Guide to Atlas for Newer Players

tedstertedster Member
edited July 7 in General Discussion

Other Guides:
Guide to Competitive Ryme Play

Welcome to Atlas!

So you want to learn Atlas? This is a guide intended for players new to the game or who are looking for a deeper understanding of the systems and strategies that go into playing Atlas with other people. It’s written as a blueprint for learning basic game concepts, exploring the 4 factions, and eventually joining online multiplayer games.

I won’t be covering the basics of unit controls or similar concepts that are covered in the tutorial. In fact, it’s recommended that you go through the tutorial first, since it covers several fundamentals - then come back to this point and start reading.

Introduction to the Game

Atlas is best described as a hybrid RTS/MOBA game. You and your two allies will be building up and controlling armies of units and then using them to attempt to destroy a variety of towers and production buildings that make up the opposing team’s base. Your opponents will, of course, be doing the same!

Heroes

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You will start the game by selecting a HERO unit. This hero has a number of unique functions, including:

  • Leading and supporting your armies
  • Gathering resources
  • Gaining levels through combat and unlocking powerful Ultimate Abilities

Armies

Your army is composed of UNITS which you select from a unique pool or “deck” of possible options. There are four possible “decks” which represent four unique FACTIONS in the game. Each hero belongs to one of the four factions:

(Click for Faction Guides)

  1. Red - Fire and Speed
  2. Blue - Water and Resilience
  3. White - Air and Range
  4. Green - Earth and Strength

...and must select his or her units from that faction’s deck.

Getting Stronger

Your team consists of 3 players, each with a unique hero and army. Over the course of the game, each player will:

Titan Shrines

Equidistant from both teams are three “shrines” at the top-left, center, and bottom-right sections of the map. These represent “OBJECTIVES” that help teams win the game. In Atlas, these objectives are called “Titans” and they are used to help destroy the opponent’s base.

At a certain point in the game, these “center shrines” will activate and begin spitting out gems. This is visible on the minimap – myriad red and blue orbs will begin appearing around the shrines. Teams may now collect these gems with their hero units in order to “activate” a titan. Gems give a small amount of resources and take some time to collect, and opponents may destroy enemy gems before the collection finishes.

Titans are the basic Path to Victory

  • The first team to collect 10 gems spawns a Titan, a powerful siege unit that will aid in destroying the enemy base
  • The Titan becomes more powerful the longer the game goes on
  • Powerful Titans may require the entire team effort to stop them from destroying an entire base!

Destroying Bases and Winning

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The game ends when a team’s Nexus has been destroyed – but even breaking the surrounding buildings can give the attacking team a lot of resources – and can weaken the Nexus (in the case of destroying Shield Batteries) or make it harder to warp in new units and heal (in the case of destroying Warp Spires). So destroy buildings when you can!

Eventually, the Titans will get too strong and a team will gain enough of an advantage that one side will win the game. Final stands in Atlas can last for a long time and feature many heroic opportunities to turn the game around, so don’t give up or rest on your laurels until the end!

Comments

  • tedstertedster Member
    edited July 7

    Resources in Atlas

    Supply

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    • The simplest resource, supply is very similar to what you see in most RTS games and represents the maximum number of units you can have in your army at one time

      • All units cost more than 1 supply. Most basic units cost 3-4 supply, with the lowly Wisp costing only 2
      • Expensive units can cost 12 or more supply, with the mighty Abominable Sludge costing a massive 16!
    • Increasing Supply

      • The only way to increase supply is by researching it in your base. The default hotkey for the building that controls this is ‘5’
      • Supply increases by 3 every time you research this – this number may change in the future

    Energy

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    • Similar to “Gold” or “Minerals” in other games, energy is relatively easy to acquire and spent at a fairly steady rate

      • Energy is only used for building units, never for upgrades
      • Basic units require only energy; higher-tech and more powerful units cost additional resources
      • The energy cost of a unit is equal to its supply value, but unlike supply, energy is permanently expended
    • Gaining Energy

      • Energy can be researched in your base in lieu of supply. The default hotkey for the building used is ‘5’
      • Energy can also be gained from defeating creep camps and claiming the “generator” they leave behind
      • Finally, some enemy structures give energy when destroyed

