They Are Billions - 5 Tips to Improve Early Game Survival - Beginner Guide

[@Verowak]

Let me know if there is a guide you would like me to do, or if you have any questions about the game!

[@lionelboston3253]

Instablaster...

[@danielworden]

@@user-md8wu5zh5e Flat mode without grid is Ctrl + g after you enter flat mode. Life bars I'm not sure your exact question, there's a button you can hold down (Alt usually but since it can be remapped I may have changed mine long ago and yours could be different, just check settings) to show life bars, but it's annoying to keep pressed. Best trick I've found for displaying them constantly is to rebind the life bar key to one of the Numpad keys, I use the Zero/Zed key (insert). Then you tap/press Numlock (so you enter numlock mode) and then while holding down the key you bound it to tap/press Numlock again (so you leave numlock mode). This will effectively lock the life bars on. You will have to repeat that 3 button sequence every time you enter a new game, alt-tab or (if you have them) switch to another monitor. Still it's fairly easy to keep going and MUCH nicer than the alternative.

[@Jackattak0ne]

Soulstone Survivors! I cannot get past Curse 6 for anything and I've tried every "broke" and "OP" build out there.

[@chrisneu3487]

wtf

[@Zett76]

Anyone still playing? :) My two (well, more than two) cents: Day 0 to day 20: - 0:46 situations like that can still be salvaged, by getting in between the tent and the first zombie (even if he's already banging on it), and then draw them away while staying very close to them. - you don't need to care for wandering zombies (as long as your units don't attract them) until day 3. - at around day 3, watch where the wandering zombies appear, notice the exact path they come from, and send your units towards that paths. There are four paths from the center of each border side, and one from every doom town (which, by the way, can give you an early clue where they are). This paths NEVER change, over the whole game. Once you've followed them far enough, a scratching post or a stake field can be set pretty far from the base, and you're protected for quite some time. - stakes are great, but shouldn't be overdone. E.g. a set of 3x3 cost 270 bucks, and after a few swarms and repair costs, the expenses are higher than that of a ballista. Kiting in front of one or two ballistae can save a lot of money. - I (on the highest difficulty, on all maps) tend to clear everything around me with my five starting guys, until I reach the first runners. Then you can kite a bit further, but it's getting pretty dangerous from there. At around day 15, I start building one ballista at each of the "wandering paths". Only THEN do I build two barracks and start producing snipers, because usually, by then I surpassed 1000 income. Day 20 to day 72: - by day 25, I have 30 snipers max. (don't overdo it, or your income will suffer), and I send them out in a bunch, preferably horicontally or vertically, as the corners have the most special zombies. - rule of thumb: whereever a mutant is, protect the colony with two ballistae and at least two rows of stone walls. As soon as your snipers go to work, they WILL come. And harpies, of course, too. - second to last cornerstone are a few titans. With two of them in front and the snipers behind, even giants are a piece of cake. - last cornerstone, optionally: after about 4 titans, I switch to mass producing Thanatosses (way cheaper), and park them in the middle of my colony. That way, they can counter every swarm (together with a stone wall, of course). BUT: that way, you maybe won't be able to clear the whole map. - just before and only before the final swarm, I upgrade my ballistae. As you mentioned: kiting may be the most important technique there is. Without it, the higher difficulties are basically unwinnable. With that early-on strategy, I've managed to finish every map without any losses. (and yes, mutants are the biggest pain... :) )

[@DatBoiChucklez]

Have I spent more than 200 hours in this game? Yes, yes I have. Did I watch this anyway? Yes, yes I did. Did I still learn things? Yes, yes I did.

[@Verowak]

This game is EASY to spend lots of time on and still learn new things about it

[@mhussain5669]

This is a cute comment

[@Zett76]

:) I still learned things, after around 2000 hours of playing time.

[@Termin8trkop]

Scratching post is a good idea! Thanks!

[@Verowak]

No problem! It definitely helps out in the beginning

[@anguta216]

@@Verowak i did not kno that it had a name

[@RoyalFusilier]

Thanks a lot for this! Doing my first campaign run on a standard 100 percent difficulty, and uh. These will be handy. Nearly had a wipe already when I assumed 'they'd never spawn over There...'

[@Verowak]

Oh the campaign is a bit tricky for the first time sometimes. I would love to do a campaign tips but I don't want to give spoilers for certain maps.

[@Epicus5]

@@Verowak respect!

[@xXBamboostick3Xx]

A tip for kiting, use the move command instead, doesnt matter if you click on zombies that way

[@TheMobius89]

This is fantastic advice and you explained things in a calm manor with examples which helps out a ton! Thanks for doing this for the newer players

[@Verowak]

I'm glad it was helpful, I'm planning on making more.

[@TheMobius89]

@@Verowak It's very helpful indeed I used to only be able to do 80-100% but watching how you played Now I can win most games at around 200-260%.

