Supreme Commander 2 0 1 3 Mod

Primer Guide (draft 1, 42% complete)

BY: Alistair HoT Ho11oW PoiNT Lindsay
Supreme Commander 2 0 1 3 is a game modification for Supreme
Commander 2 (developed by Gas Powered Games and published by Square
Enix). The 'mod' aims to take the original SupCom2 game from
something that was clearly developed for both PC and consoles, and
turn it into what the mod author speculates the game would be like if
it were made for PC only: battles potentially involving thousands of
units, slower moving but further firing units, units and projectiles
scaled based on their environment, a research tree with more choices,
more diversity amoungst factions, more activated abilities for each
unit. Some of these things were not possible on consoles because of
their hardware, the gamepad controls, the possible use of standard
definition television sets, and the target userbase's age/maturity
level. The mod does not support the single-player campaign.
Now, with the SupCom2013 mod, SupCom2 can be more like it's
older brother Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance. Battles will
typically last between 15 and 45 minutes (instead of 4 to 16 minutes)
and often involve thousands of units duking it out (instead of just
dozens or hundreds). Strategies, tactics, unit/base composistion, and
upgrade paths will all be dictated much more on your choice of
faction, the map you play on, and what your opponent is up to.
Experimentals take longer to buy (research wise), and are more
expensive (resource wise), but usually have some sort of leverage to
allow it to crush lower tiered units if used properly and will still
need the support of friendly lower tierd units to avoid having any
weakness exploited (such as minimum range, slow rate of fire, or a
weapons limited targeting arc). More micromanagement will be useful
in order to leverage a particular unit's strengths and activate the
modified units various new or more useful abilities.
This guide assumes you have knowledge of basic real-timestrategy
game
terms,
phrases,
and
acronyms
like
'kiting',
'frontloaded damage', and 'DPS'. It also assumes you have basic
knowledge of Supreme Commander 2 in that you know the purpose of Mass
Extractors and Energy Generators, know how to build factories, know
how to move your troops about the map, and know how to access and
navigate the research tree. Each faction will get a short
introduction, and each unit in said faction will get a profile. After
that the guide will outline a couple of build orders for each faction
and highlight a couple of successful strategies that each faction can
implement. Please join the Steam Group and 'watch' us on ModDB.

Good Luck Pilots!

CHOOSE YOUR SIDE!

UNITED EARTH FEDERATION (a.k.a UEF)
Units: Low-tech, mostly single purpose units
Shields: Absorb all damage but thus are vulnerable to weapons with
area damage when grouped, can be manually recharged
Shield Busting Via: Brute force
Healing: Energy Generators can be upgraded as Healing Towers, Field
Engineers and Support Command Units have healing bonuses
Auxilary Transport Method: Afterburn, some units have jump-jets
Economy: Easiest to research economy upgrades, upgradable Research
Station Overdrive
Extra Research: Converted to mass via Research Convertor

CYBRAN
Units:

Mostly multi-purpose favouring stealth/'hit & run'/martydom

Shields: Drains damage but lets projectile through
Shield Busting Via: Reclaiming
Healing: Upgradable Double Heal Rate for Engineers & Support Command
Units & Assault Bots
Auxilary Transport Method: Jump-jets
Economy: Mass conversion at start of game, reclaiming using Mass
Extractors & Recycler & Magnetron, Mass Fabricator
Extra Research: Converted to energy via Proto-Brain

ILLUMINATE (a.k.a. Aeon)

Units: High-tech and highly upgradable units that may have
activatable 'crossover abilities'
Shields: Drain damage but are also reflective, units have upgradeable
health on shields, structures & ACU are upgradable with Energy Sponge
Shield Busting Via: Capturing, anti-shield EMP missile
Healing: Many units have healing auras or can be upgraded to have one
Auxilary Transport Method: Teleport
Economy: Mass Extractor Overdrive, Quantum Energy Sponge on Shields,
expanded ACU Resource Allocation
Extra Research: Converted to Rouge Nanites with available Research
Station upgrade

UNITED EARTH FEDERATION (a.k.a UEF)

The UEF is probably the best faction to start with both in this
guide and as a begining player, because of the basic functions of
most of their units. Players who like to turtle up with masses of
defenses, or who like to use one particular straightforward strategy
to try to bludgeon their opponents to death will feel right at home.
Most UEF units have one straight forward purpose, and usually
accomplish that goal through brute force alone. Their unit's upgrades
focus mostly on adding addition damage, or additional ways to defend
themselves (by doing more damage or adding armor, nothing fancy).
UEF gear is low-tech. Most of their units use high-explosive
balistics, napalm, or traditional nuclear arms instead of lasers,
plasma, reclaiming, capturing, and magnetic/gravity maniuplation like
their counter-parts. All units can be upgraded, but it mostly means
additional cross-platform weapons, damage enhancement, or range. They
do have a few multi-purpose units, but they usually need to be
purchased, and are still quite basic like the Field Engineer offering
healing, tank barrels, and radar, or the Jackhammer firing on both
land and air.
Adding to their brute force approach is the fact that they have
the easiest access to economy upgrades in the mod. Players can have
the Mass Income upgrade and Mass Conversion quite early in the game,
especially if they take the route through Research Income upgrade and
make early and frequent use of the gained Research Station Overdrvie
ability. This ability allows these regular humans the enhanced damage
and armor to help to keep pace tech wise against the Cyborgs and
Aliens they are battling with, who may have superior numbers. Those
Research Stations alongside Mass Extractors can be upgraded to be
defense structures against land, and later against air. Their Energy
Generators can also be upgraded to heal nearby damaged units, or
finish buildings that were started by Engineers or Command Units.
The UEF's shields also play into their basic gameplay nature;
think of them as energy walls that block all damage, but any area of
effect gets absorbed by any and all shields within the explosion's
radius, making grouped up shields fail quickly. Their enhanced
locomotion ability, Afterburner, is also quite basic, merely raising
basic ground speed for a short duration.
In conclusion, the UEF faction will be most enjoyed by players
who are new to the game, who like to turtle, who like to overwhelm
enemies with pure force instead of fancy technology or ditry tactics,
and who think 'less can be more' as long as each individual unit is
doing more damage or has more health through accellerated research.