    BioShards (or simply “Shards”)

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    • BioShards are like “Gas” or “Lumber” in other games, and are used for advanced units and research

      • The higher-tech a unit is, the more BioShards it typically costs
      • All Unit Upgrades cost BioShards exclusively (and time)
    • Gaining BioShards

      • BioShards can be researched in your base in lieu of supply or energy. The default hotkey for the building used is ‘5’
      • BioShards can also be gained from defeating creep camps and claiming the crystals they leave behind
      • The gems spawned by the Titan shrines provide small amounts of BioShards when claimed
      • Finally, some enemy structures give BioShards when destroyed
  • tedstertedster Member
    edited July 7

    Objectives in Atlas: Camps and Titans

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    “Objective” is a broad concept that describes a thing you and your team can do to gain strength or advance the game toward a victory that doesn’t involve directly fighting your opponents.

    Taking objectives is an excellent way to build a lead and is often very low-risk. When you claim an objective for your team, you don’t just get rewards – you deny them to the opponent as well!

    Contested Objectives

    • These objectives are in locations that either team could get to, unlike the ones "inside" your base:

      • Some are closer to one base than the other...
      • Others are equidistant from both bases
      • The equidistant objectives are typically the most valuable, because they are easy enough to take without undue risk, but if you don’t get them your opponent surely will!

    Two Types of Objectives

    • Creep Camps - The primary way to get resources

      • More important in the early and mid game - leads to bigger armies
    • Titans - The primary way to win the game

      • More important in the late game - leads to victory

    How to Use Objectives

    • It is often correct to follow up on your team winning a battle by running off to grab all the contested Creep Camps. This is a safe and powerful way to build a lead, as it will be difficult for the enemy to ambush you after you just destroyed their army!

    • Titans gain importance the longer the game goes on. Late in the game, it might take an entire team to bring down a Titan before it destroys an entire base.

    • When you spawn a Titan, stop and consider whether you should follow the Titan into the enemy’s base to mount an attack, or if you should use the Titan as a distraction to go complete other objectives. Often the enemy must expend so much effort defeating a Titan that you can go clear out the contested Creep Camps, or even go claim a second Titan with little resistance!

    Smart use of objectives throughout the game is key to victory. You can win a game where you lose most of the battles if you take the most objectives!

  • tedstertedster Member
    edited July 7

    Battles and Victory

    Battles in Atlas can be fast and furious affairs. Some basic tactics to keep in mind:

    • Teamwork and positioning are more important (and easier to learn) than pro micro
    • Superior numbers often defeat clever tactics
    • Keeping frail, ranged units and spellcasters behind tough, “tanky” units is generally smart
    • An army with spellcasters is much stronger than an army without them
    • Unit Upgrades (especially unique unit upgrades from hotkey building '6') play a huge role in a fight

    Unit Special Abilities

    • Most units in Atlas have at least one special “activated” ability or spell

      • Unlike in many RTS games, these abilities can generally be used even when your whole army is selected
    • Most spells have a “cast time” associated with them

      • Fair warning comes in the form of glowing symbols/outlines on the ground before the spell completes
      • With time and practice you’ll find most abilities can be completely dodged if you are quick

    Victory

    Like in many MOBAs, winning in Atlas can happen fairly naturally after building a large enough advantage: eventually Titans get too powerful, and your army becomes too strong for your opponents to hold back after having been defeated time and time again.

    • Be sure in your rush to close out a game you don’t overcommit too early or underestimate the opponent's army
    • Instead of pushing for a quick win, consider claiming a few more Creep Camps in case you need to rebuild your army
    • Or you could wait for a second Titan spawn and send them both in at the same time
    • Or maybe you should strike now, while the opponent is still weak from the last battle…
  • tedstertedster Member
    edited July 7

    Picking a Faction and Neutral Units

    There are 4 factions in Atlas, each with unique strengths and weaknesses.

