PLANETSIDE: Character Creation FAQ
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Section 1: Copyright Info and Introduction
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Copyright 2003 Anthony Ventura
Terms of Use: Anyone has the consent of the creator of this guide to distribute
this guide by any means they see fit on the sole condition that you do not
charge any money for access to this guide. If anyone has charged you money to
access this guide then contact the creator immediately via email at
avalonx1@yahoo.com
Version History:
Version 1.1 Date: 26/09/2003
Copyright information has been corrected. Certification Points on
certifications are now easier to comprehend, and errors with CP costs have been
corrected. Some minor grammatical errors were also corrected.
Version 1.0 Date: 22/09/2003
Contact Information: Email me at avalonx1@yahoo.com with any questions,
comments, complaints, or information pertinent to this guide.
Introduction: I originally wrote this guide when a friend new to PlanetSide
asked me for a few pointers on what to do with his character. Before I realized
it I had a full blown 7Page FAQ on my hands and I decided to post it here on
GameFAQ's when I noticed there wasn’t a single guide listed for PlanetSide.
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Section 2: Table of Contents
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Table of Contents:
Section 1: Copyright Info, Intro, and Version History
Section 2: Table of Contents
Section 3: In General
Section 4: Grunts
[4.1]: Description
[4.2]: Certs
[4.3]: After BR12
Section 5: MAXes
[5.1]: Description
[5.2]: Certs
[5.3]: After BR12
Section 6: Support Personnel
[6.1]: Description
[6.2]: Certs
[6.3]: After BR12
Section 7: Combat Vehicle Specialists
[7.1]: Description
[7.2]: Certs
[7.3]: After BR12
Section 8: Stealth Units
[8.1]: Description
[8.2]: Certs
[8.3]: After BR12
Section 9: Credits and Final Words
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Section 3: In General
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Well, for starters 95% of all characters SHOULD pack the Medium Assault cert.
that is what lets you carry assault rifles and the standard shotgun. Without
that you can’t use a weapon any more powerful than the sub-machinegun you spawn
with. You can run and hide from vehicles and artillery, but at some point
EVERYONE has to fight toe to toe. You don’t NEED to pack Medium Assault, but if
you are not going to then you better have a specific plan and you better know
what you are doing. I’d also say that 70% of all characters should pack the
Reinforced Armor cert. It’s the thickest armor that standard infantry can wear
and it gives you more room for more gear. You can holster 2 rifle size weapons
with that, plus a larger backpack (note that you CAN carry rifles and pistols
in your backpack, not just ammo and gear). Keep in mind that you can’t fly or
drive vehicles besides ATV's or buggy's with that armor on, and if you have to
march on foot somewhere, it slows you down significantly compared to agile
armor. So, if you are going for a vehicle expert, that's out of the question.
But, medics and engineers can appreciate the extra space for their support gear
on top of some light combat gear so they may defend themselves. And, it’s a
MUST for grunts. Beyond these 2 certs it really depends on what you want to do.
I can give you some ideas but it’s up to you.
First off, most characters can be classified into 1 of 5 levels of
classifications: grunts, MAXes, support characters, vehicle specialists and/or
flyboy's (you may consider ground and air vehicles to be 2 different
classifications), and stealth units. I’ll give a basic run down of how each one
will look like at BattleRank 12 (BR12) which gives you a total of 15 cert
points, which is fairly average. Keep in mind that I list the certs in the
order you get them as you raise levels.
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Section4: Grunts
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[4.1]: Description
Grunts are the most common form of characters in the game. Their primary role
is toe to toe combat. They don’t rely on vehicles very heavily, fulfill any
major support roles, or pack any form of big armor. Their really isn’t much to
say about grunts.
[4.2]: Certs
>>Medium Assault (Cost:2 Cert Points)
>>Reinforced Armor (Cost:3, Total Cert Points spent so far(TCPS):5)
>>Harasser (Cost:2, TCPS:7) or Enforcer/Marauder/Thrasher (Cost:3, TCPS:8)
(depending on your empire): While not necessary to the character I recommend
this because if your squad/outfit didn’t think to bring along transportation
for everyone, you will be doing a lot of walking and that really sucks. If you
have a spare cert point, the more advanced buggies are a lot of fun.
>>Any 2 of these 3(TCPS: ranging 13-15):
>>Special Assault (Cost:3): The decimator is the most powerful hand weapon in
the game, that’s why its only 3 shots per unit and you can’t reload them. You
have to carry multiple units. Rocklet Rifle is great against infantry and armor
alike, the most versatile weapon that comes with the SA cert. Thumper grenade
launcher is not as useful as the other 2, but it does have its place,
especially for charging up or down winding staircases as you can lob grenades
around the corner without exposing yourself.
