Eras Zombie Invasion Guide for Starcraft II

Eras Zombie Invasion Guide

Guide Version: v6.233
Updated on: 23 December 2018

This guide is for the Starcraft II arcade game Eras Zombie Invasion (actual map name is Eras Zombie Invasion-Beta). Written by Stred. If you are already familiar with the basics, feel free to skip to the build order and strategy section and check out Lightsword's Guide to Britain.

To find premade games, join the discord group at: https://discord.gg/urA58Vq


Major changes from 6.208 to 6.223

Rocketeers can enter bunkers now (Egypt has Desert Rocketeer which can blink)

Gore crows start spawning and attacking at the start of Era 4

Weapon range of Laser Shock Trooper, Commando and Annubis Commando reduced from 10 to 8

New barracks units at Era Four - Egypt has Desert Rocketeers with blink

New mechanised units at Era Five -- Terminators and Snipecron

Human units gain levels which increase damage and health (max level is 20)

Zombie Spores and Tentacles no longer do splash damage

Zombies now have a new defense structure -- Bile Launcher

Zombie defenses rebuild themselves after they die after a certain number of minutes depending on difficulty -- 8 minutes on Easy, 7 minutes on Hard, 6 minutes on Impossible, 5 minutes on Nightmare and Apocalypse

Destroying the hives makes the defenses stop rebuilding themselves

Contents

Introduction: Europe vs Zombie Horde.
The Basics: How the game works.
Basic units and structures.
Income structures.
Research.
Advanced units.
Advanced structures.
Advanced walls and towers.
Events and Bosses.
Shortcuts and control groups.
Basic build order and strategy.
Nation-specific attributes, abilities, units and roles.
What to do if you get overrun.
Player etiquette.
I’ve beaten the game, what’s next?
Acknowledgements.

Introduction: Europe vs Zombie Horde

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The zombies are coming. You play as one of ten nations in Europe. Work together, fend off the zombie onslaught and wipe them out before they take over the world.  This is a co-op zombie survival game. To win, you must communicate and work together with your fellow teammates.

Unlike many other zombie survival games, you control an entire nation, not just a hero. You must build your base, manage your economy and control your army to succeed. While challenging, the game is immensely fun.

You start as either one of ten nations: Sweden, Britain, Russia, Italy, France, Spain, Turkey, Egypt, Germany and Greece. Each nation has different roles, special attributes, abilities and units. You may pick your nation in the lobby. Every nation is important and will allow you to make a vital contribution.

If you are new to the game, pick a non-border nation. Border nations are Sweden, Russia, Germany and Turkey. Non-border nations are Britain, Italy, France, Spain, Egypt and Greece. (More on each nation below.)

The Basics: How the game works

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Border nations and non-border nations. There are two basic types of nations: border nations and non-border nations. Border nations will be on the frontlines. Non-border nations should help to deal with zombie spawns, bosses, and help border nations if they are getting overrun.

Zombies. You have to survive against the zombie onslaught until you are strong enough to wipe them out. The zombies occupy Central Asia to the east of Europe and will keep coming at you. Your border nations will be responsible for holding them at bay. When zombies evolve, they become stronger. You will see a messageand hear a sound when this happens.

As the game progresses, special zombie events will start occurring in waves and zombies will start popping up all over Europe. When this happens, you must work with your teammates to protect the inner parts of Europe and North Africa. Non-border nations should be ready at all times to repel a zombie air raid in neighbouring territories or to assist border nations if they get overrun by powerful bosses.

The first half of the game is usually spent trying to advance your economy and survive. It is not impossible to recover if a nation falls. As long as the nation has at least one worker, it is possible to rebuild and survive. Every nation matters.

Zombie evolution. Zombies evolve over time. When this happens, you will hear a warning sound and see a message. When zombies evolve, they become stronger so you will have to upgrade your units accordingly to match. The first zombie evolution happens at the 14th minute mark. You should kill of zombie oils by then and make sure you have the necessary upgrades for for your units, walls and towers.

Eras. Eras are like tier upgrades. Each new era unlocks new units, buildings and technologies. There are five eras in total and everyone starts at Era One. Era progress is displayed at the top. Mouse-over to see an exact percentage. Eras progress automatically (every 10 seconds) but can be sped up using the education upgrade at your tech centre.

