The main purpose of the game is to develop your Base, to join a strong Combine, to defeat enemies, and to fight for Resources and dominance.

Quests. You receive a lot of quests

 First of all, we suggest that you complete the Tutorial ones. 

These quests will teach you how to play: who to raid, how to build and upgrade your Troops, etc. Moreover, they will unlock more game features and give you good rewards that you can use to progress in the game. After completing the Tutorial, you can choose the quests with bigger rewards.

Units. They protect your Base, invade other Bases, and help your Friends when they need it. Negotiate Contracts and construct new Buildings to unlock new, more powerful Troops.

There are two kinds of Troops: Offensive and Defensive (with the exception of Mercenaries that have the same value for both). Click on the Unit when purchasing it to see detailed stats.

Defensive Units are essentially useless when attacking but highly effective at protecting a Baseor a Depot. Conversely, Offensive Troops are designed to be used for attacks but have a low defense value. If your Base has tons of Offense and no Defense - don't be surprised when you get Invaded.

There are 4 types of Troops: Light Infantry, Heavy Infantry, Armor, and Combat Aviation. Units of each type can be trained in a designated queue. 

Note that each Unit has its own statistics against other types of Troops. 

Upgrade Contracts to improve your Troops and to enhance their statistics by up to 40%.

You can choose either an Offensive or a Defensive strategy in the game. That, in turn, will determine the order in which you upgrade your Troops.

Combine. Combine and its members play an important role in every player’s life: your Combine mates can give you useful tips and help you in difficult situations. You may request Resources, Referrals, and Reinforcements, as well simply chat with them and have fun.

Don't forget to help other members of your Combine. Moreover, always remember to follow orders of your Combine Leader.

Do not join a random Combine. It can be weak and/or inactive. Open the list of the Top Combines and choose the ones ranked 200 through 300. Send requests and messages to those recruiting new members. Indicate why you think you are a good candidate for this particular Combine and wait for the response. Starting out in a big Combine will help you learn more about the game features and get the protection every new player needs.

Bear in mind that Top Combines are unlikely to accept you since you do not have enough experience and Troops to be able to keep up with their activities in the game. Once you gain more experience, you can try your luck with the Top Combines.

Buildings. There are several types of Buildings in the game, and each is associated with a different sphere of your Base's life. They fall under the following categories: Military, Command, Resources, Base Improvements, Defense, and Black Market.

Constructing and upgrading Buildings will unlock new game features, give you more Resources, etc. Building are necessary for you to be able to perform basic actions such as trade, exchange Resources and Referrals, declare wars, etc.  

Resource Buildings. The more  Resource Buildings you have and the higher their level, the more Resources you can produce. You need Resources to develop your Baseand to train Troops.

Remember that you do not need to upgrade all Buildings at the same time. Some of them are more important than others when you first start playing. For example, the Bunker is a place where you can secure Troops and Resources to protect them from other players, so make sure to upgrade it. Also, it would make sense to upgrade your Oil Derrics and Munitions Factories before upgrading Field Kitchens and Storage Depots so that you actually have something to store. You can see how much you are currectly producing here: 

To erect a Building, you need to access the Construction menu: 

Military Buildings. Here you can house, manage, and develop all of your Troops. Each Unit or a set of Units has its own Building, and you will find that you are required to construct certain Buildings before you can Negotiate certain military Contracts or erect more advanced military Buildings.

Defensive Buildings. There are two types of Defensive Buildings: Defenses and Improvements.

Perimeter Defenses improve the defensive capability of all Units within your Base. Improvements enhance the grounds of your Base and add to your overall Base Defense.

Sick Bay. Here you can restore the Units you lost while defending your Base. Additionally, you can revive a certain percentage of the fallen Units for free, while the rest of them will require Diamonds to revive. 

The Level 1 Sick Bay will let you revive 5% of your Units for FREE. Upgrading your Sick Bay will increase the number of Units you can recover with each Level.

Remember: reviving Units is cheaper and quicker than training a new army!

Infirmary. It is a tab in your Black Market where you can recover a certain percentage of any Units you’ve lost in combat within the last 7 days. You will need Diamonds to recover them.

Please note that there is sometimes an additional discount (e.g. 75%) in the game that allows you to revive your Troops at a much lower cost.  

Contracts. You are required to negotiate new Contracts in order to access new types of Buildings and Troops.Construct the Contracting Office to begin Negotiating new Contracts.The more you upgrade the Contracting Office, the faster you complete Negotiation of new Contracts.

