True Line of Sight and True Line of Fire are two mechanics that you have to consider when playing Starship Troopers: Terran Command. The former refers to using elevation to see further, with units spotting hostiles in the field. The latter, meanwhile, determines whether or not they actually shoot them.
Since they’re important mechanics to grasp, this guide will help you understand True Line of Sight and True Line of Fire.
True Line of Sight & True Line of Fire Explained
Starship Troopers: Terran Command focuses on small-squad tactics. You won’t be controlling entire armies and massive forces. Instead, your units are mostly comprised of 1 to 12 soldiers depending on their type. For instance, the Tactical Officer and Fleet Liaison only have a single character. Meanwhile, a Sniper team has two, and a Marine detachment has 12. (Here’s a list of every unit and their skills and abilities to learn more.)
Given the layout of maps, it’s imperative to understand how units move around or get clustered together due to True Line of Sight and True Line of Fire. Here’s the gist:
- Units do not fire while moving normally through the terrain. They must come to a full stop before they shoot enemies.
- If you’re simply right-clicking on a location, your soldiers will bypass enemy mobs.
- Units can sometimes get stuck if they’re unable to move past their own allies.
- Once they come to a full stop, each squad must have a clear line of sight on a target. They will not fire if there’s a friendly in front of them.
The last factor can be highly disastrous, especially if your units get clustered in one lane. Those in front will become very vulnerable to Arachnids, but those behind won’t even bat an eye.
Fire at Will Versus Hold Fire
Another tidbit to consider is the toggle between Fire at Will and Hold Fire in a unit’s panel:
- When Fire at Will is toggled, your troops will shoot at enemies once they stop moving.
- If Hold Fire is enabled, they won’t shoot at all, even if a hostile is within range. This is something you might want to toggle if you’re trying to make your way past numerous bugs stealthily.
- Hold Fire won’t work if you issue an Attack Move command (explained below).
Using Attack Move Commands
Understanding True Line of Sight and True Line of Fire mechanics in Starship Troopers: Terran Command can be quite tedious, especially if you end up repositioning your units during battles often. In these cases, you’ll simply want to select units and hold the CTRL key + right-click.
By issuing an Attack Move command, they’ll automatically engage foes that they see. This is useful if you just want to push through levels without having to check firing lines often.
There are, however, a few caveats:
Pathing can be troublesome. Units may sometimes get stuck in the terrain, in walls, or in an invisible barrier until you click on them again.
If there’s a huge discrepancy in the effective range of weapons, some units may be at high risk since they’ll get closer to enemies or they’ll get left behind. For example, the Fleet Liaison will only use a pistol. Meanwhile, the Rocket Trooper and Sniper will blast targets from further away.
Your forces will abruptly stop whenever they see hostile targets. You may have some that have advanced further, and those that get separated will get taken out piecemeal.
Tougher opponents like Tankers and Tigers will make quick work of your weaker units, which means you’ll need Rocket Troopers or MK. II Troopers to handle them. Attack Move doesn’t distinguish between what’s effective against an enemy and just about anything that can shoot it.
The explosive artillery barrages from Plasma Grenadiers won’t be automatically avoided. In some cases, units getting in position for their line of fire would stand in the danger zone.
That’s the gist of True Line of Sight and True Line of Fire in Starship Troopers: Terran Command. With these tips, you should have a better chance of defeating the bug menace. To understand how War Support works, head over here. To make sure you have enough soldiers for the war effort, here’s how to call in reinforcements and heal units. And you’ll also want to capture some outposts along the way.
