Grekim Strategy

Grekim's greatest advantage is their ability to chronoport from anywhere on the map, without the need for gate construction. They can launch devastating unplayable-past attacks with less chronoenergy cost or possibility of interception than the other species, and can readily deploy a bootstrap defense of any location on the map easily by chronoporting defenders. Their unique methods of production also enable them to quickly parallel produce lots of units off of a very small amount of infrastructure that doesn't necessarily need to stay in the same place (their triads). Moreover, their heirachy method of using Arctici allows orders to be stored that can be connected to via chronoportation, allowing control of units in the UPP with a greater degree of freedom, or synchronisation with units in the past. However, Grekim's inability to teleport units or Resource Processors under normal circumstances restricts their mobility and makes them dangerously dependent on expensive flying units, as well as forcing early expansion to occur at further distances to reduce maynarding of existing resource processors(the process of transferring RPs from one location to another, usually after mining out). Arctici also don't allow queuing in their hierarchy orders, requiring slightly more attention; this counterbalances the superior resilience of their hierarchy structures (unlike other factions where the hierarchy leader is easily sniped).

Common Openings

Grekim start with an Arcticus, a Sepi, a Pharo, and three resource processors. Commonly, 2 RPs are sent to LC, and 1 is sent to QP; as soon as the QP RP has made a single "pull" (one mine), it is then moved to LC. This will allow you to construct an early Octopod (after your basic infrastructure) which is highly useful for defense. The initial units (Sepi/Pharo), in most strategies, should be put into progeneration mode immediately. This is because these units will allow you to continue production of RPs, as well as Octos for really early defense. It is recommended you attempt to reach 6-8 LC RPs before expanding and before moving on to building QP, since you'll be building a lot of your early infrastructure and units with LC, and you won't be able to defend your expansions easily initially. Grekim should have at least 4 QP RPs at their main, and possibly more, since a lot of their utility comes from their use of chronoporting and QP-expensive Pharopods and Sepipods. Do not forget to use at least one octo sometime in your build to echo scout. You can then set down the same octo into progeneration to complete your triad.

Players that like aggressive openings can move their starting partial triad to a closer position. Although risky, base class units for Grekim are strong if unaccounted for in a build, and the parallel production capacity of the Grekim can allow a scary force to be built right at the doorstep of the enemy. This should definitely be considered a strategy to try to win outright with if attempted; otherwise it's best to cancel it and switch around production to economy.

The starting Arcticus is a useful damage sink for incoming attackers, but also a cloak detector. As such, placement is usually placed best in areas where an attack is expected from cloaked enemies OR an enemy army is going to come from since the Arcticus can absorb the damage and losing it is less important than losing the triad (although it should not be sacrificed frivolously). Do NOT use the Arcticus production abilities except in emergencies; this function is used to survive a potentially fatal loss of a main triad, and should not be used as a main method of production, due to the high cost of these emergency units.

Once an adequate LC income has been secured, the player should build at least a single Reaph, but usually more. This will allow tech to be researched, but also has the function of healing units and buildings in a radius around the Reaph. This healing is so effective that it can substantially counteract incoming damage, giving rise to the term "Reaph bubblewrap." At least three Reaphs is often a good idea since Reaphs cannot heal themselves, but two Reaphs within their range circles can heal each other, and three or more can often completely cancel out the damage from minor enemy raids. In conjunction with one or two patrolling octopods these Reaphs create a formidable defensive barrier that is useful in every matchup. Reaphs functionally work similar to Arctici for base placement in that they can absorb a lot of damage for tanking damage, however, they are not cloak detectors.

As soon as you're able, research Advanced Structures. This will allow you to morph a Pharo into a Spyre. This Spyre should be placed near your main triad to unlock Sepipod and Pharopod production. These air units will be your main harassment and battle force for the mid-game and onward. You can then move onto your particular style of play, whether it's a chronoporting-orientated strategy, mass Sepipod and Pharopod containment, or a ligo class rush (expensive, requires a pod-class triad or partial triad, as well as the ligo class upgrade).

