Advance Wars Days of Ruin
By: Tronn Bonne
Guide - CO Lin
Copyright 2010 Tronn Bonne
Version 1.0
=================
Table of Contents
=================
1. Version History
2. Copyright and Disclaimer
3. Purpose of this Guide
4. Important Terms
5. Introduction to Lin
6. CO Effect Statistics
7. COP Statistics
8. Days of Ruin Metagame
9. Lin’s War Room
10. Countering Lin
11. Lin vs Other COs
12. Opinions on Lin
13. People I want to thank
===================
1. Version History
===================
Version 1.0 [3/27/10] Guide Completed
===========================
2. Copyright and Disclaimer
===========================
This document is (c)2010 Tronn Bonne. This may be
not be reproduced under any circumstances except
for personal and private use. It may not be
placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use
of this guide on any other web site or as a part
of any public display is strictly prohibited,
and a violation of copyright.
The only sites authorized to use this guide are
gamefaqs.com and warsworldnews.com. If you want
to use this guide, please e-mail me at the
following address:
[email protected]
Lin, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, and all related
characters are copyright of Nintendo.
========================
3. Purpose of this Guide
========================
This guide is not designed for beginners to
Advance Wars Days of Ruin. If you are unfamiliar
with the basics of the game then I suggest you
read the opening section of one of the
walkthrough guides for Advance Wars Days of Ruin
posted on GameFAQs. I will only discuss aspects
of the game mechanics which I feel are not well
known or are especially important.
In this guide I will be utilizing the North
American translation of the game which is titled
Advance Wars Days of Ruin. Please note that the
game is also known as Dark Conflict in the
European version but Lin and the translation of
her CO Power are the same in both versions of
the game. I will also not provide any spoilers
about the campaign story and will only make general
references to it when they pertain to Lin.
I will be the first to admit that it might appear
strange for me to be finishing this guide now when
the game came out over two years ago. I originally
started it when wi-fi activity for DoR was at its
peak in the six months after the game was released.
Although the online activity of DoR has decreased I
feel that a CO FAQ dedicated to Lin will be
beneficial since I still encounter players who
regard her as a weak or overly specialized CO and do
not recognize the extent of her strengths nor how to
use her effectively. Therefore, this FAQ is not only
about providing tips for utilizing Lin but also
showing why she is one of the stronger COs in DoR.
Furthermore, Lin is effectively the DoR version of
Sonja, the CO I wrote FAQs on in the previous AWs,
which was an added element of attachment to
her and only fueled my desire to finally finish this
guide.
The way I am structuring this FAQ is a little different
than my previous guides, mostly because the CO mechanics
in DoR are quite a bit different from previous AWs. The
two biggest changes is that I have a section discussing
the metagame and I tried to condense all of the strategy
into one section. There are numerous other differences
as well but some things, like the versus section, are
largely the same.
Feel free to e-mail me at the address in the Copyright
and Disclaimer Section if you notice any mistakes or
have any comments with this guide. Please contact me
if you wish to use any of the information in this
guide or its format for a guide/FAQ of your own. Also,
feel free to e-mail me if you wish to submit a strategy
that works well with Lin or if you would like to share
your opinion of her. I reserve the right to select
what material I will and will not include in this
guide. I will give full credit to the authors of any
outside material that I do decide to include.
==================
4. Important Terms
==================
The following is a list of terminology which I will
regularly use throughout this FAQ:
-DoR=Days of Ruin
-AWDS=Advance Wars Dual Strike
-AW=The Advance Wars series
-IS=Intelligent Systems, the developers of Advance Wars
-OHKO=One Hit Kill
-FOW=Fog of War
-Ambush=When a unit runs into an enemy hidden unit during
FoW, causing it to lose the rest of its action
-Capture Phase=Also called Expansion Phase. This is the
early portion of the game when players are trying to
capture as many properties as possible
-CO=Commanding Officer
-COP=CO Power
-CO Unit=The unit that the CO is deployed in
-CO Effect=The benefit that a deployed CO provides to their
units
-CO Zone=The range of the CO Effect around a deployed CO
-CO Meter=The meter which can be charged by attacking
with units inside the CO Zone
-Indirects=Units that can attack from long range but
normally are unable to counterattack or move and attack
-Directs= Units that can only attack units adjacent to
themselves
-Ground Units=Units like Infantry, Tanks, and Artillery
-Infantry Units=Units that can capture properties. This
includes Infantry, Mechs, and Bikes
-100/100=The basic unit stats. The first number refers to
offense while the second refers to defense. Therefore, a
unit with 20% offense and 10% defense boost will be
120/110
======================
5. Introduction to Lin
======================
Lin is the stern second-in-command of the 12th Battalion.
As a specialist in intelligence gathering, she proves to
be more far more calculating in her strategies than the
idealistic Captain Brenner or the inexperienced Will.
This often brings her into disagreement with Brenner
or Will when they are deciding the next move for the
12th Battalion. She is also the one who usually provides
advice, especially early in the campaign, during a
tactics session in battle.
Name: Lin
Faction: 12th Battalion
The 12th Battalion’s unflappable second in command. She
has tremendous respect for Captain Brenner, although
they disagree often.
“Keep a cool head.”
CO Zone: 1
Boosts: Ground Units
Effect: Attack up **
Defense up **
CO Power: Scout
Adds 2 to ground-unit vision, including hiding places.
How to Unlock: Initially available for use.
Lin was seen as a very weak CO when DoR was first
released and, at first glance, she does appear
that way. Her CO Zone only has a radius of 1 while
the unique effect of her CO Power only applies if
she is fighting in FOW. For quite some time she was
neglected and would regularly be listed as an
underpowered CO in the many tier lists posted online.
