Strategy:Trozz's Economy Guide (Supreme Commander)

From EncyClanPedia

How do you build up your economy in the game?

There are three things you must always remember when building an economy.

1. Always build economy.
2. Always spend resource.
3. Your economy is useless if you are unable to spend it.

Whats the best build orders in your opinion?

The most popular build order is to get two Power Generators, two Mass Extractors, then a land factory. On a map where the Mass Extractor locations are spread apart (like Theta), it's usually a better idea to build two Power Generators, one Mass Extractors, then the factory.

The build order after 2 Power Generators/2 Mass Extractors/factory depends on the map. Usually, you will want to build another two Power Generators and another two Mass Extractors. Once you have four Power Generators and four Mass Extractors, you can either build another land factory (if it's a land map), or an air factory (if it's a huge map or an island map). This build is all to your style; some people like getting 5 Power Generators before a second factory.

But what if there is a hydrocarbon spot? If there is one, your first or second engineer should run towards it and throw up a Hydrocarbon plant. You should build your air factory (and maybe even your second land factory) next to the Hydrocarbon plant for the 12.5% energy bonus. Once you've got your early game econ up (either 4-5pgens/4 Mass Extractors or 2-4pgens/Hydrocarbon plant/4 Mass Extractors) you should continuously build power plants until you get T2, then continuously build T2 Power Generators until you hit T3, and so on.

Do you build a lot of Mass Fabricators?

To get a thriving mid game economy, Mass Fabricators are essential. If you have a surplus of energy (if it's at +60 or higher, or if you have some serious Power Generator production happening), you should get an engineer building Mass Fabricators. As soon as you get a tech 2 Power Generator, you will want to be building these non-stop. It's never a bad idea to have several Mass Fabricators, as you can disable them if your energy ever crashes. Leaving your Mass Fabricators on while your energy is in the red is a BAD idea. If your energy ever gets slammed, zoom out and either double click or box select several Mass Fabricators and disable them (the green cog icon). Be sure to reactivate your Mass Fabricators once your economy has recovered.

=Where do you put your Mass Fabricators?

Build your Mass Fabricators close to your main military base, but put a little distance between Mass Fabricators and other buildings. The best way to build Mass Fabricators is to make lines of 4-6 Mass Fabricators. Do NOT build all of your Mass Fabricators close together, because if one dies, they will all explode. Build Mass Fabricators in clumps/lines in areas where enemy land forces will have a hassle getting to. Building power gens next to Mass Fabricators is a bad idea unless you are building them in a very secure area. Even then, don't build grids of Mass Fabricators/Power Generators, as that is just screaming to be bombed. Build T1 Mass Fabricators nonstop until you are able to build T3 Mass Fabricators, then build those nonstop (along with T3 Power Generators).

Whats the best way to snipe someones economy?

Gunships. If you can't hit an enemy's resource operation with your land forces, gunships are usually the best answer. Of course, if your enemy has absolute air supremacy and decent radar coverage, you may have troubles blowing up his economy. If your enemy has some serious anti air capabilities, static artillery is another great way to bash someones economy. Build shields/arty/pd/etc just in range of the enemy's economy. Hold that position long enough and the enemy will be forced to either destroy your bombing base or lose his economy. T3 bombers are also amazing for destroying all of the enemy's economy at once, but you may want to destroy the enemy's radar before coming in.

Trozzy tips

• One of the best ways to get mass is to reclaim. Sometimes I have two land factories dedicated to pumping out T1 engineers to reclaim from the battlefield.
• If at any time you don't think your economy is being 'challenged enough' (i.e. wasting mass/energy), upgrade a Mass Extractor.
• T1 bombers are dandy for knocking out enemy Mass Fabricator clumps if the enemy has no intelligence (meaning, radar/scouts, not mental capacity :p )
• Don't tell engineers to assist an upgrading Mass Extractor. When the upgrade is done, they won't register as being idle (because they are still 'assisting'). Upgrading a Mass Extractor only take a minute and a half anyway.
• If the starting location is rich in reclaimable resources, your first engineer should reclaim some; it gives you a much needed early game boost.
• Defend T3 economy with shields and SAM turrets.
• Surround at least one Mass Extractor with Mass Storages. Having even only a few storages makes it much easier to preserve your mass.
• Wasting mass is a blasphemy. Upgrade Mass Extractor or have an engineer build a row of buildings if your mass isn't being put to good use.
• On large maps, get several SCUs. The SCU resource upgrade is the best way to expand your economy after T3.
• If you build T3 Mass Fabricators and T3 Power Generators together, they must have shields, SAM turrets, and radar coverage. A good idea is to get more than one T3 econ matrix.
• When attacking clusters of T3 econ, target the energy first. A base without energy will not be able to keep shield/radar/fabs up. Also, T3 Power Generators do a massive explosion when destroyed.
• If your energy is still at surplus, consider getting more air factories.
• Watch for enemy artillery when building higher level economy. You don't want to build within firing range, or close enough that s/he can creep arty/shields in.
• Don't build energy storage. If I ever see you building these, I will microwave laser your ACU.
• edited in: *sigh* And yes, Mercies can obliterate economy. Try to neutralize the enemy intelligence before launching Mercies, and make sure you send scouts in to get a good look of the enemy base. Mercies can one hit kill T2 energy. To counter these things, get radar, shields, T2 AA, or to a lesser extent, interceptors. If you are playing against an Aeon, try to fill his face with scouts to keep watch on his air factories.

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