    • Each faction has two heroes to pick from
    • Each hero comes with a unique Basic Unit that cannot be swapped out
    • At the start of the match you will pick a hero, you are then given 5 additional “slots” that you can fill with any units from your faction’s available options – these are the units you will have access to in the game.
    • There are also several “Neutral” units that will have a greyish background during unit selection – these are units available for any faction to add to their "deck" of units for a match

    Let’s take a look at each of the factions below... but first, a word on Neutral Units!

    Neutral Units

    • Any hero can take any neutral unit in their deck
    • Neutral units do “specialist” things that any army might want from time to time, like healing, air transport, or laying traps
    • They rarely do much damage in direct combat
    • Healers and Chillers are the simplest neutral units, though you may want to experiment with others
  • tedstertedster Member
    edited July 7

    Red

    Red is the faction of fire, explosions, sudden bursts of speed, and adaptability. Red has powerful but fragile ranged troops, spellcasters capable of devastating an entire enemy army at once, and support units capable of making the entire army run and attack at tremendous speeds. Red is versatile and can support a team in many ways. It deals a lot of damage very fast.

    Red has few clear weaknesses, though its units tend to be fairly low on HP. Red’s spellcasters are powerful, but expensive, and if they are killed early in a fight Red can have trouble because its units don’t tend to live very long.

    Red Heroes:

    1. Vex is a straightforward hero who specializes in harassing the enemy army from afar with a strong, AOE nuke that is great for killing off clumps of fragile enemy units. His Ultimate ability is great for clearing space or punishing a slow army.

      • Difficulty: Very Easy. Vex has a very easy basic unit and his ability is straightforward. He is somewhat fragile, so watch his health!
      • Vex’s basic unit, the Spitfire, is a simple ranged unit that does more damage to things that have been set on fire, which Vex’s nuke conveniently does.
    2. Eris is also a fairly straightforward hero, though she focuses more on picking off single targets one-by-one than Vex does. Her basic ability requires a bit more finesse to hit with than Vex’s, and her ultimate is similar to his but starts doing damage right away, making it harder for the enemy to dodge it completely but less devastating when it hits.

      • Difficulty: Medium. Eris is a fairly simple ranged hero to use, but her basic unit requires some finesse to get value out of.
      • The Sandstinger, Eris’s basic ranged unit, is fragile and attacks fairly slowly, but has a dash attack (Stinging Surge) that lets it dart into or out of combat, firing twice in rapid succession.

    Suggested Red units to start out:

    1. Vex and his Spitfires are great for learning the rope with Red since they are simple and effective ranged troops.
    2. Beetle Fighters are a good option if you want to have access to melee troops that can tank reasonably well in the early game. Beetle Fighters have an ability that can be used to spawn baby Beetles, which fight for a limited time and do a great job of absorbing enemy blows.
    3. Devilkin Dervishes are a simple unit that provide a huge boost to Red’s entire army. They attack at range for big damage, and their ability can be used to give your army a temporary buff to attack speed and movement speed. Having 1-2 Devilkin Dervishes in your army means you can run faster and attack faster than the opponent, making retreat (or chasing down retreating enemies) a breeze!
    4. Apocalytes are powerful casters with a nasty AOE nuke. If your opponent fails to dodge it, they might lose an entire army!
  • tedstertedster Member
    edited July 7

    White

    White is the faction of range, mobility, and vision, and sustained damage. They are weak in a direct fight but strong firing from a distance, hiding behind allies and shelling the opponent with continuous fire.

    White has few melee options and no real tanks. It focuses more on controlling the battlefield with slows and blasts of wind than on AOE nukes. White’s goal is to stay mobile while sniping important targets from far away. If the opponent gets too close, it must either rely on an ally or use special abilities to force the opponent back, because its units are more fragile than those of any other faction.

    White Heroes:

    1. Celesta is a simple ranged hero with a basic nuke that hits very weakly but grants vision from far away. She is good at identifying the enemy’s location and her ultimate can force the opponent to retreat from a fight or suffer catastrophic damage.

      • Difficulty: Medium. Celesta’s basic unit can be difficult to keep alive and White can be challenging to play if your team is not working to protect you, but Celesta’s gameplan is very straightforward.
      • Her basic unit, the Wisp, is a simple ranged unit that costs only 2 supply/energy. It has great range and can be massed in large quantities, but is very fragile. Armies of Wisps can be quite powerful when upgraded.
    2. Vela is similar to Celesta, though her abilities focus on information and subterfuge. Her basic ability makes killing slow tanks a breeze, and her ultimate is mainly used for escape.

