GUIDES & TIPS

PVP TIPS

By Jack Fletcher

 

Hello all! These are the tips I have to creating a solid defensive force. This is aimed more for players level 350+ tho the strategies are sound for all levels. I will try to stay away from WC units so that these forces are available to all.

1. GENERIC TIPS:

1.1.  DONT LEAVE YOUR EPIC FORCE UP!

We all do this from time to time, tho try to limit it. 19 VCs are only good against asps... or noobs running Knights.

1.2. BOOSTS.

 Buy the Fortification and Medic Rush reinforcements, and have them up at all times. You should be able to afford the 350M/day these boosts cost. If you can only afford one, get Fortification.

2. ABOUT THE ATTACK AND DEFENSE POWER:

2.1.  ATTACK / DEFNSE POWER.

The Attack or defense power is 90% comprised of your defense stat multiplied by the number of allies you have. The other 10% comes from the stats of the units in your force. obviously, getting 500 allies and building defense stat is a big component of how strong you are defensively. defense power is now limited to 100% boost, so running 20 seraphs or immortals or neocyte guards is overkill and will actually severely weaken you.

Total Attack/Defense = 0.9 x [Att / Def stat x # Allies (maximun of 500)] + 0.1 x Att/Def Stats from your equiped units.

3. ABOUT THE FORMATION:

3.1. FORMATION.

ALWAYS run Beast in formation, and put it behind a few armored and robotic units so it doesnt get jammed. Beast is there to eat controls from XMS and Apex, and nasty things happen if the enemy is running control units and you dont have Beast in play. This was taken from a battle log today, opponent did not have Beast:

Your Xeno Mauler took control of Octane

Your Xeno Mothership took control of Xeno Mothership

Your Apex, the Enclave Flagship took control of Kraken

Your reinforced Xeno Mothership took control of Titan...

Your reinforced Xeno Mothership used Obedience, dealing 16 damage! Damage reduced by 1

Your reinforced Titan used Flames of Magmos, dealing 30 damage! Damage reduced by 1

that is a 92 point swing in damage, and is going to result in a loss 95+% of the time.

3.2. NOT VINDI FORMATIONS USEFUL.

Artemis formation loaded with XSs, cudas, Titan, etc. is a very effective defense (and offense) if you do not have swarm vindi yet. Many players (myself included) use WC structures like Ass Plants to call in Colossus, Blitz, etc. Two of the damage reduction units are stuctures. If you wipe these out, you can beast a superior formation a surprising % of the time. Also note that Artemis formation has a 30% boost to structure damage. If you do not have 40K CR yet to get Xeno Singularis, get there asap. 60k to get Obsidian is preferable. Rifter is not that great a unit anymore due to damage reduction, so dont sweat getting 100k CR. It wont make or break a fight.

4. ABOUT YOUR UNITS:

4.1. DEFENSIVE UNITS.

ALWAYS run Aegis, either in formation or from reinforcements. There are 4 free units that call in robotics: Starvos, Field Marshall Riggs, Skycom Nuero-core and Juggernaut - I recommend you get them all. I use the 2 commanders to call in Juggy and NC, then one of those should call in Aegis. Aegis should be high enough in the reinforcement boxes to get called into battle before all other robotics nott mentioned.

Aegis boosts defense 10% with a 50% proc rate. For a player with 1,000 defense, that means s/he will have an effective 1100 defense 50% of the time, or an average 1050 defense. Having an effectively extra 50 stat points into defense is like being 20-40 levels higher than you actually are, and will swing force damage heavily into your favor.

4.2. FILL REQUIREMENTS FOR SOME UNITS.

Always make sure you have 5 robotics in force for SC and Juggy (and Exodrone) to work, 4 flyers if running Panopticon, 3 Xeno if running XMS, 5 enforcer mechs, etc. Make sure all your minimum requirements are met. This is easy to overlook when you start swapping units around.

4.3. EXODRONE.

Always run Exodrone in force. It jams 100% of the time, and you'll probably need it to meet your robotic minimum requirements for SC and Juggy.

4.4. ANTI-JAM UNITS AND SHIELDS.

Run all anti-jam units in the first spots in your force. Maion as commander #1, Muon Walkers/Spectres//etc as assault 1-x, and Comsat as yout first structure. Doesnt matter where you run Prometheus as it's unjammable. Benediction is an underrated and underused vindicator for defense. Jam prevention occurs first in battle order. Having more jam prevention will save your better units from being wiped out.

4.5. AVOID THREATENED CATEGORIES.

I avoid using any Xeno or BT units on defense in formation, as they are too easily jammed by Starvos and Enforcer Mechs (xeno), or Alaric and Empress (BT). Yes, there are lots of good units in those categories, but your XMS or Annelid Mass is useless if its jammed 100% of the time. I also avoid infantry in active forces for the same reason.

I do not use Xeno or BT on defense. This allows me to stack weaker, dual-classification units like Hornets (flyer, robot) in my force to protect my flyers and robots. I use a few Vigils (armored, righteous) to protect my better armored units and seraphs. My Beast for example sits behind 3 other robots and 8 armored units.

4.6. USE BIG DAMAGING UNITS

Use all of your high damage units. Jamming is not terribly important for a defensive force as what you jam are likely to be low damage jamming units that have already procced for the opponent. If you do use jammers, try to stick to one type (e.g., units that jam structures) so that your jams can reach deep into the opponent's force and get the good stuff. Also, stick to high proc rate (45%+) units if possible. Note that while players may use xenoless, bt less or flyerless defenses, no one is running w/o structures. Healing units are good but can be negated by VRs, VCs, etc. Heal heavy forces are great until you run up against the dread Venomous Rator force or someone running Malgoth, then they start to suck. badly. lol.

4.7. PROTECT YOUR BIG UNITS.

Best units last. Gustmich for example should be at least your 6th+ commander. While on the subject of commanders, it's not a good idea to run sub-typed commanders like Octane, Aiko, and Vyander in active force as they can easily be jammed.

4.8. FOCUS ACQUIRING THE VALUABLE UNITS.

Focus on collecting units that are useful in PvP. Getting an(other) Anvil or three isnt nearly as important for PvP as having something like Artillery Encampment.

5. ABOUT SOME UNITS' ABILITIES:

5.1. AVOID WEAK FLURRIES.

Do not use units that have low flurry damage as damage prevention units (PSG, Righteous Barricade and Colossus) will more or less wipe out all of their damage.

6. ABOUT REINFORCEMENTS:

6.1. FIRST REINFORCEMENTS

Your very first reinforcement should be Kraken. It's unique and can only be called in by Prometheus. I believe Gun Raven will work from reinforcements if Razor Hawk is in force, tho Im not positive.

6.2. WHAT UNITS ARE TO BE PLACED AS REINFORCEMENTS.

 With few exceptions, do not use units that jam or control as reinforcements as their abilities do not work unless they are in active force.

7. TRAINMENT:

7.1. SPAR!!!

Have other players fiight you and send you the battle logs to study. These will show your strengths and weaknesses so that you can optimize your force. Setting up a good defense force requires a fair amount of work. Study and know the proc rates of your units, or have spreadsheets handy that contain that information.

These tips are by no means definitive, exhaustive or complete. There are many different strategies . I am sharing what I feel works best and gives you the best chance at defensive wins, more important than ever now with faction wars out. Everyone is welcome to contribute their own findings. More info to come out as I remember it or becomes viable or optimal to building a solid defense force.

Most importantly, if someone near your level or below constantly beats you when you attack them, take a while to study what units they are running and in what order.