TA T1 Tech Trees: Pros and Cons

Alright my lovely readers, I'm back from my strategy hiatus. Yeah, I'm here to talk about that most beloved and ancient game: TA. But this time, I'll bore you in a new and improved format! ;) You see, I kinda realized that my previous posts were stuffed with monumentally little information. Essentially, I wasted about a page of writing on a single unit. At that rate, I'd be dead and gone before I got to rate the Krogoth. So, I'm gonna tackle my role as a fount of sage wisdom and advice from a different angle. Just in case you don't read titles, I'll be talking about the different tech branches in TA, along with their advantages and liabilities.

I present for your consideration (or mine, at least), the K-bot Lab. For some reason, a lot of players new to online TA play tend to favor these mechs. Maybe its because they're a staple in most campaign missions. Maybe its because they look cool. I don't know. But what I do know, is that I'm gonna break a lot of hearts when I say: they're a bad choice. Well, for a first lab at least. You see, something you'll have to learn about TA, and part of what makes it such a great game, is that there's a time and place for every factory. Though each faction's offers several viable units, K-bot Labs make a poor first plant for several reasons. First, K-bots are generally rather fragile, at least for their price. So you pay precious resources for a unit that is rather easily reduced to rubble. Resources and units are not things you can afford to lose in the first tense minutes of a TA game. Second, their Cons flat out suck. Its the sad truth. Their speed is deplorable, their armor vulnerable, and their nanolathe mediocre. Vehicles cons are better in every way. Having cons that move slower and die to raiding scouts more easily puts you drastically behind in resources and expansion. And lastly, their units are specialized. This isn't bad, per say, but what most players need early on are reliable, versatile units. So, I've spent all this time ranting against K-bots, but I haven't even touched on where they excel. Well, in a usual TA game, you'll want to break out the Kbots mid to late game. As Arm, you might want to bring out some K-bot Labs, and rush a band of Rockos to punch through that MT forest. Core players might do the same with Storms, or use them to support their Slashers. Also they have the option of using Thuds on maps like Luschpuppy, John's Pass, or Great Divide 2, in order to sneak around enemy defenses, by abusing the Thuds' scaling abilities. On Gods of War, and similar maps, K-bots become valuable mid game, for Pelicans, a powerful anti-scoutboat weapon. K-bots are often game deciders, and viable during the second half of a match. There are two exceptions to this mid-game rule. For Core, on low-resource maps, K-bot farming, using their cons, works well. And for Arm, a well executed PeeWee raid can decide the game. However, these two strategies are highly situational, and really require you to know what you're doing (especially the second).

Now, the Vehicle Plant is everything the K-bot lab isn't. It's cheap. It's reliable. It's versatile. And it's cons are beasts. ;) All these attributes combine to make it the best starting lab. One glaring fact is that the Vehicle Plant is cheaper than the K-bot Lab. Also, its units have a cheaper metal to armor ratio. Both factions have a great raiding unit (Flashes for Arm, Weasels for Core), and an amazing missile unit (Samsons and Slashers) that can be produced from this one plant. Along with the sturdy cons, these are exactly the types of units needed early game. In ground battles, many players opt to make two, three, four... even five of these labs before switching tech trees. This is mainly because, while raiding units lose usefulness as the game progresses, missile units like Sams and Slashkers are viable at any point in the game. Even on maps centered around air and sea battles, like Gods of War, players may opt to build a Vehicle Plant first, in order to get its superior cons, and increase their build power for the whole game. Learning to use vehicles is key to success in 90% of TA games. There are more specific requirements for each faction though. As an Arm player, you have to know how to handle Flashes. They are great units, but they wont do all the work. Learn to read your opponent, use terrain to shield you from missile units, and always drive a dying Flash into the front of an enemy Vehicle Plant, as it cant be D-gunned without taking down the plant, and if it dies from regular fire, its wreckage will temporarily throw off enemy production, giving you the chance to get a jump on expansion, or pump out even more raiders. For Core, YOU WILL LOSE every single Arm v. Core game you play unless you know how to use your Slash(k)ers. Slashers love radar. Give it to them. It helps you in two ways. One, it lets you keep an eye out for raiding enemy units. What this does is allow you to keep your Slashers up front, aggressively, instead of gaurding our resources at the back of your base, as you will pick up incoming enemies on radar, giving you time to get your Slashs back there, if necessary. The second, and greatest, way Slashers use radar is to radar target. This is important for Arm players, but its a Core commander's lifeline. Move up that radar line until you see enemy dots. Group your Slashers, and order them to fire on those dots. This way, you get off the first volley, only trigger the return fire of the one unit you are attacking, and your opponent won't know the scope of your Slashker mob. And if you see those dots start moving toward you, I have one thing to tell you: "Run, Forest, run!!" =) Really. Always run, if they're willing to chase. This way, you get off even more volleys, before they even have los. Also, against Flashes, this is VITAL. Those Arm vermin will chew your poor 'kers up like nobody's business if they get in close. After a while, your wimpy tactics will wear down their force, and they'll either die off, or retreat. Either way, you can regroup your (hopefully) unscratched Slashers and press the radar targeting attack once more. The importance of the Flash, Slash, and their respective Vehicle Plants cannot be stressed enough.