UEF LAND
The UEF land units are quite basic; for the most part each does
only one thing, though opportunites abound in the research tree to
improve upon that thing, or to add something to help it cross-over
and help cover another theater of war.
The research tree allows for pretty much any land unit (with the
exception of field engineers and experimentals) to acquire anti-air
capabilities, and even has an upgrade to do the exact opposite and
give your anti-air units a direct-fire turret. Another upgrade of
note in the land tree is the double barrell upgrade, that adds a
third barrel to tanks (50% DPS increase) and a second barrell to
artillery (2x DPS increase). This is quite a serious upgrade,
considering shortly after it come more damage upgrades. Most of the
other land unit upgrades are run-of-the-mill damage, regeration,
health, veterency, and range upgrades.
The UEF does have notable unlockables in the land research tree
though, between the field engineer, the Support Command Unit, and the
Experimentals. Though none of them have any special abilities or
powers, their brute force nature usually means they can leverage one
aspect (range, damage, rate of fire, kiting ability, etc) to their
advantage to claim victory over similarily classed units. Smart UEF
Commanders will use the Research Overdrive ability their Research
Stations gain after buying the Research Income upgrade from the
structure tree. This ability will allow them extra research points to
allocate to upgrade their units, so despite potentially smaller
economies the UEF Commanders can keep pace or even accel against
their counterparts.
Armored Command Unit:
Perhaps the most versatile part of your army; and definitely the most
important. Losing this unit results in death to all units, as this is
where the Commander is situated during battle (Assassination game
mode only). The ACU can build all strucutres and some experimentals
(once researched). It comes with radar and sonar, and can be upgraded
(via its very own research tree) with AA, an artillery battery, a
tactical nuclear missile, overcharge, and escape pod, jump jets, and
an afterburner. In addition there are regeneration upgrades, a
veterency upgrade, hunker, health, build cost reduction and an energy
income upgrade. Also, the 3rd Star Training adds splash damage to
your ACU's main weapon and overcharge. Overcharge for this faction
does not increase the weapon's range like it does for other factions,
but it increases the damage and the radius of the explosion
significantly. The Nuclear Missile upgrade can often help you crack
frontlines so you can push thru with overcharge and units.

UEF LAND (continued)

Engineer:
The UEF's engineer is much like the rest of UEF's land in that it
presents nothing special. It can build stuff, it has radar, thats
about it. It has no upgrades or abilities that make it unique.
Field Engineer:
The Field Engineer is the UEF's Tier 2 unit. It is much bigger, and
takes longer to produce than typical land untis, but it has more
range, and produces splash damage when it's projectiles impact. The
healing guns of the field engineer are 20% better than a normal
engineer.
Support Command Unit:
'Junior' as it is called is an excellent addition to land forces.
Offering extra healing, built in jump-jets and hunker, and an
available anti-air upgrade, the UEF SCU is a great unit to use to
hold a forward area while plunking down shields and offensively
postured structure units like light artillery and point defense. Use
hunker to draw the fire of enemy units while others in formation have
a chance to attack, and then un-hunker and use jump-jets to get out
quickly before dying. SCUs all have a small death nuke, which can be
used to take out groups of Teir 1 units in a pinch, but it damages
friendly units so make sure to get any weak SCUs away from land
blobs.
Tank:
The 'Rockhead' is the basic unit of the UEF land army. Its twin
barrels can be upgraded to triplets using the research tree upgrade.
When coupled with the other damage upgrades available to the UEF this
tank becomes the most potent damage wise among the other faction's
counterparts. Early regeneration and veterency upgrades can mean that
the tanks are able to survive small early game skrimishes until the
powerful damage upgrades can come into play later in the game. If
facing any type of experimental unit the Afterburner upgrade is
advised, as otherwise the larger units will both outrange and out
maneuver the smaller units.
Mobile Artillery:
Codenamed 'Demolisher' for good reason, the UEF's mobile artillery is
known to lay waste to both enemy land blobs and bases. The shells
launched from this unit (which can be doubled in number using the
appropriate upgrade) break apart just before impact to do splash
damage in the area they land. As a small added bonus the shells also
give a small area of visual intelligence where they land, sometimes
allowing for Commanders to know what types of untis are approaching.
Mobile artillery is best to kill large blobs of basic enemy units.

UEF LAND (continued)

Assault Bot:
'Titan' as it is known is the UEF's assault bot. This unlockable unit
comes with jump-jets by default. Its main purpose is to harass and
flank enemy units. Like all assault bots it is not meant to go head
to head with tanks, or rush into fully defended bases. They should
instead be used to hit vulnerable areas of the frontlines and flank
around the backs of bases harassing unguarded mass extractors, or be
used as a means of distracting or splitting groups of enemy tanks to
achieve your goals (or bait tanks into fire from mobile artillery).
Although they do more damage per second for each mass spent, they do
not frontload this damage like tanks do, and also do not to any
splash damage. They also do not get to take advantage of the Double
Barrel upgrade that tanks do, but they are still a great part of your
arsenal, especially when combined with the pure force and range
combination of the UEF's experimentals.
Mobile Missile Launcher:
This unit is another case of the UEF doing nothing extra-ordinary
with their units. This unit fires volleys of long-range missiles at
targets from afar. These missiles do not track so they are best used
against structures. They move quite slow and lack health but can be
used, with the help of tanks or point defense to guard them enemy
raiding, to fire at enemy bases from outside the range of the enemies
basic defenses. Make use of the upgradable Afterburn ability to aide
in retreat should a group of these units get caught without an
escort.
Mobile Anti-Air:
The 'Anarchist' is the only mobile AA unit to get a direct fire
turret upgrade. Like all AA units it can only fire above a certain
arc relative to its horizon, so it can fire with ease at high-flying
bombers but may not be able to properly target low-flying gunships or
transports. This unit should really only be used as a temporary
solution to taking out harassing air, as Fighters or Fighter-Bombers
are much better suited to the job.
Mobile Shield Generator:
The 'P-Shield' is much like all the UEF shields in that is has the
most health but it does not absorb area damage, so multiple shields
will fail when hit by anything that has an area of effect. Despite
this, if properly rotated through the ranks they will certainly add
to the survivability of your unit blobs.
Mobile Tactical Missile Defense:
Use it to shoot down incoming tactical missiles. Posistioning is
important; put them close to the target between it and the launcher.