[@Verowak]

@@TheMobius89 That's amazing! You're getting better and better, that's a huge step up in difficulty.

[@thomasnelson657]

ive only just started playing this game super beginner; and that ranger kiting blew my mind hahaha

[@Verowak]

Hope you're still enjoying the game, kiting is SO valuable in this game!

[@nftwhisper]

Thanks you Vero!

[@picoletor]

cool to see some command & conquer old school tactics like kitting (sending a humvee to attack a tank, just to retreait it behind your defenses and letting them take care of the enemy tank while it still tries to attack that humvee) and the scratch post still works in this game, in fact the scratch post seems to be an evolution of the old sandbag sploit

[@Verowak]

I think I played C&C a tiny bit when I was younger, but not enough to learn any tactics or anything. Kiting is just SO nice to be able to do and save your colony countless times

[@cheekibreeki4783]

Nice :) helped me with the campagne and as a bonus you have a really lovely, calming voice and vibe

[@Verowak]

Thank you, glad I could help. How far are you in the campaign?

[@cheekibreeki4783]

@@Verowak just did the storm cape something map and the snow (giant) map :))

[@frednaas6718]

Hello. I started to playing few days ago. i figured out myself that one row wall is not enough, at least 2 rows are holding little bit. The biggest problem for me is that i have some resources too much and some too low, i cant balance at all. I probably building some expensive buildings, that i dont need at the beginning also. scouting is also big problem, because when im scouting, that time i cant build buildings same time. I think/hope these things are because i have too little experience and multitasking gets better by every day. I also learned today that i should try to expand my walls and towers and grab more land, because i run out of food and workers quite quickly, also i have very low military. im trying to complete first survival mode right now 24% ( 20 is needed to go to next map ). Traps look really nice, i didnt thought they are so effective, i try them surely. Thanks. You look nice !

[@4xelchess905]

IMO this game does not have enough shortcuts that would allow efficient multitasking compared to other RTS. Still, a really neat practice I learnt watching Veroowak is control grouping dwellings. That way, upgrading them is only a matter of 2 key stroke (the ctrl group number then u) and doesn't distract from whatever you're doing.

[@gamechakraform7462]

Yes I do the kiting for fun! Hell of a guide. Thank you!

[@Verowak]

Kiting is quite enjoyable. I started playing Diplomacy is Not an Option and... I kite there too!! Though my troops aren't as fast as rangers, but it still helps

[@dbznappa]

This is awesome. I've 100's hours and only kiting with rangers and patrolling occurred to me. Scratching post will save me many stupid losses, and I had no idea traps were so effective, especially + kiting. This is game changing!

[@Verowak]

Traps are such an amazing way to get rid of lots of zombies!! Good luck with your new found tips

[@gubeym]

A lot of stuff I knew, but honestly a lot I didn’t know. Thank you for the helpful video!

[@vieffiur]

First of all - you have a very nice voice to hear. Second - Nice tricks :) I knew some of it, but nicely described and explained. Good job :)

[@Verowak]

Thank you!

[@YouthOobe]

Very, very useful video for a noob like me. I like the way you explain things, concise and clear, muy effective.

[@Jdebrusk987]

Hey thanks for explaining these tips, this should help me at my next attempt at the Dark Moorland map.

[@Verowak]

No problem! Dark Moorlands is one of my least favorite maps because it's just SO damn dark!! Good luck on your next attempt!

[@olgagaming5544]

I've read it as Dark McDonald map

[@cabz5872]

If you are having trouble moving in the hord, you can use the hockey for move, m, and click between them to guarantee it doesn't attack

[@Verowak]

I've never actually used the move action, but makes sense

[@followthewolves1991]

I really struggle with this game. I always feel like I'm waiting for gold. I can never keep my gold output high, jo matter how many houses I place. This always ends up screwing me over on the final wave.

[@RebelSun14]

I had no clue our own units could travel thru our traps unharmed! Kiting in front of ballista is my usual tactic for waves 1 & 2.

[@Verowak]

Oh boy, it would be quite horrible if we took damage from our own traps, though it would also make sense!

[@BlackTempleGaurdian]

As someone playing on Easy and still struggling with the campaign (difficulty 2 missions no less), I'm hoping this will help.

[@jimwu8532]

hopefully you've been doing well these past 10d. I watched a KZbinr play it on 200% then 300% . Thought, ya, I can do it.... (see bottom) - if you're still having trouble, I'd probably look at: build order + timing / pausing if your early income is not being spent / exploring for the stone - to allow the (M)ilitary training building, and of course following all these good tips by Verowak! - keyboard shortcuts, if you're not using them, Space and Enter, but also EFR by defaults ( [E)nergy / de(F)ence / (R)esources ], after you press enter. Knowing that will make building a lot faster (or instant, gamewise in time, when pausing). C is good to know too. PS: 100% setting, died 4x on level 2, LoL. PPS: I had to learn build order + timing, pausing more, exploring, keyboard shortcuts: just to survive mission 2.

