Tell me about: First steps as a commander

So I want to try being a commander.

I played the game for some months now, got a basic grasp of strategy in Empires and fired up a server to check the commander interface for a few minutes.

How to proceed from here on?

What I want to avoid is hopping on one of the main servers, doing a crappy job due to inexperience and having to deal with the ensuing shitstorm that will inevitably happen. (i know you guys)

So what are the biggest no-nos and what should I look out for?

And how should I research stuff? I'm still somewhat in the phase of "this might be cool", rather than "stick to 1 tree fagt!".

Basically I am worried about never having commanded at all and getting the boot for it and losing interest due to the reaction

 

my advice:

do that, and learn to deal with the shitstorm, come over determined and succesful (dont tell em its your first time) and talk to your team a lot

ask them what they want as research, or plan ahead a common research path you are going to take that is often used, for example, DU apc's is:

psychical > Projectile Physics > Heavy Caliber Machine Gun and Reflective Armor

then research

Electrical > Reactive Armor and Advanced Magnet Research > 3 Phase Electric Motor

for nf from now on:

Electrical > Tracking Systems > pick something

psychics > Nuclear Fission > HIT warheads

for be there are some cannons you pass while unlocking everything, go back in the tree and research them when you are done with the main path described above

for example:

psychical > Projectile Physics > Extended range
Electrical > Advanced Magnet Research > Rail gun

basically my advice is to do your homework, and know "if i ever become commander this is what i will do to make my team win"

this are my 4 important pillars to commanding succes, you have to cycle trough from top to bottom at least every 3 or so minutes of commanding, most important one at the top

-strategical locations and refs

(check if all the refs in your dominated area are built, any sabotaged? any you can easily capture or steal from the enemy? are there flags you want to cap? etc)

-research

(check if its still going, you should have a basic idea of what you want to research for the first 10-15 minutes the moment you start reserarching, be it from asking what your team wants or by "making a plan" yourself)

-targets, communication and orders

(talk every 3 minutes at least once, be it mike or chat, i often tell people what i am researching, and specific things what i want them to do for me (cap the ref at A1, walk to B2 so i can put a rax there) people need to know you are not watching Opera but are actively commanding, even if you are not)

-look at the cv

(check the cv often, every 3 minutes check it on the radar, occasionally check it from your main vieuw, every 9 to 12 minutes)

get voted in somehow, and then do what you planned, dont be intimidated by anyone and do as you planned, "asking the team for what they want researched" is a plan if you stick to it once decided, respond to complaints in a civilised way, dont ignore people

 

Move the cv around all the time, hold A + mouse click around your cv about every min..

 

some additional advices:

- try to command on the empires learning centre. This server is especially for new players. And maybe there are also some veterans arround to help you.

- watch other commanders (of course only the good ones). Type !ri often to see their research path.

- watch the resources and tell your team many many times, that they should get the refineries. Most players don't understand that this is the only way to win (except ninjaing).

- don't forget the resources multiplier. More players on the server means more resources.

- place many turrets arround and in main base (1/4 MG, 3/4 ML). It is always very frustating, if barracks in main base is destroyed and you are walled in, while the rest of the team is far away.

- place armories everywhere.

-at startup tell people that not everybody should go into the same direction (unless it's your plan).

-don't drive arround like mad with the cv. There are only few commanders who are good in this and even they are failing often. And your team will hate you for this.

-always research armor first

-And have a printout for research next to you:
http://wiki.empiresmod.com/index.php?title=Image:Empires224TechTreeIcon.gif

 

Don't take advice from anybody. Just do it, and after a year you'll be great commander.

 

Drive the com to the enemy base in isles. Push the perfectly positioned enemy com into the water before he thinks of moving.

win.

 

Just realize the storm would happen no matter how good/bad you comm. Perhaps it's because you just finished research and some1 types in "!ri" and sees no research and rages against you. Perhaps you didn't get the research a particular team member wanted. Perhaps you didn't give targets in time because your view got stuck in the skybox. It happens.

Just talk with your teammates about what's going on. Learn from your mistakes. Feel free to "Opt in" as commander and just put yourself up as an option. For the majority of the game focus on three things:

1) Give targets
2) research
3) look at cv to prevent ninjas

Failure in the first, and your forces will lose ground. Failure in the second, and your forces won't be able to advance. Failure in the third and you'll wonder why is your cv walled in, and upside-down in the water. I've lost games because of neglecting one of the three.

Stay on top of those three and you'll go far.

 

don't forget to place an armoury at start. it's a secret code to show experience

this always happens regardless of the job you are doing unless you have a mic to fight back

 

if you do that, your team will arrive at "important location X" when the enemy engineer turrets at "important location" juuuuuuuuuuuuuust reached level 3

dont do it, unless its part of a no rushing strategy

 

Agreed, put armories at the front lines instead. At the very least they act as instant walls. At the very most, it helps them hold out while you wait to drop a forward rax. (And in most games you are advance on two fronts and only have enough money for one rax. Give the other front an armory. Oh yeah and tell them in advance which front is getting the rax first. It'll help your engis to decide to whether get repair or revive skill.)

 

DO NOT just jump on a server and learn how to command there, that makes you a fail comm. The first time you command you should know what to do from watching other commanders and reading stuff like this. Basically you just have to:

Drop refs
Drop forward raxes (and forward armories once those are up, armory first is only viable with smart teammates)
Sprinkle around turrets
Drop a radar and research Armor then Engine then whatever your going for (MKII and a Cannon or Missile then Heavies)
Give Targets as much as possible
Don't get walled in but also don't be afraid to run stuff over if you have to

 

First times commanding.

Play on a newb server, seriously. That's why I got into commanding in the first place. Played with newbs(cause we were all noobs), and learned that way.

You only need a few things to do well(not great, not extraordinary, just well).

A mic, An aggressive attitude torwards territory, an Eye ALWAYS on your comm, research, chat, and minimap. You need to pay attention to as many things as if you were driving a car, except if you crash, you won't die.

Everything else like where to place buildings, where to move, what to research, etc... should come from experience in the comm. Listen to your team if you need help on research, but don't treat research as requests. It's your research, not theirs. They just use it.

 

But avoid researching abs as first armor or composite at all.

 

your more then welcome to come on the elc and i can walk ya through it, been helping plenty.

 

Took me 3 weeks in 2.12 to learn how to comm, and every patch thereafter I've had to relearn the research

One thing I haven't mastered is roadkill, how do you guys do it so well?

 

Practice. Personally I feel boomtanking helps my team more then giving targets, although they tend to disagree. Get scout-speed and drift sideways into people as you run them over.

 

I do that, but the cunts are so hard to hit.

 

haha that works untill you run into a veteran, they like to throw stickys and stand right in front of you, i dont boom tank anymore, i take a smg 1 and use the cv for cover and make a quick escape.if im not researching or giving targets im building or capping refs right behind the front line.

 

lol. I had this happen to me before.

I can agree to this from first hand experience. Even in money, composite is a drain on your resources.

 

try again with 60-100 ping