MORE UEF UNIT PROFILES AND BUILD ORDERS

ARE COMING SOON, CHECK
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FOR THE LATEST UPDATES TO THIS GUIDE.

CYBRAN
Cybran is the game's faction that can best be used very
dynamically. A Cybran player can implement both early game rushes or
late game hold-outs, all depending on your playstyle. Most Cybran
units have some trick up their sleeve; whether that is their assault
bot's healing ability and their upgradable ability to turn into a
tank-like unit for a moment, or their land unit's and structures
upgradable self-martyrdom abilties to allow them to sacrafice
themselves as robot bombs. Most of their units are multi-purpose,
which will be evident in their profiles in the following pages.
This faction is also a master of high-tech asymetric warfare.
They start with mass conversion built into their Energy Generators,
no upgrade necessary. This means they can look like they are down,
but indeed they might not be out. As mentioned their unit's can also
be upgraded to self-sacrifice to take out the enemy. This means as
little as 2-3 bots could potentially rush or jump-jet their way into
a blob of units and detonate themselves to take out dozens of their
opponents. Their Bomb Bouncer unit is another example which can use
it's damaging ability to take out hundreds of small units at once.
The Cybrans are the only faction which makes heavy use of
Reclaiming technology. Their Mass Extractors will suck up any
wreckages within a certain range, and can be used to manually target
also, giving you mass. They can purchase the stand-alone Recycler
structure unit to do the same things. Later in the game the Magnetron
experimental unit can be used to either attract or repel enemies; but
if possible use the attract function. Any unit that touches it while
it is attracting will get shredded and the mass given to the owner of
the Magnetron. Their Engineers can also be upgraded and used more
effectively in a combat setting than the other factions, so making
use of their reclaim also makes sense when raiding enemy bases.
Stealth is also one of the things the the Cybrans do well. Their
Research Stations also act as Stealth Field Generators. Some of their
experimental units have natural radar stealth. Their experimental
'Cicada' is the games only Cloak Field Generator, rendering all
within it's radius (except itself or other Cicadas) invisible to
enemies (though they can still be hit incidentally by units firing at
the Cicada itself).
Overall Cybran is going to be the faction you will want to
choose if you are a 'tricky' player. There are ways to leverage
smaller (or indeed just smaller looking) forces into clever victories
by using their speed, stealth, crazy abilities, high technology and
some carefully placed self-sacrifice.

CYBRAN LAND
The Cybran's land units are usually faster than their
counterparts, though this comes at the cost of not having any
available range upgrades. The Cybran has a couple of gaping holes in
their land forces though, in that they have no available Teir 1 Tank
unit at all, and no mobile anti-air unit to start (it must be
researched). However they do start with an Assault Bot (which both
other factions have to buy the ability to build using research), and
T1 Mobile Artillery (which the UEF has to buy, and the Aeon totally
lacks a unit truly dedicated towards though they have othey means).
Cybrans land forces are also the only ones with available Rate
of Fire upgrades in the research tree. These upgrades are slightly
different from pure Damage upgrades because they will stack on top of
any of those upgrades to provide a multiplicative instead of just an
additive bonus to your DPS. This bonus also affects Mobile
Artillery's shells dodgability because of how many there are.
Jump-jets are the way Cybran units can be upgraded to traverse
the battlefield at increased rates. While using jump-jets you are
vulnerable to attack from anti-air guns, but not weapons systems that
can only target land. Used in areas with limited anti-air they can be
effective at getting your troops to places in the opponents base
where they can do damage but not take it, and allow you to make a
quick getaway after the damage is done. They can also be used to jump
up or down cliffs, or span otherwise untraversable gaps. Alternatly,
jump jetting into a large group of enemies, and then making use of
the upgradable Unit Detonate can be cause for panic and alarm because
of the major amounts of devastation.
Armored Command Unit:
The Cybran ACU is, when upgraded via its very own research tree, a
deadly combination of speed, damage, annoyance, and unit support. It
has the best Energy resource collection option, but it is only active
when the main gun is not firing. The ACU's Nanobot Weapon upgrade is
unparalleled adding both range and splash damage that stacks over
time. It is the fastest ACU when upgraded, and can also acquire jumpjets and an aura that gives nearby units extra veterancy for each of
its kills. It has the best single unit radar upgrade in the entire
game. It can also buy a knockback ability that when activated extends
your range and pushes any enemies hit away from the ACU.
Engineer:
This faction's engineer is the only one that can be upgraded with a
cannon. The cannon outranges tanks and does area damage, however it
has a blind-spot behind it, so it can not fire at targets while it is
running away. This builder also gets a small bubble-shield when units

CYBRAN LAND (continued)

are upgraded with shields. Making use of it's reclaiming ability
while close-in can be especially deadly.
Support Command Unit:
The Ivan is an unlockable unit. This unit takes its upgrades from the
Land tab of the research tree including Jump Jets and Double Heal
Rate. Compared to the other factions SCUs, this one starts with antiair guns, and it's explosion upon death will also stun nearby units
(including friendlies). SCUs are built from 'normal' factories.
Mobile Artillery:
The Brackman provides an arc-fired shell that causes area damage to
the impact zone. Very deadly when upgraded with Rate of Fire upgrades
in order to be able to provide a lot of splash damage into an area.
It can be also upgraded with an acivatable ability that makes the
shells stun their victims. This unit is best used against large blobs
of Tier 1 units, although it can be effective against experimentals,
ACUs, and base defenses. It however may not be effective against
small groups of tiny units or faster moving targets that are dodging.
Assault Bot:
Probably one of the most versatile units in the entire game, the
Loyalist can heal nearby units and structures, can be
upgraded with activatable Mega-Armor that temporarily gives it triple
the armor in exchange for only moving half as fast, and can also be
upgraded with Hunker to make it even harder to kill when being bombed
or barraged with artillery. When equipped with jump jets and unit
detonate, you can use these units as flying bombs to break up large
land blobs. They are best suited for avoiding combat to raid enemy
firebases, or to be used in conjunction with mobile artillery to keep
them protected while they fire from outside the enemy's range.
Mobile Missile Launcher:
The Cobra is an unlockable unit. The 2 qualities that set this unit
apart from the other factions similar units are it's faster movement
speed, as well as the fact that it's missiles turn into lasers for
the last part of their targeting routine, making them both fastest to
reach their targets, and hardest to shoot down.
Mobile Anti-Air and Shield with Missile Defense:
The Adaptor is an unlockable unit. It is a very important part to any
army, since it can shield units, neuteralize incoming missiles, and
also deter air units from attacking. Like all other units it can be
used to detonate other forces, and is arguably better at this than
the others because of it's enhanced health and the fact that it has a
shield, even though they are much, much more expensive to build.

