I think anders is honestly the best. Her sentinel beacon is amazing against groups of units.
I’ve only try’d Pavium and Forge, I’ll have to give her a try!
Decimus and Anders. There are some other viable picks but i would say they are the best by quite a bit.
I’ve been trying to play all the leaders, but haven’t really had the chance to get to them all (especially since I had to redownload the entire game last night for the first time)… I’ve made it the farthest with UNSC, namely Forge…
I tend to gravitate towards leaders that have splash damage and ranged attacks…
Jerome was pretty good, however I was hoping Omega Team would be more effective… Mastadon worked great for a while during the earlier waves…
Serina was surprisingly good as well… The chilled turrets and kodiaks were great as well as the bison locked down at one of the choke points… Still had problems with Air though…
Pavium and Voridus were ok… The problem I have with Megaturrets is the fact that they take up a base slot… So I have to wait until later in the game to use them so that I can build resources and upgrade units/base. Didn’t do as good with Voridus…
I also think that UNSC’s barrier options are a lot better… Same as Turrets… No need for shield or cloaking on your home base in this game mode… So UNSC has the advantage with siege turrets…
I realllyyyy wanted to play as Anders last night, but since I had to redownload the whole game, didn’t feel like waiting 5 hours for it to complete…
Side note: I think there should be the option in the custom settings to change the total additional population for each mini-base captured when playing single player… I feel like trying to control the entire map with such low population counts is too difficult… Just a thought, I dunno…
> 2533274812650916;3:
> Decimus and Anders. There are some other viable picks but i would say they are the best by quite a bit.
Why Deci?
I would say for 3s Anders + Serina for kodiaks combo and then either Voridus or Pavium.
Pavium for obvious reasons with Mega turret and self heal buildings.
Voridus has a passive that gives Blisterbacks the ability to lay goo. That in conjunction with Anders and Serina kodiak spam, all you need is an army of AA for direct air waves. Honestly better than mega turrets.
Colony is also neat thanks to upgraded living barrier, but it’s probably 2nd tier.
> 2533274807562680;5:
> > 2533274812650916;3:
> > Decimus and Anders. There are some other viable picks but i would say they are the best by quite a bit.
>
> Why Deci?
>
> I would say for 3s Anders + Serina for kodiaks combo and then either Voridus or Pavium.
>
> Pavium for obvious reasons with Mega turret and self heal buildings.
>
> Voridus has a passive that gives Blisterbacks the ability to lay goo. That in conjunction with Anders and Serina kodiak spam, all you need is an army of AA for direct air waves. Honestly better than mega turrets.
>
> Colony is also neat thanks to upgraded living barrier, but it’s probably 2nd tier.
I hear Deci banshees are all you need.
> 2533274807562680;5:
> > 2533274812650916;3:
> > Decimus and Anders. There are some other viable picks but i would say they are the best by quite a bit.
>
> Why Deci?
>
> I would say for 3s Anders + Serina for kodiaks combo and then either Voridus or Pavium.
>
> Pavium for obvious reasons with Mega turret and self heal buildings.
>
> Voridus has a passive that gives Blisterbacks the ability to lay goo. That in conjunction with Anders and Serina kodiak spam, all you need is an army of AA for direct air waves. Honestly better than mega turrets.
>
> Colony is also neat thanks to upgraded living barrier, but it’s probably 2nd tier.
Those are solid strats but Deci is amazing for his banshee spam. At max pop you get 40 siphon/fury banshee who don’t need engineers for sustainment. So that means you don’t need engineers which allows for rapid movement.
Banished turrets aren’t good or relevant enough late game to justify a Colony pick. Colony only has hunters brand, combat repair, and living barrier. Those abilities all eventually fade into irrelevance. Combat repair less so but boundless siphon is just better. Decimus has active siphon and fury, a level 3 glassing beam and, most importantly, low cooldown Vortex which can stun vultures from using their Phoenix missiles.
I’ve had a lot of success with Johnson.
His mechs are all around good units, and can survive almost forever.
His downfall is mobility. When those air waves make it past you, it’s tough to get your mechs back to the terminus in time. I try to remedy that by making most turrets anti-air, but they don’t always cut it 
I’ve had some success with forge
> 2533274812650916;7:
> > 2533274807562680;5:
> > > 2533274812650916;3:
> > > Decimus and Anders. There are some other viable picks but i would say they are the best by quite a bit.