However, this completely changed as more active,
competitive DoR players gained a much better
grasp of the DoR game mechanics. The following are
the main reasons for this imrpoved opinion of Lin's
abilities:
1. With the exception of the deliberately broken
Caulder and the CO Zone of 0 Tabitha, Lin provides
the greatest stat boost to ground units in the game.
This is considerable since it allows her to both
achieve and deny more OHKOs with ground units than
almost all of the other COs.
2. A CO Zone of 1 is just large enough to be able
to reliably charge a COP meter. Just as important,
a CO Zone of 3 is the optimal size for a CO effect
to greatly impact a part of the battle. Naturally,
a larger CO Zone never hurts and it does require
more effort to charge Lin’s CO Meter than other COs
but the reward to her ground units is considerable.
3. Lin’s COP is not useless out of FOW because
activating a COP causes the stat boost from the
CO Effect in addition to the COP effect to apply
to all units that CO controls. This means that
when Lin activates her COP all of her ground
units become among the best in the game.
=======================
6. CO Effect Statistics
=======================
Outside of Lin’s CO Effect all of her units,
like all of the other DoR COs, are normal
strength at 100/100. Lin’s CO Effect contributes a
stat boost to all ground units, including Infantry
Units like Mechs, direct combat units like Tanks,
indirect combat units like Rockets, and even Rigs.
Each star listed under a CO Effect equals a 10%
boost to that respective stat. Since Lin’s CO Effect
lists ** for offense and ** for defense her ground
units gain a 20% boost to both stats. However, this
is a little deceptive since all CO Zones generate an
additional 10% offense and 10% defense boost to all
of the CO’s units which are within range. Therefore,
all of Lin’s ground units actually gain a 30% offense
and 30% defense boost while her air and naval units
receive a 10% offense and 10% defense boost.
The following is fairly basic knowledge but I will go
over it here anyway. Lin’s starting CO Zone is 1 which
means the four squares Immediately adjacent to the
unit she is deployed in will benefit from her CO Effect.
Equally important, only the units which attack while
within her CO Zone will increase her CO Meter. When her
CO Meter is half full her CO Zone increases to 2. When
her CO Meter becomes full the zone increases to 3 and
she can also use her COP if she so chooses. Furthermore,
if the unit that Lin is deployed in becomes destroyed
then her CO Meter is reduced to 0 and she must be
deployed once more.
Deploying a CO in a unit can only be done at an owned
production property, such as a factory, or the faction
HQ and costs 50% of the funds required to deploy that
unit. Therefore, it will cost 3,500 fund to place Lin
in a Tank which costs 7,000. This means that you have
spent 10,500 on one unit. Furthermore, you can not
deploy a CO in a unit that has been recorded as moving
that turn. This means you must wait a turn before
deploying Lin in a unit that you built that turn or
moved onto a production property or her HQ. Also,
placing a CO in a unit will automatically upgrade it
to Veteran status which gives it a 20% offense and
20% defense boost in addition to other modifies. This
means that if Lin is deployed in a ground unit then it
will have 150/150 stats from her 20% CO Effect,
universal 10% CO Zone boost, and 20% Veteran status.
As a result, in a 55% unit matchup, such as a Tank vs.
Tank, Lin’s CO Tank will do 82% (8-9 HP) of damage
while sustaining almost no counterattack damage in
return.
Below are some statistics showing the difference Lin's
CO Effect has on certain unit matchups. Of particular
importance are the new or potential OHKOs that Lin's
boost generates. The first unit listed is Lin's
while the second is the unit being targeted. Lin's
units only include the boost from her CO Effect and
Zone for 130/130 stats. The targeted units all have
100/100 stats which means they do not have a level,
lack defensive cover, and are not under the effect
of a CO Zone.
Lin's Ground Unit Offense
------------------------------------
Infantry vs Mech 58%
Mech vs Anti-Tank 71%
Recon vs Infantry 97%
Recon vs Mech 84%
Recon vs Flare 39%
Tank vs Infantry 97%
Tank vs Tank 71%
Tank vs Medium Tank 45%
Medium Tank vs Mech 104%
Medium Tank vs Tank 91%
Medium Tank vs War Tank 45%
War Tank vs Tank 110%
War Tank vs Medium Tank 97%
War Tank vs Anti-Tank 52%
Artillery vs Mech 110%
Artillery vs Tank 78%
Artillery vs Artillery 97%
Rockets vs Tank 91%
Rockets vs Medium Tank 71%
ROckets vs Anti-Tank 84%
Anti-Air vs Mech 136%
Anti-Air vs Duster 97%
Anti-Air vs Bomber 91%
The following list uses the same parameters as the
first with Lin's units at 130/130 and the enemy's
at 100/100. However, this list shows the impact
her CO Effect has when her units are being
attacked. Therefore, the first unit listed is the
enemy's while the second is Lin's. This list
demonstrates that it still pays to be the attacker
in DoR although Lin does deny certain critical
OHKOs and greatly reduces the impact of any attack
boost the enemy units might have. Furthermore, her
increased defense combined with her increased
offense also means her ground units sustain
considerably less counterattack damage from the
enemy.
Lin's Ground Unit Defense
------------------------------------
Infantry vs Mech 34%
Anti-Air vs Mech 80%
Tank vs Tank 42%
Tank vs Medium Tank 26%
Medium Tank vs Mech 61%
War Tank vs Tank 65%
Artillery vs Artillery 57%
Bomber vs Anti-Air 65%
=================
7. COP Statistics
=================
When Lin activates her COP, called Scout, it applies
all of her CO Effects to all of her units in addition
to the effects of the COP itself. This means that all
of Lin’s ground units get 130/130 stats while her air
and naval units get 110/110. The COP lasts for a turn
and at the start of Lin’s next turn her CO Meter will
be empty and her CO Zone will return to 1. Activating
a COP also uses the action of the CO’s deployed unit.
