Tips to Start Easy
Definitely start on a lower difficulty and with longer durations. It will make understanding the game much easier and less frustrating.
I like to start with 2-3 hab structures, each with 8 habs built in a square formation with a hole in the middle, totaling 24 habs as quickly as possible. Ensure there’s just enough energy and water to sustain them. Then, after the first hab or between the 2nd and 3rd sections, build mines for crystal. While doing this, focus on leveling up the captain and scout. While scouting, prioritize finding ORE as it’s your next goal.
Play around with delaying ship upgrades until after the 1st wave. If you have enough crystal, consider using it earlier for more resource generation or ship weapons. Don’t underestimate the power of ship upgrades, especially the weapons, as with enough energy, they can almost clear an entire wave.
Get a barracks down before the first wave and aim to have at least 8-10 units. You don’t need to place towers everywhere; 1-2 units can defend points well with patrol commands, saving resources. When you get the indicator for the 1st wave, start building towers and walls.
Try to expand and gain as much ground as you feel comfortable with. If overwhelmed, expand less. Later on, place towers or units at points where needed, particularly at the edges of your base to defend against flyers. Keep in mind that only the first tower you have access to can shoot at air units.
Make sure your main HQ building does not touch any other building. Surround your HQ main building with roads; if a worker needs to pass through a building, they’ll slow down. Leave enough space so you can build roads from the HQ in every needed direction.
Unless you’re very lucky with captain upgrades, unlock harder-hitting units for later waves. The 2nd tower you get access to is strong against tougher enemies, so prioritize building it. Use mines, as they’re strong when combined with walls and towers.
Getting used to this setup will quickly increase your resources and lead to a strong economy start. Focus on managing your resources efficiently, researching, and building your population. Adjust your strategy based on the situation, and don’t overproduce; prioritize what’s necessary in terms of water and power. You’ll learn when to research and prioritize population or unit production as you progress. Temporary towers may be necessary at times, but focus on efficiency and resource management.
Try the roboticist captain. Faster build speed, cheaper units, can get an upgrade to potentially spawn free units with each cycle. It also starts with a skyranger, one of the fast flying units you can use to scout locations and kite enemies to where you want them.
Also, don’t use connectors if you don’t want-a line of walls also works. It’s more expensive, but also provides power while being harder to destroy. You can substitute in gates where need be to pass units thru and surround essential buildings like thumpers with the same walls you used to provide power out to them.
I dont even bother with more soldiers until I have at least the entire base surrounded by walls and turrets – you should be able to get the walls complete before the first horde arrives
one laser turret behind a single block wall is enough to stop the first horde – once you have that defeated then you can worry about getting a barracks down and getting more soldiers