Seraphim

Maps[]

a preview map.

The First appears to be a city, is Aeon or Illuminate in origin from the heraldic flags, perched on a cliff edge. It’s dominated by a huge, semi-circular platform with an unknown structure in the middle (likely an objective) and four elongated platforms extending from it. Most of the battle takes place on this platform. There are also several mesas surrounding the platform which can also support bases and units. The Map has a greater sense of verticality than most RTS maps. This is the only map seen in-play, as it was the basis for the E3 video.

Other maps, seen only in screenshots, include:

• What appears to be a UEF stronghold or factory.
• A beachhead, with ruined and rusty towers, dominated by a walled metal fortress.
• A network of brown metal gantries, suspended over a crater walled with black rock. The equipment points to some kind of mine.
• A maze of thin, industrial gantries, possibly inside, judging by the darkened lighting.

A few remakes of original Supreme Commander maps are also in the game:

• Arctic Refuge
• Fields of Isis
• Winter Duel (called «Spring Duel»)
• Seton’s Clutch — Appears to have the same characteristics of the original. It does show a large area outside the usable area that was cut off in the original game.
• Finn’s Revenge

Two other maps have been announced, when preordering from EB Games , you will receive:

• Emerald Crater — Underwater for a millennia, tectonic shifts have drained the crater, exposing mass needed to continue the Infinite War. Maximum Players: 4 (free-for-all)
• QAI Prototype Facility — Located high above the surface of New Terra, it’s one of the many test environments for the next generation air and land weapons. Maximum Players: 4 (2v2)

Экспериментальные единицы[]

«Толстяк». Мобильный гусеничный завод, способный ползать по земле и дну океана. Оснащён различными видами оружия, включая 4 башенные орудия линкора, торпедную установку и зенитную башню второго уровня, оснащён мощным широким щитом. На земле способен строить наземные боевые единицы и служить аэродромом. Не предназначен для прямых атак и служит для огневой поддержки и пополнения войск на ходу. Обладает огромной огневой мощью и иногда рассматривается как лучшая экспериментальная единица в игре. В FA его меткость уменьшена, а стоимость увеличена.

«Атлантида». Подводный авианосец. Может провести дозаправку и ремонт до 150-ти самолётов. Оснащён несколькими зенитными установками и четырьмя установками пуска торпед. Производит авиационные юниты ОФЗ, быстрее, чем Авиационный завод Тех-3 и обладает большим количеством здоровья. Часто рассматривается как лучший морской юнит в игре.

«Мавр». Стратегическая артиллерия. Чрезвычайно дорогое и чрезвычайно точное артиллерийское орудие, способное стрелять по всей карте. Простая постройка как правило достаточна для того, чтобы выиграть игру. Имеет маленькое количество здоровья и требует защиты генераторами щитов.

Только в Forged Allaince:

Background[]

The game is set 25 years after the events of Forged Alliance.

Since the defeat of the Seraphim the alliance forged by the UEF, Cybran Nation and Aeon Illuminate has held becoming the CDC (Colonial Defense Coalition) and resulting in 25 years of peace. During this time the three nations have intermixed and some of their military recruits are even trained together at the same institutions. This includes the campaign’s 3 protagonists — one from each faction — who become friends at their academy.

However, the peace is brought to an abrupt end by the assassination of the newly elected CDC President. Each faction denies involvement while blaming the others and war erupts yet again. The campaign follows the stories of the three friends and their relationships as they are forced to fight one another.

Since Square Enix’s games have been largely associated with the role-playing game genre, their games tend to elaborate more on the character’s feelings and aspects rather than the whole picture. The original Supreme Commander is quite indifferent towards the character aspects, pointing more towards the factions as a whole instead of outstanding ‘heroes’ within; especially since you don’t really play as a character in the game, as you are the character. The story of this new game seems to be based on these three characters’ experiences instead of the more nationalistic story that the original Supreme Commander used. Having this fresher, character-based storyline may prove to be a success, but inevitably someone will notice the obvious story difference.

