Guide to the Combine Empire (WIP!)

Overview

This guide is a work in progress and me and my friends will update it, as time goes on. (I am new to this half life stuff. So be gentle!) The guide will teach people about how to play as the combine, its strengths and weaknesses, and the usefulness/abilities of certain units. It also will give some good lore, for the Half-Life fans.

The Citadel

A Citadel(HQ) and a stalker unit are the first assets provided to you when playing as the Combine.
The Citadel provides you with two units to be recruited:
-Stalkers: who build defenses and other buildings aswell as repair said buildings and defences SLOW speed arguably one of the slowest units in the game (perhaps the zombie can beat the stalkers in regards to speed [I’ll need to check]) has good damage for a builder it is better than the rebel engineer in regards to health and damage plus its range is longer than an engineer the stalkers should be able to defend themselves fairly well against early rebel threats but be wary for stalkers are to be used as glass cannons if you ever find yourself in need of more damage and need to use them on the field as attack or defense units.
Lastly stalkers assist in the contruction of buildings assigning many stalker to a single construction will speed the process.
Stats->150HP/5DMG/∞FIRERATE/820RANGE
Costs->20 Requisitions/12 Seconds/1 Population Capacity

(It is recommended to have a group of 3 or more stalkers for maximum efficiency)

-Loyal citizens who are unarmed and are usually used for low-tier scouting and point capturing they are really essential at the beginning of the game. A competent player would know that citizens should NEVER be used for attacking as they only have fists. A distraction, yes, but a fighter, no. Stalkers on the other hand can use their lasers as their weapons. Should a loyal citizen arrive at a
capture point and there is already a rebel scout capturing it you should order the citizen to avoid any and all contact with the scout as in 1 vs 1 fights the scout will always win order your citizen to go capture some other point if such a scenario occurs because otherwise the enemy will cripple your resource production early game by killing your citizen and you will even have spent those 5 requisitions and 8 seconds for nothing.
If you ever come to a point in which Loyal Citizens are no longer useful (aka the late game) you should probably just send the civilian to a Manned Turret it is better than to just leave the citizen to die a pointless death at least make those resources you spent on the citizen count.
Stats->I do not think it is necessary to say it is just pretty feeble overall
Costs->5 Requisitions/8 Seconds/1 Population Capacity

(they are quite salty always insulting[or talking nonsense such as talking about cheese] you at every command saying things like “have you ever had an original thought”)

As for the citadel itself only 2 abilities matter:
The population capacity upgrades:
Tier 1 : 40 population after upgrade costing 100 requisitions, the upgrade is instant
Tier 2 : 70 population after upgrade costing 200 requisitions, the upgrade again is instant
Tier 3 : 100 population after upgrade again costing 200 requisitions, the upgrade is instant
Tier 3 is the last tier of the population upgrades

THE DROPSHIP REINFORCEMENTS:
Firstly Required Buildings—>Garrison/Armory/Special Operations/Synth Factory/Mechanical Factory
Costs->15 population capacity /360 seconds(6 minutes)recharge
Effect-> 3 dropships will come to the targeted location(must be revealed territory it is not possible to activate the ability on non revealed areas of the map) and each will drop a section of 5 combine augmented assault soldiers each carrying an MP7 sub machinegun(may be upgraded to carry grenades, AR2’s or shotguns).
A deadly ability overall that should be used sparingly afterall you will not want to wait all those 6 minutes to get more reinforcements.
Be very careful though as the dropships can and if you fail to protect them will be destroyed by those RPG toting rebels.
(THIS ABILITY IS BUGGED ON THE SYNTH MAP THE DROPSHIPS PATHFINDING CANNOT GO OVER THE GAPS)
{By ze Baron}

The Garrison

Costs->60 Requisitions/45 Seconds(if only one stalker is building it)
The Garrisson is your main building for recruiting combine soldiers allowing for the recruitment of 6 varieties of soldiers:
“PICK UP THAT CAN!”
The Metrocops

There are 3 metrocop units in game:
1.Plain simply called “Metrocop” this soldier is armed with a shield and an electric baton(like the one in the picture)
Costs->20 Requisitions/20 Seconds/1 Population Capacity
Stats->HP210/DMG15/FIRERATE who cares it is melee/RANGE really close
Speed->Almost as fast as a Loyal Citizen
Abilities->Raise Shield: causes the metrocop to lose a portion of his/her speed at the benefit of receiving less damage

Riot Formation: orders the selected metrocops to form a defensive line by hunkering down and raising their shields creating a cover position behind them for other soldiers to use

2.Metro Police is a metrocop carrying a pistol is able to deploy manhacks and sentry turrets you should not really use this metrocop soldier unless you are trully desperate
Costs->18 Requisitions and 1 energy/20 Seconds/1 Population Capacity
Stats->180HP/5DMG/750Range(the only good thing about this metrocop is its range)
Abilities-> Deploy Manhack: Requires a built armory to unlock and only one deployable manhack can be active(that means you cannot turn Metrocops into mobile manhack factories XD),Costs->20 Requisitions/120 Seconds recharge/1 Population Capacity
Manhack Stats->30HP/3DMG/SPEEDIER than Loyal Citizen