[@adambenes3728]

thanks so much, great tips that really helped

[@Verowak]

I'm glad it could help!

[@cg5469]

Thank you for the awesome tips :)

[@Verowak]

No problem! Glad I could help

[@aaronhaley6476]

Clear and concise. Very nice guide 👍

[@Verowak]

Glad it was helpful!

[@codja6319]

Will be useful a guide "All about noise"'. I know that there are many sourses of noise. From attacking units and towers, from constructing buildings, from zombies when they attack, destroy and infect walls and buildings etc. It's interesting the mechanics of noise and zombies interaction, how it summes up, when there are many sourses. I played many many times caustic lands 900% and i have wins and defeats. And the most mysterios thing in this game is zombies reaction to noise. Sometimes mutant aggroes on one single ballista from far distance, but sometimes ignores the noise of 30+ snipers from closer distance. So much defeats because of this...maybe i don't know enough...

[@4xelchess905]

IIRC the big takeaways are - Noise stacks overtime. if your ballista has been constantly firing then it's going to make a lot of noise. On really sensitive map, it may be worth shuffling rangers around just to give time for noise to dissipate. - Noise adds on one tile, and spreads on the next tile. I'm not sure about the second part, but you want to spread your soldiers. - Zombies attack make noise too. On really sensitive map, even a single zombie on a scratching post may be enough to draw a small wave. Kiting and traps are really powerful to use instead of walls - Noise detection is random and depends on distance. It would be nice knowing the exact formula but I don't know if I ever knew it. Among other things, it means also worth retreating from a small wave attracted by only killing straggler even if it's manageable, because if killing straggler brought a manageable wave, killing a manageable wave at the same place might brought an overwhelming one.

[@Ed-em6mf]

Those are very handy tips. Thanks

[@mikeiverson3130]

great guide plz keep makin more!! SUBBED

[@onehandedgamerjeff2788]

fantastic video thank you very much very helpful

[@Verowak]

Glad I can help!

[@trenthogan4212]

Thanks, these were helpful. I Subbed

[@Verowak]

I'm glad it could help! Are you playing survival or campaign?

[@trenthogan4212]

@@Verowak Survival, but the baddies are eating me! lol I'm learning more each time.

[@Verowak]

@@trenthogan4212 There's plenty to learn in this game... patience is one of them :D

[@Sir.suspicious]

Great guide!

[@Jackattak0ne]

Thanks much; super helpful! I really, really want to love this game but it is HARD. Hopefully your tips will do the trick.

[@SkSafowan]

Really Great Tips, Thanks a lot

[@ryanhannapel1830]

Omg the kite into the traps trick was great and cheap

[@johnseed6021]

Let's go... thanks so much... I can play now

[@umrete]

not gonna lie gurl the bate wall near the building is awesome idea thanks for the tips

[@drieterujobolus6293]

Thanks!

[@judysambrano4348]

Thx for the tips I've never played the game but watched multiple playthroughs and I've wished to play it so I thank you

[@Verowak]

If ever you get the game, you already know a few tips :D

[@808Mark]

awesome tips! Thank you!

[@FaYrUsinc]

YAY! new video. wish i buy this game soon enough and those tips

[@Verowak]

The tips aren't going away, so you can learn whenever you get the game :)

[@ProtoPropski]

The Scratching post, and Kiting tricks are both excellent ideas, I kinda already knew about patrol points not my forst RTS their, but I love the abuse of game mechanics otherwise unannounced as direct possibilities by the devs

[@Verowak]

For most people that this isn't their first RTS, they already have a few tricks up their sleeves. This is basically my first RTS, I played a bit of AoE2 but nothing crazy, just some skirmishes here and there.

[@olgagaming5544]

@Allosaurus 67 yeah, there it seems natural - they're zombies after all, in other games it feels like you abuse the AI a bit but here, it feels normal that the zombies chase your soldier xd

[@nikzubyk6396]

0:53 it spreads like a plague Me: Probably because it is

[@oomsou5018]

I definitely ain’t getting to 900% any time soon when I just learned the hard way land minds not only blow up my own buildings when set off, they can also kill my units. I list Thanatos and blew a hole in my defense on day 90 when the hoard hit and lost everything. Maybe these tips will be useful so that I can hopefully save myself if something that ridiculous happens.

[@Verowak]

Oh the landmines are a surprise for sure. Also, lucifers hurt your own troops too, and the barrels that you find laying around sometimes can also kill a huge chunk of your units if you don't pay attention enough!

[@tequanjones8625]

Thanks. I just bought this and I kept losing. I knew about kiting from starcraft. Awesome video and thanks again

[@Verowak]

Oh enjoy! It really is a great game. It's definitely not easy. Are you starting with survival or the campaign?

