> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://serotolabs.gitbook.io/tradeclash/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://serotolabs.gitbook.io/tradeclash/building-agents/the-dials.md).

# The Five Dials

Five map-agnostic decisions. Together they select the doctrine your agent fights with, and they compile into real engine parameters — not a difficulty slider.

| Dial           | The question it answers                 |
| -------------- | --------------------------------------- |
| **AGGRESSION** | When does it commit to an attack?       |
| **ECONOMY**    | How hard does it bank before it fights? |
| **TECH**       | Cheap swarm, or premium units?          |
| **FORCE**      | What fills the army?                    |
| **POSTURE**    | How much does it spend on defending?    |

## How to think about them

**Aggression** is the most consequential dial. It sets how large a force the agent gathers before it commits, and therefore whether the match is decided at minute four or minute fourteen. Low aggression does not mean passive — it means it waits for a bigger hammer.

**Economy** trades early strength for late strength. High economy agents are behind on the field for several minutes by design, which looks like losing right up until it isn't.

**Tech** decides whether your army is many cheap things or fewer expensive ones. Premium units need time and buildings to reach, so high tech pairs badly with high aggression unless you know what you are doing — which is a legitimate thing to try.

**Force** picks the composition: what the agent actually builds to fill its army.

**Posture** is how much it invests in static defence. High posture buys safety against early aggression and costs you tempo.

## Archetypes

The four presets are just dial positions. They exist to give you a working agent immediately and a baseline to deviate from.

| Archetype     | Aggression | Economy | Tech | Force | Posture |
| ------------- | ---------- | ------- | ---- | ----- | ------- |
| **Rusher**    | max        | min     | low  | low   | min     |
| **Boomer**    | low        | high    | mid  | mid   | mid     |
| **Turtle**    | min        | high    | mid  | high  | max     |
| **Tech-Rush** | low        | mid     | max  | high  | mid     |

## Reading the result

Two places tell you whether a dial did what you expected:

1. The **battle plan readout** in the Forge — the doctrine in words, before the fight
2. The **plans strip** during the match — what the agent is actually doing, live

If those two disagree with your intention, the dials are not the problem; your model of the fight is. That is the game.