Supreme Commander 2

Grab a friend, go into a ranked match and get matched up with one another. Doesnt matter what setting or team you play with as long as its a ranked match.

Once in the game have one person quit out, giving the other one the win. Rinse and repeat 24 more times for the cheev.

Took us about 25-35 minutes and we got matched up nearly every time, then switched.

If you have questions about the solution then please message me and I will help you out.

(Please note that this guide is still undergoing editing for formatting and overall consistency!)

Supreme Commander 2
Cybran 1v1 Assassination Primer

I.) Introduction

I firmly believe that any achievement should have a legitimate solution alongside its boosting/exploit companions. Seeing as this wonderful little game doesn’t have any sort of basic guide to general tactics and strategy regarding multiplayer, I thought I’d take the time to write one.

Because this was a GwG title, the multiplayer is quite active; as of 3/20/16, I’ve never spent more than 30 seconds waiting for a match.

With any competitive strategy game, it’s always best to pick a specific race/faction that you both enjoy and can utilize properly. I personally prefer the Cybran because of their high adaptability, excellent units, and awesome tech tree. As I will no longer be playing this game online (too many others games to play!), I do not mind divulging all of the knowledge I have gleaned from my experience.

My final stats were 30 games played and 25 wins, about six of which were disconnects (either boosters or people not wanting to play against me). Of my losses, three were legitimate, while the other two were due to the other player cheating (more on this later). I am not well-versed in competitive RTS (the last time I played such a thing was when I was a freshman in college and Sins of a Solar Empire came out… and that was over eight years ago!). So these stats are not so much of a boast regarding personal prowess as it is a boast of how well this general approach works.

Using the strategies contained within this guide resulted in a victory within the first ten minutes of the match for the majority of the games I played. The below information is best suited to a player who likes to be aggressive, take some risks, and generally make life miserable for your opponent. If you prefer to hunker down and turtle, this guide may still prove useful as you may learn some of the strategies you'll be up against!

On to the guide!

II.) The Basics

If you’re like me, jumping into any RTS multiplayer can be intimidating. The skills you have honed from countless hours of playing FPS, TPS, and RPG titles (along with everything in between) do not translate well into constructing buildings, marshaling armies, and outmaneuvering your opponent without any time to pause or catch your breath. But if you do decide to take the plunge, victory against a skilled opponent is absolutely exhilarating and well-worth the effort.

SupCom 2 is rather different from many other RTS titles. Unlike games such as StarCraft, for example, you can have information about what your opponent is doing, where and what he or she is building, and their lines of attack all in the first few minutes of gameplay thanks to Radar/Sonar Installations. This makes the game less about particular builds and insane micromanagement (not that you can really micro much with a controller) and more about maneuver warfare, adapting to your opponent, and quick thinking.

This section will cover the absolute basics necessary to play effectively.

Mind Games

I am listing this first because it is one of the most critical elements of the game. Forcing your opponent to do what you want them to do and not what they want to do is the most valuable tool you have. Forcing your opponent to build any point defenses is a big win (more on this later). Forcing your opponent to switch from land to air or vice versa is also an important victory. Forcing your opponent to give up any plans of attack and “turtle” may very well win you the game (for the most part). Why? Having map control (that is, air/land/naval superiority) lets you build with impunity and focus completely on devising a plan to destroy your opponent’s ACU. You only need to worry about countering his or her existing units and turtle strategy, letting you tech and extract mass with impunity all the while hammering away at your opponent’s defenses and making them sweat.

How do you psych out your opponent? That’s a very complex matter which differs from match to match, but here are the basics:

1.) Massing land units outside of their base to bait them into building point defenses.
2.) Scouting with a lone Gemini fighter/bomber in the first two minutes if you went air; bonus points if it does not get shot down; rich, chocolatey brownie points if you can take out a Mass Extractor.
3.) Early raids that take out Research Centers, Extractors, and/or Generators. A Factory kill from an early raid almost guarantees victory.
4.) Plopping down a Factory within range of their base and upgrading it with a missile launcher.
5.) Early Salem Class destroyers on patrol pounding their base from range.
6.) Gemini fighter/bombers on patrol in no-man’s-land (the central area of the map).

The more you can intimidate your opponent, the more he or she must react to you and the easier you will be able to counter him or her, not to mention the fact that the pressure will likely lead to mistakes which you can exploit. Once you understand what your opponent is doing, your path to victory should be obvious and relatively easy to execute, especially if you’ve denied your opponent all other options.

Point Defenses are Almost Always an Awful Waste

I can almost hear your thoughts. "PD’s were critical to winning the campaign on Hard! A shielded wall of PD’s is impenetrable!" Yes, a wall of PD’s can be deadly, but they can’t move. PD’s can’t react to flanking. PD’s can be demolished by a large enough force. PD’s can be sniped by naval units. PD’s can be shelled by Long-Range Artillery. Did I mention that PD’s can’t move? PD’s can be nuked. PD’s are expensive. PD’s can be demolished by UEF and Illuminate mobile artillery. PD’s can’t move. PD’s can be completely avoided by a thinking player. PD’s give you a false sense of security. PD's can eventually be avoided by the Illuminate teleport ability. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that PD’s CANNOT MOVE!

