___ ___ _ _ /\ /\ __ _ _ ___ / __\/ _ \ / \/ \ / \/ \ / \ | \| || _ \ \___/\___//______\/__\__/__\/_/\_\|_|\_||___/ ------------_E=_------------ ___ ___ _ _ / \ _ _ ___ ___ / __\/ _ \| \| |/ /\ \| || || __|| _\ \___/\___/|_\|_|\ \/ /|____||___||_|\\ \__ / \| ________ __ _____ ______ ______ __ __ _______ /__ __/| | | _ | | ___/| __ || | / \ | _ | | | | | | _ < | ___/| ___|| | / \ | | | | |__| |__| |_____| |_____/|__|\__\|__|/__/\__\|__| |__| ______ __ __ _______ <============== | ____| | | | | | _ | ==============> <<<<|____ | | |_| | | | | |>>>> <|______| |_______| |__| |__|> <<<<<< >>>>>> <<<<<<<<\/>>>>>>>> <<<<<<>>>>>>> <<<>>> \/ This set of tips for Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun is by me (bog bodybuilder/CDVR). Share it around if you like. That awful ASCII logotype is also by me. My font design app weeps in the corner. ############################################################ # Table of Contents ######################################## ############################################################ # Introduction # General Tips ## Tips for both factions ### Your base ### Your economy ### Your units ### The AI ## Tips for GDI ### Your stuff ### Enemy stuff ## Tips for Nod ### Your stuff ### Enemy stuff ## Hotkeys ### General ### Selection ### Force-Action ### Teams ### Waypoints ### Other # GDI Main Campaign ## GDI 3.1: Capture Train Station ## GDI 6.1: Destroy Vega's Dam ## GDI 7: Capture Hammerfest Base ## GDI 8: Retrieve Disruptor Crystals ## GDI 9: Destroy Chemical Missile Plant ## GDI 9.1: Rescue Prisoners ## GDI 9.2: Destroy Chemical Supply ## GDI 10A: Destroy Prototype Facility (Croatia) ## GDI 11: Weather the Storm ## GDI 12: Final Conflict # GDI Firestorm Campaign ## GDI F-3: Quell the Civilian Riots ## GDI F-4: In the Box ## GDI F-5: Dogma Day Afternoon ## GDI F-6: Escape from CABAL ## GDI F-7: The Cyborgs are Coming ## GDI F-8: Factory Recall ## GDI F-9: Core of the Problem # Nod Main Campaign ## Nod 2: Retaliation ## Nod 4.1: Blackout ## Nod 5: Salvage Operation ## Nod 6A: Capture Umagon (Provo) ## Nod 7: Sheep's Clothing ## Nod 9: Villainess in Distress ## Nod 12: Capture Jake McNeil ## Nod 13: A New Beginning # Nod Firestorm Campaign ## Nod F-3: Tratos' Final Act ## Nod F-4: Mutant Extermination ## Nod F-6: The Needs of the Many ## Nod F-7: Determined Retribution ## Nod F-8: Harvester Hunting ## Nod F-9: Core of the Problem # So, what did we learn here? Note: missions numbers with letters at the end are branching paths; mission numbers with decimal points are side-missions for the mission with the matching whole number. ############################################################ # Introduction ############################################# ############################################################ The first time played this game, I only reached the midpoint of each campaign, but the atmosphere, mechanics, and weirdly celebrity-studded FMVs stuck with me. It's an ambitious game that falls a little short due to the technical limits of the era while still being a solid-to-great RTS that had a strong effect on how I saw the genre ever since. In 2024, I finally went back to finish the job and clear *everything*. What I found is that the game lives in a sweet spot where there are specific solutions to each mission, but they're not obnoxiously specific. Still, the game does throw some bullshit at you now and then, especially in the no-base missions (which practically demand to be save-scummed). The combination of specific solutions to problems, minor flexibility, and occasional bullshit inspired me to create a guide. There are (almost) no easy, step-by-step walkthroughs here. I won't tell you how to trivialise the game. Sometimes I won't say *anything* about a mission, because it's so easy it'd be a waste of words. This is a guide for people looking for the least amount of help necessary who're still stuck at some point of the game. The one other assumption I made here is that you play all of the side-missions; which helps a lot with some of the main missions that otherwise become slogs. As for why I wrote it in manually-justified plaintext in 2026 instead of virtually any better format (markdown? HTML? wiki creole?), well, I remembered seeing posts about the old Metroid guide someone wrote that way on GameFAQs and figured it might be an interesting challenge to try once (and also a little funny, in a stupid way). There's also an HTML version at this link if you want a similar guide with formatting: https://cdvr.org/babel/cnc-tiberian-sun-tips/index.html ############################################################ # General Tips ############################################# ############################################################ These are general tips for either or both factions. They may not help in multiplayer (in fact, some will almost certainly hurt your chances there, because they rely on the enemy AI's sometimes incompetent behaviour). ## Tips for both factions ################################## ### Your base * If the game supplies a Mobile Construction Vehicle (MCV) at the start of a mission, scout for a good place to set up camp before you deploy it. The base-building missions tend to start you near, not at, good base locations. * If there are