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Beach sea / Armada / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Hovercraft raid

Armada Beach sea build order · Supreme Isthmus

Same economy-first sea plan as standard, but hovercraft platform goes up first and a fast hovercraft raid is sent out by around 2 minutes before the shipyard and destroyer follow; still transitions into the normal fleet.

Hovers first

#naval #eco #raid · 155 distinct matches · 46 players · 12% of Armada Beach sea games · team won 56% of 155 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • Hovercraft PlatformHovercraft Platform in 99%14% of all Beach sea games by then
  • SeekerSeeker in 99%14% of all Beach sea games by then

Then transitions into destroyer (31% of army), seeker (15% of army), dolphin (12% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Hover raid (Seeker) by 2:13

  1. Open mex and energy exactly like standard sea economy.
  2. Build Hovercraft Platform first instead of going straight shipyard.
  3. Send a fast Seeker raid out well ahead of the usual timing.
  4. Reclaim Hovercraft Platform in most games once the raid is done.
  5. Pivot into shipyard and normal Corsair-led fleet build.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 155 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD BEACH SEA
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
PLAY THE OPENING

Follow the example game's first 6:00 step by step: what to build now, what comes next, and where it goes. At 1× it keeps pace with your own game.

  1. 1

    Up to the Hovercraft Platform

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor3Mex
    • Wind Turbine5Wind+4 vs standard
    Order
    1. Hovercraft PlatformHovercraft Platform after 3 mex, 5 winddone ~1:44, middle half 1:33–1:52

    Some games also: energy storage (45%) · wind for allies (32%)

    By 1:10 in all: 3 mex · 5 wind (standard 1)

    The example game in this phase · 3 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Wind ×4
    3. Hovercraft PlatformHovercraft Platformdone 1:31 · typical 1:44
  2. 2

    Hovercraft Platform to Shipyard

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor3Mex
    • Wind Turbine5Wind+4 vs standard
    Order
    1. ShipyardShipyard after 6 mex, 10 winddone ~4:16, middle half 3:58–4:39
    Builders
    • Construction Hovercraft3 Con hovercraft +3 vs standard
    Army
    • Seeker7 Seeker +7 vs standard

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 2 tidal · 2 con ship · 2 skater · 2 dolphin

    By 3:56 in all: 6 mex · 10 wind (standard 2) · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 23 steps
    1. Wind
    2. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    3. Wind
    4. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    5. Wind ×3
    6. SeekerSeeker
    7. Mex
    8. SeekerSeeker ×6
    9. Mex ×2
    10. SeekerSeeker ×2
    11. Mex
    12. SeekerSeeker
    13. Wind ×2
    14. SeekerSeeker
    15. Wind
    16. Energy storage
    17. SeekerSeeker ×3
    18. Mex
    19. Con turret
    20. SeekerSeeker ×5
    21. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    22. Con turret
    23. ShipyardShipyarddone 5:08 · typical 4:16
  3. 3

    Shipyard to 10:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    • Wind Turbine12Wind
    Order
    1. Hovercraft PlatformEat Hovercraft Platform
    Builders
    • Construction Turret1 Con turret
    • Construction Ship1 Con ship
    • Grim Reaper1 Grim Reaper
    Army
    • Sentry2 Sentry
    • Dolphin4 Dolphin
    • Corsair3 Destroyer
    • Skater2 Skater
    Other
    • Naval Radar / Sonar Tower1 Naval Radar / Sonar Tower

    Some games also: Harpoon (46%) · frigate (39%) · Naval Construction Turret (37%) · tidal (37%) · submarine (35%)

    By 10:00 in all: 10 mex · 23 wind (standard 16) · 1 energy storage · 1 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 55 steps
    1. Mex
    2. EelSubmarinedone 5:17
    3. Mex
    4. EelSubmarine
    5. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    6. EelSubmarine
    7. Converter
    8. NettleNettle
    9. DolphinDolphin ×2
    10. NettleNettle
    11. DolphinDolphin
    12. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    13. Converter
    14. DolphinDolphin ×2
    15. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    16. DolphinDolphin
    17. Converter
    18. SentrySentry
    19. DolphinDolphin ×3
    20. SentrySentry
    21. DolphinDolphin
    22. Converter
    23. DolphinDolphin
    24. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    25. DolphinDolphin
    26. SentrySentry
    27. DolphinDolphin
    28. Converter
    29. DolphinDolphin ×3
    30. Wind
    31. EllysawFrigate
    32. Converter
    33. EllysawFrigate
    34. Wind
    35. CorsairDestroyernot finished by 15:00 · typical 5:55
    36. SkaterSkater
    37. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    38. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    39. Wind
    40. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 10:19 · typical 9:41
    41. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    42. EllysawFrigate
    43. Converter
    44. Wind
    45. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    46. Mex
    47. Wind
    48. EllysawFrigate
    49. Wind
    50. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    51. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    52. Wind ×2
    53. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    54. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    55. CorsairDestroyer

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Sangheili_Major's (30 OS, 25/08/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Wind Turbine2 Wind to Air or Geofirst at 1:55 · in 42% of games

You get

  • Finch1 Finch from Airfirst at 1:54 · in 68% of games
  • Lazarus1 Lazarus from Geofirst at 2:01 · in 59% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 8:02 · in 88% of games

How it plays out

Typical game of this build against the role’s standard build, running totals by minute

  • This build
  • Standard beach sea

Metal produced

010k20k30k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Enemy metal destroyed

05k10k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

02.5k5k7.5k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

155 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildMetal produced: Standard beach seaEnemy metal destroyed: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: Standard beach seaOwn metal lost: This buildOwn metal lost: Standard beach sea
1:004044040000
2:009389380000
3:00156215800000
4:002449252051515151
5:0038113704373241255150
6:0051745098737564586355
7:006511658611631095851686
8:00798381511654165612321138
9:00948897742333243117121809
10:0011379116223254332520902565
11:0013638136924115426627733335
12:0016004160495220506637964101
13:0018392184785734585642014936
14:0021055212636708654250745892
15:0023208239197619739857226663
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Slightly better team win rate than standard with higher early kills, though overall metal destroyed by 15:00 still trails.

  • + Team win rate 52% vs 47% standard.
  • + Enemy metal destroyed by 5:00 is higher (410 vs 255).
  • − Metal production falls behind by 15:00 (23823 vs 25292).
  • − Own metal lost nearly doubles by 5:00 (255 vs 128).
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

Sangheili_Major

30.1 OS · 25/08/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
466 metal received · 37883 energy received

Allied construction assistance is unknown. Timings are observations, not a promise of solo reproducibility.

Typical milestones

Hovercraft Platform1:44Middle 50%: 1:33–1:52 · n=153
Shipyard4:16Middle 50%: 3:58–4:39 · n=136
Corsair5:55Middle 50%: 5:26–7:23 · n=127
Advanced Metal Extractor9:41Middle 50%: 9:04–10:39 · n=137

Played most by

KingBenjai22games of this buildrainefullstop18games of this buildRysica13games of this buildDontStreamSnipeMeBro8games of this buildAdeus7games of this build