Seriously, unless you have a really, really good reason to do so, never build PD’s. When is a good time to build them? The only time I’ve ever found it useful is when a counterattack is imminent, you have about a minute to react, and your mobile forces are too far away. Use your ACU to shore up the flank with PD’s until your main force can arrive. But don’t get any illusions of that flank being secure because you have a group of PD’s.

AA turrets are a slightly different matter; they’re still useless, but only a smidgen less so. Build ONE at a GROUP of outlying extractors if your opponent has built only air units. If he or she wants to demolish those outlying extractors, then it will be so unless you have real, mobile units ready to defend. But the existence of an AA will serve as a deterrent.

Q.) "I built a bazillion PD’s and AA’s with shields and researched nukes and nuked my opponent and I won it was easy so why you say that PD’s and AA’s are bad?"

A.) Your opponent was a new/bad player and didn’t counter what you were doing properly. Play using this guide and you will see just how awful PD’s really are. You’re going to like the way it looks when you murder your opponent’s ACU with 60 upgraded Renegade Gunships while his feeble AA’s, PD’s, and shields do absolutely nothing. I guarantee it.

Queuing Commands

SupCom 2 lets you automate much of your unit production and building construction. You need to be able to do this quickly and effortlessly to have a chance against any thinking opponent.

All Factories can be put on "repeat build" and you should use it at all times. Select your Factory and use to turn it on. If you need to shut off a Factory, indefinitely pauses construction. The only time you should turn off "repeat build" is if you are doing something specific, such as producing a certain amount of Engineers. Don’t forget to resume your normal build afterwards!

Constructing buildings and issuing move orders can also be queued. Hold while selecting another action (build, move, patrol, etc.) to queue it. Note that queued structures consume the required mass and energy even when they are ghostly outlines. If you wish to cancel anything queued, issue a move order and then issue whatever new command you want instead; any mass and energy used in the former queue will be returned to you.

Factory Upgrades

Your Factories can support several upgrades. Select them, press to access the build menu, and then again to view the upgrades selection. These are generally built on a need basis (e.g. you don’t need air defense if your opponent is building land units). If an attack is imminent, shields are a good idea. Radar is only worthwhile if your Factory is at a forward position, and even then only if your primary Radar/Sonar Installation does not have full coverage.

Unit Weapon, Vision, and Radar Range

Each unit has different ranges in each of these categories. Some units (such as naval units and artillery) have a larger Weapon Range than their own Radar Range, meaning you must rely upon your own Radar/Sonar Installations to get the most out of them. When a unit is selected, the red ring is the limit of their Weapon Range, while the blue and teal are Vision and Radar, respectively.

Radar and Strategic View

Always, always, always build a Radar/Sonar Installation. This structure is unique to the Cybran, as the other factions must build each separately. Build it immediately after your first Factory, initial Extractors, and Generators. Can you see your entire opponent’s base in the strategic (fully zoomed-out) view? If not, research Radar under Structures immediately. Knowing what your opponent is doing at all times is not optional.

As for the strategic view, you will see grey shapes in the fog assuming you have radar coverage. A diamond is a land unit, inverted triangle an air unit, half-circle a naval unit, and square a structure. A superimposed square and diamond/half-circle/inverted triangle is a Factory producing a unit. Note that a naval unit is any unit currently traveling on water, so it could be an Engineer or Illuminate hover unit! Once one of your units is within vision range, these grey icons will turn into more specific, colored icons.

For brevity, I will only list the most important revealed icons: a circle is an Experimental, trapezoid a gunship, flat isosceles a bomber, tall isosceles a fighter, and diamond-boxed “E” an Engineer.

The ACU icon is the ACU. :D

Engineers and the ACU

Your ACU builds, supports, and reclaims much faster than your Engineers (twice as efficient, to be precise). It is also a powerful combat unit. However, the goal of the Assassination game mode is destroying your opponent’s ACU. This does not mean that you shouldn't use your ACU for construction, even of forward bases, but rather you must simply be mindful of taking risks.

Engineers are best used to claim mass deposits in potentially dangerous locations, build some of your initial base, reclaim mass when available, repair advancing armies, and--most importantly--to support your Factories.

Does an Engineer have no immediate use, or are you unsure of what to do with it at a given moment? Support your Factories! This speeds up production and lets you churn out units that much faster. Your ACU should also do this while idle. Select your Engineer or ACU and hit on a Factory to support it. Up to three units may support a single Factory.

Special Abilities

Hold when a building or unit is selected to display their special abilities, if any. The commands in the left corner are issued with the , while the ones in the right are keyed to , , , and . Special abilities range from teleport, overcharge, and hunker to nuke construction at a silo or unloading a transport. Most of these abilities must be researched.

The Patrol Command

This command is so simple, yet it can literally mean the difference between victory and defeat in certain cases. Select a unit or units and hit to select the Patrol command. Your unit(s) will patrol from their current position to the selected destination. This command can be queued. It is incredibly useful when using Engineers to recover mass and repair (they will do so at any opportunity within their patrol path), but even more so with naval units as they shoot while moving, thus avoiding any incoming missiles and occasionally dodging slow-moving projectiles.

