My Perpetuum Review Part Two - Combat

Ozzy blaring in my ears, check.  Guns loaded, check.  Accumulator maxed out, check.  It's time to pick a fight.

Bot spotted on radar, it's a Miner, let's have some fun.  I chase up to him, he notices me at the last 200 meters.  I get a lock, and let loose with my Alpha strike.  Damage pours out from my guns like fire in an inferno.  A new bot pops up on radar, heading my way.  Friend or foe?  Not sure, but I ain't got many friends.  Three more bots pop up, not friends then, the posse has caught up to me, time to flee, this carebear lives another day.  Durnit, that first bot is fast, faster then me, he's catching up.  Bogus, he's got a lock, yup, Demobilizing me, down to crawling, time to lock and pop 'em.   He's close to dead, friggit, two more bots on radar heading from the wrong way for me.  Time to die, let's pop this buster first though, least I go down swinging.  Yup, too many of them, not enough of me, quick transport back to the Terminal at least, one bot less in my arsenal.  Let's do it again.

Howdy again all, typing more words that you can choose to read or ignore, suit yourself.  I was going to type a whole great long wall of text about PvE for Perpetuum, but after some thought , decided that there is plenty on the PvE side of things, and well, I like to blow up others more.  To quote Mickey Rourke in Domino "once you've hunted a human, you'll never hunt another animal again."

So let's just get into the real combat of the game:

Faction Bots

There's 3 factions in Perpetuum, each with different Robots and bonuses for using them.  When asked, how I explain the three faction deal is thus:

Blues, or Nuimquols, are the "Horsemen" or shock troops.  They use Magnostatic Turrets, which deal a lot more DPS at closer ranges.  They have the fastest Robots in game, but less resistances and thus take more damage then the other types.

Greens, or Pelistals, are the "Archers" of the game, dealing steady damage when they are in range.   They use Missiles, and those that play know that Missiles have much less Line of Sight (LOS) issues then all the other weapon types.  They also get bonuses to shields, but I'll cover some of that stuff later.

Yellows (some people call 'em red), or Thelodicans, are the "Infantry" of your group.  They are slower then the other Robots, but have the best tanking ability then the others.  They also have the longest range using Lasers, so are able to sit back and snipe if they wanted, however their lack of speed at times will keep the fight closer (combined with LOS, range isn't really a huge advantage with lasers).  I would call these guys meat shields, but they're robots, so maybe "ScrapMetal Shields"?  Doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

Combat Carebears?

Yup, Perpetuum has figured it out.  How to make a Carebear usefull in a fight.  They are the "healers" in a party/squad.  Their Attributes make it less Extension Point expensive to train up Remote Armor Repairers and Remote Energy Transfers.  The Industrial Robots even have the most Industrial eqiupment slots, and these are considered "Industrial Fittnigs."  So, no, they aren't doing any damage themselves, but they keep the ones doing the damage alive longer.  So, I like this, a lot really.  Means everyone in a Corp/guild can be usefull in defending their territories. 

Shields

I normally don't like shields in games, especially of the "energy" shield variations.  However Perpetuum has gone and done somethnig different that I like about them.  You are not able to fire any damage dealling equipment with a shield "activated."  I mean, if damage can't go one way through a shield, shouldn't be able to go the other.  You can however still use Remote Repairs and Energy Transfers, and I think all of the EWAR modules.  Thus, Signals and Energy gets through the Shields.  I also like the way that, while a shield is up, your Armor takes no damage, but your Accumulator (energy) drains instead.  Makes more sense to me, that being an energy shield, it would use up more energy when taking damage to keep it active.  Run out of energy, down it goes, and now you have no way of defending yourself.  Once your accumulator is gone, the recharge is so slow, not much you can do except wait to die, unless you use Accumulator Injectors to get some back.

Alpha's and Beta's

This is a section I'm a bit critical on.  There's 12 islands, 6 Alpha's and 6 Beta's.  On Alpha's, you are only able to engage in PvP if you flag, and someone else attacks you, or flags for PvP themselves.  "Mutual PvP."  On Beta's, it's free for all kill or be killed.  Friendly fire or enemy, it's all damage.  However, there really isn't much of a reward system for the Combat folks for living on a Beta.  I mean, more fun pew pew, and who doesn't like that, but really, the only benefits of a Beta that I see are for the Industrialists.  They can mine a mineral only found on Betas, and they have access to better factories, refineries, and the like.  So, yes, I know, it's the Industrialists that keeps your Military Machine greased and ready, but throw a dog a bone already.  There are some harder mobs to farm on Beta's with some better loot drops, but to be honest, NPC Farming is just not a reward to me, it's more work.  I want to see more of an advantage given specifically to those combat guys who choose to risk it all out there.  The Dev's do recognize this problem of Risk vs Reward, and have stated they are coming up with solutions.  Let's hope for some goodies, eh?

The Anti-Blob

Most Sandbox MMO's only cater to the "bigger is better" when it comes to fights and Corp's/Guilds.  However, Perpetuum came up with an idea, to "fight against the blob" so that when fights do happen, there is more strategy involved then "who has the most".  It's called "Interference."  Every Robot in game causes electronic interference in an area around it, which messes with things in other robots like Target Locking, Accuracy of Weapons, and though I haven't tested it, someone said they thought it effected the "Rate of FIre" of weapons.  The more Robots around you, the more you are effected by Interference.  There is also a piece of equipment in game, that will lay down an "Interference Mine" in which is will constantly cause a large amount of Interference in that area.  I haven't played with these yet, but plan on it.  Sometimes the best offense is a good defense, and if you could lay down a "net" of these little buggers, I think it could make a big difference in a large fight.

Well all, that's it from me for now.  Jump in game, give the Trial a go.  Doesn't cost you nuthin', and who knows, you might actually enjoy it.  And if not, wait more for your lightsabers, I like weapons that use ammo 8)

And if you missed it, here's a link to Part 1

My Perpetuum Review Part One - Bots, Bots, and more Bots