The leader
Yapyap is built for the early game with cheap expendable units that can be mass produced to dominate the map and swarm and harass enemy players. His abilities are built around this as well with tactics that can slow down the effectiveness of enemy players as well as reinforce your own early game pushes and footholds. The longer the engagements the less effective Yapyap becomes so if an early victory is not achieved players will have to resort to traditional tactics.
Yapyap, as well as his units, also have some genuinely funny dialogue across all modes and situations and the overall quirky nature of the leader along with his units and abilities make Yapyap one of the most interesting and exciting leaders to play as, even if you lose it will always be in a blaze of glory.
new units
Grunt Goblin: The Grunt Goblin acts as Yapyap's hero unit and right away it's important to note that three of these units can be built rather than the one hero cap that applies to all other leaders. Because it acts as a hero unit the goblins do not count towards your unit population count meaning they make a great addition to any army composition. From the get-go, they are armed with a heavy needle cannon and are cheaper than other hero units, this means that once a war council is built it's easy to field the max number of goblins for early game pushes that are essential to any Yapyap strategy. They are quick and provide some serious firepower which cannot be easily matched by other units in the early game engagements. An unaware and unprepared adversary can often be overwhelmed by the goblins in tandem with the new cannon fodder unit.
Naturally, however, the goblins are weaker than other hero units and can easily lose engagements against a variety of other units, they are particularly weak to snipers, for example, the best use of this unit is in the early game but a variety of upgrades and its special ability can keep it viable in longer lasting matches. Its special ability when activated will increase the movement speed and make friendly units briefly invulnerable, in addition to this it will also heal friendly units in its proximity as well as the Goblin itself. Yapyap lacks any kind of healing leader power but some well-placed goblins can provide healing for your army. When used in battle the ability can be used to save the goblin and nearby units from certain death often allowing you to win a battle. Upgrades to the goblin will increase its health and damage and the effectiveness of its special ability as well as unlock the shardstorm launcher for increased firepower.
The healing and firepower provided by the goblins make them an essential unit to use in the early game. Due to the cheapness of the unit as well as the fact that they don't count towards population means they make a fine addition to any type of army you decide to build while using Yapyap for the mid and late game as well. Their healing and firepower could and often does make the difference in many a battle.
Methane Wagon: This unit like other unique leader units needs to be first purchased as a passive leader power which will then unlock it at the main base. This unit is weak towards infantry, vehicles, air and buildings and instead acts as a support unit to your grunt swarms. This is because the stuff that grunts breathe methane is constantly pumped out around the vehicle. This methane aura increases the damage of nearby grunt units but ONLY grunt units it provides no bonus to the likes of hunters for example but will buff the locust as it's piloted by a grunt. This unit is, therefore, best used in tandem with the likes of Cannon Fodder, Heavy Grunts as well as your Grunt Goblins. It's one of two leader powers that can be unlocked at the start of a match but with a cost of 300 resources and 100 energy meaning, they are not the easiest unit to mass produce early on. That said just a few of these can make a massive difference to your early swarms by providing a great buff as well as some additional firepower.
The unit also has a special ability methane delivery which when used will fire a slow-moving missile which will cause some decent damage upon detonation and cover the detonation area with an aura of methane which will eventually dissipate. While the methane aura buffs your grunts it will also debuff any enemy units caught in the aura meaning that some well-positioned Methane Wagons can seriously weaken your adversary's forces or a salvo of the units special ability can damage and debuff enemy units further afield. An upgrade to the unit will increase the radius of its methane aura as well as the methane radius of the special ability. Again the unit is best used early on but its upgrade, as well as global vehicle upgrades, means it can continue to be an effective support unit in longer lasting matches. As it buffs all grunt units one good strategy to surprise your opponents with would be to use the methane wagon to buff your locusts for some devastating attacks on enemy bases.