The unique effects of Lin’s Scout COP is +2 vision to
ground units and revealing hiding places. The first
effect is very straightforward and all it means is
that Lin’s ground units get +2 to their vision for
that turn. However, the latter means that all of Lin’s
ground units will be able to see into hidden terrain
during FOW. In other words, Lin will be able to see any
units that are residing in woods, reefs, mist, ruins,
or properties without having to move a unit past/into/
beside them or using a shot from a Flare unit. Just
remember that both the vision boost and the ability to
see into hiding places only applies to Lin’s ground
units and not air or naval units.
Below is the attack strength, defense strength, and
vision ranges of Lin's ground units while under the
effect of her COP. I have only included her ground
units in this list since they are the most affected by
Lin’s COP and to illustrate how large their vision
ranges become. Of particular interest is that the
vision range of all of Lin’s ground Indirects either
matches or exceeds their attack range. This means they
do not need the assistance of another unit to locate
a target within range.
Effects from Scout COP
--------------------------------
Infantry 130/130 vision 4 (7 on a mountain)
Mech 130/130 vision 4 (7 on a mountain)
Bike 130/130 vision 4
Recon 130/130 vision 7
Flare 130/130 vision 4
Anti-Air 130/130 vision 5
Tank 130/130 vision 5
Medium Tank 130/130 vision 4
War Tank 130/130 vision 4
Artillery 130/130 vision 5
Anti-Tank 130/130 vision 4
Rockets 130/130 vision 5
Missiles 130/130 vision 7
Rig 0/130 vision 3
It is also worth noting the game mechanics of Rain in
this section. Rain in DoR reduces the vision range of
all unit to 1 (not by 1 as in the past AWs). Therefore,
a Recon will have the same vision range as a War Tank.
Even Infantry and Mechs on mountains will have a
vision range of 1. The exception to this rule, aside
from the CO Penny who is immune to weather effects, is
Lin’s Scout COP. If she activates it during Rain then
all of her ground units will still have their vision
range extended by 2. This means all of her ground units
will have a vision range of 3 during her COP and will
still be able to see into hidden terrain.
=========================
8. Days of Ruin Metagame
=========================
The term metagame often has a negative connotation to
it when used in conjunction with video games. Sometimes
it merely refers to a dominant form of playing the
game while at others times it represents a strategy
that exploit’s the game mechanics in a way the game
developers did not intend. However, that is really
only part of the story since how a metagame forms is
highly dependant upon the group of players which
formed it. Their choice of maps, character
preferences, and unit choices all contribute heavily
to their version of the “ultimate” strategy for
playing a particular game.
The Advance Wars series is no exception and several
online communities dedicated to the series were formed
over the past decade. Among the activities of these
communities and their members were discussions on
game mechanics, CO balance, theorizing about strategies,
and engaging in completive play with one another. The
last activity was the most critical to creating a
concept of the AW metagame and this process was only
made easier with sites that allowed online AW play
(chiefly Advance Wars by the Web), AWDS link mode, and
DoR’s wi-fi. However, the metagames that formed did
undergo changes over time as players became more
experienced and faced a wider range of opponents.
I am not going to invest too much space detailing all
of the particulars of the latest online consensus on
the DoR metagame. My primary reasons for this decision
is that, as I stated above, metagames are heavily
influenced by the playing preferences of the groups
which formed them. Map selection in particular has
had a powerful impact upon AW competitive play and
what COs/strategies excel. Therefore, the metagame
of a community that favors small, land based maps
will differ greatly from a community whose metagame
favors large, air based maps. As I result, I intend
to only provide a brief overview of the general
consensus AW sites developed for the past AW
metagame, the current DoR metagame, and how Lin
fits into it. My basis for the following
descriptions of the AW metagames has been my own
experience in online competitive play coupled with
discussions and statements generated over the years by
other competitive AW players online.
In the three AW games leading up to DoR the metagame
revolved around what was called Meat Shielding. You
mostly produced Infantry units and supported them
with artillery. CO choices were particularly important
since their effects on the battle were more pronounced
than the DoR COs and they could easily change the tide
of the battle with their abilities. In fact, part of
the Meat Shielding strategy was letting your Infantry
get destroyed so you could charge up the CO’s CO Power
and use it to force a breakthrough. This meant that
one type of CO could almost always defeat another CO
that was ill suited to that style of play either
because they lacked a good enough CO Power, a good
enough day-to-day boost or both.
DoR plays differently. The game developers recognized
the stalemate nature of the past AW games and made
numerous major changes with the system. The most major
was the complete restructuring of the units in the game.
This ranged from price changes to unit matchups. A
stronger unit rock-paper-scissor style of play was
implemented along with a leveling system that rewarded
units for staying alive. COs were also toned down by
requiring them to be deployed in units, having only
one COP, and having a CO Zone which concentrates their
influence on the battle. However, COs are still very
important elements to the game, especially since even
the default CO Zone boost opens up numerous OHKO
matchups, but they do require considerably more skill
to utilize well than the CO abilities in previous AWs.
Furthermore, forcing COs to be deployed in a unit
also promoted a more aggressive play style since a
player could no longer sacrifice swarms of Infantry
in order to charge their CO Power. Instead, they need
to take the iniative with their units and strike
first.
Infantry’s effectiveness was greatly reduced in DoR
although the usefulness of Mech units was noticeably
increased. The speed of the game, especially the
Capture Phase, was also increased with the
introduction of Bike capturing units. However, all of
the infantry type units are easier to OHKO with the
aid of a CO and the right kind of ground unit. This
means that while Mechs and, to a lesser extent, Bikes
are very dominate features in the game it is harder
to form a Meat Shield with them. Therefore, Indirects
are not as important as they once were since it is
harder to shield them although they are still
extremely important to the game and devastating when
employed in large numbers. The end result is more
diverse army compositions when compared to the previous
AW games, although Mechs are certainly a prominant unit,
and more aggressive gameplay.
