Diplomacy is Not an Option Beginner Guide
Build an economy that can survive its own growth. Secure workers and hauling capacity before chasing an elaborate army, then use active pause to inspect threats and correct the plan.
Diplomacy is Not an Option Beginner Guide
- Start with reliable wood and food rather than a rigid universal timer.
- Add houses before worker availability becomes the bottleneck.
- Scout nearby resource carts and keep walking distances short.
- Leave firing lanes around walls and defensive positions.
A stable opening has four jobs
Opening advice varies by map, mode, and difficulty. The repeatable part is the decision order: keep workers available, protect food supply, secure wood for construction, and learn where the next resources and attack lanes are.
- 01
Stabilise labour
Build housing before the worker pool stalls, but avoid consuming every resource on housing alone.
- 02
Secure food and wood
These keep population and construction moving. Expand only as far as you can haul efficiently.
- 03
Scout the near field
Resource carts can change the opening. Use safe units and active pause rather than blind movement.
- 04
Shape a defence
Keep projectile physics and line of sight in mind. A wall that blocks your own fire is not a complete defence.
Prevent the quiet failures
A settlement can fail before the wave reaches the wall. Food shortages stop growth, long hauling routes waste labour, untreated infection spreads, and unburied bodies damage the settlement. Check these systems during every pause.
- Keep free workers for the next essential building.
- Place storage where it shortens repeated routes.
- Expand in defensible steps rather than thin corridors.
- Treat burial and infection as operating systems, not decorative buildings.
What this guide does not promise
Quick answer
Is there one best opening build order?+
No. Procedural maps, difficulty, mode, and resource carts change the correct sequence. Use the priorities as checks, not a fixed script.
Should I rush a large army immediately?+
First protect the economy that recruits and replaces that army. A larger force cannot repair a collapsed food or worker base.
Diplomacy is Not an Option: S001, S007, S008, S009 · 2026-11-15. Claims: C004, C006, C007, C008, C009, C013.
- confirmed The game is a base-building RTS with large hordes and procedurally generated maps.
- confirmed Food, Wood, Stone, Iron, and Gold form the named economy.
- confirmed Housing, food, burial, and infection treatment are settlement concerns.
- confirmed Projectile physics and line of sight affect combat.
- confirmed The game supports active pause and includes magic.
- cross-checked Early wood, food, housing, cart scouting, and shorter hauling are cross-checked community principles.