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| − | Updated for 1.12.4.1, April 2024
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| | = Preface = | | = Preface = |
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| | <span style="color:gold">'''C Tier'''</span> | | <span style="color:gold">'''C Tier'''</span> |
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| − | '''Conch''': On land it is slow and expensive. Spoiler alert: it is in a different tier on water maps. | + | '''Conch''': On land it is slow and expensive. When underwater it is absolutely goated, S+ tier, better than mex. |
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| | '''Wasp''': Useless as a combat constructor, but decent at expanding if it doesn't die to Swift. | | '''Wasp''': Useless as a combat constructor, but decent at expanding if it doesn't die to Swift. |
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| | <span style="color:#44f">'''A Tier'''</span> | | <span style="color:#44f">'''A Tier'''</span> |
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| − | '''Recon''': Does not die to Placeholder. Dies a lot to Lance though. S tier if it enables expansion for you (like on Quicksilver). To avoid throwing your computer out a window when you get Lobstered, this chassis is mandatory on lava maps. | + | '''Recon''': Does not die to Placeholder. Dies a lot to Lance though. S tier if it enables expansion for you (like on Quicksilver). |
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| | <span style="color:lightblue">'''B Tier'''</span> | | <span style="color:lightblue">'''B Tier'''</span> |
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| | '''Guardian''': Dies to Placeholder, but at least it has HP so it's less likely to die to Lance. The free drone is quite handy, use set-target to tell it where to go and scout. | | '''Guardian''': Dies to Placeholder, but at least it has HP so it's less likely to die to Lance. The free drone is quite handy, use set-target to tell it where to go and scout. |
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| − | '''Engineer''': Dies to Placeholder and Lance. The blueprint-stealing tool has some useful applications though; for example, if you are playing air grab a land constructor. | + | <span style="color:gold">'''C Tier'''</span> |
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| | + | '''Strike''': Dies to Placeholder and Lance. |
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| − | '''Strike''': Dies to Placeholder and Lance. However, in a meta where Engineer is popular, Strike is the best commander at running down and killing Engineers. | + | '''Engineer''': Dies to Placeholder and Lance. |
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| | = Raiders etc. = | | = Raiders etc. = |
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| | '''Scythe''': I also have a skill issue with this unit. At its best this is maddening. At its worst you are just punting metal. YMMV. | | '''Scythe''': I also have a skill issue with this unit. At its best this is maddening. At its worst you are just punting metal. YMMV. |
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| − | '''Dagger''': This does not have the DPS to do a lot of raider jobs, and Hover suffers for it sometimes. Still, it's good in a lot of direct raider matchups and gives planes a nasty surprise.
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| | <span style="color:gold">'''C Tier'''</span> | | <span style="color:gold">'''C Tier'''</span> |
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| − | '''Blitz''': Pretty poor in low numbers outside the very early game. A big ball of these can be scary, but eventually they tend to run into something they can't stunlock and then they get mauled. | + | '''Dagger''': Good flex-AA and has good matchups against other raiders... but this just does not have the DPS to do a lot of raider jobs, and Hover suffers for it sometimes. |
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| − | <span style="color:orange">'''D Tier'''</span>
| + | '''Duck''': Just less efficient than the other bot raiders, unless there is water involved. |
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| − | '''Duck''': Just less efficient than the other bot raiders, unless there is water involved. | + | '''Blitz''': Pretty poor in low numbers outside the very early game. A big ball of these can be scary, but eventually they tend to run into something they can't stunlock and then they get mauled. |
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| | == Anti-raider / Escort == | | == Anti-raider / Escort == |
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| − | '''Bolas''': <span style="color:lightblue">'''B Tier'''</span>. If the meta shifts this could be A tier again. Of the units in this role, retains most value against non-raiders. | + | '''Bolas''': <span style="color:#44f">'''A Tier'''</span>. Descending towards B tier for me recently, but it's not there yet. Of the units in this role, retains most value against non-raiders. |
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| | '''Venom, Archer''': <span style="color:lightblue">'''B Tier'''</span>. Decent, but loses a lot of value when the other team is no longer making many raiders. | | '''Venom, Archer''': <span style="color:lightblue">'''B Tier'''</span>. Decent, but loses a lot of value when the other team is no longer making many raiders. |
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| | '''Thug''': Good at protecting other units that actually do something. | | '''Thug''': Good at protecting other units that actually do something. |
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| − | '''Jugglenaut''': Needs to be controlled carefully, and with some feeling for the occasionally unintuitive physics mechanics.