[@Marcv1285]

I don't like traps that much because of repair cost. I usually skip it and get ballista instead. I would use traps only if I would play with "no pause" as they require less micro to use them against first wave.

[@Verowak]

I love traps, they help so much, but everyone has their own playstyle. Depending on the map I try to use traps for the first few waves, and usually the repair cost isn't that important to me

[@sshado2]

Thanks, this is a nice guide

[@Verowak]

I'm glad! Definitely can be useful for lots of players

[@johngrimes6078]

Excellent basic beginner's guide! I would love to see a building placement guide that shows you how to get the most out of your early game resources. Also, a simple tech tree guide might be fairly helpful.

[@Verowak]

Oooh a tech tree guide like which order to research things? Can try to do that, or do you mean for campaign? The problem with building placement guide is that survival is random, so you can try to optimize but it's different every game. I'll try to find a way to help out with early game resources.

[@Commodus358]

@@Verowak I would enjoy a guide for when to research what, and when - based around survival *random* mode :-)

[@tusk3260]

i dont like to kite, its too much work when i could just have a wall. My strat is i try getting about 20 lumber production early game so i can build a single wall around my entire base. By the way, in early game a single ranger can cover half of your base if you get early walls. I have my walls finished by day 5, 6 or 7 depending on how open the map is and how quickly i get that 20 lumber income. Notice: When i say single wall, i mean a fully closed wall that my troops cannot walk around and that has only 1 layer of thickness. My strategy may harm the economy a bit at start, but its far easier to use then your tips and far more effective for casual players. You should never have to rely on kiting, the moment you need to, this is because you skipped on the defences.

[@Verowak]

I will say that that is completely wrong and relying on kiting is an excellent strat. At higher difficulties, if you build a wall all around your base and not rely on kiting, you'll end up losing a lot from the zombies hitting the walls and aggroing more zombies (since zombies are attracted to sound, and when they hit a wall, it makes enough noise to attract more zombies). The strat to build a whole wall around the base is a huge drain on economy and not feasible for higher difficulty. When playing low difficulty and casually you can make more mistakes and hinder your economy without it causing you to lose. Saying that you should never have to rely on kiting, because it means you skipped on the defenses is so far from being accurate in this game.

[@tusk3260]

@@Verowak Lol i play on the highest dificulty andmy wall strat works perfectly. Besides, on the highest difficulty you dont have room to kite. You have a zombie wall, looks like those big waves except, the zombies are moving and are everywhere. Sending a ranger through that is the same thing as trying to push against a wave with a ranger: It dies. At this level you cant expand much at the star, you need walls and silent weapons so a few rangers but mostly balistas. A balista does small area damage and shoots fast. I make i make 3 or more just before the first wave the arrives at day 10. If one wall is on the verge of being drestroyed, i bring 1 soldier next to it. The moment the wall breaks, i pause the game and move command that soldier dirrectly in the zombies to push them back. Soldiers are the only units from the soldier center capable of doing this. Yes the soldier will die, but he will live long enough and agro the zombies towards himself long enough for you to repair and rebuild your walls. Tho its pretty rare that i have to do this. And i try to get shocking towers as fast as possible, so i can replace half of my balistas. Once you got those, it gets easy and i can work on a soldier army to start really clearly the map and expand. - Zombies hitting walls doesn't count as sound. When you build new walls that are within sight of zombies that will aggro zombies. Otherwise, it does nothing. Zombies do not see inert objects as prey, if you read the game's tips you'd know this. Walls and turrets are inert objects. Dont believe me? Ok then put it to the test: Have a zombie on its path to command center. Put a tesla tower to its right and you'll see the zombie turn to the right to attack it. But if you put an innert object like a wood wall it its right or left, the zombie will ignore it completely. Even if its a turrets thats shooting at the zombie, the zombie will ignore it unless its blocking the shortest path to the zombie's target. - Whenever i get decent income i start building turrets everywhere, they only cost 1 power and 2 gold to maintain yet are almost as strong as balista but watch out, the turrets make the same noise lvl as a soldier so dont build any before you can place atleast 10 at once so you dont have to sacrifice soldiers to survive. - Its when you start shooting at the zombies that are hitting the walls that more gets attracted.