Grekim vs. Grekim

Grekim vs Grekim gameplay is highly known for the large use of the game's chronoporting mechanic to establish dominance. Grekim's units aren't particularly good at soft-counters, acting on a very defined, specialized role, and there aren't a large variety of units (Grekim has only 9). However, their ability to do their jobs well allows for good timings and refined attacks and chronoports to define the victor of this matchup. However, this matchup is not strictly defined by this and unusually can feature other instances of play such as more chronal variants (either ligo rushes or really defensive turtling), edge micro dominance (particularly in the early game). Grekim vs Grekim play rewards trickery, information warfare and timeline control.

Due to Grekim's really strong ability to turtle, base class rushes with Octos and Pharos are to be considered only in the extreme case where an opponent is overly greedy and has been scouted to be only building RPs. It is hard to overcome the defender's advantage Grekim is granted with Reaphs as well as being able to mirror your units. However, use of good control can often win Octo vs Octo fights (which are very position dependent). Your early octos should be primarily used for scouting and harassing risky expansion, and not used as a serious attempt at attacking except in extreme cases. Later, you can convert these to RPs for a small cost, or domes for added protection of a base area.

Commonly, Grekim players will use a chronoport-orientated style of play, where chronoporting is researched as early as possible, and then a set of units is sent to attack in the far past and overwhelm the opponent. Building lots of Octopods early can be a good choice for an early chronoport attack. If the enemy has not built patrol units early in the game, this can often outright win a game. Octopods do not require a lot of QP, and the required QP to chronoport them can therefore be gathered faster than Sepipod or Pharopod chronoport attacks. Octopod attacks in a weakpoint are also good for risky expansions. Be wary however, as the Octopod is primarily a standoff/support hybrid unit, and even in numbers, can fall to Reaph supported compositions or mirror chronoporting.

Alternatively, if your opponent has not built or placed sufficient detection well, cloaked Pharopods are a good option. Even a single Pharopod will decimate an RP line due to very high anti-ground DPS and being able to remain cloaked for a very long period of time (Pharopods can regenerate their cloaking energy even while it's turned on). However, Pharopods have low health for their cost and are countered hard by Sepipods, a very good anti-air unit that also detects cloaked units. Sepipods however have comparatively less anti-ground capability, meaning they will be devastated by Reaph-supported Octopods. Pharopods do comparatively better vs Octopods, being an anti-ground unit, although Pharopods should be wary of engaging a swarm of Octopods that have a nearby detector. Away from Reaph bubblewrap, however, all Grekim air units gain a substantial advantage over Octo, Pharo, and Octopod compositions due to their superior maneuverability. Any damaged air units can be quickly retreated back to Reaphs for healing, massively boosting their cost effectiveness. Players focusing on ground based forces to fight Grekim air should invest heavily in Sepis to take down the air units before they can retreat and at least a few Sepipods for emergency detection. However, Grekim mirror matches more frequently evolve into protracted wars for air supremacy, employing large swarms of Sepipods and Sepiligos. Chronoporting can be employed to great effect in these air campaigns, as both players struggle to deny enemy expansions and secure their own.

Grekim is often considered bounded by QP income; Q-Plasma expenditure on chronoporting and units is great, and this often leaves a lot of LC. This should be used to gather more resources, build Sepis (a good base-class unit that in a small swarm cost-effectively deals with air units), Pharos (effective as expendable canon-fodder in the late game), more Reaphs, and Arctici. Having more Arctici will yield more hierarchies, and this will allow a greater degree of control than sticking with only your primary Arcticus. This is Grekim's form of "supply"; unlike the other factions which have a tertiary resource type, Grekim need to pay a similar investment for their control groups. Arctici in the later game are comparatively cheap, but the utility from being able to use multiple groups for independent orders and chronoportation is highly important.

