It's time for weekly developer Q&A number 3. Learn a little more nitty gritty about defensive structures and subterranean units.

1. Can defense structures level up, or be upgraded in any way?

   Defenses can level up in several different ways. All defenses with weaponry gain veterancy levels as they destroy units over time, improving the resilience of the structure. In addition, all tier 1 and 2 defenses can be upgraded individually. For tier 1 structures, this reinforces their armor, causing any unit that doesn’t do anti-structure damage to do significantly less damage to them in the late-game. For tier 2 structures, new abilities and powers are unlocked on the structure via upgrading, e.g. a long-range rocket barrage or close-range flamethrowers. Some structures have additional global upgrades that can be purchased on the crawler as well, such as advanced shielding technology, which increases shield health and regeneration.

2. Are there any structures that can be built besides defense turrets?

   

   Yes! In addition to turrets, the defense player can build an array of supportive structures, including tunnel networks, stealth generators, shield generators, outposts, bunkers, and superweapons. In addition, many of the defensive structures are more than just simple turrets, and the way that you build your defensive grid will have a significant impact on the battles. The GDI rocket turrets, for example, use a system similar to the Patriot Missile System from Generals, allowing them to fire on enemies that a nearby turret can see, making proper creation of your rocket grid a very important gameplay element.

3. CommandCOM guests stated that flame tanks can create a firestorm. How is this done?

   All flame weapons in the game (and there are a lot of them) leave behind a flaming patch of ground when they fire on a unit or area. The flames in that area continue to do damage to any unit sitting in the flame over time, and an enemy unit that passes through the area will catch on fire, taking additional damage over time, even after they leave. If a set number of these fiery patches of ground overlap, all of them instantly ignite into a bright blue firestorm, consuming the damage over time and hitting anything caught in the firestorm for a significant amount of damage. In other words, don’t stand in the flames.

4. Can subterranean and stealth units be detected when they are cloaked or underground?

   Indeed they can, though we’ve made several advancements to the system. First, far fewer units will have stealth detection, making stealth and burrowing a much more important, even necessary, element in Nod’s arsenal. Second, even when a unit is detected, it retains a buff. Detected burrowed units, for example, have extra armor, while detected stealth units retain a level of “concealment,” causing enemy fire to periodically miss the target.

5. Will any units have secondary or tertiary abilities?

   Yes! Many of the higher-tier units have both secondary and tertiary abilities, some of which can be upgraded.