A beginner's guide to Total Domination - Reborn: hints, tips, and tricks

Total Domination - Reborn is a big challenge. And I mean BIG.

So, if you're new to this shattered world of ruin, decay, and warfare, you'll probably be in need of a helping hand.

You know, someone to walk you through the broken landscape, show you the game system ropes, and give you top advice on how to get ahead early in the game.

That someone is me, by the way.

By carefully reading the following Total Domination - Reborn strategy guide, you can rest easy in the knowledge that you'll be ahead of those fools that have wandered into the desert alone. The losers.

It's competitive out there in the wastes. And if you're serious about moving forward with your colony, you'll want to use every last scrap of resource you can get your hands on.

It may sound like an obvious bit of advice, but make sure you collect your resources every time you sign into the game.

Your Uranium and Titanium mines both reside at the top of your base, so it's consequently very easy to forget about them while you go about your routine of upgrading base buildings, constructing units, and purchasing new elements for your settlement.

You should also regularly pan around the map and pay particular attention to the outskirts. You'll see little crates full of Titanium, Uranium, and Credits that cost you nothing. Free money is always a good thing.

As ever in these types of game, you should check in every day without fail. You're awarded Research Modules for doing just that, and these are some of the most important materials you'll gain while playing. You use them to continue up through the tech tree, which ultimately gives you access to more types of units, buildings, and other technologies.

A fair amount of content is locked away until you reach sufficient experience levels. So, if you want to compete with those around you, you'll need to make this area of the game a priority. At least, you will if you don't want to spend a lot of money.

A few important rules regarding experience...

• You must be Level 25 to join a Clan.
• You must be Level 30 to start a Clan of your own.
• Players must be over Level 15 until you can attack them in battle.

To quickly build up your experience levels, you'll need to take on as many of the missions you're supplied with as possible. By completing objectives, you will be rewarded with extra Experience, more of those premium Crystals, and sometimes the odd bit of technology that you shouldn't have access to.

For example, you may be asked to upgrade a Warehouse to level 5. In exchange for completing this task, you'll be given two free Light Tanks. If you're not yet able to create these units at your level, gaining these Light Tanks at this point will give you a significant advantage in the types of quests you'll be going on.

Asserting dominance through finance

As I hinted at earlier, you can buy your way to power. If you don't fancy completing all of those aforementioned missions, you can simply buy high-grade tech via the Black Market. It's pricey, though, and costs Crystals.

You should also think very carefully about how you spend your premium currency. The first new Engineer you purchase will cost you 1,500 Crystals, though you can hit that target fairly easily without spending any money. I found that having this additional unit, and consequently being able to construct or upgrade more than one building at once, increased the flow and pace of the game.

You'll need to create lots of banks and other resource-holding buildings, too, as you can find that overnight your stocks will begin to overflow. This is one of the dilemmas at the heart of Total Domination - Reborn: materials are scarce, but you don't have much space in which to hold the ones you DO have access to. So, build your warehouses and upgrade them to ensure you've got a healthy stock of supplies.