[@tusk3260]

@@Verowak If you try to kite on the highest difficulty, you will just agro a few hundred runers that were previously not agroed and you will lose the game. If you are lucky you could have the aggroed zombie follow your ranger until it dies in the zombie wall. But then the wave is still coming and now you have one less ranger for your defense. Im sorry but this sounds like a terrible idea to me. - Spike traps and kiting only works on tiny waves with very little zombies who are weak. To really make your spike traps do real damage and kill the harder zombies like executives and chubies that you have to fight on the first wave on highest difficulty,. You need walls to get the zombies stuck in the spikes while they hit the wall or while they wait for their turn to hit the wall. I get spikes after i have my balistas tho i try to use them to a minimum because they break quickly and cost 30 gold, the price of a tier 1 house aka the tent. And it costs wood. Walls are 3 times cheaper and a balista may cost more but it lasts forever. - As for economy.... The way you play, you would lose on day 4 or 3 everytime on the highest difficulty. Becajuse the more house you have the more zombie will start walking towards you on their own. The 2 building that attracts zombies the most are the houses and the farms. Build too many and all of a sudden, the doom villages from accross the map starts sending chubbies at you simply because your colony population got too high , too quickly and you lose. Not to mention if 1 zombies gets one of your houses it multiplies like crazy. - When im ready to expand, the first thing i build after tesla grid is new walls and i keep the old ones intact with the addition of some gates. This way if my housing blocks gets infected, i dont lose the game like you. I have backup defences with toways and balistas waiting. And you lose full housing blocks often on the higher waves. The finnal wave is a few thousands of infected mutants with a few giants. I DARE YOU TP KITE THAT. But i thinks its not possible and a bad idea. - The moment you claimed making walls doesn't work. It made me see you as totally inferior to me. - As for economy, if your bank maxes out on gold it means you have made mistakes. You need to always spend your money on things. In any rts you need to never get too much money bank. Look at starcraft, everyone from diamond and up never have more then 500 minerals in the bank. They build plenty of economy but they also spend it all as they get it. Those that spend spend it will always lose. Its the same principle in they are billions except that here you can only bank in so much gold and resources. Of couse you can build warehouses to increase that capacity but you still have a cap. If you reached your gold cap and cant possibly spend enough to make enough space for the nect gold income, this means you built too many houses.

[@tusk3260]

@@Verowak One more thing, i dont understand your obsession with snipers. They are really bad units on there own. They move slow, they shoot slow, they cost way more in salary, as well as price and you need to research a tech to get them. Soldiers are so much better then snipers. I only use snipers in towers when there are lots of mutants and giants. But other then that, going snipers is a huge waste of gold. You told me making walls hurts your economy too much... Well making snipers will hurt your economy way more the those walls. The cost of just 1 or 2 snipers is enough to wall in your entire base! And just look at how many you made! You really need to start mixing your army: 80% of your army on average has to be soldiers, 20% is snipers. Rangers are just for the early game, the moment you got enough attack towers to cover your whole base behind walls, just sell them. Or send them on a suicide mission to grab the power, gold and food crates scattered around the map. Tho cant do that on highest difficulty because they will just die right away, so just sell them at this point.

[@tusk3260]

@@Verowak lastly, i see you are someone that plays with cheats: At 7:34 you have your forest turned in light green. This is rrvealing secret zombie paths through your defenses that normally would have surprised you. There are plenty of maps with such paths and being able to still survive despite them walking past a whole layer of defenses through an unexpected path is a huge fun part of the game. So what you did is not only making the game more boring but it is straight up cheating. - I already know your reply: You'll say "its not cheating, it just makes micromanagements easier" To that i reply: Every single cheat are things that makes parts of the game easier, micromanagements included!

[@ngdhaval9437]

Thanks 😊

[@falkerhard]

Thank you

[@daydreamers8254]

also, idk if you'll see this and/or reply but if you do, in survival you now start with 3 archers and 1 marine. i typically use the 3 pack of archers to scout for random resources while patrolling marine around base w/ tents.

[@daydreamers8254]

however, i'm playing on the easiest difficulty which seems to be harder than the harder difficulties or rather even the medium difficulties and idk why. does killing zombies on the map give gold or anything? i never noticed. at the end of the day i just need a proper build order (buildings wise and upgrades and units)

[@vitamind2943]

Plays game for 4 hours. Decides to keep 2 rangers on watch. Zombies break through wall anyway. Thank you for the tips, patrolling my troops really helped ! As well as scratching posts.

[@Verowak]

No problem! I hope they help and you get to your first victory soon!

[@Gaden6893]

Just picked up the game, been getting my ass handed to me. This vid was very informative, thank you for the content!

[@Verowak]

Good luck with the game! It's not easy so don't worry if there are many losses

[@equious8413]

I heard this got an update on Xbox fixing it's controls and adding a campaign. Picked it up, and I hope it's fun!

[@Verowak]

I hope you enjoy! It's definitely a great game even if a bit frustrating at times

[@equious8413]

@@Verowak it definitely put me in my place on the first mission, slow and steady it is :P

[@Galvaxatron]

Scratching Post is a nice tip. EDIT: They're all nice tips.

[@Verowak]

I would rather have a zombie hit a scratching post than a tent.. that's for sure!