multiple bridges from the same body of land to your location, destroying all but one should lead the enemy to exclusively use that bridge rather than sending Engineers to repair the others. This lets you focus your defenses. * Concrete stops some weapons like Nod Artillery and GDI's Ion Cannon from making craters/deforming the terrain. * Building a Tech Center upgrades your existing buildings; you can sell the Center afterwards and keep the upgrades as long as you don't lose or sell the buildings the Tech Center upgraded. ### Your economy * Spend money, don't save it. There's almost nothing worth saving for in this game. Generally, don't build Tiberium Silos. * Have 2 Harvesters per Refinery. Any less and you'll make money too slow; any more and they'll block each other at the Refinery. On Harvester AI: when they fill up, they head to the nearest available Refinery, even if that Refinery's across the whole map. If you have several bases in different locations (which is rare, but can happen late in the game) then you'll either need to micro-manage your Harvesters or wall them up so they can only reach the Refinery inside their prison. ### Your units * Choices that would be bad against a human, such as using Light Infantry, can be good against AI. * Light Infantry are surprisingly good value! * Ground vehicles move quicker on certain surfaces (roads, paths, and Concrete). * When leaving units to guard your bases, set them in arcs at the entrances. This way, enemies will be caught range of more of your units. ### The AI * Scouting too far, too early in mission maps can cross AI tripwires and make the enemy permanently more aggro. * The AI rarely rebuilds lost buildings except in the last missions of the base campaigns and in later parts of the Firestorm expansion. Base-building missions often go slow if you build a colossal army to steamroll the enemy. Speed them up by following your objectives (not all missions need you to destroy every enemy unit) and developing a sense of how many or few units you'll need to tip the balance of a base assault in your favour. ## Tips for GDI ############################################ ### Your stuff * You can set Disc Throwers to permanently blow up bridges by force-firing them at the ground just before the start of the bridge. Their grenades will bounce onto, and blow up, the bridge, but because they're targeting a patch of random ground, they won't stop firing. Even if the enemy repairs the bridge, your Disc Throwers will just destroy it again. * Disc Throwers can safely destroy Lasers from outside the Turrets' range by force-firing them at the ground around the Lasers. * A few Medics can keep infantry alive against most normal units. * Terrain doesn't block Titan cannons. * Firestorm Walls don't stop Disruptor beams (this becomes relevant in the expansion). * Disruptor beams deal damage to buildings per grid square of building the beam hits. If you move a Disruptor up to an enemy building and force-fire it at the ground on the other side, it'll deal massive damage. * It's a lot cheaper to repair vehicles at a Service Depot than buy new ones. ### Enemy stuff * When Nod AI fires missiles, it prefers targeting Service Depots, War Factories, Barracks, and clusters of units. ## Tips for Nod ############################################ ### Your stuff * Six or so Artillery protected by Rocket Infantry and two Mobile Repair Vehicles are almost invulnerable. * Cyborgs in a Tiberium patch are a cheap and self-healing defense again lightweight enemy attacks. * Artillery has a ~100% hit rate in the base game (not the expansion). ### Enemy stuff * The AI doesn't always keep Titans out of Lasers' range. * Firestorm Walls don't stop Lasers, Devil's Tongue fire, and possibly Obelisks of Light, too. ## Hotkeys ################################################# The hotkeys are your friends. Here are the ones I use often: ### General [Esc] opens the pause/options menu. [H] centres the viewport on your Construction Yard. ### Selection [E] selects all on-screen units. [T] selects all on-screen units and buildings that match the currently-selected units and buildings. [Shift + left-click] on a unit or building in your army adds it to the selection (click and drag to add multiple). Select-all is very useful in certain situations, e.g. if you left Ghost Stalker sitting on greenery (as GDI), or you have stealth or subterranean units (as Nod). ### Force-Action [X] scatters selected units (not much, but it stops infantry getting run over so easily). [Ctrl + left-click] is Force Fire: selected combat units and buildings will fire at whatever you target, even if that happens to be open ground, terrain features, or friendly units. [Alt + left-click] is Force Move: selected units will try to move to the target, even if another unit's at that place (this helps with using vehicles to run over infantry). Use Force Move after selecting buildings to mark the target as a Rally Point. Units these buildings make will move there automatically after they're created. Use this to get units into defensive positions or move them up to the front lines straight away. If it doesn't work, try [Ctrl + Alt + left-click]. ### Teams [0 to 9] selects a team (you start with no teams set). [Ctrl + 0 to 9] overwrites