The reason why Mechs are so effective is that they have
a low cost but are relatively good on the offense
against most ground units. They are also able to capture
properties too and traverse certain terrain easily.
However, their low speed, the decreased price of
Medium Tanks/War Tanks compared to their older AW
counterparts, and the level system does a lot to prevent
DoR from being simply a Mech Spam.
As I mentioned earlier, COs play an important role in
this metagame since they can swing the ground war into
their favor by opening up several OHKOs with even a
default CO Zone stat boost. Furthermore, the COP of
certain COs are still capably of turning the tide of the
battle when utilized well. A CO Zone is also critical
for not only spreading the benefits of the CO Effect but
for being able to continue providing its benefits once
the CO's unit becomes damaged. However, a massive CO
Zone is not necessary either. In fact, extending the CO
Effect to a few key units is often all that is needed to
have a critical impact in combat and the CO with a small
CO Zone can be maneuvered to extend their effect to
many units in a single turn.
The thing that you will notice with this metagame is that
it is focused on ground units and small to mid-sized land
or land/air maps which is where Lin excels. Her small CO
Zone requires the player to be precise with her
placement until she can charge her CO Meter and increase
her CO Zone but the benefit from her CO Effect is
immense. As I stated earlier, only Caulder and Tabitha
provide a higher boost to their ground units. However,
Caulder is intentionally broken so he does not figure into
the metagame and Tabitha lacks a CO Zone which forces the
unit she is deployed in to directly charge up the first
half of her CO Meter. Thus, Lin’s ground units within her
CO Zone will outclass almost all other ground units. To
put it into perspective, her ground units have both the
attack boost of Will and the defense boost of Brenner.
The end result of this developed metagame is that Lin is
considered a solid CO choice for a DoR game because she
provides such a large boost to her ground units. This
boost is so great that she is an excellent choice for
matches outside of FOW and she becomes only better in
a FOW match. Her stat boosts opens up more OHKO matchups
for herself while denying more of them to her opponent.
She is also, thanks to having a CO Radius of 1, is
able to keep the tempo of her attacks once her CO Unit
becomes damaged since she can sit just behind her front
lines in order to boost her units.
=================
9. Lin’s War Room
=================
Now that I have presented the DoR metagame and the
basic of Lin's CO Effect and SCOP I can focus
entirely on her strategies, what factors affect
her strategies, and a general analysis of her
abilities as a CO. When discussing most DoR COs you
need to consider five major things: What unit to deploy
the CO in, how to charge their CO Meter, how to make
the most out of their CO Effect, when to use their
COP, and what type of map they are effective on. I’ll
first look at Lin as a whole before discussing the
other facets of how to use her.
Overview of Lin
----------------
Lin is, simply, both a ground unit specialist and a
FOW specialist. Since she favors land battles it is
best to cater your force to accommodate that fact.
This does not mean to never use air or naval units
but you should have them compliment Lin’s ground
forces rather than be the hammer of her army. With
that said, the exact composition of Lin’s ground
forces is very open since she boosts all of them.
Thus, it does not matter if you wish to rain death
with Indirects, swarm the enemy with Mechs, or use
Tanks to blitzkrieg your opponent. Lin is able to
perform all of them very effectively.
As a ground unit specialist, Lin really prefers maps
that enable her to have a direct route for her ground
units to take to the enemy. She naturally suffers on
a map where this is not the case, such as her being
on a seperate island from the enemy. In such a
circumstance it is best to force aland war on the
enemy by transporting ground units to their
territory. However, this is often unfeasible until
you establish some aerial or naval supremacy
beforehand. Still, her CO Boost can be very effective
when it comes to fighting the enemy’s ground forces
on a small, contested island in the middle of an
ocean.
Lin is a FOW specialist largely thanks to the effects
of her COP which allows her to easily locate even a
hidden enemy force. However, she should not rely
exclusively on it to get her through FOW matches
since the boost that her CO Effect provides is just
too good. Therefore, you should not neglect having
Flares or Recons in your force. Both units, Flares
in particular, are invaluable in a FOW game for
locating the enemy and getting your bearings in the
battle.
FOW games tend to be slower as both players are more
cautious in their movements. Furthermore, early combat
in FOW is usually in the form of a few small, brutal
skirmishes as units become ambushed by moving into
a terrain space occupied by an enemy unit that was
hidden. Typically a unit that is ambushed is
destroyed in the following turn since the
unit that ambushed it is rarely alone. These small
yet brutal combats only favor Lin because it is
easier to get adjacent units to benefit from her
small CO Zone and increase her CO Meter.
Of course, Lin is not helpless outside of FOW either.
As I showed in the previous sections, Lin’s boost to
her ground units is very, very good. Furthermore, if
you are playing a non-FOW map but have random weather
then there is always a chance that it will Rain which
provides one opportunity to use Scout if you need to.
The same can be said if Penny’s Stormfront COP causes
it to Rain for three days.
Still, at the end of the day Lin was designed to be a
FOW CO by IS, the game’s developers. The unique effects
of her COP are only useful in FOW and it is easier to
charge her CO Meter during a FOW match. Yet it is the
emphasis that the game places on ground units and the
great boost Lin provides them which enables her to be
excellent outside of FOW.
Deploying Lin
--------------
What unit you deploy Lin in is important because,
ideally, you want her to remain in that unit for the
remainder of the battle so you do not have to recharge
her CO Meter. Deploying her into a ground unit is
obvious since the unit will benefit from her CO Effect
and be harder to destroy because of the defense boost
she provides. Yet since her CO Zone is small you also
want to start charging it earlier rather than later in
the battle. Furthermore, cost is also a factor since
it consumes more funds to place a CO in a more
expensive unit. On the other hand, a more expensive
unit will be more durable and is noticeably
stronger by having Lin deployed in it.
