When you start the game, build your temple and three golems. Don't waste your money on a workshop right away...it can wait. There's no use making a workshop when you don't have the money to build any weapons. use the cash to get start collecting some cash. Now connect your island to the nearest geysers and send your 3 golems and your priest to collect. then connect to the rest of the geysers immediately surrounding your base. as soon as they return from their first trip, make one more golem and send him to collect as well. while they're doing that, connect to 3 or 4 other geysers further out (depending on the map the number will differ). wait until you've drained the first geyser and then have your priest build a sun workshop (which you use to put energy units and, if you like, balloons into production) and a wind/rain/ workshop. it has always been my experience that thunder's weapons are too expensive to use early on and so I wouldn't recommend building a thunder workshop until later in the game.

Now, put sail-skaters and crossbows into production. in the original "Guide", I had recommended building more golems at this point. I've since changed that and now I've found that sail skaters are MUCH more efficient than golems. now place an energy unit or two around the edges of your base and send your priest to do some outposting. establishing outposts is crucial to success. your transports won't have to go all the way to your temple with each load they gather, thus increasing the number of loads they will carry during the game. depending on the circumstances, you may want to build another workshop before you leave your base. if there are a lot of geysers near you or if your opponent isn't building toward you aggressively, you might consider getting wind towers and devil-makers (of course, if you use rain, you'll use different units but the idea's the same). you should also try to build your bridges at least halfway down/up/across the map and make sure you have energy there to stop your enemy from getting into YOUR half of the map. note: it is always useful to connect to as many geysers as possible. not only because of your skaters who will want to get to them, but because once they are yours, they STAY yours (ok, treason poses an exception...). this means that your enemy will not be able to connect to them and build off them. it's also nice to know that if you get busy with other things (like fighting) you know your skaters will still have somewhere to go to get you cash.

Remembering to switch your focus while you're in the middle of fighting and go off to make sure you're connected to geysers is pretty important in a close game. if you just keep fighting, you'll start running low on cash either because your skaters have further to go or because they will be more likely to wander into enemy territory. just keep checking for new geysers occasionally. as far as bridging goes, there is only one way to succeed: YOU HAVE TO LEARN TO HOTKEY (qwaszx). it's really hard to learn to do it at first (especially when you're used to NOT doing it) but it pays to learn to do it. the ability to "outbridge" your opponent will win many games. also, I can't stress enough to remember MELTDOWN. I've seen (and been a part of) quite a few "bridge wars" that got really out of control (people bridging all the way to the edges of the map). when you're having a "bridge race", don't forget to back up and place an energy unit once in a while. then, while your opponent is building around your outer edge, just blow through their center and go after them.

Some tips on spell-casting: send your balloons around the very edges of the map. NEVER send a balloon (or ant air unit) directly across the middle with a spell. it takes longer to send them AROUND an island, but if you do (and especially if you cast invisibility on it), you can really win a lot of games with spells. sending in a "dummy" transport ahead of your "real" one to draw your enemies fire away from your "real" transport is also a tactic that seems to work a lot. as long as the dummy lasts long enough for the other balloon to land, your mission will succeed.

Some tips on stopping spells: it's generally a good idea to quickly scan around the perimeter of the map for sneaky air units at least once every 2 or 3 minutes. if you can't afford vandar towers, which are HIGHLY recommended, and you don't want to spend all your cash covering your island with crossbows, remember that if you meltdown an energy unit under an air unit, it does heavy damage (2 will usually kill a floater). it's also a good idea NOT to hide your priest among your workshops. keep him apart so that if someone DOES get him, at least they won't get your workshops at the same time.

A few other tips: when you see a unit of yours that is getting destroyed but not doing any damage, salvage it. this not only may get you some money back but more importantly, it stops your enemy from getting kill reward. windtowers are weak to air attacks but bulwarks are invincible ('nough said.) when you meltdown, connect your energy unit to another of your units so that when it blows up, you still have something to build from. don't destroy YOUR connection along with your enemies (I don't know if I'm making this clear). Share money with your allies. and TALK to them. during the game, communication with your allies can really help you along waiting to yell "help!" just before you die isn't exactly using teamwork. tell your ally what you plan to try BEFORE you make any moves and find out if they have extra cash in case you get in trouble. it also helps to split up the tasks sometimes (have someone focus on collecting cash, someone do the aggressive bridging, etc.).

If you start a game with an altar, salvage it right away and use the cash to make and extra golem to start. one golem collecting from the beginning of the game will more than pay for the $500 it takes to rebuild the altar in a more convenient location at a more convenient time.