Various sources have revealed the names of the three main characters:

• UEF: Dominic Maddox
• Cybrans: Ivan Brackman
• Illuminate: Thalia Kael

Where and how the Riptide works well[]

The Riptide is incredibly useful on maps with water, being one of the fastest and fiercest Amphibious units on the battlefield. In pairs it can make quick work of T1 units, including Point Defences. In small groups it can clear out defenses to prepare an landing zone, or it can be used to safely and effectively eliminate torpedo launchers to clear the way for naval vessels. It has difficulty moving while firing, or firing at moving targets, because its weapon is not turret mounted; it is fixed to fire forward, so the whole tank must turn to face the target. This is mitigated by the fact that, since it is a hover unit, it can turn quickly. Even on maps without water, the Riptide is an excellent unit for dealing with swarms of T1 units. In contrast, its closest counterpart in power, the Wagner, is more geared toward taking on T2 or even some lighter T3 units with its higher-damage weaponry, but cannot hope to challenge naval assets by using its torpedoes, let alone if those targets have their own torpedoes.

Packs of Riptides are very effective at removing low-HP ships such as Shards or T2 Cruisers while avoiding submarines — if they can catch them. The Riptide still moves at the speed of a land unit (albeit a fast land unit), making it possible for most naval units to simply outrun it. Riptides are easily countered by enemy Destroyers, which can take and dish out too much punishment for a group of Riptides to destroy without heavy casualties. But thats a diffrent story for cruisers, as 20 can sink them with little or no casualties. Also, Riptides can make a very good spearhead for assaulting island bases when the enemy has naval support, especially before T3 comes into play.

Известные представители[]

• Доктор Густав Брэкмен — создатель первых симбионтов, основатель нации Кибран и её бессменный лидер. Называет симбионтов своими «детьми», жаждет освобождения всех симбионтов и признания их прав повсеместно. Благодаря использованию технологий до сих пор обладает ясным и острым умом, несмотря на свой возраст (в первой игре — около 1300 лет). В речи часто использует фразу «О да..», к месту и не очень.
• КИИ(QAI — Quantum Artificial Intelligence) — Квантовый Искусственный Интеллект; ИИ, созданный доктором Брэкменом, точно неизвестно, специально ли для какой-то цели или в результате исследований. Обладает поистине феноменальными способностями в области расчётов, моделирования, прогнозирования событий, программирования и т.д. Также вполне возможно, что им или при его содействии были созданы многие технологии и боевые единицы кибран. В отличии от других ИИ, не скован границами своей «железной» составляющей, крайне мобилен, может использовать практически любую систему или сеть, в том числе Сеть квантовых врат для перемещения в необходимую часть галактики. В процессе контактировал с принцессой Эон, которая не распознала его, описывая его как «пелену, не дающую ясно видеть события». Также из дополнения известно, что может управлять БМК, ничем при этом не рискуя. После вторжения Серафимов предал Брэкмена, переманив немалое количество симбионтов. Точные причины этого неизвестны. Возможно, его расчёты показали большую вероятность победы пришельцев. Существует также достаточно экзотичная теория: согласно ей после внедрения в систему КИИ технологий Серафимов, найденных на Орионе, КИИ смог установить контакт с Серафимами, находящимися в другой галактике либо измерении, которые, постепенно перепрограммируя его, использовали его для сбора информации о человечестве, при этом никак не выдавая своего присутствия. Делали они это с целью подготовки почвы для вторжения, состоявшегося через Разлом, сформированный в результате дефекта после применения «Чёрного Солнца». После вступления в союз с Серафимами принимал активное участие как в боевых действиях против Альянса, так и занимался добычей и извлечением информации, в основном в Лоялистов. Также организовал ловушку на Гадесе, где погибла Достя. Был уничтожен на Перл ІІ лично доктором Брэкменом, но в послетитровой сцене Forged Alliance вновь «включился», так что точно нельзя сказать, возможно ли его вообще уничтожить.
• Элитный командующий Иванна Достя — главнокомандующий сил Кибран. Женщина-симбионт, очевидно с русскими корнями, уважаема в своей среде, одна из лучших командующих, предпочитает лично участвовать в операциях, также служит военным атташе Брэкмена. Командир — «рубака», часто использует БМК на передовой (операция на Фивах ІІ, сражения против Серафим на Капелле и Гадесе), вне боя появлялась в чёрной одежде и кожаной куртке. Недолюбливала Хекса5, и «была бы её воля, она выбросила его и весь его узел в открытый космос.» Во время войны Шаткого Альянса воевала на стороне Коалиции. Во время операции «Расплавление»(4-я миссия дополнения) совместно с протагонистом была отправлена на Гадес, где они попали в ловушку КИИ, погибла в результате массированного штурма, возглавляемого упомянутым Хексом5, который припомнил ей старые обиды (в случае прохождения за кибран одним из дополнительных заданий будет забрать останки БМК Дости). После её гибели доктор Брэкмен очень скорбил по ней. В оригинальной озвучке в персонажа также был заметный русский акцент.
• Хекс5 — симбионт, средних лет мужчина, представитель узла Седьмой Руки. Узел специализируется на шпионаже, краже технологий и информации. В оригинальной игре на Поллуксе предоставляет коды доступа ко вратам на Землю, в обмен на освобождение протагонистом его друзей. В этой же миссии попал в плен ОФЗ, но не выдал им тайны своего пребывания на планете. В дополнении принял сторону КИИ, возглавлял атаку на позицию Дости на Гадесе. В пятой миссии дополнения его необходимо уничтожить перед штурмом главной базы КИИ. Называет КИИ «хозяином», а Серафимов — «Истинными Богами».
• Красный Туман — командующий кибран, в оригинальной игре осуществлял штурм «Чёрного Солнца»(при прохождении за кибран его место занимает протагонист). Исходя из того, что его послали на столь ответственное задание, должен быть одним из лучших командующих кибран. При прохождении за Эон предпоследним заданием будет его уничтожение. 

