_|_| _| _| _|_|_| _| _| _|_|_| _|_|_|_| _| _| _| _| _| _| _| _| _| _| _| _| _| _| _| _| _|_|_| _|_|_| _|_|_| _| _| Thanks to http://www.network-science.de/ascii/ for the ascii. Weapons and Tactics Guide Copyright 2011 BattleAxeRX. This is my first FAQ and it describes things like weapons and how to effectively use them. This game was gifted to me from XBOX LIVE because I bought 1 month of XBOX LIVE for a dollar. Much appreciated. 1 Ships a Speedboat b Cruiser c Gunship 2 Aquaflux Special Attacks a Angelstorm b Angelstrike c Angelcraft 3 Weapons I Primary Weapons a Gatling Gun b Shotgun c Cannon d Flamer II Special Primary Weapons a Quasar Gatling Gun b Reflector c Nailgun d Dominator Cannon e Bismark Cannon III Torpedoes & Mines a Guided Torpedo b Anaconda Torpedo c Fragment Torpedo d Flame Mine e Explosive Mine f Stun Mine 4 Upgrades a Gun Damage b Flower Power c Bullet Speed d Rate of Fire e Star f Speed g Armor h Squad Bonuses 5 Squad a Fighter b Siege c Healer d Sonar 6 Miscellaneous Four "Don't's" (Legal) Don't put this FAQ on any site that isn't www.gamefaqs.com or www.gamespot.com Don't sell copies of this FAQ Don't take credit for writing this FAQ Don't alter this FAQ =========== ---Ships--- =========== When you have the option of choosing your ship, you need to consider what resources you'll have for the task at hand, as well as knowledge of the task at hand, and what role you should play in the scenario. If you need firepower and don't think moving fast will help much, don't be wasteful and select the speedboat. If you know the upcoming fight is going to involve a ton of missiles, maybe you should pick the speedboat for its evasive capabilities. Or maybe you can use the cruiser and equip it to handle things in a certain way. Speedboat - Last ship unlocked; Aquaflux = Angelstorm The speedboat sacrifices durability and primary weapon fire power for quite a few things. The most obvious thing is speed. The ship has enough speed to get quite close to the action and still dodge enemy shots. It also has access to all 3 torpedo types and regenerates torpedo ammo automatically. Uses flame mines. Cruiser - Default ship; Aquaflux = Angelstrike The cruiser is a well rounded ship. It's mostly decent in all regards, but its special weapon and attack are pretty amazing and keep the ship from being bland. Has access to the guided and anaconda torpedoes. Uses explosive mines. Gunship - First ship unlocked; Aquaflux = Angelcraft The gunship sacrifices mobility for durability and strong primary weapon power. It's limited to the guided torpedo and has stun mines instead of explosive mines. Not being able to move so well means that this ship usually needs to boost a lot in order to dodge enemy shots and is well suited to shooting at long distance. ============================== ---Aquaflux Special Attacks--- ============================== Each ship has its own Aquaflux move. Saving aquaflux for key moments is key to using aquaflux korrectley. I recommend waiting for some sort of huge group of enemies to appear, or for when you are almost to the end of some defend or escort mission, just to ensure that you don't lose. Finish strong some say, and they are wise to say such things. Angelstorm - Speedboat This move shocks nearby enemies for a lot of damage and while it appears to stun enemies completely like the stun mine, enemies can still open fire, they are just totally immobile. The idea is to use your fast boat to do as much as possible, attack, retreat, reorganize your squad, lay a mine field, etc. Angelstrike - Cruiser This move is amazing. Using it causes mortars to rain down all around your ship for a good amount of time and for really great damage. Using it while low on health will usually create enough health items that you'll be at full health soon. I recommend that when you have lots of health that you boost towards the red dots on the map and continue to do so until the attack is done. The mortars only come down upon enemies around you and only when there are enemies around you, the attack should be able to last for 8 seconds or something. Angelcraft - Gunship Edison apparently likes to fly if it's in an angelcraft. She seems to be a bit independent with where she goes, but it's a good idea to be near an enemy if she doesn't seem to be doing much. She can be a little slow too. If she's circling you, that might mean that her time flying is being wasted and you should think about engaging a very powerful enemy. That's not to say that you should only use the move on big stuff... Sometimes a ton of little guys need to be aquaflux'd too. ============= ---Weapons--- ============= Primary weapons never run out of ammo, torpedo ammo can be gained from torpedo crates, and mine ammo can be gained from mine crates. Ammo and health is automatically maxed when visiting a warshop. ---Primary Weapons--- These weapons are prefixed with "Light, Medium, or Heavy" depending on which ship you are using. Gatling Gun - Linear stream of rapid fire shots This gun is useful for medium to long range. It helps to use this gun for a while if you are not used to using right thumbstick for shooting, it will teach you to know where your shots (For any weapon) will go before they get there. The rapid fire nature also makes missing your target less of a tragedy, on the downside though, the shots are fairly tiny, and it can be hard to hit small targets. Shotgun - Shoots 8 shots at a time in a cone like fashion This gun is great for dealing with long ships or clusters of enemies (Perhaps mostly because it's simple). At very close range, the spread of your 8 shots could very well miss your target entirely, how much this matters depends on difficulty, and you may want to consider switching weapons or creating more space between you and your target. At long range, some of your shots will probably miss, depending on your target and its orientation, only one of your 8 shots might hit. This means there is a sort of sweet spot to the effective distance of this weapon. With the shotgun, it