Negotiating each Contract costs Munitions, Fuelk, and Rations. The more advanced the Contract, the more expensive it is to Negotiate and Renegotiate. The cost of renegotiating a given Contract also becomes progressively higher with each new level.

After a certain point, you will find that you need to acquire a set number of Referrals to unlock Negotiation of a certain new Contract You will get a new Referral every day, but you must have all the Contract-specific Referrals for a given Contract before you can initiate Negotiation. You can exchange Referrals with other players to get the ones you need.

Contracts can be found here: 

Search and Destroy Missions. Search and Destroy Missions are locations in Zandia that have been occupied by ZHG forces or temporarily held by friendly forces conducting Zandia operations. Raid them wisely. Send defensive Troops to Defensive S&D and vise versa. Don’t spend all your Units on them, or you will have none to fight with your rivals.

You can check the forum for some useful tips on how to clear Search and Destroy Missions successfully.

Equipments. Equipments impact different attributes for your Units and Base. You can get them from Search and Destroy Missions and Depots. You can store and activate them at the Armory 

Equipment Depots.You can get Equipments from this type of Depots 

Capture one of them and control it for at least 1 hour to begin trying to salvage Equipment. After the first hour, you can try to detect an Equipment by clicking the 'Search' button. The longer you occupy an Equipment Depot, the higher your chances of successfully detecting an Equipment for each attempt. You are allowed one detecting attempt per hour.

Equipment Depots can be found in the Radar: 

Use Offensive Troops to capture Depots and Defensive ones to hold them.

Remember that you can defend Equipment Depots together with your Combine mates, friends, allies, etc.

Repositories. Each Repository is dedicated to producing one of the three main types of Resources - Fuel, Munitions, or Rations - along with Diamonds and Thulium  

The amount of Resources you can gather from a Repository depends on the overall carrying capacity of the Defensive Troops you have stationed there.

You will need BOTH Offensive and Defensive Troops to Capture a Repository, but Defensive Troops will NOT engage in the battle. All surviving Offensive Troops will be automatically returned to your Bunker. If you successfully Capture a Repository, Defensive Troops will start gathering Resources. The number of Resources that they can gather depends on your Units’ carrying capacity. The more Defensive Troops you send, and the bigger their carrying capacity, the more Resources you can collect!

Repositories can be found in your Radar: 

Using Resources. Don’t log out of the game when you have more Resources than your Bunker can store - other players may be tempted to raid you. 

Always use up your Resources to upgrade Buildings, train Units, or Negotiate Contracts.

Spending Diamonds. Don’t spend them at low levels since you don’t actually need them. Keep playing and you will find the best way to spend them: to revive Units, to hire new Combat Engineers, to acquire Items, etc.

Raid. Go to the Map 

choose a Base 

and send off Troops 

To get Resources from Bases you raid, send Units with higher carrying capacity 

Try to attack abandoned Bases if you don’t want to be hit back. Abandoned bases are good since they do not have a Combine to protect them, and they have weak defenses which means your Raids are more likely to be successful.

Always recon the Bases you wish to raid before sending Units. If your Raid was successful and you were not hit back, save the coordinates of that Base in the Bookmarks and come back to it later.

Recon. It is better to use 1 MQ-11B at a time. If you send them all and the attempt is unsuccessful, you will have to train new ones and will have to wait until you can start raiding again.  

Trading. If you need a particular type of Resource or a Referral, go to the Logistics Exchange to get the ones you need in exchange for those you do not 

Global events (Missions). When you developed your Base a little, you may start fighting for rewards in the Global Missions (Events). Bear in mind that you can earn points in some Global Missions by simply performing your usual actions such as upgrading Buildings, Negotiating Contracts, raiding Bases, etc. Remember that this is a good opportunity to develop your Base and receive additional rewards. 

You can always decide whether you want to participate in Global Missions or not. But you should remember that there are also Combine Global Missions and your reputation in the Combine may depend on your performance in Combine Global Missions.

Resources and Items you receive for completing game quests will be stored in the appropriate tabs at the Black Market. Activate your Resources only when you are sure that you need them that very moment.

There are Special Missions that may also help you receive rewards for usual gameplay. You may be asked to raid Bases, clear Search and Destroy Missions, collect Resources from other Bases, etc. Don't forget to check this tab as these rewards will help you in developing your Base.

Happy hunting, Commander! We hope these tips will help you dominate Zandia!