PlanetSide 2 Beginner’s Guide

PlanetSide 2 Beginner’s Guide

Okay, pal. Let’s go over the basics.

Some common ‘strategy” things to keep in mind (since they are in play at all times):
1. Resources
2. Supply Lines
3. “Influence”

1. RESOURCES are the lifeblood of your Vehicles and consumable Items, as well as the currency for you to buy new stuff. Resources are gained passively every five minutes relative to your faction’s current ownership over the continent of Indar.

Resources are also gained in small increments when you score points. The Resource you gain from score is related to the region you are occupying at the time. That is to say you gain 100 points in a Polymer territory, you earn 4 Polymers along with it.

POLYMERS are required to spawn light attack vehicles such as the Faction Specific Attack Aircraft and Lightning Light Tank. Polymers are also used to purchase some special explosives like Claymores and C4.

CATALYSTS are for heavy hitting combat vehicles, the Faction Specific Main Battle Tanks and Liberator Bomber. Catalysts are spent on gadgets like the Squad Leader Spawn Beacon and Anti-Tank Mines.

ALLOYS are consumed for the personal Flash ATV and the support transport vehicles, the Sunderer and Galaxy. Alloys are also traded for more conventional things like frag grenades.

2. SUPPLY LINES are tantamount to the function and gain of Resources.

If a Hex does not have a connection to your Warp Gate, your Faction gains no resources from it. Capturing a Region in the middle of nowhere means little if it isn’t being connected to the Gate.

Of course, denying the enemy Resources is just as important as you gaining them.

3. INFLUENCE is a critical factor in the battle over a Region, especially so during a battle over a primary Facility.

Each adjacent Hex Region touching another Region asserts Influence.
Influence is indicated by a solid bar imposed on top of the capture window on the left side of the HUD.
100% Influence equates to covering approximately 75% of the Capture Bar.

Influence is a game changer in a close race for control. Soldiers wishing to avoid hectic combat can move out to the flanks of the hotspot and steal away adjacent Hex Regions, potentially winning a losing fight. Your capture of some otherwise unimportant location may have been the very thing to put your faction in the lead over the fight going on only a few hundred meters away.

All right, guy. Let’s get more personal.

CLASSES, your very being. Six in total, collect them all!
On a functional level, you could categorize the six classes’ roles into three styles of play: Support, Specialist, Combat.

Combat Medic
Anybody who does not know what a MEDIC does, raise your hand.
Through the magic of science and cure-all Nanites, the Medic is capable of returning lost health and lost life to allied soldiers. Within his unique arsenal are a handful of devices intended to resurrect or heal. Such things include a grenade that can resurrect all within its blast, an aura of regeneration around himself, and an Aegis Shield that absorbs bullets and heals those within.

The Medic is a strong pillar of any squad. You know, because people are always dying.

Engineer
Armed with a Repair Tool and the Advanced Construction Engine, the ENGINEER is your resident handyman. The “medic” of hard shells and armor, the Engineer treats the damage on vehicles and MAX soldiers. The Engineer is the “Ammo Guy”, deploying a bullet dispensing little box through his ACE Tool. The ACE tool will also transform in a deployable stationary turret that the Engineer can operate.

The Engineer and his equipment are the backbone of the team. I guess you could die and respawn to get more ammo, but that’s dumb.

Infiltrator
Oh, it’s a “sniper”. While at first, the INFILTRATOR may appear as nothing more than a long range hoarder of easy kills, he is also the stealth specialist. With an array of devices designed to corrupt and subvert enemy systems, the Infiltrator can get in close and quiet to hack enemy terminals and generators, mess with enemies and muddy their senses. Or… he can stay at a distance and offer an effective overwatch with his scoped rifle.

As a stealth recon specialist class, his role is not far-reaching, however his hacking ability can be extremely useful in enemy territory.

Light Assault
A genuine rocketeer, the LIGHT ASSAULT performs his “infiltration” in a different direction than the Infiltrator, literally. Capable of approaching from any vector, the “LA” is the master of flanking and indirect combat. His dramatic advantage in mobility means a dramatic reduction in time to get from place to place. He has a few grenades to disturb the enemy, but otherwise, he is a pure “Jump & Gunner”.
The LA’s choice of jumpjets varies between “High Jump” “Long Jump” and “Boba Fett”.

His ability to get around is great, though he is a class that is limited to pretty much that. High mobility is pretty good for a Squad Leader.

Heavy Assault
Not unlike the Light Assault, the HEAVY ASSAULT is a class with very few unique abilities. But what he lacks in team support, he makes up for it with the ability to kill everything. Where any other class is lucky to have an assault rifle, the “HA” has a Heavy Machine Gun, a Rocket Launcher and a Shield Booster. At the same time. Not much else to say about him, he’s for players who want versatility in combat.

Pick him if you like explosions and kicking down doors (just kidding, Planetside 2 doesn’t have doors (they might later, I dunno)).

