3 Races
Xen - Emphasis on numbers: Has a large variety of units, and encourages mixed group strategies.
HECU - Emphasis on power: Has strong infantry backed by air support, as well as stealth.
Black Mesa - Emphasis on adaptability: healing, defense, and the best infantry unit in the game.
Some basics:
- Most attacks have a bonus that can be obtained by upgrading that particular unit.
- Most units have just one upgrade, but some may have more. Upgrades can be very useful for increasing any individual unit's effectiveness in combat.
Normal - Melee attack, or generic ranged attack.
Bullet - Hitscan ranged attack.
Explosive - Impact blast damage
Shock - Electricity-based attack.
Fire - Fire-based attack.
Sonic - Ground-based sound attack.
Acid - No one uses this yet, so don't bother.
Xen Units
Headcrab
Cost: $50
Armor: 0 (Immune to Acid damage)
HP: 10 (+10)
Move Speed: Slow
Attack - Bite: 5 (+5)
Range: Short
Type: Normal
Cooldown: LongSize: Small
Headcrabs are small and weak, but also cheap to build and effective in numbers. Their small size means that they can be hidden literally anywhere, but they are very popularly placed in air ducts to get a cheap guaranteed hit off the enemy. Its jumping bite attack is fast, but because of the headcrab's slow speed it takes a long time to attack again, which only makes it more necessary that an effective headcrab force be quite numerous.
Be careful when using the Infect ability: it takes a while for the headcrab
to become a zombie, and while in this state the headcrab is vulnerable to
damage.
Zombie
Cost: N/A (Headcrab infects a host human)
Armor: Mutant Skin (70% resistance to bullet damage)
HP: 50 (+50)
Move Speed: Slow
Attack - One Slash: 10 (+10)
Attack - Both Slash 25 (+15)
Range: Melee
Type: Normal
Cooldown: MediumThe Infect Host ability allows headcrabs to infect enemy humans, turning them into zombies. Zombies have decent armor and are very durable against bullets (taking only 30% of the damage), but they are slow and must move into melee range to attack. If they do get in range, however, they deal very high damage quickly and can easily overrun most enemies. Like headcrabs, zombies are only effective in large groups due to their melee attack range.
Houndeye
Cost: $100
Armor: 0 (Immune to Sonic Blast)
HP: 20 (+10)
Move Speed: Medium
Attack - Sonic Blast: 10 (+5) (x110% per houndeye with Squad Harmonics upgrade)
Range: Short
Attack Type: Sonic
Charge Time: LongHoundeyes are extremely fragile individually, but operate much better in groups. More importantly, houndeye attacks have a HUGE splash radius, which can easily clear groups of enemies, especially if their attacks are well-coordinated. Immune to their own attacks, houndeyes can move quickly and blast enemies while suffering minimal casualties themselves. In addition, getting the Squad Harmonics upgrade will allow each blast to gain an 110% bonus FOR EACH houndeye near the attacking one. Attack en masse for stacked damage!
Bullsquid
Cost: $150
Armor: 0
HP: 40 (+80)
Move Speed: Fast
Attack - Bite: 15 (+10)
Attack - Whip: 25 (+10)
Range: Melee
Type: Normal
Cooldown: Short Range: Medium
Type: Normal
Cooldown: MediumAttacks other bullsquids and headcrabs
Bullsquids have average stats, but look at that upgraded HP: A whopping 120 hit points! Bullsquids are a cheap alternative to grunts when a damage sponge is needed. Bullsquids also have a ranged attack (albeit a very inaccurate one) when they cannot move into melee range. Unfortunately, bullsquids are ineffective for several reasons. They attack each other, and any headcrabs nearby, meaning that you cannothave groups consisting of more than one bullsquid, or even a bullsquid and a headcrab! Bullsquids are also easily distracted by smells, so they can be unreliable at times.
Vortigaunt (Alien Slave)
Cost: $200
Armor: 0 (Immune to Shock)
HP: 30 (+30)
Move Speed: Medium
Attack - Claw: 8 (+2)
Clawrake: 25
Range: Melee
Type: Normal
Cooldown: Short Range: Long
Type: Shock
Charge Time: Long
Charge Time (Focus Collar Upgrade): ShortVortigaunts are the mainstay of any Xen attack force, providing supporting fire from behind a wall of Grunts. Their Zap Beams are deadly accurate, but have a long charge up time. Fortunately, the charge time can be drastically reduced with the Focus Collar Upgrade. Vortigaunts have high damage potential, but at shorter ranges they fare poorly
against tougher, melee-oriented opponents. Always have frontline support if you are planning to mass vortigaunts.