[@Galvaxatron]

@@Verowak your TAB tips have been a significant revelation to me. Thank you for your solid videos

[@blkmustang007]

Good tips ... i just started playing...doing campain first because i want to "learn" the units. im about 20 % done...playing on 50% diff

[@Verowak]

Oh boy that's exciting! Don't be shy to ask questions, I can definitely help clear things up if something is unclear. Good luck!

[@nostalgicmusicbox]

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN THE LAST THREE YEARS!? It took me a year and a half to beat the last level. *6 hour sessions then fail a couple days in a row then effed off the game for a few weeks or months* These are great tips. I may have to reinstall the game soon for some challenge maps. I love and hate this game. One of my favorites but I have to take some time away from it periodically.

[@Verowak]

Loving and hating this game goes hand in hand!! It's a game you love to hate. It's a difficult game though so losing should always be expected

[@nostalgicmusicbox]

@@Verowak oh, yes. I was expecting to lose most of the rounds. But I refused to go to custom maps until I finished it. And oooooh, man. Was I happy to finish. I still love hate it.

[@obeliske4334]

I hit the first level by the ocean and just get cranked. Made it to the last wave last night on 100% and the last wave wiped my base I'm thinking it's because of techs that I should have taken but didn't. I'm wondering what techs you would suggest?

[@Verowak]

For the campaign? By the ocean, I'm assuming you mean Coast of Bones. If so, the last wave is pretty massive so ideally you can have either lots of traps or lots of soldiers (with some buffs). Make sure you have several layers of walls too.

[@obeliske4334]

@@Verowak I appreciate you getting back to me. It is indeed Coast of Bones. I had four entrances to guard and around 60 rangers and 60 soldiers. I'm thinking that's where I messed up if I'd pulled back my guys to only have two entrances to guard and built some breaks/ Gonna go for attempt two later today :) I restarted and this time I have traps as well :) No soldiers yet though they are on my list to get.

[@Verowak]

@@obeliske4334 If you have soldiers, you don't need so many rangers. If you have soldiers and traps, with a couple of rangers to kite the zombies around the traps then it should be fine. Another thing you can do if you have a big field of traps, you can place a wood tower with a unit inside, somewhere slightly away from the path the zombies take to your cc, a lot of zombies can get pulled that way into traps. I hope that makes sense. Good luck!

[@skarpantre]

This video was super entertaining, loved the jokes :D

[@Verowak]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!!!

[@Gaba-oo4qb]

How do I repair a building when I get the message “not enough energy sources or enemies nearby”? I noticed for instance that my quarry is operating but I am not collecting any stone due to the issue of not having enough energy sources to repair

[@Verowak]

If you don't have enough energy to repair a building, then you need to build another mill or powerplant to be positive in energy, before your quarry will be able to work.

[@Gaba-oo4qb]

@@Verowak This also happens when some of the buildings get infected by zombies. The energy supply will get cut off and I cannot repair.

[@nightsonrepeat336]

Why don't you make videos anymore? I just found your channel. I am having a hell of a time getting the only rangers trophy.. it is freaking tough.

[@HEAD123456]

she have reaction channel for movies/shows now

[@ocarying4041]

very good!

[@MrMaelstorm]

Comment for the algorithm and to say Hi.

[@bigmoose7]

I knew traps did a little damage but i thought they were primarily about the slow, ill start building them now

[@Verowak]

Traps are SO helpful for the first several waves... the bonus is that they don't make noise so you don't have to worry about accidentally pulling too many zombies :D

[@shamon351]

Geat video ! Kensei talked a lot of a technique taht ruins the game : the "stop animation" (!???) Could you show us what it is please ?

[@Verowak]

People either like animation cancelling or don't. I will try to make another video showing that and a few other things

[@4xelchess905]

Ruins the game is an overstatement :p You can make unit fire faster by ordering them to attack again (cancelling the end of the firing animation I believe). Very powerful for hero mission, quite underwhelming otherwise (micro intensive for something which I think can only be done for one or a couple units at once). I second the the plea for a video about it

[@shamon351]

@@4xelchess905 the thing is : I don't even see what tou are talking about... "cancelling animation "??? No clue, and I know the game, I play the gameso

[@daydreamers8254]

i just want to beat this game once... i've gotten close a couple times on harder difficulties but what would be a good build order for the EASIEST difficulty in survival. everytime i die, somehow its like you said, one random zombie kills ONE building and the domino effect happens. even when i've gotten a good solid surrounding of base, towers, marines, etc. but i need and early and mid game build order.