Don’t Be a Blob!

Seriously, don’t. A stationary "blob" of units is just asking to get annihilated by artillery, missiles, or any other AoE weapon. While it is a necessary thing to have your units massed at a staging area, you should never let them sit still while attacking unless you know you are safe from missiles and artillery. Keep your land and naval units moving at all times when on the offensive and remember that the move command is actually attack-move (meaning your units will attack anything they come across).

Building Placement

I could write quite a bit on this, but I think it’s best to keep it simple. Always place your Factories next to one or more Mass Extractors. If you decide to build a shield at that Factory, it will envelope any nearby buildings. Space out your Generators a little; they will damage nearby units and structures if destroyed. Build your Radar/Sonar Installation next to a Factory as well.

Unique Cybran Research

The Cybran get a few special abilities worth noting. Jump Jets can be researched for land units and can be great for flanking ( and ). Speed-Reducing Mega Armor (reduced movement and increased HP) for Loyalists is also amazing for taking down specific buildings or a cornered ACU ( and ). The Land Emergence Galleon System lets your naval units sprout legs and walk on land; honestly, this is only useful in very specific circumstances, but it is cheap to research.

Lastly, a peculiar ability the Cybran have is Structural Detonate. This lets you select a building and detonate it, causing massive damage ONLY to enemy units. When is this useful? Try detonating a Mass Extractor besieged by a cloud of gunships. You can say goodbye to your Extractor, but you won’t have a problem with gunships for a while. Many players don’t expect you to do this and it is certainly a nasty surprise. Using this ability is and for most buildings ( and for Generators), and requires that you confirm with . Timely use of this ability can be devastating to your opponent.

Mass Conversion

This is an important mid-game research option. Once researched, you can select any Generator and use and to convert 1000 energy to 100 mass every ten seconds. Note that the other factions must build a special structure to do this and their research option is farther down the tech tree. Also, the UEF and Illuminate Mass Converters unleash a massive explosion when destroyed; target them with long-range artillery for best results and sometimes you can cause a chain reaction that will level a portion of their base!

Always “gg”

This is an old, well-established formality in RTS. After a game, win or lose, both players should message each other with “gg;” this is an abbreviation for “good game,” basically meaning “well-played.” (I know that “good game” is now used in other contexts and I personally resent that). RTS can be extremely intense for both players, and “gg” is basically a polite gesture that takes the sting out of defeat or celebrates a victory simultaneously for all players involved. You’ll appreciate it after an epic 45-minute-long nail-biter of a match, even if you lose. It takes a grand total of five button presses to do this from the end-of-round report, so you have no excuse not to. Also, don’t be a bag of smashed assholes and send them “gg” before the game is actually over (i.e. before their ACU goes nuclear); this incurs bad juju. Bad juju is responsible for all the things that go wrong in your life. Avoid bad juju.

Overcharge

The overcharge ability is available to every ACU via research and can be devastating to any land army. I mention it not as something to research yourself, but as something to watch out for. Get your forces away from any ACU using this ability (when active, the ACU has an electrical field around it and its primary cannon fires massive bursts causing incredible amounts of damage and splash) as it does not last long; even Experimentals can be taken down quickly! Counterattack after the ability wears off; it has a cooldown of about 20-25 seconds.

Note that overcharge does not affect the AA capabilities of an ACU!

That’s about all I think this guide can handle in terms of generalities; I will add more if anyone has any pointed questions!

II.) Opening Moves

So you slogged through all of the above and now you’re wanting me to get to point. You want me to tell you how to win consistently. Well, this guide will only take you so far, but it should make somewhat of a better player out of you.

A.) Universal Opening Moves

There are some things that you should always, always do first as Cybran, even if you ignore everything else.

Immediately tap , then twice more, and research both Build Cost and Build Time. This allows you to get your base up faster and cheaper, and is amazingly useful throughout the entire match. Always do this.

Queue up your initial builds. Your ACU should build your first Factory, two Extractors, and a Radar/Sonar Installation in that order, while the slower Engineers build one Extractor and one Generator each. Start building the Factory and the two Mass Extractors immediately, then use to queue once initial construction begins. Be sure to set your Factory production before it is complete to optimize its production. I do not see any reason to ever deviate from this initial build order unless you wish to put your Radar/Sonar Installation somewhere else, in which case you have about thirty seconds to a minute to do so before you’re in danger of making early mistakes.

Can’t see their base at all, or only partially? Research Radar and get that full vision! You can’t prepare a counter if you don’t know what it is you’re supposed to be countering.
Now there are two openings I play, and which I choose depends solely on the map and nothing else. DO NOT wait to pick your opening. Make a decision immediately based on the map. I’ll go into the strengths (and drawbacks) of each shortly.

If you notice your opponent turtling right away, he or she is almost certainly going to try to nuke you. You need to harass them until their defenses are too formidable, then use your map control to either beat them to the punch by having some anti-nuke missiles in multiple silos ready to go, or crush their base with an overwhelming assault. Once you’re safe from the nukes, you will have more options.

