A guide pertaining to the effective use of Cloaky Bots.
Introduction
Whether striking from the shadows or trundling over the fields, Cloaky Bots are perhaps the most versatile factory in the game, with a handy answer to almost every situation (and the ability to fashion one when they need to). Decked out with easy-to-use units that double as some of the cheapest around, and a plethora of tactical options, Cloakies are a favorite of newbies and pros alike.
However, it is not always easy to manage and control them effectively, because a high degree of situational awareness, micro-management ability and sense of synchronicity between units is required to achieve maximum efficiency. That is why I have put together this guide for the express purpose of teaching these very skills to anyone who is interested in using Cloakies seriously.
Feel free to add whatever you feel is missing to this guide, or contact me at my E-Mail, authorityblade@gmail.com to contribute suggestions. I'm always looking for input from the community, so I can make things like this the best and most comprehensive that they can be.
Other than that, enjoy!
Table of Contents
<wiki:comment> ^ This inserts the table of contents.</wiki:comment>
Factory Matchups
vs. Cloaky Bots
Ah, the good old mirror match.
| vs. Glaive | Glaive/Warrior + Tick | Was there any doubt? |
| vs. Rocko | Glaive |
| vs. Hammer | Glaive |
| vs. Sharpshooter | Glaive/Scythe/Tick/Gremlin |
vs. Shield Bots
Anyone who's played as or against Shield Bots should be able to realize that most of their effective tactics rely on combined arms. When playing as Cloaky Bots versus them, the key to defeating them is not to outmatch them in a straight-up brawl, but to outmaneuver them using Cloakies' superior mobility and stealth capabilities to rip your enemy's economy and forces to pieces from many places at once. The objective of this is to force the Shield player to spend more and more of his metal on units and defenses to counter your raiding parties and Scythes, which means he will have less that he can put into his shield ball(s), which in turn means that he won't be able to build up enough steam to overrun you with the dreaded Felon/Aspis/Outlaw/Thug/Rogue/Racketeer combo (or almost any combination thereof). Profit! ^^
| vs. Bandit | Glaive/Warrior + Tick |
| vs. Shield Ball | Rocko/Zeus + Tick |
| vs. Shield Ball w/ Felon(s) | Tick |
vs. Jumpjet/Specialist Bots
This is a tough one. Puppies have the speed, power, and cheapness to pose a serious threat to nearly all Cloaky units, and Pyros can be really hard to deal with if you don't know what you're doing, but the Moderator + Placeholder combo is perhaps the worst.
| vs. Puppy | Glaive + Tick | Glaives have a very slight range advantage over Puppies, so there's a small chance you could kite them on the retreat, but be careful. Ticks make this job a whole lot easier because they can stun packs of Puppies, making them harmless, easy prey for Glaives to deal with. |
| vs. Pyro | Glaive + Tick, Zeus/Warrior | Since Pyros have so much of a mobility advantage over most of your units, you are going to have to pull some extra micro, especially against a really good Jumpjet player. Despite what you may think of the Pyro's terrifying flamethrower, though, Glaives can actually make cost against them if going toe-to-toe because of their superior (and iconic) group swarm DPS. This would be a lot simpler if every Pyro user worth his salt didn't simply evade groups of Glaives like the plague, kiting them with their flamers and picking them off like dodos. To counter this supremely annoying unit, you have one or two really good options, and a couple soft-counters. Put simply, though: Tick -> Pyro. The oft-overlooked EMP crawling bomb can go everywhere the Pyro can (except over water) due to its all-terrain capability, so you can lay some really impressive (and downright hilarious) traps. IMO, there are few things in this game more satisfying than mowing down stunned Pyros that would have otherwise assassinated a com that moved too far out. |
| vs. Moderator + Placeholder | Sharpshooter | Moderators and Placeholders make a killer combo, currently, because the Placeholder's Black Hole Generator will hold your units in place so that they can't get close to the Moderators, which will simply pick them off with ease from a distance. This is very hard to deal with conventionally using Glaives and Ticks, but possible, with care and a little luck -- but it can become a downright nightmare if he's also using Pyros or Puppies to screen his forces against swarmers. The best unit to defeat this combo is no doubt the Sharpshooter; it has the range to keep at a safe distance from Placeholders, can pick units off one by one at almost the same attack speed as Moderators, and the cost is more than tolerable; Moderators are 300 each, Placeholders 250, and Sharpshooters 750. In combat, aim for the Placeholders first, because those are the units that make it so easy for the Moderators to do their job. |
| vs. Sumo | Rocko/Sharpshooter | First off, don't let it scare you; Sumos are actually easy enough for a Cloaky player to deal with, even if their Jump ability does make things a bit more complicated. Surround (read: * do NOT cluster your units *) the Sumo with Rockos, which have more than enough range to stay out of the way of its main guns. You are bound to lose a couple when it jumps into range, but losing a few 90 metal units is a small price to pay for killing a 2200 metal behemoth. Sharpshooters can also help, but Rockos do the most damage for the least cost. |
vs. Light Vehicles
| vs. Ravager | Glaive + Tick |
vs. Hovercraft
The entire roster of Hovercraft is right up there with your own Sharpshooters in terms of sheer annoyance, as well as killing power and mobility, so you'll want to tread extra-lightly, here. I might even recommend investing in an Eraser early on, because the added bonus to surprise attack and initiative is almost a necessity when fighting such high-damage, high-speed units.
