Iron Nest – Tips And Tricks Guide For Beginners

Welcome to the Into Indie Games tips and tricks guide for Iron Nest.

Iron Nest is a turret simulator that is quite unforgiving. It is a dieselpunk-heavy artillery game where you have to win by operating a massive war machine that serves as your turret. Throughout the game, you will be given instructions on what to shoot, where to shoot, and how to fire. While that may sound straightforward, it can quickly become quite challenging.

Since the game is both difficult and unforgiving, you may need a little assistance when getting started. That is exactly why we have put together this Iron Nest beginner tips-and-tricks guide to help you have a much smoother experience. If you want to learn more about the game, be sure to check out its Steam page.

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Take It Slow And Easy

Iron Nest is a turret simulator, but it is much more complicated than it first appears. At first glance, it may seem like all you have to do is operate a turret and follow orders to complete your missions. While that sounds simple enough, it is anything but.

The game features a surprisingly deep artillery simulation, and there are many systems that you need to understand before everything starts to click. It can be difficult to perform every step perfectly, especially during your first few missions. Small mistakes may not seem like a big deal at first, but they can quickly snowball into much bigger problems later. That is why taking things slowly is one of the best things you can do as a beginner.

Read every instruction carefully and make sure you understand exactly what the mission is asking you to do before you touch any controls. You should always know what you are shooting at, where the target is located, and which ammunition you are supposed to use before firing. While this may not be as simple as it sounds, taking your time will save you from making unnecessary mistakes and will help you learn the game’s systems much faster.

Thoroughly Make Sure Everything Is Alright Before Loading The Projectile

This tip goes hand in hand with the previous one, but it deserves its own section because it is one of the most important parts of the game. You need to be extremely careful before loading a projectile into the gun because once it has been loaded, there is no way to unload it. Your only option is to fire the shell.

Before loading the projectile, make sure every part of your firing solution is correct. Double-check the required elevation, verify your ballistic calculations, and confirm that the distance has been measured correctly. Even experienced players can accidentally enter the wrong value into the ballistic calculator or make a small mistake while calculating the range.

These errors are completely normal when you are learning the game, but they can easily waste valuable ammunition and time if you are not careful. Taking a few extra seconds to verify everything before loading the shell is much better than firing at the wrong location and having to repeat the entire process.

Make Sure You Select The Right Shell

Even after you have calculated the perfect firing solution, the mission is not automatically complete. You still need to select the correct type of shell for the target you are engaging. Choosing the wrong ammunition can completely ruin an otherwise perfect shot.

Iron Nest includes several ammunition types, including High Explosive, Armor Piercing, High Capacity High Explosive, and other specialized shells. Every shell has its own purpose and performs best against specific targets. Using the wrong ammunition can significantly reduce your effectiveness, even if your calculations and aim are completely accurate.

After spending time measuring the target, calculating the range, and setting up your firing solution, the last thing you want is to waste all of that effort by loading the wrong shell. Always read your mission orders carefully and make sure the ammunition matches the target before firing.

You Do Not Have To Be 100 Percent Accurate All The Time

Although taking things slowly is important, there are situations where you also need to keep an eye on the mission timer. Some missions become much easier if you understand when perfect accuracy is actually necessary and when it is not.

One of the best examples is when multiple enemy targets are grouped closely together. Instead of trying to land a perfectly accurate shot on every single target, you can often achieve much better results by using a High Capacity High Explosive shell.

The HCHE shell creates a powerful explosion over a large area, making it ideal for destroying clustered enemies. Rather than firing several perfectly accurate shots, you can often aim between the targets and allow the blast radius to eliminate multiple enemies at once. This saves both time and ammunition while still completing the objective efficiently.

Knowing when precision matters and when a larger explosion is the better option is an important skill that you will naturally develop as you gain more experience with the game.

Learn The Map And Read Incoming Reports Carefully

Learning the map is one of the most valuable skills you can develop as a beginner. You should become familiar with the grid system, contour lines, roads, landmarks, and every map tool available to you. Every firing solution begins with accurate map reading, so the more comfortable you become with the map, the easier the rest of the game will feel.

Incoming reports are equally important, and they deserve your full attention. Most of the information you receive comes from friendly observers, reconnaissance units, or mission orders. These reports provide the information you need to locate enemy positions and complete your objectives.

Do not rush through these reports or skim over important details. They often contain bearings, distances, target descriptions, landmarks, or other useful information that helps you determine exactly where the enemy is located. Missing even one small detail can result in an incorrect firing solution.

How To Spot The Target

Locating targets is easily the most complex part of Iron Nest, especially when you first start playing. Unlike many other games, you are not looking through binoculars or scanning the battlefield yourself. Instead, you are interpreting information provided by friendly observers and reconnaissance units to determine the enemy’s location on the map.

Most reports will provide bearings, distances, landmarks, or combinations of these. Your job is to use those clues together with your tactical map to pinpoint the target’s exact location.

Spotting Target Is More Like A Puzzle

For example, you may be told that a target is located at a bearing of 150 degrees from one observer and 123 degrees from another observer. In this situation, you first locate both observers on your map. Next, draw a line from each observer using the reported bearing. The point where those two lines intersect is the enemy’s location. This process, known as triangulation, is one of the primary methods used to locate targets in Iron Nest.

In other situations, reports may provide distances instead of bearings. For example, one observer may report that the target is 6.9 kilometers away while another reports that it is 4.4 kilometers away. In this case, you draw circles around each observer using the reported distances as the radius. The point where the circles intersect is where the target is located.

Once you have successfully identified the target, you can measure the distance and bearing from your own Iron Nest to that location. Those values are then used to calculate your firing solution before loading the correct shell and firing.

Use Your First Shot To Correct Your Firing Solution

While wasting a shot can sometimes be annoying and waste your time too, it is important to learn from it when it happens. You can even strategically use your first shot to correct your firing solution if you are having a tough time with precision.

Even with careful calculations, you may not always hit the bullseye. When that happens, do not assume that you have messed up the mission. Instead, use the result of that shot as a reference for what you need to do next. If the attack falls short of the target, increase the range, but if it goes beyond the target, reduce the range.

Similarly, if the shot falls either to the right or left side of the target, adjust the bearing accordingly. If you fail to hit the target, changing everything at once can be overwhelming and may confuse you even further. You should not simply change every value. Even a small adjustment can make a big difference in Iron Nest.

You need to use the information you have on hand to the best of your ability. If you make a mistake, do not let it discourage you. Learn from it, make the necessary correction, and try again. Making mistakes is part of learning a game as complex as Iron Nest, so there is no need to panic when something goes wrong.

With that, we conclude our tips and tricks guide for beginners in Iron Nest. Hopefully, these tips will help you understand the game’s systems, make fewer mistakes, and have a much better experience while operating the massive artillery turret.

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