There are essentially two routes that a player can
take when it comes to deploying Lin. The first is to
place her in a cheaper ground unit relatively early in
the battle and use her to augment other units with her
CO Effect rather than directly engaging the enemy with
Lin. The second is to save funds for a stronger unit
and apply pressure on the enemy early on with Lin in
this unit. The size of a map and the amount of
available funds on it is an important factor since
it is harder to deploy Lin in a more expensive unit
on a small or low resource map.
Thanks to the strength of her CO Effect, virtually
all of the game’s ground units are lethal in Lin's
hands. Therefore, below are the pros and cons of
the major choices available in ground units:
1. Bike: The advantage of the Bike is that it is
an inexpensive unit in addition to being fast over
open ground. You can easily place Lin in a Bike on
turn 2 and use her to help combat opposing
infantry units during the early portions of the
game. The Bike’s speed also makes it easier to
position her on the battlefield and retreat if
she becomes too damaged. Placing her in a Bike
is also more useful on very small maps since there
will be fewer vehicles to worry about. However, the
biggest draw back to Bikes is that they are very
soft targets. Therefore, you will have to be
extra careful to protect Lin. A Mech or even an
Infantry is a decent alternative to a Bike
although I find that I only prefer them on extremely
small maps or those dominated by rugged terrain.
2. Flare: This might seem like an odd choice,
especially outside of FOW,but the Flare has two
major advantages. The first is that it is fairly
well armored and can easily shrug off the machine
gun fire from other low cost ground units. The
second is that it is a relatively inexpensive choice
for a CO Unit considering its protection from
machine guns. Placing Lin in a Flare only costs
2,500 which makes the total cost only 500 more
than building a Tank. The Flare is also fairly
fast with its treads and can engage Infantry, Bikes,
Recons, and even Mechs (if it gets first strike)
quite well. It is even more useful during FOW since
you can keep Lin behind the lines but still have her
unit directly contribute to the battle by launching
flares when they are needed. However, a Flare unit is
very vulnerable to Mech, Tank, and Artillery attacks
in addition to being unable to cause most other
vehicles much damage.
3. Artillery: An Artillery unit is still rather
inexpensive since it only costs 9000 total to
place Lin into one. Furthermore, Artillery has
the tremendous advantage of enabling her to
damage the enemy without exposing herself to
direct attack. If it is a FOW game or the terrain
favors Indirects then it can prove very beneficial
to invest in deploying Lin in Artillery or even a
Rocket if it is a large map with plenty of funds.
The disadvantages are that Indirects can be
surprisingly vulnerable targets and most of them
are unable to counterattack.
4. Tank: A Tank is a safe choice for Lin since it
is fast, well armored, and capable of effectively
fightning most ground units. It costs a total of
10,500 to deploy Lin in a Tank which, while not
cheap, is not terribly expensive. Lin’s Tank will
perform well against other ground units and her
CO Zone of 1 will enable her to continue
boosting the units immediately around her once
her Tank becomes damaged. An Anti-Air is a decent
alternative to a Tank since it costs the same and
is very effective against infantry units and air
units.
5. Medium Tank: This is the unit of choice for
players who prefer to save Funds and place Lin
inside of something with serious firepower
and staying power. Furthermore, it also has
respectable movement which is important for
getting her into the fight and out of it if she
becomes too damaged. However, it is expensive
since you will need to Spend 12,000 on the Medium
Tank and another 6,000 to place Lin inside of it.
Yet once she is on the field her Medium Tank will
outclass most other CO’s Medium Tanks which
forces her opponent to resort to War Tanks,
Indirects, air units, or sheer numbers in order
to counter it.vSome players like to go even
further and deploy Lin in a War Tank but my
experience has shown that this is too expensive
on most maps and the extra movement from a
Medium Tank really helps Lin get to where she
needs to be.
Charging the CO Meter
---------------------
Once the capture phase is over, you and your
opponent will be, most likely, competing for
properties toward the center of the map. This is
the point when you really want to increase Lin’s
CO zone. Ideally, you should use her unit to
destroy an enemy unit and then have another unit
move in front of her to attack. This tactic will
not only help increase her CO Meter but will
also limit the amount of opportunities your
opponent has to attack Lin directly. If her unit
becomes damaged then you should keep her just
behind your other units, augmenting them with her
CO Effect, until you have an opportunity to
repair her or merge her with another unit of the
same type. Thus, her small CO Zone of 1 is just
large enough for her to adequately maintain the
tempo of your attacks during the early battles
against the enemy. However, you really do not
want her unit to be destroyed and for the CO
Meter to reset. Therefore, if it is either
fall back with her or risk being destroyed
then you should always fall back.
Terrain and the set up of the map can help
with charging Lin’s CO Meter. For example,
trying to hold the enemy off at a chokepoint
like a bridge or a mountain pass is great for
Lin since she needs to be positioned behind
only one unit. This is made even easier if you
deployed an Indirect and positioned it
next to her (or placed herself inside an
Indirect). Heavily forested terrain or
clusters of properties in a FOW game also help
since Lin and several units can hide in them and
ambush the enemy as they arrive. The most
important thing to remember is that only units
attacking within Lin’s CO zone will increase
her meter. Therefore, do everything you can to
position Lin next to units which will cause the
most damage to the enemy.
Finally, it is important to understand how the
CO Meter charges in DoR. Every 5HP of damage
inflicted will increase the CO Meter by 1 mark.
