you shall not be defeated, not once in a thousand battles
{{Navbox manual}}
[[Category:Strategy]]

Strategy Treatise

2016-10-29T22:00:26Z

Hedgehogs: /* Maneuvers */

== General Tips ==
* '''Greed is good.''' Always try to get more metal than you currently have (preferably by claiming mexes), and always try to spend your metal as fast as you can. This cannot be overstated: ''maximize your metal throughput.'' Make more units, claim more ground, reclaim and mex more, repeat.
* '''Team games are not a few 1v1s strung together.''' You have teammates who can help you in your engagements, and whom you can help in theirs. This means you ''don't'' have to attack the guy directly in front of you; it's often more productive to attack the one in front of the ally ''next to you''. This increases your strength as per the Square Law, and can allow for combined arms tactics involving multiple unit types even if either you or your ally have been making only one or two unit types yourselves.
*'''Energy is a good resource'''
Energy should be a very defended building, as they do countless tasks, from overdriving to powering defenses. You should be building energy steadily as the game progresses, and linking the energy to as many mexes as safe as you can.
*'''Have some more buildpower'''
Use caretakers for your factory needs, so other mobile constructors can make other things, and as the caretaker has a high nanopower, it is very good for factories on repeat. This allows you to have spare constructors, so you should make them reclaim,expand,repair, make defenses,create more powerplants, or, simply help the constructor make units.
*'''Scout the enemy'''
Unlike other RTS games, scouting here is very important, as it stops you wasting units and allows you to prepare for a fight, or kill a small enemy group before they are ready. Using advanced radar or simple radar is a way of scouting,but sight via units is more accurate as it doesn't have radar wobble. Those that cloak (Infiltrator/Flea) are better as they are invisible

== Lanchester's Square Law ==
It's no secret that a big army stands a good chance of beating a smaller army. However, the larger force's advantage can be a lot bigger than you think.

Suppose you have a certain amount of artillery, and your enemy has a different amount of identical artillery, and both are steadily shooting at each other and reducing each other's numbers. If everything else is equal, who's stronger? Obviously, whoever has more guns. How much stronger? Obviously, the proportion between the size of the first army and the size of the second, right? Blue has three times as many field guns as red, so blue is three times as strong.

"Wrong!" said Frederick William Lanchester, a British engineer and mathematician who lived from the middle 19th century through the end of World War II.

In 1916, Lanchester devised a series of differential equations to demonstrate the power relationships between opposing forces. Among these were Lanchester's Linear Law (applicable to ancient combat, where engagements on the individual level were purely one-on-one), and Lanchester's Square Law (for modern combat, where multiple individuals can attack a single target). It is the square law that concerns us here in ZK.

According to the square law, the relative strength of two forces is given by the ratio of the ''squares'' of their relative numbers. Thus, while two Stumpies are four times as strong as one, four Stumpies are sixteen times as strong as one. Note that the Square Law does not apply to multiple weak units against a single strong unit: for a lone tank A to be able to compete with four opposing B-tanks, tank A needs to be qualitatively four times better (four times damage, four times HP) than an individual tank B.

The Square Law is why ten Reapers take a lot less than 50% losses when squaring off against five Reapers.

=== Anti-Square Laws ===
So, if numbers are so important, then why doesn't sheer spam win out every time? There are several reasons for this:
* '''Limitations to simultaneous engagement.''' Due to constraints such as range, there is a limit to how many units in a force can engage the enemy at a given time. While both sides are at this limit, the battle will tend to follow the Linear Law; the attrition rate will be based on the linear ratio of combatants currently engaged (unity if the same number of units on both sides can fire at any given moment). Since more expensive units have longer range and higher density, they have a higher engagement limit (ie. more of your metal goes to shooting rather than sitting around) and can thus gain the upper hand over swarmers in choked conditions.
* '''AoE weapons.''' While the Square Law assumes that any individual unit may only fire upon one target at a time, many riot units in ZK have AoE weapons that allow multiple units to be damaged at once. As a result, they tend to do several times more damage to large groups of small units than to smaller, more dispersed groups, or larger units (where usually only one unit at a time takes significant damage, as opposed to several for the swarm).
* '''Weightclass and attrition.''' Because a ZK unit retains full firepower until the moment of death, a group of small units can lose strength over time due to attrition while a single large unit does not. However, as the number of combatants involved increases, the weightclass advantage diminishes as both sides suffer attrition at increasingly equal rates.

=== What does all this mean to me? ===
Due to the squaring effect, you should take note of the following:
* '''Focus fire''' - it's how the law works, after all. The more enemy units you destroy, the bigger your advantage gets.
* '''Pool your forces''', including with allies. Even a few extra units can really tilt the battle in your favor. By creating local superiority during battles, you can even overcome an enemy who has more forces on the global level.
* '''Formate your units.''' A good formation allows more of your boys to be shooting theirs at once; even if this advantage lasts for only a few seconds, it can significantly affect the outcome of a battle. Moreover, the less clumped your units are, the less AoE weapons can hurt them. Always try to have a line or encirclement formation when joining battle.
* '''Don't have metal in your storage.''' When even one tank makes a difference, it goes without saying that you want as many units as you can possibly get.

== Basic Aggression ==
''Why you should be attacking''

This is more a philosophy of how you should be playing, but if you want to be better at the game, one of the key principles is just to be aggressive. Its a war game, so fight! Put simply, you cannot win by defending. The only way you'll ever win by defending is boring the enemy to death. You'll have to attack eventually, so why not attack now instead of later? Sure, later you'll have more units and economy, but so will he.

But, attacking is also a sound economic decision. Metal is the most important resource. The only way to get metal is to expand and take Metal Extractors, or to fight the enemy and reclaim their wrecks. Thus, metal is territorial- you must always be trying to gain territory from the enemy to get more metal. This means aggression.

If you build a lot of energy structures to overdrive your mexes it gives you no advantage- the enemy can do the same thing, and will do so faster if he is more aggressive about taking mexes.

Take the situation of a 4v4. On one team, 3 players fight, one builds economic structures. On the other, all 4 fight.

Given equal skill, the 4 fighting players will win- they will take more territory, more metal spots, and when they destroy their enemies they will get to reclaim all the wrecks (both from their own dead units, and the enemies). All it takes is 1 commander wreck and they have a huge economic lead- probably much more than the player who goes pure economy, while having wiped out all his allies.

What if all players from team 1 porc defences, and on team 2 they attack all out?

Even assuming team 1 manage to take at least half the map (which, given a less offensive approach, is unlikely) an intelligent team 2 will see the amount of defenses they have, and know that this means less offensive units. Having the advantage in offensive units mean they need not fear attack from the enemy- they have more mobiles and can thus always beat him even with only token static defense. Team 2 can spend the rest on economy consolidation, much more than the players who are devoting their resources to defenses.

Even though static defences are, on average, 2.5x as cost-effective as mobile units they must be spread thin over a larger area. This means an attacker can concentrate his forces on a single point in the defensive line (perhaps softening it with an artillery barrage), taking on only a fraction of the enemies turrets while the rest of the defensive structures sit idle and useless.

So attack. It's the only way to win.

== Defending vs Attacking ==

''Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive.''
— '''Sun Tzu'''

Defense structures in ZK are generally a match for twice their cost in mobiles. This, along with the simplicity of managing them, makes it tempting for players (not all of whom are new) to use them a lot (not just in turtling without expansion, but also during confrontations after boundary lines have been drawn).

It goes without saying that this is a Very Bad Idea™ indeed.

Mobile units being, well, mobile, means that they can gather in a single area (namely, where the action is happening), while statics, being rooted to one spot, must be spread evenly across the defensive perimeter. This means that attackers can easily achieve local net superiority over a static-reliant defense, resulting in a line of useless d-fenz and a breach in the line - and that's before we discuss the effects of artillery against statics. In contrast, mobiles can respond to an attack at any point, relying on the few local statics to give them the small but crucial net advantage over the enemy.

Therefore, a better player will concentrate defense only at key points and sprinkle it over the rest of his/her perimeter, relying primarily on mobiles for defense. But is there an even more effective way?

''Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.''
— '''Sun Tzu'''

Yes, the best way to resolve the problem of static vs mobile defense is to leave the question to your opponent. By attacking, you force the enemy into a defensive posture, forcing them to spend more on defense while you have to spend less. With more resources for mobiles, you can contest mex spots and wrecks more effectively, resulting in an even greater resource advantage. Additionally, the psychological pressure will make your opponent more prone to making mistakes, which you can exploit effectively to create a similarly vicious cycle.

''So attack. It's the only way to win.''
— '''Saktoth'''

== Maneuvers ==
=== Crossing the T / Enfilade ===
Most players know that most units (skirmishers in particular) do best in a line or encirclement formation, which allows the maximum amount of forward firepower. The best way to counter this is to run up beside the line, and then down the line (parallel to it). This move, known as crossing the T or enfilade, exploits the weakness of the line formation as units on the far end of the line will often be out of range and/or obstructed by friendly units further up the line. Frontal attacks on a line should be avoided whenever possible.

http://licho.eu/alba/caguide/misc_enfilade.jpg

This maneuver also works on static defenses, although open ends in the line to flank are generally less frequent and it's usually better to ignore the rest of the line and proceed straight to the base once the perimeter is breached.

