My Guide

[blckace]

It's messy and incomplete, was hoping to finish it by the time the next worldcup ends but I won't have any time. Some of the sections are written by my clan members I just don't know which. The general section is obviously the best written part of this guide.
As Thrutchy pointed out there's a lot of always and never in the guide but that can't be always the case in a game like outwitters so they're there just for emphasis.

Best Teams:
Glitch: Feedback
Foundry: Doesn’t matter
Sweetie Plains: Doesn’t matter
Thorn Gulley: Adorables
Sweet Tooth: Adorables
War Garden: Scallywags
Skull Duggery: Adorables
SFI: Scallywags or Adorables.
Long9: Adorables.
Peekabo:Scallywags.

* General Tips:
Think of net gain. For example, every time a sniper moves one hex you add +1 to its value then count how much it would cost you to kill it and how much it costs them to replace. Another example is against scouts if your opponent moves his scout twice and is in your range and then you kill it with a newly spawned unit you come out +1 on wit count.
Don’t heal when you don’t have to.
Look at the number of turns from it you can deduce their wit pool and unit count even if not 100% accurate, it’s still useful.
Try to always move units the maximum distance they can move for soldiers that is three tiles instead of two.
Kill first (+1 wit on kill) you don’t want to heal or move and then not be able to kill.
Killing priority is Special (sometimes can ignore the mobi if he has no support units or wits) > Sniper > Heavy > Buffed soldiers > Normal Soldiers > Scouts.
Always kill as many units as you can (unit count), that’s why the person who attacks first usually wins because they end up destroying more units than you can.
Never attack a unit you can’t kill on the same turn. Never put a unit adjacent to an enemy unit that they can attack you without moving.
Never move the healer if you don’t plan on using it the same turn.
It’s ok if they kill your pre-deployed healer or sniper before you move them.
Every time you want to move a unit closer to your spawn point strongly consider creating a new unit instead.
Moving units back and forth is super bad, that’s why before you move any unit make sure you are putting it in the optimal position and don’t move it again.
Switch the location of the confrontation, this is very effective in large maps.
On two spawn maps consider spawning one unit per turn on some turns.
Consider not buffing every unit you spawn.
Always think twice before attacking with heavy because usually it means compromising your defense.
When you spawn a scout to kill a unit make sure you position it where it can reach a wit space the next turn or threaten some weak unit but not in range of a newly spawned enemy scout.
If an enemy rushes you and kills your healer there’s no point making another healer.
When an enemy attacks your base there’s a very big chance that they have a scout hidden in the fog to finish your base next turn.
When you attack someones base and you don’t finish it your opponent instantly gains +2 wits so never attack before you are sure you are gonna win.
Use units as barriers to protect fragile units like snipers and scramblers BUT never use scouts as a barriers.
Don’t lose the your wit space if you do getting it back is an emergency.
Count wits, I thought this was gonna be hard after the +1 wit change but it has become surprisingly easy after I put some effort into learning it.
Avoid putting units where they can be killed with one hit, for example putting a 3hp soldier near their spawn point where it can be easily sniped.
Sometimes your opponent has an impenetrable defense instead look for a gap to reach the base.
Kill buffed units first then unbuffed ones.
There’s a big difference between playing as p1 and p2.
Specials can change the color of your opponents bonus space in one turn (Feedback, Adorables, Vegginauts) utilizing this is devastating.
Don’t lose the heavy, don’t make heavy, buff the pre-deployed heavy.
Concept your army is made up of two parts (forward positioned units) & (backward units this includes considering the units you could spawn if they can reach an enemy unit right away) always attack with the backward units first.
Scouting is key to being a good player.
Save wits Save wits Save wits.
Covering spawn points with scouts is cool.
Make a unit every turn you don’t wanna fall behind in unit count specially on one spawn maps.
If you can kill a sniper with one unit it is always wit efficient.
When setting up an attack make sure you position the heavy where it can reach something the next turn.
Getting the enemy healer that’s adjacent to the spawn point is always a good idea.
Why create or move more units than you can utilize? Always consider unit to wit ratio.
Don’t attack without killing the sniper, if you don’t you’re in trouble.
Position specials near the edges or in tight spaces so they are easier to defend.
Scout first, attack second.
Before making any move CONSIDER every unit you have to, don’t skip it will save you from a lot of mistakes.
Hide in the fog of war.
Always consider what are the odds that he moved his healer and healed up his unit, specially true in large maps.
Even when it seems there are infinite wits, wits always matter, save as many as you can.
Think twice before spending that last wit.
Don’t threaten the wit space if you’re opponent will get it back right away, when you go for the wit space make sure you can keep up the pressure until you win that space.
Sometimes when you see that your opponent spent a lot of wits or made a new special, they might have used all their wits, that means you can pressure their wit spaces or on different parts of the map and they won’t have enough wits to defend everything.
Avoid placing units Adjacent to your wit space. It makes your opponent’s attack more effective if he/she can take your wit space and kill a unit at the same time.
Try to kill enemy units on the same turn, better if using only 1 of your units.
Pressure enemy bonus spaces on the same turn of your assault.

