Tips

[Keeper_GFA]

I thought a thread for more advanced gameplay tips would be appropriate to give advice that goes beyond a beginner's guide.


Leveraging cash reserves to increase production before Nanite technology.
- Move your city workers from food producing tiles to mineral producing tiles. The food storage will drain to 0, at which point you will pay 2 credits (Ultraponics maintenance) for each point of food that you are short, but you won't lose population and you can get much higher mineral yields in the meantime. Switching from a flat rainy to a rocky arid would give you 2 minerals at a cost of 4 credits. Obviously this is best done in a city that you don't need or want to grow (at Happy or Planet Attitude cap), and you have to be careful of food riots (although I've never had one).

 

[Keeper_GFA]

Anybody else feel free to chime in here.

"Buying" expensive units before Nanite technology.
- Need more units than you can produce? Build cheap units and upgrade them. For example, you want to build rotors -- build rovers instead! You'll build more than twice as many (25 vs 60 cost) and then spend money to upgrade them. This even works in high production cities as you can build more than one unit per turn in Planetfall.

 

[WarKirby]

you can build more than one unit per turn in Planetfall.

I did not know this. Very nice.

Personally, I find it very useful to build bunkers outside of city radius, on fairly inacessible ridges. And station choppers there

 

[Keeper_GFA]

Personally, I find it very useful to build bunkers outside of city radius, on fairly inacessible ridges. And station choppers there

Needlejets and the like can also be stationed at a bunker and used for airstrikes.

 

[Keeper_GFA]

Scavenger ability gives free upgrades. Ok, I think this one is too good and should be patched out. But for now (v11f), use it while you have it.

Tech to mind/machine interface while avoiding one of either memetics, kinematics, or needlejet. Now build a command center, build infantry units, give them the scavenger special ability, and then upgrade the infantry FOR FREE. This lets you build better than double number of higher cost units (Invitro, for example) at the cost of one of their special ability slots. This can also work for other unit types that have a split upgrade line (rover -> rotor, flamethrower -> walker).

 

[WarKirby]

but they lose a special ability slot. isn't that a pretty big disadvantage ?

 

[Keeper_GFA]

I thought so at first too, but if you have the right buildings you can still have one other ability slot. And being able to field more than double the troops is way better than having a little extra bonus on each one.

 

[Pfeffersack]

Scavenger ability gives free upgrades. Ok, I think this one is too good and should be patched out. But for now (v11f), use it while you have it.

Tech to mind/machine interface while avoiding one of either memetics, kinematics, or needlejet. Now build a command center, build infantry units, give them the scavenger special ability, and then upgrade the infantry FOR FREE. This lets you build better than double number of higher cost units (Invitro, for example) at the cost of one of their special ability slots. This can also work for other unit types that have a split upgrade line (rover -> rotor, flamethrower -> walker).

I'm really confused about your report - either I just don't understand, what you mean or that ability is absolutely not doing what it is intended for (or does more than this) - it just should allow you to "steal" special abilities (not promotions, like it was in patch d...but Maniac immediately corrected that in the next patch) of defeated enemies. I don't get the connection to upgrading units - upgrading is a powerful tool in Planetfall with scavenger or without...?

 

[Maniac]

Scavenger ability gives free upgrades. Ok, I think this one is too good and should be patched out.

Done!

 

[Keeper_GFA]

I'm really confused about your report - either I just don't understand, what you mean or that ability is absolutely not doing what it is intended for (or does more than this) - it just should allow you to "steal" special abilities (not promotions, like it was in patch d...but Maniac immediately corrected that in the next patch) of defeated enemies. I don't get the connection to upgrading units - upgrading is a powerful tool in Planetfall with scavenger or without...?

In addition to ability stealing, Scavenger allows (allowed? in v11f) free upgrades for the unit.

 

[Pfeffersack]

In addition to ability stealing, Scavenger allows (allowed? in v11f) free upgrades for the unit.

Indeed, that's no good idea - there are reasons why only a GG attached to unit (which is a great sacrifice if you compare to creating a MA or settling him down) gives free experience immediately and further free upgrades for ths unit.

 

[Keeper_GFA]

Bunkers.

Ok, they're good for border defense that's obvious. They can also collect resources underneath them. They can be built adjacent to one another to make canals. And if you build them on a ridge, then your ground units can move through them to/from lowlands.

While it's kind of expensive, but they're also good for making magtubes without the required tech, and/or in rocky terrain where even formers can't build a magtube. Combine this with +1 Food (and later +1 production), and bunkers become valid improvements for those rocky rainy tiles where you can't build farms or greenhouses. And if you only want the magtube, you can always pillage the bunker improvement and then delete the bunker unit.

 

[Maniac]

Rewritten in bullet points that would fit in the Planetfall Concepts pedia page.
Want to do that (rewrite in bullets) for me?

 

[Keeper_GFA]

Something like this?

Bunkers.

The first Bunker unit becomes available with the High Energy Chemistry technology. A former unit is consumed in order to build the Bunker improvement.

The most obvious use for Bunkers is to defend your borders. But they also have many other varied uses. A Bunker improvement :

- gives a free Bunker unit that can bombard nearby enemies and has a bonus vs native life
- increases the defense bonus for the tile.
- increases the healing rate for units on the tile.
- adds +1 Food to the tile (and +1 Production with Orbital Engineering)
- collects resources on the tile.
- can be chained together to form canals.
- can be used as a base for air units.
- allows movement between lowlands and ridges for ground units.
- gives a free Magtube improvement, even on terrain forbidden to Magtubes.

 

[WarKirby]

And if you only want the magtube, you can always pillage the bunker improvement and then delete the bunker unit.

This sounds pretty exploit-ish.
Why do they give free magtubes anyway ?

 

[Keeper_GFA]

This sounds pretty exploit-ish.
Why do they give free magtubes anyway ?

I dunno, maybe it's a side effect of being treated like a city. I don't remember forts giving roads though, so maybe not. There's really no question that it's an exploit but it does help the AI, and the cost involved is certainly high enough to make it only rarely worthwhile for humans.

 

[Maniac]

Something like this?

Thanks!

This sounds pretty exploit-ish.
Why do they give free magtubes anyway ?

As a visual representation of the fact that you can move from lowlands to ridges by using a bunker. The movement bonus is a nice perk too of course.

 

[teks]

You can move a dropship into a square occupied by another dropship, then transfer the crew. now you can move your units even further. Use multiple dropships to move entire armies across the whole map.

If you build a base in a flatland coast surrounded only by water and cliffs you have a base that can only be attacked amphibiously making it a very good stronghold. also works with bunkers.

After a dropship has moved have it drop its cargo so they can help defend against a suprise attack.

Those unity rovers start with 4 combat upgrades for free, and upgrade into choppers, so guard them well.

When using dropships to attack a base make sure the terrain is in your favor. if the base is on a flatland attack from a highlands square, and attack from a cliff if the base is on highlands. Make note of this when your figuring out how to defend your bases too.

if your unit ends its turn in xenofungus it will probibly die before your next turn.

if you end a dropships turn on a lake only air units can attack it. Islands also make very safe spots for dropships for similiar reasons.

steal techs from provost Zarchov. its really easy.

Turn the clock on in the options menu, so you no longer accidently play until sunrise.

 

[ripper_GFA]

keeper, can you contact me pleassseeee

 

[ripper_GFA]

hmm, guess I cant send PM's till I do 5 posts and been here for 5 days. PM me your email address keeper.