Alien Grunt
Cost: $250
Armor: Chrome Exoskeleton (-20 normal/bullet damage)
HP: 60 (+30 per upgrade)
Move Speed: Medium
Attack - Punch: 10 (+10)
Range: Melee
Type: Normal
Cooldown: Medium Range: Medium
Type: Normal
Cooldown: ShortXen Grunts are the bread-and-butter of any invading Xen army. Imbued with heavy body armor, ample health, and a weapon with a fast rate of fire, grunts are very effective against just about any other enemy. One important downside of the hornetgun is that it cannot detect inorganic enemies, such as HECU sentries or helicopters, meaning that Xen grunts are virtually defenceless against these types of foes. Nevertheless, the most effective
strategy of Xen players is using a combined Grunt/Slave force, where the vorts can easily counter the grunt's weaknesses and vice versa. Grunts can absorb damage from the front while vorts deal high damage from the rear; this combined force can easily overwhelm most enemy formations, and it has proven effective in a variety of different scenarios.
Alien Controller
Cost: $300
Armor: 0
HP: 60 (+40)
Move Speed: Slow (Air unit, Can attack while moving)
Attack - Energy Ball: 3 (+1 per upgrade)
Range: Long
Type: Normal
Cooldown: Short Range: Short (Homing)
Type: Shock
Charge Time: MediumControllers are one of the best units the Xen race has to offer. As air units, they are completely immune from melee and most short-range attacks. They don't appear to do much damage, but they have a ridiculously high rate of fire, meaning each attack consists of around ten 3-dmg balls or so. At shorter ranges, the controller can attack with a homing ball with added shock damage! Controllers move slowly, but they can attack while moving too,
making them very difficult to hit by anything short of auto-aiming turrets. With many strengths and few weaknesses, controllers make for a very effective element in a Xen attack force.
Gargantua
Cost: $2500
Armor: Armored Carapace (Only take damage from explosives)
HP: 800 (+200)
Move Speed: Medium
Attack - Slash: 10 (+20)
Range: Melee
Type: Normal
Cooldown: Long Range: Short
Type: Fire
Cooldown: None Range: Medium
Type: Sonic
Cooldown: LongThe ultimate Xen unit, Gargantuas are big blue hulks of mass destruction. Immune to normal and bullet damage, a single gargantua can trample attacking forces with ease. Its flamethrower attack racks up damage very quickly, and any unit caught in the fire zone will drop dead in a matter of seconds. Due to its large size, Gargs cannot pursue most enemies into smaller areas, but its Blood Stomp will instantly frag any unit trying to attack from cover. The stomp can even climb walls to reach targets attacking from above. The only weakness of the Gargantua is the lack of
answers to air units.
HECU Units
HECU Human Grunt
Cost: $200
Armor: PCV
Gasmask Helmet (-20 normal/bullet/explosive damage)Move Speed: Medium
Attack - Kick: 5 (+5)
Range: Melee
Type: Normal
Cooldown: MediumAttack - Shotgun: 5 (+1)
Range: Medium
Attack Type: Bullet
Reload Time: MediumAttack - Contact Grenade - 100
Range: Medium
Type: Explosive
Charge Time: MediumHECU soldiers excel in all kinds of situations and against all kinds of opponents. They can keep a steady rate of damage as well as deal high splash damage using explosive weaponry. It's not uncommon to see HECU players mass about 2-3 dozen HECU grunts and proceed to wipe out the opposing player without much difficulty. However, don't forget that the HECU isn't just about the grunts; though they are usually quite versatile, the HECU has much more at their disposal, and people tend to forget that.
Apache Attack Helicopter
Cost: $2000
Armor: Aircraft Plating (Halves normal and bullet damage, but takes 100% extra damage from explosives)
HP: 150 (+100 first upgrade, +150 second upgrade)
Move Speed: Slow (Machine, Air unit, can attack while moving)
Attack - 12mm Turret: 8 (+2)
Range: Long
Type: Bullet Range: Medium
Type: ExplosiveIt costs $2000 to build an Apache attack helicopter...