=== The Shield and the Rapier ===
When a head-on assault on a defense line is called for, one trick to increasing your firepower is to mix some raiders with assault units. The assault units close in first to draw fire from enemy defenses, then the raiders move in for the kill with their superior DPS. In addition to increasing the odds of a successful breakthrough, this also makes a raider force immediately available to attack the enemy's logistics once the enemy's defense line has been penetrated.
===The Archer and the Pikeman===
When you have lots of skirmishers, mix them with riot bots as you attack an enemy group. The skirmishers can handle the other skirmishers and assaults, units riots have problems fighting (The former will kite and the latter can tank and destroy) while the riots kill swarms of raiders and units that are jinking the fire from your skirmishers. This stops fast units breaking through and slaying your skirmishers, or skirmishers outranging your riots and killing them with no attriton

== Aphorisms ==
''Looking for a spiritual successor to the Goatly Maxims.'' - KR
* Speed kills.
* He who defends everything defends nothing.
* When you lose sight of your strategic goal, a thousand tactical victories shall amount to nothing.
* He who plays to achieve victory will accomplish it; he who plays to avoid defeat merely prolongs it.

{{Navbox manual}}
[[Category:Strategy]]

Strategy Treatise

2016-10-29T21:55:46Z

Hedgehogs: /* General Tips */

== General Tips ==
* '''Greed is good.''' Always try to get more metal than you currently have (preferably by claiming mexes), and always try to spend your metal as fast as you can. This cannot be overstated: ''maximize your metal throughput.'' Make more units, claim more ground, reclaim and mex more, repeat.
* '''Team games are not a few 1v1s strung together.''' You have teammates who can help you in your engagements, and whom you can help in theirs. This means you ''don't'' have to attack the guy directly in front of you; it's often more productive to attack the one in front of the ally ''next to you''. This increases your strength as per the Square Law, and can allow for combined arms tactics involving multiple unit types even if either you or your ally have been making only one or two unit types yourselves.
*'''Energy is a good resource'''
Energy should be a very defended building, as they do countless tasks, from overdriving to powering defenses. You should be building energy steadily as the game progresses, and linking the energy to as many mexes as safe as you can.
*'''Have some more buildpower'''
Use caretakers for your factory needs, so other mobile constructors can make other things, and as the caretaker has a high nanopower, it is very good for factories on repeat. This allows you to have spare constructors, so you should make them reclaim,expand,repair, make defenses,create more powerplants, or, simply help the constructor make units.
*'''Scout the enemy'''
Unlike other RTS games, scouting here is very important, as it stops you wasting units and allows you to prepare for a fight, or kill a small enemy group before they are ready. Using advanced radar or simple radar is a way of scouting,but sight via units is more accurate as it doesn't have radar wobble. Those that cloak (Infiltrator/Flea) are better as they are invisible

== Lanchester's Square Law ==
It's no secret that a big army stands a good chance of beating a smaller army. However, the larger force's advantage can be a lot bigger than you think.

Suppose you have a certain amount of artillery, and your enemy has a different amount of identical artillery, and both are steadily shooting at each other and reducing each other's numbers. If everything else is equal, who's stronger? Obviously, whoever has more guns. How much stronger? Obviously, the proportion between the size of the first army and the size of the second, right? Blue has three times as many field guns as red, so blue is three times as strong.

"Wrong!" said Frederick William Lanchester, a British engineer and mathematician who lived from the middle 19th century through the end of World War II.

In 1916, Lanchester devised a series of differential equations to demonstrate the power relationships between opposing forces. Among these were Lanchester's Linear Law (applicable to ancient combat, where engagements on the individual level were purely one-on-one), and Lanchester's Square Law (for modern combat, where multiple individuals can attack a single target). It is the square law that concerns us here in ZK.

According to the square law, the relative strength of two forces is given by the ratio of the ''squares'' of their relative numbers. Thus, while two Stumpies are four times as strong as one, four Stumpies are sixteen times as strong as one. Note that the Square Law does not apply to multiple weak units against a single strong unit: for a lone tank A to be able to compete with four opposing B-tanks, tank A needs to be qualitatively four times better (four times damage, four times HP) than an individual tank B.

The Square Law is why ten Reapers take a lot less than 50% losses when squaring off against five Reapers.

=== Anti-Square Laws ===
So, if numbers are so important, then why doesn't sheer spam win out every time? There are several reasons for this:
* '''Limitations to simultaneous engagement.''' Due to constraints such as range, there is a limit to how many units in a force can engage the enemy at a given time. While both sides are at this limit, the battle will tend to follow the Linear Law; the attrition rate will be based on the linear ratio of combatants currently engaged (unity if the same number of units on both sides can fire at any given moment). Since more expensive units have longer range and higher density, they have a higher engagement limit (ie. more of your metal goes to shooting rather than sitting around) and can thus gain the upper hand over swarmers in choked conditions.
* '''AoE weapons.''' While the Square Law assumes that any individual unit may only fire upon one target at a time, many riot units in ZK have AoE weapons that allow multiple units to be damaged at once. As a result, they tend to do several times more damage to large groups of small units than to smaller, more dispersed groups, or larger units (where usually only one unit at a time takes significant damage, as opposed to several for the swarm).
* '''Weightclass and attrition.''' Because a ZK unit retains full firepower until the moment of death, a group of small units can lose strength over time due to attrition while a single large unit does not. However, as the number of combatants involved increases, the weightclass advantage diminishes as both sides suffer attrition at increasingly equal rates.

=== What does all this mean to me? ===
Due to the squaring effect, you should take note of the following:
* '''Focus fire''' - it's how the law works, after all. The more enemy units you destroy, the bigger your advantage gets.
* '''Pool your forces''', including with allies. Even a few extra units can really tilt the battle in your favor. By creating local superiority during battles, you can even overcome an enemy who has more forces on the global level.
* '''Formate your units.''' A good formation allows more of your boys to be shooting theirs at once; even if this advantage lasts for only a few seconds, it can significantly affect the outcome of a battle. Moreover, the less clumped your units are, the less AoE weapons can hurt them. Always try to have a line or encirclement formation when joining battle.
* '''Don't have metal in your storage.''' When even one tank makes a difference, it goes without saying that you want as many units as you can possibly get.

== Basic Aggression ==
''Why you should be attacking''

This is more a philosophy of how you should be playing, but if you want to be better at the game, one of the key principles is just to be aggressive. Its a war game, so fight! Put simply, you cannot win by defending. The only way you'll ever win by defending is boring the enemy to death. You'll have to attack eventually, so why not attack now instead of later? Sure, later you'll have more units and economy, but so will he.

But, attacking is also a sound economic decision. Metal is the most important resource. The only way to get metal is to expand and take Metal Extractors, or to fight the enemy and reclaim their wrecks. Thus, metal is territorial- you must always be trying to gain territory from the enemy to get more metal. This means aggression.

If you build a lot of energy structures to overdrive your mexes it gives you no advantage- the enemy can do the same thing, and will do so faster if he is more aggressive about taking mexes.

Take the situation of a 4v4. On one team, 3 players fight, one builds economic structures. On the other, all 4 fight.

Given equal skill, the 4 fighting players will win- they will take more territory, more metal spots, and when they destroy their enemies they will get to reclaim all the wrecks (both from their own dead units, and the enemies). All it takes is 1 commander wreck and they have a huge economic lead- probably much more than the player who goes pure economy, while having wiped out all his allies.

What if all players from team 1 porc defences, and on team 2 they attack all out?

Even assuming team 1 manage to take at least half the map (which, given a less offensive approach, is unlikely) an intelligent team 2 will see the amount of defenses they have, and know that this means less offensive units. Having the advantage in offensive units mean they need not fear attack from the enemy- they have more mobiles and can thus always beat him even with only token static defense. Team 2 can spend the rest on economy consolidation, much more than the players who are devoting their resources to defenses.

Even though static defences are, on average, 2.5x as cost-effective as mobile units they must be spread thin over a larger area. This means an attacker can concentrate his forces on a single point in the defensive line (perhaps softening it with an artillery barrage), taking on only a fraction of the enemies turrets while the rest of the defensive structures sit idle and useless.

So attack. It's the only way to win.

== Defending vs Attacking ==

''Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive.''
— '''Sun Tzu'''

Defense structures in ZK are generally a match for twice their cost in mobiles. This, along with the simplicity of managing them, makes it tempting for players (not all of whom are new) to use them a lot (not just in turtling without expansion, but also during confrontations after boundary lines have been drawn).

It goes without saying that this is a Very Bad Idea™ indeed.

Mobile units being, well, mobile, means that they can gather in a single area (namely, where the action is happening), while statics, being rooted to one spot, must be spread evenly across the defensive perimeter. This means that attackers can easily achieve local net superiority over a static-reliant defense, resulting in a line of useless d-fenz and a breach in the line - and that's before we discuss the effects of artillery against statics. In contrast, mobiles can respond to an attack at any point, relying on the few local statics to give them the small but crucial net advantage over the enemy.