Income. You get lumber and gold every income cycle (displayed at the top right). The amount of lumber and gold you get is determined by the markets and lumber mills you have. Non-border nations start off with 3 of each while border nations start off with 4 of each. You can build a maximum of 15 of each. These can be upgraded to obtain more income each cycle. It is recommended that you max out your markets and upgrade them first as you can acquire lumber at the start by chopping trees.

Timers. The income timer is 30 seconds and can be reduced with research in the Fifth Era. Era progression happens every 10 seconds and is dependent on your education research level.

Your army. You should start building your army about 4 minutes into the game. Unit composition depends heavily on your nation. Each nation has its own special units and those are usually the best at a particular era. Units are extremely cheap and should be spammed. Food is the only limiting factor. If you are a non-border nation, you will need to use your army to help clear zombie spawns when they start dropping from the sky. You should not put your army on the border if the border nation asks you not to. Your army is better kept in reserve and deployed where it is actually needed (like dealing with bosses or spawns). At later stages in the game, your army will enable you to go on the offensive.

Food. Your food supply limits the size of your army and the number of certain buildings you can build, such as barracks, factories, airbases and repair towers. You can increase your supply cap by 20 once per era by researching the limited upgrade at your Technology Centre. Food can also be increased through space research (unlocked at Era Four). Every player that is defeated will also bring an additional 20 food.

Towers. Towers provide excellent static defence but there is a limit to how many of them you can build (this isn’t a Tower Defence game). They are cheap and can hold off the zombies, at least for a while. You should build as many of them as you can. Era Three grants you access to more powerful towers—siege tanks, sentry guns, SAM sites and repair towers. You must make use of these to survive past Era Three.

Declaring war. It is possible to declare war against other nations to take over their structures. This allows you to exceed the cap on the number of markets you have. You should only do this if a player is missing or has quit the game. Defeating a nation will increase the supply cap of all nations. Unjustified attacks are frowned upon by most players and should be avoided if humanity is to survive.

Difficulty levels. On easy and medium, players can get by with casual strategies. On harder levels, it is recommended that you up your game. Voting occurs in the lobby. If you have good players on border nations, it is usually good etiquette to let them determine the difficulty level. There’s no need to be afraid of harder difficulty levels if you are a beginner. Just learn from your experience.

Technical issues. Make sure to run the game on the 32-bit version of Starcraft II or you will experience massive lag and cause the same for all other players. (Go to settings on your Battle.Net application, then under Game Settings, check the box under Starcraft II that says “Launch 32-bit client (instead of 64-bit).”) There are known issues with the 64-bit version of Starcraft II which apply to this map in particular.

As with all massive games, slower computers will encounter drops in frame rate. It is recommended that you lower your settings. Some mid-range systems will benefit from this too because of the lack of multicore optimization in SC2. Medium settings produce sufficiently detailed graphics for an enjoyable gaming experience.

Basic units and structures

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Every player starts with his main capital city, a few peasants, a technology centre, two militia barracks and some towers around your base.

Peasants. The humble peasant is your main source of lumber early in the game. Make sure to max them out and have them chopping trees. Global warming isn’t going to matter if all of humanity is wiped out.

Capital City. The capital city is where you can build more peasants and use your nation’s special ability. This is also where you may research upgrades for your workers. You can also mouse over the description to find out what your nation’s special attributes are. For more advanced players, these special attributes require you to modify your build order.

Militia barracks. The humble peasant can’t hold off the mighty Witch Queen with his pitchforks. You’ll need something better. You start with two militia barracks and this is where you build your army in the early game. There are no heroes in this game but each unit can level up, giving them additional health and damage. At earlier eras, don’t bother keeping your units alive as you will soon be able to replace them with more advanced units. Levelling up only makes sense for tanks and the Titan V.

Basic military units. Heavy infantry are good meat-shields. Beserkers can push back a mass of zombies quickly. Wizards are powerful against bosses but extremely fragile. Archers are great for destroying the Death Blimp and taking out bosses. Clerics heal your units and allow you to clear creep. Catapults are great for destroying zombie structures, particularly the zombie extractors (built atop the oil geysers). Catapults are also useful for clearing neutral towers in the early game since they outrange towers.