that numbered team with the units in your current selection. [Shift + 0 to 9] adds all units in your current selection to that numbered team *without* overwriting it. [Alt + 0 to 9] centres the viewport on that numbered team. Use the same-type hotkey [T] with the team hotkeys above if you wanna have any good control over your army. Good ways to split units: * by type, e.g. infantry vs vehicles * by speed, e.g. scout vehicles vs heavy armour * by target, e.g. anti-infantry vs anti-armour * by range, e.g. can vs can't safely destroy Lasers * by purpose/location, e.g. grouping units at a location ### Waypoints I don't use these often, but they do have strong advantages: you can make guard patrols, automate air attacks, help units avoid terrain hazards or enemy defences, etc. They're fiddly to set up, and only let you do things you could do manually, but using them can help you avoid micro-management and focus on one thing at a time. [W] switches into/out of waypoint mode. You can also exit by pressing [right-click]. [left-click] creates, selects, or moves a waypoint. When you enter waypoint mode, any waypoints you create will go on a new path. If you want to edit an existing path, select any of its waypoints first. You can have a maximum of 12 paths with up to 15 waypoints each. [Shift + left-click], when selecting the final waypoint in a path and targeting the first waypoint in that same path, turns the path into a loop. [Delete (*not* Backspace)] deletes the selected waypoint. When you select units, clicking on a waypoint makes them follow that path starting from that waypoint: [left-click] sends currently-selected units along the path. [Ctrl + left-click] sends currently-selected combat units to attack each waypoint on the path. They attack the ground and whatever building or unit's standing directly on it, so put waypoints on enemy buildings or deployed units. Currently-selected healing units (GDI Medics and Nod Mobile Repair Vehicles) instead heal or repair up to one friendly unit per waypoint stop. [Ctrl + Alt + left-click] sends all currently-selected units on a guard patrol: they follow the path and attack enemy units and buildings nearby. Put a waypoint on a Service Depot and vehicles following the path will repair themselves. Put a waypoint on a Helipad and air combat units following the path will reload ammo and refuel themselves. Put a waypoint on a friendly building and Engineers following the path will repair the building (using up the Engineer as normal) if it's damaged. ### Other I don't use these, but they do exist in the manual: * stop * follow * guard * move to map event * set/move to map location bookmark * cycle through on-screen units * switch to power or repair mode * scroll sidebars up/down by whole pages * several multiplayer-specific hotkeys Look up the game's manual if you want more info on these. ############################################################ # GDI Main Campaign ######################################## ############################################################ ## GDI 3.1: Capture Train Station ########################## This mission has an easier branch I never found as a kid; if you go north through the valley instead of around the longer route of plateaus and bridges, then you get some heavy units in drop pods and a more direct route to the enemy base. ## GDI 6.1: Destroy Vega's Dam ############################# This mission has two paths bridging off a rock in the centre of the map, after the city in the southeast. By default, you can only take the bridge to the northwest, which leads to an ambush and frontal assault on the enemy base. Either problem can easily destroy your forces (though it's also possible to get through almost unharmed with the right luck). To get the easier route across the (initially broken) northeast bridge: 1. Don't blow up the SAMs in the city just yet. 2. Make your Disc Throwers force-fire over the ravine north of the city at various angles. 3. *Now* destroy the SAMs. Hopefully your Disc Throwers killed enough of the Rocket Infantry hidden in fog of war across the ravine to stop them from shooting down the Orca Transport that lands there later when you destroy the SAMs. This Transport drops off a single Engineer. Have them repair the bridge, then send your forces through the tunnel. They'll appear behind the enemy base. This might feel like an exploit, but I couldn't find any other way to kill the Rocket Infantry from the south. ## GDI 7: Capture Hammerfest Base ########################## Firstly, there's Artillery along the river on the way to the base, but they don't activate until you properly reveal them in fog of war. If you do, just restart. They're so dangerous early on that there's no point trying to salvage things. Secondly, explore the map on your way to the base. I did just say there are run-ending Artillery, but you can destroy various Nod buildings to bring down enemy defences. However, capturing the outposts with your Engineers isn't worth it. Thirdly, the main Nod forces don't turn hostile till you recapture the blue Construction Yard. If you keep all combat units away from the blue GDI buildings (which your units are inexplicably hostile to), you can recapture much of the base and build up your army in peace. Finally, after you recapture the Construction Yard, your enemy repeatedly sends Engineers to repair the three bridges between your base and theirs; secure your base by setting up Disc Throwers to repeatedly destroy these bridges. ## GDI 8: Retrieve Disruptor Crystals ###################### There's a lotta branching paths here, some of which get your forces decimated, while others give you a chance at an early victory. If you don't wanna puzzle it out, here's the best: 1. Go south to the river, staying east of the outpost. 