>>Heavy Assault (Cost:4): The biggest anti-infantry weapons come with this
cert. they include the New Conglomerate(NC) Jackhammer 3 barreled assault
shotgun which is great for indoors, but its worthless in open field combat, the
Terran Republic(TR) Chain gun which is in my opinion the most cheating handheld
weapon in the game, and the Vanu Sovereignty(VS) Lasher which in the right
hands is a great weapon, but I’ve seen too many idiots who don’t know how to
use it and I can easily take them out with inferior weaponry.
>>Anti-Vehicle Assault (Cost:3): TR Striker is a POWERFUL lock-on missile that
lock's on to any armor, MAXes, tanks, and aircraft alike, the second most
cheating hand weapon in the game(are you beginning to notice a pattern with TR
gear?) NC Phoenix is a remote guided missile which you control yourself via the
mouse and guide it to its destination. if you are really good with this weapon
then it can be even better than the Striker because with the striker you need a
direct line of sight on your target but with the phoenix you can stay behind
cover, shoot the missile one way, then loop it back around to its intended
target. And, it doesn’t warn the target of a lock-on because there is no lock.
The NC Phoenix packs an even bigger punch than the striker. The VS get the
Lancer, which I am not at all too sure how it works, and come to think of it, I
don’t know if I’ve ever even seen one on the field which may indicate that it
sucks.
Here I would recommend that the SA cert is a must as it gives you 3 useful
weapons over 1. After that, picking HVA or AVA is up to you. Which do you find
more fun, grinding infantry into meat pudding, or tanks into shrapnel?
[4.3]: After BR12
But that’s what a standard grunt looks like at BR12. After BR12 you will
probably pick up the 3rd weapon cert. perhaps sniper cert (Cost:3) which I
didn’t include here because snipers are really a class of their own and don’t
fight in the same way as normal grunts. However there is no real description
for a sniper. A sniper is nothing more than a sniper and doesn’t really need
any other certs to support him. Also, perhaps some sort of support
certification like Engineer (Cost:3), Medic+Advanced Medic (Cost:3+2), or
Hacker+Advanced Hacker (Cost:3+2). Note that basic hacker and basic medic are
worthless without their advanced counterparts. Maybe you can take a MAX suit.
MAXes can be a lot of fun. Just remember the most cert points any character can
get is at BattleRank20 which gives you 23.
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Section 5: MAXes
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[5.1]: Description
MAX suits are those big bouncer-looking robots. MAX suits are walking death
machines that annihilate anything in their path and in the right hands can
stand up to any type of unit in the game, tanks and aircraft alike. A MAX
specialist likes to kill things in large numbers. Also, MAX suits are a GREAT
way to get a lot of EXP quickly and then once you reach the level you want you
can start changing your certs out for what you really want. The downside to MAX
suits is they can’t do anything much besides killing. They can’t ride any
vehicles with the exception of the Galaxy and Sunderer, which are strictly
transport. They can’t open enemy owned doors. They can’t repair themselves with
engineering certs or perform any other form of support for that matter when
inside the MAX. So, while MAXes are powerful, they become dependent on other
people to support them and are much less useful without them.
Another thing to note is where 1 MAX suit is useful, 2 MAX suits are instant
death. 2 MAX Suits supported by an Engineer who constantly repairs their armor,
are practically invulnerable. That is perhaps THE BEST WAY to secure an area
inside a base. MAXes make great escort for an advanced hacker to get into the
base safely behind 2 tons of armor and get his thing done fast. I would not
field 3 MAX suits together unless the enemy significantly outnumber you and
there are at least 20. Its a waste of personnel and you can expect to lose 1
MAX suit as it is very difficult for an engineer to have to keep tabs on THREE
of them to keep repairing their armor, unless you have 2 engineers supporting
the 3 MAX suits, and even then, its overkill.
Also note that MAX suits CAN NOT be acquired at AMS's. So, when assaulting an
enemy base, if you rely on your MAX suits, it is IMPERATIVE that you secure the
tower pertaining to that base. Likewise, on the defensive, even if you field an
AMS near by in the event your spawn tubes get blown or base generator gets
taken out, you will not be able to field your MAXes from the AMS. It’s
something to think about. Also there is a 5minute spawn time limit on any 1
type of MAX suit. If you take a vehicle MAX suit and get killed within 5
minutes of equipping it, you have to wait the 5 minutes out, or take another
type of MAX suit.