      • Difficulty: Easy. Vela’s basic unit is easy to use and she is well suited to attacking from max range, something White wants to do anyway.
      • The Raptor, Vela’s fragile basic ranged unit, is simple to use and hits hard from long range. It’s great for gunning down high-priority targets.

    Suggested White units to start out:

    1. Vela and her Raptors are very simple and work well together. Try to use Vela’s basic ability on important targets, then shoot them with your Raptors.
    2. Deadeyes are the core of many White strategies. They have a powerful ability, Snipe, that shoots a high-damage, super-long-range laser after a short cast time. Deadeyes are great in packs of 4 or more when they can fill the air with deadly beams.
    3. Windrays are must-have units with 2 passive auras that make your whole army better – boosts to attack range and movement speed. You can only have 1 Windray, so practice flipping between the auras! Windrays are also very easy to use – just be careful to keep them safe!
    4. Zephyrs are pure utility casters with the ability to lay down windstorms that aid allied movement and slow enemies. They can also knock back things that get too close!
  • tedstertedster Member
    edited July 7

    Blue

    Blue is the faction of water, cold, slow movement, and sustainability. Blue armies are tough and resilient and are extremely difficult to dislodge from a position. Blue is the faction most suited to being on the front line of a battle.

    Blue has lots of utility but does not deal much damage. Most of Blue’s abilities slow the enemy or bolster their team’s defenses. They can make a fight last forever, but they aren’t great at ending it.

    Blue Heroes:

    1. Hydros is a very simple hero based around healing. He is tough and tanky, and both his basic and his ultimate provide great sustainability for himself and his allies. Hydros can heal team members!

      • Difficulty: Very Easy. Hydros has a very easy basic unit and his heal is straightforward. He is tough and hard to kill, and can even heal himself in a pinch.
      • Hydros’s basic unit, the Scuttleguard, is a simple melee tank unit that can roll into combat, stunning the first thing it hits.
    2. Ryme is a versatile hero that specializes in stunning enemy units. His basic ability is great for picking off retreating foes and his ultimate stuns a large AOE for several seconds.

      • Difficulty: Easy to Medium. Ryme is resilient and a fairly simple ranged hero to use, but his basic unit requires a little more finesse.
      • The Glacial Ranger, Ryme’s basic ranged unit, is fragile and does medium damage, but has the ability to project an AOE slow with its attack that is great for picking off retreating foes or important targets.

    Suggested Blue units to start out:

    1. Hydros and his Scuttleguards are great for early game tanking and are relatively quick to master.
    2. Shield Slugs are resilient ranged attackers and have an ability that can protect them from all harm for several seconds.
    3. Quadrapus are powerful defensive casters. Their Intervention spell makes a ring on the ground that protects your team from 60% of incoming damage for several seconds, and their other ability is a powerful heal that combos well with Hydros to keep your army at full health.
    4. Healers are a Neutral unit (which I talk about below) but are especially good for Blue to use, since they keep your tanks alive and help you maintain a strong battle line.
  • tedstertedster Member
    edited July 7

    Green

    Green is the faction of earth, sudden growth (of deadly plants), and strength. Green has powerful and resilient melee troops that can heal themselves and robots that can plant fast-growing saplings which act as mobile turrets. Green can even make giant acidic slimes capable of dissolving entire armies at once… if they can catch them.

    Green is strongest when it can “set up”, as several of its units involve planting “towers” that fire at the enemy repeatedly.

    Green Heroes:

    1. Grath is a shortish-range hero that is very hard to kill. He can protect and heal his army and his ultimate lets him transform into an even tougher, harder-to-kill tank with an area-of-effect basic attack.

      • Difficulty: Medium. Grath has simple abilities but his basic unit can be difficult to control in combat due to its small size.
      • Grath’s basic unit, the Terrapin Trooper, is a melee tank that can slide into battle, slowing anything it hits. Terrapins can be fairly difficult to micromanage compared to other basic tanks.
    2. Alder is a ranged hero who can project entangling vines to root the enemy in place. His ultimate summons a huge plant that attacks and stuns nearby enemies, forcing them to fight it or run away.