Trust me, this is money well spent. The Apache attack helicopter has heavy armor to deflect most small arms fire, and it can naturally avoid melee attacks as an airborne unit. It is also a machine-type, meaning that Alien Hornets cannot damage it at all. On the other hand, the Apache has a vulnerability: it will take twice the damage from explosives. Fortunately, few units have have explosive attacks capable of hitting air units. The 12mm Turret can target anything within range of the Apache, and if that doesn't work, research the Hypervelocity Missiles and they will finish the job. If you can build about 12 of these babies quickly, the enemy will be all but finished.
Osprey Transport Helicopter
Cost: $3500
Armor: Aircraft Plating
HP: 400
Move Speed: Slow (Machine, Air unit)
Attack - Air Strike (300-500)
Range: Extreme
Type: Explosive
Cooldown: LongSize: Gigantic
Osprey helicopters have no direct way to attack, but they have two very useful abilities. First, they can load and carry HECU grunts and quickly deploy them into the heat of battle, allowing the HECU player to sustain an attacking army with frequent reinforcements. The Osprey can also deploy tactical airstrikes at enemy bases for large amounts of damage, but in most
cases, air strikes are used for suppression rather than for destruction.
Unlike Apaches, Ospreys have no damage-reduction armor and are vulnerable to small arms fire (except for hornets), but as a tradeoff, there's no explosive weakness either. Ospreys are best used as a supporting aircraft that can bring reinforcements to keep up the offensive on an enemy base as well as airstrikes to minimize enemy resistance.
Human Assassin
Cost: $300
Armor: 0
HP: 30 (+20)
Move Speed: Fast
Attack - Kick: 5 (+5)
Range: Melee
Type: Normal
Cooldown: Short Range: Medium
Attack Type: Bullet
Reload Time: None Range: Medium
Type: Explosive
Charge Time: ShortSkill - Cloak and Dagger (Upgrade)
Cloaks user while stationaryDespite having lower HP than an average human grunt, assassins have many
abilities in their skillset that's perfect for micro-happy players. Foremost
among these is the Cloak upgrade. With it, assassins can ambush enemies without giving any warning. From there, the player can pull off all sorts of
micromanaged ambushes. One of which I remember fondly is when you are facing a typical Xen Grunt/Vortigaunt army marching on your base. All you need to do to take them out (or at least reduce it to a few stragglers) is to cloak a few assassins on their path and have them all simultaneously throw grenades at the aliens. After the fireworks, their attacking army will be swiftly transformed into a pile of organs strewn about on the floor.
Black Mesa Units
Scientist
Cost: $100
Armor: 0
HP: 20
Move Speed: Medium
No Attacks
Skill - Heal (25 HP)
Range: Melee
Cooldown: Very LongScientists scare easily and will run all over the place and get themselves
killed. However, with some micromanaging, scientists can become mobile
healing pools that take some time to recharge. They are very weak, so its
necessary to keep them well away from the front where a even a few stray
bullets can kill them.
Barney
Cost: $150
Armor: Kevlar Vest (Halves normal/bullet damage)
Kevlar Helmet (-20 normal/bullet damage)Move Speed: Medium
Attack - Glock Pistol: 5 (+3)
Range: Medium
Attack Type: Bullet
Reload Time: NoneBarneys are essential to an attacking Black Mesa force. They have excellent accuracy and do not need to reload, allowing them to outgun the opposition that do have to stop and reload. Barneys have good, but not great, defence that can give them a little more survivability than anything else with 35 HP.
HEV Scientist
Cost: $800
Armor: HEV Mark IV
HP: 100
Move Speed: Medium
Attack - .357 Revolver: 40
Range: Long
Attack Type: Bullet
Reload Time: Medium Range: Medium
Attack Type: Bullet
Reload Time: Medium Range: Short
Attack Type: Bullet
Reload Time: Medium Range: Long
Attack Type: Explosive
Reload Time: Long Range: Long
Attack Type: Energy
Reload Time: NoneHEV-wearing scientists are the strongest infantry units in the entire game. They won't fare too well in 1v1 matches against the Xen Gargantuas or the HECU Apaches, but their strength lies in numbers: the cost of 1 Apache can be used to train 3 HEV scientists, and 3 RPG's can easily take down a single Apache. The variety of weapons carried by HEVsci's allow for clever micromanagement as well, from harassing enemies at long range with RPG's, to quickly taking out approaching enemies with a revolver. The sheer number
of weapons available to HEVsci's allow a small group of them to deal with virtually any other unit group in either of the other two races.
Coming soon: Bigmomma, Nihilanth, Baby headcrab, Leech, snark, ichthy, sentry turret, barnacle, gman, tentacle
Expansions: Opposing Force, (Vote a mod here!)