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| | <span style="color:lightblue">'''B Tier'''</span> | | <span style="color:lightblue">'''B Tier'''</span> |
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| − | '''Halberd''': This is fine. Not amazing. But fine. Can spot for Lance if you don't have air, but it is rather unsubtle at that task. | + | '''Halberd''': This is fine. Not amazing. But fine. Can spot for Lance if you don't have air. |
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| | '''Jack''': In the right situation it's incredible. Otherwise it chases things and makes sad melee noises. | | '''Jack''': In the right situation it's incredible. Otherwise it chases things and makes sad melee noises. |
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| | <span style="color:orange">'''D Tier'''</span> | | <span style="color:orange">'''D Tier'''</span> |
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| − | '''Hermit''', '''Ravager''': Theoretically decent stats (especially post-buff) but "light-weight assault" is just not a very powerful role. | + | '''Hermit''': Decent range I guess, but 1500 HP is just not a lot. |
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| | + | '''Ravager''': Reasonably fast, but that's really its only redeeming feature. |
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| | = Artillery = | | = Artillery = |
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| | '''Tremor''': Make this when faced with bad terrain (typically terraform) or sometimes against mass shields. Otherwise not worth the metal. | | '''Tremor''': Make this when faced with bad terrain (typically terraform) or sometimes against mass shields. Otherwise not worth the metal. |
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| − | = Anti-Heavy and Bombs =
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| − | <span style="color:#90f">'''S Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Widow''': Unmatched impact for cost.
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| − | '''Snitch''': Combined with areacloak this solves an awful lot of difficult problems. Even without a cloak you can sometimes get these to connect for big damage, if you're wily enough.
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| − | <span style="color:#44f">'''A Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Imp''': Arguably better than Snitch in the early game; the spider movetype is more useful and you can hide one under a commander. Late game you would prefer to be killing things though.
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| − | '''Limpet''': Suffers from being in a slow and unpopular factory, but this can turn the tide of a midgame fight.
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| − | '''Racketeer''': The safest but lowest-impact unit on the anti-heavy list.
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| − | '''Scorpion''': This unit is NOT an assault. This unit is NOT a raider. Stop using it like one. Quite poor at defending itself if caught out of position, so don't let that happen.
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| − | <span style="color:lightblue">'''B Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Ultimatum''': I can't get this to connect reliably, but when it does...
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| − | <span style="color:orange">'''D Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Skuttle''': Incredibly unreliable. I would only build this in desperation.
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| − | = Support and Utility =
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| − | <span style="color:#90f">'''S Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Lobster''': From rescuing stunned units to facilitating an assault to throwing enemies in lava, the utility is endless.
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| − | <span style="color:#44f">'''A Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Iris, Aspis''': Maybe these should be S tier, but I do sometimes find that these give you a false sense of security.
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| − | '''Placeholder''': Potentially completely broken, but its range and HP are poor enough that something generally manages to kill it.
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| − | '''Djinn''': I get far more use out of this in a logistics role than its sneak attack applications, but either way this is quite useful once you can afford the price.
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| − | '''Charon''': Mostly for offensive drops, but occasionally this is good in a logistics role also.
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| − | <span style="color:lightblue">'''B Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Hercules''': Not a fan of most uses this gets put to, but occasionally you do need one.
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| − | = Planes =
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| − | <span style="color:#90f">'''S Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Swift''': Intercepts bombers, holds its own against most other air, scouts, cleans up raiders in its spare time. Defines how the game of Zero-K is played.
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| − | '''Likho''': There are very few things this is not good against.
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| − | '''Owl''': Knowledge is power, and Owl provides it. Even without the jammer this is S tier.
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| − | '''Thunderbird''': After the HP buff I'm going to go ahead and put this in S tier again.
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| − | <span style="color:#44f">'''A Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Odin''': Forces the other team to build a pretty annoying amount of AA if they want to keep their Singus. I suspect the best uses of the shield sidearm have not been figured out yet.
