


Rather than inform you what units to build (because every situation is different), simply keep the following guidelines in mind: Investing in factories early (and, very importantly, keeping them alive,) will cheapen fabrication costs later in the match substantially. Additionally, factories gain veterancy over time, reducing their operating costs and production times as they produce more units. Spend your surplus mass to get more surplus mass and more units to get more surplus mass and units with. The more units you have, the more stuff you can blow up, the more stuff you can defend, and the more mass you can capture. Usually, whenever you can afford to build another land/air/experimental factory, it is a good time to do so. Build more factories whenever you can reasonably afford it.Surplus mass is only a good thing if you have a plan for it. Unless you are saving mass and energy for an expensive building (artillery/nukes/experimentals/something else), try to ensure you are dumping as much mass into unit production as possible. If you have more than 400 units of mass at (mostly) any time, you may be putting yourself at a disadvantage.It is even acceptable to simply destroy enemy mass extractors without actually capturing them, simply to reduce their mass income. Always expand to other mass extractors whenever the opportunity presents itself, unless you would lose more than you would gain by capturing it. Another frequent mistake from newer players is to focus on building their base before expanding outwards to capture more mass extractors. Expand to more mass extractors ASAP, and always prioritize them above other buildings, unless under attack.A mere three power generators (if even that much) are more than enough to keep even the most power-intensive builds supplemented adequately - only build more energy generators when you know your needs are about to increase. This is a common mistake for newer players. Avoid spamming energy generators early or mid-game.Economic superiority is the single best advantage you can have over other players, especially if they're human. At the very least, capture your 'half' (or equivalent, in the case of 3+ player matches) of the map as early as reasonably possible. Most maps have a vast amount of mass deposits available, and if you turtle up early and neglect expansion to these mass spots, you are giving your opponent a massive economical advantage, meaning more hostile units, more hostile upgrades, and more hostile expansion. Furthermore, you cannot harass your enemy effectively without, at least, a small assault force to attack them with, which brings us to our next point: Mobile combat units are vastly more useful than static defense buildings, and early-game ACUs are too slow to be used for expansion. That said, there are specific guidelines that can make your life much easier when contemplating what to construct: Because of the flexible nature of RTS games, there is no single pattern to follow when building.