Therefore, a better player will concentrate defense only at key points and sprinkle it over the rest of his/her perimeter, relying primarily on mobiles for defense. But is there an even more effective way?

''Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.''
— '''Sun Tzu'''

Yes, the best way to resolve the problem of static vs mobile defense is to leave the question to your opponent. By attacking, you force the enemy into a defensive posture, forcing them to spend more on defense while you have to spend less. With more resources for mobiles, you can contest mex spots and wrecks more effectively, resulting in an even greater resource advantage. Additionally, the psychological pressure will make your opponent more prone to making mistakes, which you can exploit effectively to create a similarly vicious cycle.

''So attack. It's the only way to win.''
— '''Saktoth'''

== Maneuvers ==
=== Crossing the T / Enfilade ===
Most players know that most units (skirmishers in particular) do best in a line or encirclement formation, which allows the maximum amount of forward firepower. The best way to counter this is to run up beside the line, and then down the line (parallel to it). This move, known as crossing the T or enfilade, exploits the weakness of the line formation as units on the far end of the line will often be out of range and/or obstructed by friendly units further up the line. Frontal attacks on a line should be avoided whenever possible.

http://licho.eu/alba/caguide/misc_enfilade.jpg

This maneuver also works on static defenses, although open ends in the line to flank are generally less frequent and it's usually better to ignore the rest of the line and proceed straight to the base once the perimeter is breached.

=== The Shield and the Rapier ===
When a head-on assault on a defense line is called for, one trick to increasing your firepower is to mix some raiders with assault units. The assault units close in first to draw fire from enemy defenses, then the raiders move in for the kill with their superior DPS. In addition to increasing the odds of a successful breakthrough, this also makes a raider force immediately available to attack the enemy's logistics once the enemy's defense line has been penetrated.

== Aphorisms ==
''Looking for a spiritual successor to the Goatly Maxims.'' - KR
* Speed kills.
* He who defends everything defends nothing.
* When you lose sight of your strategic goal, a thousand tactical victories shall amount to nothing.
* He who plays to achieve victory will accomplish it; he who plays to avoid defeat merely prolongs it.

{{Navbox manual}}
[[Category:Strategy]]

Strategy Treatise

2016-10-24T18:02:10Z

Hedgehogs: /* General Tips */

== General Tips ==
* '''Greed is good.''' Always try to get more metal than you currently have (preferably by claiming mexes), and always try to spend your metal as fast as you can. This cannot be overstated: ''maximize your metal throughput.'' Make more units, claim more ground, reclaim and mex more, repeat.
* '''Team games are not a few 1v1s strung together.''' You have teammates who can help you in your engagements, and whom you can help in theirs. This means you ''don't'' have to attack the guy directly in front of you; it's often more productive to attack the one in front of the ally ''next to you''. This increases your strength as per the Square Law, and can allow for combined arms tactics involving multiple unit types even if either you or your ally have been making only one or two unit types yourselves.
*'''Energy is a good resource'''
Energy should be a very defended building, as they do countless tasks, from overdriving to powering defenses. You should be building energy steadily as the game progresses, and linking the energy to as many mexes as safe as you can.
*'''Have some more buildpower'''
Use caretakers for your factory needs, so other mobile constructors can make other things, and as the caretaker has a high nanopower, it is very good for factories on repeat. This allows you to have spare constructors, so you should make them reclaim,expand,repair, make defenses,create more powerplants, or, simply help the constructor make units.

== Lanchester's Square Law ==
It's no secret that a big army stands a good chance of beating a smaller army. However, the larger force's advantage can be a lot bigger than you think.

Suppose you have a certain amount of artillery, and your enemy has a different amount of identical artillery, and both are steadily shooting at each other and reducing each other's numbers. If everything else is equal, who's stronger? Obviously, whoever has more guns. How much stronger? Obviously, the proportion between the size of the first army and the size of the second, right? Blue has three times as many field guns as red, so blue is three times as strong.

"Wrong!" said Frederick William Lanchester, a British engineer and mathematician who lived from the middle 19th century through the end of World War II.

In 1916, Lanchester devised a series of differential equations to demonstrate the power relationships between opposing forces. Among these were Lanchester's Linear Law (applicable to ancient combat, where engagements on the individual level were purely one-on-one), and Lanchester's Square Law (for modern combat, where multiple individuals can attack a single target). It is the square law that concerns us here in ZK.

According to the square law, the relative strength of two forces is given by the ratio of the ''squares'' of their relative numbers. Thus, while two Stumpies are four times as strong as one, four Stumpies are sixteen times as strong as one. Note that the Square Law does not apply to multiple weak units against a single strong unit: for a lone tank A to be able to compete with four opposing B-tanks, tank A needs to be qualitatively four times better (four times damage, four times HP) than an individual tank B.

The Square Law is why ten Reapers take a lot less than 50% losses when squaring off against five Reapers.

=== Anti-Square Laws ===
So, if numbers are so important, then why doesn't sheer spam win out every time? There are several reasons for this:
* '''Limitations to simultaneous engagement.''' Due to constraints such as range, there is a limit to how many units in a force can engage the enemy at a given time. While both sides are at this limit, the battle will tend to follow the Linear Law; the attrition rate will be based on the linear ratio of combatants currently engaged (unity if the same number of units on both sides can fire at any given moment). Since more expensive units have longer range and higher density, they have a higher engagement limit (ie. more of your metal goes to shooting rather than sitting around) and can thus gain the upper hand over swarmers in choked conditions.
* '''AoE weapons.''' While the Square Law assumes that any individual unit may only fire upon one target at a time, many riot units in ZK have AoE weapons that allow multiple units to be damaged at once. As a result, they tend to do several times more damage to large groups of small units than to smaller, more dispersed groups, or larger units (where usually only one unit at a time takes significant damage, as opposed to several for the swarm).
* '''Weightclass and attrition.''' Because a ZK unit retains full firepower until the moment of death, a group of small units can lose strength over time due to attrition while a single large unit does not. However, as the number of combatants involved increases, the weightclass advantage diminishes as both sides suffer attrition at increasingly equal rates.

=== What does all this mean to me? ===
Due to the squaring effect, you should take note of the following:
* '''Focus fire''' - it's how the law works, after all. The more enemy units you destroy, the bigger your advantage gets.
* '''Pool your forces''', including with allies. Even a few extra units can really tilt the battle in your favor. By creating local superiority during battles, you can even overcome an enemy who has more forces on the global level.
* '''Formate your units.''' A good formation allows more of your boys to be shooting theirs at once; even if this advantage lasts for only a few seconds, it can significantly affect the outcome of a battle. Moreover, the less clumped your units are, the less AoE weapons can hurt them. Always try to have a line or encirclement formation when joining battle.
* '''Don't have metal in your storage.''' When even one tank makes a difference, it goes without saying that you want as many units as you can possibly get.

== Basic Aggression ==
''Why you should be attacking''

This is more a philosophy of how you should be playing, but if you want to be better at the game, one of the key principles is just to be aggressive. Its a war game, so fight! Put simply, you cannot win by defending. The only way you'll ever win by defending is boring the enemy to death. You'll have to attack eventually, so why not attack now instead of later? Sure, later you'll have more units and economy, but so will he.

But, attacking is also a sound economic decision. Metal is the most important resource. The only way to get metal is to expand and take Metal Extractors, or to fight the enemy and reclaim their wrecks. Thus, metal is territorial- you must always be trying to gain territory from the enemy to get more metal. This means aggression.

If you build a lot of energy structures to overdrive your mexes it gives you no advantage- the enemy can do the same thing, and will do so faster if he is more aggressive about taking mexes.

Take the situation of a 4v4. On one team, 3 players fight, one builds economic structures. On the other, all 4 fight.

Given equal skill, the 4 fighting players will win- they will take more territory, more metal spots, and when they destroy their enemies they will get to reclaim all the wrecks (both from their own dead units, and the enemies). All it takes is 1 commander wreck and they have a huge economic lead- probably much more than the player who goes pure economy, while having wiped out all his allies.

What if all players from team 1 porc defences, and on team 2 they attack all out?

Even assuming team 1 manage to take at least half the map (which, given a less offensive approach, is unlikely) an intelligent team 2 will see the amount of defenses they have, and know that this means less offensive units. Having the advantage in offensive units mean they need not fear attack from the enemy- they have more mobiles and can thus always beat him even with only token static defense. Team 2 can spend the rest on economy consolidation, much more than the players who are devoting their resources to defenses.

Even though static defences are, on average, 2.5x as cost-effective as mobile units they must be spread thin over a larger area. This means an attacker can concentrate his forces on a single point in the defensive line (perhaps softening it with an artillery barrage), taking on only a fraction of the enemies turrets while the rest of the defensive structures sit idle and useless.

So attack. It's the only way to win.

== Defending vs Attacking ==

''Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive.''
— '''Sun Tzu'''

Defense structures in ZK are generally a match for twice their cost in mobiles. This, along with the simplicity of managing them, makes it tempting for players (not all of whom are new) to use them a lot (not just in turtling without expansion, but also during confrontations after boundary lines have been drawn).