2. Send your Hover MLRSes upriver. 3. Blow up the train engine from the safety of the valley. You can now finish the mission at your leisure. ## GDI 9: Destroy Chemical Missile Plant ################### Complete all three(!) side-missions before this to gain some major advantages, in particular a 30-minute timer before the enemy's power goes down. Two things make this mission and its long, thin map less painful: * Firestorm Walls destroy missiles. * The front half of the Nod base has no SAMs. Do yourself a favour and capture one of the buildings in the enemy's forward base so you can build your own a forward base and shrink your supply lines for the final assault. ## GDI 9.1: Rescue Prisoners ############################### There's a beat-up GDI base over the river north of the start that's not worth repairing in itself, but you can hijack its Amphibious APC if you can find the Mutant Hijacker hiding in the nearby area. This lets you attack Nod's prison island by water instead of land. The only ways to avoid the constant enemy patrols in the western half of the map are to cross to the old GDI base and blow up the bridge behind you or duck into where the mutants were hiding. You're better off just skirting along the edges of the map until you reach safer ground past the city in the centre of the map. If you want to stop the Cyborg patrols, then blow up the civilian building they spawn from (a hotel). Try reaching it from the south. ## GDI 9.2: Destroy Chemical Supply ######################## This level can be a pain in the ass till you see how poorly- defended the Tiberium Waste Facilities are. They have no air defences and they're northeast of the main Nod base. Destroy them to put an end to the Chemical Missile attacks. If you've destroyed all enemy buildings, but the mission won't end, look around for white chemical tank buildings and destroy those too. You can get a secret side-mission here: 1. Send any unit to the train station in the northwest. 2. Get Ghost Stalker onto the train. You must do this *before* achieving the win condition or else the mission will just end. The secret mission is simple and short and gives you a major bonus in the main mission of this set. ## GDI 10A: Destroy Prototype Facility (Croatia) ########### This mission starts with the mutants taking shelter inside a tunnel in the northwest. I haven't actually played the other form of this mission (Hungarian?); I think the mutants start on the southeast in that one. The Mutant Hijacker can steal a Mammoth Mk.1 tank in the Banshee test range, but the vehicle doesn't join your forces even though you control it, which means you can't send it to your Service Depots to repair it later. Once you start building your base, the enemy will attack from multiple routes, but you can stop them by putting units in three places: 1. Put the Mammoth Mk.2 in the valley junction north of the bridge, with some infantry support. 2. Build up your army on the high ground north from that. 3. Send the mutants back to the Tiberium near the mission's start to intercept enemy patrols. Finally, here I learnt how strong the infantry-and-Medic combo can be. I grouped Light Infantry with some Medics, got them round the range of Obelisk of Light to the river in the middle of the map, and just left them to their own devices. They tied up every single enemy that came through there, *forever*. The AI kept trying to move its units past, but it didn't think to run my infantry over or send Devil's Tongues after them, so they slowly took down everything from patrols of Light Infantry to Cyborgs to Tick Tanks to Stealth Tanks, all with 0 casualties. I don't know if this is repeatable. ## GDI 11: Weather the Storm ############################### There's a bunch of Artillery on cliffs; you can destroy them from the low ground using Titans. Find two in the south, one in the north, and a few more to the east of the Kodiak. Another problem on this map is the lack of radar coupled with how you start away from the map edges. You can't easily tell where attacks will come from. However, there are barely any enemies west of the Kodiak. Once you clear the Artillery and a few other units you can focus on the east. Final tip: There aren't any Tiberium fields in the enemy base, so you can easily take out their Harvesters (depending on which field they go to). ## GDI 12: Final Conflict ################################## This can be so hard if you go in knowing nothing. The puzzle side of no-base missions, the long timesink of base-building missions, and the particular poison of a repeated time limit mean you can make mistakes 10 minutes in, then only face the consequences an hour later. However, a little knowledge goes a long way. Firstly, the enemy