Towers. Every nation can only build a limited number of towers. Border nations have a higher cap. You won’t be able to build more towers once you reach the cap, unless they get destroyed. Archer towers are good against all kinds of zombies. Mage towers deal less damage but have a chance to do splash damage. It’s good to have a few of each. Every player should max out his towers about 10 minutes into the game. Build in your own base if you’re not a border nation.

Gates. These can be opened and closed. Let your allies in and keep the zombies out. If you’re a border nation, keeping your front gate open allows your catapults to stay outside your base without getting attacked.

Technology Centre. This is where you will research all your upgrades. You’ll spend a lot of time researching upgrades so bind this to a control group for easy access.

Income structures

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Markets and lumber mills. These income structures are your main sources of income. Upgrades on these are restricted by the era you are in and your economics research level. Make sure to upgrade these as soon as you can. You can only build a maximum of 15 of each.

Oil refineries. Unlocked when you reach level 25 in economics, oil refineries are built over oil deposits. They give you both lumber and gold every income cycle. You can build a maximum of 5 of these. These do not need to be upgraded.

Research

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Researching upgrades is extremely important in this game. There are 8 main upgrades you must advance to maintain a healthy economy and produce a strong base/army. There are also 4 era-specific upgrades every era (Limited Upgrades). At every era, you unlock new era-specific upgrades which disappear once you progress to the next era. Be sure to obtain them before it’s too late.

Main upgrades

Weapon Technologies. Increases damage of military units by 3% every level. The zombies become stronger as they evolve over time so you must upgrade your units’ damage as well.

Military Discipline. Increases health of military units by 3% every level. Zombies become more powerful as they evolve. Your units won’t last against them unless they have more health.

Structure Durability. Increases health of structures by 3% every level. Important for both border and non-border nations. Even if you are not a border nation, you will eventually encounter zombies when they pop up all over Europe.

Fortifications. Increases weapon damage of defensive structures by 3% every level. Makes your towers stronger.

Education. Reduces research times and unit build times by 1.5%. Increases era progression rate by 0.83% every level. This may seem miniscule but it is highly important as later Eras grant you access to far more effective income structures, units, walls and towers. Aim for level 15 at Era One and level 25 by the end of Era Two. After that, upgrade as long as the cost remains small.

Economics. Increases income generated by Markets, Lumber Mills, Oil Refineries and Capital Cities by 4.3%. This grants you access to the oil refinery at level 25 before you reach Era Three. You should be able to upgrade economics to level 15 by Era One, and level 25 by Era Two.

Feudalism. Increases health of workers by 5%, movement speed by 1%, and amount of lumber gathered by 1. Chopping trees is one of the best ways to get lumber in Era One. Upgrading this to at least level 10 is recommended.

City Planning. Reduces construction time by 3%. Reduces repair time by 1%. This is great for repairing walls and rebuilding towers if something bad happens.

Advanced units

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As you research upgrades and progress to subsequent eras, you will unlock more advanced units, towers and structures.

Repair bots. Unlocked at Era Four or at level 20 Feudalism. Your lowly peasants will ultimately have to be replaced with these machines.

Barracks Units

Riflemen and cannons. Unlocked at Era Two. Why continue shooting pointy sticks when you can fire off balls of doom at the zombies?

Infantry, commandos and medics. Unlocked at Era Three. You have to upgrade your militia barracks to obtain these units. Infantry cost 2 food but only have a range of 7. Commandos have a longer range of 8 and have about 10% more dps. Howwever, commandos cost 3 food. Medics can now clear creep (hotkey: c).

Rocketeers. Unlocked at Era Four. Can attack air units and enter bunkers. Still weaker than infantry/commandos in ground attack.

Pack hunters (reapers). Unlocked at Era Four. Moves fast and can hop up and down cliffs. DPS is pathetic though.

Laser troopers. Unlocked at Era Five. Best infantry for most nations. Start getting this when you can.

Factory Units

Tanks. Unlocked at Era Three. Tanks now move much more slowly and mass tanks are no longer as good as before. Germany gets Panzers which are the strongest tanks in the game. Upgraded Panzers remain useful until the Fifth Era.

Terminators. Unlocked at Era Five. The mechanised equivalent of the infantry.

Snipecrons. Unlocked at Era Five. The mechanised equivalent of snipers.

Mechanized tanks. Unlocked at Era Five. What’s better than a mechanical tank? A mechanized tank of course (no not really). Mechanized tanks can be put in siege mode.