It goes without saying that this is a Very Bad Idea™ indeed.

Mobile units being, well, mobile, means that they can gather in a single area (namely, where the action is happening), while statics, being rooted to one spot, must be spread evenly across the defensive perimeter. This means that attackers can easily achieve local net superiority over a static-reliant defense, resulting in a line of useless d-fenz and a breach in the line - and that's before we discuss the effects of artillery against statics. In contrast, mobiles can respond to an attack at any point, relying on the few local statics to give them the small but crucial net advantage over the enemy.

Therefore, a better player will concentrate defense only at key points and sprinkle it over the rest of his/her perimeter, relying primarily on mobiles for defense. But is there an even more effective way?

''Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.''
— '''Sun Tzu'''

Yes, the best way to resolve the problem of static vs mobile defense is to leave the question to your opponent. By attacking, you force the enemy into a defensive posture, forcing them to spend more on defense while you have to spend less. With more resources for mobiles, you can contest mex spots and wrecks more effectively, resulting in an even greater resource advantage. Additionally, the psychological pressure will make your opponent more prone to making mistakes, which you can exploit effectively to create a similarly vicious cycle.

''So attack. It's the only way to win.''
— '''Saktoth'''

== Maneuvers ==
=== Crossing the T / Enfilade ===
Most players know that most units (skirmishers in particular) do best in a line or encirclement formation, which allows the maximum amount of forward firepower. The best way to counter this is to run up beside the line, and then down the line (parallel to it). This move, known as crossing the T or enfilade, exploits the weakness of the line formation as units on the far end of the line will often be out of range and/or obstructed by friendly units further up the line. Frontal attacks on a line should be avoided whenever possible.

http://licho.eu/alba/caguide/misc_enfilade.jpg

This maneuver also works on static defenses, although open ends in the line to flank are generally less frequent and it's usually better to ignore the rest of the line and proceed straight to the base once the perimeter is breached.

=== The Shield and the Rapier ===
When a head-on assault on a defense line is called for, one trick to increasing your firepower is to mix some raiders with assault units. The assault units close in first to draw fire from enemy defenses, then the raiders move in for the kill with their superior DPS. In addition to increasing the odds of a successful breakthrough, this also makes a raider force immediately available to attack the enemy's logistics once the enemy's defense line has been penetrated.

== Aphorisms ==
''Looking for a spiritual successor to the Goatly Maxims.'' - KR
* Speed kills.
* He who defends everything defends nothing.
* When you lose sight of your strategic goal, a thousand tactical victories shall amount to nothing.
* He who plays to achieve victory will accomplish it; he who plays to avoid defeat merely prolongs it.

{{Navbox manual}}
[[Category:Strategy]]

User:Hedgehogs

2016-10-24T17:56:33Z

Hedgehogs: Created page with "Hedgehogs is a spider factory builder. He also likes making other factories and trying them out. He prefers large teamgames over 1v1"

Hedgehogs is a spider factory builder.
He also likes making other factories and trying them out.
He prefers large teamgames over 1v1

Hermit

2016-10-24T17:55:24Z

Hedgehogs:

The '''{{PAGENAME}}''' is an all terrain assault bot from the [[Spider Factory]].{{ Infobox zkunit
| name = Hermit
| defname = spiderassault
| description = All Terrain Assault Bot
| image = http://packages.springrts.com/zkmanual/unitpics/spiderassault.png
| cost = 160
| hitpoints = 1400
| mass = 181
| movespeed = 51
| turnrate = 264
| sight = 420
| transportable = Light
| weapons =
{{ Infobox zkweapon
| name = Light Plasma Cannon
| type = Cannon
| damage = 141
| reloadtime = 2.6
| dps = 54
| range = 350
| aoe = 18
| projectilespeed = 280
}}
}}==Description==
The Hermit can take an incredible beating, and is useful as a shield for the weaker, more-damaging Recluses.
==Strategies==
While single hermits are weak on their own, in groups they are formidible enemies as they are cheap, have lots of health, and can scresn allied skirmishers. The cannon is not suited to hit fast moving units, but against tanks it should reliably hit them. The hermit can be used on it's own, as spamming the hermit will generally make over 10, and can easily crush defenses. The hermit is a powerful defense crusher, as turrets have to take a long time trying to kill just one of the hermits, and as the turrets are still, the hermits will almost always hit and destroy them very quickly. Should avoid Skirmishers and Artillery
{{Navbox units}}

Venom

2016-10-24T17:50:55Z

Hedgehogs:

The '''{{PAGENAME}}''' is a lightning riot spider from the [[Spider Factory]].{{ Infobox zkunit
| name = Venom
| defname = arm_venom
| description = Lightning Riot Spider
| image = http://packages.springrts.com/zkmanual/unitpics/arm_venom.png
| cost = 200
| hitpoints = 750
| mass = 153
| movespeed = 81
| turnrate = 264
| sight = 440
| transportable = Light
| weapons =
{{ Infobox zkweapon
| name = Electro-Stunner
| type = LightningCannon
| damage = 18
| reloadtime = 1.75
| dps = 10
| empdps = 343
| stuntime = 3
| range = 240
| aoe = 80
| special1 = Instantly hits
}}
}}==Description==
The Venom is an all-terrain unit designed to paralyze enemies so other units can easily destroy them. It moves particularly fast for a riot unit and in addition to paralysis it does a small amount of damage. Works well in tandem with the Recluse to keep enemies from closing range with the fragile skirmisher.
==Strategies==
Aim for large groups, as the small splash radius can be exploited better, stunning many enemy units. The spider is fast enough to close range on skirmishers, and once there, stun them. Because of the stun, a few venoms can leave many enemy units defenseless against any attacks. This is also helpful for hermits/crabes as they will find it easier to attack the stunned units. When closing range to an enemy group, aim at the unit in the front, and make sure all venoms will attack the same unit, that way, the closest unit is now stunned and any units nearby. It's stun is very powerful, and can keep units disarmed for a long time, which makes it a powerful addition to any spiderball

{{Navbox units}}

Recluse

2016-10-24T17:45:38Z

Hedgehogs:

The '''{{PAGENAME}}''' is a skirmisher spider (indirect fire) from the [[Spider Factory]].{{ Infobox zkunit
| name = Recluse
| defname = armsptk
| description = Skirmisher Spider (Indirect Fire)
| image = http://packages.springrts.com/zkmanual/unitpics/armsptk.png
| cost = 280
| hitpoints = 650
| mass = 166
| movespeed = 48
| turnrate = 264
| sight = 627
| transportable = Light
| weapons =
{{ Infobox zkweapon
| name = Rocket Volley
| type = MissileLauncher
| damage = 135 × 3
| reloadtime = 4
| dps = 101
| range = 570
| aoe = 24
| wobbly = 49
| arcing = 56
| projectilespeed = 400
}}
}}==Description==
An all terrain missile launching unit. Climb walls with this spider walker and take your enemy by surprise. The unguided rockets cannot hit a rapidly jinking target, but they have a fairly long range.
==Strategies==
Like all skirmisher units, if a unit gets close, the skirmisher is put in a bad position as it will have a problem getting the unit killed. The recluse's 3 rocket volley is very inaccurate, but very strong, so it should be grouped up to fire more rockets and take out more units. Because of the rocket's volley, enemy unit groups are much easier to take out, as the rockets have a larger chance to hit them. The recluse should be paired with other spiders, and attack from the distance while your escorts close range with the enemy, or kite the enemy along with your escorts.
{{Navbox units}}

Redback

2016-10-24T17:41:41Z

Hedgehogs: /* Strategies */

The '''{{PAGENAME}}''' is a riot spider from the [[Spider Factory]].{{ Infobox zkunit
| name = Redback
| defname = spiderriot
| description = Riot Spider
| image = http://packages.springrts.com/zkmanual/unitpics/spiderriot.png
| cost = 280
| hitpoints = 900
| mass = 180
| movespeed = 51
| turnrate = 280
| sight = 366
| transportable = Light
| weapons =
{{ Infobox zkweapon
| name = Auto Particle Beam
| type = BeamLaser
| damage = 60
| reloadtime = 0.33
| dps = 182
| range = 300
| special1 = Instantly hits
}}
}}==Description==
A rapid fire spider which excels at picking off fast units. It's great powerful Damage can be used to kill off weaker units or for overpowering much weaker Raiders
==Strategies==
This spider excels at taking out fast units, a problem for the spider factory in general. Like most of the spiders, the Redback can be merged with Recluses and turned into a hard-to beat combo, as raiders will have a problem closing the distance. It's somewhat high range for a riot allows for some kiting, and is very hard to engage with short ranged units. It also has the highest DPS, which makes constantly strafing the enemy a good idea, as it allows the Redback to deal more damage. Powerful vs Gunships as well. Keep away from skirmishers/artillery. The spider is tall enough to shoot over each other, and it is much stronger if it is in groups. It also projects a big problem for defenses LLT or Defender, as if it cloes range, it can destroy said defenses easily.
{{Navbox units}}

