New Player Guide

Pick a good starting position within the green box, with nearby metal spots (f4 toggles metal view), where there are no other players. Most maps give 3 starting metal spots for each player so look for one of these clusters and start on one. Click the 'Ready' button when you've picked a good spot.

There are three resources. Metal (the grey bar) energy (the yellow bar) and build power (your production capacity, IE, how fast you can spend it).

Once the game begins, the first thing you need to do is use your Commander to make your factory (fac), your metal extractors (mexes), and your energy (solar/wind). You can do this in any order, but if its a long walk between mexes make the factory first. Put metal extractors on all nearby metal spots ('cap' them), this is usually 3 metal spots. Make around 6 solars or wind generators.

As soon as your factory is up, you should start producing units and never stop (DO NOT LEAVE IT IDLE! Always be making units!). You should start with either scouts, raiders, or constructors (cons). Scouts and raiders can immediately harass the enemy and/or protect you from harassment. Constructors can start expanding to other metal spots, producing more energy or assisting your fac. Dont make too many constructors to begin with (no more than 2-3), because you cant spend resources you dont have.

You only need one factory. If you want it to produce faster, just guard it with your commander or constructors. They will add their build power to the factories production. Purchasing a new factory is buying a set of units, its not buying more production capacity (thats what cons are for).

Once you have exhausted your starting metal (if not sooner), you should expand. Move out from your starting position with constructors or your commander and start capping mexes and making light laser towers (llts) at mexes and chokepoints along the way.

As a general guide, you should leave 1 constructor at home assisting the lab, expand in one direction with another constructor and expand towards the enemy with your commander. If you start with a lot of resources, you can keep your commander at home assisting your lab and expand only with constructors, but ensure you guard the constructors with combat units.

Take every single metal spot you can find, and cap it. If he raids you and you lose the mex, get a constructor to cap it again. Metal is your lifeblood. Spend it as fast as, ideally your metal bar should always be empty because your spending it as soon as you have it. Reclaim any wrecks using constructors, as wrecks give metal too.

Pay careful attention to your energy. The yellow bar should ideally be around 70% full. Lots of things stop working if you run out of energy. If it starts dropping, pull some constructors off production and make some wind/solars fast. Solars and wind generators typically make 1 energy each.

Read the GuideManual for a more detailed explaination of whats going on there.

Once your expansion meets up with the enemy lines, build defenses and mass units. Use radar towers and scouts to probe his defenses and track his units. Strike where he is weakest and try and hit his economy. Avoid his commander unless you can kill it with overwhelming force.