MAX Suits also carry special systems in them that allow for a special ability.
Each ability is unique to its empire. NC MAX Suits get shields that work much
like the shield implant, except they last longer. The NC MAX shield repels
virtually all fire for up to about 15 seconds. VS MAXes get a built in jump
system. Where other MAXes can’t jump, VS can. And I don’t mean a little hop. VS
MAXes can shoot a good 25 meters into the air. TR MAX ability is gay.
Essentially they hunker down and shoot anchors into the floor (which makes them
immobile) and this is supposed to ground the MAX properly so he can shoot more
accurately and have a higher rate of fire. also while MAXes are very slow
normally, you can put them into auto-run mode with the Q key which makes them
run up to 42kph (about as fast as an ANT vehicle). However, they can not fire
weapons in auto-run mode. In case you haven’t noticed, I have said quite a bit
about MAXes, but that’s because there is a lot to say about them. They are a
very special unit and should be treated as such.
[5.2]: Certs
>>Medium Assault (Cost:2): There will be times when you CAN’T get to your MAX
suits, face it, you don’t want to have nothing but peashooters for that event)
>>Anti-Vehicle MAX Suit (Cost:3, TCPS:5): This generally should be your first
MAX suit. Even if you don’t face vehicles, they are still very effective
against infantry no matter what your empire is. In general, the AV MAX Suit is
the most versatile of the 3.
>>Anti-Personnel MAX Suit (Cost:3, TCPS:8): This cert should follow immediately
after. In general you should think not as AP and AV MAX suits, but indoor and
outdoor MAX suits. AV are great outdoor, AP are great indoor. The VS and NC AP
MAX Suits have a significant advantage over the TR AP MAX Suit in the sense
that the VS/NC AP weapon systems are NON-EXPLOSIVE. so what I like to do when I
see a TR AP MAX is I get right in his face and let his own weapons explode
right on him while I’m pumping my non-explosive weapons into him. Note that
that NC AP MAX Suit is a SHOTGUN weapon and while it has alternative fire modes
that tighten the pellets firing radius, it’s still not effective against
targets outside 50 meters.
>>Anti-Air MAX (Cost:2, TCPS:10): Most "MAX Specialists" just pick up the AV
and AP MAX and leave it at that and use the rest of their cert points on other
things. I think that is a big mistake and largely the reason why aircraft are
so effective. All it takes is 1 AA MAX Suit to rain on your parade when you and
your buddies are all flying planes. The AA MAX IS BY FAR THE MOST EFFECTIVE AA
WEAPON IN THE GAME. Note that VS and NC AA MAXes lock-on to their targets while
TR AA MAXes don’t and require the player to aim manually.
>>Lightning Light Assault Tank (Cost:3, TCPS:13): The reason I include the
lightning with a MAX Specialist is that the lightning is very similar in
concept to the MAX Suit. With the exception of the Basilisk, which should NOT
be considered a combat vehicle anyway, the Lightning is the only armed ground
vehicle in the game that does not require 2 people to operate. It is a single
man tank where the single player both pilots the tank and operates the guns as
opposed to other ground vehicles where gunner and driver are 2 separate
functions. With that said, I DO NOT like the Lightning. It is very difficult
and takes a lot of practice to get good with. This is primarily because the
guns are fixed in a forward firing position. The guns are not turreted. They
can’t be rotated to fire in other directions. You can only shoot forward. This
means that the lightning can dodge fire, and it can shoot, but it can’t do both
at the same time. You are a sitting duck when firing. There was talk of making
the Lightning’s guns turreted so you can rotate them, but they haven’t done it
yet. If they do this then the lightning will be an invaluable addition to any
squad, but for now it takes a lot of skill to use it. Other than that, the
lightning is actually much faster than its larger counterparts. It tops out at
about 80kph and has decent off-roading capabilities.
[5.3]: After BR12
That’s what a MAX specialist might look like at BR12. An alternative to the
lightning might be a Reaver fighter jet. I’m just going with the same concept
of "1 man death machine" of which the Lightning and the Reaver both fit into
that description with the MAXes. After BR12 you might want to get perhaps
Special Assault for those odd moments when you can’t get to your MAX suit, you
can still be an effective fighter as a grunt. And I recommend Advanced Hacker
as well. Also, note that while it may APPEAR that TR Empire gets shafted in the
MAX department, they make up for it with the AV MAX Suit. The Dual Cycler is in
my opinion the sickest unit in the game, short of the Liberator Aerial Bomber.