is good to be on an enemies flank and at the correct/safe distance. The shot is quite strong, feel free to use it plenty, but try to use it correctly. Cannon - Bigger shots, slow rate of fire I was not entirely impressed with this gun. It seems to be a decent siege weapon though, definitely a long range weapon. Perhaps it is stronger against some enemies than others. Whatever the case, your targets need to be pretty easy to hit and at a distance where you are safe. I wouldn't recommend this gun for taking out speedy enemies unless they are bunched together or lined up or something. Flamer - Constant stream of ignited fuel Very close range weapon. Sets foes on fire making them take a small amount of damage for a while. This gun behaves differently depending on your traveling speed and shooting direction, I feel that it is best to let the air stretch the flame out, or at least don't shoot at the direction you are traveling only because the air will push the flame back towards your boat and make your flame laughably short. I'm sure its got a lot of flame in a small package, but come on, Edison loves long flames. Retreating flame is a name I gave to the idea that shooting opposite of your direction of travel is great for using the flamer and still being at a safe distance. Also, this weapon is unaffected by shields and anything resembling a shield. Using the flamer on a shielded foe doesn't let them gain health or deflect the weapon back at you. A great weapon to have, but perhaps less so on a Gunship. Another note; the flamer goes through/over enemies - allowing for much more damage per second, making the weapon great for groups. Note: I believe damage upgrades apply to this weapon, but I am not sure, all I know is that the heavy flamer is very deadly and it made pretty short work of the final boss on extreme. ---Special Primary Weapons--- These weapons are exclusive to certain ships. Quasar Gatling Gun - Speedboat; The quasar part is more damaging A better version of the Light Gatling Gun. Essentially the same deal as the gatling gun. Reflector - Cruiser; Razor blades that bounce around Very good weapon. The razor blades shoot at a decent pace, and with rate of fire upgrades, you could have a large handful of blades on screen. What's so awesome about this gun is that once a blade hits a foe, the blade homes in on another enemy to hit. It is indeed a great gun for winning a seemingly unwinnable battle. Hitting a wall with one doesn't activate the homing aspect, but lets the projectile bounce off and wander around for a bit so it might hit something. Nailgun - Gunship; Sprays weak gatling rounds in a cone like fashion I enjoy this weapon, you can potentially spray and hit an entire enemy bomber plane squad until they're dead. The weapon is very easy to use at long range, but the spread of the shots could potentially miss a lot of targets. Try watching your map and shooting into clusters of enemies. If you get up close, you might notice that it takes a bit longer to kill a larger enemy with the nail gun, you should think about switching to another gun for close range or more power vs a larger enemy. The gun is also very good at making those certain little enemies flip over and hide under water while you work on something else, or you could send some torpedoes at them, it should just take one. Dominator Cannon - Gunship; Two big rockets traveling in a cone This weapon is kind of like a shotgun but with only two projectiles instead of 8. Long range is ok, but I imagine that a single projectile is weaker than a cannon shot, and you could potentially miss because you didn't shoot off center enough to make contact. Same deal as the shotgun for close quarters combat, you might miss terribly. I like this gun for battling big/long ships, try not to be too far away. Bismark Cannon - Gunship; Two big rockets traveling in a line Kinda like a cannon that dishes out more projectiles per minute, probably better damage. ---Torpedoes & Mines--- Torpedoes cannot hit turrets, they are underwater weapons, enemy ships are partially in the water so they are susceptible to torpedoes. Some enemies will hide underwater and torpedoes are great for destroying them. Mines have a pretty good blast radius and are a huge help. Guided Torpedo - Slow rate of fire homing torpedo Normal torpedo for all 3 ships. The homing effect isn't very strong so mind your direction when you shoot. Anaconda Torpedo - Rapid fire torpedoes in a snake pattern Cruiser and speedboat only. Very powerful and easy to use. Going straight towards the enemy holding right trigger will quickly annihilate a bunch of smaller enemies. Concentrating all shots on the back end of an invader is pretty powerful too. Fragment Torpedo - Several missiles traveling parallel Speedboat only. Easier to hit with because of the wider format making it perhaps a good torpedo for long range. Flame Mine - Proximity mine that homes in on an enemy and burns them I recently noticed that Speedboat mines set enemies on fire. Perhaps the trade off is that they are not as strong as the explosive mines. Whatever the case, they can be used in the same way as the explosive mines. Set a lot of mines, they do work. Explosive Mine - Proximity mine that homes in on an enemy Explosive mines are amazing for gaining advantage in a tight sealed off room, for covering your retreat, and or for defending an objective. Once a mine is laid, it sits until an enemy ship gets close and then it begins to home in on the enemy at a slowish pace and then deals area damage to all enemy ships within the blast radius. I'm pretty much convinced that they are vital on extreme difficulty. You can lay them while boosting if you hit the button/pull the trigger quickly. When defending, putting mines closer to your defense might help your mines to only activate on bigger threats, but stretching your mine field out a bit can help weaken enemy ships and become easier prey for you and your defense once they reach you. Stun Mine - Proximity mine that disables enemy