Fortunately, Cloaky Bots have the advantage in versatility and tactical options, and they have superior turning rates; Hovercraft turn like overweight semi trucks.
Unit Strategies/Combos
Gremlin - The Ultimate Spy
Glaives may be adequate for scouting and rudimentary intelligence purposes throughout the game, but when you want serious, consistent real-time data on your enemies' movements, it's time to employ the Gremlin (aka. Jethro). Most people overlook this unit's scouting and spying potential because it is classed as an AA unit; indeed, its cloaking ability does make it useful for laying ambushes for fliers. However, that is not all it is good for, and not using the Gremlin to its fullest potential is a grievous mistake.
Gremlins have a low cost (150 metal) combined with efficient cloaking (0.5 on the move) a fast speed (2.9) and a very high sight range (660), pushing them up to almost the top of the ladder for intelligence gathering. Not using them for this purpose is a serious waste. A single cloaked Gremlin can hide right in the middle of your enemies' territory without them noticing, which can allow you to precisely confirm hostile force composition instead of only seeing radar dots, allow your units to fire accurately instead of dealing with said radar dots, feed you information on weak spots in their defenses, and allow you to keep track of just what your enemy is building out of their factory, allowing you to develop counters immediately.
For all these above reasons and more, I highly recommend you practice the use of Gremlins for scouting and spying purposes, as they can be just the edge you need to get the upper hand on your opponent(s).
* Further tips *: If your enemy has any air units, make sure that you keep any Gremlins set to spying duty on Return Fire or Hold Fire, so they don't give away their position by shooting at them.
Tick + Glaive
Glaives have some of the highest damage potential in the game, but they also rank among the worst for durability, effectively making them glass cannons. It's a good thing they're only 65 metal a unit, because they are so easily countered, trapped and picked off that it's not even funny. Using Glaives in any situation demands that you pick your targets carefully and micro-manage quite a bit to avoid losses.
Or do they? The Cloaky Bot factory has a very convenient way to aid their iconic light raider bots, and that way skitters on six legs and absolutely loves it when enemies group up. Coming in at only 120 metal (a little less than the price of two Glaives, no less), the Tick is a highly cost-effective means of support for your raiders, allowing you to stun anything from an incautious Banisher to an entire shield ball to a pack of Scorchers or Ravagers bearing down on your base. Seemingly impossible situations can be turned around in the blink of an eye by the detonation of a Tick-class EMP crawling bomb in the right place at the right time.
So, next time you employ Glaives seriously, heavily consider adding Ticks to the mix, and practice their use accordingly. When it works, the profit from this tactic is undeniable.
Tick + Glaive + Eraser
Adding an Eraser to the mix can make the Tick + Glaive combo even more deadly; and allow other units to join in, as well. Under the Eraser's cloak field, Ticks can run straight into groups of enemy units and defenses and detonate right in their face, allowing you to shut them down hard before they even know what the flip is going on. Once they are disabled, a strike force of Glaives and whatever else you throw in can come out of cloak and immediately start blasting. The enemy will never see this coming unless he has scouts out, which not every player does.
Rector Jammer + Raid Group
Too many people forget that Rectors are equipped with an internal radar jammer (256 range) that can hide your forces from radar detection, which is one of the most potent countermeasures against raids and surprise assaults, especially early on. Since most decent players tend to build a Radar Tower near the beginning of the game, many of your raiding efforts are likely to be rendered ineffective (or perhaps beneficial to your enemy, due to the wrecks your units leave) because your target will see you coming and usually intercept with his own forces -- and I don't need to tell you that Glaives are usually at a serious disadvantage in a stand-up fight, especially against anything heavier than them.
So, how to solve this radar problem without spending 600 metal on an Eraser to cloak your army? Simple - the humble Rector. Since they pack a radar jammer, all you have to do is order Glaives or other units to follow it (perhaps with a Guard order), and you can slip in right under enemy radar without anyone noticing a thing. These kinds of surprise attacks always cause more damage because your enemy will take longer to marshal a response, and by then, he could easily lose one or two expansions, denying him valuable metal/energy income. And you also get a bonus with this, too; the Rector(s) you brought along with the group can be used to reclaim the metal from your kills before your enemy gets it, repair damaged units, and build forward radar and defense installations immediately, greatly assisting your rate of land acquisition.