Sprawling

Summary

Sprawling is a method of building a base/bases on the Mainland, mainly powered through well pumps. Typically, the goal of a sprawling base is to control large parts of the map. quickly gain production, and construct Priority Beacons.

Sprawling is considerably better than staying on the Starter Island: the starter island is hard to defend, and offers only one Well Pipe with no area to expand.

To start their sprawl base, Players will typically leave their spawn island and find a cluster of 3 or more Well Pipes on the Mainland, and build Well Pumps on each. They will then upgrade the well pumps, connect all of them with storage, and add structures such as a Spawn Point, Turrets and Arc Turrets for close and far defense, Tanks, and Shield Generators. Players will build from one well pipe cluster to another, constantly expanding the base. Sprawl bases can be very diverse, ranging from small to big. They are decently simple to construct.

A sprawl base is usually the first official base a player will make in a match. They can use a sprawl base in order to construct a Sea Base or a Skybase. Sprawl bases can be weak early on in the game. Sprawlers must be able to quickly build their base and get defenses due to Rushing players. Enemies can sneak under a sprawl base and destroy buildings, so use Arc Turrets.. In addition, players can use Rocket Launchers, which outrange turrets. To counter this, a player should spam Walls or build a Point Defense. Later on, players should sprawl to Gold Well Pipes in order to construct beacons.

Eclipsis Tutorial Series - How to Sprawl (updated)

Players also can include a Upgrade Station, a Garage, Arsenals, and Point Defenses in their sprawl. One handy thing players can make is a Transceiver tower, which allows iridium to be transported to far places.

Sprawl bases sometimes go on the offensive. Bores are the best weapon to use against other sprawls, but the Artillery is a good choice for systems with less iridium, although it has less range. Players often quickly set up small sprawl bases next to enemy sprawl bases, sometimes using an Orbital Shield and/or an Orbital Fabricator, and build weapons on the base to destroy the enemy base.

Players often use Construction Barges to build several sprawl bases quickly, linking them up using Transceivers.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Easy access to multiple well pumps.
• More bases and easier recovery if one is destroyed.
• Easier to get iridium from bases to the priority beacon

Cons:

• Dependent on positions of well pumps.
• More difficulty defending and more vulnerable to rushes due to being on ground level.
• Can be difficult to accomplish if you have limited space.