      • Difficulty: Medium. Alder is a fairly simple ranged hero to use, but his basic unit is more complicated that most.
      • The Seedbot, Alder’s basic ranged unit, is resilient and has the ability to plant a sapling that attacks independently like a turret. Seedbots aren’t too hard to use, but choosing where to plant gardens of saplings can be surprisingly tricky.

    Suggested Green units to start out:

    1. Alder and his Seedbots work well with almost any team. Seedbots are hard to kill, so you’re not punished too badly for any mistakes.
    2. Grove Tenders have a similar ability to Seedbots, but the plant they make is much more powerful and can be planted more often. Grove Tenders are great when you plan to be in one location for a long time as they can create a veritable orchard.
    3. Abominable Sludges are huge, rolling masses of HP and the toughest tanks in the game. They can roll right over enemy armies and do damage to everything under them. They can even heal themselves by devouring their foes if you get their unique upgrade.
    4. Bramblethorn Golaiths are strong tanks that can root themselves in the ground, healing themselves faster than most armies can hurt them, though they will not be able to attack while doing so.
  • tedstertedster Member
    edited July 15

    Advanced Game Concepts

    So you've played a few games against the bots and you're ready to take the next step - whether it's playing PvP games with other humans or just learning more about Atlas. Here are some game concepts you'll want to familiarize yourself with:

    Upgrades

    Upgrades fall into two categories: Unique (unit-specific) Upgrades, and General Upgrades which affect your entire army.

    • Each unit has its own Unique Upgrade (available from building hotkey '6')

      • There is only one such Unique Upgrade per unit
      • You will only be able to see Unique Upgrades for units you have selected for your deck
      • Often increase attack range, increase survivability, or reduce cast time of spells
      • Unique Upgrades typically have a dramatic impact on a unit's capabilities and most of them are must-have
    • General Upgrades are along the bottom of the production grid in solid colors (building hotkey '6') and affect all units

      • Four distinct upgrades: Attack Damage, Spell Damage, Attack Defense, Spell Defense
      • It is important not to fall too far behind the opponent in upgrading these or your troops will lose otherwise even fights
      • Not all armies need all upgrade types. A tanky Blue army might not need Spell Damage or Attack Damage, for example

    Find time to sneak in important upgrades! Even a basic troop that suddenly can shoot 25% farther has skyrocketed in value!

    Production Slots

    You may have noticed that only a certain number of units can be built at once. This can be a problem when trying to rebuild an army after a lost battle or bloody skirmish. Luckily, there are ways to improve your production capacity to speed up building and upgrading units!

    • Building a Unit takes up a Production Slot. So do Upgrades.

      • Upgrades and Advanced Units can take a very long time to build (6 * energy + 4 seconds for Units, and 3/4/5/6 minutes per upgrade depending on level of upgrade)
      • If you don't improve your production, you could find yourself unable to make units for several minutes while Upgrading your armies
      • Being unable to make units for several minutes is very bad
    • You start with 2 simultaneous Production Slots. Anything you try to make beyond 2 things goes into your queue
    • You can improve your Production Slots by 1 in lieu of Gaining Supply/Energy/Shards (Building Hotkey '5') up to a maximum of 6
    • The first few increases are by far the most important, and getting at least 1 extra slot before doing too much Upgrading is recommended

    Wards

    Using wards to get vision of the map is a huge part of any MOBA, and Atlas is no different.