Once sufficient resources have been gathered (in the neighborhood of 15-20 RP's worth of stable income), Weapons or Loligo-Class units can be researched. Ligo-class are a lot stronger than pod class units, and generally superior (although the utility of Sepipods for cloak detection should not be forgotten and at least one or two should still be used at all times). Sepiligos solidify air dominance and also provide effective anti-ground support. Pharoligos deal powerful splash-damage to ground and are good siege units, with superior health and range compared to the Pharopod. Octoligos are a powerful generalist unit with long range and high single target burst damage, however they are outclassed by grouped enemy artillery because (weirdly) Octoligos don't have splash damage. Ligos are generally expensive to chronoport (the Octoligo slightly less so) but due to their high health and damage outputs, are worth chronoporting if in a good position. If Specials are researched, the Pharoligo can chronofreeze units, preventing them from doing anything except taking damage, a very good way of thwarting an enemy with a good chronoport. Note that chronofreeze also freezes the casting Pharoligo but other allied units are not affected.

On the other hand, Grekim Weapons, in combination with chronoporting, unlocks one of the most potent support weapons in the game; the chronobomb. This utility missile deals no damage, but anything hit in its area of effect, including buildings, is chronoported to the future. This essentially locks down those objects, keeping them in place, but undamageable and without possibility to contribute to fights, for 85-100 seconds. This is very important in this matchup due to low relative cost, but high potential for ruining the opponent's reactions. If a chronobomb is fired, interception or moving out of the way (for fast units) should be considered to prevent an opponent from defeating you with a follow-up attack. Chronobombs affect friendly units as well, so be careful when using them near allies! The other unlocked ability is the Plasma Cruise Missile. This nuke is however much-more expensive, and difficult to aim/hit due to it chronoporting back in time on route, making the timing for landing harder to predict. It is good for hitting static targets if a Grekim player turtles excessively without adequate static defense.

Grekim vs. Humans

The Grekim v Humans matchup is characteristic around the Grekim player focusing on a good strategy and the positional and temporal tricks they are able to use, while the CESO player is building a varying composition that needs to be understood and met with a correct response. CESO have a lot of different unit types, each interacting with yours in different ways. CESO units often provide good soft counters, meaning that charging into a swarm in the playable past is exceptionally dangerous for the Grekim player. Things like infantry, albeit slow, are able to deal strong DPS, and the Grekim player cannot simply take these head on easily, especially in territory the CESO player has claim on.

At the start of the game, CESO infantry, while strong, cannot deal with comparable numbers of octos, due to the CESO player needing to build up reserves which has a lot of upkeep early. Therefore, playing aggressively against a CESO player that tries to expand too early is easily managed. However, entering their base territory is inadvised, because although they cannot get defenses up, simbasing allows the infantry to be untargetable and protected from your octos. It is often better to instead simply economize, since the CESO player also cannot make good advances against your territory.

Early on, a bigger concern is factory units potentially harassing during the early to mid game. ATHCs are decent (with micro especially) vs your base class, and in numbers, effective against your early Sepipods, but weak to Octopods, due to their range and decent anti-ground damage for the light ATHC armour. Lancers are maneuverable but Sepis will easily deal with them early on, and later Sepipods will make Lancers worthless except as potential cover for frigates (something to be wary of). You should make sure to place Reaphs in good positions to make it hard for the CESO player to encroach on your territory.

CESO players mostly come in two styles. Factory-heavy players will likely focus on Tanks, a decent ground unit that will defeat your aerial pod-class units and be super resistant to damage even against Octopods. Its lack of mobility should be exploited. They will also likely build Tornades for cloak detection against your Pharopods and destruction of lighter units (Sepipods do very well vs Tornades however). Macrofab-heavy players will likely quickly get Twin-MARs to threaten you with ground superiority, and a mix of lancers and frigates to deal with the air theater. You should respond to the compositions with appropriate units. Getting chronoporting to assist against their high numbers will allow you to sway fights, as well as dictate your attacks more. However, the CESO player has an advantage with military prowess, so make sure to use your healing advantage to maximise your survivability. As soon as you can, getting to ligos will give you a lot more military power against CESO; Sepiligos are really difficult to counter for a CESO player, and Pharoligos when protected similarly are devastating. Octoligos will make any encroaches by mass infantry redundant late game.