Titan V’s. Unlocked at Era Five. Straight from some fantasy Sci-Fi world, the Titan V is a nothing mroe than a gigantic version of a C3PO. It is clumsy slow, slow and stupid. Titans are great for holding borders (esepcially when levelled up with good upgrades) but cannot push very well. Titans can be repaired with mules or repair towers. Titans have a long build time so make sure you keep some barracks around to quickly replace your troops.

Airbase Units

Fighter Jets. Unlocked at Era Four. Do not build these until Era Five. If you do, the zombies will also start producing air units. When you reach Era Five, fighter jets will be needed to achieve air superiority. Without air superiority, your bombers and missiles will be useless.

Bomber Jets. Unlocked at Era Four. Bombers do less damage than tanks and the Titan V but they make up for it with speed and ease of use. Set production to auto-cast and they’ll start taking out zombie structures. It's pointless to build this as you get better heavy bombers in Era Five. Also, don't build this in Era Four or the zombies will start producing air as well.

Heavy Bombers. Unlocked at Era Five. Better than the average bomber. The zombies will never know what hit them. These bombers can be set to manual or automatic attack. These can be manually controlled to take out spores.

Advanced structures

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Missile Launching Station. Unlocked at Era Four. Chivalry died not long after the first zombies showed up in Europe. Why fight fair when you can blast the zombies from afar? Missiles are great against zombie spine crawlers which can easily wreck your tanks. Make sure you control the skies or your missiles will be shot down quickly. You can set production of missiles to auto-cast and just right click anywhere on the map to fire these missiles. (I personally find this to be a waste of food and resources.)

National Space Command Centre. Unlocked at Era Four. The zombies may be numerous, but they’re pretty dumb. They’ll never make it to space. Build satellites to grant vision of zombie occupied-territory. The zombies won’t be able to touch them. After you’ve built your first satellite, you can put a man on the moon. (Somehow, in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, mankind is able to justify vainglorious pursuits like these.) And after that, you can research helium mining which will grant you even more income. There are a few other upgrades beyond that which increase your supply and give you various bonuses for being first.

Satellites. Unlocked at Era Four. Satellites are extremely useful. You can use them to build steel walls almost instantly. Creep disrupter will prevent creep from growing within a certain radius. You can drop mules (at Era 4) and laser troopers (at Era 5, with the required upgrade). Satellites also give you extra income. You can only build a maximum of 5.

Nuclear Launch Facility. Unlocked at Era Five. The Geneva Convention only applies to humans. Wipe out the zombies enmasse and you’re a saviour, not a genocidal maniac. One H-Bomb will wipe out everything in its extremely large area of effect. Nuclear missiles will be shot down by zombie air units so you will need to achieve air superiority before this will work.

Advanced walls and towers

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Steel Walls. Unlocked at Era 3. These supply depot lookalikes are stronger than your average rock wall. They can be lowered and raise at whim and provide an excellent defense against the horde.

Bunker. Unlocked at Era 3. Stick your commandos or laser troopers in there and they'll be able to go toe-to-toe with zombie bosses.

Siege Tanks. Unlocked at Era 3. Siege tanks have massive range and firepower, and should be built as soon as you can. Unfortunately they are fragile and have a minimum range. Surround a cluster of siege tanks with bunkers and you’re good to go. (Note: Siege tanks do splash damage but this is usually negligible if you have kept up with your upgrades.)

Repair Towers. Unlocked at Era 3. Repair towers cost food but are vital to keeping your walls and tanks alive. Cautious humans will place one repair tower in the centre of a cluster of tanks, surrounded by steel walls. Repair towers do not stack so it is pointless to build 10 of these behind your wall.

Sentry Gun. Unlocked at Era 3. The sentry gun is the pew-pew to the siege tank’s boom-boom. Although less powerful, sentry guns are more accurate and effective against the average zombie at close range. You shouldn't really be needing these.

Events and Bosses

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Seismic activity. Worms and zomba holes will spawn in your base. Worms will target your income structures directly so you should take them out first. You should also build towers near your income structures to protect them.

Air raids. Death Clusters and zombies will rain in from the skies.

Infections at capitals. Zombies will burst out from capitals.

Rebel events. Rebel armies (units in white) will spawn at a capital and start attacking you. Vortex will work on these units but not Pope.

