Beginner guide
How to play ZeroSpace
If you have played an RTS before, you already know most of this. This page covers the three things ZeroSpace does differently, and the settings that trip people up in their first hour.
The 60-second version
- Send your workers to resources immediately. Standard RTS opening. Nothing clever happens if your economy is behind.
- Build supply before you build an army. Supply structures gate both your unit cap and your access to the rest of the faction's tech, so an opening that skips them stalls twice over.
- Use your hero from minute one. Your hero commander is a combat unit, not a menu. Park them where they can defend workers early and lead pushes later.
- Scout before you commit. With four factions plus a mercenary group, the number of things your opponent might be doing is large. Guessing is expensive.
- Beat the AI first. There are twelve difficulty steps. Use them.
Your loadout: faction + mercenary + hero
This is the mechanic that separates ZeroSpace from the RTS games it resembles. Before a match you pick three things, and together they define how you win:
| Slot | Options | What it decides |
|---|---|---|
| Main faction | 4 (Protectorate, Grell, Legion, Xol) | Your core army, economy style and tech tree. The biggest decision. |
| Mercenary group | 6 in Early Access | A specialist battle group bolted onto your faction — extra units and abilities that cover a weakness or double down on a strength. |
| Hero commander | 15 available | An on-field unit with abilities, plus persistent levels and unlocks that carry between matches and modes. |
Because the hero persists, time spent in Galactic War or against the AI is not wasted when you move to ranked — progression follows you. More on heroes and commanders →
A match, start to finish
Early game — economy and information
Workers on resources, supply up, first production structure down. Send something out to scout as soon as you can afford to lose it. Your hero can defend against early harassment while your army is still small, which is a luxury most RTS games do not give you.
Mid game — expand or pressure
This is where the factions diverge hardest. The Grell want map presence and spreading biomass. The Legion want to be attacking. The Protectorate are happy to take a fight on their own terms. Whichever you play, taking a second base is the default and skipping it needs a reason.
Late game — engagements are decided by timing
Fights are about ability timing and target priority more than raw army size. Pull damaged units out rather than letting them die — several mercenary groups reward exactly that. Keep your army, your hero and your casters on separate control groups so you can act with one while the others hold.
Settings people ask about in their first hour
These come up constantly on the Steam discussion boards, so they are worth knowing before you go looking.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Can I change team colours? | Yes — colour settings are in the in-game options. This is the single most-asked UI question on the boards, mostly from players who find the default faction palettes hard to read at a glance. |
| Can I change game speed in co-op? | Co-op game speed behaviour has been an active discussion topic. Check the lobby options before you start rather than assuming the single-player setting carries over. |
| Are hotkeys rebindable? | Yes. Customisable hotkeys are marked as shipped on the official roadmap. |
| Is there a unit test / practice map? | Yes — a Unit Test Map shipped in Early Access. It is the fastest way to learn what an unfamiliar unit actually does. |
| Does the AI cheat? | The higher AI difficulties are widely described by players as resource-advantaged rather than smarter, and "AI needs work, not cheats" is a recurring board thread. Treat the top steps as a stress test, not a skill benchmark. |
| Ultra-wide monitor problems? | Ultra-wide display issues have been reported by players in the discussions. If your UI is stretched or cut off, check for a patch before assuming it is your setup — see system requirements. |
Five mistakes new players make
- Treating the hero as a spectator. It is a unit. Unused, you are playing a man down all game.
- Picking a mercenary group at random. The merc slot is a third of your loadout, not flavour.
- Jumping into ranked immediately. Twelve AI steps exist for a reason, and ladder queues at current population are not a forgiving place to learn.
- Never retreating. Damaged units that survive are the whole point of several merc groups' sustain tools.
- Learning four factions at once. Pick one, learn one opening, then branch. Opening principles →
Frequently asked
Questions people actually ask about this, pulled from the Steam discussion boards and search data.
Which faction is easiest for a beginner?
The Protectorate. It is the most conventional combined-arms army in the game, it is the campaign faction so you will learn it anyway, and its mistakes are the most recoverable. Protectorate guide →
Do I need to play the campaign before multiplayer?
No, but it is a good tutorial. The campaign teaches Protectorate units and the hero system at a pace the ladder will not.
How many AI difficulty levels are there?
Twelve, per the official roadmap. Work up through them rather than jumping to the top — the highest steps lean on resource advantages, so they punish you without teaching you much.
Does progression carry between game modes?
Yes. Hero levels and unlocks persist and carry between Galactic War, skirmish and versus, so practice against the AI still advances you.