Silica
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Galaxy Brain Silica Guide + Counter List [NOT UPDATED!]
By JDubb
Full detailed guide on basics and complex things I have noticed in my playtime.

[Newly updated for new units and changes!]
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Basics & Tips - FPS Humans
- Check menu for basic controls, carried over from most FPS games.
- Take time to understand FPS UI elements, most important info is in crosshairs
- Rapid fire weapons tend to be extremely inaccurate. With units such as Commando, Scout, and Rifleman, you should be firing semi-auto when enemies are at a distance otherwise you're wasting your time and losing damage value
- Generally, pathfinding is braindead. Taking control of a harvester, tank, etc. for your team commander will help a ton, as it is significantly more efficient than AI movement.
- Changing vision mode helps a ton in dusty environments, especially badlands map. It entirely removes most of those particle effects and gives clear view.
- L = flashlight, not described on the control menu. Can be a lot less visually stressful than red vision mode.
- C = 3rd person mode. Has some benefits potentially
- Avoid construction zones. They deal extreme damage to units inside
- Fall damage is EXTREMELY DEADLY. Falling off a slight cliff at any speed can be fatal, do not risk it.
- Many units have weak spots, take advantage of this
- Find and enter neutral bunkers to take control of them for your team, they are good defensive buildings.
- Vehicle ram damage is a real thing, slamming into rocks at 70 mph will actually break your spine (avoid this)
- Teleportation modules are found in several human buildings, they are very helpful. Use as quick transport to allies, or set up an ambush with several others by dropping multiple players in the same spot
- Looking into the air above your base outlines buildings and specific interactibles - ie loadout selection or hover bike spawn at the barracks
- Hover tanks have a unique CTRL action, which drops the vehicle down to the ground making it more stable. Great for use when defending, for better accuracy while also being less noticeable.
- Hover tanks can boost with SHIFT and jump with SPACE
- Air units are significantly better when controlled by a player. Stay high in the air and make use of range.
- Barracks Loadout overview:
  • Scout - Amazing speed, inaccurate weapon only useful against smaller enemies.
  • Rifleman - Slower, but has a decent weapon.
  • Heavy - Slow, with a rocket launcher. Sounds amazing, but rockets fly in a side-to-side pattern which makes them terribly frustrating to effectively aim. Extremely effective when used against goliaths & colossi, which are nearly impossible to miss.
  • Marksman- Amazingly accurate rifle, does decent damage, good choice over heavy and rifleman
  • Commando - Good health and weapon, same speed as rifleman but infinitely better. When it is unlocked I strongly recommend using it over other classes
Conclusion: Scout is great early game, heavy is situational, rifleman overshadowed by commando and sniper is good at distances. The newly added hover bike has made infantry significantly better, as you don't have to rely on quads & teleportation to get around.
Basics & Tips - Human RTS
- The human RTS side is a better starting point than the alien RTS side, everything is more defined and less difficult to manage
- Starting, you'll only have a HQ and several units. Send units out to find crystals, select HQ to build structures
- Check menu for RTS controls, it helps a lot
- Constructing refinery gives access to all other buildings at game start
- Good idea to construct multiple refineries to get eco up quick. Harvesters tend to get stuck or act slow, so it helps to have multiple to rely on
- Light quads should be used to kite aliens. They are faster and can harass any alien unit, even the very quick hunters, as long as you are careful and micromanage your quads
- Against humans, group up your quads. Rushing with them can be deadly for your opponent, they are quick and can easily kill off the enemy starting infantry.
- Use the research building to upgrade tiers, unlocks access to more buildings and better units
- It is generally good to tech up quick - once you have access to tanks and/or heavy armored cars, it can be hard for opponent to counter
- Lategame you can build extra headquarters. This may seem useless initially, but headquarters have a number of heavy turrets atop them.
- Branching out with outposts and placing perimeter turrets are a great way to avoid having your economy harassed.
- AA turrets are extremely effective vs the larger alien fliers, though have clunky guidance and will not often hit smaller bugs.
- Rushing tanks is an easy solution to any trouble as the humans. If you get tanks or heavy armored cars out before the alien team can get scorpions & goliaths out, it's gg
- Bunkers can be found around map, send infantry to capture for free (they have MG turrets usually)
- Babysit the harvesters, pathing is a bit of a joke currently and they can EASILY get stuck
- Do not create rocket infantry with other infantry. They will friendly fire and erase your army.
- Vehicles seem far better than infantry currently, as they have more firepower and are faster.
- ^^Infantry are now a really good counter against alien air units, discounting the defiler. Riflemen especially are excellent at clearing swarms of fliers. Flak trucks are an armored solution if dragonflies are wiping the floor with your infantry.
- Tanks are better at killing colossi & defilers because they're big bodied ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ & easy to hit
- Avoid letting aliens get on top of your structures
- Avoid letting aliens get on top of your tanks
- Avoid aliens
- DO NOT pit human air units vs alien air units, you WILL lose 9/10 times. It is far too easy for a single dragonfly to land on a bomber and kill it (not a good trade believe it or not)
- In all seriousness, AI will friendly fire if an alien is on a quad, tank, etc. and deal significant damage to your own troops. This is especially true with siege tanks
