some things you should know before playing in multiplayer:

[ken124578]

here's the list you should know before playing multiplayer and expect to win, feel free to add more:

1. cloaked units only uncloak when they come close to an unit that is not of you, they fire or they get uncloaked by an scout.

2. the only unit that can see cloaked units are scouts, they will uncloak cloaked units that are not yours.

3. do NOT attack if your not 100% sure your units will survive, else it'll just get your enemy's units promoted and you'll have less units then he has.

4. if its possible try to do an sneaky attack example: 5 engineer in an apc carried by an advanced carry al, drop it in your opponent's base if possible and take over important buildings.

5. don't try to overpower an large group of minotaurs/kindjal and airdrones, instead deploy 10 fedaykin some distance away from the minotaurs, the fedaykin will summon the mighty worms and if there are enough of'em attack, 1 worm once ate 8 minotaurs and 15+ fedaykin without getting any damage (the only reason why he wasn't damaged is because they were shooting at other worms ;) )

6. if your atreides you can use airdrones to kill your opponent's carry als, that'll cripple his econemy and slow down units/building production.

7. some units can deploy to deploy an unit(s) select it/them and press d, here are the unit's ability's when deployed:

sabateur: selfdestruction

morterinfantry: he can now fire his morter instead of an pistol

eye in the sky (eits): selfdestruction

eits pilot: selfdestruction

kobra: he now fires further and his bomb, or whatever you call what he's shooting do more damage

armored personal car: it'll unload his passengers when deployed

devastater: selfdestruction

kindjal infantry: he now shoots with an cannon instead of an pistol

armored personal car: it'll inload his passengers when deployed.

8. avoid clustering units when your dealing against units with splash damage, instead spread them out by an shortcut (i don't know what key, its in your manual anyway)

9. DON'T TRUST THE UNITS DESCRIPTION IN THE MANUAL, they're false.

10. rushing is nessesary for house ordos to even stand an chance vs house atreides

11. an combination of units is ALWAYS better then an 1 unit assault, think about it, an assault tank owns 4+ buzsaws or 1+ minotaurs or 4+ dustscouts, its wise to take 1 with you.

12. if your playing for an while make aa units and observe what your opponent is doing, try to counter all his actions (which is always possible, some are simple, some are hard)

13. never EVER leave your base/harvesters and carry als unprotected again enemy fire.

[IxianMace]

I think most of us would already know much of the stuff you've just said. I'm getting MUCH better at skirmishes now, in fact I summoned the balls to challenge emprworm in a 2 vs 2 skirmish recently. However I got crushed. :'(

Since when have you become a teacher all of a sudden ken?

[ken124578]

I think most of us would already know much of the stuff you've just said. I'm getting MUCH better at skirmishes now, in fact I summoned the balls to challenge emprworm in a 2 vs 2 skirmish recently. However I got crushed. :'(

Since when have you become a teacher all of a sudden ken?

since there's some sort of an anti dumb newbie atmosphfeer

[Navaros]

most of the advice in this topic is good, however i do have a beef with one thing: you mentioned the saboteur. anyone who builds saboteurs is a complete idiot. they are without question, the second most-useless unit in the game. the *only* worse unit is the contaminator.

[exatreide]

there ok nav...not that bad...

[Seal89999]

[quote author=IxianMace

Since when have you become a teacher all of a sudden ken?

LOL ya!

[IxianMace]

No, Saboteurs can be quite useful and entertaining. They are mainly used against buildings (when they're actually trained), but they are very effective against infantry, and slightly less effective against vehicles, because they usually get crushed without pulling the pin on the charges all the way. They make great landmines however, and if you can get them next to units like Mongoose and Assault Tanks, and then detonate them, they can do quite a bit of damage.

[Devastator_Mech]

Saboteurs...... when would you get to use them?? I've never build a saboteur when playing online, too useless.

[IxianMace]

Well neither have I, but there is something you should know about them. Human players LOVE shooting saboteurs because they are cute and vulnerable, and also entertaining when they die. Sooo, I use them as bait. For example, I could run a saboteur towards a horde of Minos. If he's ignored, I'll detonate him next to the Minos and damage them. If the Minos fire, then I'll shoot the Minos with Feds I have close by. I could also use scouts as bait if I wanted to.

[Devastator_Mech]

Well if your need a bait, why not use Lasers instead?

[Timenn]

Because they are more expensive and slower built. And they can prove more useful.

And don't argue about THAT. Cause IF you can easily counter them, it's a fact that they are very useful vs other players. And AI

[Devastator_Mech]

Im not trying to argue this time, im just trying to say, if your wanna buy time, the Lasers could buy you more time than a saboteur could.

[Timenn]

Well, ok, you're right in that. But I would use the APC more likely in such case. If I use such strategy

[IxianMace]

It doesn't really matter as long as the Minos fire their cannons. Then they'll have to wait awhile to reload. When they're reloading, that's when you hit them as hard as you can.

[Timenn]

When they are enough Mino's, you can't let them all shoot at the same time, you always keep some Mino's who are ready to fire

[IxianMace]

Yes but most people don't take that into consideration or, forget about it in the heat of battle. Most Atreides players group their Minos and then walk them to the enemy base in a tight cluster. While they're walking, they can't fire, and when they stand still, they're usually all standing still, which means that they will all fire when the 'bait' appears.

[ken124578]

except if the group is too large (30+) don't tell me that 30 minotaurs will fire at the same lasertank and it'll survive :O

[Devastator_Mech]

30+ mino? I think i'll use a ADP instead, or a gunhip.

[IxianMace]

By the time you have 30+ Minos, who knows what the other guy will have in the time it took you to get the Minos. And yes, if 30+ Minos fire on 1 Laser Tank, the Laser Tank can still survive, provided it is moving at top speed and perpendicular to the direction that the Minos are firing in. Dodging the Mino shells from long range is also advantageous.

[Devastator_Mech]

Well i disagree with that, if 30 mino shoots at a Laser at once....... you could say sorry to the Laser Tank, because some of the shots will damage it from splash damage, it'll then slow down and then its dead dead meat.

[IxianMace]

If the Laser Tank is moving fast enough and is moving so that it does not take ANY damage at all, then it can, and will survive. It depends on the skill of the player, and how far the Laser Tank is from the Mino horde as well. Obviously, at point blank range, it's a guaranteed kill. ::)

[Devastator_Mech]

Well there's something in the game called FORCE ATTACK.

[IxianMace]

You mean force fire. Well most people forget to do this, and don't think that the Laser Tank will always be moving in one direction in a straight line.

[Devastator_Mech]

Well you could guess........

[IxianMace]

Yes, but while your attention is diverted away from the battle simply to eliminate 1 Laser Tank by force firing, you are not paying attention to other aspects of the battle. Which could be the end of you... ::)