    • Each hero has Vision Wards (mapped to the 'g' hotkey)
    • These Wards grant long-term vision for your team in an area around where you place them
    • Wards refresh automatically every 2 minutes, and you can store several charges

      • Everyone on your team should therefore be using wards whenever they are available
      • There is little value to a ward you don't use, unless you need it to detect invisible units - see below
    • Wards are neither invisible nor do they see invisible, but your units won't attack enemy wards unless you tell them to

      • Be sure to tell them to! Vision is a powerful resource and without it, making good decisions is difficult
    • Wards can be upgraded to see Stealthed units (hotkey building '6')

      • This is a situational use, but if you are fighting Stealthy units you may need to save wards for important situations

    How to Use Wards

    • Focus on warding important locations, such as:

      • Contested Creep Camp spawn locations
      • Tall grass the enemy could be hiding behind
      • The top of the cliff in your base if you suspect a Dropship or Teleporter attack
      • The top of hills in enemy bases after you've knocked down their outer Towers
      • The edge of your vision before your team executes a risky attack on a Camp near the enemy's base
    • Look for enemy wards in the same locations!

      • Every ward you remove is a powerful denial of information

    When you have Good Ward Coverage

    • When you can see more of the map, you can take more objectives safely

      • You have time to react to the enemy trying to flank you, and they probably aren't sure where you are anyway
    • You can react to enemy risks quickly and ruthlessly

      • Flanking or pincer attacks become easy to execute
    • You can react to the enemy being out of position by attacking their base

      • Even without a Titan you can break important buildings or even a Nexus if the enemy is somewhere far from their base
    • You can spread your team out more to claim more objectives at once

      • A single player is unlikely to be caught by the enemy if you know where they are at all times
      • Your team can fold inward to help before the enemy has time to surround anyone
    • You can play further forward on the map, closer to the opponent's base

    When you have Bad Ward Coverage

    ...the opposite is true! All these things are easier on the opponent, and you must play closer to your own base until you can either win a big fight or somehow establish vision on the map (with Sentinels, for example)

  • tedstertedster Member
    edited July 11

    Advanced Concepts Pt. 2

    Which Units to Kill?

    Atlas is different than other MOBAs or RTS games. Units have slightly different values, and some common wisdom doesn't necessarily apply here:

    • Hero deaths are low-impact compared to most games

      • Heroes are free and respawn quickly
      • Heroes are much more replaceable than BioShards
      • As a result, heroes can and often should tank for their armies
      • Don't specifically target a hero in battle unless it helps you win the fight
    • Tier 1 Units are "free" if you have spare Energy

      • Can still be spending BioShards on upgrades and advanced units
      • Only cost is Energy (which can sometimes be abundant) and Production Slots
      • If you aren't killing a lot of Tier 1, the impact of a kill is low
      • Early game when people aren't supply capped, the impact is higher because it lets you bully a lane while they rebuild
    • Advanced Units and Spellcasters are almost always right to focus

      • These units do the most damage and are the hardest to replace
      • It is often worth it to lose ~20+ supply of basic units to kill 1 Apocalyte or the equivalent since Tier 1 is much easier and faster to replace
      • Often are not that much harder to kill than basic units
      • Even "tanky" units are typically good high-priority targets due to their cost and impact
      • Damage is high in Atlas, especially lategame, making focusing down tanks fairly practical
    • Giving heroes XP isn't a major consideration at this time

      • It's OK to lose lots of basic units to accomplish an objective because hero levels do not have a major impact right now
      • This makes mass Tier-1 strategies quite viable and losing swarms of troops much less painful than you might expect

    Splitting up vs. Sticking Together

    • Splitting up lets you cover more ground and take more objectives, but is riskier

      • Favors fast armies
      • Favors the team with more map vision
      • Often favors a team that is slightly ahead - Goal is to avoid battles (retreat quickly!) while holding the various objectives as long as possible
      • Easier early when armies are smaller and map vision is good - harder to flank/wipe someone
      • Best when objectives are spawning at around the same time
    • Sticking Together avoids blowouts and seeks to generate blowouts

      • Absolutely vital when you have little map vision
    • Best when Significantly Behind or Way Ahead

      • If Significantly Behind, in danger of being flanked if alone and taking 1-2 extra objectives is unlikely to flip the tables anyway
      • If Significantly Behind, you're seeking to get a (possibly lucky) blowout win which requires a big team fight
      • If opponents make a mistake and split up, you'll wipe the army you stumble upon
      • If Way Ahead, your only concern is to not get blown out
      • Usually don't need map objectives, and opponents can't typically capitalize off your predictable movement
      • Opponent has no map vision and has to move as a team anyway - don't get seperated!