has a *lot* of money and aggressively rebuilds any buildings you destroy, so you can't use typical strategies like destroying Power Plants to take out defences or destroying SAMs so your air units can destroy Artillery. The silver lining is, each Nod base is a separate entity with a separate Construction Yard; if you capture or destroy it, you prevent that base from rebuilding. Secondly, your base defence has gotta be on point: * Concrete everywhere and build over dirt paths to protect against subterranean attacks. * Wall up key buildings to protect against Engineers. * Build and maintain perimeter walls and turrets. * Rotate your units to and from the perimeter depending on the attackers. Thirdly, destroying an ICBM Launcher resets the timer to 1 hour and destroying them all fully stops the timer, so you have 3 hours max to destroy the ICBMs and then infinite time to destroy the bases. Fourthly, the bottom half of the map opens out after you cross a tripwire between the blue Tiberium patches near your base or destroy the western base's ICBM. This exposes you to missile attacks from Kane's island, so give yourself time to build up your base and army by waiting till there's about 10 minutes left on the timer. Finally, the mission gets much more manageable after you deal with the southern Nod base and Kane's island. To take out the southern base: 1. Build 10 MLRSes, and some Amphibious APCs with Engineers and mixed infantry if you wanna capture the base. 2. Bring your forces around the edge of Kane's island, then along the edges of the map to find the base's ICBM. 3. Go northwest from the ICBM to find the Construction Yard and its War Factory and Hand of Nod. To take out Kane's island: 1. Fly an Orca Fighter across it to reveal its SAMs. 2. Destroy the SAMs in the north and west using your MLRSes (force-fire at the ground where cloaked SAMs are). 3. Carry over over your other units plus a Titan using Orca Carryalls. 4. Capture the Missile Silo and critical buildings. 5. Deal with the rest of the base. Soon you should have Multi-Missiles and Ion Cannon shots on a regular basis, plus a few Orca Bombers. Expose the last two ICBMs and the rest of the mission's just cleanup. ############################################################ # GDI Firestorm Campaign ################################### ############################################################ ## Firestorm: GDI F-3: Quell the Civilian Riots ############ A punchy, rapid-fire, real-time puzzle that's still a little underdeveloped vs its concept. You might fail once or twice because your targets aren't signposted and events quickly spiral, but it's short and you can easily just restart and get back into it. Honestly, tips feel unnecessary. Well, here's one: positioning is key. Find out which routes the rioters attack you through, then set up your units there. If you have to micro-manage base defenders instead of finding riot leaders then you're doing it wrong. ## Firestorm: GDI F-4: In the Box ########################## Capture one of the Power Plants in the middle of the map and build an EMP Cannon nearby; it'll be in range of most of the enemy base and will be invaluable before your final attack. ## Firestorm: GDI F-5: Dogma Day Afternoon ################# This mission has an excellent concept and decent atmosphere, but it's balanced extremely badly. Just save-scum it. Deploy the Juggernaut to kill the Tiberium Fiends across the stream. Leave it here for the rest of the mission, since it's very hard to keep it alive on the route your units will take, and you'll need it here later anyway. The Archaeologist heals to full health when they enter a temple (actually, they're replaced by a new Archaeologist). The Cult Guards kill Ghost Stalker extremely easily, but you can deal with the cult compound without him. There's no way to get the Juggernaut to the exit, so let it be destroyed by Tiberium Veins to end the mission. ## Firestorm: GDI F-6: Escape from CABAL ################### First, you *must* end the chase at the start with $3400 left in the bank to build a War Factory and Harvester. Bring your units southeast to the ruined GDI base, then do these things as simultaneously as possible: * Make Disc Throwers. * Build a War Factory, then a Harvester. * Sell the Tiberium Silos, a Power Plant, and a Refinery. * Repair all other buildings. Further tips: * The enemy has air power, but their Helipads aren't well- defended. * The enemy has no Tiberium inside their base. * The enemy base has a secret entrance past a destructible cliff. ## Firestorm: GDI F-7: The Cyborgs are Coming ############## The river ice freezes quickly once you start base-building. When your Commander reaches the city, every village will receive drop-pod reinforcements under your control; however, they'll be quickly overwhelmed by the enemy, so either leave them be or try to get the survivors back to your base. You can rebuild the damaged GDI base the game points you to, or build your own in the city. The former means you have to fight more enemies before you can build; the latter means you won't be able to lay down Concrete. You don't have to repair bridges; you're probably better off not. If you assault the southern enemy base from the north (a bad idea), play to GDI's