CYBRAN LAND (continued)

Microlith:
This unlockable unit is the factions land based Combat Minor
Experimental. Featuring a big cannon to fire long range and deliver
area damage, 2 shorter range and more precise lasers to protect it
against individual units close up, and an anti-air quad cannon. This
experimental is also radar stealthed, allowing for it sneak around on
larger maps, to travel possibly unnoticed about the map, and to break
attepmted capture from enemy units unless they manage to keep a
visual on it. As mentioned the main cannon is large, and delivers a
lot of frontloaded area damage to a full 360 degrees. This same
cannon however has a minimum range as represented by one of the range
rings. Each of the Microliths smaller lasers are shorter range and
can only project towards the front of the unit or to their respective
sides, and leave a small blindspot behind the unit. This super-unit
is the easiest to get, the fastest moving, and the most frontloaded
of the long-range minor experimentals, but it lacks armor to be able
to compete against its counterparts from other factions head-to-head.
It may be best to use its speed to run away until more support
arrives from Adaptor shields, a Cicada's Cloak Field Ability, or
engineers with extra healing and cannons if faced against equal
forces of Aeon/UEF minor experimentals with back-up. It is also the
only non-support minor experimental with anti-air.
Bomb Bouncer:
This unit is one of the Minor Support Experimentals the Cybran can
unlock. It has a very tough shield, although the shield is (pretty
much) flat instead of round, covering the unit itself and anything
underneith it. Hitting the shield will make it take damage, but also
charges up a second bar that allows the Bouncer to activate a
secondary ability. This ability, when activated, sends a very
powerful blast directly above and below the Bouncer, in relation to
the planet's gravity. This blast will instantly annihilate most small
units, including any air units above it. The blast's ability bar can
also be manually charged at the cost of energy if the shield is not
taking damage. This unit moves about the battlefield quite quickly.
Cicada:
This unit is the other of the Support Minor Support Experimentals the
Cybran can unlock. It produces a Cloaking Field when activated that
turns any nearby friendly units (except itself and other Cicadas)
invisible. Those units can still take damage, if they get in the way
of enemy rounds or walk into bombs or artillery, but can not be
targeted. Use with 'gunned-up' Engineers to escort the Cicada into an
enemy base and Capture everything you can while cloaked. It also
works great in conjunction with Megaliths and/or Bomb bouncers, or
even just massed assault bots, to do damage without taking it.

CYBRAN LAND (continued)

Cybranasauras Rex:
This unit is the smaller of the two of Cybrans Major Combat
Experimentals. It can move quite quickly for the amount of health it
has, and it does high amounts of damage when close up. It can also
launch tactical missiles at long ranges though they are only useful
in a support role against stray mass extractors and the like instead
of for use as a main combat weapon. For the aforementioned close
quarters combat, this half-dinosaur-half-robot breathes fire on
enemies in front of it, and leaves a wake of area damaging mini-bombs
behind it as it pushes through any hordes of units that it
encounters. Like most units it is best used when in conjunction with
other units and experimentals of various tiers to provide more range,
shields, cloaking, anti-air, unit detonate, and what-not that this
unit can not provide on its own.
Monkeylord:
The grand-daddy of all Cybran units, this huge walker is the larger
of the two of Cybrans Major Combat Experimentals. This massive bot
barely fits into the construction gantry. It has a huge and deadly
laser that sits on top of is that can target 360 degrees around the
unit, but has a minimum range. This main laser does very significant
area damage. Both the Monkeylords laser and the Monkeylord itself are
slow to turn. The giant bot also features 2 forward firing laser-bolt
cannons that are quite deadly, but they are blind behind the unit.
Keep this bohemuth covered using other units. It also fires anti-air
missiles, making this another example of the Cybran's multi-purpose
wonder units. This unit also has an insane amount of health, and
moves very quickly if considering this fact.

CYBRAN AIR
This is another area where yet again the faction's main
advantages come from stealth, speed, and multi-purpose units. Their
fighter bombers start out pretty much on par with it's Aeon
counterpart, and later in the game their will have speed and their
firepower to their advantage. Although UEF will be able to out-spam
them air-to-air wise, and Aeon's will eventually have much more
armor, they can be upgraded a decent amount in most disiplines
including speed, rate-of-fire (which like land multiplies with damage
upgrades instead of just adding to them), damage, shields, and build
speed. Cybran are also the only faction with a dedicated air scout,
though it must be purchased. The Intellitron as it is called, drops
decoy flares that will distract enemy anti-air fire so your fighters
and bombers will stand a chance against UEF spam and Aeon flares.

CYBRAN AIR (continued)