Redback

2016-10-24T17:39:07Z

Hedgehogs:

The '''{{PAGENAME}}''' is a riot spider from the [[Spider Factory]].{{ Infobox zkunit
| name = Redback
| defname = spiderriot
| description = Riot Spider
| image = http://packages.springrts.com/zkmanual/unitpics/spiderriot.png
| cost = 280
| hitpoints = 900
| mass = 180
| movespeed = 51
| turnrate = 280
| sight = 366
| transportable = Light
| weapons =
{{ Infobox zkweapon
| name = Auto Particle Beam
| type = BeamLaser
| damage = 60
| reloadtime = 0.33
| dps = 182
| range = 300
| special1 = Instantly hits
}}
}}==Description==
A rapid fire spider which excels at picking off fast units. It's great powerful Damage can be used to kill off weaker units or for overpowering much weaker Raiders
==Strategies==
This spider excels at taking out fast units, a problem for the spider factory in general. Like most of the spiders, the Redback can be mergdd with Recluses and turned into a hard-to beat. It's somewhat high range for a riot allows for some kiting, and is very hard to engage with short ranged units. It also has the highest DPS, which makes constantly strafing the enemy a good idea, as it allows the Redback to deal more damage. Powerful vs Gunships as well. Keep away from skirmishers/artillery.
{{Navbox units}}

Redback

2016-10-24T17:38:24Z

Hedgehogs:

The '''{{PAGENAME}}''' is a riot spider from the [[Spider Factory]].{{ Infobox zkunit
| name = Redback
| defname = spiderriot
| description = Riot Spider
| image = http://packages.springrts.com/zkmanual/unitpics/spiderriot.png
| cost = 280
| hitpoints = 900
| mass = 180
| movespeed = 51
| turnrate = 280
| sight = 366
| transportable = Light
| weapons =
{{ Infobox zkweapon
| name = Auto Particle Beam
| type = BeamLaser
| damage = 60
| reloadtime = 0.33
| dps = 182
| range = 300
| special1 = Instantly hits
}}
}}==Description==
A rapid fire spider which excels at picking off fast units. It's great powerful Damage can be used to kill off weaker units or for overpowering much weaker Raiders
}}==Strategies==
This spider excels at taking out fast units, a problem for the spider factory in general. Like most of the spiders, the Redback can be mergdd with Recluses and turned into a hard-to beat. It's somewhat high range for a riot allows for some kiting, and is very hard to engage with short ranged units. It also has the highest DPS, which makes constantly strafing the enemy a good idea, as it allows the Redback to deal more damage. Powerful vs Gunships as well. Keep away from skirmishers/artillery.
{{Navbox units}}

Commander

2016-10-24T08:27:05Z

Hedgehogs: /* Stackable */

<div style="float:right;">__TOC__</div>
= Warning: portions of this page are out of date =

The commander system was substantially revamped in winter 2016. This page has only partially been updated to the new system.

= Commander intro =
Your commander can be configured with a variety of modules to suit your play-style.

After the update, modules are added only at the game and are all unlocked, and you do not need to level up to get any modules.

To keep the game balanced commander modules cost metal ingame and are not all applied at the start of the game. Commanders start at level 1 with a free peashooter and no modules but they can morph an unlimited number of times (but you'll eventually run out of modules after which it is pointless to morph). At Morph 1 (Level 2), commanders gain a single weapon. At morph 3 commanders gain a second weapon which can either be a second regular weapon or a special weapon. If a weapon slot is left empty the commander will be given a free peashooter in its place. Some weapons will replace any other weapons (e.g I get shock rifle, it will replace the first weapon I got)

Each morph level gives a commander more health, more modules or weapons. Morphs have a base cost and additional cost based on the value of the modules or weapons that it will gain when the morph is complete. You can pre-configure your commander buildouts only through level 6 but you can upgrade any number of times in-game.

Unlike regular units, your commander is not disabled while morphing.

= Modules and weapons =

== Number of slots per level ==

Commanders start at level 1. The number of modules and weapons increases with levels.

{|
! Commander level !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6
|-
| Base [[File:Ibeam.png|20px]] cost || -     ||251 || 150 || 500 || 300 || 400
|-
| Total Weapon slots || 0 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| Total Module slots || 0 || 1 || 3 || 5 || 8 || 11
|-
|}

1 Equipping weapons and modules costs additional metal.

== Module types ==
Modules have cyan names in the unlock list, although their icon color depends on their nature. They fall into four categories.

=== Stackable ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/module_ablative_armor.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/module_autorepair.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/module_high_power_servos.png

These modules are able to stacked as many times as they allow, 8x for some and 10x for drones. Stacking them repeatedly will create a powerful commander, even though their bonuses as quite minor. (10% range/damage/speed for those modules) These are cyan.
This type of module is the one that should be used the most, and because of their versatility, it is useful if you intend on getting commanders which do many things, or a single buff commander that is fast, invisible and deals lots of damage. Some of these modules will subtract speed or HP, and should be used with caution as too much will leave the commander a sitting duck.
Modules:
Advanced targeting system +10% range for all weapons.-2.5% speed.
Damage booster +10% damage for all weapons.
High density plating +1600 HP,-10% speed. Requires Ablative armor plates.
Ablative armor plates +600 HP
Companion drone +Weak attack drone
Battle drone +Upgraded drone, requires Companion drone first.
Carrepairer's nanolathe +5 Buildpower.
High power servos +10% speed.
Autorepair system +10HP/sec -100 HP

=== Support===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/module_fieldradar.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/module_areashield.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/module_jammer.png

Support modules are not stackable. They can provide large expensive bonuses such as a shield, cloaking, jamming or a cloaker. There are also cheap ones such as resurrect and inbuilt radar or an area shield/cloak. These are cyan as well.

=== Weapon Boosters ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/weaponmod_standoff_rocket.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/weaponmod_autoflechette.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/weaponmod_high_frequency_beam.png

These modules are expensive but give a large bonus to a few specific weapons but can only be applied once. They are a space effective way to spend a module slot but make sure you have the weapon that they affect. They are purple.

== Weapon types ==
There are 2 types of weapon, special and normal. Both weapon types are affected by the stackable range and damage modules. Weapon names are in red.

=== Normal ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commweapon_beamlaser.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commweapon_rocketlauncher.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commweapon_gaussrifle.png

These are auto-targetting normal weapons that behave the same was as any other unit. They can be affected by weapon boosters and weapon converters given that it is the right weapon. They are all affected by stackable modules. They are red.

{|
! Name !! Range !! Reload time !! Damage !! DPS !! Notes
|-
|Beam Laser||330||||||150||
|-
|Flame thrower||270||0.16 ||10 || 60|| Sets units on fire for 15s pierces units Does more damage against larger units
|-
|Heatray||300||0.1 ||45 ||450 || Damage falls off with range
|-
|Machine Gun||285||0.16 ||30 ||180 ||
|-
|Light particle beam||310||0.34 ||55 || 165||
|-
|Lightning gun||300||1.66 ||220+550 || 132+330 || EMP duration: 1s
|-
|Missile launcher||415||1 ||80 || 80|| Homing
|-
|Riot cannon||275||2 ||220.2 || 110.1||
|-
|Shotgun||290||2 ||32x12 (384) || 192||
|-
|Rocket launcher ||430||3 ||360 || 120||Not homing
|-
|}

=== Special ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commweapon_napalmgrenade.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commweapon_disruptorbomb.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commweapon_sunburst.png

Special weapons have a long reload time and must be manually aimed with the 'D' key. They are only affected by stackable modules. They are orange and can only be put on the level 4 weapon slot.

{|
! Name !! Range !! Reload time !! Damage !! DPS !! Special Notes
|-
|Cluster bomb ||360 || 30 || 300x8 (2400)|| 80 || Bomblets spread (like a shotgun)
|-
| Concussion shell||450 || 25 ||750 || 30 || Has Impulse (Tosses some units)
|-
| Disintigrator ||200 ||30 ||1400 || 46.67 || Damage varies on unit size
|-
|Disrupter bomb ||450 ||25 ||350+2100 || 14+84 || Has large AOE (512)
|-
| Hellfire grenade||450 || 25||200 || 8 || Sets an area on fire (45s,40dps+3s burning)
|-
| Multistunner||360 || 25||550/800 x 16 (8800/12800) ||352/512 || Affected by flux amplifier. Max EMP time: 8s [upgraded: 12s]
|-
| SLAM||700 ||30 || 1512|| 50.4 || High vertical arc
|-
|}
Key: EMP Damage, Slow Damage

= Commander Chassis =
There are 4 types of commander chassis to choose for a battle.

== Common attributes ==
The commander you start the game with produces 4 metal and 6 energy per second. Additional commanders produced from the Strider Hub produce 0.4 metal and 0.4 energy per second. They all provide a sight distance of 500 and a sonar of 300. Chassis other than the Engineer Commander have 10 build power and 120 build range and the Engineer commander has 12 build power and 250 build range.

== Chassis list ==
Note that '''attributes on level 1 and level 2 are equal'''. Morphing to level 2 provides no bonus other than the weapon and module slot.

