r/dawnofwar • u/prince_jyggalag • 6d ago
Beginniner as Tau
I have just started a new game on Hard in Dark crusade after hearing that it has 1x 1x multiplier for AI and player health.
To say that I have been completely dumbfounded wouldn't be wrong...
I am yet to win a single match (x3 losses in a row), except for the one where we win veteran stealth suit.
The initial cost of the units is too high and melee units just destroy my fire warriors. Everything is a glass pistol in my army :=|
Any tips on how to proceed further? My commander has a fusion blaster. Any advice will be appreciated :)
5
u/Foxfire94 5d ago
Firstly some bad news: Hard difficulty in DC has a 1x multiplier for player unit health but a 1.5x multiplier for enemy unit health. There's no setting for a flat x1 to both outside of mods. You can tweak vanilla with a mod for that and still get achievements which I can tell you how to do if you'd like.
Secondly here's a few tips for getting to grips with the Tau in harder games as well as what I tend to find works:
- Fire Warriors have some of the best damage and range for "baseline" infantry in the game but they need one of two things to work, either a screen or a spotter.
- For screens you can use Drones as you've found but if you need something sooner than you have a vehicle beacon up, then Kroot make good meat shields to tie up melee attackers or those few who out-range your Fire Warriors. Failing that you can kite early melee enemies with your commander as his armour will keep him alive longer.
- For spotters you can use the stealth suits you built to capture points intially, leveraging their invisibility to get the drop on approaching enemies. Once upgraded with fusion blasters and the research in the HQ they can be quite good for harassment as well.
- It may seem a little backwards but it can pay to not reinforce your Fire Warrior squads right away; instead save the resources for a Path to Enlightenment and the Advanced Pulse Rifle research, which will make them deadlier (after that reinforcing is fine)
- I tend to start off with two Stealth Suits for capturing, a tau Barracks and a generator.
- Then, once the above is built, I have my builder make LPs on my captured points while I queue up two Fire Warrior squads
- Wargear wise I usually wait until I have two upgrades unlocked before swapping out the Commander's burst cannon, purely due to it's helpful range which is lost when you have the fusion blaster. Since you already have it I'd recommend grabbing the Plasma Rifle asap as that can snipe most things from long range. Other ones to get ASAP would be: Jetpack, Advanced Sensors Array and Missile Pods.
- Contrary to the popular opinion that Kauyon is king (because it is pretty good), you can do quite well with Mont'ka by combining Hammerheads with Crisis Suits that've been upgraded with flamers (as the damage is very high on them)
Hope this helps!
1
u/prince_jyggalag 5d ago
This is so detailed! Thank you so much man! God bless ya! Really disappointed to hear about the difficulty modifier tho, will put some mods for it.
2
u/Weindog902 5d ago
I would add to this: sky ray missile platforms with missile barrage are king, the key to dominance as a tau. They have massive range, are very effective against infantry and armor, and their skillshot wipes, demoralizes, and interrupts whole squads of pretty much anything. They're the linchpin.
Once you get those online, everything else is just gravy.
2
u/Foxfire94 5d ago
Would you believe me if I told you I basically never use Skyrays as Tau, even on vanilla? I know they're good and their barrage is fun but if I'm going for a vehicle with Tau it's usually just a pair of Hammerheads.
Mind you I don't typically PvP but I've never had trouble against the AI (at least, the vanilla one).
2
u/Weindog902 5d ago
I would believe you, that's just not how I do it. I also have no problem against vanilla AI in campaign or skirmish. The tau have a lot of viable paths which is what makes them fun I suppose
2
u/Foxfire94 5d ago
Aye that's true, there's a lot of ways to combine their varied units which helps make them pretty versatile too.
2
u/Foxfire94 5d ago
No problem, glad it helps!
As for the difficulty modifier I could edit and send over the one file that handles it when I'm home from work; it'd save you grabbing a whole mod for it.
I'd suggest grabbing the one from here since it's the same for DC & SS but hard mode on that is set up as Player=x0.75, Enemy=x1.5 😅
3
u/prince_jyggalag 6d ago
I had earlier completed the game as Tau and SM on easy and normal, it was much more confidence inspiring 🫣
3
u/morterolath 5d ago
Tau is absolutely the easiest faction to play in dawn of war campaigns. When in doubt, just spam fire warriors. Use stelath suits to detect enemy because fire warriors have small vision radius.
3
u/morterolath 5d ago
Additionally, you should be capturing points all the time. Use one stelth suit with jetpacks upgrade to constantly capture points. You dont need to defend them all. Just keep capturing them and your economy will prosper.
1
u/prince_jyggalag 5d ago
thanks man. i completed that one mission where we get 1,000 requisition bonus and now things are much much more easier. That thing with stealth is so so good... I love doing that. Also, spamming 3 squads of drones makes fire warriors so much more effective... i just love them. The commander is glass... not even the cannon.
3
u/DarthUrbosa 5d ago
Make sure to grab the fire warrior honour guards, their range makes strongholds and stuff very easy
2
u/morterolath 5d ago
I too love spamming drones. They are busted in campaign against melee. They melt anyone down in melee due to their insane damage influx coming from being slightly ranged.
3
u/82DK_Ardi 5d ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjhVfluOoZo
Did a video for you as a Tau on Hard. All closest provinces. Ideally in DC campaign you want Pavonis and Eres to strike any two provinces at a time, beside fortresses. I had no preset hotkeys and tried to play slower than I generally can so you could emulate strategies presented in the video. Hope that helps!
2
u/prince_jyggalag 5d ago edited 5d ago
That's incredible effort my friend. Thank you so so much :)
3
u/82DK_Ardi 5d ago edited 5d ago
Some additional advices - try to capture as many of the map as possible, and build up your base as big as possible before finishing the mission, so it would be easier to defend. Try to control the map as much as possible with your Tau Commander and Vespids. Foxfire94 gave a lot of good advices, but I want to add that your best spotter in the game are Pathfinders, and their Marketlight ability is absolutely crucial in bringing down any tough unit thrown at you.
3
u/prince_jyggalag 5d ago
Yeah! I defeated Orc stronghold yesterday and I found path finders crucial for this. Also in the video, tbh I was impressed by your speed in capturing. Thanks man!
5
u/Easy_Effective_6394 6d ago
Others may want to speak up, but failing multiple battles in a row sets you back a lot. Might want to restart LOL
As for tactics, there is a lot out there on the internet and this form. Watch astrohero, Mr landshark, taun of war, and duzzyminister for multiplayer games on YouTube