Bosses. There are many different types of bosses: Dark Wizard, Witch Queen, Zombie Commando, Zombified Bunker, Mountain Terror, Chargersaurus, Blimp, Boomer.

Dark Wizard: Has the same abilities as the normal Wizard but with more damage.

Witch Queen: Can jump and its attacks can bounce. Can also cast Apocalypse which can instantly wipe out even the most rock solid of fortifications if not dealt with. This ability has a long cast time though so if you have strong enough DPS, you should be able to kill it before it destroys your walls.

Zombie Commando: Strong attack with high DPS. Deals area damage and pierces armor like a normal infantry.

Zombified Bunker: Spawns units.

Mountain Terror: Free Monehhhh

Chargersaurus: Can charge into walls/bunkers, breaking them instantly. Build a few layers of walls.

Blimp: Flies in the air spawning death clusters along the way. Send ranged units to take them out.

Boomer: Goes boom (like a nuke). Egypt should blink in with Annubis Commandos to kill them before they reach the border. Borders can also drop sentry guns from satellites which will trigger the boomer.

Shortcuts and control groups

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The following shortcuts should be typed into the chat.
-sw -- select all workers
-sm -- select all markets
-sl -- select all lumber mills
-sml -- select all markets and lumber mills
-ss -- select all satellites

You should bind the following to one control group each:

Research centre

Capital (so you can use your special ability on demand)

Markets

Lumber mills

Workers

Satellites (to rebuild walls quickly)

Basic build order and strategy

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Every player has a different build order which changes from nation to nation but the basics remain largely the same. This is the general build order I recommend. There are many other pro players who have different ideas about what is best. Take this as a guideline and decide what works best for you.

Era One
1. Max workers and send them to chop wood
2. Upgrade Feudalism to 7
3. Border nations should start building units to hold the border
4. Upgrade Feudalism to 10 (12 if you're a border)
5. Border nations should start building 8-10 catapults to clear oils (assimilators on the vespene geysers)
6. Build 15 markets and upgrade them
7. Non-border nations should start building units and holding them in reserve until needed for dealing with zombie spawns/drops or for assisting border nations that have failed
8. Research Economics and Education to 4
9. Border nations should start building more towers (max them before the 14th minute). Arcane towers have a chance to do splash damage while arrow towers do more damage per unit
10. Upgrade all markets (-sm to select)
11. Research Economic Theory (at Research Centre)
12. While Economic Theory is still researching, research Improved Wood Cutting (at your capital)
13. Wait till Economic Theory has completed, then research Economics to 15
14. Upgrade markets
15. Research military upgrades for units/towers/walls as needed
16. Research Academy
17. Continue researching Economics
18. Once Academy is done, research Education to 12-15
19. Research Economics until you are 90% towards Era Two
20. Research all era-specific upgrades (bottom row)
21. Use your best judgment for other upgrades. Non-borders should at least get weapons upgrades up to 10 and health up to 7 to deal with spawns
22. Borders should at least have the following upgrades before Era 2: 12-8-8-12 (weapons, health, durability, fortifications)

Era Two
1. Upgrade markets
2. Replace units as appropriate (tier 2 units are not always better)
3. Research Economics to 25
4. Build 5 oil refineries
5. Research Steam Engine and Banking
6. Build lumber mills (to max) and upgrade them
7. Research education to 20-25
8. Research era-specific upgrades (bottom row)
9. Use your best judgment for other upgrades

Era Three
1. Upgrade markets and lumber mills
2. Convert militia barracks to infantry barracks or build factories for Panzers if you're Germany
3. Convert army to tier 3 units.
4. For border nations, convert stone walls to steel walls, build bunkers and set up repair towers (they don't stack so you only need 1 for every 2 steel walls at most)
5. Upgrade markets and lumber mills
6. Research Economics to 30 and upgrade income buildings again
7. Research Education to 30 8. Start building siege tanks and surround them with steel walls
9. Research era-specific upgrades (bottom row)
10. Only start researching Radio Technology when Britain is at 90% and you are still below 85%
11. Build a couple of SAM sites around your base for anti-air defense just before you hit Era Four to deal with gore crows (applies to both borders and non-borders)