Feedback
- If you scramble a heavy it is better to heal it than heal the scrambler 5>2
- double scrambler is a bad idea, opt for two snipers and a scrambler instead for better defense.
- when rushing with feedback make sure there’s a scout hidden to finish the base
- make sure they can’t kill scrambler, before it is used.
- Don’t buff the scrambler when he is not in danger if the enemy can’t see he didn’t get buffed.
- against feedback always wonder what they spawned, a scrambler can turn your win to a loss if you don’t anticipate it.
-The strength of feedback is its offensive power and its perimeter defense. offensive power in the sense that it can lower the unit count of the enemy and transfer that unit to their side and its able to attack on the same turn.
And perimeter defense because the 3 hex perimeter around a feedbacks spawn space is dangerous. A scrambler can move up to 3 hexes so it can scramble anything beside the 3rd hex. Be careful as a scrambler can easily turn the tide of a battle.
Adorables
- Against vegginauts and adorables don’t cap wit spaces with scouts. Against adorables don’t cap wit spaces with 2hp scouts either you’ll regret it.
- against adorable sniper combo make sure to have many buffed soldiers, it’s the only way to win
- The strength of Adorables lies on mobility. Take advantage of that. An example would be teleporting your heavy to the other side of the map. With other races, this would be impossible if not very wit inefficient. Another use of the mobility would be the hit and run tactics with the mobi.
Vegginauts
- Against vegginauts and adorables don’t cap wit spaces with scouts. Against adorables don’t cap wit spaces with 2hp scouts either you’ll regret it.
- Imo, the veggienauts strength lies on overpowering the opponent. So try to take over their wit space until a definite advantage is formed.
- Dont go thorn crazy. If youve used veggienauts, you probably know what this means.
Scallywags
- Against scallywags, kill the healer, a THREE hp bombshell is ten times easier to kill than a FOUR hp one
- Best defense against bombshell is buffed soldiers, minimize scouts, position them out of splash range and sometimes it’s cheaper to retreat to pull the bombshell closer to your base because moving it costs three wits.
- The strength of the bombshell lies on its strong defensive power, high hp when buffed and splash damage. So the bombshell is good for map control and destroying an offensive attack.
- if you plan on using a mobi+sniper combo make the mobi first so you can pull the sniper instead of having to move the sniper and wasting an additional wit

