Hi, my nickname is DCB. I joined 6 May 2011 so I am almost a three-month newb but I have learned a lot this summer so I will share what I have learned.

This guide is meant for players that are already a bit familiar with the game. If I use any vocabulary that you do not understand please visit the Battle Dawn Wiki by Googling, “Battle Dawn Wiki”. (It needs to be updated but it is still very helpful) Another great resource is the forum but you already know that .

This first guide will be for non-boosters (Not even blue tokens) but boosting may improve the results. Also if I make any comments that sounds like I am putting boosters/donators down please understand it is not intentional. Donating is needed for the game to run and improve.

I do not claim this is the best guide for everyone but it is the best for my style.

Vocabulary
Fleet – Sometimes I say fleet but it’s just another name for squad.
Hive – The location where an alliance locates all their colonies so they can better protect each other.
Op – Outpost
Spam – 1 or 2 cheap units used to attack an op or colony with 0 units on it. Spam should be a unit that you can afford to lose.


Choosing a World
-I recommend joining a world while it is still frozen so you do not start even further behind the boosters.
-If you have BD friends try to get into a world with them but for this guild I am assuming you know no one in BD, like I did in the start, and you are all alone in the beginning of an era.

Choosing a Location
-I never choose to set my colony in the middle of the map because I like to be near an edge but that’s just my opinion.
-When choosing a location think about how many resource mines (Metal/Oil) are near a desired location if you are going to want control of resource mines. The closer you are to a mine the easier to control.
-Look to see who is around the location before you set you colony. You can put your mouse over other colonies before you set your colony to see the name. I do this to make sure I do not start next to someone I know I do not like. Also it is not too smart to start next to a pro that you know will not let you get strong.
-Look to see what alliances are around and decide if you would like to be near that alliance. I personally do not like to start near any large alliance.

Before Tick 1
-Skip the tutorial (Again, I assume you have already completed the tutorial on your first world when you were super newb and before you came to the forums for help).
-Upgrade Farm to level 4
-Upgrade Metal Mine to level 3
-Upgrade Oil Well to level 3
-Upgrade energy reactor to level 1
-Do not build an outpost yet
-Do not build a barracks yet
-If you receive an invitation to join an alliance don’t join it without doing a little research first. Look to see how many people are in it. If it looks like a newb has invited you then do not join the alliance. No offense to all the newbs out there creating alliances but leave the leading up to the experienced players. Message the person that invited you and ask what experience they have and if they have an estimate of how many people will be in alliance. Now the only reason to join an alliance at this point is to leach any bonuses that the alliance might get from other people in the alliance obtaining resources mines. You will not be helping at all in the beginning and will probably leave the alliance later if it is not active or you want to join a stronger one.

Start of a New Era
-Let the first person to attack you conquer your colony. Do not put up a fight. Being conquered takes the target off your colony and will give you the time you need to build up your rank and army in peace.
-Save your resources and when you have enough upgrade your farm to level 5, your metal mine to level 5, your oil well to level 4 or 5, and your energy reactor to level 4 or 5.
-Upgrade your workshops until you have the Range Upgrade Workshop
-Build the UAV control structure (optional at the moment but useful later)
-Build the Satellite Communications Array structure (optional at the moment but useful later)
-Build your Barracks and start building your army.

Army
-Your main army should only consist of Range and Armor units. Never use damage units in your main army. Damage units are only used for spam if used at all.
-Stick to one type of chassis. Either only recruits soldiers, vehicles, or tanks. Do not mix it up. There is a simple very important reason for this and I may update later with the explanation.
-For every 2 range units have 1 armor units to protect the range units. I like to use 2:1 ratio but I usually end up having 3 range units for every 1 armor so 3:1 is ok too. It is important to have armor units supporting the range units because range units cost more. Even if you win the battle it is not a good battle if you lose range units.
-In the beginning it is ok to mix units together in squads for example I put 21 Snipers (Solider/Concussive/Range) with 9 Rifle Man (Solider/Concussive/Armor). After you have a larger army it is ok to stop mixing units but make sure you keep armor fleets with range fleets for example I make sure I have 1 full armor fleet for every 3 full range fleets when I attack/defend

Time to Work
-Make some spam
-If you see an op around you click on it and see who the owner is. Look at the owners profile and look at their statistics. If they have recruited 0 units or have the same amount of units lost as units recruited then send a spam at the op. Once you own the op send the spam back home or attack something else with it. Once the op has 12 control ticks Raze the op. This is called op farming and is a good way to get extra resources.
-If there is a resource mine near your that you want then scan the mine to make sure you can take it without losing more than one or two units and then attack it.
-Keep building a strong army until your rank is good enough to where you think you can get into an active alliance. Leave your newb alliance, if you joined one, and start messaging leaders telling them that you have a strong range army and give other reasons as to why they should invite you.
-Try to get into an alliance with a hive. Make an op in the alliance hive and relocate to that op. By relocating you will rebel from you conquer and be free to conquer other people.
-From here you just work with your alliance to take over the world/galaxy!

Attacking
-Scan the op/colony before you attack it so you have an idea of what your up against. Another option is to send a spam at the op/colony first as a scout to see what is on the op/colony
-When you’re about to attack try to attack 30 seconds before the next tick so that your enemy has less time to react.
-Always have armor units to protect your range.
-Try to stay logged on during the entire attack so that you know if the person you are attacking gets backup that would cause you to lose therefore you must turn.
-Use your spy or nuke to help you with your attack
-I personally never use an ion cannon to attack an op/colony because I feel it is a waste of 250 energy.
-You delay attacks so that your squads will still launch while you are logged off. This is useful when you have to log off but you want to do an attack with your alliance while you’re off. You can delay your fleets so they won’t launch for 5 (or however many) ticks so you give your alliance members time to get to the op and attack with you.
-When attacking a faraway target, most of the time, it is smart to build an op near the target and launch your fleets to your op and then attack from that op. This lessens the amount of time it will take to battle because fleets travel faster when traveling to an allied op.
-Jam the colony you are attacking and any nearby radars if you do no want them to see you coming. Jamming a colony also prevents the colony from getting backup via gateway.

Defending
-Do and incoming scan on what you are defending so you know what your up against.
-If someone is attacking your colony sometimes you can send an attack back at his or her colony and get him or her to turn around.
-If you know you are going to lose and you can attack their colony with an ETA less than their fleets would have if they turned around then it is smart to attack their colony so that when they conquer your colony you will conquer their colony the very next tick (or before their fleets return) and free yourself.
-Use the Ion Cannon to take out incoming nukes
-I personally never use the Ion Cannon on fleets because it only takes 10 units down to 1 hp and delays 1 fleet by 1 tick. Again I feel this is a waste of 250 energy.
-Sometimes it is smarter to relocate your colony and run then to battle
-Sometimes it is smart to dodge a nuke by relocating instead of using ion cannon

* Do not search for me on any worlds because I never use the same name.
* I will reread this later and update/correct it...