Era Four
1. Upgrade all income structures and continue researching (Economics and Edu should go up to 37-40)
2. Build the Space Command Centre and start getting the satellite, followed by the moon upgrades, helium-mining, and so on
3. Replace your workers with repair bots (mules). If you have tanks, you can use your mules to keep them repaired
4. You can build fighter jets in this Era but do not do so yet. If you do so, the zombies will also start producing air units. Missiles from the Missile Launch Station also count as air units so do not produce them.
5. Make sure you research your era-specific upgrades (bottom row) before you get to Era Five

Era Five
1. Upgrade all income structures and continue researching
2. Build advanced research centre and start research (this will be needed to continue upgrading your income structures
3. Convert your army to Era 5 units (laser troopers are the best for most countries)
4. Upgrade all income structures and continue researching
5. You can get a max of 5 satellites (each satellite gives extra income and can be used to build steel walls)
6. A few nations should build fighter jets to gain air superiority
7. Some can build heavy bombers and control them manually to take out the zombie bases
8. You can also start building nukes to take out the zombie base
9. Spore crawlers and zombie air units can take out nukes so they must be destroyed first

Nation-specific attributes, abilities, units and roles

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Every nation has its own set of special attributes, abilities and units. Some are useful, others are not. It is up to the individual player to tailor his build and playstyle around the nation he has selected. All special abilities have a 300 second cooldown.

Sweden (Border nation)

• Special attributes: Increase of 20% gold from markets and decrease of 10% wood from lumber mills.
• Special ability: Heal all units on the map for 25% max health every second for 12 seconds. (Affects allies.)
• Special unit: Stockholm Sniper, Viking, Disciple of Thor.
• Role: Destroy zombie oils and hold the border. Use special ability to help others hold out against bosses. Sweden suffers from too little wood so it is vital to chop as many trees as possible in the early game and let it accumulate with banking. Use Disciple of Thor in Era One. In Era Three, get Commandos, Infantry, or Stockholm Snipers. Sweden is the second hardest border to play due to the number of zombie spawns that it attracts.

Britain (Non-border nation)

• Special attributes: All structures are constructed 30% faster. Cost of city planning increased by 15%.
• Special ability: Increase progress to the next era by 5%.
• Special unit: Longbow Ranger, Army Ranger, Patriot.
• Role: Help Sweden/Russia and take over if they leave. Try to get to Era Four quickly by using your capital ability as soon as it comes off cooldown. When you reach 85% to Era Four, let your teammates know so they can start researching Radio Technologies. This gives them a massive boost. Build Longbow Rangers in Era One and Two and Patriots in Era Three. Britain usually goes air in Era Five.

Russia (Border nation)

• Special attributes: Population cap increased by 30%. Military units health and damage reduced by 15%.
• Special ability: Slows the game and all enemy units down for 10 seconds.
• Special units: Knight Enchanter, Tsar Guard, Stretlet and Comrade.
• Role: Destroy zombie oils and hold the border. Slow time to give others more time to react. Build Tsar Guards at Era One, Stretlets at Era Two, Comrades at Era Four and Laser Troopers at Era Five. Russia has the most gold income from zombies at the border but is also the hardest border to play.

Italy (Non-border nation)

• Special attributes: Increase of wood income by 20%. Decrease of gold income by 10%.
• Special ability: Wipes out all current non-heroic zombies on the map. This ability is commonly referred to as Pope.
• Special unit: Vatican Gladiator, Vatican Assassin II.
• Role: Use Pope when needed. Help deal with zombie spawns. Build Vatican Gladiators in Era One and Era Two. Build Vatican Assassins at Era Three, they are great for dealing with bosses. Italy usually goes air in Era Five.

France (Non-border nation)

• Special attributes: Worker health and productivity increased by 30%. Worker cost increased by 15%.
• Special ability: Provides two times gold income instantly.
• Special unit: Paladin.
• Maginot line: Must reach 25 durability by the 30th minute mark and Paris must remain standing.
• Role: Help deal with zombie spawns. Serve as a fall-back point with the Maginot line. If you build the Maginot line, behemoths will spawn on Paris at the 32nd minute. Mass Paladins to deal with these behemoths. If Paris dies, you will no longer be able to use your 2x gold ability.

