Build points

Build points (BPS) are necessary for a team to build structures. At the start of a match, both teams get the same amount of BPS. When a structure (building) is built, some BPS are spent; when a structure is destroyed or deconstructed, its BPS are available again. See human structures and alien structures for a BPS price list.

BPS are common for the whole team; they can be used by any team member that currently is a builder. That also means that if you build stuff, you might be using up BPS that are necessary at other points of the base!

In ”sudden death” both teams loose all current BPS and can't build more stuff or rebuild destroyed stuff (however, there are exceptions to this rule: see sudden death).

A good base is important for both the Humans and Aliens, no matter what server one plays on.

For the Humans, however, whose offensive strategy relies entirely on their structures, a well-defended base is absolutely crucial. Constructing a solidly-defended base is much easier on servers with a high amount of BPs, since a large BP pool provides for the construction of a large number of turrets and tesla generators.

In addition, a large BP pool allows the humans to construct fairly resilient forward bases. This provides their offense with an easily-defensible fall-back point, a major bonus for any human offensive.

All of this additional construction (or lack thereof) can have a major impact on particularly the Human team's strategy. More humans are tempted in high-BP scenarios to stay in the base, confident that they cannot be killed. An easy money situation confronts them, also: if there are any aliens stupid enough to charge into the human defense net, then they can simply chase down said aliens for an easy kill. The aforementioned forward bases may not even be constructed in such a scenario, since there may be too many people defending and not attacking. However, a large amount of BPs (and thus defensive structures and human defenders) imbue attacking humans with a great sense of confidence, confidence that everything will still be there when they get back from an attack run. This makes attacking easy for skillful humans.

In a low-BP scenario, the tables are turned completely. The base is almost helpless against a large attack by the alien team, since it takes only a few aliens to completely swamp the human defenses. This puts more players on the attack, following the old adage: “the best defense is a good offense.” The skill of the human team tends to manifest itself most plainly in these scenarios, even though their base can be literally swept out from under them: a skilled dragoon or marauder can evade a small number of defensive structures with ease, targeting the reactor, telenodes, or armory, all crucial structures (Reactor Jumping). An attack of this type often forces the humans' hand, since without their base structures, the humans lose almost 100% of the time.

The Aliens, too, get their fair share of advantages from a high-BP server. A large amount of acid tubes, trappers, and hives can wreak havoc on an attacking human force (a human can die almost instantly when in close proximity to enough acid tubes). Aliens can also eggspam with much greater success in a high-BP scenario.