And now, the Aircraft Plant. This, here, is the hardest tech branch to pin down, one way or another. And that's probably because, more than any other lab, the skill of the player makes it or breaks it. You see, aircraft are risky. For one- they're expensive. Also, they really set you back in resources, because their cons, though handy, have very poor nanolathe. You see, aircraft don't have health, defensive presence, or anything like that- so going aircraft first cripples your economy. All these things are very true. But I have one word for the scoffers: linebombing. Yep, that most sacred of bugs. It makes quick air viable. You see, in the hands of a noob, aircraft are a disaster. But under the control of a veteran, they're jaw-dropping. If you go air first, rush out a bomber, and proceed to pound enemy resources and cons into the ground with it, you can reclaim your plant, go vehicle, and be ahead of your opponent. Early game aircraft are all about disruption. Sure, it sets you back to choose them, but if you play your bombers right, they'll still be scraping rocks together when you're starting your first fusion. =) But you HAVE TO KNOW HOW TO MICRO YOUR BOMBERS. You've gotta know how to linebomb, and linebomb wisely. You gotta know how to dodge missiles, and when to retreat for repairs. And you gotta know how to pick your targets wisely. So if it turns out they have two MTs in there base when you do your first pass, you've gotta high-tail outta there, making liberal use of offscreen, without getting vaporized, remember where the MTs were, take the right angle to hit them both on your next pass, and then successfully carry out the linebomb. So early air is about skill and micro and disruption. But air has another role in TA, and its more about economy, lategame, and mass-production. =) These usually take on the form of Hawk swarms and/or bomber stacks. We're talking half a dozen air plants, guarded by FARKS if you're Arm, or Adv. Vehicle Cons if you're Core. If there was ever a game ender in TA, masses air is it. Not too much to say here, other than you need massive resource income, and no qualms about pressuring your unit limit. Basically, the one time air is not used much is mid-game. Its too late for raid-bombing to be very effective, and too early for the resources needed to mass air. Generally, air first is a risky option, that can pay off very well, or become a disaster. If you want to go fast air, you better know what you're doing... ;)

And lastly, the classy, old shipyards, of course, only usable on water maps. Naval units are an interesting bunch. Con. ships have decent nanolathe, and, most importantly, can mass produce tidal generators, arguably the most effecient T1 energy generator. Its cost is somewhere between that of a solar and wind, while its energy production is consistently high, usually ranging from +20 to even +25. On the flat expanses of ocean, its easy to cue up long lines of tidals, on several cons. A third con ship can be set to producing floating metal makers. This is a consistent and powerful resource engine, which can fuel a sea based war. Also, the T1 Shipyard is by far the cheapest plant, yet the majority of ships are extremely pricey. The main, and very important, exception to this rule is the scoutboat. It carries two weapons, an extremely light laser, and a missile, is rather cheap, and has very acceptable speed and agility. Though this is balanced by rather light armor, it is still an exceptional unit. On maps like GOW, going sea first means a huge advantage against raid bombers, as these little boats make for effecient scramble AA. In team games, one player will often go sea first, simply to be able to share a handful of scoutboats with his allies, in order to warn off the dreaded line bombers. Because of their AA, they're also useful for securing islands on GOW and other island hopping maps. Con A's and Atlases will be cut off from the precious metal deposits and rocks located there, and the only immediate option would be to walk their Commander over there- by that point, it wouldnt be worth it. Scoutboats make a handy default for early game sea production, being similar to Slashers and Samsons in the fact that they are almost always useful, until Pelicans hit the water. Because of a certain glitch, the Skeeters' missiles are unable to hit Pels, rendering them almost useless. Even then, however, they can be used as meatsheilds, to slow down the Pels while your destroyers work from afar. Destroyers, Crusaders, Enforcers, commonly known as collectively as Crussies are formidable weapon. Its range, power, and ability to fend off subs or underwater commanders make it likely the best sea unit, in terms of combat. Often, when two players hit the waves and a Skeet battle developes, a player must decide whether to rush out a Crussie or a sub. Because of their range and firepower, Crussies are overall the better choice, but if your opponent has the clear lead in Skeeter production, a sub can catch him off guard, and even the Skeet count before they can manage to make a Crussie or sub of their own. Advanced Shipyards are almost always built for economical purposes. Carriers, the Arm Colossus and the Core Hive, produce more energy than a Geothermal plant, with their radar turned off. However, if you need a bit of an extra punch in your naval forces, you have a different option, depending on which faction you play. For Arm, there is the Conqueror, which is essentially like a bigger, badder Crusie. However, its greatest advantage is its large range- the longest of any naval unit. If you block well enough with your Skeets, these can sit back and pound your opponent's force into Serpent fodder while taking minimal damage themselves. On the other hand, Core players might want to make the investment in Warlords. Warlords are made effective by their extremely accurate green laser, which also has fair range and great damage. If well micro'd and sheilded, a Warlord can take down indefinite numbers of Skeets, while also picking off enemy crussies and conq's. The key here is to have plenty of scout boats to cushion your 'Lord, find targets, and provide targets themselves, and, should it come under any counterfire, to repair it, with 2, 3, even four con ships in the thick of combat. Your own scoutboats should generally keep out enemy skeets, and your opponent will have to make a hard decision between focusing fire on the Warlord, or the cons. That moment of indecision is sometimes all you need to turn the tide (pun, heck yah ;P) of an intense sea-to-sea war. So in summary, on almost any map with water, going sea is wise. THe AA provided by skeets, along with the powerful resource engine of tidals makes it a must almost anywhere it is available. Even on maps such as Luschpuppy, where there is no sea route to your enemy, players will always go sea sooner or later in order to claim those precious energy-making carriers. However, I think that its also important to note that, for all f its benefits, sea first is usually a poor decision, with the obvious exceptions of mainly/all water maps such as Hundred Isles or Brain Coral. It can be helpful in team games, but otherwise, in most island hopping maps you'd be better off going straight air for disruption, or vehicle, reclaim the plant, then air, for the sake of those ever productive con vehicles, which can then be atlased to other isles as needed.

Hallelujah and amen- my work here is done ;)