* Reaper
Don’t put a unit where it can be reached by heavy
An attack is always going to come from your heavy side the bulk of your units should be on that side
The predeployed sniper is a tricky thing, do we use him for defense or offense? he’s not there for offense, he’s there for defense, surely if the game drags on longer with your forces marching towrds their heavy side and you still haven’t used him for defense by all means use him for offense but so far the best use i’ve found for him is help controlling the center
You can’t attack through the middle why? because the middle is practically their spawn point and we all know you can’t take someone through their spawn point
The golden soldier tile is the tile between two wooden thingys, why is it golden? it has a great strategic value in that it helps you control the center but also when you plan to attack this soldier can be utilized for offense on their heavy side, great right?
have you noticed this is the only small map with no predeployed healer? to spawn a healer or not? since you can only spawn one unit per turn it’s a big investment if it’s going to be a long game this is a great investment, but what if your opponent is planning some crazy rush? you’ll fall behind on attacking power severly but then again having buffed units means your units won’t die so easily, I have no recommendation because each game is different and playing against different teams is different but I’ll tell you this on pass’n’play practice spawning a healer on the first turn worked out well for me
Scouting is one of the most important concepts in outwitters is complicated here. The predeployed scout is probably going to scout your witspace side but what about the other side are you going to spawn another scout for the heavy side? seems like a bad idea since you’ll fall behind on attack power, specially that it could be taken easily if it was a one hp scout if you can send a buffed scout that seems like a great idea, but there’s another trick since unit count and attack power are really important on this map, if you see no action going on their heavy side why not be a smart person and move that scout to the other side of the map! Seriously though, sometimes you won’t be able to scout, then ask yourself what did my opponent do that could potentially destroy me if I didn’t react to it? Because without scouting you need to act two moves ahead to avoid catastrophe
Before planning some crazy p2 rush please consider this, surely p1 is planning something is my attack going to be faster? probably no, am I well defended on my heavy side? probably no, so some general rules, scrambler is faster than bombshell, mobi is faster than scrambler and p1 is using the same team as you, they are always faster
As p2 if you stop your opponents attack you’ve won the game, they’ll be unit depleted so you can take their wit space and even attack their heavy side if you balanced your forces accordingly
The golden offense tile, assume your base is south at the left edge of the map the top tile is where you can put fragile and important units and they would be very hard to kill
All the specials are going to come from your heavy side, what are some deviations from this rule? a mobi player could do a crazy sniper attack through the middle, a bombshell player could deploy one their and easily control the center and it will be downhill from there for you unless you were prepared!
Don’t worry much about your wit space, if they decide to take it, you’ll know about it and you’ll have time to prepare
I think the question is not if you are going to spawn a medic but when. Not having medic is easily countered by one shooting your soldiers and killing any advanced snipers with runners. The exception would be if you need to perform or defend against a rush.
It can be very rewarding to have a sniper behind a couple of units in the middle even though you don’t plan on doing a major attack there.


* AvA on Reaper (By Alvendor)
Adorables vs Adorables on reaper creates back and forth games with lots of complex tactical situations. In the beginning of the game and when only a few units are on the map, unit count can be just as important as wit count. As both have access to mobis means that no 1hp runner is safe from runner/mobi harass. That’s why a medic is the standard play on the first turn, boost every unit you make in the beginning to keep up unit count.
In general it is easier to attack on your wit side and you will be defending mostly on opponents wit side. But against a good opponent you can’t go for a quick rush, aka the reaper rush, as it is defendable. Your general plan is to gain some sort of advantage and then go for the all out attack on your wit side. To gain this advantage you need to adapt to your opponent and capitalize on his mistakes. Keeping the mobi on your wit side but close to the middle is a good way to reach anywhere on the map with a mobi/sniper in one turn.
Vision is important and you need a boosted runner on opponents wit side. One tile right of your heavy is a good place for an early runner. Don’t put it above the heavy as the opponent can threaten it with a soldier/mobi and force you to move it again and loose a wit.
Don’t be afraid to take the fight to opponents wit side if needed but remember it is only temporary, you can’t win with an all out attack on that side. When you have decent amount of units, unit count is not as important anymore. In the higher super titan levels you need to keep a complete wit count of your opponent to be competitive, this is one of the easier maps to do it on and it gets easier with practice.

