Strategy games are always overwhelming and complicated for new players. There are tons of stuff to look at, various things to micromanage, and several strategies to use to gain the upper hand. The same thing applies to the newly released Terra Invicta.
So if you’re a complete beginner to the game, this beginner’s guide can hopefully help you out.
Beginner’s Guide | Everything You Need to Know in Terra Invicta
There are lots of things to learn and discover in Terra Invicta. While you can refer to this beginner’s guide, a lot of the game’s mechanics will be laid out for you as you play the game. Nonetheless, this guide will hopefully provide you with information that will help you through the early parts.
That said, here are the things you need to know when playing the game for the first time:
Familiarize the Tech Tree
One of the things that make Terra Invicta so complex for new players is its expansive Technology Tree. In fact, it might just be one of the most intimidating tech trees in all of RTS games. However, it’s important to familiarize yourself with this mechanic as you’ll be visiting it every now and then to make upgrades.
Luckily, the game will provide you with objectives that will guide you through its massive tech tree. These objectives will give you insight into which parts of the tree you want to focus on researching.
As such, I highly recommend that you pay attention to those insights since it will make the process of browsing through your tech tree a lot easier.
Of course, as you spend hours upon hours playing the game, you’ll have lots of time to figure out which technologies are worth upgrading and which are not. It’s all about experimentation at that point, but it’s best if you start learning it earlier on.
Take Advantage of Boost
Boost is a pretty important resource, especially once you reach the mid-game. With Boost, you gain the ability to launch space stations and deliver materials to space with the help of rockets. You also use this resource to maintain your stations and outposts that normally require such a resource for maintenance. A few good examples are Water and Volatiles.
At this point, you’ll want to have a Councilor with the Defend Interests ability to ensure that you can secure Control Points from enemies. Also, it’s when you’d want to start building space stations.
I don’t recommend building them early in the game as they will require Boost for maintenance. This can only prevent you from collecting enough Boost which you’ll need to mine resources.
Play as The Resistance
Needless to say, there are tons of things to learn in the game. Terra Invicta, after all, has a very steep learning curve with a lot of deep mechanics that you can’t uncover all by yourself. All these make it really overwhelming for first-time players.
However, if you want to have an easier life playing the game for the first time, then I’d recommend choosing The Resistance as your faction. While there are several factions in the game, only The Resistance provides a built-in tutorial that will give you an overview of the game’s mechanics.
Of course, once you’ve familiarized yourself with most of those mechanics, you can then start experimenting with other factions.
Focus on Securing and Controlling Zones
Unlike most RTS games, Terra Invicta doesn’t focus too much on micromanagement, though there are several important things that are similar to most games. One of them is securing and controlling zones which should be your main focus in the early game which is around the first year or so.
However, more territory doesn’t always mean better, as there’s a Control Point Cap that will easily get filled up if you just focus on claiming as many territories as you can. Once you go beyond that cap, your Influence will suffer. This is why you want to focus on territories that you can control and maintain in a very cost-effective manner.
Losing is Part of the Game
This not only applies to Terra Invicta but to all games in general. As for Terra Invicta, however, this is something that you need to embrace, especially if you’re new to the game. It will be impossible to have an optimal setup from the start of your campaign, and you will certainly make mistakes that will cost you a lot.
That’s completely okay. After all, losing is one of the ways that you can learn more about the game’s mechanics. This is regardless of which mistake you have committed, as things are quite complicated when you first start out.
With time, you will be able to learn and even master the systems of Terra Invicta. This, in turn, will increase your chances of victory.
Brought into the world of gaming by the time he was 10, Argie knew that gaming will bring him countless hours of fun, a thing that has never changed even up to this day. His passion for games is apparent in the articles he write, and as an expert in the genre, being able to share what he's learned, discovered, and accomplished to his fellow gamers is such an amazing opportunity.