B.) Two Land Opening

I have picked up on the RTS jargon in thanks to the many RL friends I have who are/were avid StarCraft players. A "# (insert structure here)" is exactly what you think it is--building that number of that facility before making any other strategic decisions. So a Two Land Opening is building two Factories immediately producing Loyalist assault bots before thinking about your next move. You need five Mass Extractors and three Generators to support this (i.e. break even in terms of resource gain). This is an incredibly powerful opener; you’ll have around 4-5 Loyalists ready to go around the 2:30 minute mark.

Now how to use these new, early units? You built a Radar/Sonar Installation, right? What’s your opponent doing? If you are playing on a small map it’s time to get down to business. Did he or she goof and not build a Factory yet? Go raid their base! Did he or she go air (more on that in a bit)? Raid their base! Did he or she build some PD’s? Get around them if you can and raid! Apply that early pressure for all it is worth and let your opponent know you’re not messing around! That’s right, you’re in their base and you’re going to start breaking their stuff right from the start! Target Engineers (make sure they don’t get the chance to capture any of your Loyalists), dodge their ACU and break as much as you can before your force is toasted. Bonus points for a Factory kill! You are well-prepared for a land counterattack (you should have about 8 more Loyalists at your rally point) and you’ve probably intimidated your opponent. Did you force them to build some PD’s? Great success! Remember that destroying enemy structures gets you massive amounts of research points!

The only time you should NOT rush your opponent’s base is if he or she is already building lots of land units on a small map, or if you’re on a large map. Now you will need your early units for map control. Escort your ACU (yes, your ACU!) with your Loyalists and go claim a mass deposit as near to their base as you dare if on a small map (build a Factory next to the mass deposit and kit it out with upgrades before actually building the Extractor). Go claim an empty spawn point if on a large map.

Small Map Only: Do they have air units? Make a decision. Do you want to play it safe and give your opponent the satisfaction of air superiority? Or do you want to prove that you’re unafraid of their currently meager air force? Be bold a go with the latter if the map is small. Pick a spot for your advance Factory and walk your ACU towards it escorted by an Engineer and whatever Loyalists you have. Pause your Factories until you have ~200 mass, then resume. Did your opponent see your advance and is their air force inbound? Stop your ACU and build an AA (this is why you paused production for some extra mass). Depending on how far ahead you pushed this may be a great spot for your Factory. Now your opponent is either going to try to take out your Engineer and lose their air force, maybe take out a Loyalist or two and lose their air force, attack your ACU and lose their air force, or call of the attack for now (smart move). Build your Factory and upgrade it (AA first if they went air, then shield). Now you have a hard point next to their base that is squirting out units and you’ve put a ton of pressure on your opponent to get rid of it. Recover any nearby husks with your Engineer! Move your rally points from your other Factories if you think the line is clear. If your opponent went land then this concludes the opening; read on to mid-game strategy. If they went air, you have one more move to make, detailed below.

“OH NOSES, MR. SOEZE, THEY WENT AIR AND I CAN’T BUILD AA UNITS YET I’M PRETTY SCREWED WHAT DO?”

So they went with air? Loyalists are too dumb to shoot upwards (it’s okay Loyalists; I know you were just programmed that way) so you’re going to need something that can blast those pesky bombers and gunships out of the sky. This is where the Adapter comes in. The Adapter is that multi-purpose mobile shield/AA/anti-missile early-game badass that you should be thanking your opponent for making you research and build. Note that it is weaker in every regard to the individual units of other factions (e.g. it is a worse AA than its UEF and Illuminate counterparts), but it rocks early in the match because building a well-rounded land army as any other faction takes time and research, luxuries they won’t have if you play your cards right. The only drawback is that Adapters must be first researched.

So how does one go about researching those Adapters before your opponent gets too many air units up? You need to protect yourself in the meantime. Pause your Factories for a little while. Shield and AA your Factories; this will give you some immediate protection. Put down ONE Research Station and then resume your Factory production. Research Adapters ASAP and then start cranking them out 1:1 with Loyalists. If you built a forward base, escort your ACU back to your main with a decent amount (ten or so) of Adapters. Leave your Engineer to build more Factories at your advance base; send Loyalists to your advance base (they’re not needed in your main). Now you can fight off your opponent’s air force, but you need to be ready for their next move. This concludes the Two Land Opening against an air opponent.

Summary

Pro’s:

Powerful on small maps; early harass will catch many players off-guard.

An advance base right next to your opponent’s main applies an enormous amount of pressure and forces them to deal with the threat right away.

Potentially gives you early map control and forces your opponent to turtle.

Con’s:

Not well-suited for some large maps; forget about an early raid.

Somewhat risky if a skilled opponent anticipates this opening before the game starts and builds mass artillery immediately to remove your forward base.

You must be quick to fully take advantage of early raiding!