Peekaboo
Against scallywags make heavy
Position buffed soldiers in the middle
Position unit on the narrow end of spawn point
Soldier+scrambler from the narrow end to their wit space effective
Scrambler and 4 soldiers, three of which are buffed
As p2 buffed scout and soldier goes to wit space
Facing adorables heavy on wit space
Facing scrambler soldier on wit space
Facing scallywags soldier on wit space
putting a soldier above my own wit space great for protection

Sweetie plains
Make sure you position scouts so they can cover or take the middle wit space, cover spawn point easily
The golden tile is near their where wit space is so that the soldier can sneak an attack in the nook
As p1 three soldiers attack formation with scouts and two buffed soldiers with healer
Three soldiers are impossible to stop at the lateral spawn point in addition to supplemental scouts
Heavy is scrambler bait in the usual position
As p1 always go for the sniper
Send sniper along the wall
P1 when executing my initial attack if they decide to go for my sniper with a scout no need to bother scouting them!
Far spawn point, when Attacking with soldier try to position him so he gets wit space if he’s not in danger
Shifting scouts from the far spawn to the middle is a good idea but how many?
Don’t fall for temptation and move your scout out of that far wit space

*Sharkfood island
4 soldiers 3 of them buffed as p2
Mobi+ sniper special spot
Go for the base with an unbuffed runner!
Go for the healer with an unbuffed runner?
Runner swarm base might be effective
Scrambler up top is effective
Don’t let an easy way to your healer or wit space
Push with 4 buffed soldiers
That scrambler rush, is it to spawn new scout two scouts total or use heavy? To control the upper area with the second soldier, 8 wits needed
Scrambler as p2 is a bad idea
P2 Turn 1 switch to scout spawn instead of soldier
Positioning scrambler in place of healer
Make sure heavy can reach that top hexagon by positioning him near the base


* Glitch
Alternative position for scrambler is the far edge near pole
To avoid problem of bombshell sniper in middle or heavy or ready to scramble
As p1 3 or 2 scouts then a soldier buff heavy scrambler hides behind wit space or right side behind soldier
Scrambler in the fifth turn
Don’t lose your healer early on
Make sure to buff heavy first turn
Use scout to kill healer or block base spawn even as p2
Sniper and shark and soldier buffed can make way through middle with scout spawns
First move as p2 move healer heal heavy make scout move it
P1 2 soldiers attack the shark if he’s at five make a scout and pass turn
Scout scout soldier scout scrambler
First move scout only
Sharks invasion!
When faced by scallywags, if they plan on using the special try to put heavy and soldier in the middle quick
Setting up to attack heavy with 2 soldiers is a bad idea until proven otherwise
Sniper is a king


* Foundry
Foundry soldier attack shift (Edit: this is an amazing concept and I found always works against unsuspecting people, you make a bunch of soldiers to defend your base, when their forces are thin and your sniper is in the right position you can easily utilize those soldiers for attack by moving them against their base)
Facing scout spam break the cycle by making 2hp scout
Foundry p1 rush use heavy as a barrier for sniper, it’s the heavy rush and it’s dangerous when you attempt it! basically move the heavy two tiles vertically
Never move soldier too early foundry as p2
Moving soldier to healer
Never put the heavy on the wit space
Sniper push towards healer very important as p1 or 2
As p2 second turn safe to use soldier to get wit space and maybe buff even
A buffed scout that goes for their far wit space can easily win you the game after you take their soldier when they attack
Best healer position depends p1 or two? preferably don’t move early on
As p2 taking wit space with heavy good idea? Healer moves to base.
Never move soldier from the far wit space early on as p2, safe to move if p1 tries to rush with heavy, it applies good pressure
If the threat to a far buffed sniper is scouts, protect him with soldiers, the scouts are no threat! Save three wits instead of going for the scouts and buff soldiers or spawn a new soldier.
Sneaking the healer with your soldier in the nook.