Another noteworthy aspect of Cybran's Air Force is that most of
it is multipurpose. It's gunships can carry units, its transports act
like gunships. In fact the experimental Giant Transport is very good
just as an air-to-ground gunship without even taking into account it
can carry 75 troops or multiple experimentals, and also fire on other
air units. Also worth mentioning are the 2 air-speed upgrades the
Cybran Air Force can purchase in their research tree to help them
evade enemy fire, limit the amount of time they are taking fire, and
possibly allow them to choose where on the battlefield it is they
want to engage (hopefully over their factories which come with free
anti-air).
Remember if you are taking fire from anti-air, where ground
based or from other aircraft, you can set your planes down if they
are over valid terrain by issuing a 'stop' order (hotkey: S). This is
only a temporary solution but it may make the difference.
Gunship:
The Renegade is an unlockable unit. Cybran's gunships are arguably
the best, becauase of the speed, rate of fire, and damage upgrades.
What is not arguable is that they are the most versatile. They are
the only gunship with a trick up their sleeve, and that is in the
form of their transport abilities. Each Renegade can pick up a Teir 1
unit and transport it over mountains, water, or chasms to the
desination of their choosing, where it is unloaded to do damage
alongside the gunship itself. Like all gunships, it flies lower than
Fighters or Bombers and can therefore evade ground based anti-air. It
is however, quite succeptable to Fighter aircraft. This unit is best
used mid-game once you have air-superiority, but the enemy has too
many Anti-Air towers and you need to sneak under their firing cone.
They are also especially effective against structure based shields
because they fly under the shield and attack from within the bubble.
Fighter-Bomber:
Like most basic Cybran units the Gemini is multi-purpose. Without any
upgrades it can be effective at both holding the skies, and harrasing
structures in the early game. If attempted as an exclusive strategy
they will however be easily overwhelmed by land forces because their
bombs to not track, and ground firing can be difficult. Take
advantage of both the damage and rate of fire upgrades in the
reasearch tree to keep these little beauties relevant later into the
game, when UEF will be able to outspam, and Aeon planes gain epic
survivability.

CYBRAN AIR (continued)

Stealth Bomber:
The Provacatuer is an unlockable unit. This is a full sized bomber
that drops 3 large bombs per bombing run. It is radar stealthed by
default, so unless your opponent has visual contact with them, they
will remain hidden, making them ideal to sneak around the edges of
enemy territory and do damage before their anti-air gets much of a
chance to react. When combined with the rate of fire, damage, and
speed upgrades this is probably the most dangerous units in the game
for it's level. Be cautious though, as you need to keep them
supported with Fighter-Bombers or anti-air or they will become fodder
to enemy Fighter planes once he realizes what you are up to.
Scout/Decoy:
The Intellitron is an unlockable unit. It has a huge visual, radar,
and sonar range, flies too fast and too high to be targeted by most
anti-air, and even when it can be targeted, it drops decoy flares to
protect itself from taking damage. When upgraded it gets a small
bubble shield, adding to survivability when grouped together. If the
Cybran air feeling like it can't keep up with UEF spam or Aeon
Flares, this unit can often be the answer, as it's large radar radius
will mean any Fighter-Bombers in it's group will be firing at maximum
range, and any anti-air that targets the group will be distracted by
the flares instead of taking out your damage-doing Fighter-Bombers.
Transport:
The Dragonfly is an unlockable unit. This unit is best used to sneak
under enemy anti-air, since it flies low enough to evade most of it.
Watch out for Fighters though, as they will swat transports from the
sky. This transport is unique amongst it's peers because it can fire
at both land and air targets. Transports in general can be used to
great effect to surprise your enemy, and even more so with Cybran if
you happen to combine it with unit detonate. You can transport a few
units down onto an unsuspecting group of enemies and BOOM, bye-bye
land blob. Use the transport like a gunships to pick off any
stragglers before heading back to base for the next batch of suicidebots.
Giant Tranport:
The Proteus is an unlockable Minor Air Experimental unit. It has a
huge carrying capacity and is stealthed, allowing it to sneak it's
cargo through enemy radar until it is within their visual range. This
transport also doubles as a very good air-to ground gunship, and can
also fire missiles at air units, making it both versatile and deadly.

CYBRAN AIR (continued)

Bonus Gunship:
The Proto-Brain Gunship is a special case unit that comes for free
when you build a Proto-Brain Experimental Research Structure. The
Gunship starts building shortly after the Base finishes building.
After it is finished building it remains docked until you tell it to
disembark. While docked it gives the Base a Research Income buff of
100%. While in gunship mode, it's many lasers will shoot nearby land
and air targets. It also gives off an aura-buff that gives nearby
units extra veterency for any of their kills (does not stack with
similar ACU upgrade buff).
Giant Gunship:
The Soul Ripper II is an unlockable Major Air Experimental unit. It
features air-to-ground and both long- and short-range air-to-air
capabilities. It has a huge amount of armor, allowing it the time it
needs to deal damage to critical base infrastructure, or to snipe
enemy ACUs or land based experimentals. Watch out below when this
thing comes crashing down it does quite a bit of damage to any
enemies trapped under the fall zone.

CYBRAN NAVY
This entire section is once again testament to the Cybran's
technology and their love of multi-purpose units. Every single Cybran
naval unit has the ability to be upgraded with legs to allow it to
walk on land. Later they can even be upgraded with jump-jets. When
you buy the walking ability for your navy, you also unlock a new
Cybran Naval Factory that can be built on land. This allows you to
build naval units on any map, regardless of whether or not it is
land-locked. Who needs a tank, right, when you have got walking
Destroyers on any map? The Cybran definetly do not.
The Cybran Navy has gererally chosen less armored naval
variants, having a Destroyer instead of a Cruiser, and a
Battlecruiser instead of a Battleship. Do not let the names fool you,
they are still quite deadly, and when upgraded with the 40% range
boost upgrade have no problems going toe-to-toe with the UEF's navy,
as long as they are commanded properly. Also: making use of the new
Frigate Class will help you deal with enemy subs, and offer shield
projection to your fleet. They also provide cheap alternate targets
for opponents shells so the Destroyers and Battlecruisers can do
their damage. Gunned-up Engineers also make great additions to navy.

