How to play the T'au Empire?

[RsRaiders]

This is my first post, if it is duplicated with another one do not hesitate to let me know.
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Since the Tau came out I've tried them four times in cooperation with a friend.

Several times I found myself really badly, even destroyed in the first turns if I fell next to a Necron or a faction with base units with armor.
And when I was able to lead my army to the end of the game I didn't impose myself on the score.
Example : I'm behind in research, and I think I manage rather badly the synergy of my units.

Well, I would like to become better with this faction or at least understand it better.
Do you have any advice or good links (YT, Wiki,...) on how to manage this faction?

[heretic_actual]

Hey RsRaiders,

I think the reason your post stays unreplied is the answer to it. Practice. In the multiplayer I often meet players who play Tau just because they are bad at it.

[marcdhanna]

Hey RsRaiders,

I think the reason your post stays unreplied is the answer to it. Practice. In the multiplayer I often meet players who play Tau just because they are bad at it.

OP -- you forgot to ask for good advice, hence the vague reply above about practicing, which anyone could give you and I''m sure you already know. (So hey, Heretic, if you actually have some expertise that's worthwhile, by all means share it

Here is some specific advice:

1. Find the videos by Das Tactic on YT, I think he has a series of 5-6 on the Tau faction. I found them useful and yes even he has established that restarts can be necessary if early setbacks arise with the natives or bumping into other hostiles early, because Tau start out pretty weak in comparison.

2.increase the amount of research points from buildings, so you can research more areas and keep up with the enemy's overall research level throughout the game. Often I find that, with any faction, the reason I've lost is due to insufficient investment in research over time, which has a bigger and bigger impact as time goes on because one's units simply can't go toe-to-toe with the enemy. But that's general advice, not specific to Tau. That's the biggest mistake I tend to make, and it's insidious.

cheers!

[heretic_actual]

Hey RsRaiders,

I think the reason your post stays unreplied is the answer to it. Practice. In the multiplayer I often meet players who play Tau just because they are bad at it.

OP -- you forgot to ask for good advice, hence the vague reply above about practicing, which anyone could give you and I''m sure you already know. (So hey, Heretic, if you actually have some expertise that's worthwhile, by all means share it

Here is some specific advice:

1. Find the videos by Das Tactic on YT, I think he has a series of 5-6 on the Tau faction. I found them useful and yes even he has established that restarts can be necessary if early setbacks arise with the natives or bumping into other hostiles early, because Tau start out pretty weak in comparison.

2.increase the amount of research points from buildings, so you can research more areas and keep up with the enemy's overall research level throughout the game. Often I find that, with any faction, the reason I've lost is due to insufficient investment in research over time, which has a bigger and bigger impact as time goes on because one's units simply can't go toe-to-toe with the enemy. But that's general advice, not specific to Tau. That's the biggest mistake I tend to make, and it's insidious.

cheers!

marcdhanna,

The impracticality of your answer has moved me.

RsRaiders,

Though practice is the best way to discover Tau's virtues, I think you will find helpful using Crisis battlesuits as a bulk of your army, backed by some Hammerheads and Riptides (these types of vehicles and advanced battlesuits tend, in my experience, to be more useful than their counterparts).

If we are talking research, start with building a lab after acquiring your first tile. This will carry you till the mid-game, where it is beneficial to add 2 to 3 labs more. Tau has an ability to trade the influence for the research, but it is situational (in terms of the outposts).

Use drones. Just move one or two before you attack an opponent to remove overwatch. I don't find them useful in other roles (boosting defence/ direct attack, etc.). Out of heroes, Etherials and Commanders tend to be more helpful, due to the healing capabilities of the first ones, and due to the powerful buffs of the later. And there is one more neat thing - builder drones, they can heal your units.

You would definitely figure it all out on your own, but I hope this will help.

[marcdhanna]

The impracticality of your answer has moved me.

Always happy to be significantly influential for ya, Heretic!

[heretic_actual]

The impracticality of your answer has moved me.

Always happy to be significantly influential for ya, Heretic!

Better to be of significant influence to those who need it, but I'll take it, cheers.

[RsRaiders]

Thank you for your answers.

As you said, my request was to generic, I understand the discrepancy in your answers.
But i think for the "play to be better", is a good advice on games where you can't screw up your game by making bad builds or taking useless researches.

I mainly created this topic to exchange on T'au strategies starting from the generic one (focus on research, build 3 cities maximum) and then discuss the specifics one against a faction such as the Nids.
I've had several replies on the official Proxy discord and besides I understand my mistake in the OP of this topic : There no generic build as on StarCraft or other RTS.
On the different games I led in Co-op VS IA, I have the impression to manage them better, now it's time to test the multi where everything is going to change.