Floor Turret: Requires upgrade from the armory allows metrocop units(not the ones with shields mind you) to deploy the deadly Floor Turrets capable of utterly annihilating any rebel push that is not supported with RPG’s ,Dogs or smoke grenades,Costs->Floor Turret Unlock: 40 Requisitions and 40 energy/40 Seconds, Floor Turret Deployment: 40 Requisitions and 20 energy/5 Seconds deployment(if only one metrocop is deploying it)120 seconds recharge/1 Population Capacity
Floor Turret stats-> 100HP/8DMG/800RANGE AND FOR SOME BLOODY REASON CANNOT BE REPAIRED BY A STALKER
Upgrade?-> Equip MP7 Submachinegun costs->15 requisitions and 7 energy plus an amount of time to equip teh weapon this is not an instant upgrade as isnt any otehr weapon upgrade to a soldier but yes this is an absolute drawback if you ever buy this upgrade you will have spent 33 requisitions and 8 energy on a single metrocop it is far too overpriced just overall do not recruit the pistol wielding metrocop unless you do not desire to upgrade them and only wishes for their bigger range upgrading this metrocop is just a waste of precious resources that you cannot in anyway just give away ,just buy the MP7 wielding metrocop it is cheaper

3.Metro Police (smg) is a metrocop carrying a MP7 Submachinegun and has the same abilities of the pistol metrocop your best choice for a long range metrocop overall
Costs->25 Requisitions and 5 energy/20 Seconds/1 Population Capacity
Stats->180HP/4DMG/3BURST/650RANGE
Abilities->mentioned above already

The combine forces overran earths military and all the alien lords cared about was gathering the resources of the planet. But they realized “Why destroy and take, when you can oppress and slowly get what you want? So they allowed human vollunteers to throw their loyalties away for a chance to be part of a bigger force. Or simply to be above others in a world that is nothing but struggle and oppression. Metro police are the standard patrol forces available for you to use ingame. Good for hunting down those traitorous rebel engineers, good for ambushing lone rebel forces, and carry floor turrets and other gadgets for taking down huge mobs of enemy units (you will always be outnumbered against a rebel player early on) Use these units for harassing the scrap herding engineers. They have a bullet resistant vest, but aren’t immune completely to the arms of rebels. Beware crossbows and rebel spec ops. A competent player will use cops to defend an area from scouts and ambush mobs. Not frontline units!

Combine Augmented Assault troops

Overwatch elites are the best troops the combine has at it’s disposal. Armed with heavier armor, improved optics and a AR-2 rifle. They are a threat to any rebel unit ingame. They have great accuracy, come with good reflexes, can fire an energy blast that decimates anything in it’s path, and can hold their own against rebel special ops units. These guys are very expensive, so make sure you give them an escort, or put them on base defence duty.
Overwatch Soldiers are humans who have been surgically enhanced/brainwashed by the combine aliens. They have no free thinking. They only obey. And destroy. Being a higher rank than the standard human cop. Overwatch soldiers are able to use all kinds of weaponry. Smg’s, AR 2’S, shotguns, and can use frag grenades. They are fairly cheap and are good frontline units for waging war against the rebel forces. They should be escorted by an overwatch elite as their squad leader for maximum combat effectiveness!

Synth Factory Assault Units

Let’s start with our favorite synth, the strider. Striders are slow but can quicken if you spend some power. They’re heavily armored and can blast rebels to pieces with their pulse and warp cannon. They can also impale rebels. They can step over tall objects when not quickened. It is reccomended that it is escorted by four combine soldiers and an elite for best combat abilities. Next up: the hunter! These synths are very quick and can jump over high obstacles. They’re used for harassing rebels. They can be used for scouting and recon as well. Hunters can launch fletchettes, can ram, and can melee/stab rebels up close. They do well in pairs but can work alone. It’s optional for them to be guarded by four combine soldiers and elite but they usually slow them down and lag behind. The claw or shield scanner is a synth unit that drops hopper mines. It can place them anywhere. This usually holds rebel units back as it hops towards them and can explode a group of four or five or heavily injure them. Because of their danger, immovability and extreme durability, Hopper Mines are impossible for most enemies to disable or defuse.

Defenses (WIP)

Combine Barricades (No image, sorry!) Combine barricades allow for ground units to take cover. These are best used when they surrond a mounted turret (I’ll insert a screenshot here.) This provides efficient cover as long as the unit is not standing behind it and firing. AKA Crouching.
Mounted turrets can gun down rebels VERY efficiently. It’s best to have them manned by combine soldiers or elites.
Here’s the fun part. Mortars contact satellites to launch a giant dark energy beam into an area after a certain time. This destroys anything in its radius. Players can use this to wipe out groups of rebels or their buildings. The headcrab canisters! They launch about 5 headcrabs that can infect loyal citizens but only if they’re regular headcrabs. This is also good against rebels if they’re in the radius of a launcher.
(This section is messy! Will continue research and fix it up!)