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| − | '''Phoenix''': The new generically-decent bomber. Keep a few around even in the late game for targets that aren't worth spending a Likho on.
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| − | <span style="color:lightblue">'''B Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Raptor''': I genuinely think this is OK, if your job is to fight Swifts and gunships with help rather than chasing down bombers. I would always have some Swifts though.
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| − | '''Magpie''': Good against a range of likely early game targets, considerably weaker later. Probably best on high-wind maps to offset the large rearm cost.
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| − | '''Raven''': Not the game-defining unit it once was, but there is nothing wrong with the Raven of today. Does the job it is designed to do.
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| − | <span style="color:#666">'''Unclassifiable'''</span>
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| − | '''Sparrow''': Very specific usecases as a jammer, decloaker or scout-without-a-planefac. If you need it for one of those things, build it. Otherwise don't.
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| − | = Gunships =
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| − | <span style="color:#44f">'''A Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Revenant''': I'm not terribly good with this, but it is getting popular as of late.
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| − | <span style="color:lightblue">'''B Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Trident''': Really quite good against planes, Swift in particular.
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| − | '''Harpy''': The workhorse of Gunship factory.
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| − | '''Gnat''': Niche, but if your opponent slacks on AA to protect their strider this is the punishment. Also has some early game uses.
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| − | '''Blastwing''': Build these if you see a good target.
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| − | <span style="color:gold">'''C Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Nimbus''': I don't think that the meta is doing this any favours at present, but it's still decent at putting on pressure.
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| − | '''Locust''': Doesn't seem very good at the moment, but maybe it's just unpopular. I could never get this to work even when it was objectively strong, so how should I know?
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| − | <span style="color:orange">'''D Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Krow''': No longer quite so bad that you are actively throwing the game by making it, but actually makes a positive contribution to winning in very few games.
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| | = Anti-Air (mobile and static) = | | = Anti-Air (mobile and static) = |
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| | <span style="color:orange">'''D Tier'''</span> | | <span style="color:orange">'''D Tier'''</span> |
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| − | '''Gremlin''': This disappoints me every time I build it. You get to scout and ambush with it, but its effective damage is just... really bad. | + | '''Gremlin''': This disappoints me every time I build it. You get to scout and ambush with it, but its DPS is just... really bad. |
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| | + | '''Hacksaw''': Once in a blue moon you need this. You don't enjoy needing it. But you make one anyway. Even at this thing's one job it is often worse than Newton. |
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| | + | = Anti-Heavy and Bombs = |
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| | + | <span style="color:#90f">'''S Tier'''</span> |
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| − | '''Hacksaw''': D-minus. At least it kills Phoenix now. But even considering that, it only outperforms Newton in a situation where Newton is not physically possible to build (on water). | + | '''Widow''': Unmatched impact for cost. |
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| − | = Other Static Defences =
| + | '''Snitch''': Combined with areacloak this solves an awful lot of difficult problems. Even without a cloak you can sometimes get these to connect for big damage, if you're wily enough. |
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| | <span style="color:#44f">'''A Tier'''</span> | | <span style="color:#44f">'''A Tier'''</span> |
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| − | '''Stinger''': This very nearly makes it into S tier, but its matchup against Lance and Impaler in particular is just a little bit too bad. Among several other roles, Stinger props up the bad-skirmisher factories in the early to mid game. | + | '''Imp''': Arguably better than Snitch in the early game; the spider movetype is more useful and you can hide one under a commander. Late game you would prefer to be killing things though. |
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| | + | '''Limpet''': Suffers from being in a slow and unpopular factory, but this can turn the tide of a midgame fight. |
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| − | '''Lotus''': Boring, reliable and effective. | + | '''Racketeer''': The safest but lowest-impact unit on the anti-heavy list. |
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| | + | '''Scorpion''': This unit is NOT an assault. This unit is NOT a raider. Stop using it like one. Quite poor at defending itself if caught out of position, so don't let that happen. |