movement and weapons The Gunship has these instead of the other mines. Great tools for defense. Slowing down the enemy and ceasing their fire can be brutal and can save you and your allies a lot of pain. One mine is good enough to stop a clump of enemies. Laying these should be a different format than the more offensive mines, setting them in a line parallel to a common enemy route is better than setting them perpendicular to their route because you don't want 2 or more stuns to hit the same guy. Position them to get the most out of each one. ============== ---Upgrades--- ============== You may choose any 3 upgrades. All upgrades are cumulative. I assume that some upgrades to not apply to the flamer. It is often a good idea to avoid 15 % upgrades when you get the higher percent upgrade, but it depends on the gamer I suppose, use whatever works for you and your difficulty. Gun Damage - 15 and 30 % These two upgrades add the described percentage of damage to your guns. The boost given by the upgrades is therefor less noticeable on the speedboat, and most noticeable on the gunship. Flower Power - All projectiles set enemies on fire The additional damage isn't very great, but it's something, and can be useful for hit and run tactics. Weapons that are easy to hit with work well with the upgrade. The idea is to keep enemies on fire without using the flamer and therefor keeping you at distance from threats. Bullet Speed - 15 and 25 % Makes projectiles reach their destination quicker. Can be useful for making peppering a moving target a bit easier, but I haven't found a good use for that yet and I feel that it throws my aim off. Maybe a better upgrade than I credit it for. Could perhaps make destroying a retreating enemy easier and quicker. Rate of Fire - 15 and 25 % Less delay between shots. Enables you to pump out more shots and get more hits and do more damage. A great upgrade for pretty much any ship. Star - Improved maneuverability This upgrade increases your ship's turning speed. Nice for precision moving and or being able to more easily line up torpedo shots. Not the best, but I gotta say, I like the star symbol. Speed - Adds 10 % to your speed The speedboat really hauls with this one. Makes evading stuff quicker and easier. On the slower ships, dodging stuff becomes a bit easier. Armor - 15 and 25 % to your armor Simply makes your ship more durable. Not sure if armor equals total health or is more like damage reduction. If a scenario will see you getting hit a lot and you decide that you are not going to try a dodgy, mobile setup, then this could work very well for you. Squad Bonuses - +30 armor and +50 gun damage These upgrades are quite good, but at one point in the game, your squad leaves you and without switching upgrades you need to beat a hard boss alone. Using both these upgrades, you should take a role which makes you more support like. Try staying at range and using your squad almost like a shield, but don't let them die if you can help it. =========== ---Squad--- =========== Your squad is a huge help. They aren't extremely smart though, that could make the game too easy with them. They will sometimes advance too far and get wiped out so it is important to use your commands to keep them safe or use them to keep objectives safe. Fighter - Great armor and attack The fighter squad is just fine for most situations and they probably benefit the most from squad bonus upgrades. They do a great job following and defending a point or objective. Siege - Specializes in taking out both small and stationary enemies I prefer to take out stationary enemies myself because I don't think the siegers do that great of a job, they are rather fragile. Perhaps using the squad armor bonus is a good fight for them. Their attacks are apparently do area damage and that would be a good reason that they are said to be good against small enemies. Healer - Sub par armor and attach for healing abilities Healer squad is fun to use and can be very useful although there are somethings that they cannot seem to heal. The rate at which they heal isn't very fast either and they aren't as good as staying alive as the fighters. Sonar - detects enemy submarines and jams homing missiles in range The sonar squad is a great help for certain scenarios and they are often unavailable. =================== ---Miscellaneous--- =================== Controller Setup Consider switching your control setup. The default lets you lay mines and shoot torpedoes at the same time which can be useful on extreme. The secondary lets you keep your thumb on the primary weapon while boosting. Radar to Fight Don't just shoot at enemies on your screen, look at your radar and try to get hits from afar. Making misses worth something Try orienting yourself depending on the enemies location so that if your shot(s) miss, you have a chance of landing hits on enemies behind and to the side of your initial target. Taking 1 hit is better than 10 You'll take hits, but try not to catch every last missile the enemy is sending out. Traveling in circles can throw off the enemies assumption of where you are heading. Retreating is also a good way to evade missiles and shots, not just going to the side constantly. Squad Commands Try setting your squad to hold a position that you feel is a key area. The middle of a base, or a place enemies like to appear or funnel through. Having them follow you while you travel to your lead convoy because you see a large enemy force up there is a great idea, and sending them to the back of the convoy is a great tactic and time saver if you can make due with your own firepower at the front of the convoy. Gain Ground Try not to get surrounded and or rush into an enemy force, taking things slow and one step at a time can help you survive and take down the enemy. Try not to let your allies get surrounded either. Whittle down the enemy force from afar and or flank them, when the big guys are out, the upper hand can often be won with mobility and or positioning. Thanks for reading. Enjoy Aqua.