Spain (Non-border nation)

• Special attributes: Gold and wood production increased by 25%. Cost of economics upgrade increased by 15%.
• Special ability: Provides two times wood income instantly.
• Special unit: Rodelero, Conquistador and Spanish Lancer.
• Role: Help deal with zombie spawns or borders that are in trouble. Build Rodeleros and Spanish Lancers in Era One and Two. Build Infantry in Era Three. Spain usually goes air in Era Five. Spain is usually the richest country and should have no problem taking over a border and getting durability/fortification upgrades up if it falls.

Turkey (Border nation)

• Special attributes: Structures health and damage increased by 30%. Cost of structure durability and fortifications upgrades increased by 15%.
• Special ability: Fortify all structures, negating most of the damage they take for 20 seconds. (Does not affect allies.)
• Special unit: Great Bombard Cannon, Janissary.
• Role: Destroy zombie oils and hold the border. Use special ability to hold out against bosses. Turkey should have no problems holding the border because of its passive buff to structures health and damage.

Egypt (Non-border nation)

• Special attributes: Military units health and damage increased by 30%. Population cap reduced by 15%.
• Special ability: Create vortex which pulls enemy units in. After the vortex ends, units of the void are created.
• Special unit: Anubis Disciple, Desert Medic and Anubis Commando (can blink to any location on the map).
• Role: Help deal with zombie spawns all over the map using blink. Also help deal with bosses or blimps if the borders cannot handle them. Zombie spawns (especially worms) can destroy a player's economy very quickly so it is important for you to keep a decent force alive (that means no mindless pushing). Focus on attack upgrades for your units and keep blink ready during spawns. Build Anubis Disciples in the First Era and Anubis Commandos in the Third Era. Build a few Desert Rocketeers in Era Four to deal with Gore Crows if people failed to build SAM sites. Separate your units into two or three control groups so that you can deal with multiple spawns consecutively.

Germany (Border nation)

• Special attributes: Military units train 20% faster. Military units cost 10% more.
• Special ability: All military units training and research operations work 200% faster for 20 seconds.
• Special unit: Panzer (tank).
• Role: Destroy zombie oils and hold the border. Vanguards are great in Era One if you know how to use them. Otherwise, just built forest archers. Build Panzers at the Third Era. Use Blitkrieg to quickly replace your Panzers if you lose them. Focus fire bosses if they appear. Panzers can attack on the move and should be relatively easy to micro. They can be repaired with repair towers, mules or workers. Germany is one of the easiest borders to play because fewer zombies are attracted to its border and it rarely gets bosses. Germany can safely send its Panzers to help Russia if needed.

Greece (Non-border nation)

• Special attributes: Main research cost reduced by 20%. Main research time doubled.
• Special ability: Each “Spartan” gains 5% damage and health from every nearby “Spartan”.
• Special unit: Spartan, Spartan II, Philosopher.
• Role: Help deal with zombie spawns. Help push to clear zombie oils using "Spartan!" warcry if the borders cannot handle it. Build Spartans in Era One and Two. Use Spartan IIs from Era Three onwards. You can continue to use Era One Spartans to tank damage. Spartans can push out to allow border nations to rebuild their walls.

What to do if you get overrun

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It happens, even to the best of us. You can either leave your fellow humans at the mercy of the zombies, or you can continue fighting back. With some effort, it is usually possible to delay the zombies long enough until help arrives. Just rebuild your towers/walls and continue producing units. Make sure you have around 4 clerics/medics to clear creep. If all else fails, send your peasants to your neighbour and start rebuilding there. As long as you survive, you can contribute to the survival of the human race in some way or another. Whatever you do, don’t give up. You wouldn’t want others to do the same to you.

Player etiquette

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It is not uncommon for disagreements to arise. It is recommended that you pay attention to what other players are saying. If they ask you to leave their territory or stop blocking their units, you should do your best to accede to their request. Failure to do so may lead to unnecessary internal strife.

One common cause of unhappiness is non-border nations amassing their army on the border unnecessarily. This blocks the border nations’ units and steals the gold they earn from kills. It is better to keep your army in reserve and use it where it is actually needed.

I’ve beaten the game, what’s next?

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Congratulations. Now try a different nation and a tougher difficulty setting. Every nation presents a different challenge while the Apocalypse difficulty setting is the ultimate challenge.

Acknowledgements

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Credits to michel (current creator), Smith, (original creator), Andreasrex (taught me the basics), Moander for his introductory guide and all the other players on the American region who I’ve had the pleasure of playing with.

Comments and suggestions are welcome.