What you should do at the beginning of the game
Civilian Initiatives
You will have almost two years before insurgents appear on the map. Start the game by picking several Civilian Initiatives.
Invest in Infrastructure Discussions ($4) and choose the road type ($8) of the roads that are located in the regions near the headquarters. This will allow you to faster deploy civilian initiatives, boosting your reputation. Also, roads provide bonuses to construction and battle.
There are three types of roads:
- Highways can be seen near big cities.
- Main roads are found in rural areas.
- Dirt roads are found in the mountains and challenging terrain.
Next, invest in Services Discussions ($4) and choose Water Supplies ($3). The cost of basic needs is very small, but the effect is powerful. From now on, the initiative will be gradually introduced to each zone (there are about 30 of them on the map) which contributes to reputation growth.
Government Initiatives
Now let’s turn to the Government tab. First, we need District Representatives ($10) that will collect intelligence about all sectors on the map.
After this, invest in the Outreach Office ($5). This branch opens upgrades for interacting with different types of zones (rural areas, urban regions, challenging terrains).
- If you have enough money, invest in Urban Outreach ($5). As we mostly start the game from a densely populated city, this upgrade will accelerate the implementation of initiatives in such areas.
- If you are short of money, start with International Assistance ($7). This initiative will allow you to get free upgrades from the civilian operations list. However, be careful not to give too much power to foreign organizations or you risk losing your reputation.