The Hydration Plant Walkthrough

You start on top of a high mesa in the south of the map, with your Commander, a Galactic Gate, 1000 metal and 1000 energy. To win, you must capture the Hydration Plant, a Core building near the north edge. If it is destroyed, you lose. Your build list is short. The Commander builds power, metal, L.L.T.s, radar and an Aircraft Plant, and the plant makes Peepers, Freedom Fighters, Thunder bombers and Atlas transports. There are no ground factories and no construction units.

Core has 87 units on Medium, and most of its fighting units are Kbots and tanks. Two Pyros attack your Commander in the first seconds. After that, Core's patrols start to pass the plant at 8:20, and its first missile trucks move at 15:00. The quickest plan is an early airlift: build an Aircraft Plant and an Atlas, and fly the Commander north before 8:20.

The Battlefield

The map is a sandy plain broken by tall mesas. Yours stands in the south-centre, and its flat top runs from about (1380, 2210) to (1770, 2530). A larger mesa stands north of you, with a Core Light Laser Tower, a radar and two Solar Collectors on top. The Hydration Plant sits on open ground near the north edge, ringed by six Dragon's Teeth, next to a Core Metal Extractor, two Geothermal Powerplants and a Moho Mine. Seven Avengers are parked along the top edge just north of it.

The numbers on the map are the plan; the letters are Core's positions. The units shown are those of Medium.

Map of The Hydration Plant 12345ABCDEFG
The planEnemy positionsYour unitsEnemy unitsHover a dot to see the unit and its orders. · Map 3,072 × 3,072 pixels · Scroll or pinch on the map to zoom; drag to move. Hover over a feature or a resource for its details.
  • 1Your start, on top of the mesa. Two Pyros attack the Commander at once: one from (1680, 2368), and one from (1408, 2272) 2 seconds later.
  • 2A deposit worth 223, with a second at (1624, 2328). Build the Aircraft Plant here, on the mesa.
  • 3The Atlas turns north here, west of the northern mesa. From 15:00 two Slashers patrol to this area.
  • 4Head north-east from here to the plant.
  • 5Land the Commander here, at the gap on the west side of the Dragon's Teeth.
  • AThe Hydration Plant. Capture it to win. If it is destroyed, you lose.
  • BA Pyro that starts to patrol past the plant at 8:20. Two more follow at 9:10 and 11:00.
  • CThis Light Laser Tower is watched. Attacking it launches the Avengers at D.
  • DSeven Avengers, parked on the top edge. They wait until the tower at C is attacked.
  • EFive Storms. From 1:00 they patrol west to F, across the plain north of your mesa.
  • FEight A.K.s, at the west end of the Storm patrol. One of them patrols past your mesa from 1:10.
  • GTwo Slashers and two Raiders. From 15:00 they patrol east towards 3.

Core's Timetable

Core's orders on Medium, counted from the start of the mission.

Time What happens
From the start A Pyro attacks your Commander. A Weasel patrols the plain south of your mesa, between (533, 2772) and (2677, 2734). A Spectre radar jammer patrols between (2806, 1728) and (187, 742).
0:02 A second Pyro attacks your Commander.
1:00 Five Storms patrol from (2740, 1800) to F.
1:10 An A.K. patrols from F to (2396, 2387), passing just north of your mesa.
8:20 A Pyro patrols from B to (2392, 273), past the plant.
9:10 A Pyro patrols from (1209, 320) to (2679, 81), past the plant.
10:00 A Thud patrols in the north-west corner, between (631, 529) and (635, 40).
11:00 A Pyro patrols from (2343, 304) to (1271, 485), past the plant.
11:40 A Pyro patrols from (2295, 624) to (2533, 1409). Two Reapers patrol from the north-west corner to (1232, 1565) and (1352, 1609).
15:00 Two Slashers patrol from G to (1354, 1577) and (1319, 1814). A Raider patrols to (1354, 1577), and a second follows at 15:05.
16:00 Two more Reapers patrol from the west edge to (610, 1644) and (420, 1786).

The Plan on Medium

Hold the Mesa (0:00 to 2:00)

  1. Fire the Commander's Disintegrator at the first Pyro, then at the second. A Pyro's flamethrower does about 140 damage a second, but it reaches only 160, and the Disintegrator reaches 240. Each shot costs 400 energy, and you start with 1000.
  2. Fight the Pyros away from the Galactic Gate at (1552, 2480). If the gate is destroyed, it explodes for up to 2000 damage within 258 pixels, and the Commander starts 210 from it.

Build the Airlift (2:00 to 8:00)

  1. Put Metal Extractors on both deposits at 2, then Solar Collectors and Wind Generators. The wind here runs from 400 to 3000.
  2. Build an Aircraft Plant at 2. Make a Peeper to scout the route, then an Atlas.
  3. Put an L.L.T. on the north edge of the mesa. Its laser reaches 300, which beats the A.K. (180) that walks past from 1:10.