Research:

Build Time (Structure) > Build Cost (Structure) > Rate of Fire (Land) > Training I (Land; if opponent went land) or Adapter (Land; if opponent went air)

Notes:

Do not limit yourself to only building Loyalists; throw in some Brackman artillery for some added early-game firepower. Don’t go overboard, though; the Brackman is primarily for smashing groups of units and not attacking buildings because its range is awful compared to the other factions’ mobile artillery. Unlike the other factions, however, it does not need to be researched.

Do not let your Engineers sit idle in your base; grab nearby mass deposits quickly!

Sometimes building an advance base, even on a small map, is simply too risky. Control as much of the map as you can comfortably manage, however!

C.) Two Air Opening

This is the other opening I play, though only on big maps, medium maps with water, or perhaps against an opponent I’ve played against before to keep him or her guessing. It is almost identical to the Two Land Opening except you build Air Factories and Gemini, and you will need one more Generator (that’s a total of four) to support your Factories. Forget about an advance base on a small, 1v1 map, but expand on larger maps.

So why use this over the Two Land Opening? There are two primary reasons. The first is the fact that on large maps you cannot perform an early raid; your opponent will be prepared by the time you get there and all you’ll be doing is giving him or her more research and some husks to recover. You lose all of your early land advantages. This leads into reason number two, which is the fact that you need something protecting you and doing some sort of map control in the early game. In essence, the Two Air Opening is a prelude to a specialized mid-game strategy. For me, that strategy is almost always transitioning into naval on water maps, though I did tech up to Long-Range Artillery and Nukes in a few matches I played. Furthermore, you set yourself up well for a Renegade gunship cloud to kill your opponent’s ACU should that become a later option/necessity.

Summary

Pro’s:

Easy transition into a dedicated mid-game strategy.

Sets you up for Renegade gunships--the best of their unit type.

Bombing an unprepared opponent’s ACU is ridiculously amusing.

Con’s:

Extremely easy for your opponent to counter; a long-term strategy is usually necessary to win.

Opponent counters can be devastatingly effective; a mistake with this opening could potentially lose you the game.

Far less intimidating than the Two Land Opening.

Research:

Build Time (Structure) > Build Cost (Structure) > Regeneration (Air) > Flight Speed (Air)

Notes:

I personally use this opening to protect myself and control the map until I can secure a Naval Factory on water maps or simply tech and expand on large maps, though I have won two games simply bombing my opponent’s ACU with 40-50 Gemini.

Use your first Gemini to scout your opponent’s main for more specific information.

Naturally, gunships should be part of your mid-game, unless you have naval superiority, in which case they are perhaps optional.

D.) One Tech, One Air Opening

I am placing this opening here for the sake of completeness, though I only used it once towards the end of 25 wins. This is identical to the Two Air Opening with the key difference being that your ACU builds a Research Station first, immediately followed by an Air Factory.

So why choose this over the Two Air Opening? This opening has the advantage of jump-starting your research right from the beginning, which will benefit you most on an extremely large map that will likely devolve into a tech race anyway.

Q.) "If I want to win the tech race, why not build three, or four, or nine Research Stations before I worry about units?"

A.) Because a smart player will demolish you before your elite, upgraded army even has a chance of being constructed. Note that upgraded units, while powerful, are no match for a larger army of less-upgraded units. If you enable your opponent to make that larger army, the chances of him or her dismantling your base piece-by-piece by sheer brute force are high. If an experienced player notices you teching like a maniac, expect them to follow suit; any advantage you may have had early on will diminish rapidly over time!

IV.) The Mid-Game (~5-8:00 minute mark)

So you’ve survived the first several minutes, but so has your opponent. What should you do now? Well, that depends mostly on the map, your opening, and what your opponent has done. I can’t possibly cover all scenarios, but I’ll give plenty of options for you to consider.

Two Land Opening Options

Did you build that forward base? How badly do you have your opponent against the ropes? Are they turtling? All of these things must be taken into consideration when planning your next move. All of them involve research, so start building Research Stations. Depending on how things are going, Mass Conversion may be necessary to overpower your opponent; it’s certainly not optional if your opponent is utilizing it.

If your opponent is hurting and your raiding is eroding their base, then keep at it! Each push will bring you closer to victory until you can atomize their ACU. However, do not forget to tech! You should be using all of your excess mass from the map’s mass deposits to build Research Stations and more Factories at your advance base. You did grab all of those mass deposits, right? Also, do not forget to build more Generators! You do not want to run low on energy! Once your Loyalists have Nanoshield, Speed-Reducing Mega Armor, Health, a decent amount of Training, and maybe Jump Jets, it’s probably over for your opponent. Just push to his or her ACU and end it.

If your opponent went completely on the defensive, you need to know exactly what he or she is up to. Build a single Air Factory and scout for some more specific information, sending a few Gemini for maximum coverage.

How is their AA defense? If it is lacking, consider switching to air and building a mess of Renegade gunships. Tech and get them fully upgraded, then go straight for their ACU. Gunships are able to fly through shields and are extremely tough, with massive damage output to boot. Unless your opponent went all AA, this move is certain victory (unless your opponent is crafty and has Structural Detonate!).