> >
> > Why Deci?
> >
> > I would say for 3s Anders + Serina for kodiaks combo and then either Voridus or Pavium.
> >
> > Pavium for obvious reasons with Mega turret and self heal buildings.
> >
> > Voridus has a passive that gives Blisterbacks the ability to lay goo. That in conjunction with Anders and Serina kodiak spam, all you need is an army of AA for direct air waves. Honestly better than mega turrets.
> >
> > Colony is also neat thanks to upgraded living barrier, but it’s probably 2nd tier.
>
> Those are solid strats but Deci is amazing for his banshee spam. At max pop you get 40 siphon/fury banshee who don’t need engineers for sustainment. So that means you don’t need engineers which allows for rapid movement.
>
> Banished turrets aren’t good or relevant enough late game to justify a Colony pick. Colony only has hunters brand, combat repair, and living barrier. Those abilities all eventually fade into irrelevance. Combat repair less so but boundless siphon is just better. Decimus has active siphon and fury, a level 3 glassing beam and, most importantly, low cooldown Vortex which can stun vultures from using their Phoenix missiles.
What is the max pop? If my math is right 40x3 is 120. So controlling every minibase only gets you to the max pop of deathmatch? That is pretty lame.
Quick question, can you park your banshees on a spawner and they’ll wreck? Thats pretty cool if so. Funny how out of all the combos you could think of with long range sieging and blocking paths, the most effective strategy is the most direct. Spam banshees and overwhelm with brute force.
I’ve had the most success with Anders and Johnson. Anders is great because you can pump sentinels out without needing to build an air pad right away, gives a nice early boost to the economy being able to throw down an extra supply pad. And her siege turrets and kodiaks do some serious work.
Johnson is amazing once you unlock the free base slots power. Being able to immediately cover any unused barrier slots on the entire map is amazing. Since their free, I’ll keep trying to rebuild them when they get destroyed, even when the enemies are still there. Gets them back up quicker if they aren’t targeted again, and gives the enemies another target if they do.
That said, I’ve never managed to get past wave 45 or so. That direct air wave is a total -Yoink-, gonna have to try again with a lot more wolverines.
Has anyone tried Isabel yet? Since those direct air waves cluster so close together, I’m curious to know if her ghost in the machine power can help neutralize a lot of them…?
> 2533274916055785;11:
> Johnson is amazing once you unlock the free base slots power. Being able to immediately cover any unused barrier slots on the entire map is amazing. Since their free, I’ll keep trying to rebuild them when they get destroyed, even when the enemies are still there. Gets them back up quicker if they aren’t targeted again, and gives the enemies another target if they do.
So you’re telling me that barriers and their upgrades are free once you get the free base slots power???
> 2533274807562680;10:
> > 2533274812650916;7:
> > > 2533274807562680;5:
> > > > 2533274812650916;3:
> > > > Decimus and Anders. There are some other viable picks but i would say they are the best by quite a bit.
>
> What is the max pop? If my math is right 40x3 is 120. So controlling every minibase only gets you to the max pop of deathmatch? That is pretty lame.
> Quick question, can you park your banshees on a spawner and they’ll wreck? Thats pretty cool if so. Funny how out of all the combos you could think of with long range sieging and blocking paths, the most effective strategy is the most direct. Spam banshees and overwhelm with brute force.
I believe he’s just saying max pop of 120 without the minibases. They would each add 10 more pop I believe. However, when you are in those later rounds, you can’t always rely on pop outside of your primary base… And this isn’t at all me trying to be rude or anything, but have you not played to know that? Or just didn’t realize when you were playing? Only curious…
> 2533274802796519;12:
> Has anyone tried Isabel yet? Since those direct air waves cluster so close together, I’m curious to know if her ghost in the machine power can help neutralize a lot of them…?
>
>
>
>
> > 2533274916055785;11:
> > Johnson is amazing once you unlock the free base slots power. Being able to immediately cover any unused barrier slots on the entire map is amazing. Since their free, I’ll keep trying to rebuild them when they get destroyed, even when the enemies are still there. Gets them back up quicker if they aren’t targeted again, and gives the enemies another target if they do.
>
> So you’re telling me that barriers and their upgrades are free once you get the free base slots power???
>
>
> > 2533274807562680;10:
> > > 2533274812650916;7:
> > > > 2533274807562680;5:
> > > > > 2533274812650916;3:
> > > > > Decimus and Anders. There are some other viable picks but i would say they are the best by quite a bit.
