How to defend

Goal: destroy the enemy base before yours falls.

1. Build producers. Press 1-7 to pick a building, then click a lane slot. Each producer spawns its unit on a timer. You can build anywhere on the map, all the way into the enemy zone — but only on slots you can see.
2. Fog of war. Slots inside the dark fog show as red and can't be built on. Push units forward (or build a forward producer) to clear vision and unlock more lanes for placement.
3. Watch for rocks. Gray rock clusters are scattered randomly per match. They block placement and stop ground units — units must walk around them. Air units fly over. Click near a rock or press R to give explicit orders: nearby idle ground units will attack and destroy it to clear the path/build slot. Units ignore rocks while they have enemy targets (no auto-divert mid-fight).
4. Gold mines for income. Gold squares with crystals are the build spots (replacing regular blue squares) — only the Harvester (key 2) can be built on them (any gold mine, even deep on enemy side). The closest-to-base mine is always fixed in the same spot; the rest are random each match but mirrored symmetrically. Like other slots, you can only see the gold marker and build there once revealed by a unit or building (fogged golds appear as normal slots until scouted; no building/claiming through fog). Supply buildings give capacity only. Select Harvester then click a visible gold spot to place. Select a built harvester + use upgrade panel to level it (up to +3, +4 income each).
5. Counter the enemy. Hover any building to see what it produces and what it's strong against. Flamers melt scuttlers; maulers counter behemoths; spitters counter flamers.
6. Research & command. Buy upgrades in the panel below the build bar. Level up your main base (first two upgrade buttons) to unlock tier‑2 and tier‑3 weapon/armor research. The tier‑3 ability unlock gives you a race-specific super (Nuclear Strike / Plague / Stasis Field). Click a placed building to select it, then click a lane to set a rally point. Right-click a building to sell for 50%.
7. Extras. Space pauses, Esc cancels selection or ability targeting. Q fires your hero's ability. T targets your race super (then click the map). R or click rock to order idle units to clear it. Speed buttons in the HUD.
8. Camera & dock. Mouse at a screen edge, arrow keys, or middle-mouse drag to pan. Mouse wheel zooms. Click or drag the minimap to jump. Press B (or the dock button) to minimize/maximize the build & research panel so it stops covering the map. Each research card shows a ⇧+number shortcut (Shift+1…0) to buy it instantly.