=== Strike Commander ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commstrike.png 
* All rounder
* Decent health and speed
* Can use the most weapon types
* Auto-regen bonus

{|
! Base Attributes !! Level 2 !! Level 3 !! Level 4 !! Level 5
|-
|HP: 2500 Speed: 40.5 Autoheal: 5||HP: 3000 Autoheal: 12.5||HP: 4000 Autoheal: 20||HP: 5000 Autoheal: 27.5||HP: 6000 Autoheal: 35
|-
|}

=== Guardian Commander ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commassault.png 
* Best HP
* Medium speed
* Gains more HP from increased levels than other chasis do
* Able to use most non-exotic weapons

{|
! Base Attributes !! Level 2 !! Level 3 !! Level 4 !! Level 5
|-
|HP: 3000 Speed: 40||HP: 3800 ||HP: 4900 ||HP: 6000 ||HP: 7200 
|-
|}

=== Recon Commander ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commrecon.png 
* Lowest HP
* Highest Speed (for a commander)
* Jumpjets
* Uses light weapons

{|
! Base Attributes !! Level 2 !! Level 3 !! Level 4 !! Level 5
|-
|HP: 1600 Speed: 43.5 Can Jump||HP: 2100||HP: 2600||HP: 3100||HP: 3600
|-
|}

=== Engineer Commander ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commsupport.png 
* Lowest speed
* Low HP
* Gains buildpower with levels
* Increased build range (250 compared to 120 for others)
* Fewer direct damage weapons

{|
! Base Attributes !! Level 2 !! Level 3 !! Level 4 !! Level 5
|-
|HP: 2000 Speed: 36 Build Power: 12||HP: 2500 Build Power: 14||HP: 3000 Build Power: 16||HP: 3700 Build Power: 18||HP: 4500 Build Power: 20
|-
|}

= Exact effects of attribute modifiers =
Attribute modifiers are applied in this order:
* Commander Chassis absolute statistics
* Percentage modifiers both from modules and chassis
* Absolute modifiers

Percentage modifiers from commanders and stackable modules are additive, not cumulative. Five +10% speed modules multiply a commander's speed by 1.5 instead of by 1.1^5 = 1.61.

Percentage modifiers from weapon boosters and converters are cumulative and applied before other percentage modifiers. Think of them as changing the intrinsic stats of the weapon, rather than adding a bonus.

{{Navbox manual}}

Commander

2016-10-24T08:24:33Z

Hedgehogs: /* Stackable */

<div style="float:right;">__TOC__</div>
= Warning: portions of this page are out of date =

The commander system was substantially revamped in winter 2016. This page has only partially been updated to the new system.

= Commander intro =
Your commander can be configured with a variety of modules to suit your play-style.

After the update, modules are added only at the game and are all unlocked, and you do not need to level up to get any modules.

To keep the game balanced commander modules cost metal ingame and are not all applied at the start of the game. Commanders start at level 1 with a free peashooter and no modules but they can morph an unlimited number of times (but you'll eventually run out of modules after which it is pointless to morph). At Morph 1 (Level 2), commanders gain a single weapon. At morph 3 commanders gain a second weapon which can either be a second regular weapon or a special weapon. If a weapon slot is left empty the commander will be given a free peashooter in its place. Some weapons will replace any other weapons (e.g I get shock rifle, it will replace the first weapon I got)

Each morph level gives a commander more health, more modules or weapons. Morphs have a base cost and additional cost based on the value of the modules or weapons that it will gain when the morph is complete. You can pre-configure your commander buildouts only through level 6 but you can upgrade any number of times in-game.

Unlike regular units, your commander is not disabled while morphing.

= Modules and weapons =

== Number of slots per level ==

Commanders start at level 1. The number of modules and weapons increases with levels.

{|
! Commander level !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6
|-
| Base [[File:Ibeam.png|20px]] cost || -     ||251 || 150 || 500 || 300 || 400
|-
| Total Weapon slots || 0 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| Total Module slots || 0 || 1 || 3 || 5 || 8 || 11
|-
|}

1 Equipping weapons and modules costs additional metal.

== Module types ==
Modules have cyan names in the unlock list, although their icon color depends on their nature. They fall into four categories.

=== Stackable ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/module_ablative_armor.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/module_autorepair.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/module_high_power_servos.png

These modules are able to stacked as many times as they allow, 8x for some and 10x for drones. Stacking them repeatedly will create a powerful commander, even though their bonuses as quite minor. (10% range/damage/speed for those modules) These are cyan.
This type of module is the one that should be used the most, and because of their versatility, it is useful if you intend on getting commanders which do many things, or a single buff commander that is fast, invisible and deals lots of damage. Some of these modules will subtract speed or HP, and should be used with caution as too much will leave the commander a sitting duck.
Modules:
Advanced targeting system +10% range for all weapons.-2.5% speed.
Damage booster +10% damage for all weapons.
High density plating +1600 HP,-10% speed. Requires Ablative armor plates.
Ablative armor plates +100 HP
Companion drone +Weak attack drone
Battle drone +Upgraded drone, requires Companion drone first.
Carrepairer's nanolathe +5 Buildpower.
High power servos +10% speed.

=== Support===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/module_fieldradar.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/module_areashield.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/module_jammer.png

Support modules are not stackable. They can provide large expensive bonuses such as a shield, cloaking, jamming or a cloaker. There are also cheap ones such as resurrect and inbuilt radar or an area shield/cloak. These are cyan as well.

=== Weapon Boosters ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/weaponmod_standoff_rocket.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/weaponmod_autoflechette.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/weaponmod_high_frequency_beam.png

These modules are expensive but give a large bonus to a few specific weapons but can only be applied once. They are a space effective way to spend a module slot but make sure you have the weapon that they affect. They are purple.

== Weapon types ==
There are 2 types of weapon, special and normal. Both weapon types are affected by the stackable range and damage modules. Weapon names are in red.

=== Normal ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commweapon_beamlaser.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commweapon_rocketlauncher.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commweapon_gaussrifle.png

These are auto-targetting normal weapons that behave the same was as any other unit. They can be affected by weapon boosters and weapon converters given that it is the right weapon. They are all affected by stackable modules. They are red.

{|
! Name !! Range !! Reload time !! Damage !! DPS !! Notes
|-
|Beam Laser||330||||||150||
|-
|Flame thrower||270||0.16 ||10 || 60|| Sets units on fire for 15s pierces units Does more damage against larger units
|-
|Heatray||300||0.1 ||45 ||450 || Damage falls off with range
|-
|Machine Gun||285||0.16 ||30 ||180 ||
|-
|Light particle beam||310||0.34 ||55 || 165||
|-
|Lightning gun||300||1.66 ||220+550 || 132+330 || EMP duration: 1s
|-
|Missile launcher||415||1 ||80 || 80|| Homing
|-
|Riot cannon||275||2 ||220.2 || 110.1||
|-
|Shotgun||290||2 ||32x12 (384) || 192||
|-
|Rocket launcher ||430||3 ||360 || 120||Not homing
|-
|}

=== Special ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commweapon_napalmgrenade.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commweapon_disruptorbomb.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commweapon_sunburst.png

Special weapons have a long reload time and must be manually aimed with the 'D' key. They are only affected by stackable modules. They are orange and can only be put on the level 4 weapon slot.

{|
! Name !! Range !! Reload time !! Damage !! DPS !! Special Notes
|-
|Cluster bomb ||360 || 30 || 300x8 (2400)|| 80 || Bomblets spread (like a shotgun)
|-
| Concussion shell||450 || 25 ||750 || 30 || Has Impulse (Tosses some units)
|-
| Disintigrator ||200 ||30 ||1400 || 46.67 || Damage varies on unit size
|-
|Disrupter bomb ||450 ||25 ||350+2100 || 14+84 || Has large AOE (512)
|-
| Hellfire grenade||450 || 25||200 || 8 || Sets an area on fire (45s,40dps+3s burning)
|-
| Multistunner||360 || 25||550/800 x 16 (8800/12800) ||352/512 || Affected by flux amplifier. Max EMP time: 8s [upgraded: 12s]
|-
| SLAM||700 ||30 || 1512|| 50.4 || High vertical arc
|-
|}
Key: EMP Damage, Slow Damage

= Commander Chassis =
There are 4 types of commander chassis to choose for a battle.

== Common attributes ==
The commander you start the game with produces 4 metal and 6 energy per second. Additional commanders produced from the Strider Hub produce 0.4 metal and 0.4 energy per second. They all provide a sight distance of 500 and a sonar of 300. Chassis other than the Engineer Commander have 10 build power and 120 build range and the Engineer commander has 12 build power and 250 build range.

== Chassis list ==
Note that '''attributes on level 1 and level 2 are equal'''. Morphing to level 2 provides no bonus other than the weapon and module slot.