[@donkeysunited]

You've probably completed it by now but in general keep your base compact so it's easier to defend until you can build more defences. Pause a lot and do your building while paused. Check the map regularly to look for zombies getting close. Press the button that shows healthbars to look for zombies. Turn on the option that notifies you of all attacks. Focus on getting food and wood first, then stone for the soldier center for rangers and then iron for soldiers and snipers. Get the wood workshop for traps, farms, ballistae and cottages. When building, leave some paths through your base so your troops don't get blocked or forced to go the long way when you're being attacked. Spread slowly and carefully, walling off chokepoints. Until you have a solid defended double wall with a few rows of traps, always always always watch for zombies slipping or punching through. Be careful of long or busy patrol paths as it can cause gaps to open for zombies to run through. It's a frustrating game but very beatable once you learn its tactics.

[@AlexPrime9]

what is the best strategy when last wave comes in?

[@Verowak]

Best strategy would be snipers and thanatos/titans for the last wave. And to also upgrade ballistas to Executors if possible. You want the titans/thanatos for the area damage since there's a lot of zombies for the final wave.

[@lukekeeley9985]

How do you keep the health bars on constantly?

[@n-mode7877]

what key do you use to bring up the box overlay? green for friendly - red for zombieeeeeeeeeeeees

[@Verowak]

To display health bars permanently, go to Options -> Controls -> "Show Life Bars". Set it to a Numpad key(ex: Num 1). Make sure NumLock is on and push Num1 and hold it down. While Num1 is pushed, disable NumLock and the health bars should stay on :)

[@Mr.Turano]

Nice one, to 900%

[@mindy1230]

I am playing this on a ps5. I do not know how to start research or get the wooden workbench. Please help !?

[@xetras8107]

Theoretically i know all this things but practically the best thing I've ever done is 80% :-(. But, very good video ^^

[@Verowak]

Theoretically :) You'll get there though, practice makes perfect. It's also hard to remember everything while playing so it takes a while to get used to all of it.

[@elcadaver]

"Cleaning their weapons" lol.

[@dokecop]

Great video! If only they had you teaching gamers at a school :)

[@Verowak]

Ooh gamer school would be pretty interesting!

[@daydreamers8254]

how did you pull up the grid???

[@jimmyjohns3261]

Thanks

[@26Quasar26]

thx

[@Shadowsdream]

Thank you! Got the game today and keep dying. This helps!

[@Verowak]

I hope you enjoy the game! It's difficult but definitely feels rewarding when you beat a map. Don't hesitate to ask questions, you can also join my discord (link in description)

[@viperakmal]

How to get exp for our chosen commander? I have got 2 missions the beginning one and the "hunters meadow" one... But my commander is stil level 1... Also... How to deploy our chose commander since I never got him during mission... 😅

[@Verowak]

The hero you choose is only playable during the "Hero Missions". Basically there are specific maps during the campaign that you control the hero to look through buildings and loot objects. For the normal maps, and the swarm maps, you don't have access to the hero/commander, unfortunately :(

[@viperakmal]

@@Verowak do you mean the maps where there is a moving golden skeleton? That's for hero commander mission? This means this map is where I just control my hero commander and does need to build anything like normal mission?

[@Verowak]

@@viperakmal The moving golden skeleton is a "swarm mission". You don't use the hero/commander for that one. Instead of it looking like a circular city with walls around it, the "hero missions" just have one building. After you complete either of the first two missions, you will see "The Last bunker" OR "The Weapons Factory" and that is a hero mission, where you get to use the hero/commander

[@viperakmal]

@@Verowak ah... I see the last bunker... But I haven't seen yet the weapon factory... There's no indicator to where we can use the hero mission isn't it? Edit... Ah yes... The indicator is one building right?

[@Verowak]

@@viperakmal Only those types of missions can use the hero. The Last Bunker is one of many "hero missions". The hero is ONLY usable there unfortunately :(

[@IYPITWL]

Nooo u2tb recommend this to me. Ur a better gamer than me i dont wanna go down this rabbit hole. (Came from rogue tower)

[@skiie]

Nice video. Feedback wise your delivery on the points lack emphasis as you kinda jump around in your explanations. The frequent pauses kind of stifle the tempo and flow of the video. The examples you show in the video do a nice job of helping you drive the point but I still feel like the nuances can be missed by people who are new to the game. As a player that sucks at the game i do have some questions. like at what point should I have this building or that building. For example is my building a wall around my base really stifling my growth late game? You show examples of kiting rather large hoards into traps but is the effort used in APM to kite worth that much more than just having a wall and then leading some units there when it gets attacked? Scratching post seems like a novel idea early early game but once again Is a wall really hurting me more? if so by how much?

