Editing Basic strategies (section)

==Driving up demand then exploiting it==
===Step 1: Identify a vulnerable resource===
Look at the [[resource]]s on the map and find a much-needed but little exploited one. Examples:

* [[Carbon|CARBON]]: There are 2 scavenger players (which use A LOT of carbon instead of [[steel]] for building) and there isn't much carbon on the map. This makes carbon a good candidate.
* [[Water|WATER]]: By nuking the water resources and/or keeping water gathering buildings disabled with [[Black Market]] abilities, you will cause real shortages in supply for enemy players. This is especially true if they have [[Cold Fusion]] which makes them very dependent on good water supply.
* [[Power|POWER]]: Players using mostly solar are vulnerable to [[Black Market]] attacks during the day that disables their power, so they are forced to buy from market. Robotic players are also vulnerable due to using power instead of [[fuel]].

Any resource is a candidate, or can be MADE into a candidate using [[Black Market]] attacks. Try to combine the current situation with [[Black Market]] attacks to drive up the demand extra-high.

===Step 2: Stockpile the target resource===
You can use various tactics to get the [[resource]]:

* Use [[Filthy Pirates]] to intercept multiple shipments of the given resource, e.g. [[carbon]] or [[water]]. Usually factories are built adjacent to the HQ so you cannot pirate non-raw products.
* Use the [[Hacker Array]] to fake a surplus of the resource, then buy a lot of it.
* If you have some claims to spare, build 2 or 3 buildings to harvest/manufacture the resource and build up some stock.
* You can also just buy it off the market without doing any of the above.

Note: [[Power]] cannot be stockpiled in this way. Simply build the power plants you need. However, getting the tech for stockpiling power can help you if power is your target resource.

===Step 3: Raise demand for target resource===
There are both peaceful and aggressive ways to raise the demand.

* AGGRESSIVE: Use [[Black Market]] abilities to disable enemy buildings that produce the resource to force them to buy from the market. This works well for basics like [[water]], [[food]], [[fuel]], and [[power]], but usually not so well for manufactured goods like [[glass]] or [[electronics]], because players don't auto-buy those by default.
* PEACEFUL: Buying a lot of stock on the market in Step 2 will raise the demand, but if other players already make a lot of it, this won't drive up the price enough to make a profit. Use this when other players are not making much of it, e.g. [[carbon]], [[chemicals]], electronics.
* PEACEFUL: Use the [[Hacker Array]] to fake a shortage, then wait for the shortage to peak before selling off resources. Combining this with aggressive tactics to drive the demand up super-high is very effective.
* PEACEFUL: Timing and cunning is crucial for this option, especially early in the game, but if you can grab all or most of a much-used (like water) or a rare resource (carbon is usually more rare than other resources), then you automatically control the supply for it, and others are forced to buy on the market. You can compound (i.e. enhance) this advantage by also driving up demand/prices for the factories that use the resource, using a combination of the above tactics.

===Step 4: PROFIT!!!!!===
Sell the stockpiles of resources on the market for profit.

At this point you have to consider if you can keep it up or have to switch to another resource. Depending on the tactics you chose, you might want to switch to another resource. For instance, if you fooled other players into using up claims and resources to make a lot of a high-priced resource (e.g. electronics), you can reverse this by faking surpluses on the market with the [[Hacker Array]] or selling as much of it as possible while switching to another resource (follow from step 1 again) that others might not be focusing on. They will have wasted their resources/time/claims on a resource that is now cheap while you already switched to something there will be high demand for.

To accomplish this switch-tactic, you usually have to let the market demand 'build up slowly' using passive tactics so other players won't suspect market manipulation. Then as soon as everyone reacts to the demand by spending resources/cash/claims on it, you quickly go in for the profit, destroying the demand, and leaving them with useless buildings/resources, while you switch to something else. Quick and aggressive tactics too early on won't make the switch-tactic as good because other players won't have invested cash/resources/claims in it. They can thus react or recover quicker from the strategy.