Bases produce inexpensive units, determine your Tech Level, and provide the slots needed to build additional structures. Put plainly: maintaining a functioning base should be your top priority.
In most Multiplayer game modes, you begin a match with a Combat Station (UNSC) or a Stronghold (Banished). In the Campaign, you often start a mission without an existing base. In either case, building on a designated base site always yields your faction’s lowest-level base. Luckily, each faction has access to a series of base upgrades. Upgrading a base not only unlocks slots for additional structures, it also increases your Tech Level.
Although specifics vary between factions, your Tech Level helps determine which structures you can build, which units you can train, and which upgrades you can research. If you intend to field the most powerful units your faction offers, plan to raise your Tech Level accordingly.
Your Tech Level never decreases—even if you lose your most advanced base, lower-level bases can still support any advanced structures you’ve unlocked. That being said, upgrading a base is a costly and time-consuming process, and if a base falls, all the structures attached to it are also destroyed.
In addition to the Recycle HQ command, all bases offer two special commands that determine the behavior of newly trained units. As opposed to the global rally point, setting a local rally point only affects units that emerge from the specified base. Locking down a base prevents new units from exiting the base. This can make it difficult for enemy scouts to determine the size of your army. When you unlock a base, waiting units file out one after another.
Special Base Commands
| Icon | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Local Rally Point | (UNSC variant)Set local rally point for new units. |
|
Local Rally Point | (Banished variant)Set local rally point for new units. |
|
Lock Down Base | Units are trained as normal but remain inside the base until unlocked. |