CYBRAN NAVY (continued)

Frigate:
The Trident Class is a naval escort unit deisgned to provide
intelligence, shields, and close-quarters fire support. A very fast
vessel for it's size due to its split hull design and lack of armor.
As mentioned it does have a shield to provide cover to itself and its
neighbours. This unit can also be built en masse to provide
distractions while your larger naval unit's can fire at important
targets. The Trident Class also comes equipped with 3 depth charge
launchers; one on each of its flanks and one facing aft. These
weapons are designed to keep subs from infesting the waters around
your navy. They can be used in a pinch to fire at above-sea and land
based targets, but their range makes they unreliable at best for that
particular job.
Destroyer:
The Salem Class is the Cybran Navy's mainstay unit. It provides antiground and anti-air weapons, as well as torpedo banks. If a commander
plans on using mostly Destroyers in their force it would be to their
benefit to persue the Range upgrade that increases a Destroyers range
by 40%. This will often give them the leverage they need to turn the
tides of battle because they will be able to harass land blobs,
experimentals, and structures from outside their normal fire zones.
It should be noted that the Destroyers main deck-guns have a blind
spot behind them, meaning this unit is not effective when it is
straight out running away, and must zig-zag or retreat at an angle if
they wish to keep their main cannons engaged. Clever enemies will
take advantage of this and keep their forces behind (instead of to
the sides of) Destroyers while in persuit. Like most naval units this
one may have trouble firing up and over cliffs on the shoreline. Like
all of Cybran's navy, the destroyer can be upgraded with jump jets
which allow them to go over the cliffs and join the battle head on.
Aircraft Carrier:
The Command Class is an unlockable unit. It's build bonus' make this
a worth addition to the Cybran's Navy, taking half the cost and half
the build time off of the purchase of air units. It then stores said
air units and waits for your orders to deploy them (although it does
have a unit-cap, when full it's internal factory will pause). In
addition it has lasers that can target nearby land, sea or air units
with an area damaging bolt.
Battlecruiser:
The Executioner Class is an unlockable unit. Although slightly less
armored than its Battleship cousin, it offers enough speed, range,
and firepower to be deadly against all but the most advanced of
navies. It also features anti-air, though this unit is better suited

CYBRAN NAVY (continued)

towards pure punishment of naval and land units, leaving the anti-air
role to the better suited Destroyers or Aircraft Carriers. When
upgraded with the 40% range upgrade this unit's deck guns are some of
the furthest reaching in the entire game, making it ideal for taking
out units and structures from beyond their reach. When upgraded with
legs it gets to take it's damage inland where it's proper use would
be able to defeat experimental units of a similar caliber with ease.
Mechanical Giant Squid:
The Kraken is an unlockable Major Naval Experimental unit. This is a
fast-moving, heavily shielded death-machine. Its main downside is
that the weapons it assaults with are on the ends of it's tentacles.
This means that although it is one of the fastest naval units it must
stay still in order to be able to apply any damage. This damage is
significant, but that is the trade-off for being a sitting duck
against peppering naval units and any bombers that make attack runs
(though the tentacle lasers do target air). Careful use of the
submerge and dive functions can be the make-or-break for whether or
not this unit becomes cost effective, so be aware of such abilities
and try to stay submerged while moving unless you plan on having the
need to fire on short notice.
Bonus Naval 'Unit':
Cybran Naval Factories (both land and sea based) have the distinct
ability to be upgraded with Battleship cannons through an available
research path. Though they are technically a structure unit, this is
a good place to mention that this ability is available because it
does appear in the Naval Research tree instead of the Structure
Research tree. When combined with the free anti-air, radar, and
sonar, as well as the available shield, torpedo, and tactical missile
launcher add-ons, the factories can become a force to be reckoned
with on sea or on land, even though they are stationary.

CYBRAN STRUCTURES
What makes the Cybran the most unique among the factions can be
seen very easily by looking at their Base's units and abilties. They
have an economic setup unlike either of the other two factions in
that they do not have to purchase mass conversion (in fact they do
not even have a mass convertor structure), as they start with this
technology on their Energy Generators without having to fork over
Research Points to get it. This means buildings lots of energy
because having excess energy is very important to Cybran, since you

CYBRAN STRUCTURES (continued)

can always easily convert any extra Energy into Mass to allow your
war machine to tread on. The Cybran's have no economy upgrade, but
instead rely on seperate researchable structures to provide Mass.
These come in 3 flavours, all of which are explained in the unit
profiles found below, and all of which can litterally mean the
difference between potential victory and defeat.
Like their faction's other disciplines, the Cybran's structures
have an edge with use of stealth, and rate-of-fire upgrades. Also
worth noting is the Point Defense/Anti-Air Overdrive upgrade ability,
which allows you to boost your base defenses range and rate of fire
for a short period of time. Use with shields; the range boost can
reach mobile artillery and mobile missiles if they wander too close,
which will most likely not happen if not using the Overdrive.
Making use of the factions early game structure Build Time and
Build Cost reduction upgrades can be a smart way to earn wins because
it will allow you to keep your gameplay flexible, but at the cost of
other early upgrades that may affect other units. It will allow you
to make an early game rush, if you so choose, or also allow you to
build defensive towers, shields, and the like quicker and easier so
that setting up a big Base becomes less of a drain on your economy.
Land Factory:
Like all of the Cybran's factories this structure starts with antiair and intel station upgrades right from the start. The land factory
is reponsible for building the factions basic land units, including
the Engineer, Assault Bot, Mobile Artillery, Mobile Missile Launcher,
the Adaptor. It is also the of the structures responsible for
building Support Command Units. factories near the front lines or
adjacent to mass extractors and adding shields to them is a great way
to prevent early game raiding and claim territory, as well as put
production power closer to where it is needed; your enemy.
Air Factory:
This unit also by default starts with anti-air and the radar/line of
sight upgrade. This is where you are going to build your basic Air
Force,
like
Fighter-Bombers,
Stealth
Bombers,
Gunships,
and
Transports. In addition it can also build Engineers, meaning in a
pinch if you have lost your ability to fight the enemy in the air you
can still use air factories to build Engineers. In the Land Research
tree you can then upgrade them with the Pulse Laser. Now your 'Air
Factory' is a makeshift tank factory. This factory if also able to
manufacture Support Command Units.