* Thorn Gulley
Against mobi heavy takes middle
Against mobi always have a 3 damage dealer on the weak side
Predeployed sniper goes up top covered by soldiers
Against mobi don’t spawn scrambler before it’s needed
The perfect position for predeployed healer*
The perfect position for the other healer*
To scout what he has on the far wit side, use a middle scout to attack their middle scout but position it laterally!
Maybe moving the predeployed sniper is not such a good idea, depends against which team

Long Nine
- Heal sniper
- against adorables never move the soldier next to the heavy, not kidding, take the wit space with a scout
- When defending the bottom with scrambler, try to send him in that middle scouting spot to set up for offense
-The middle of the map behind the boxes is a good spot for runners. It is flexible. It can defend and attack on the top and bottom.

War Garden
Don’t put unbuffed scout on wit space
War Garden is a map where sight is extremely important. Having a 2hp runner on a hex where you cover much of the map is the key.
Snipers are a very good defense in this map. Indeed, the places where most of the fight will happen are narrow, so creating a sniper at the bottom to prevent your opponent from putting you in difficulty at the left and another at the right spawn to attack is good.
Assembling soldiers at the top right corner and then attacking if your opponent didn’t defend enough there is advised. It’s very difficult to counter an attack once the spots are taken by adversary’s units.

Skull Duggery
There is the exploitable backdoor top middle hex where a sniper or bombshell can directly deal 3 hp damage to the enemy’s base
A sniper from the top is key on this map
Heavy to the upper wit space

Sweet Tooth
Against mobi heavy to e5

And Finally watch Replays from these players
Adorables
http://osn.codepenguin.com/players/view/294
Scallywags
http://osn.codepenguin.com/players/view/985
http://osn.codepenguin.com/players/view/13438
Feedback
http://osn.codepenguin.com/players/view/1108
Great players with all teams
http://osn.codepenguin.com/players/view/2
http://osn.codepenguin.com/players/view/895
http://osn.codepenguin.com/players/view/1281

[Chemoeum]

This is excellent.

[Flarp55]

"Never move the healer if you don’t plan on using it the same turn. "

Unless you are using it as a shield to block a win. (This happens more often than you might think)

[Chemoeum]

I also lost to a guy who defended his bombshells with runners. His army was eight bombshells, three medics, two heavies, and a hell-load of runners. I lost.

[Flarp55]

One more tip: In a huge turtling match, always keep about 15 wits in store in case of an attack. Don't spend it all on a special.

---

"scrambler is faster than bombshell, mobi is faster than scrambler"

and BS is faster than bramble
unless there are no thorns

---

@chemoeum do you have the replay

[Chemoeum]

(12-25-2013 03:36 PM)Bbobb555 Wrote:  @chemoeum do you have the replay

Which?

[Flarp55]

(12-25-2013 03:32 PM)Chemoeum Wrote:  I also lost to a guy who defended his bombshells with runners. His army was eight bombshells, three medics, two heavies, and a hell-load of runners. I lost.

that one

[Chemoeum]

(12-25-2013 06:24 PM)Bbobb555 Wrote:  

(12-25-2013 03:32 PM)Chemoeum Wrote:  I also lost to a guy who defended his bombshells with runners. His army was eight bombshells, three medics, two heavies, and a hell-load of runners. I lost.

that one

outwitters://viewgame?id=ahRzfm91dHdpdHRlcnNnYW1lLWhyZHIVCxIIR2FtZVJvb20YgICAhNCb7QgM

That last part was a bit of fun. I had so many wits and did it anyway.

[Thrutchy]

Great guide! I hope this can inspire our clan to do something similar.

I see a lot of "always" and "never" in this guide. Most of these have exceptions.

[blckace]

Definitely but they serve as good starter guide, don't you think?
It's mostly notes I took for myself while climbing the ladder and I believe they helped me a lot.
The general section has a lot of advanced concepts that I wasn't aware of so maybe it will help someone break into the very top