> >
> > What is the max pop? If my math is right 40x3 is 120. So controlling every minibase only gets you to the max pop of deathmatch? That is pretty lame.
> > Quick question, can you park your banshees on a spawner and they’ll wreck? Thats pretty cool if so. Funny how out of all the combos you could think of with long range sieging and blocking paths, the most effective strategy is the most direct. Spam banshees and overwhelm with brute force.
>
> I believe he’s just saying max pop of 120 without the minibases. They would each add 10 more pop I believe. However, when you are in those later rounds, you can’t always rely on pop outside of your primary base… And this isn’t at all me trying to be rude or anything, but have you not played to know that? Or just didn’t realize when you were playing? Only curious…
I’m new to the waypoint forums, not sure how to only quote part of your reply…anyway, to answer your question on the Johnson base slots, you do NOT get the upgrades for free. Just like if you build a supply pad on your base, the building itself is free (with the leader power active) but you still have to pay to upgrade it. Same thing here. You’re paying for the upgrades still, but just being able to get all the barricade slots covered at once is really nice.
> 2533274802796519;12:
> Has anyone tried Isabel yet? Since those direct air waves cluster so close together, I’m curious to know if her ghost in the machine power can help neutralize a lot of them…?
>
>
>
>
> > 2533274916055785;11:
> > Johnson is amazing once you unlock the free base slots power. Being able to immediately cover any unused barrier slots on the entire map is amazing. Since their free, I’ll keep trying to rebuild them when they get destroyed, even when the enemies are still there. Gets them back up quicker if they aren’t targeted again, and gives the enemies another target if they do.
>
> So you’re telling me that barriers and their upgrades are free once you get the free base slots power???
>
>
> > 2533274807562680;10:
> > > 2533274812650916;7:
> > > > 2533274807562680;5:
> > > > > 2533274812650916;3:
> > > > > Decimus and Anders. There are some other viable picks but i would say they are the best by quite a bit.
> >
> > What is the max pop? If my math is right 40x3 is 120. So controlling every minibase only gets you to the max pop of deathmatch? That is pretty lame.
> > Quick question, can you park your banshees on a spawner and they’ll wreck? Thats pretty cool if so. Funny how out of all the combos you could think of with long range sieging and blocking paths, the most effective strategy is the most direct. Spam banshees and overwhelm with brute force.
>
> I believe he’s just saying max pop of 120 without the minibases. They would each add 10 more pop I believe. However, when you are in those later rounds, you can’t always rely on pop outside of your primary base… And this isn’t at all me trying to be rude or anything, but have you not played to know that? Or just didn’t realize when you were playing? Only curious…
Max pop with both pop upgrades is 100 so… have you actually played? You start with 40 pop with no minis.
I’ve done best so far with Johnson the mechs are a good all rounder and they can take out most targets easy enough also had some success with Pavium as well but struggle to find a good combo but working on it.
I like Colony. Mainly because he’s got lasers (plasma beams) and Combat Repair really helps late game. Not to mention Brand and Engineer Swarm.
> 2533274807562680;14:
> > 2533274802796519;12:
> > Has anyone tried Isabel yet? Since those direct air waves cluster so close together, I’m curious to know if her ghost in the machine power can help neutralize a lot of them…?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > 2533274916055785;11:
> > > Johnson is amazing once you unlock the free base slots power. Being able to immediately cover any unused barrier slots on the entire map is amazing. Since their free, I’ll keep trying to rebuild them when they get destroyed, even when the enemies are still there. Gets them back up quicker if they aren’t targeted again, and gives the enemies another target if they do.
> >
> > So you’re telling me that barriers and their upgrades are free once you get the free base slots power???
> >
> >
> > > 2533274807562680;10:
> > > > 2533274812650916;7:
> > > > > 2533274807562680;5:
> > > > > > 2533274812650916;3:
> > > > > > Decimus and Anders. There are some other viable picks but i would say they are the best by quite a bit.
> > >
> > > What is the max pop? If my math is right 40x3 is 120. So controlling every minibase only gets you to the max pop of deathmatch? That is pretty lame.
> > > Quick question, can you park your banshees on a spawner and they’ll wreck? Thats pretty cool if so. Funny how out of all the combos you could think of with long range sieging and blocking paths, the most effective strategy is the most direct. Spam banshees and overwhelm with brute force.
