Zed is a much simpler planet than the other FP planets. There's a beacon, you capture it, and if you still own it at horizon, you get FP. That's it.
Since there really isn't much to explain about how the planet works, this is more a guide on how to be successful.
First and foremost, the golden rule of Zed (and really of pvp in general):
Don't deploy something you mind losing!Finding the beacon:The planet is tiny (4x4 quadrants), so even with a single unit, you'll find it eventually. To find it fast however, do a probe sweep. Line up 4 probes in a row or column, then simply run through the planet until you see it. For best results, have both barrier commands, both dodge commands, and protons on your probes. You may even want to use multislotted probes, as that can lower the chances of a probe dying to near 0, while greatly accelerating them as well (use PHA).
Getting the beacon to a defensive unit:If you're alone, you're probably going to have to UD and come back. If you're working with someone, someone should drop a defensive unit while the other drops probes. The probes find the beacon, caps it, carries it to the defender, then UDs and comes back with a unit to protect the beaconer with.
SurvivingThis of course, is the hard part. The beaconer is usually going to be a very defensive unit, with brawlers, behemoths, clopses, and other heavy defense units all being popular choices. Other players should either be focused on keeping the beaconer alive with support units, or killing enemies. This isn't mandatory, however - sometimes the best defense is to just kill everyone that attacks you, and quickly.
The important thing is to choose your team well, and be fully aware of what that particular group of units can do. If you're going all offense, kill quickly, and try to catch your enemies off guard. If you're using all stall tactics - stick to them. Don't let them lure you out for easy kills. If you're using a balance, adjust your tactics based on what's coming.
The bottom line: You won't always be able to outgun your opponent, but most of the large teams that drop are uncoordinated messes that you very much can outplay... or at least survive.
Some tips1. The later you cap the beacon, the less likely it is to be challenged, and in general, the less people that will challenge it. It also gives them less time to find and kill you, while leaving all your actis and such charged up for a much smaller fight. Of course, the the payout will also be much lower, however. It's up to you how much risk you want to assume, but generally, I find it works like this:
<20 turns left - Rarely challenged, and almost never by more than 2 people. The chances of encountering combat at all are low.
20-30 turns left - 50:50 chance that someone will drop, but low chance that they'll ever find you
30-40 turns left - The beacon will probably be both challenged and found, but the fight will be short - even if outnumbered, you can probably win by focusing on simply staying alive
40-60 turns left - Expect a more serious attack, and be prepared for a real fight. You will almost certainly have to defend the beacon, and there's a good chance that 3+ people will go for it.
60+ turns left - This has a bad habit of turning into an 8v3. I don't recommend attempting this without backup, and even then, be careful.
2. If you leave a giant trail of bandit corpses to where you're staying, you're making yourself much easier to find. Try to keep all of the bodies next to you, or to move the beacon away from the pile. If you're patient, you may even want to try to create a false trail of bodies directing someone to a corner you're not in, although of course, your opponents are only going to fall for that trick so many times.
3. Even if you're looking for a fight, you don't an early one. You're stuck holding the beacon, and your enemy isn't. If you defeat him with 50 turns to go, he WILL be back with a unit specifically modded to killl you... and he knows exactly what you have because he just fought it.
4. Don't always beacon with the same unit. If you become known as "that guy who always beacons with X", you'll encounter nothing but opponents specifically countermodded to kill X. On the flip side, you can specifically drop a unit to trick your enemies. If they know you always use a defensive brawler, you can try arming one to the teeth, and have a great chance of catching them off guard and quite dead.
Whatever you do, make sure you switch up your tactics - even swapping out 1 mod can be make a difference when your enemy's not expecting it. Predictability is the easiest way to fail.
5. When working with a team, form a team. Many units complement each other nicely, so try to set up a team that works well. Also, it's a good idea to make sure at least 1 player is prepared for each type of unit you might encounter. If you have 4 people down and no one has an ATL, for instance, don't be surprised when 1 guy in a killfox wipes the floor with your whole team.
5. Intermediates are used for more than anything else on Zed. The actis are a great help, the prices make them cheap to integrate, and they can get 4-5 mods on within the 1000 CE limit. Advanced units aren't out of the question, especially since the base units are much stronger, but they start much closer to the 1k limit, forcing them to employ things like Mark of the Commander to even deploy. Of course, the lower CE advances such as the Leopard are always an option.
6. The numbers themselves are often enough. Solo beaconers are almost always attacked, while teams of 3+ are rarely challenged even on some of the longer beacons.
7. Don't be afraid to bail out. Sometimes you get stuck in an 8v3, or you've been fighting for 25 turns, everything is cooling, and you know you're dead if you don't evac. At this point, you have to decide if you want to risk it for the FP. If it's an expensive unit, it probably isn't worth the risk.