Brute Rider: This unit replaces Jump Pack Brutes in the barracks and thus acts as Yapyaps infantry based building killer. The brutes attack units and bases with powerful melee attacks while the grunt offers additional support my lobbing the occasional plasma grenade. The unit is slower and less manoeuvrable than the Jump Pack Brutes but is faster than Colonys Goliath unit so acts as a nice in between. It lacks the ability to attack air and as a melee unit is not particularly great to use on infantry or vehicles either. However used in tandem with other units the brute rider can be devastating for early game rushes but seriously loses effectiveness and usability as matches drag on further. It comes with a charge ability to quickly reduce the gap as well as a unique upgrade to increase the power of its plasma fists. The unit is cheap and easy to mass produce so if the way can be cleared for it early on in a match then the Brute Rider can make short work of bases in large enough numbers otherwise resources and time are better spent elsewhere.
Heavy Grunt: This unit replaces the suicide grunts in the barracks. They are essentially a core infantry like marines or the traditional elite or brute lead grunt squads of other banished leaders and serve a similar purpose to those units. They are intermediate troops to be used against all other types of units and buildings at 130 resources they are cheaper than marines but more expensive than grunt squads but are still easy to mass produce and swarm the map with.
The grunts are armed with plasma pistols while the leader is armed with a fuel rod cannon, they can be upgraded to allow for an emp shot that deals damage and temporarily shuts down the target vehicle or air unit, many heavy grunts making use of this ability on multiple targets can seriously change the tide of battle in your favour. An additional upgrade adds another fuel rod cannon grunt to the unit and changes their effectiveness against air from intermediate to effective.
In early matches its best to make use of Cannon Fodder (See below) it'll get to a certain point however where you will be far better off investing in Heavy Grunts as the core of your army. This all round versatile unit is a great unit to make use of especially in tandem with the other new units mentioned above. One draw back to the unit is that they do have a noticeably long build time, one tactic would be to build additional raid camps so that you can pump these out faster as in small numbers the heavy grunt can get easily overwhelmed.
Cannon Fodder: This unit replaces the grunt squad at the main base and the most noticeable thing about them is that they cost nothing, zero energy and zero resources to build and a measly two population to boot! Of course, another noticeable thing about them is that they are weak towards everything and well… deploy with no weapons, they are in fact a melee unit and when faced with air targets will literally resort to throwing stones. However, the sheer number of these units that you can build with no dent made to your economy at all means that some very interesting tactics are opened up for the early game.
For starters, Yapyap will start a match with 5 of these units and from there you might as well start pumping them out from your main base whilst you build up your economy, even reach the max population with them if you want to. From here they can be used to scout, overwhelm unprepared enemies and capture those all important energy nodes to gain early map control. They are a great rush unit to harass enemies with or act as a nice safety bumper against rush tactics used by your opponents. To keep it balanced they do have a long build time but with the sheer number of them and the fact you'll be saving resources allows you to quickly build and hold mini base sites and main base sites, from there you can start pumping them out at twice the rate or even more depending on how many bases you can secure.
Once your bases and economy are set up you can then start supporting your cannon fodder with the likes of Grunt Goblins and methane wagons or throw in some brute riders for early raids on enemy bases. The sheer number of them you can build will often mean you can overwhelm your enemy and choke their positions and they act as great meat shields for your more valuable units. As mentioned above it will get to a certain point where it will be more viable to use heavy grunts rather than cannon fodder, some unique upgrades as well global Infantry upgrades can extend their usefulness, however. Their first upgrade will increase their damage as well slow down their target this is truly great for dogging down hero units and heavy vehicles, a further upgrade will give them a self-healing bonus. The carnage this unit entails is always a sight to behold.
New Abilities
Suprise Party: Places a mine on the battlefield that explodes with colourful confetti and unleashed two cannon fodder at veteran level three. Can be used as a nice surprise for your enemies in choke points or used as extra defence around a base. Due to the offensive nature of Yapyap you might not get much use out of the ability, however.
Methane Wagon: Unlocks the unit at the main base. I recommend unlocking this rather than the Suprise Party at the beginning of a match even though you won't be building them straight away.