Since the CO Meter consists of 12 marks it will
take 30HP of damage to reach the halfway point
and 60HP of damage to charge it fully. Because
your goal with Lin is to charge her CO Meter
as quickly as possible you should try to
maximize the amount of damage done rather than
maximize the number of units you destroy. For
example, if you have two units that can do 65%
damage to two enemy units while under Lin’s CO
Effect then you should attack them both in order
to maximize the amount of HP damage done rather
than concentrate fire on one unit. Once you get
her CO Zone up to 2 it becomes much easier to
fill up the remaining half of her CO Meter.
Maximizing the CO Effect
------------------------
When Lin’s CO Zone maxes out at 3 you are really
able to start pushing the offensive with her. A
radius of 3 is just the right size to enable
her to benefit most, if not all, of the units
you will have attacking at one section of the
map. As a result, you need to be sure that it is
the most important part of the battlefield and
that you are devoting enough units to fight in
it. As I stated earlier, Lin favors ground units
so the more of those surrounding her the better
results her CO Effect will have. Also, avoid
any reckless activity with her CO unit at this
point in the game since you really do not want
her to be destroyed and have to start charging
her CO Meter all over again.
Using the Scout COP
-------------------
As a general rule of thumb, especially when not
in FOW, you should avoid using Lin’s COP. The
reason for this is that her CO Effect is just
too good when her CO Zone is maxed out at 3. You
really do not want to activate the COP and reset
the CO Zone back to 1 unless if that one turn
will really make a big difference or you are
simply trying to finish off a dying opponent.
Still, that does not mean that you should never
utilize it either. In fact, the following are
just a few examples of when using her COP is
entirely justified:
1. You are playing on a map with numerous ground
battles located everywhere. If Lin is located at
one part of the battle but you desperately need
her stat boost for ground units at another part
of the battle then using Scout COP can be worth
it. This scenario naturally becomes more
prevalent on larger maps.
2. It suddenly started Raining in a non-FOW game
and you were getting ready to attack the enemy.
Since it was a non-FOW game you probably don’t
have any Flares so this would be an ideal time
to use Lin’s COP and continue with the attack.
Penny’s COP causing it to Rain in a non-FOW
game is another situation similar to this one.
3. You are playing in a FOW map and the enemy
has many units hidden within terrain all over
the battlefield. Since you probably do not have
enough Flares to locate them all it could be
worth using the COP so you can maximize the
number you can attack. This is especially
useful if you are getting ready to attack the
enemy’s properties.
4. You are trying to capture enemy properties
during a FOW game by sneaking some
infantry units into their territory. In this
situation using Lin’s COP to ensure that there
are no defending units on the properties they
are getting ready to capture is worth it,
especially if you are trying to capture
a factory or their HQ.
5. It is a FOW game and the enemy positioned
themselves, with Indirect units, right in front
of you but hidden in terrain. If you don’t have
a Flare available then using Lin’s COP is
worth it so you can neutralize those Indirects
before they become a problem.
6. You are playing a game with the Rain effect
turned on for the entire battle. Considering the
crippling effects of Rain on your vision,
utilizing Scout can really provide you with the
initiative over your opponent.
7. You are winning the game and getting ready for
the final attack on the opponent’s HQ and
surrounding properties. Using Scout will ensure
all ground units benefit from Lin's Co Effect
as they converge on the enemy. Using Scout in
this situation is even more useful during FOW
since you will instantly see any units the
enemy recently produced or placed on their
properties.
There are certainly others but just remember
that Lin's greatest strength is in her CO Effect.
While her COP can give her an advantage for a day
her CO Effect provides a constant benefit.
Map and Rule Preferences
------------------------
Lin naturally favors maps where ground combat is
a dominate feature. She is weak in any map which
requires extensive use of naval or air units.
Furthermore, she also favors FOW although she is
perfectly good in games without FOW. However, if
she is playing a FOW game then she is especially
good in a map with plenty of forests and other
terrain that can hide units. This is because she
can use her Scout COP to win the hide-and-seek
nature of those kind of maps when FOW is present.
The size of the map does not directly impact her
performance although any map with clusters of
rugged terrain or chokepoints make it easier for
her to charge her CO Meter.
General Tips
------------
Below are just some general tips for playing DoR
and all of them certainly apply to using Lin. Of
course, some of them I have emphasized previously
since they are particularly important to Lin’s
strategy.
1. Prioritize destroying enemy CO unit since
that resets their CO Meter and removes their CO
Effect. Inversely,do your best to keep your CO’s
own unit alive. As I discussed earlier, this is
especially important for Lin since her CO Effect
is not only very beneficial but her starting CO
Zone is small.
2. Mechs are very efficient but they are also
very slow. Bikes and, to a lesser extent,
Infantry are best for the initial scramble for
properties during the capture phase of the game
but Mechs are very useful infantry units for
the later portions of the game. Even if it means
creating a steady stream of Mechs from one factory
you should try to keep an abundant number of them
on the field as the game progresses. However,
Bikes will be a better investment for capturing
properties even late in the game on a large map
due to the low speed of Mechs.
3. Bigger is not necessarily better. A War Tank
can be easily destroyed by several cheaper units
working in unison. Therefore, be very mindful of
where you focus your resources and only invest
in more expensive units if they are necessary.
For example, you might want to strengthen your
defense by producing a Rocket or you need a
Bomber or War Tank to break through a
chokepoint.
4. Anti-Air units are not only a great counter to
air units but they are absolutely lethal against
infantry units, including Mechs. Even if a map
has no airports they can be a good investment
for stemming a tide of Mechs. Just make sure
to protect them from Tanks or from Mechs
getting the first strike on them.
5. Anti-Tanks are very unusual Indirects. Not
only can they attack and counterattack units
adjacent to them but they are also able to fire
on copter units. Furthermore, they have
naturally high defense against tanks which means
the best counters to them are Mechs or other
Indirects.
6. Never underestimate the defense boost from
terrain. Try attacking the enemy from high
defense terrain whenever possible.