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| | <span style="color:lightblue">'''B Tier'''</span> | | <span style="color:lightblue">'''B Tier'''</span> |
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| − | '''Picket''': Mostly used to outrange Lotus these days, and sometimes you need the flex-AA aspect. | + | '''Gnat''': Niche, but if your opponent slacks on AA to protect their strider this is the punishment. Also has some early game uses. |
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| − | '''Newton''': Excellent against bombers, and quite decent at defending against riots. | + | '''Ultimatum''': I can't get this to connect reliably, but when it does... |
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| − | '''Faraday, Gauss''': These might go into A tier if not for the "instantly blasted by Lance when they try to do something" issue. | + | <span style="color:orange">'''D Tier'''</span> |
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| − | '''Cerberus''': A decent option to strangle out the other team when you are in a sound position. If the other team has the eco to throw tacnukes at you at will the value goes down a lot. | + | '''Skuttle''': Incredibly unreliable. I would only build this in desperation. |
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| − | <span style="color:gold">'''C Tier'''</span>
| + | = Support and Utility = |
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| − | '''Stardust''': Plonk this down somewhere that you expect a bunch of raiders to try to flank. Gets outranged by too many things to be a good frontline turret. | + | <span style="color:#90f">'''S Tier'''</span> |
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| − | '''Desolator''': I think the present meta doesn't favour Desolator but it's not inherently awful. Use it with terraform if you are going to use it. | + | '''Lobster''': From rescuing stunned units to facilitating an assault to throwing enemies in lava, the utility is endless. |
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| − | <span style="color:orange">'''D Tier'''</span> | + | <span style="color:#44f">'''A Tier'''</span> |
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| − | '''Lucifer''': This is a lot of metal to spend on something that dies to Impaler. | + | '''Iris, Aspis''': Maybe these should be S tier, but I do sometimes find that these give you a false sense of security. |
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| | + | '''Placeholder''': Potentially completely broken, but its range and HP are poor enough that something generally manages to kill it. |
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| | + | '''Djinn''': I get far more use out of this in a logistics role than its sneak attack applications, but either way this is quite useful once you can afford the price. |
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| | = Tactical Missiles = | | = Tactical Missiles = |
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| | <span style="color:#90f">'''S Tier'''</span> | | <span style="color:#90f">'''S Tier'''</span> |
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| − | '''Trinity''': At worst, forces single points of failure on your opponent. At its not uncommmon best, ends the game on the spot. | + | '''Trinity''': At worst, forces single points of failure on your opponent. At best, ends the game on the spot. Incredible. |
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| | <span style="color:#44f">'''A Tier'''</span> | | <span style="color:#44f">'''A Tier'''</span> |
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| | '''Bertha''': Does not end games. Can be okay on maps I do not choose to play. | | '''Bertha''': Does not end games. Can be okay on maps I do not choose to play. |
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| − | '''Detriment''': Giving this the benefit of the doubt. On the rare occasions a Detriment is in competent hands it can look pretty decent. Nevertheless, you are sinking an awful lot of metal into something that goes into enemy territory. | + | '''Detriment''': Giving this the benefit of the doubt. On the rare occasions a Detriment is in competent hands it can look pretty decent. Nevertheless, you are still sinking an awful lot of metal into something that goes into enemy territory. |
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| | <span style="color:orange">'''D Tier'''</span> | | <span style="color:orange">'''D Tier'''</span> |
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| | '''Disco Rave Party''': I am told this is terrible now. Not sure I 100 percent buy that, but I guess I will defer to the experience of people who actually make superweapons. If it's good anywhere it is when it won't have to traverse its turret much. | | '''Disco Rave Party''': I am told this is terrible now. Not sure I 100 percent buy that, but I guess I will defer to the experience of people who actually make superweapons. If it's good anywhere it is when it won't have to traverse its turret much. |
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| − | = Water maps =
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| − | Assume any water-capable unit not mentioned here has the same rating as it would on land.
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| − | <span style="color:#90f">'''S Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Conch''': The seabed tends to accumulate a lot of reclaim and Conch does not die to the artillery that typically claims reclaiming constructors. Absolutely goated. S+ tier. Better than mex.
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| − | '''Envoy''': Very strong artillery. The matchup against Lance is a bit wonky but Envoy can win it sometimes.