> >
> > I believe he’s just saying max pop of 120 without the minibases. They would each add 10 more pop I believe. However, when you are in those later rounds, you can’t always rely on pop outside of your primary base… And this isn’t at all me trying to be rude or anything, but have you not played to know that? Or just didn’t realize when you were playing? Only curious…
>
> Max pop with both pop upgrades is 100 so… have you actually played? You start with 40 pop with no minis.
Yep, you’re right… I was thinking with the two small mini-bases right beside the main base. Just counted those as a “sure thing” my bad.
EDIT:
Also, since your response was pretty snarky, “So controlling every minibase only gets you to the max pop of deathmatch? That is pretty lame.” have you actually played?
> 2533274916055785;13:
> > 2533274802796519;12:
> > Has anyone tried Isabel yet? Since those direct air waves cluster so close together, I’m curious to know if her ghost in the machine power can help neutralize a lot of them…?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > 2533274916055785;11:
> > > Johnson is amazing once you unlock the free base slots power. Being able to immediately cover any unused barrier slots on the entire map is amazing. Since their free, I’ll keep trying to rebuild them when they get destroyed, even when the enemies are still there. Gets them back up quicker if they aren’t targeted again, and gives the enemies another target if they do.
> >
> > So you’re telling me that barriers and their upgrades are free once you get the free base slots power???
> >
> >
> > > 2533274807562680;10:
> > > > 2533274812650916;7:
> > > > > 2533274807562680;5:
> > > > > > 2533274812650916;3:
> > > > > > Decimus and Anders. There are some other viable picks but i would say they are the best by quite a bit.
> > >
> > > What is the max pop? If my math is right 40x3 is 120. So controlling every minibase only gets you to the max pop of deathmatch? That is pretty lame.
> > > Quick question, can you park your banshees on a spawner and they’ll wreck? Thats pretty cool if so. Funny how out of all the combos you could think of with long range sieging and blocking paths, the most effective strategy is the most direct. Spam banshees and overwhelm with brute force.
> >
> > I believe he’s just saying max pop of 120 without the minibases. They would each add 10 more pop I believe. However, when you are in those later rounds, you can’t always rely on pop outside of your primary base… And this isn’t at all me trying to be rude or anything, but have you not played to know that? Or just didn’t realize when you were playing? Only curious…
>
> I’m new to the waypoint forums, not sure how to only quote part of your reply…anyway, to answer your question on the Johnson base slots, you do NOT get the upgrades for free. Just like if you build a supply pad on your base, the building itself is free (with the leader power active) but you still have to pay to upgrade it. Same thing here. You’re paying for the upgrades still, but just being able to get all the barricade slots covered at once is really nice.
Ok cool… I did not know that… Yes I agree that it’s beneficial to get all the barricades out there (initially) for free…
> 2533274802796519;17:
> > 2533274807562680;14:
> > > 2533274802796519;12:
> > >
> >
> > Max pop with both pop upgrades is 100 so… have you actually played? You start with 40 pop with no minis.
>
> Yep, you’re right… I was thinking with the two small mini-bases right beside the main base. Just counted those as a “sure thing” my bad.
>
> EDIT:
> Also, since your response was pretty snarky, “So controlling every minibase only gets you to the max pop of deathmatch? That is pretty lame.” have you actually played?
Lmao I thought your answer was pretty snarky, so I was just trying to match it in kind. No hard feelings meant! XD Does anyone actually know what the max possible pop is?
So far my best was with Anderson making it to wave 94 solo (link to screenshot below). She’s really good but boy is she costly. Once a direct air wave took out my main base which was all supply pads at that point it was just a matter of watching the next two rounds slowly grind up my units.
I enjoy Jerome quite a bit but I loose around wave 49/50 depending on when the direct air wave comes in. His units extended range make garrisons with marines super powerful as they not only shoot rockets at enemies but they can heal each other. What I find with him and most UNSC people is the population cap when playing solo. The 120 is mostly taken up by those guarding the terminus and you can’t use much to expand outwards.
For the Banished/Covenant Arbiter is pretty good. He can devastate a single lane with his hero unit, thanks to his ability stacking and spamming setup you could have him constantly heal while jumping in the air to cut down vultures and other nuisances. The downside is if you have to spread out your forces and abilities he starts to fall apart. Made it to wave 50 with him without ever playing as him before in any game mode.