    Don't Be the Hero - Do what your team expects you to do

    • If your team wants you to stick together, you should almost always do it, even if you think it's not ideal

      • Atlas is more about teamwork than playing heroball
      • If your team engages the enemy expecting a 3v3 and you peel off to do something else, your team is going to lose 2 armies
      • There is very little chance of coming back from this
      • If you had supported your team there is almost always a more reasonable chance of winning the fight
      • Highly mobile ranged armies have some leeway to play a little further back from the fight grabbing nearby objectives
      • If you're doing this, do not prioritize the objective over supporting your team! You can take as many objectives as you want after you win a fight
    • Tell your teammates what you are doing

      • If you aren't in voice chat, map ping is hotkey 'n'
      • If your opponent pings an area or is moving in and you disagree with the action (or decide you're going to do something else), you need to at least ping them
      • A simple "b" typed into chat, indicating "back" is very helpful when disengaging
    • If your team wants to split up, and you disagree, at the least let them know, don't just relentlessly follow one person around

      • It is very frustrating to have someone follow you around while you try to shake them
      • They will not know if you disagree or are simply not paying attention
      • At the very least, take objectives nearby so you can react if they need you - this is at least a compromise
  • tedstertedster Member
    edited July 12

    Advanced Concepts Part 3

    Stutter Stepping

    Stutter stepping is the act of quickly moving your army for brief moments between shots. It is done primarily with ranged units, generally using the following technique:

    • After units have fired, right click on the ground to move them a short distance. Then either:

      • Hit "hold", -or-
      • Attack-move targeting the ground, -or-
      • Right-click an enemy unit
    • Then, do it again after they fire

      • Repeat

    The goal is to time the movement so it consumes roughly the same amount of time that your units' ranged attack cooldown takes. If done right, your units will fire right when you execute the hold/attack command.

    Why bother stutter stepping?

    Stutter stepping gives a number of significant advantages in a fight, whether attacking or retreating.

    • Stutter stepping lets you get more units into range in a fight without missing attacks

      • If you simply attack-move the ground, your front line stops to fire while your back line is stuck behind the fight, unable to contribute
      • By taking a step between each shot, you quickly get your full army in range but without giving up the initial few shots
      • You can quickly get your army in range of high-priority targets like casters in the back row
      • If the enemy is retreating you will get the maximum number of shots off before they get away
    • Stutter stepping makes sniping units much easier

      • For all the reasons listed above
    • Stutter stepping lets you do damage while retreating

      • Great way to punish melee that are chasing you
      • Effective when beating a positioning-based retreat rather than an all-out route - enemy is punished for chasing you
    • Stutter stepping lets your allies move past you

      • Pathing by allies can be impossible if they don't move around
      • If you've ever trapped an ally behind a wall of troops, you could have fixed this by stutter stepping around
      • Vital even when creeping to let your team position itself

    Learn to stutter step!

    It's one of the simplest micro tricks that will have a big impact on your win%!

  • tedstertedster Member

    Added "Advanced Game Concepts". There are a ton more things I could cover in this section but I started with a few everyone needs to know and can pick up quickly. I'd love to hear some suggestions on more things to cover in this section as well because there's so much that could potentially go here.

  • ArchibobArchibob Member, Administrator

    this thread is so rad! great job @tedster !

  • tedstertedster Member

    Thanks, @Archibob =]

    Adding more Advanced Game Concepts, continuing to flesh out readability with links and a few graphics and such. Would be nice to include some more visuals but I don't want to take any screenshots or introduce any new .jpegs to the wild until the NDA relaxes.

  • tedstertedster Member

    Updates to Advanced Game Concepts with a focus on Teamwork and When To Stick Together!

  • tedstertedster Member

    Added section on stutter stepping to advanced game concepts

  • staticostatico Member, Administrator

    This is great! :D :D :D

  • tedstertedster Member

    <3 Thanks! I'll keep the posts coming as stuff surfaces in my brain.

  • Solid thread tedster, thanks for the read. ^^

  • tedstertedster Member

    <3 <3 Sorry i had to run earlier, was late and RL called. Hope you had fun even if we got murdered!

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