Factional differences[]

The four tech 2 artillery installations are the UEF Klink Hammer, the Cybran Gunther, the Aeon Miasma and the Seraphim Zthuthaam. They have slightly different costs and damages, but overall, have an equivalent cost/effectiveness ratio. They all have the same fire radius.

The UEF Klink Hammer has average accuracy, damage radius and damage, and the Cybran Gunther and Aeon Miasma represent their faction’s weapon’s philosophy:

• The Cybran Gunther has awful accuracy, but makes up for it with a massive damage radius. Its damage is low, but it can damage multiple targets simultaneously. It excels at firing at approaching armies, or just wreaking indiscriminate havoc in an opponent’s base. It is absolutely incapable of destroying a specific target effectively. The Gunther is also considerably cheaper than the other T2 artillery pieces.

  Considering the traits of the Cybran’s T2 Point Defense, the Cerberus, the Gunther pairs very well with them. It is capable of heavily damaging high-health incoming enemies that the Cerberus can then finish off. This is balanced by the fact that its inherent inaccuracy makes the Gunther the worst for shore defense against any Naval unit faster than a Battleship.

• The Aeon Miasma has almost perfect accuracy, but almost no damage radius. It features damage over time, making it effective against shields and buildings, but less so against mobile units. The Miasma is perfect at destroying selected targets of high importance, like other artillery pieces. It is also the most expensive of the T2 artillery pieces, although not by a large amount.

All things considered, the Seraphim Zthuthaam might be the best T2 artillery out of the four. It is as accurate as the Aeon Miasma, has a high damage radius, and packs quite a punch in terms of damage. It is, however, more expensive to build and maintain than the UEF and Cybran artillery installations, and does not have the advantage in terms of HP.

Trivia[]

The CZAR, unlike many other air units, can actually be hit by the Mavor’s shells or Salvation’s submunitions if the artillery is aimed carefully at adjacent terrain. If the CZAR is stationary you can hit it with a strategic missile, or if need be, launch the missile to another target THROUGH the hole in center of the CZAR, which is rather humorous (just a side note the CZAR will still be destroyed).

While not listed as one of its attributes, the CZAR is one of the few units in the game (the others being command units) that is not capturable, as it is always in the air. Also the CZAR is one of only two air units in the game to have flak cannons, the other being Seraphim Ahwassa.

The CZAR is most likely based on the Independence Day movie’s floating UFO/Spaceship carriers. Both the game and the movie ship are able to store a full complement of aircraft, devastate all inferior approaching aircraft, and fire a ‘death laser’ out of a hole in the ship’s middle. The only difference is look, faction, and the fact that the movie ship was shielded and the CZAR is not.
The CZAR clearly shows the extent of seraphim technology adapted and imitated by the Aeon, as it is basically an adaptation of the Seraphim Experimental Bomber , as it uses high grade energy weaponry, is an experimental air unit, and has a big hole in the middle. However, the CZAR has a more constant damage output and an easier to aim air crash, as well as the ability to construct aircraft, unlike its seraphim cousin.