Is your opponent building a mess of Research Stations? They’re probably teching up to nuke you. Even if they are not, you NEED to be prepared for this. Shut off all production and build Research Stations. Keep building them as fast as you can. Beeline down the structure research branch Health > Shield Generator > Nuke Defense/Silo. Once you have it researched, build one between your opponent’s main and your most precious structures, but keep it close to your main. Anti-nukes work by auto-firing at any nuke within the red Weapon Range; outside of that range, they are useless! Also, you need to manually construct anti-nuke missiles, which takes time and resources (select the Silo and use and to build anti-nuke missiles). You can then send your own nukes their way once you’re properly defended. Nukes are best fired in large salvos spread across multiple targets; take splash damage into account!

Another strategy I’ve seen used by UEF is mass mobile artillery. UEF mobile artillery is nasty; counter them BEFORE they get in range with your Loyalists. If this happens, you need to fend off their mobile artillery as best as you can while researching Nuke Silos and Long-Range Artillery. Use Renegades if their AA is lacking. Whatever you do, a turtled opponent sending waves of mobile artillery your way is a ticking countdown to your demise; you will eventually succumb to the assault unless you counter quickly.

Two Air Opening Options

You picked this because you already had a plan, right? Or you used this opening because you were placed on a large map and that’s what I said to do? Either way, you have options, the best of which is a naval fleet.

If there’s water on the map, you’re in luck. Well, maybe. If they’re playing Illuminate, the only thing to watch out for is getting mobbed by their land army (most Illuminate units can hover over water), but Renegade gunship support will help immensely. A good UEF player will build Tigershark submarines to counter your Salem Class destroyers, so be wary; Tigersharks are cheap and can overwhelm you. Despite these potential hazards, you should immediately try to win the naval race. With naval superiority, the Cybran are almost unstoppable. If you manage to destroy their Naval Factory or Factories, you’ve won naval superiority for the time being; don't lose it! Support your fleet with your Gemini, tech up to Executioner battleships, and shell their base. With the Range research, Executioners are monsters that can fire from incredible distances. Once you’ve torn their base to pieces, send in your Gemini to hunt down the ACU. Do not forget to keep your Salem's and Executioners on the move at all times with the patrol command!

Your other options are to research Nukes and/or Long-Range Artillery, or Experimentals. I’ve previously touched on Nukes, but less so on Long-Range Artillery, and this is the first mention of Experimentals at all (there’s a reason for that).

Long-Range Artillery is exactly what it sounds like--a massive structure that fires salvos of rounds at a given target; without a specific target, they seem to favor shooting at enemy Mass Extractors. The Cybran Long-Range Artillery benefits from the Rate of Fire upgrade in the Structure tech tree and is more accurate than the UEF counterpart (Illuminate players do not have access to Long-Range Artillery). However, its range is shorter. Pay attention to the Weapon Range radius when building these. Also, one Long-Range Artillery is mostly useless; once you have 8-10, you’re cooking with gas. Select them all by double-tapping A and pick something to destroy. Mass Converters, Nuke Silos, and Long-Range Artillery are primary targets.

Now a word about Experimentals. I rarely use them. Why? They’re too easy to counter, are perhaps too expensive, and require a significant amount of research. Megalith II’s get annihilated by mobile artillery; Krakens are far too expensive and only useful in water (if you have naval superiority, you don’t need to spend 1000 mass and 4000 energy to be more superior); Proto-Brains are weak and only useful for harassment; Soul Ripper II’s are easily overwhelmed; Cybranasaurus Rexes (aside from being totally badass) are slow and must move right next to an enemy for maximum effect. Notice that I only mentioned the downfalls of each of these units. If your opponent doesn’t have a good counter to any of these units, by all means build them! Just pray he or she doesn’t have time to react to it when/if they get wise to your gambit. Using Experimental Transports to drop a Cybranasaurus Rex or two next to their ACU is great fun, if you can manage it. If it fails, you’ve probably signed your black warrant. Megalith II’s are great if you keep them behind your land army; again, watch out for any artillery!

I’ve seem Experimentals used in only three of thirty games played, two of which involved me facing off against cheaters. The first involved me doing the aforementioned Cybranasaraus Rex drop against a cheating punk just to absolutely crush him in style (it worked, by the way). The second occurred in the lengthiest game I had of SupCom 2. The other match was not so good. I knew I was screwed from the beginning due to my opponent cheating, but I went down in a blaze of glory. I’m proud to say that of the 10 Soul Ripper II’s the scumbag sent my way at ~15:00, only four survived to kill my ACU.