Please Don't Shoot Me: An interesting ability that causes a temporary ceasefire for all players. In this state, no units can attack or use offensive abilities at the same time no offensive leader powers can be used either. Careful use of this ability can save your army or base from annihilation or that of your allies, or can even be used to position your forces around an enemy base to cunningly wait for the cease fire to end. Overall a great trolling ability to use on opponents or even use it to annoy your own allies.
Guilt Trip: A passive ability that reduces the extent to which units gain veterency from killing your units. Due to the large swarms of units you'll likely be using, your opponents forces can gain veterency quite easily by killing smarms of cannon fodder, for example, this ability greatly reduces that problem but it can be tempting not to purchase it as it's not very easy to gauge how much of a difference it makes.
Shade Drop: Drops in 4 grunt manned shade turrets to provide additional firepower, each turret can be manually placed so you can use it to block off escape routes, surround enemy's, defend choke points or reinforce your base on the fly. After a while, the turrets will self-detonate and can be destroyed by your adversaries. Dropping another ability point into the ability allows you to drop a further two turrets allowing you to gain a significant edge in many key battles.
Gruntdome: Drops in a portable shield generator that blocks all incoming damage for units underneath the protective shield. The shield is noticeably weaker than that of the shield generator that can be built on turret slots but the ability can be upgraded a further two times increasing the health of the shield as well as allowing you to drop in two rather than one. A great ability to use to defend your troops from rival leader powers or gives them that edge your weaker grunt armies might often need, makes a great combo piece with shade drop. After a while, the shield generator will self-destruct if not destroyed before and cannot be placed near any type of base.
Grunts From Above: A drop of several veteran grunt units from spirit drop ships. Can be upgraded to increase the amount of troops deployed. As with all reinforcement abilities, it can be used to reinforce pushes, defend on the fly and so on. Again another great combo piece to use with shade drop and gruntdome to really aggravate your enemy.
Get Back Out There: When activated the first 6 infantry units to die will be returned to your main base for free. A great ability to activate when you're heading into a big conflict allowing you to reinforce the attack or defence with those units that die first particularly if those infantry units are something valuable, might not always be cost effective if those first 6 infantry units are cannon fodder for example.
Methane Party: A brilliant ultimate ability that drops methane from the sky, causing significant damage to any units caught in the radius. In addition to this, the blast radius is covered in methane gas, debuffing the survivors and buffing your grunts who you can charge into the methane zone for a deadly attack. Great to use at enemy bases for attacks or used at your own for defence. Always best used with a follow-up attack from your army or can be used in combo with the likes of grunts from above and shade drop.
To round out the ability wheel Yapyap also has access to the Glassing Beam.
Blitz Mode
Grunt Goblins 180 energy (Deploys 2 Grunt Goblins. Rush unit so no deployment fatigue)
Methane Party 120 energy
Grunt Dome 100 energy (1 drop)
Shade Drop 80 energy (4 drops)
Methane Wagon 70 energy
Unstable Jump Brutes 60 energy (Blast Unit so triggers timed aoe explosion upon death)
Grunt Riders 50 energy
Heavy Grunts 40 energy
In Blitz, the likes of Grunt Dome and shade drop are naturally great ability's to use to defend the capture zones whilst Methane Party can be used to clear the zones and the ridges as well as deter enemies with the methane effect or buff your troops for a great follow up attack. At 180 energy Grunt Goblins are the cheapest hero unit, their speed and firepower make them great for contesting energy drops either as a pair or splitting them up to cover more ground. Their firepower makes them a great addition to defending capture zones whilst their healing special ability can quickly heal your army and makes you fair less reliant on fielding an engineer.
Unstable Jump Brutes are a fine addition to Blitz as their manoeuvrability and the stun effect of their special ability means more effective use can be made of the blast ability more so than other blast cards. Methane Wagons are best used to defend capture zones whilst Brute Riders are great for getting and contesting energy drops.
Fill out the rest of your Yapyap deck with the likes of Grunts, Grunt Mob, Suicide Grunts and the Locust for true grunt mayhem.
