Defenders of Ardania looks like a chaotic, busy, and very strategic game. However, we here at XBLA Fans have some tips to offer you in the hopes of you never lose a single mission. Ever. You see, luckily enough, the single player is pretty straightforward, despite the myriad of challenges the game hurls at you. Without further ado, enjoy some game breaking knowledge!

AI Tricks – The AI isn’t stupid, but it is entirely one-track minded. If you play the game like normal, however, you’ll be playing long, tiresome missions, so you won’t be doing that.

  • The AI starts each game in a number of ways: building straight to the middle with basic towers; building towers to counter the units you send; making the path to its base long and painful. We are going to counter these things.
  • Always build quick, or spawn quick. That means either you rush units, or you rush a built straight into their base. We advise rushing units.
  • If you rush swarmers, you’re going to get free hits your enemy due to the lack of towers they’ll have. On top of that, the swarmers are cheap, so you can send them all early for almost nothing.
  • When you rush swarmers enough, the AI will start making towers to counter the swarmers, so send warriors or flying units or anything else you can launch en masse.
  • It’s important to give your base a very quick exit so you can funnel units into their base quickly.
  • Use the lightning bolt to destroy their maze, just as your units get there to guarantee damage. The AI will overcompensate and immediately rebuild the tower somewhere else, and it will take a while for them to plug the space up.

Coop Tips – Some missions involve more than one enemy, or someone you have to save, or some other bits and pieces to defend or kill etc., and they all involve tricks!

  • When faced with multiple enemies, it’s important to completely ignore one of them (chiefly the one furthest from you). Not just to make them feel bad about themselves, but because dividing your forces is not a good idea.
  • Force both enemies into one entrance, don’t try to defend yourself on multiple fronts.
  • If you have to defend someone, and the tower placement allows it, force your enemies to go through your base to get to your ally. This will ensure your ally’s safety because they will quite likely be wholly ineffective against the enemies.
  • Use walls to block off your ally, don’t spend tons of money making actual towers unless it’s a properly defensible location.

The AI in this game is surprisingly easy to manipulate, and these tips are all you’ll need to do that. Believe it or not, these strategies apply to every mission in the campaign. Good luck out there defending Ardania.