Game Tips

Below is an archive of the game tips that are provided in-game during the loading screens. It may be prove useful for creating new tips, or using them in existing articles.

General Tips

• If you order Engineers to patrol an area, they will automatically repair units and reclaim wreckage for Mass.
• If you capture an Engineer or Factory, you can build your opponent's units and structures.
• Factory build queues can be set to repeat, letting you quickly and efficiently build units in a certain order.
• If you set a patrol route for a Factory, all of the units it produces will automatically follow that path.
• Build forward bases to move the war closer to your opponents.
• Building structures too close together will make it difficult for your army to move through your base.
• Grab as many Mass deposits as possible to control the map's resources.
• Use radar to identify targets for long-range artillery.
• If you order a Transport to assist a Land Factory, it will transport newly built units to the factory's rally point.
• The ACU is both a mobile engineer and, when upgraded through research, a powerful combat unit.
• Engineers can build structures, reclaim wreckage, and capture enemy units.
• Building multiple Research Stations generates research points faster.
• Gunships are highly effective against land units but vulnerable to Fighters.
• You can unlock new units and Experimentals through research.
• Units receive veterancy in combat; this makes them more effective the longer they survive.
• Certain technologies on the research trees will boost the effectiveness of many units at once.
• Experimental units are extremely effective. Build them as fast as you can.
• You can earn research points from combat, from Research Stations, and from completing objectives in the single-player game.
• Most Illuminate land units can hover, which lets them travel on water.
• The Proto-Brain Complex is an homage to the Cybran Leader Dr Gustaf Brackman, who is a brain and spinal cord in a jar.
• The Illuminate Bodaboom boosts the Health of nearby units.
• All mobile units can be set to patrol an area.
• While moving, mobile units will fire at any valid targets that enter their weapon ranges.
• Naval units have powerful long-range weaponry.
• Shields are effective at blocking Artillery fire and Tactical Missiles. They will not block Nukes.
• While the Illuminate's Universal Colossus is highly effective against land units, it has no defense against air.
• Factory Add-ons are far more effective than their standalone counterparts.
• The ACU builds structures faster than an engineer.
• Tactical Missile Launchers are most effective against structures since their missiles do not track moving targets.
• Artillery units are very effective at damaging large groups of enemies.
• Assault Bots move quickly and do high damage but have low health.
• Experimental Transports can carry land-based Experimentals.
• The Illuminate Space Temple is a two-way teleporter, so it's possible for enemies to use its destination beacon to travel to your position.
• The Illuminate Loyalty Gun automatically captures nearby enemy units at a very fast rate.
• If you have extra Energy, you can research Mass Conversion and convert Energy to Mass.
• Building factories closer to your enemy will reduce travel time.
• You can use engineers to assist a factory, increasing the rate at which they produce units.

Xbox 360 Exclusive Tips

• To adjust patrol routes, hold down Right Trigger and select points on the route with the A button; at this point, you can move them.
• To queue multiple commands, hold down the Right Trigger.

PC Exclusive Tips

• Toggle the military and Intel overlays to view the range of your units
• If you select multiple factories of the same type, any units added via the build interface will be added to all of the factories
• You can queue multiple commands by holding down Shift while issuing orders or build commands
• You can add 5 units to your build queue by holding down the Shift key, or 25 if you hold down Ctrl

UEF Exclusive Tips

• The most recent president of the Coalition, Clifford Riley III, was--like his father before--killed while in office.
• The UEF, Aeon Illuminate, and Cybran Nation fought the "Infinite War" for over a thousand years.
• Coalition President Riley was assassinated by an unknown assailant, sending shockwaves across the galaxy.
• The UEF, Aeon Illuminate, and Cybran Nation initially formed the Colonial Defense Coalition to fight an alien race called the Seraphim.
• The firing of a weapon called Black Sun ended the Infinite War between the UEF, Illuminate, and Cybran Nation.
• After the Seraphim invasion, the Coalition Defense Force became the governing body of the galaxy, uniting the three factions under one set of ruling law.
• Most leaders of the Coalition come from the UEF faction; this means that the UEF dominates the Coalition, and its policies become Coalition policies.
• Moderate members of all three factions coexist together in some colonies; however, nationalists remain in "pure" homeworlds.

Illuminate Exclusive Tips

• The former leader of the Aeon Illuminate, Princess Rhianne Burke, was lost when she sacrificed herself to seal the rift that an alien race called the Seraphim used to invade the galaxy.
• The Illuminate struggled with the changes imposed by the Coalition after the Infinite War; some members flourished, while others pined for the days when they were guided by "The Way".
• The Illuminate dropped the Aeon Illuminate name as a symbolic compromise with conservatives who wished to leave the Coalition and re-form as the Order of the Illuminate.
• A political group "The Royal Guardians" named itself after the protectors of Princess Rhianne Burke, the former leader of the Aeon Illuminate.
• The Royal Guardians want to bring the Illuminate back to their more spiritual roots as followers of "The Way" and Princess Rhianne Burke.
• The Royal Guardians movement was temporarily derailed when some of its leaders were embroiled in a scandal; they claim they were framed.

Cybran Exclusive Tips

• Dr Gustaf Brackman, leader of the Cybran Nation, has continued to study the Seraphim and other alien artifacts he captured and obtained during the invasion.
• The Quantum Gate network, which was used to move armies and ACUs between planets was torn down after the Infinite War.
• The Cybran Nation is wary of the Coalition, but respects it; mostly, its members stay out of everyone's way.
• The Quantum Gate network was dismantled because it reduced the possibility of another galactic war by making it more difficult to move armies across the galaxy.
• A large Quantum Gate, thought to be Seraphim in origin, was discovered during an archaeological dig on Altair II.
• Dr Brackman was the first to travel through the Seraphim Gate found on Altair II, where he discovered the Planetary Ecosynthesizer dubbed Shiva Prime.
• Moderate leaders from all three factions agreed to keep the discovery of the Seraphim Gate on Altair II a secret, choosing to house it in an enormous base covered with a stealth field generator and protect it with a large Coalition force.