- The most dangerous alien I have encountered is the scorpion, they can deal absurd damage from great distance. [CHANGED] Scorpions now have an acid lobbing attack, which is arguably worse in a head on confrontation. However they can "hull down" behind a cliff and blindfire which can be a horrible pain.
- Eat the enemy economy early game if you're being rushed - chances are they're not focusing on defending it
- Focus ranged aliens if possible.
- Avoid cliffs or valleys when possible - ambushes are far too easy there. Humans have the advantage on open terrain
- Upgrading the research building adds turrets to it, which helps a bit with base defense (something to keep in mind when placing it)
- Right click rotates structures
- Construction zones can be used as walls vs enemies, as they deal damage to any unit inside its radius (THIS MAY HAVE BEEN REMOVED)
Basics & Tips - Alien FPS
- Refer to previous FPS section for basic general things
- Control menu is helpful
- E to transfer mind to the alien you are looking at, no matter how far they are. Very useful for transport across map
- As smaller forms, get onto human vehicles and do not let go. If you are in a blindspot you can destroy the most powerful human unit as a simple crab
- CTRL to burrow as some aliens, can be useful to ambush or avoid DMG.
- Try to force humans to friendly fire by getting behind or ontop of vehicles. Works well with infantry groups and tanks as well
- All aliens can climb. Ambush, run away, etc. by using the terrain to your advantage, humans are more restricted on movement
- Hunters are very fast, early game take control of it and erase human quads
- Ranged aliens like the Impaler and Scorpion can easily hull down behind rocks or terrain, leaving only their tail exposed and therefore being significantly harder to hit [This is especially true with scorpion changes, they can blindfire over cliffs for incredible damage]
- Dragonflies and Wasps can solo any human air unit, just land on them
Basics & Tips - Alien RTS
- Build nodes towards all nearby resource deposits (green icon)
- Create many shrimp, the more you have the quicker you gain income
- Do NOT build the resource drop-off structures right beside or ontop of resource nodes. Instead, set them a short distance from them. This keeps shrimp pathfinding from bugging and will keep them moving and therefore providing income, as opposed to becoming stuck and unresponsive
- Constantly push towards more resource points. I find playing defensive to work well, while harassing with your starting units. (until you get goliaths & scorpions out)
- Use hunters to smack quads early game. use hunters to smack everything early game, avoid letting them die until you can produce more
- Crabs are borderline useless, pathfinding is difficult to work with and they die easily. Just save up for hunters, scorpions, shockers, air units, etc.
- Shockers are decent early game for their range
- Keep units ontop of cliffs, not out in the open. All aliens can climb, use this to your advantage
- Defensive buildings can be very powerful. Use them on chokepoints or on resource areas. AI seems to ignore them, or rarely targets them
- Goliaths are good but do not let them get caught by fast vehicles alone. They are very slow.
- Generally, longer games fall more into favor of Humans - if they tech into tanks before you can get goliaths and/or scorpions out, it's gg
- Holding CTRL while ordering air units will keep them on the group, potentially useful
- Alien air units destroy human air units in almost every scenario. A single wasp can solo every human air unit type consistently
- Keep colossi & defilers behind your other units so they are not targeted (max dmg output)
- Use smaller units as distractions to get goliaths into the enemy base - they absolutely wreck buildings and can seriously stunt your enemy even in a failed attack
- Dragonflies and wasps are excellent against vehicles, it's incredibly easy to just land on one
- Keeping a few crabs atop of cliffs across the map functions as actual wallhacks
- Scorpions are incredibly difficult for humans to get rid of if they haven't gotten hover tanks out yet. Get them out as quickly as possible
- Behemoths are good AA
- Firebugs will delete enemy infantry groups, especially when controlled by players
Objectively Correct Counter List
Crab
Countered by: pulse tank, AOE & rapid attacks [tank secondary, gunships, riflemen, quads, rocket launcher]
Counters: scouts, siege tank, flak truck, armed transport
Horned Crab
Countered by: pulse tank, AOE & rapid attacks [tanks, gunships, light quads, rocket launcher]
Counters: scouts, riflemen, heavies, marksman, heavy quads, siege tank, flak truck, armed transport
Shocker (formerly Impaler)
Countered by: Marksmen, pulse tank, rapid attacks [tanks, gunships, quads]
Counters: scouts, riflemen, heavies, flak truck, armed transport,
Wasp
Countered by: flak truck & rapid attacks [quads, riflemen]
Counters: Railgun & siege tank, gunship, bomber, fighter, dropship, armed transport, rocket launcher, pulse tank
Dragonfly
Countered by: flak truck & rapid attacks [quads, riflemen sometimes]
Counters: scout, riflemen, heavies, commando, marksman, gunships, railgun tank, siege tank, bomber, fighter, dropship, armed transport, rocket launcher, pulse tank
Hunter
Countered by: light armored car, heavy armored car, railgun tank, hover tank, ALL air
Counters: scout, rifleman, marksman, light quad, heavy quad, flak truck, rocket launcher, pulse tank
Behemoth
Countered by: armored cars, tanks, fighter, dropship
Counters: ALL infantry, gunship, quads, flak truck, pulse tank, rocket launcher
Scorpion
Countered by: ALL air, railgun & siege tank
Counters: ALL infantry, armored cars, quads, flak truck, pulse tank, rocket launcher, hover tank sometimes
Firebug
Countered by: armored cars, ALL air, flak truck
Counters: ALL infantry, quads, rocket launcher, pulse tank
Goliath
Countered by: tanks, heavies, rocket launcher, ANY air, heavy quad, commandos
Counters: ALL BUILDINGS, anything sitting still
Defiler
Countered by: Fighter, tanks, heavies
Counters: gunship, bomber, infantry, armored cars, pulse tank, rocket launcher, quads
Colossus
Countered by: fighter, gunship, siege tank, heavies
Counters: tanks, buildings, bomber