7. Pay attention to the layout of a map and
gauge where the majority of the fighting will
take place and plan accordingly. In particular,
if there are any strategic chokepoints on the
map then you will want to get units and
Indirects to defend them before the enemy does.
8. Don’t’ underestimate the offense and
defense benefit that levels provide to your
units. Level I is 5%, Level II is 10%, and
Veteran is 20%. Therefore, always think twice
before sacrificing an experienced unit.
9. Outside of FOW you will want to pay
attention to the type of units your opponent
is making. Always make sure that you have a
counter to any unit they build, especially
if they start focusing on one type
of unit.
10. Prioritize neutralizing the enemy’s
production properties. This can be
accomplished by either outright capturing it
or simply placing another unit it on top of
it so the opponent can not build with it
during their turn.
Tips for FOW
-------------
I’m sure that unless you absolutely hate FOW
you will fight some games with it on. Since Lin
is the FOW specialist it is only fitting that I
provide some tips and less known facts about
FOW in DoR.
1. Flares only have three shots before they run
out of ammo but their range is quite large and
their ability to reveal hidden terrain is
invaluable. Ideally, you should place them
on a controlled property near your front lines.
Doing so causes them to be supplied every turn
which which means you can constantly fire
flares with them. Alternatively, you can
produce a Rig and keep it near the Flare.
2. Enemy units within hidden properties can be
revealed by not only moving one of your units
into them, which causes your unit to be ambushed
and forfeit the rest of its action, or beside them
but also by units moving past them. Furthermore,
once a hidden terrain is revealed you will keep
sight of it for the remainder of your turn. Thus,
pay very close attention to the movement path your
units take since changing the path so they move
past several woods or properties will reveal if
any units are hiding in them.
3. Infantry and Mech units increase their vision
by 3 when they are placed on top of a mountain.
This gives them the same vision radius as a
Recon and is an effective way to quickly
increase your vision of an area if you lack a
Recon or Flare.
4. Getting a Flare within range of the enemy’s
production properties can give you a tremendous
intel advantage since you will be able to see
what they are producing every turn and
adjust your own production accordingly.
5. Never neglect the value of hidden terrain and
always take advantage of it whenever you can.
Indirects hidden in woods is an old AW tactic
and it still works great in DoR. Just be aware
that the enemy will produce Flare units too
so be sure to guard your units.
6. While woods and, now in DoR, properties can
hide units they are not the only terrain features
which do so. Remember that you can hide ground
units in ruins and ships in reefs and mist.
7. If you are capturing an enemy property then
the enemy will be able to see the unit that is
capturing it. Be aware of that and try to shield
that capturing unit from retaliation.
8. Don’t leave your HQ undefended in a FOW game.
Even a simple Infantry on your HQ is infinitely
better than no unit defending it. Both human and
CPU opponents will try to capture your HQ if they
get an opportunity.
===================
10. Countering Lin
===================
From reading this FAQ it should be apparent that
Lin is at her most dangerous when her CO Meter
is full. You must also bear in mind that Lin
will have the advantage over most CO's units in
the ground war so don’t recklessly attack her
head on. Instead, you should make it your priority
to destroy the unit Lin is deployed in if her meter
is getting close to being half full. You should do
so even if this means having your Indirects fire
on Lin’s Bike unit rather than the Medium Tank. If
attacking her unit is not possible then try
attacking units outside of her CO Zone since
they will not have Lin's defense boost.
Things become more difficult during a FOW match
since Lin’s CO unit will probably be hidden and
must be located first. Furthermore, if she manages
to get her CO Meter full then you will need to take
into account the possibility that she will
actually use her COP. Therefore, you should not
rely on your units being hidden to protect them
from attack. Once again, finding and terminating
her CO unit is your best option and the sooner
you are able to do it the better. Also, trying
to draw a Lin player into a naval or air better
where she can not provide support with her
ground units will greatly reduce her
effectiveness.
====================
11. Lin vs Other COs
====================
With a boost to all of her ground units, Lin is
fully capable of adjusting her strategy to
compete with the other COs so long as the map
type permits it. Below I have listed the other
COs in the game and provided brief notes on
things you should be aware of when facing them.
Although I mentioned this earlier, destroying
the CO’s unit is the best way to limit their
impact on the game. Therefore, I refrained from
reiterating that unless I felt it was absolutely
critical for defeating that particular CO.
Will
----
Don’t be fooled by his generic hero looks. Will
is a very good CO. His attack boost is as high
as Lin’s and his CO Meter is easier to charge due
to having a higher starting zone. Furthermore,
his COP is not only deadly for getting units
within range but it doubles the movement of Mechs,
making him very dangerous if he decides to focus
on producing them. You need to be especially wary
of his potential movement range when his COP is
charged and of any undefended properties his
infantry units might try to take with the aid of
the extra movement. Just remember that his lack
of a defense boost means Lin’s ground units hit
harder than this. Also, his attack boost does not
extend to Indirects which gives Lin an advantage
in an artillery duel.
Brenner
-------
Andy has never looked this good er… sorry, wrong
AW. Anyway, Brenner is a great CO who can
utilize his COP frequently. Unfortunately for
him, his COP does not mean much if his units are
dead or at/close to full HP. Therefore, make a
point to focus fire and kill units when facing a
Brenner player with a nearly or fully charged CO
Meter rather than trying to weaken all of his units.
Furthermore, Brenner lacks an attack boost beyond
the default CO Zone boost. Thus, he will have a
harder time dealing with the defense boost of
Lin’s ground units.
Lin
----
Just follow my advice in the Countering Lin
section for a Lin versus Lin match.
Isabella
---------
Isabella is largely considered to be an overpowered
CO but, unlike Caulder, not intentionally broken.