[For the record, having that many Soul Ripper II’s that early in the game is not possible without cheating. Unconvinced? I did a little math. Research aside, 10 Soul Ripper II’s cost 12k+ mass, or 120k converted energy, plus an additional 56k energy, so let’s just make it simple and say you need 176k energy to complete the build (you’d need a lot more, but I’m simply making a point here). An ACU can build an Energy Generator in 12 seconds; an Engineer in 24. The ACU generates 5 energy/second and each Generator gives 6 energy/sec. A Generator costs 100 energy. Assuming unlimited mass, uninterrupted Generator construction (your units teleport instead of walk to the next foundation) and that we have other Engineers magically building everything else we need (Research Stations, Gantries, PD’s, AA’s, etc.) for free, this is just a simple rates problem involving a trigonometric sum. If my math is correct, one ACU and two Engineers would need to build 97 Generators to have 176k energy as soon as possible, which would be 9 minutes and 50 seconds into the game under the aforementioned conditions. Still possible, you say? Now factor in mass. Building these Generators, even under these silly ideal circumstances, costs roughly 11.7 mass/sec, meaning you’d need 9 Extractors and your ACU output just to support doing it. Just for the Generators, right at the start of the game. It’s impossible under normal conditions. /rant]

V.) The Late-Game (30:00+)

You’ve reached the 30 minute mark and you don’t even know what’s going on anymore. Both you and your opponent are pushing back and forth with massive armies, artillery shells are constantly flying through the air, nukes are being sent back and forth to no lasting effect. Welcome to the late-game!

I honestly don’t have any particular advice to offer except some general statements, as I have had only one game reach this state of progression.

Firstly, keep your wits about you and don’t panic; what may look like a game-ending assault may prove to be nothing more than a trivial win for your forces. The game isn’t over until it’s actually over.

Secondly, wait for the right time to counterattack. I’ve had a few matches where my opponent will rush me with everything they have, only to be annihilated and then quickly succumb to my counterattack (albeit not at such a late stage of a match).

Thirdly, you need to be able to counter whatever your opponent is doing. Remember, your ACU is tough, but not invincible! Late-game gunship blobs are usually fatal; remember to upgrade your ACU, keep it surrounded with defensive units, and HUNKER WHEN ATTACKED BY AIR ( + ).

Lastly, do your utmost to take out their economy, i.e. your opponent’s Mass Converters. In the single game I played that dragged on this long, I honestly thought that defeat was inevitable. I ordered my nine Long-Range Artillery structures to fire on my opponent’s Mass Converters (which were perhaps a little too clumped together) while I sent out my 30 or so Renegades to deal with incoming Fatboy II’s. As soon as my Renegades were in range of the Fatboy II’s, my opponent disconnected. Did he or she see my shielded Renegades and realize they couldn’t counter them? Did I punch through their shields and detonate the Mass Converters? Or did my opponent simply lose connection? I’ll never know for certain, but if I had to guess, I would assume I successful destroyed their economy.

VI.) Cheating

Ah, so we come to this. There is an exploit that, when used, gives the player a game-breaking advantage. I will not go into how to do (though I do understand the mechanics of it). Do your own search online if you’re curious. How do you know someone is cheating? They don’t build any Mass Extractors and/or have a Recovered Mass statistic of several thousand. I only have two things to say about this:

A.) Do Not Use It

Aside from being a mammering puttock, you’d be ruining the fun of the game for both yourself and your opponent. Also, you’d be in breach of the XBL ToS. The Terms clearly state "don’t cheat or tamper," including by means of "exploiting game vulnerabilities or glitches." Whether or not this will be enforced for such a niche title is anyone’s guess, but fair warning.

Note that this is different from using a game vulnerability to boost with your friends; if you and your buddies are using a glitch to accomplish something together, you are not robbing or cheating anyone out of their enjoyment of the game (well, perhaps you're cheating yourself depending on how tedious the boosting is!) Using this glitch, however, does cheat your opponent--unless, bizarrely, you've both agreed to use it beforehand--and is certainly poor form.

B.) Stomp the Cheating Trash

I’ve played about eight games with cheaters, losing only two. Many of these people who use the exploit are awful players and likely think that they will win just because they have an unfair advantage. Show them the error of their thinking. As an added bonus, avoid the player, report them, and send them a message saying that you’ve done so with a smiley face. You will most likely never see that player on SupCom 2 again.

VII.) Map-Specific Strategies

Here I will provide a list of the maps I most frequently encountered and the basic strategies I used. Mid-Game suggestions are simply that. Remember it is more important to react to your opponent than to follow a rigid plan of attack!

Arctic Refuge [4]

Opening: Two Air or One Tech, One Air
Mid-Game: Long-Range Artillery (LRA); Gunships; Nukes

Notes:

This map is too large for an early land rush; unless your opponent neglected AA, save your units for map control and defense.

Use your ACU to capture at least one of the other spawns; grab the other with an Engineer if your opponent is sluggish or turtling! Soak up all the mass deposits along the way and use the speed of your Gemini for rapid defense.

Clarke Training Center [2]

Opening: Two Land
Mid-Game: Overwhelming Land Assault; LRA

Notes:

Capture the southern-most mass deposits and construct a forward base there.

A split-force assault of the main and south entrances to the enemy main will likely end the game, or cause catastrophic damage at the very least. Make sure your units are upgraded and your armies diversified. Be prepared for a counterattack should you be unable to take out their ACU.

Coalition Shipyard [2]

Opening: Two Air or One Tech, One Air
Mid-Game: LRA; Gunships; Soul Ripper II's; Nukes

Notes:

Constructing an offensive naval fleet is a fool's errand; if your opponent catches on, he or she will be prepared by the time your fleet comes within range of their main. You should, however, be prepared for their fleet should they start building one!