strengths; build a forward base and deactivate the enemy base's defences using an EMP Cannon. ## Firestorm: GDI F-8: Factory Recall ###################### Another well-designed Firestorm map with interesting terrain and different routes to take with different conditions. For example, you could attack the enemy's main base from the southeast to get close to its Construction Yard, but you need to get units across the bridge before the Tiberium Vein field blocks the way, adding a natural time limit or forcing you to use units that can cross the Vein field or river. The versatile design's let down a bit by the normal Tiberian Sun issues, where some routes are much easier than others. Micro-manage your starting units heavily. Don't get into fights and don't let them attack the non-hostile Cyborgs and Reapers near the network centre; some of them will switch to your side early into the mission. There are two places to start a base: in the hills where the enemy outpost was (it has natural defences and might let you build an EMP Cannon close enough to stun the enemy base) or in the northern town (more Tiberium). The enemy base has tough defenses, but a few weak areas; you can cross the river directly into the base or sneak down the western edge of the map to break through the wall in the corner where no Obelisks can reach. Destroy the dam to deplete enemy power. ## Firestorm: GDI F-9: Core of the Problem ################# The first part of this mission's pretty brutal, just as with all the hardest missions in the game, so this is less a list of tips and more a walkthrough till the pressure eases off. Set up in the southeast corner and secure all routes in; destroy the west bridge, wall up the land route north of the starting area, and *do not* destroy the fragile cliffs north of your base. Build up mixed ground units and SAMs to defend the base while you take care of the missile threat. Early on in the mission, CABAL will send a Commando and Cyborgs south of your base using a Subterranean APC, so be on guard. Beyond ground attacks and subterranean surprises, you'll also face air attacks and missile attacks. You can deal with both of those in one stroke by capturing the missile base in the southwest corner, which then acts as a lightning rod for enemy air attacks. Send 5 Hover MLRSes to destroy the base's defences, then airlift in an APC of Engineers to capture the Silos and control centre. Build a few SAMs to defend against the onrushing air attacks. Keep an eye on the Silos' damage, as they'll attract nearly all enemy air attacks from now on, taking that heat off your main base. Now break the fragile cliff and attack the enemy economy in the opposite corner of the wide plateau. Capture and sell the Refineries and Tiberium Silos and destroy all Harvesters you come across. Beware Artillery in the plateau's southwest corner; you can stay out of their range by moving north from the broken cliffs, then west, instead of crossing diagonally over the Tiberium field. That takes care of missiles and air attacks and half the enemy's economy. They'll still attack without mercy, but you should be able to reach equilibrium and slowly destroy their outposts and main base. ############################################################ # Nod Main Campaign ######################################## ############################################################ ## Nod 2: Retaliation ###################################### Not quite a tip, but you can complete objective 2 by blowing up the bridge to the main enemy base. This is only hinted in Slavik suggesting, in the cutscene before the mission, “take the bridge, they're cut off, the island is a tomb”. ## Nod 4.1: Blackout ####################################### There are three ways to do this mission: straight, quick, or exploit. Doing it straight means defending against constant enemy attacks from northwest, south (by Amphibious APC), and east; it's a huge pain and you can easily get stuck, spending your money repairing damage and replacing losses. The quick method is to get a minimal base going and make a few Engineers, then send all your units over the bridge to the east and over the island to the broken bridge northeast; repair it, kill the enemies nearby, destroy the cliffs, then rush to the Radar in the north of the enemy base. It's quick and risky, and very up Nod's alley. *Or*, you could use the exploit. This mission is a weird difficulty spike and the devs messed up CABAL's lines in the mission select so he makes it sound easy (I'm pretty sure he reads the same line for another mission for which it makes a lot more sense), so I didn't feel too bad about using it. Here's the exploit: Take your units across the bridge to the east, including your MCV. Deploy your base here and blow up the bridge behind you. The GDI patrols won't find you, so the enemy will never attack. The downside is that the island is so cramped you'll have to be careful with where you place your buildings and how you micro-manage your Harvesters. ## Nod 5: Salvage Operation ################################ This mission's real tough, but the solution's extremely easy and silly: just target your vehicles at the train's cargo as it rushes past at the beginning. They'll chase it around the map and catch up