Chronoporting is vital for survival, and using tricks to prevent the human player from getting gate tech is key to winning the match-up. Should the CESO player reach gate tech, keep hitting resources to weaken the ability for use. Potentially, if a human player rushes gate tech, you'll generally have the advantage as the human player will likely not have the military support to sustain it.

A good strategy is to attempt to punish places with weak detection with your Pharopods; a good CESO player will have a lot of detection around, but will often find it difficult to cover all areas and potentially, you might be able to exploit a vulnerability, since the Pharopod can often pick off a lone detector or unguarded expansion.

CESO players are unlikely to use cloaking due to the lack of power of the associated unit, and also unlikely to use their main special (Temporal Soliton Shield) due to the Sepipod being able to easily clear it. If however your opponent is using TSS, make sure not to stop building Sepipods to clear it.

Grekim vs. Vecgir

A strange matchup pitting mobility vs temporal manipulation, this matchup is very interesting and asymmetric in style.

Early game, the Vecgir player will likely have trouble against rushes without using a combination of virs, foundation healing and autodefence (difficult to pull off if you micro and focus down the foundations first) or more likely, an earlier depot, and using depot healing to reuse some units to fight you with. However, a Vecgir player that holds off a rush will likely be able to harass and siege immediately. As such, take care against using a rush against a really skilled player.

Vecgir players in the early to mid game will often focus on really chunky, powerful units that can move a lot; since most of your army is pretty mobile in the air this isn't a huge advantage except in the ground theater where the ground units will be able to do a lot of damage. Zayin Pulsers, especially in numbers, will shred through ground units, although your units are more likely to survive encounters with them, than other faction's low tier units. Zayin Terchers are potentially lethal if you forget cloak detection, and are decent soft-counters vs most of your units, so make sure to keep considerable pressure on any, since they are expensive in proportion to their damage. Zayin Terchers may be used as an invisible spotter for Zayin Pulsers, so make sure to deal with it first if that's the case, to force the Pulsers closer before dispatching them (if you're using ground to defend). Teth Pulsers and Teth Vir will do well vs most of your air compositions, so avoid these with your mobile forces.

Vecgir players will likely try to gate tech quickly, in the same manner you get chronoporting. Gate Tech will give them the mobility to harass you, and potentially counter-chronoport when the slipgate is constructed (this is expensive and takes time however, whereas your gating is instant after research). Often, tight timings will determine who comes out a victor; be wary of engaging Vecgir on their turf in the playable past due to the ability to survive with dying units using depot heal. However, with a sufficiently good chronoport, sieging their base might be quite manageable. Watch out for constant harassment, and when expanding, build Reaphs/Domes to protect them, since it'll be hard to keep your army in all places at all times since you cannot teleport.

The Vecgir player will likely transition to an ACC or Halcyon-class tech quickly; either before or after gate tech; Halcyons are high health units that will be difficult to fight directly, but are costly, and if you tech to ligos, can be dealt with quite efficiently. Halcyons also don't deal huge DPS, allowing Reaph healing to significantly weaken their advantage. The ACC will be the first time Vecgir can build air units, making the Sepi-type units more useful (before this point, they could be more or less ignored or at least built in small numbers).

The Vecgir's special, Comm Jam, is dangerous when away from your turf, since the Pharopod is the unit to clear its effect, but that will weaken its energy reserve for cloaking. Within your turf, it is less dangerous since Reaphs can clear Comm Jam. However, this will burn out Reaph energy, so watch out for an attack shortly after a comm jam (or few), since your Reaphs may not be able to heal your units to the expected degree. Do not worry about this being deployed too early; it requires Halcyon class and the expensive Zayin Halcyon to be produced.

Very late game, remember that Vecgir bases are centralised, so chronobombs are highly effective when attacking!

Winning this matchup will likely involve you winning through use of the timeline or clever use of ligo-class superiority/chronobombing/not allowing teleporting to dominate your economy.