Fly North (Before 8:20)

  1. Load the Commander into the Atlas and fly from 1 to 3, then to 4 and 5. This route stays west of the tower at C. Do not attack that tower.
  2. Land at 5 and capture the plant. The six Dragon's Teeth round it leave a gap on the west side and another on the east side. The mission ends as soon as the plant is yours.
  3. Before 8:20, the Core units near the plant are only waiting: two Pyros at B and (1209, 320), a Thud far to the west and the parked Avengers. None of them has orders to move until its timer runs out or the tower at C is attacked.

If the Airlift Is Late

  1. From 8:20, three Pyros patrol right past the plant. Build Thunders and bomb the Pyros at the far ends of their routes, at (2392, 273), (2679, 81) and (1271, 485). Never bomb next to the plant. It has 1806 hit points, and every Thunder bomb does 158.
  2. From 15:00 the Slashers patrol towards 3. Their missiles do 92 damage to an Atlas, which has 150 hit points. Bomb the Slashers before the next flight. Each has 655 hit points, five bombs' worth.
  3. Send two or three Freedom Fighters with the Atlas. If the Avengers ever launch, a Freedom Fighter missile does 130 damage to an Avenger, which has 202 hit points.

What Changes on Hard

  • Your Commander and gate are the same, and so are the starting 1000 metal and 1000 energy. Core has 104 units instead of 87.
  • Three Pyros attack the Commander: one at once, one at 0:05 and one at 0:10. Two Disintegrator shots use 800 of your 1000 energy, so the third must wait for income, or use the laser.
  • A Pyro at (1289, 400) patrols from 6:40 to (2363, 559), south of the plant. Four Pyros in the north-east corner wait for it to be attacked, then patrol from (1837, 400) to (1344, 373), straight past the plant. On Medium those four have nothing to wait for.
  • Two Crashers wait on top of the northern mesa, at (1668, 1026) and (1860, 1026). Their missiles do 80 damage to an Atlas and reach 590, which covers the route from 3 to 4. Bomb them before you fly. Each has 480 hit points.
  • There are six Light Laser Towers instead of three, among them (624, 336) and (992, 736) in the north-west.
  • Nine Avengers instead of seven. Six of them attack at once when the tower at C is attacked.
  • There are 17 Reapers instead of 11, ten Thuds, three Slashers (the third patrols from (232, 1084) at 15:00) and no Raiders.
  • The computer player keeps all the income from its Moho Mine, Metal Extractor, two Geothermal Powerplants and six Solar Collectors, against 70 percent on Medium.

Which Units Beat Theirs

Core unit Its threat Your answer
Pyro Flamethrower, about 140 damage a second, range 160 The Commander's Disintegrator (range 240), or Thunders away from the plant
Avenger Missiles, 136 damage to your aircraft Freedom Fighters (130 damage to it). It has 202 hit points.
Slasher Missiles, 92 damage to an Atlas, range 600 Thunders (158 per bomb). It has 655 hit points.
Crasher (Hard) Missiles, 80 damage to aircraft, range 590 Thunders. It has 480 hit points.
A.K. Laser, 30 damage, range 180 An L.L.T. (range 300). It has 265 hit points.
Storm Rockets, 100 damage, range 400 Thunders, or keep your buildings back from the mesa edge
Reaper 2014 hit points, plasma cannon with range 320 Fly over it. It is not worth the bombs.

Metal and Energy

Two deposits worth 223 sit on your mesa: (1480, 2440) at 2 and (1624, 2328) beside it. The rest lie on the plain or under Core buildings: (2376, 2488) and (936, 2600) south of you, (1080, 1400) in the middle, (2264, 1656) worth only 56, (1480, 472) under a Core Metal Extractor and (1944, 296) under the Moho Mine. The surface metal value is 3, and there are no rocks to reclaim on your mesa.

There are three geothermal vents, but nothing you can build here can use one. Two have Core Geothermal Powerplants on them, and the third, at (1624, 1688), stays empty. Your energy comes from wind (400 to 3000), Solar Collectors (20 each) and the Commander itself (25). An Aircraft Plant costs 850 metal and 1370 energy, and an Atlas 107 metal and 2479 energy, so the airlift needs mostly energy. A Thunder costs 5496 energy.

Traps

  • Two Pyros attack the Commander in the first two seconds. Together they do about 280 damage a second to its 3000 hit points.
  • Your Galactic Gate dies in a blast of up to 2000 damage within 258 pixels. Keep fights away from it.
  • The plant must survive. Do not bomb near it, and do not fire the Disintegrator anywhere close to it.
  • Attacking the tower at C launches the Avengers. Two attack your Freedom Fighters, Solar Collectors, Thunders, Aircraft Plant, Metal Extractors and Commander, two more follow two minutes later, and three patrol between (2421, 899) and (963, 1036).
  • Eight more Pyros wait round the foot of your mesa, at points such as (1301, 1834), (1107, 2640) and (2084, 1889). They wait until they are attacked.
  • An Atlas has 150 hit points. Two Slasher missiles bring it down, so never fly the Commander past a live Slasher.

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