a few times, so you have some opportunities to damage the rear car. You'll probably destroy it somewhere in the south and can then collect the crate it drops. ## Nod 6A: Capture Umagon (Provo) ########################## Do not send units near the Mobile Sensor Arrays. Destroy the northern one by sneaking Artillery around the west and north edges of the map into a small cliff nook nearby. After that, you can either get some Artillery into the middle of the map to destroy the rest, or short-circuit the mission by sending units across the northern edge of the map to attack Umagon's train when it arrives. ## Nod 7: Sheep's Clothing ################################# Defeat the enemies south of the river and destroy the bridge (in the mutant outpost). Your base is now totally secure, so you have as much time as you like to mass forces to take out the main base north of the river. ## Nod 9: Villainess in Distress ########################### This can be done *very* quickly: Capture the Power Plant and Radar, use the Subterranean APC to ferry the Cyborg Commando and Slavik to Oxanna, and get them all to the Orca Transport when it arrives. If you want to play everything to the fullest, keep your starting vehicles away from the area south of the prison, as there's an AI tripwire that triggers dangerous enemy attacks from the main GDI base. Focus on capturing the base south of Oxanna's prison and building up an army there. ## Nod 12: Capture Jake McNeil ############################# I've only done this the easy way: get to McNeil when he's in the base. Tips: * The turrets seemingly don't attack your units if they're in the target base. * Sell most buildings and build more Titans and a Medic. * You can force-fire to attack the few Wolverines guarding McNeil, even though they're technically on your side. That's about it, unless you alert the enemy. About that: there's a single enemy Light Infantry by a Searchlight Tower on the road to the base who won't *immediately* report in if they see you. I don't know if they do if they get close, but you can afford to rush APCs past them (as far away from them as possible) without causing McNeil to turn back. ## Nod 13: A New Beginning ################################# This mission can be brutal; GDI has their entire arsenal and uses it all. Firstly, and *very* importantly, the timer shows you how long it takes the Philadelphia to make a single orbital pass out of the three it takes to lock on and obliterate you with orbital lasers. You can, however, finish in under an hour if you're aggressive and well-informed, which is frankly a more compelling way to play. There aren't any huge enemy bases on the map, so this mission makes more sense as a speed/stealth challenge, anyway. General tips: * Sell your captured Refinery immediately after GDI blasts it with the Ion Cannon. Build your base southwest closer to the Tiberium. * Your main challenge is the northwest beacon. * Leapfrogging Artillery will go far. The northwest enemy base is a real pain. The quick route is up the west of the map and over the long bridge, but it's *incredibly* easy for that bridge to get blown up during the battle. The solution: 1. Set up Artillery in the valley below. 2. Send over sacrificial infantry to reveal the enemies. 3. Destroy the defences with the Artillery. Bring Engineers in case the bridge gets blown up and you need to repair it, then deal with the defenders on the other side and rush the base. If the other ICBM Launchers are done then you don't need strategy; just let your units tie up the main enemy forces while you guide a small group northwest to the wall. Blow through that wall and the RPG Turret and rush the last Launcher to the finish line. ############################################################ # Nod Firestorm Campaign ################################### ############################################################ ## Firestorm: Nod F-3: Tratos' Final Act ################### A mission so obtuse that it leads people to capture the base piecemeal instead of taking a full stealth approach. This is more of a walkthrough due to how precise you need to be. 1. Sneak a Limpet Drone over the water to the north of your starting point and into the enemy outpost. 2. Deploy it on the road so it grabs onto a passing truck. 3. Kill and destroy the outpost's defences (yes, even Ghost Stalker). 4. Capture the outpost and make Disc Throwers. 5. Use Limpet Drones to lure the nearby MLRSes on the water back to the outpost so you can destroy them. 6. Send Limpet Drones north and east of the outpost to find patches of coast outside the enemy's walls. 