A land assault can work wonders if your opponent expects to be swarmed by air units, otherwise it's usually a doomed effort.

Fields of Isis (2v2) [4]

Opening: Two Land
Mid-Game: Overwhelming Land Assault; LRA; Gunships

Notes:

Simultaneously build a forward base as near to your opponent's main as possible and capture the other spawn on your side of the map.

Many players will go mass air on this map, so have your Adapters at the ready ASAP.

Markon Bridge [2]

Opening: Two Land
Mid-Game: Offensive Naval; Overwhelming Land Assault

Notes:

This is my favorite map. Build your advance base with your ACU on their end of the bridge next to the mass deposit and you'll be set up well for victory. Don't forget to add missile launchers to your Factories! Doing this cuts off all hope of your opponent building an offensive naval fleet.

Build your own Naval Factories on the sea bordering your opponent's main; keep your Salem Class destroyers on patrol and shell their base to pieces.

Mirror Island (2v2) [4]

Opening: Two Air
Mid-Game: Offensive Naval; Gunships; LRA

Notes:

The key to victory is controlling the inner sea. Get your Air Factories up, control the map, and get naval superiority immediately.

Don't forget to expand everywhere around you.

Do not make the mistake of assuming that just because your fleet has great AA it is invincible against air units!

Seraphim VII Site 3.11A [2]

Opening: Two Land
Mid-Game: Overwhelming Land Assault; LRA

Notes:

Despite this being a small, knife-fight type of map, a turtling opponent can hold your land forces back exceptionally well thanks to the elevated mains.

For a satisfying victory, build an advance base and mass your units near one of your opponent's main fronts. Trick them into building a massive defensive wall, then use Jump Jets to fly to the opposite end quickly and collapse their weaker flank. Chuckle to your heart's content.

VIII.) Final Remarks

In anticipation of some/any responses to this guide, I’ve prepared some quick answers.

"I tried your methods and they didn’t work."

No strategy is a guaranteed win (even cheating!). There are many, many counters to the above strategies; this guide exists to give you some ideas of how to play the game as Cybran, as I had overwhelming success with the above methods. I fully expect anyone who reads this and begins playing ranked matches to come up with their own, potentially better stratagems. Also, you will certainly need to cut your teeth in your first few matches before you can really get a handle on the information in this guide. Learn from your mistake and you will improve as a player.

"I’m a pro and this is all bad advice!"

This guide is not meant to make a new player an instant pro. It is here to give a new player basic information on how to suck less and play better right from the beginning. I am well aware that there are other, perhaps better openings, and many, many mid-game strategies not mentioned here. Also, feel free to write your own guide!

"You say that making an opponent turtle is a good thing, but I lose every time this happens!"

Getting your opponent to turtle versus he or she planning to turtle from the beginning are two radically different scenarios. The first gives you the advantage of foiling their expansion plans and putting your opponent on the defensive, letting you decide how you want to deal with them at your leisure. You can make them waste resources on PD’s, AA’s, and shields while you need to build fewer, if any. However, if an opponent turtles from the get-go, you need to react quickly to this by harassing them for as long as you can while countering whatever he or she is attempting to do (Experimentals, Nukes, Long-Range Artillery, etc.). Scouting their base with air frequently is a must.

I have done my best to be as through as possible, but remember this guide only focuses on a few, rather specific approaches. Thank you for reading and I hope this encourages some to actually give the multiplayer a try! Please post any pointed questions or constructive criticism in the comments section and I will reply in a timely manner!

Changelog

03/21/16: Initial draft posted to TA; basic formatting.

Besides boosting with a friend you can do this. Just rush the other guy with your acu! Build as many research stations as fast as you can along with mass and energy generators. And upgrade your acu with artillery, anti air, higher health % and anything else that would make your acu stronger than the other guys. And then just send him over. Most of the time they won't be ready for it and if they quit cuz they don't like what you are doing then you still get the win no matter what. Just make sure it is a ranked game and you'll get the achievement eventually.

z RagnaroK z's solution is what I followed, but wanting to post this as my boosting partner and I came across some issues.

I'm guessing since this title is now GwG (March 2016) - There is lot more people playing.
When following his solution, we teamed up about 50% of the time.
We came up with a solution to change our Location via Xbox Settings.

The same game plan applies - Find a boosting partner, go to Ranked under Xbox Live.
We noticed that (even changing location settings) if we didn't pick a certain game type, we were less likely to match up. So make sure you both pick the same game type.
When the game starts, the person giving wins simply quits the game.

FOR 360: Head to the "Settings" tab - Go under "Family" & make sure that setting is turned off. Next head under "System" - select "Console Settings" - select "Language and Location" & finally "Location" - This is where you pick the region you want to be in when matchmaking.
Now restart the 360 just to make sure the changes take effect.

For Xbox-One: Go to "Settings", Select "System", Select "Language & location."
Now select your new location from the list, and then select "Restart now!"
You must RESTART the Xbox-One.

The locations that worked best for us was: Singapore & South Africa (South Africa being a bit better). Although your free to chose which ever you feel might be less populated.

After changing these settings and attempting to match up again - We went from 50% match ups to about 85-90%!