More often than not, people who play as the Marked of Kane subfaction ("MoK" for short) do not play any differently than as vanilla-Nod. They may not be able to put two Black Hand squads in their Redeemer, but beside that, they don't change their playstyle at all. In essence, many players perceive the Marked of Kane just as Nod with a cyborg "skin" and a lack of flame weapons. This couldn't be further from the truth! ... Okay, maybe it could, but it is still an egregious mistake. This tip aims to show you how the Marked of Kane are different from Nod, and then how to best utilize those differences.
This is all the proof anyone needs in the history of anything that Nod, in fact, does not equal MoK.Date: January 14, 2010
Game: Kane's Wrath 1.02
Author: Chr1st14n
Nod playstyle vs. Marked of Kane playstyle
In a nutshell, Nod is better at steamrolling and rushing, while MoK is better at guerrilla warfare and turtling. This is due to the differences between the two factions. Granted, there aren't nearly as many differences between Nod and MoK as there are between Nod and the Black Hand, but there are still enough to make a more-than-subtle difference.
- Nod gets Militants, MoK gets Awakened.
- Nod gets Black Hand, MoK gets Tiberium Troopers.
- Nod gets the Mine Drop, MoK gets Magnetic Mines.
- Nod gets the Confessor upgrade, MoK gets Cybernetic Legs.
- Nod gets Laser Capacitors, MoK gets Supercharged Particle Beams.
- Nod gets the Redemption support power, MoK does not.
- Nod gets Flame Tanks, MoK gets Enlightened.
Now while it's hard to think of Nod as a head-on faction, just realize that it's simply more head-on than the Marked. Nod gets flame weapons, which makes it easy to burn down bases quickly; their mine drop is decidedly better in a head-on confrontation than magnetic mines; Confessors help as meat shields in fights. Perhaps the most obvious help to Nod's steamrolling efforts are its Laser Capacitors, which affect Scorpions, Buggies, and Venoms. Nod also has the deadly Black Hand-Reckoner rush available, while the Marked have no comparable strategy. Simply put,
Nod can do more damage faster, but has less overall unit speed and support. As for how MoK is better than Nod at harassment and defense... the rest of the guide will demonstrate.