7. Using your APCs, send units to each of these patches and destroy the SAMs. 8. Blow a hole in the wall at the eastern patch and capture the nearby Radar to reveal most enemy buildings. If you run low on units, send Disc Throwers to the small hill near the northwest Refineries and force-fire to destroy the Vulcan Cannon between them, then and send some Engineers in an APC to capture the buildings. Now destroy 6 Power Plants. They're in 4 pairs, with the easiest to reach being: * on the northern plateau * on the eastern island * walled off in the east of the main base Now that the Sensors and Firestorm Wall are deactivated, wait for Tratos' guards to (mostly) spread out, then rush in and kill him. This mission would've been better if it was built around the Limpet Drones, attaching to passing vehicles to do recon by stealing their sight. There could've been a whole network of vehicles around the base so you could explore the instead of just capturing a Radar that reveals just about everything in one go. ## Firestorm: Nod F-4: Mutant Extermination ################ One of the best missions in Firestorm, maybe the whole game, with well-structured and varied terrain, an unusual opponent that combines both main factions, a neat but low-key stealth gimmick, and an escalating threat. Here's a few pointers: * Mutant vehicles take no damage from Tiberium Veins. * The enemy rarely attacks from the south. * The mutants only use air units defensively. The truck you're after switches to your side immediately when you find it, so don't scout in the enemy base or you'll convert the truck and it'll be attacked and destroyed by the mutants. Save your forces for an assault so you can distract the enemy. ## Firestorm: Nod F-6: The Needs of the Many! ############## Now that CABAL's gone, you don't have voice alerts for enemy actions. Keep an eye on the map; events and other key points are wrapped in flashing boxes. This mission has an interesting concept, but it's poorly implemented. The GDI aircraft don't reliably leave the base, so just do what you can, and rush the Radar with Engineers. ## Firestorm: Nod F-7: Determined Retribution ############## Subterranean APCs full of Cyborgs spawn in the middle of the map in two waves: one when you enter this area for the first time and the other when you approach the missile base in the northeast. These are the only times the enemy attacks you. You can get subterranean vehicles into said missile base via the shoreline between the missile base and the bridge to the east. The enemy seemingly won't attack Missile Silos you capture, and the base has no defenders (besides some Cyborgs who drill in later). ## Firestorm: Nod F-8: Harvester Hunting ################### Build a dozen with your Fist of Nod and send it northeast to avoid an early enemy attack. If you capture an enemy base, try the northwest one with the Construction Yard (it also has fewer defences). Although your objective's only to destroy enemy economic units and buildings, you'll have to take out pretty much all buildings and units in both bases to do so. Money crate locations: * 2 in the ravine east of your starting point * 3 inside trucks in northeastern village * 2 in the pit near the southwest corner of the map * 3 on the north island shown when reinforcements arrive * 2 in the middle of the map when reinforcements arrive ## Firestorm: Nod F-9: Core of the Problem ################# This is less a set of tips and more of a walkthrough for the first part of the mission, because of how brutal it is. It starts with a long firefight. Hold back till the APCs arrive, then move your forces over the river and capture the nearby outpost. Set up your main base in the lower ground to the north and build up a strong economy based on the massive Tiberium field northwest. Destroy the bridges north*east* of the Tiberium to secure the area. From here your immediate threats are, near to far: * a Mobile War Factory across the southern water * an airbase in the mid-south of the map * a missile base in the southeast corner You'll face air attacks from all directions, plus ground attacks from the northeast. Build a mix of ground forces, as well as Lasers and SAMs, to defend the base so you can focus your attention on the above problems. First, send Limpet Drones east to the Mobile War Factory and follow with Engineers and infantry in your APCs. Capture the Factory, but don't bother with it; let the enemy blow it up. Make sure your APCs come back, as it'll take time before you build up your tech enough to make more (the soldiers are expendable). Second, scout further east to find the airbase. Build up another subterranean strike team and capture the Radar; this reveals various enemy bases, including a missile base in the southeast. You can deal with the airbase later. Again, bring back the APCs (crew expendable). Finally, raid the missile base. It's guarded by Reapers; attack with Rocket Infantry and Devil's Tongues. Capture the Missile Silos. This stops the missile attacks *and* attracts all of the enemy's air attacks. If you build SAMs and repair the Silos regularly, you'll tie up the enemy's air units for the rest of the mission, killing two birds with one stone. Now CABAL can't so easily set the pace of the battle, so you can deal with the remaining the enemy outposts and bases as you like. ############################################################ # So, what did we learn here? ############################## ############################################################ Following the harsh restriction of manually justifying every line of text was obviously a huge pain, but it was also neat to see how it restricted my language. That is, it was harder to use consistent terminology because that put another limit on each line. Anyway, I hope the tips were helpful if they're what you came here for, and that they didn't reveal too much or spoil the fun of the game for you.