Any Civ player is probably used to dealing with aggressive barbarians in the early game, but the aliens in Beyond Earth are a different matter. The player is settling these creatures' native homeland, which means that the aliens have distinct advantages. Here's how you can stay one step ahead of Beyond Earth's aliens while you're still getting your civilization off the ground.
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The first step is to look around your starting area and determine how big of a threat the aliens are going to be in your early game. An easy way to do this is just by looking around with early-game units. You can also opt for the Lifeform Sensor during the seeding at the start of the game, which will reveal all alien nests on the map. But unless you're planning to train your soldiers early by taking on alien units or go hardcore in the Harmony Affinity and want to know where all the Xenomass will be, this perk isn't essential.
If your starting area is fairly clear of harmful miasma and largely unpopulated by aliens, then focus on getting your civ up and running and deal with aliens once they become and immediate problem. If you are surrounded by aliens and miasma, though, a good first step is getting to the Ecology technology, which you can do right at the beginning. Not only does researching this tech unlock the miasmic repulsor – an orbital unit that clears away the harmful gas in a small radius – but it also unlocks the ultrasonic fence. This building will automatically keep alien units out of your city space, allowing you to focus on building up your infrastructure.
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If you're dead set on dealing with aliens with military action, there are a couple of steps you can take to make sure you don't end up losing your units at the hands of the native species. It's easy to go down the Might Virtue tree and pick up some military buffs, but keeping your Affinity levels high is also crucial. In Beyond Earth, getting higher levels in an Affinity allows you to upgrade your military units to new strengths. Even if you aren't beelining for an Affinity victory, pick one or two Affinities and stick with them for no other reason than to be able to upgrade your units further.
Of course, the first rule in dealing with aliens in Beyond Earth is the simplest: If you don't bother them, they largely won't bother you. Provoking aliens is an easy way to get on their bad side, causing them to be more aggressive toward your settlements. Still, you should always be sure to escort your defenseless units – workers, settlers and the like – with military units. You never know when an alien unit will come out from the fog and take out your settler right as he's about to lay down an Outpost.
Civilization: Beyond Earth is now available for PC. Mac and Linux version are set to release later this year.