*************************Sol list under construction but can be inferred from above
Scout
Rifleman
Heavy
Marksman
Commando
Light Quad
Heavy Quad
Armed Transport
Flak Truck
Light Armored Car
Heavy Armored Car
Hover Tank
Railgun Tank
Siege Tank
Rocket Launcher
Pulse Tank
Gunship
Fighter
Dropship
Bomber
Misc.
Map Details:
- Badlands: very difficult to see, somewhat favors Aliens in FPS terms
- The Great Erg: open, favors human vehicle kiting and ranged combat
- Rift Basin: favors aliens, infantry combat is doable and aliens excel
- City of Naraka: decent for infantry, generally balanced map. No bunkers?
- Monument Valley: balanced map, no bunkers. Pathing is difficult for aliens, and air unit pathing on this map is a nightmare

- [~] key can be used to open console, commands are shown if you type "help"
7 Comments
DistinctBam 16 Oct, 2023 @ 1:54am 
Any thoughts on the new flying units?
xColdxFusionx 23 May, 2023 @ 12:13pm 
Bonus tip: Landing a tank (Ctrl) also turns off the thrusters, which makes you much harder to spot for aliens with their Special Vision active. A bit of a niche perk, but one that can sometimes come in handy in some hectic situations.
Skurcey 21 May, 2023 @ 9:02am 
can you upgrade with units types pls
Tyrax Lightning 17 May, 2023 @ 10:18pm 
Impalers Range Attack needs to be more useful to light vehicles like Quads, or needs to be changed to something better for shooting at Infs with imho.
JDubb  [author] 17 May, 2023 @ 7:58pm 
I agree, lategame the only serious threat to hovertank variants is the scorpion, since it can actually do damage and tank reasonably well. Though you would still have to mass them up. Aliens either need a significant buff to scorpion AT ability or a dedicated unit to snipe tanks.

Regarding hunters, I tend to not have trouble killing off quads when taking control of the hunter through FPS but in RTS the pathfinding causes it to stutter and stop, letting even ai quads to run circles around them.

After playing a decent bit since writing the guide, I do agree that Impalers do not have as great an impact as I believed, mostly due to their inaccuracy and low dmg.
Tyrax Lightning 17 May, 2023 @ 11:32am 
(Stupid Max Character Limit... :kyrieangry: )

I agree on longer games benefiting Humans... it really can't quit seeming like Aliens have no good counter to all forms of Hover Tank... and they hit hard enough to be able to handle even Goliaths. Seems like nothing Alien can stop Hover Tanks... especially Rail Gun Tanks... without serious amounts of sheer raw numbers and casualties... ironically this might be where comically huge battlegroups of Crabs would come in... but why would ya wanna be running comically huge numbers of Crabs? If the Humans got wind ya were about to pull this stunt they could easily counter by escorting their Hover Tanks with a few Quads...
Tyrax Lightning 17 May, 2023 @ 11:31am 
Thank you so much for this Guide! :anadinesmile:

Though... it tends to seem like it's Light Quads that smack Hunters down... i'm still practicing vs AI, but it keeps seeming like the Hunter can't survive the rush to get to the Light Quad through its MG, and even if it gets to it, still needs to hit it several times to defeat it.

I've heard that Human Units have zero way to attack or reveal burrowed Crabs, rendering them nigh invincible vs Infs...?

I personally find Impalers kinda useless. Infs gun them down too easily while their own Range Attack seems too inaccurate & they just can't land their damage onto the Infs anywhere near well enough. On the rare occasion a Impaler manages to sneak up on Infs or ambush them from cover to be right in their face, their Melee seems to be effective on them though if ya can avoid missing.