=== Strike Commander ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commstrike.png 
* All rounder
* Decent health and speed
* Can use the most weapon types
* Auto-regen bonus

{|
! Base Attributes !! Level 2 !! Level 3 !! Level 4 !! Level 5
|-
|HP: 2500 Speed: 40.5 Autoheal: 5||HP: 3000 Autoheal: 12.5||HP: 4000 Autoheal: 20||HP: 5000 Autoheal: 27.5||HP: 6000 Autoheal: 35
|-
|}

=== Guardian Commander ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commassault.png 
* Best HP
* Medium speed
* Gains more HP from increased levels than other chasis do
* Able to use most non-exotic weapons

{|
! Base Attributes !! Level 2 !! Level 3 !! Level 4 !! Level 5
|-
|HP: 3000 Speed: 40||HP: 3800 ||HP: 4900 ||HP: 6000 ||HP: 7200 
|-
|}

=== Recon Commander ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commrecon.png 
* Lowest HP
* Highest Speed (for a commander)
* Jumpjets
* Uses light weapons

{|
! Base Attributes !! Level 2 !! Level 3 !! Level 4 !! Level 5
|-
|HP: 1600 Speed: 43.5 Can Jump||HP: 2100||HP: 2600||HP: 3100||HP: 3600
|-
|}

=== Engineer Commander ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commsupport.png 
* Lowest speed
* Low HP
* Gains buildpower with levels
* Increased build range (250 compared to 120 for others)
* Fewer direct damage weapons

{|
! Base Attributes !! Level 2 !! Level 3 !! Level 4 !! Level 5
|-
|HP: 2000 Speed: 36 Build Power: 12||HP: 2500 Build Power: 14||HP: 3000 Build Power: 16||HP: 3700 Build Power: 18||HP: 4500 Build Power: 20
|-
|}

= Exact effects of attribute modifiers =
Attribute modifiers are applied in this order:
* Commander Chassis absolute statistics
* Percentage modifiers both from modules and chassis
* Absolute modifiers

Percentage modifiers from commanders and stackable modules are additive, not cumulative. Five +10% speed modules multiply a commander's speed by 1.5 instead of by 1.1^5 = 1.61.

Percentage modifiers from weapon boosters and converters are cumulative and applied before other percentage modifiers. Think of them as changing the intrinsic stats of the weapon, rather than adding a bonus.

{{Navbox manual}}

Commander

2016-10-24T08:20:15Z

Hedgehogs: /* Support */

<div style="float:right;">__TOC__</div>
= Warning: portions of this page are out of date =

The commander system was substantially revamped in winter 2016. This page has only partially been updated to the new system.

= Commander intro =
Your commander can be configured with a variety of modules to suit your play-style.

After the update, modules are added only at the game and are all unlocked, and you do not need to level up to get any modules.

To keep the game balanced commander modules cost metal ingame and are not all applied at the start of the game. Commanders start at level 1 with a free peashooter and no modules but they can morph an unlimited number of times (but you'll eventually run out of modules after which it is pointless to morph). At Morph 1 (Level 2), commanders gain a single weapon. At morph 3 commanders gain a second weapon which can either be a second regular weapon or a special weapon. If a weapon slot is left empty the commander will be given a free peashooter in its place. Some weapons will replace any other weapons (e.g I get shock rifle, it will replace the first weapon I got)

Each morph level gives a commander more health, more modules or weapons. Morphs have a base cost and additional cost based on the value of the modules or weapons that it will gain when the morph is complete. You can pre-configure your commander buildouts only through level 6 but you can upgrade any number of times in-game.

Unlike regular units, your commander is not disabled while morphing.

= Modules and weapons =

== Number of slots per level ==

Commanders start at level 1. The number of modules and weapons increases with levels.

{|
! Commander level !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6
|-
| Base [[File:Ibeam.png|20px]] cost || -     ||251 || 150 || 500 || 300 || 400
|-
| Total Weapon slots || 0 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| Total Module slots || 0 || 1 || 3 || 5 || 8 || 11
|-
|}

1 Equipping weapons and modules costs additional metal.

== Module types ==
Modules have cyan names in the unlock list, although their icon color depends on their nature. They fall into four categories.

=== Stackable ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/module_ablative_armor.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/module_autorepair.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/module_high_power_servos.png

These modules are able to stacked as many times as they allow, 8x for some and 10x for drones. Stacking them repeatedly will create a powerful commander, even though their bonuses as quite minor. (10% range/damage/speed for those modules) These are cyan.
This type of module is the one that should be used the most, and because of their versatility, it is useful if you intend on getting commanders which do many things, or a single buff commander that is fast, invisible and deals lots of damage.

=== Support===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/module_fieldradar.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/module_areashield.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/module_jammer.png

Support modules are not stackable. They can provide large expensive bonuses such as a shield, cloaking, jamming or a cloaker. There are also cheap ones such as resurrect and inbuilt radar or an area shield/cloak. These are cyan as well.

=== Weapon Boosters ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/weaponmod_standoff_rocket.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/weaponmod_autoflechette.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/weaponmod_high_frequency_beam.png

These modules are expensive but give a large bonus to a few specific weapons but can only be applied once. They are a space effective way to spend a module slot but make sure you have the weapon that they affect. They are purple.

== Weapon types ==
There are 2 types of weapon, special and normal. Both weapon types are affected by the stackable range and damage modules. Weapon names are in red.

=== Normal ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commweapon_beamlaser.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commweapon_rocketlauncher.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commweapon_gaussrifle.png

These are auto-targetting normal weapons that behave the same was as any other unit. They can be affected by weapon boosters and weapon converters given that it is the right weapon. They are all affected by stackable modules. They are red.

{|
! Name !! Range !! Reload time !! Damage !! DPS !! Notes
|-
|Beam Laser||330||||||150||
|-
|Flame thrower||270||0.16 ||10 || 60|| Sets units on fire for 15s pierces units Does more damage against larger units
|-
|Heatray||300||0.1 ||45 ||450 || Damage falls off with range
|-
|Machine Gun||285||0.16 ||30 ||180 ||
|-
|Light particle beam||310||0.34 ||55 || 165||
|-
|Lightning gun||300||1.66 ||220+550 || 132+330 || EMP duration: 1s
|-
|Missile launcher||415||1 ||80 || 80|| Homing
|-
|Riot cannon||275||2 ||220.2 || 110.1||
|-
|Shotgun||290||2 ||32x12 (384) || 192||
|-
|Rocket launcher ||430||3 ||360 || 120||Not homing
|-
|}

=== Special ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commweapon_napalmgrenade.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commweapon_disruptorbomb.png https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commweapon_sunburst.png

Special weapons have a long reload time and must be manually aimed with the 'D' key. They are only affected by stackable modules. They are orange and can only be put on the level 4 weapon slot.

{|
! Name !! Range !! Reload time !! Damage !! DPS !! Special Notes
|-
|Cluster bomb ||360 || 30 || 300x8 (2400)|| 80 || Bomblets spread (like a shotgun)
|-
| Concussion shell||450 || 25 ||750 || 30 || Has Impulse (Tosses some units)
|-
| Disintigrator ||200 ||30 ||1400 || 46.67 || Damage varies on unit size
|-
|Disrupter bomb ||450 ||25 ||350+2100 || 14+84 || Has large AOE (512)
|-
| Hellfire grenade||450 || 25||200 || 8 || Sets an area on fire (45s,40dps+3s burning)
|-
| Multistunner||360 || 25||550/800 x 16 (8800/12800) ||352/512 || Affected by flux amplifier. Max EMP time: 8s [upgraded: 12s]
|-
| SLAM||700 ||30 || 1512|| 50.4 || High vertical arc
|-
|}
Key: EMP Damage, Slow Damage

= Commander Chassis =
There are 4 types of commander chassis to choose for a battle.

== Common attributes ==
The commander you start the game with produces 4 metal and 6 energy per second. Additional commanders produced from the Strider Hub produce 0.4 metal and 0.4 energy per second. They all provide a sight distance of 500 and a sonar of 300. Chassis other than the Engineer Commander have 10 build power and 120 build range and the Engineer commander has 12 build power and 250 build range.

== Chassis list ==
Note that '''attributes on level 1 and level 2 are equal'''. Morphing to level 2 provides no bonus other than the weapon and module slot.