The CZAR is known for a bug that can occur when an AI player issues and attack command the beam may never cease emitting allowing easy tracking of the CZAR.

Use[]

As a game ender unit, once built, the Mavor can destroy any building on the map. To get the most efficient use out of the Mavor, destroy the most important buildings, the other game enders, and strategic missile launchers. Anything else is a waste of the units capabilities. Once these threats are gone, tell the Mavor to destroy the opponent’s ACU. This can create several scenarios:

1. The ACU doesn’t move: It takes the Mavor shell and is destroyed: You win.
2. The ACU moves around while staying in its base: You annihilate the base. Victory will come soon.
3. The ACU flees the base: Take it out with strategic bombers, or others: You win.

In the single player campaign of Forged Alliance, the Mavor can be very helpful for breaking stalemates, especially in the last mission. A few Mavors can destroy the Seraphim Quantum Arch without you even realizing it if you don’t give them alternative fire orders. This is only possible due to the low intelligence of the computer AI, however, and you should expect a human opponent to target your Mavor the moment it is scouted in a real game. While Mavor can target enemy structures on its own, it’s advisable to build radar, air scout/spy plane, or pair it with Novax Satellite (with Novax as spotter).

Reminder

Every second you don’t destroy the opposing ACU, you are giving the opponent a chance for a sneaky win or tie. When the opponent sees you have a Mavor he will probably react with an all-or nothing attack. Don’t give your opponent the chance to pull it off. Don’t play around; win the game. If you don’t, you might regret it.

Factories attached to units[]

The experimental units, the Fatboy, the Tempest, the Atlantis, the CZAR and to some degree, the Megalith are able to function as factories, as well as act as powerful fighting units. Except for the Megalith, all of these units must be stationary in order to construct units. During the construction, their weapons are also disabled (the Megalith is again an exception to this rule, along with CZAR, which can use it’s beam and AAs while constructing (though it can’t move)). The Tempest and the Fatboy must also be surfaced or on land, respectively.

All types of Carriers are also capable of constructing units, including the T3 sea ones for Cybran and Aeon, and the Experimental versions for UEF and Aeon. They generally have a mostly complete catalogue of T3 air units. However, the units these can construct are on their unit page.

Cybran[]

Cybran units tend to be Stealthy when possible, and their units are typically cheaper than other factions — often at a slight health penalty.

A good example of this would be the Cybran T1 Assault Bot, «Mantis». It is highly manoeuvrable, and cheaper than the other faction’s T1 units, while still retaining their DPS, and with only a slight penalty to health.

Other good examples of the Cybran philosophy are: The Cybran T3 Armored Assault Bot, with its sea-defences, making stealthy underwater attacks far less risky than with the UEF Percival and the Cybran Monkeylord, the cheapest land Experimental.

Factional differences[]

Factories of all 4 factions cost the same, build at the same speed and are overall equal. Their Hp does differ slightly.

The two only notable differences are the naval factory’s build layout: While all other faction’s naval factories build on the left, the Seraphim naval factory builds on the right. Also, when creating an engineer from an air factory, the factory is stalled while it lowers the unit to ground level.

As a synergy, note that Aeon are unique in that they can sacrifice old engineers to units or buildings, this is better than the alternative of self destructing and reclaiming them, as you get the resources and can put it to use immediately.

UEF T3 Land Factory

UEF T3 Air Factory

UEF T3 Naval Factory

Cybran T3 Land Factory

Cybran T3 Air Factory

Cybran T3 Naval Factory

Aeon T3 Land Factory

Aeon T3 Air Factory

Aeon T3 Naval Factory

Seraphim T3 Land Factory

Seraphim T3 Air Factory

Seraphim T3 Naval Factory

Factional differences[]

Overall, they are equivalent in all aspects except health across all factions, except for the Seraphim Selen. The Seraphim forgo the light assault bot for a combat scout that has weaker armor but stealth and a cloaking device (when stationary) and a better vision radius (effectively a combination of the light assault bot and scout unit).