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| − | <span style="color:#44f">'''A Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Claymore''': Best anti-sub damage in the game, although if tankiness is a factor you maybe want Siren instead.
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| − | '''Siren''': Very solid escort for Envoys.
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| − | '''Seawolf, Duck''': The premier underwater threats.
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| − | '''Shogun''': In the late game probably better than Envoy, but even then being a single expensive target has downsides.
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| − | '''Scylla''': This is a pretty expensive way to get a tacsilo that can't throw Shocklies... but if it blows up the opponents' entire economy, who is counting?
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| − | '''Urchin''': Boring, reliable and effective. Unlike Lotus it can't shoot at gunships or Commander drones, which can be an issue.
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| − | <span style="color:lightblue">'''B Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Mariner''': Meh.
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| − | '''Mistral''': Depending on the matchup this can be A tier, but it does tend to get outscaled.
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| − | '''Hunter''': In very small teams on very large maps (think Inculta Wet) Hunter stocks go up a lot. In the typical sea game its mobility is not so much of a strength.
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| − | <span style="color:gold">'''C Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Zephyr''': Awful against planes, gets one-hit by Likho, sometimes manages to miss gunships too. If it is hitting then its DPS is very solid.
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| − | '''Cutter''': Decent scout, occasionally has combat uses. Expensive enough that you can't just throw them away like Dart or Flea, though.
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| − | '''Reef''': The guided disarm missile has interesting applications. Everything else about this unit is somewhere between "useless" and "an outright liability".
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| − | '''Detriment''': On the one hand, there might be less to threaten this at sea. On the other hand, sea maps tend to lend themselves to superweapons that outscale Detri. Seems like a wash to me.
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| − | = Appendix: Commander Weapons =
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| − | <span style="color:#44f">'''A Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Beam Laser''': Free, good damage, good range. Very solid weapon.
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| − | '''Machine Gun''': Good damage and just enough AoE to be helpful against raiders. Range is a little low but since it is ballistic, clever use of terrain or Recon jump can compensate.
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| − | '''Disruptor Bomb''': Very decent utility option.
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| − | <span style="color:lightblue">'''B Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Light Particle Beam''': B-plus. Somewhere in between Beam Laser and Machine Gun in terms of range and damage, but it's not free and it doesn't have AoE. However, if your plan is to morph further then LPB has the most upgrade potential.
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| − | '''Riot Cannon, Missile Launcher, Rocket Launcher''': Makes your commander really good in one specific type of fight, but bad at everything else.
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| − | '''Lightning Rifle''': Doesn't have enough conventional damage compared to the A-tier primaries. I would only use this in synergy with Venom/Widow or maybe Blitz. Without synergy this is D-tier at best.
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| − | '''Heavy Particle Beam''': Strong, but you have to invest a lot of metal in a dubious chassis to get it.
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| − | '''Disintegrator''': The potential upside is tremendous, but you really have to put your commander in harm's way to land a shot.
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| − | '''Cluster Bomb''': Not as much upside as Disintegrator but also less risk.
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| − | '''Multistunner''': Has a little more potential than Disruptor Bomb, but requires some help from other EMP sources and puts your commander at more risk.
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| − | <span style="color:gold">'''C Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Flamethrower''': Like Machine Gun, but worse.
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| − | '''Shock Rifle''': This is a really expensive way to make one Phantom. I guess it is a tanky Phantom at least.
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| − | '''Concussion Shell''': Very, very niche. The only use I have found for this is countering Recluses with a Recon commander on a hilly map. It is pretty good at that though!
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| − | <span style="color:orange">'''D Tier'''</span>
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| − | '''Shotgun''': Like Machine Gun, but a lot worse.
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| − | '''SLAM''': This is a really expensive way to make an Impaler, and most statics are either overkilled or not killed by 1500 damage.
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| | <span style="color:brown">'''F Tier'''</span> | | <span style="color:brown">'''F Tier'''</span> |
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| − | '''Hellfire Grenade''': This just doesn't do very much.
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| | <span style="color:#666">'''Unclassifiable'''</span> | | <span style="color:#666">'''Unclassifiable'''</span> |
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| − | '''Heat Ray''': An occasional cheese option, especially for meme maps like Duck. In any ordinary fight you will just get killed from a distance.
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