MAX
MAX is best described as an “indoor tank”. Slow, clunky, heavily armored and wielding two guns strapped to his arms at the same time. Without a personal shield, the MAX makes up for that with a thick shell that can only be fixed by an Engineer, making them good buddies. Intended for close quarters, the MAX has poor accuracy at range. To overcome that weakness, the MAX can choose one of three abilities to overcome that weakness. He is a pure combat class. The missing link between man and armor.

Strap on two different guns to diversify, or two of the same gun to specialize on killing one kind of thing really well. That’s the MAX.

Now what? Sweet rides.
Honk honk.

FLASH
The FLASH is aptly named – it is swift and slippery. A cheap, personal ride that is more or less disposable and pretty handy. You can stick a gun on the front if you like spending certs.
Of course, the driver is completely exposed and the Flash is awfully fragile to enemy fire, so the Flash will not be winning many fights, not even against infantry on foot.

Flip it and forget it. Quick, it’s going to explode.

LIGHTNING
The LIGHTNING is a quick Light Tank operated by a single person and can be outfitted with a few different primary turrets that change its role. Most notably is the Skyguard anti-air turret to transform the Lightning into the (currently) most effective AA weapon. With a small profile and quick acceleration, the Lightning must rely on manoeuvrability, distance and evasiveness in vehicular combat. Though with potential versatility, the Lightning has to trade some power for that speed and pick one thing to be good at at one time.

The cheap alternative to the big boy, but no slouch for the skilled tanker (or dedicated mobile AA operator taking vengeance on enemy air).

PROWLER, VANGUARD, MAGRIDER
The Main Battle Tank, unique to each faction. More costly, more powerful. All three come with a secondary gunner seat.
The TR Prowler excels at the safety of long range combat, using Siege Mode to anchor itself and speed up its rate of fire dramatically.
The NC Vanguard is a bulky and powerful tank that can take big hits and dish them out.
The VS Magrider handles uniquely, with hoverjets that allow it freedom of movement and superior control and climbing steep inclines.

Both turret and gunner weapons can be changed to all manner of things to make the MBTs balanced or more specialized in what they kill.

SUNDERER, GALAXY
Two sides of the same coin, SUNDERER on the ground, GALAXY in the air. Capable of holding one dozen soldiers and brandishing several gun turrets on a swivel, both transports get many people where they need to go in relative safety.
The Sunderer doubles as a vehicle support station, emitting a repair and resupply field for friendly armor and air nearby.
The Sunderer also has the ability to act as a spawn point for countless soldiers.

MOSQUITO, REAVER, SCYTHE
The faction specific Fighters, the TR MOSQUITO, NC REAVER and VS SCYTHE can fill the role of Air Interceptor or ground Strike Fighter, depending on what you equip it with. Unlike the Battle Tanks, the three aircraft do not have such exclusive differences in their handling.
The Mosquito has slightly superior acceleration and speed, the Reaver has thicker armor and a powerful gun and the Scythe has greater VTOL and attitude adjustment. Outfitted with either air-to-air missiles or salvos of rockets, the Fighters have to pick their poison.

Thrust vectoring owns the skies! This thing can turn on a dime, Macross Zero style!

LIBERATOR
A terror in the skies, the LIBERATOR frequently frees many below of their corporeal form. A three seater – pilot, tail gunner, bomber. Slow and loaded for bear, the Liberator will make a mess before it flies off or is eventually shot down. It can change up just how exactly it can raze the ground, but ultimately remains a pure air-to-ground bomber. One unique feature of the Liberator – the pilot can use FreeLook Mode to aim his forward cannon somewhere other than straight ahead.

Sure, one guy can kind of operate all of it alone while plummeting to the ground regularly, but the Liberator is a co-op game.

One more thing, buddy. Base Systems and Terminals.

Each Region has at least one CONTROL CONSOLE.
Stand next to it, take it over. The more you own, the faster your Faction captures the Region.
A green square indicates the Console is under your Faction’s ownership.
A diamond of another colour is a Console owned by the enemy.
When the square is blinking, someone is attempting to capture that Console at the moment.

Two systems in all primary Facilities and (and sometimes in smaller Regions), the Spawn Generator and the Shield Generator.

The SPAWN GENERATOR is identified by a triangle around the silhouette of a soldier.
When destroyed, the Faction that currently owns the Region is unable to spawn in that Facility.

The SHIELD GENERATOR is identified by a triangle around a grid-laced hexagon.
When destroyed, the energy shields that block the enemy from most entrances to the interior of a Facility are shut down.

VEHICLE TERMINALS are identified by a Tank, Aircraft or ATV within brackets.
The relative icon indicates which vehicles can be spawned from that terminal.

The SUPPLY TERMINAL is accompanied by a pistol within brackets.
From this terminal, the player can change, customize and resupply his infantry Class.

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