UEF Mech Marine

UEF Mech Marines

The Mech Marine has 5-10 more health than others, making it last slightly longer in a firefight against other mobile units. It will consistently defeat other LABs in one-on-one combat due to sustained damage and HP superiority, according to in-game testing. Its machineguns give it a high rate of fire and DPS. The Tomcat machine guns will make short work of enemy scouts and radar installations.

Aeon Flare

Flare firing its sonic pulsar

Little is remarkable about the Flare other than the fact that it uses some sort of sonic weaponry. The long reload time makes this the worst of the true LABs according to in-game testing. (Though it will still easily defeat the Seraphim Selen Combat Scout). It is superior for the purpose of hit-and-run attacks in comparison to the other bots, precisely due to its weapon properties (high damage per shot, low firing rate).If you want to have your Flares succeed combine them with Auroras from the water to provide direct fire support and something for the other units to try (and fail) shooting at.

Cybran Hunter

Cybran Hunter

The Hunter has slightly lower health than other bots, and fires its laser in bursts. It can consistently defeat Flares due to more consistent damage output, though it loses to Mech Marines. It can actually be very useful when combating other LABs that are tightly packed, because its burst weapon sprays a small area with fire. This gives it a small area damage.

Seraphim Selen

Main article: Seraphim T1 Combat Scout

Seraphim Selen

The Selen is unique in that it serves the purpose of both light assault bot and land scout. It costs about half the mass but has lower HP and DPS between that of a conventional assault bot and higher health/DPS than a T1 land scout. It possess radar as well as stealth and cloaking, which makes it more useful for surprise attacks. However, its stealth and cloaking deactivates when the unit moves or fires, and so move orders must be used with care. It is, however, even cheaper and quicker to build than other light assault bots, which makes it slightly more spammable. A useful trick when using them is to set them to hold fire and place them on a mass node, which prevents engineers from building on that spot. This can be countered via artillery groundfire or sometimes by bumping the Selen to get it to move, breaking it’s stealth. Note, however, that its primary purpose is scouting and not attack and is not cost effective to use them when defending against other bots. A mistake that new players often make is to build 15 of these and hope to do some damage. These are designed for the previously mentioned mass extractor prevention. In combat these will fall like dominoes. A bug: if a unit is already chasing the selen, the selen could stop firing and moving, but the unit will fire at the selen anyway. Also, The Selen can only fire forward when moving, so don’t plan returning on fire when beating a hasty retreat from LABs.

Summary

Pillar versus Riptide[]

Riptide

There are many situations that the Riptide is more useful on land than the Pillar, such as base defence in the earlier stages. These badboys can rip oncoming armies to pieces when paired with Mobile Shields due to the very accurate Hells Fury Riot Guns and better focus fire than the gauss cannons of that of the Pillar.

An example of this would be when mass armies are approaching and the Pillar fires 2-5 shots before even landing its first hit. Because of thisoverkill, the Pillar is very vulnerable and inefficent at taking out moving units when stationary. The Pillar should be used where larger DPS is required in conquering or attacking, such as taking outkey buildings such as factories and point defence. The Riptide is also very good atkiting, due to its hover capabilities, there are no tracks or turning to slow it down, so it can merely spin to face its target rather than stop and turn. 

Princess Rhianne Burke[]

Rhianne Burke is the third Princess of the Aeon Illuminate and the current leader of the Aeon faction.

Records concerning Princess Rhianne Burke are highly classified. What is known is that she was born into a caste of seers and her lineage guaranteed that she would be a strong candidate to ascend the throne. When the previous Princess, Miranda Burke retired, Princess Rhianne assumed the throne with a great deal of fanfare.

Public records indicate that Princess Rhianne, a strong woman with an amazing amount of charisma, enjoys a great deal of support among the Aeon. However, intercepts of Aeon communication signals seem to indicate that Princess Rhianne is attempting to steer the Aeon in a new direction: the emphasis is on establishing a lasting peace as opposed to cleansing — as the Way shows it. Should the Aeon emerge victorious in the closing days of the Infinite War on Earth, Burke displays her conviction on this matter, merging herself with the firing of the weapon into the galaxy in order to spread a message of peace to every human being, thereby ending not only the Infinite War, but every conflict.

In the ending of Forged Alliance, the princess closes the quantum rift the Seraphim used to initially cross into our galaxy. It is still unknown if she survived, but General Hall says that «we’ll keep looking.» It is more than likely that she gave her life, tapping into her power to permanently seal away the Seraphim.

