22 guides, generic and map-specific, tagged so you can find the one you need. They are scattered across YouTube, two wikis, both forums and a Google Doc, and nowhere collects them — so this does. Each links out to its author; nothing is reproduced here.
Worth knowing before you start: a build order is tied to one map, and the ladder pool rotates monthly, so map-specific material goes stale by design. The generic openings and the faction guides age far better. 5 maps are covered below.
The most-watched build order video in the game. Openings that work anywhere, which is what you want before you start learning maps.
Eight years old. Openings have aged better than anything map-specific, but check costs against this site.
The economy half of an opening: what to build when income, not the build order, is the constraint.
Openings that lean on energy first. The counterpart to the mass-boosted set below.
The mass-first openings, and when taking that side of the trade is right.
Five minutes on the opening a hydrocarbon plant changes. Short, and only relevant where there is a hydro to take.
Openings outside the standard set, for when the standard one is being read and countered.
What a build order is for, before which one to use. Start here if the concept itself is new.
The most recent map-specific build order I could find, on the game’s most played map.
A worked opening on one of the standard ladder maps.
Per-slot strategy for Seton’s, which is the map where the slot decides your whole game.
Sandboxed build orders for nine maps with replay ids and cheat sheets, aimed above 1300 rating. Links out to a Google Doc.
Written for one month’s pool in 2022. Worked examples rather than a current list.
Opening and follow-up on water, where the land build orders stop applying.
Carries the basic build orders in writing, which is easier to follow along with than a video.
What to do after the opening: the part a build order stops telling you.
Openings by map size for UEF, which is why it keeps working when a map pool rotates.
The longest and most recently edited of the four. Openings for small, medium, naval and large maps, each with a summary.
Openings by map size for Aeon.
Openings by map size for Seraphim.
Two written openings — a standard one and a Seraphim "Steamroller" — with the reasoning spelled out at beginner pace.
A long thread organised by level, covering what to work on rather than one sequence to memorise.
The old forum’s collection thread. Many openings, many authors, no curation.
On the read-only phpBB archive, so it is a snapshot rather than a live discussion.
Notes taken from a top player’s games, on the old forum. Reasoning rather than sequences.
Marked a work in progress by its author, and on the read-only archive.