[@Verowak]

Not sure if you're building a wall all around your city, if that's the case, you don't need to completely wall it off, that will be a lot of resources. For the first 20 days you don't really need that many defenses. I always want ballista up and defending my base by day 20 for the random runners and the zombies that spawn from the Villages of Doom. If you have choke points, try to use those as much as possible so you can use fewer ballista. As for what days you want which buildings, well typically a wood workshop between day 3-7 so you can start your research. Always keep in mind that food and housing is priority. So if you don't have enough energy to build those, then you need mills. After that, depending on how much wood you have, cottages are nice to get. I always make sure to get traps before the first wave so I can kill the zombies with those. Market and warehouse you want to try to get before the second wave (I'm not sure which difficulty you are playing so I can't really say a specific day range that you want to aim to get, but aim to get it before day 15). After that it depends if you need to expand or have room and resources in your base. If you need to expand and are starved for space, snipers or soldiers (depending on which you want to use) are your best bet. If you don't need to expand yet, getting a stone workshop and focusing on economy and getting a bank will help. You want some AoE for wave 6 (they-are-billions.fandom.com/wiki/Swarms#Swarm_Schedule) so shocking towers or thanatos or titans since those wave start getting much bigger. I can definitely make another tutorial for order/when you want buildings though!

[@Verowak]

If zombies start hitting your walls, that makes noise and attracts more zombies. In the early stages it's not too bad, but later one you'll notice that you can get overrun by zombies if too much noise is made. As for scratching post, I would rather spend the resources on a wall instead of losing a sawmill and attracting ever more zombies. It's not necessary to use scratching posts but a nice way to not have to pay attention to everything since it'll prevent that 1 zombie from getting into your base.

[@rogers.1753]

it's what it is ! es ist was es ist, ein schönes Video was sehr hilft ! beautiful video which helps a lot ! ;-)

[@guydoline840]

thanks

[@matthiasschmidt669]

The Goddess of Destiny is here. Greets from Germany!

[@andygeary3531]

You are so adorable, not to mention amazing at this game and so chill when playing!

[@Verowak]

I try to have fun when playing :) That's the key

[@arthurtwa]

Why buildings have so little HP? they die in 3 seconds and then sprout more zombies! That should be adressed by the devs.

[@Verowak]

There's nothing wrong with the buildings having low hp, cottages have more hp than tents and stone houses have more hp than cottages. The game is hard, there's no doubt about it and you have to basically cover all angles. If the buildings had more hp, I think the game would be too easy to be honest. Tents get destroyed in 3 hits from weak zombies... we shouldn't be letting zombies hit our tents, so walls can be used. It just takes some getting used to is all

[@gewoonvictor6163]

Wait you can let troops patrol?!?! Omg thank you

[@uhavemooface]

If I played this game I would die a billion times.

[@Verowak]

Dying is a regular part of this game :D

[@lenap4956]

Rangers are the true heroes of the game

[@Verowak]

Oh, they really are. Their kiting ability is just so amazing in a lot of situations

[@epicrelaxingambientmusic8342]

wait what why do i hear your voice in the game ...

[@Verowak]

I WISH my voice was in the game. Actually if you play a few custom maps, my voice is in the game, I forgot!

[@BlackTempleGaurdian]

YOU CAN WAYPOINT PATROLS?!

[@francisoneeye1408]

👏🏻👁👍🏻

[@ledxx]

Nice voice

[@Verowak]

Thanks, I've had it my whole life

[@foxindabush3130]

How to not smash your keyboard. My keyboard thanks you

[@Verowak]

Saving one keyboard at a time!

[@shahabulhaq9348]

day 24 Stil trying to pass through first map

[@noone-ze9gg]

You literally have to be the ONLY female that plays this game, and thats awesome

[@Verowak]

There aren't many it seems

[@jurajciernik7780]

You mean to say that They aren’t billions?! 😯

[@codiserville593]

@@jurajciernik7780 apparently not! lol

[@isator1380]

how do you actually win a game.... :D lol i've lost sooo much

[@Verowak]

What are you losing to? A random zombie walking in? Not expanding enough? Not enough defenses?

[@isator1380]

@@Verowak all of the above lol. But I have figured out most of those. It's that final wave in survival that always gets me. So I'm trying out strategic defensive positions. For some reason I think too small scale lol

[@Verowak]

@@isator1380 Ah yes, the final wave does take a while to get used to. And if you don't see the whole map, it's hard to plan where they will end up (sometimes part of South ends up going West for example so it would have been nice to know to reinforce that)

[@isator1380]

@@Verowak I did it! it only took me two years and 98 hours of loosing but I did it! I finally survived the first Survival Level :'(. Lol I was kinda sad about how long it took me until I saw the steam award that says only 22.5 percent of people who own the game actually have beaten it...pretty sweet.

[@Verowak]

@@isator1380 Congrats!!! That's awesome, and to be honest, you didn't do bad at all! It's not an easy game, but you made it and you get to play a different map now! (assuming you unlocked it)

[@testtickles8878]

It's easy on pc, on console it's just awful

[@captainthrall]

I've realized this game is rigged. It has an algorithm designed to determine if there is a path into your base. If there is an undefended path, the game will send zombies to that path. It's actually really annoying.

[@ALVINSTALVIN]

Very helpful, thank you :)

[@Verowak]

Glad it was helpful!