Характерные черты[]

Руководство ОФЗ экспансивно, авторитарно, агрессивно. Оно считает, что только такие меры могут позволить восстановить павшую Империю Земли и обеспечить порядок в Галактике. Осматриваясь на тёмные времена вокруг себя, оно готово оправдывать самые крайние меры и жестокие решения.

Фокус внимания ОФЗ — военная мощь, главная добродетель — порядок. Для достижения этой цели признаются любые технологии, включая генетическую инженерию. На самом деле, большинство граждан ОФЗ являются генетически прямыми потомками генетически усовершенствованных или клонированных колонистов, также как население Эон и Кибран. Тем не менее, правительство ОФЗ, в отличие от них, рассматривает широкомасштабные программы генетической модификации собственного населения как инструменты для поддержания порядка, пережиток политики Старой Империи. Пилоты БМК ОФЗ также генетически усовершенствованы за счёт усиления лояльности и повышения способностей. Самым заметным признаком искажения человеческой природы в силах ОФЗ являются люди с кибернетическими имплантантами и сплетённые с тонким симбиотическим ИИ: симбионты. Эти люди являются неотъемлемой частью выживания колоний и выполняют великое множество задач.

Программа симбионтов работает на добровольной основе со всеми слоями населения ОФЗ. Каждый год тысячи претендентов стремятся помочь ОФЗ и своей локальной коммуне. Чего они не знают, так это того, что каждый симбионт подвержен скрытой программе покорности, делающей их идеально верными ОФЗ. Это основная причина продолжающегося конфликта между ОФЗ и Нацией Кибран: для Кибран программирование на выполнение умственных задач для ОФЗ является рабством и служит причиной, подпитывающей враждебность между двумя сторонами.

ОФЗ уделяет большое внимание пропаганде, скрывающей существование программы лояльности и дискредитирующей утверждения кибран. В ней доктор Брэкмэн представляется как одержимый властью диктатор, автор программы лояльности (что является печальной правдой), использующий её для контроля над нормальными симбионтами (что правдой не является)

Военные действия ОФЗ против кибран выставляются как печальная необходимость, предпринимаемые для того, чтобы спасти поколения выросших с промытыми мозгами симбионтов Брэкмэна.

Cybran Nation[]

The Cybran Nation’s units are the least expensive to construct compared to the other factions’ and they have the lowest HP. Their advantages lie in technologies that disrupt enemies. For instance, they have assault bots at tech 1 to disrupt an enemy’s early expansion, their tech 3 aircraft have integrated stealth technology, when their Siege Assault Bots are destroyed their cores detonate powerfully releasing an EMP burst that disrupts enemy units, and they have the only mobile stealth field system. This even extends to their experimental units: The Monkeylord is the only experimental unit with a stealth capability. These attributes give the Cybran Nation a wide array of .

Weapons

Cybran forces use direct fire laser weapons and proton cannons with a very high ROF but low DPS, as well as AA and Anti-Sea Nanite Missiles and Torpedoes, AA Nanite Darts, as well as a collection of high explosive shells for indirect fire weapons.

Some of their units’ weapons have extra effects/abilities beside dealing damage. Such as that the T1 Medusa (and other units) have a EMP effect which temporarily stuns, T2 Renegade deals AOE damage, T2 Siren anti-air missile weapons can be reconfigured to target land, etc.

Unique units

The Cybrans are the only faction with a tech 1 assault bots, which often gives them an advantage during early expansion because they can assist in building. They have the Deceiver, the only mobile unit able to project a stealth field. This comes at the cost of the mobile shield generator. Other unique units include T2 Mobile Bomb: Fire Beetle, T1 Light Gunship: Jester, T2 Counter-Intelligence Boat: CI:18 Mermaid, T3 Perimeter Monitoring System: Soothsayer, and T3 Torpedo Ambushing System: HARMS. Their experimental units are unique: the spiderbot: Monkeylord, the gunship: Soul Ripper, the rapid fire artillery: Scathis, and the megabot: The Megalith. Although the Cybrans don’t have a T3 heavy shield generator, their tech 2 shield generator can be instead upgraded four further times until it reaches an equivalent reach of a tech 3 generator, but is much weaker.