Her CO effects are pretty standard but her COP is
very dangerous. Therefore, you really need to do
everything you can to destroy the unit she is
deployed in before she can utilize it. If she does
manage to charge it then you will have to be wary
of her direct combat units having
increased movement and her Indirects having
increased range.
Tasha
-----
Her air units hit hard and you should not
underestimate that. A B-Copter with her inside
will hit as hard as a Bomber. However, her CO Zone
is the same size as Lin’s so it takes Tasha some
effort to charge her CO Meter. If she does
charge her COP then you will need to be wary of
her air units flying around your front line and
attacking more sensitive targets. However, most
Tasha players tend to not use her COP unless it
provides a major advantage that turn. Regardless,
since she is focused on air units you just need
to adjust your army composition accordingly and
include more Anti-Airs and Missiles. It is
better to try to deny her aerial advantage
with the appropriate ground units rather than
fight her with your own air units.
Gage
----
As an Indirect combat specialist you need to
pay attention to his Indirect units at all
times. Lin’s Indirects are slightly better in
an artillery exchange but only slightly.
However, what makes Gage very lethal is his COP
which, if used well, can shatter your forces.
You need to be aware of the potential range of
his Indirects when his CO Meter gets close to
being full. Also, it is generally a good idea
to prioritize destroying his Indirects
throughout the game. Don’t let yourself get
dragged into a naval battle with him since he
also augments his naval units.
Forsythe
--------
Forsythe has a large CO boost but that is all
he has. You don’t have to worry about him
trying to use a COP to break the ice but don’t
disregard the stat boost he gives to his units.
His large CO Zone can also make it difficult
to destroy his CO unit if the player decides
to keep him behind the front line. </pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
However, once Lin’s CO Zone is increased to 3
her ground units will have a noticeable edge
over Forsythe’s.
Waylon
-------
Do not underestimate Waylon. The effects of
his COP reduces the damage to his air units by
about 80% for a turn. Plus, his CO Zone is a
decent 2 so it is not terribly difficult for
him to charge his CO Meter. Like Tasha, you
should adjust your army composition to
include more ground units that are good
against air units. You should also focus on
eliminating as many of his air units as possible
so fewer will benefit from his COP if he manages
to activate it.
Greyfield
----------
There really is not much to say about Greyfield.
His COP is useful in FOW, for replenishing Flares
and Rockets, and for naval maps, for replenishing
Subs, Gunboats, and seaplanes. His Copters are a
little harder to bring down but still easy prey
for Lin’s Anti-Airs. Thus, while he is formidable
on a naval map, especially against Lin, he does
not have too many advantages elsewhere.
Penny
-----
Penny’s Stormfront COP presents one of the
situations where, outside of FOW, you might
really need to use Lin’s COP. If Stormfront
causes it to Rain for three days and you don’t
have a Flare available then using Scout
is not a bad alternative if the result is a lot
of damage to Penny's units. However, Stormfront
is very random so the effect it generates might
be Rain but it could also be Snow or Sandstorms.
The end result is that it is hard to plan
accordingly when facing Penny. Her COP aside,
Penny’s day-to-day is rather weak so Lin’s
ground units will dominate Penny’s unless a
Sandstorm is in effect.
Tabitha
-------
Tabitha is both an unusual and dangerous CO.
She starts with no CO Zone and it is absolutely
essential that you prevent her from gaining one
because the boost from her CO Effect is immense
and her COP is devastating. However, with a CO
Zone of 0 it means that Tabitha must charge the
first half of her CO Meter using the unit she
is deployed in. It also means a Tabitha player
is more likely to deploy her in an expensive
unit rather than a cheaper one. However,
destroying Tabitha’s unit is easier said than
done and requires ample firepower and perhaps
even sacrificing some units to do so. Air
units are a good counter to a Tabitha Tank if
the map contains airports. Otherwise,
Indirects and Mechs is the next best counter.
Don’t be afraid to suicide units against
her since her counterattacks will not increase
her CO Meter so long as her CO Zone is 0.
Thankfully, the rest of her force is
comparatively weak and will be easily
dominated by Lin's ground units.
Caulder
-------
Caulder is completely broken so the only advice
I can provide is to really go out of your way
to destroy the unit he is deployed in, especially
since he regenerates HP for units in his CO Zone.
====================
12. Opinions on Lin
====================
This section of my guide will include opinions on
Lin in addition to my own. Please contact me if
you want to share your opinion on her.
My Opinion on Lin
------------------
Lin is really an unexpected force within the line
up of DoR COs. Pretty much everyone, including
myself, regarded her as low tier when the game
came out but as time passed she steadily rose in
the ranks of the tier lists. In fact, the latest
tier list I saw posted placed her toward the top
of the Fair category and as the 3rd strongest CO
over all (Caulder was excluded from that list).
I personal enjoy having a FOW CO in an AW game
that is almost equally effective inside and out
of FOW. One of the problems with Sonja in the
older AWs was that she was either too strong in
FOW (AW2 and AWDS) or too weak outside of
it (AW1). While Lin is still better suited for
FOW games she does not have an overpowering
advantage during one nor is she crippled in a
regular match. Lin is also interesting to use
on a regular basis since she requires a good
amount of finesse because of her short CO Zone.
She has become my favorite DoR CO for her play
style, effectiveness on most maps, and even
for her personality in the campaign and theme
music.
==========================
13. People I want to Thank
==========================
Wars World News for being a great AW community.
AdvanceWarsNet for their structured AW ladder.
Advance Wars by the Web for all of the great games
it provides to AW Players.
GipFace for all of the excellent and detailed work
he has done over the years for DoR's metagame and
tier list.
DTK and all of the other contributors to their
great DoR FAQ.
IS for making this superb addition to the AW
series.
Finally, this CO guide is dedicated to Sturm’s
Meteor Strike for creating the world in Days
of Ruin.
============
End of Guide
============
