From the initial starting second through to the last,
Empire of the Rising Sun are arguably heavily orientated around micro. This guide takes a look at what is regarded as some of the more advanced techniques employed in order to save units, hasten build orders, effectively place structures & even efficiently controlling the MCV. Without further ado, let's dive straight into...
Empire of the Rising Sun: Advanced Basics for Beginners
One of the most important in
Red Alert 3 is arguably speed. Time is a resource, be it from structural placement or a unit re-building (or even healing), and this can mean the difference between capturing both Oil Derricks on a map or losing them; being behind in unit production such as in a EvE Tengu spam; the moment when the Mecha Bay is available after first Refinery.
Point being that wasting those precious few seconds at the start can be disastrous. Obtaining faster delivery in 'commanding' requires two things - the use of hotkeys, but most importantly the practice of effectively and efficiently utilising them also.
As a frame of reference the following build order is generally considered to be a standard opening for Empire in all match ups. There may be situations where it's desirable to make more, or sometimes less, Dojo Cores but two is considered to be adaptable to most situations and the least expensive option for establishing control of at least one Oil Derrick.
Hotkeys - A start-up overview
Generally speaking hotkeys can
be set up in anyway that is comfortable for the individual. Playing around and experimenting could very well find an optimal
feel for player. This guide however is primarily focused on the default set-up on a QWERTY keyboard. For more information on the set up of hotkeys and how to practice them with individual fingers then check out
Wilko's Guide before moving on.
When at the loading screen some players will spam
E - F1 in order to ensure that the production of their first Power Plant is initiated from the off-start. As it builds, a Wall segment (
R - F1) is placed and then
R - F2 is hit in order to produce a Dojo Core.
This system can be used when producing structures in a successive pattern, the aim being to minimise the amount of time between Nano Core production as much as possible.
Way-pointing with the Con Yard while a Nano Core is being produced can shave off a minor second that the Core wastes when it exits. Don't forget that way-points can be placed with the use of the mini-map also!
Structure Placement
Starting with the Power Plant
it's advisable to deploy it as soon as possible, the quickest method usually being two steps in front of the Con Yard.
If a map (or for whatever reason) doesn't permit such placement then seek the next quick alternative. Swift deployment enables the optimal build speed of the inevitable Refineries and consequently the Mecha Bay.
An important rule for when placing
a Dojo is that there shouldn't be any unprotected units.
Let’s take an example: Green has placed their Dojo so that their Engineer will walk right into the Oil Derrick. However, Purple has countered this by placing their Dojo in such a way way that their opponents Engineer will come out on the other side of their Dojo.
Now some good and bad placement tips.
In situation 1: The Engineer is protected by the undeployed Dojo Core that has been way-pointed. Whereas in situation 2 the Engineer has to walk towards the Oil Derrick unprotected.
In situation 3: The Mecha Bay is always repairing 1 Ore Collector that is under attack, whereas in situation 4 the distance from the Mecha Bay means defending from economy harassment won't be as easy. That said, in the event that the opponent is playing as Allies then a late-game Cryogeddon Protocol could be used to freeze both the Mecha Bay and the Refinery - which presents it's own disadvantages when playing as Empire against Allies.
MCV-Manoeuvring!
Once 'build-order micro' can be easily performed,
a few extra seconds can be shaved off from the start by optimally placing the ConYard into more optimal positioning - such as next to a Refinery after the first Power Plant & Dojo so that the Ref' Core has less of a distance to travel.
Same idea goes for the Mecha Bay or when expanding (move MCV to Refinery in preparation). To do this in a seamless way (together the initial build-order, scouting/counter-scouting etc) in order for it not to be counter productive (wasting time) takes practice.
Manoeuvring the MCV more efficiently
for the method above but also for crushing and blocking purposes is using the "unit formation" control mentioned below. Normally an MCV on the move, in order to turn, will do a circular motion that takes up a good few seconds. Positioning the MCV the opposite way upon itself, using the unit formation technique, makes it rotate (or pivot) on itself which saves time when moving the MCV.
Using the same method to direct the MCV to tactical positions (on top of an enemy unit in order to crush them, or even for blocking the opponents MCV from crushing) is also advisable.
Hotkeys - Unit Control
Controlling the way a unit(s) react to a situation through hotkeys makes playing easier in the sense that it takes less mouse clicking (or time) to achieve a desirable effect. Alongside the use of production keys, groups and unit formations, the following keys are generally considered the staple tools of efficiency.
- Q: Select All Units
Selecting all available units is not generally advised as a way of unit control, but hitting this key can be beneficial in situations where a unit is not grouped and it's desirable to select it from the unit list below the mini-map.
- D: Reverse Move
Depending on the situation, reverse moving tanks can be beneficial in retreating as it maintains for the most part the formation of the tank spread, which makes it easier to get into position if the opponent decides to advance their forces/keep their push up.
- X: Scatter Units
Scattering a group of units creates distance between them as they all move in opposite directions. This can be beneficial in numerous situations, such as reducing the risk of being crushed by a Tier-2 land vehicle while forcing the opponent to manually put up a chase; avoiding the stun-area of a Bear/Dog; to move units out of the path of a Cryo' Shot/Toxic Downpour Protocol...to name a few.
- A + right-mouse click: Attack Move.
Attack moving by default is arguably an advisable form of unit-commanding as it ensures that the unit(s) under effect will attack any oncoming enemy force as soon as they're in range.
- R + L Mouse Buttons: Unit Formation
From Tengu air-battles to a Tank Buster line of assault/defence, unit formation allows units to be placed into advantageous positions that can maximise their damage out-put, increase their chances of surviving and/or utilising the terrain to their advantage also.
- Spacebar: Last Event
This will move your camera towers the last event. This is really useful to go to units that are under attack. To save your burst drone for example.
Hotkeys not working??!!
This is a known bug that can be quickly solved by pressing the alt-key!
Battles
The last thing to be discussed here are some basic rules about battles. When playing as Empire it is really important to have air domination. This will prevent the opponent from scouting for the most part, & makes counter-scouting easier due to more map control.
Let’s say a scenario takes place in an Empire mirror (EvE). It's generally advisable to have the Mecha Bay up & running as fast as possible so that Tengu production can commence in due succession. Being a few seconds faster is what can matter here. A small advantage in Tengu numbers, along with counter-scouting, could be enough to sneakily tech' up to Tier-2 and get a few cheeky Tsunami tanks onto the field.
When fighting a battle a few things are important.
The angle the units are positioned to fight from as well as their focus. In the image on the right Red will have an advantage over Green since their units are better positioned. Tengu number 4 and 5 will shoot very late and therefore do less damage to Red's Tengus.
Damage concentration
destroys units faster, and the faster they are destroyed the faster the next unit can be taken down.
Way-pointing attacks like this ensures that all commanded units focus-fire on the next unit simultaneously as soon as the targeted unit is destroyed.
Battle Tip
Once the Mecha Bay is up it's generally a good idea to use Tengu's as harassment forces. Keeping them alive is important however as it can soon amount to a counter-productive means of harassing when resources are thrown away by suiciding Tengus for Collectors.
Alternatively try and cap an important structure with an Engineer in a Sudden Transport. Applying constant pressure can be micro-melting as well as mind-melting to deal with, but it must be done efficiently and without as much waste as possible.
