Top Five Tips and Tricks to Playing Iron Marines – A Beginner’s Guide

Image credit to Ironhide Studios

Ironhide Games, the creative minds behind the highly popular Kingdom Rush series, have done it again. The development team’s incredible mobile title Iron Marines has now made its way over to PC. Now new players are flocking to the latest title from this talented team in droves. That being said, you are going to want to pay attention to these top five tips if you want to take on the galaxy in this highly exciting adventure.

1. Be Wary of the Fog of War

While Iron Marines combat is all about tower defense tactics, you will still have to move your units from place to place throughout the map. However, a fog of war covers the map. Consequently, there is no way to know where the enemy’s units are as you move your units. To make things worse, you cannot attack other units while your units are moving. As a result, moving your units through an unknown area can easily spell disaster for your troops. Luckily, there is a way to circumvent this issue.

When moving your units, do not move them across large distances. Rather, move them small jumps at a time. Meanwhile, set up a pair of stationary sniper just behind your mobile units. This way, your snipers can provide cover fire if your units run into an ambush.

After your units have moved, move your snipers forward to their next defense position. Then, move your units again. This process may feel tedious at times, but is a great way to ensure that all of your units make it to their destinations safely.

2. Take Advantage of Your Roles

The number of units you can deploy at any given moment is quite limited in Iron Marines. Consequently, you are going to want to make the most out of every unity. Pay attention to if any of your active units are running idle. They may need to be moved closer to the action in order to begin attacking the enemy.

Beyond that, remember that you can swap out unit roles for free. If you have deployed grunts, for instance, and are finding yourself more in need of snipers, you can click on the unit and swap it out for a sniper unit instantaneously. This can be a great way to minimize your need to produce more units.

When a new enemy unit shows up, a portrait will appear on the screen to provide details about that unit. Included in those details may be the unit’s strengths and weaknesses. Check out this information every time you are considering changing your units.

3. Do Not Forget to Upgrade Your Heroes

Your hero will earn experience every battle. Once your hero fills their experience bar, they will gain a level. Earning levels in Iron Marines grants you new hero points that you can use to upgrade your hero.

Each hero has three different abilities that can each be leveled up. Each skill features certain milestones that provide bonus abilities once achieved. Simply focus more hero points into each of the three primary abilities in order to unlock them. Click on the hero’s portrait to view these features after your hero has leveled up.

4. Choose Your Power-Ups Wisely

After each mission, you will earn a number of credits. These credits can be used to purchase power-ups. At most, you can have three power-ups at any time.

At a cost of 60-75 credits, the Replicant Mines and Etherium Surge power-ups are the ones you are going to want to focus on obtaining. Replicant mines can be a great way to sure up your defenses, as the mines are capable of duplicating themselves up to four times. Meanwhile, the Etherium Surge power up gives you an immediate boon of etherwatts, the most important resource in the game.

5. Farm Credits

As mentioned earlier, credits are used to purchase game-changing power-ups. With that in mind, you are going to want to get your hands on as many credits as you can.

For starters, you can complete achievements. Click on the medal icon to view all available achievements. Finishing an achievement will earn you 50 credits or more.

The next way to earn credits is to complete missions. Rather you win or lose, you will always earn credits from completing these. You will earn fewer credits for a loss than you will for a victory. However, you can always replay missions if you want to earn more.