CYBRAN STRUCTURES (continued)

Naval Factory:
Like this faction's other factories, this one also comes with antiair and intelligence add-ons for free. This is where you build basic
Cybran Navy units; the Frigate, the Destroyer, the Battlecruiser, and
Aircraft Carrier. Engineers are also built here, and when upgraded
with the Pulse Laser and Healing Rate upgrades in the Land Research
tree, can make a worthwhile addition to naval support. This unit can
be upgraded thru the Naval Research tree to gain battleship cannons.
These cannons are quite long range, and when upgraded with shields,
missiles, and torpedos, the factories can make for some pretty deadly
defensive adversaries on the high seas, even though they are not
mobile.
Naval Factory Land Edition:
This is an unlockable unit. It is unlocked when the Land Emergence
Galleon System is added to your navy, allowing them to walk on land.
This is pretty much a carbon copy of the Naval Factory, except it can
be built on land after the L.E.G.S. Upgrade is purchased. Unlike its
sea based cousin this factory can also build Support Command Units.
Point Defense:
The Cybran's point defense, when upgraded, becomes the best among
it's peers. The addition the Rate of Fire upgrade coupled with the
Overdrive Upgrade (which adds to both range and rate of fire), both
of which are purchasable from the research tree, make this an
essential part to your base defenses. Using them offensively is also
possible when combined with other tech like your Research Station's
Stealth Field (especially when built by stealthed Support Command
Units) or the Repulsecycler's repulse function, especially when
covered by shields. Their long build time, however, can make
offensive use risky.
Anti-Air Tower:
Much like its cousin the Point Defense, the Cybran Anti-Air Tower is
the best among it's peers, once upgraded. This is again because of
the rate of fire and overdrive upgrades. When given radar coverage
the tower can fire at high flying air targets at quite a long range.
Like all non-missile anti-air however, this unit can not fire below a
certain arc, meaning it can not target low flying aircraft like
gunships or transports.
Long Range Artillery:
Cybran Long Range Artillery, codenamed Trebuchet, is a great way to
harass unshielded enemy bases and firebases. It can be upgraded with
an ability that increases their accuracy, making it very deadly.

CYBRAN STRUCTURES (continued)

Shield:
The Cybran's shield unit is an important part of a defensive
strategy. Whether fending off ground units or air units shields
provide the extra time needed for your defensive units and structures
to do damage without taking harm. This faction's shields are great
when stacked together because they absorb 85% of the damage left per
layer. This effect stacks, meaning by the time the projectile goes
through 2 layers it is doing to little damage that the chances of it
hurting anything (or taking out more shields) are quite slim.
Nuke/Tactical Missile/Nuke Defense:
Building these silos is not a big strain on resources (until you want
to build a nuclear missile that is), meaning they make a great
addition to long range base and firebase harrassment by providing the
ability to snipe out unprotected mass extractors at long range. Nuke
missiles, while very expensive, are quite devastating upon a
completed impact. Anti-Nukes, also purcahsed from this same
structure, are the only way to prevent a nuke from impacting after it
has launced. Unless you count...
Nuke Re-Director:
The Boomerang unit fires nuclear missiles back towards their targets.
Missiles can only be re-directed once, so even if the person who
fires the nuke has an anti-nuke those missiles will not fire upon it.
The mini-nuke fired by UEF ACU's will be fired back at the area it
was launched from, but may not make touch-down due to the mobile
nature of the target.
Radar/Sonar:
The Cybran is the only faction with a combination radar/sonar
station. Both of the functions of this building are also upgradable
through the research tree. Intelligence is an important part of any
battle, and having the ability on land maps to have sonar without
having to get 'wet' is quite useful.
Reclaiming and Repulsor Station:
The Repulsecycler is an important part of a defensive strategy. It
provides a long range reclaiming ray that sucks away at an enemies
health, ignoring any shields the unit is behind or has. In addition
the Repulsecycler has a triggerable ability that allows it to push
nearby units, allowing it to keep units at bay while it reclaims them
from long range, or while Overdriven Point Defense hammer away from a
distance without taking damage themselves. The repulse function can
also be used in conjunction with shields to ensure that you have the
time necessary to advance further into the research tree to more
advanced units and give you the time to employ other strategies.

CYBRAN STRUCTURES (continued)

Mass Extractor and Reclaiming Station:
The Cybran's Mass Extractor also acts as a short-range reclaiming
unit. It prefers trying to reclaim living enemy targets (and in doing
so ignores any shields they have), but if none of those are around it
will auto-reclaim any wrecked units (not structures in case you want
to rebuild on them). If however you know you do not want to rebuild a
structure (or it is an enemy structure that is wrecked) you can
always manually reclaim. These same rules apply to the above
mentioned Repulsecycler.
Energy Generator/Mass Convertor:
Perhaps the most defining difference between Cybran and the other
factions is their economy; unlike other factions they do not have to
research mass conversion. The Cybrans start with mass conversion on
their energy generator right from the beginning of the game. This
makes them the faction that may look like are down but they may not
be out. This also means there is no harm in having extra energy on
hand, since as long as you have an energy generator you can convert
it to mass. It should be noted that this unit inherits the volatility
of a Convertor, meaning it is more explosive upon death. It has been
given a small sheild to compensate but it is still recommended that
you spread these throughout your area, keeping them seperated to
prevent chain reactions from destroying large portions of your base.
A Commander would need to build 3 of these (base 240 mass) to get the
output needed to convert enough mass to match the output of a mass
extractor (base 200 mass). This makes it much more luctrative to
expand and take over mass extractors if you can (20% better), instead
of relying on energy generators for conversion only.
Mass Fabricator:
Since the Cybran have no need for a mass conversion structure, they
now instead can unlock a mass fabricator. It produces the same amount
of mass as an extractor, and costs only 10% more mass cost (though 3x
as much energy cost). It is however quite volatile upon death, so
either keep them secluded or well protected. Also keep them seperated
from each other to prevent chain reactions if they happen to die.
Experimental Magnetron:
The Magnetron is a very powerful unit, though the times it can be
used to its full potential are dependant upon the map and the
situation. It has both attract and repel functions, the former of
which also enables grinders on the structure that damage any units
that happen to touch it, giving you mass to spend for any units that
it happens to suck-in. This can often turn the tides of battle
because one player loses units while the other can now make more. It
can be countered by using a unit's hunker or deploy functions.

CYBRAN STRUCTURES (continued)

Experimental Proto-Brain Complex:
This research producing structure is also the home base for the
Proto-Brain Gunship. Once built it will take a moment and then the
protobrain will appear. A short while later the gunship will become
active, at which point a Commander has 2 options: leave the gunship
docked which gives the structure a 2x multiplyer on its research
income, or detach the gunship, which allows for attacking of both
land an air targets and also gives a veterancy bonus to nearby units
for each of their kills.