=== Strike Commander ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commstrike.png 
* All rounder
* Decent health and speed
* Can use the most weapon types
* Auto-regen bonus

{|
! Base Attributes !! Level 2 !! Level 3 !! Level 4 !! Level 5
|-
|HP: 2500 Speed: 40.5 Autoheal: 5||HP: 3000 Autoheal: 12.5||HP: 4000 Autoheal: 20||HP: 5000 Autoheal: 27.5||HP: 6000 Autoheal: 35
|-
|}

=== Guardian Commander ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commassault.png 
* Best HP
* Medium speed
* Gains more HP from increased levels than other chasis do
* Able to use most non-exotic weapons

{|
! Base Attributes !! Level 2 !! Level 3 !! Level 4 !! Level 5
|-
|HP: 3000 Speed: 40||HP: 3800 ||HP: 4900 ||HP: 6000 ||HP: 7200 
|-
|}

=== Recon Commander ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commrecon.png 
* Lowest HP
* Highest Speed (for a commander)
* Jumpjets
* Uses light weapons

{|
! Base Attributes !! Level 2 !! Level 3 !! Level 4 !! Level 5
|-
|HP: 1600 Speed: 43.5 Can Jump||HP: 2100||HP: 2600||HP: 3100||HP: 3600
|-
|}

=== Engineer Commander ===
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/master/unitpics/commsupport.png 
* Lowest speed
* Low HP
* Gains buildpower with levels
* Increased build range (250 compared to 120 for others)
* Fewer direct damage weapons

{|
! Base Attributes !! Level 2 !! Level 3 !! Level 4 !! Level 5
|-
|HP: 2000 Speed: 36 Build Power: 12||HP: 2500 Build Power: 14||HP: 3000 Build Power: 16||HP: 3700 Build Power: 18||HP: 4500 Build Power: 20
|-
|}

= Exact effects of attribute modifiers =
Attribute modifiers are applied in this order:
* Commander Chassis absolute statistics
* Percentage modifiers both from modules and chassis
* Absolute modifiers

Percentage modifiers from commanders and stackable modules are additive, not cumulative. Five +10% speed modules multiply a commander's speed by 1.5 instead of by 1.1^5 = 1.61.

Percentage modifiers from weapon boosters and converters are cumulative and applied before other percentage modifiers. Think of them as changing the intrinsic stats of the weapon, rather than adding a bonus.

{{Navbox manual}}

Gameplay dos and don'ts

2016-10-22T22:43:32Z

Hedgehogs: /* Do */

== Do ==
=== Do get all the metal you can ===
http://licho.eu/alba/Zero-K_Manual/metal.sized.jpg

[[File:Ibeam.png|32px|frameless]]

'''Metal''' is needed to get just about anything done in the game, and you want as much of it as you can get. Build mexes and reclaim wreckage from the battlefield like your life depends on it (because it does), and do your best to keep your enemy from doing the same.

=== Do use your units ===
If a combat unit isn't shooting, it isn't paying for itself. If an opportunity to profitably deal damage to the enemy arises, take it. If your team is engaged in combat somewhere, send your units to help out. But '''don't''' throw your units away needlessly.

=== Do build energy resources ===
Unlike metal, energy is consumed a lot more, especially if you have shields/cloaking units, so the best thing to do is to make a lot of energy creators, next to metal extractors. You should always have more energy than metal, or as more than you can spend. Excess energy is used to overdrive metal extractors. Because overdrive loses efficency as more power is pumped into a metal extractor, it best to have more mexes on overdrive. Be warned, if you are using anything else that isn't a solar panel, they can explode and severely cripple your economy.

=== Do have mobile defenses ===
Despite towers being cost efficient and powerful, it just isn't enough to have just towers. Make mobile defenses as they can move to many places, and react to any raid or push and it will make sure your not a sitting duck to an artillery raid. The best ones for defending tend to be raiders as they are very fast and can react almost immediately.

== Don't ==
=== Don't make lots of defences in one place ===
http://licho.eu/alba/Zero-K_Manual/bypassenemies.sized.jpg

The enemy will simply go around to where the defences aren't (like where your allies are), and to fortify all possible attack points simply isn't economically feasible. Seed moderate defences where necessary (e.g. at chokepoints), sprinkle light defences elsewhere to deter raids, and use mobile units for the rest of your defensive needs (or better yet, use them to be the one doing the attacking).

=== Don't send your units in one by one ===
http://licho.eu/alba/Zero-K_Manual/piecemeal.sized.jpg

They'll just die one by one. You want to concentrate your forces wherever possible; see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanchester%27s_laws Lanchester's laws] for why.

=== Don't make lots of storages ===
You want to be spending your metal and energy as fast as you can, not stockpiling them. Storages should only be made under very specific circumstances, usually in FFA matches.

=== Don't make more nanoturrets than you can afford ===
Nanoturrets can help your factories and constructors build faster, but only if there's actually metal available to spend. If you only have enough ingredients for three cakes, having ten ovens won't make them bake any faster than three.

As a rule, you shouldn't build new nanoturrets if your current expenditure already exceeds your income. Each nanoturret spends about 10 metal per second at full speed, so you can easily determine how many you need.

''DO have fun, respect your teammates, and enjoy all that the game has to offer.''

{{Navbox manual}}

Gameplay dos and don'ts

2016-10-22T20:59:30Z

Hedgehogs: /* Do build energy resources */

== Do ==
=== Do get all the metal you can ===
http://licho.eu/alba/Zero-K_Manual/metal.sized.jpg

[[File:Ibeam.png|32px|frameless]]

'''Metal''' is needed to get just about anything done in the game, and you want as much of it as you can get. Build mexes and reclaim wreckage from the battlefield like your life depends on it (because it does), and do your best to keep your enemy from doing the same.

=== Do use your units ===
If a combat unit isn't shooting, it isn't paying for itself. If an opportunity to profitably deal damage to the enemy arises, take it. If your team is engaged in combat somewhere, send your units to help out. But '''don't''' throw your units away needlessly.

=== Do build energy resources ===
Unlike metal, energy is consumed a lot more, especially if you have shields/cloaking units, so the best thing to do is to make a lot of energy creators, next to metal extractors. You should always have more energy than metal, or as more than you can spend. Excess energy is used to overdrive metal extractors. Because overdrive loses efficency as more power is pumped into a metal extractor, it best to have more mexes on overdrive. Be warned, if you are using anything else that isn't a solar panel, they can explode and severely cripple your economy.

== Don't ==
=== Don't make lots of defences in one place ===
http://licho.eu/alba/Zero-K_Manual/bypassenemies.sized.jpg

The enemy will simply go around to where the defences aren't (like where your allies are), and to fortify all possible attack points simply isn't economically feasible. Seed moderate defences where necessary (e.g. at chokepoints), sprinkle light defences elsewhere to deter raids, and use mobile units for the rest of your defensive needs (or better yet, use them to be the one doing the attacking).

=== Don't send your units in one by one ===
http://licho.eu/alba/Zero-K_Manual/piecemeal.sized.jpg

They'll just die one by one. You want to concentrate your forces wherever possible; see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanchester%27s_laws Lanchester's laws] for why.

=== Don't make lots of storages ===
You want to be spending your metal and energy as fast as you can, not stockpiling them. Storages should only be made under very specific circumstances, usually in FFA matches.

=== Don't make more nanoturrets than you can afford ===
Nanoturrets can help your factories and constructors build faster, but only if there's actually metal available to spend. If you only have enough ingredients for three cakes, having ten ovens won't make them bake any faster than three.

As a rule, you shouldn't build new nanoturrets if your current expenditure already exceeds your income. Each nanoturret spends about 10 metal per second at full speed, so you can easily determine how many you need.

''DO have fun, respect your teammates, and enjoy all that the game has to offer.''

{{Navbox manual}}

Gameplay dos and don'ts

2016-10-22T20:57:18Z

Hedgehogs: /* Do */

== Do ==
=== Do get all the metal you can ===
http://licho.eu/alba/Zero-K_Manual/metal.sized.jpg

[[File:Ibeam.png|32px|frameless]]

'''Metal''' is needed to get just about anything done in the game, and you want as much of it as you can get. Build mexes and reclaim wreckage from the battlefield like your life depends on it (because it does), and do your best to keep your enemy from doing the same.

=== Do use your units ===
If a combat unit isn't shooting, it isn't paying for itself. If an opportunity to profitably deal damage to the enemy arises, take it. If your team is engaged in combat somewhere, send your units to help out. But '''don't''' throw your units away needlessly.

=== Do build energy resources ===
Unlike metal, energy is consumed a lot more, especially if you have shields/cloaking units, so the best thing to do is to make a lot of energy creators, next to metal extractors. You should always have more energy than metal, or as more than you can spend. Excess energy is used to overdrive metal extractors.

== Don't ==
=== Don't make lots of defences in one place ===
http://licho.eu/alba/Zero-K_Manual/bypassenemies.sized.jpg

The enemy will simply go around to where the defences aren't (like where your allies are), and to fortify all possible attack points simply isn't economically feasible. Seed moderate defences where necessary (e.g. at chokepoints), sprinkle light defences elsewhere to deter raids, and use mobile units for the rest of your defensive needs (or better yet, use them to be the one doing the attacking).

=== Don't send your units in one by one ===
http://licho.eu/alba/Zero-K_Manual/piecemeal.sized.jpg

They'll just die one by one. You want to concentrate your forces wherever possible; see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanchester%27s_laws Lanchester's laws] for why.

=== Don't make lots of storages ===
You want to be spending your metal and energy as fast as you can, not stockpiling them. Storages should only be made under very specific circumstances, usually in FFA matches.

=== Don't make more nanoturrets than you can afford ===
Nanoturrets can help your factories and constructors build faster, but only if there's actually metal available to spend. If you only have enough ingredients for three cakes, having ten ovens won't make them bake any faster than three.

As a rule, you shouldn't build new nanoturrets if your current expenditure already exceeds your income. Each nanoturret spends about 10 metal per second at full speed, so you can easily determine how many you need.

''DO have fun, respect your teammates, and enjoy all that the game has to offer.''

{{Navbox manual}}