CYBRAN TIPS AND BUILD ORDERS

General Tips:
Most of the time Commanders will want to start the battle by
acquiring the Structure Build Time and Structure Build Cost upgrades
from their research tree. This will allow them to get the jump on
their income and production in the early game. Since you start with
1600 mass, and each extractor costs 180 mass if you have the cost
reduction upgrade, look at it as almost getting you a free mass
extractor right at the start of the game. In addition to that now you
can build up slightly faster than if you had not upgraded. This
upgrade is also a stepping stone to many further Cybran technologies
that will almost certainly be needed to sustain your war effort in
the mid-late game should your initial plans fail or you enter into a
stalemate.
Proper structrue placement is very important to Cybran
Commanders. Spreading out your research stations to keep more areas
stealthed is important, as is spreading out your power generators to
prevent chain reactions from taking out large areas or your base.
The Cybran more than any other faction relies on a lot of
micromanagement. Build a lot of energy generators and make sure you
always have excess energy converted into mass unless you are saving
it for an experimental or to activate an ability. Make use of your
unit's abilities (EMP, Mega-Armor, Engineer Guns, PD/AA Overdrive,
Gunships as ferries, etc).
Land Aggressive Build Order:
When the ACU teleports in, build 2 land factories right away.
After they are queued, add an order to the ACU for it to assist the
first factory, then build 5 mass points and 3 energy generators. With
that first factory build either 1 or 2 engineers (depending on the
map size), followed by 50 assault bots. Put the factory on repeat,

CYBRAN BUILD ORDERS (continued)

once the engineers are completed put its waypoint near your front
line. The second factory can then be set up to build 1 engineer, then
either 25 Brackman or 50 Assault Bots (depending on your playstyle
and the landscape of the map) on repeat, and the waypoint can be set
toward the front line. If done correctly the ACU should build the 2
factories, help build the first engineer, then build the rest of the
queue. The first engineer should then be used to build nothing but
energy generators. Literally hundreds everywhere. Remember to space
them out because they blow up when they die. The second (and optional
third) engineer should be sent out to claim mass extractor locations
and build up factories and firebases on the flanks.
Once the ACU is done with the build queue, it is best used to
push with your early land force to invade and overwhelm your enemy.
From here either keep your enemy hemmed in, expand, and acquire
research upgrades, or if you happen to lose the initial combat fall
back to base and have the engineers build point defenses right away;
an engineer should be set to heal the ACU. For this build initial
research points are best spent on Structre Build-Time/Cost, then
either ACU star training or along the EMP/Mega-Armor part of the land
research tree. Later game a Cicada will do wonders.
Trickster Build Order:
Upon surface arrival, the ACU should be ordered to build an Air
Factory, followed by 4 mass extractors, and a research station
(placed near the Air factory to provide radar stealth). After this
either build another research station, or another factory (either
land set to build a mix of engineers, brackmen and bots or air set up
to produce engineers and air units, depending on the situation), and
assist the first factory if there are downtimes while waiting for
mass. Have the factory build one fighter-bomber to scout with (and
also provide counter-intelligence) and 30 engineers on repeat.
Have the first engineer build energy generators everywhere, and
any other engieers should be sent out to secure mass extractors and
their nearby locations by building factories and point defenses
around them. After the initial structure decreases, research should
be spent on heading toward Engineer Direct-Fire Turret upgrade. After
that, depending on what the enemy has built, recommended upgrades
include stealth bombers, gunships, Support Commanders, transports,
land-unit upgrades. Make sure to continually expand using the
plethora
of
Engineers
on
hand,
building
a
combination
of
infrastructure to support more troops, more defenses, more research,
and more expansion. If the enemy builds ground based anti-air, use
air factories to build gunned-up engineers instead, so as not to
waste the build power. If not, research stealth bombers to bomb him
or snipe his units with gunships. If he builds air, build your own.

CYBRAN BUILD ORDERS (continued)

Structure Defense Build:
For this build definitely obtain the Structure Cost Decrease
Upgrade before building anything, then set the ACU up to build 4 mass
extractors, 3 research stations (spread out so to maximize the effect
of their stealth field), an air factory, and 2 energy generators.
Then have the ACU assist the factory. Set the factory to repeat build
1 plane (to scout and give counter-intelligence about going air) and
30 engineers. As engineers come out of the factory have them build an
assortment of infrastructure, starting with energy generators and
nearby mass extractors, but not venturing too far away unless on a
large map.
Build a radar as soon as possible, and consider purchasing the
radar range upgrade from the structure research tree. Knowing what
the enemy is up to is crucial in this build. Once radar intelligence
is gathered or you used your plane to scout you have the choice of
what to do; if facing land forces build point defenses (possibly
research overdrive and or shields) and research and construct several
Repulsecyclers. If not, build up as much research and economy as
possible and head for the offensive strategy of your choice to finish
him off. Many at this point would choose artillery, Magnetrons, or
Proto-brains since they are already invested in the Structure tree.
If the opponent looks like they are building air units, head for the
AA overdrive and place shields about in any vulnerable areas.
Spending research points on engineer guns may also make sense a
little later, when the Engineer army grows beyond the point that your
economy can sustain all of them building. At that point they may as
well venture out to harass enemies, and secure more mass extractors.
Experimentals Rush Build:
This build is best saved for team games when team mates can
protect you, or large maps where Commanders remain largely unharassed until about seven minutes in. As usual, start with Structure
Cost Decreases. Immediatly build 3 research stations, 6 mass
extractors, and 5 energy generators. Follow up with a radar.
If going for land experimentals build a gantry right away (you
can do so before unlocking any experimentals), or a point defense if
the enemy looks like they are pressing. As soon as possible unlock
and construct Microlith or Proteus (both stealthed units). Have your
ACU assist the gantry. When you have enough to do so either construct
another gantry, or build a factory with some engineers so that you
can expand your economy.
Final Thoughts:
These are by no means even close to the hundreds of build orders
available, but these will hopefully help illustrate Cybran's
strengths in quickly spreading or quickly tech boosting.

MORE INFORMATION COMING, INCLUDING AEON FACTION

DESCRIPTION, UNIT DETAILS, TIPS, AND BUILD ORDERS.
CHECK
http://www.moddb.com/mods/supreme-commander-2-0-1-3
FOR THE LATEST UPDATES TO THIS GUIDE.