Remember those TR chain guns I referred to earlier? Well those are MINI-Chain
guns. The TR AV MAX packs 2 of the FULL-SIZED version of that chain gun. It’s
supposed to be Anti-Vehicle, but God HELP the poor group of infantry that
huddle together. It would be the equivalent of mowing the lawn. Yeah, there’s
more grass out there, but that just means more stuff to mow.
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Section 6: Support Personnel
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[6.1]: Description
Support Personnel while not the most glorious role in the game, is in my
opinion the most important. A squad can have firepower to hell and high-water.
But, without support troops, they will get their asses kicked. Every character
should carry AT LEAST ONE support role even if they are not geared for support.
Anyone who doesn’t is in my opinion being greedy with their certifications and
not thinking about the needs of the rest of the squad. Most higher level
characters carry 2. When I refer to a "support character" I refer to someone
who is certified in 3 or 4 different forms of support. The following are all
support roles:
>>Galaxy Pilot (Cost:3): The big cargo plane that can fly a vehicle, 2 MAXes,
the pilot, 3 gunners, and 6 people anywhere. It is often referred to as the
flying brick, or the cow with wings. While GAL's are useful over all, they are
especially useful when trying to secure a heavily fortified tower. Towers
should be hit from the bottom AND from the top at the same time. And with the
exception of VS MAX suits, there is really no other way to get on top of a
tower unless you are willing to sacrifice your fighter jet and crash it, and
eject right over the tower, which is stupid.)
>>Sunderer/Deliverer Driver (Cost:3/3): Ground counterparts of the galaxy. They
are somewhat useless in my opinion compared to the galaxy, you will see very
few of these and for good reason, the one exception might be the deliverers
ability to drive UNDERWATER so bases near a river can be snuck up on easily
from behind. However, these are rare occasions.
>>AMS Driver (Cost:2): Advanced Mobile Station, essentially a base on wheels.
It comes with 2 spawn tubes and 1 equipment terminal. When deployed into
station form it envelops the nearby area in a cloaking field making the AMS and
anyone near it invisible to enemies.
>>Advanced Hacker (Cost:3+2): Hacking an enemy’s equipment terminals inside the
enemy base so that your own people can use them is one of the most important
roles of the advanced hacker. Also, hacking an enemy’s vehicle terminals in the
courtyard to spawn combat vehicles right in their own base is equally
important. Both of these require ADVANCED hacking which is what makes regular
hacking so useless
>>Advanced Medic (Cost:3+2): Regular medics can heal troops, whooptiedo. That’s
what med kits are for. There are also implants that heal you. Advanced Medics
however can revive dead players. While good, it is not the most important
support role in the game due to the fact that your troops DO respawn. Rather
than fielding an adv medic, you are better off fielding an AMS from where you
can respawn closer to the enemy. However, an Advanced Medic coupled with an
engineer to revive a fallen player and repair his armor can be useful. This
takes quite a bit of coordination though and the players must know an advanced
medic is present to assist them so they don’t try to respawn the moment they
die and instead wait to be revived.
>>Engineer(Cost:3)(Engineers repair the armors on their fellow troops and MAX
suits, as well as repair vehicles and base devices like spawn tubes and
equipment terminals. On a side note, an Engineer can be perhaps the most
difficult ground troop to kill. Engineers can repair their own armor, and if a
player is an Engineer AND a Medic it would take one big hit to kill him if he
can keep running for cover to re-heal and repair. A more useful version of this
might be the Advanced Regeneration Implant which lets you heal yourself, or
packing med kits, instead of wasting certs to be a medic. You may even want to
couple the Personal Shield Implant with this for those moments when you ARE
subjected to heavy fire and may not live to make it to cover to re-heal/repair.
The shield will keep you alive for those extra 2-3 seconds you need.
>>Combat Engineer (Cost:3+2): Note that I list regular and combat engineer
separately because regular engineers on their own are still highly useful,
unlike regular medics and hackers, however a Combat Engineer does all the
things that a regular one does. While not the most important role, they can be
very useful. Combat engineers can deploy landmines and remote turrets for
automated defense. And, like MAX suits, where 1 is useful 2 can be deadly. A
single combat engineer can only have I think 10 turrets and 20 landmines
spawned at anyone point in time. However 2 combat engineers can provide enough
automated defense to keep anything short of a full squad out of a base, or at
least significantly slow them down, so you don’t have to worry about defending
one base when you move onto the next)
[6.2]: Certs
>>Medium Assault (Cost:2)
>>Reinforced Armor (Cost:3, TCPS:5)
>>Engineer (Cost:3, TCPS:8): Engineers fall under the 3 most important roles of
support. With an engineer on your squad, you can safely destroy spawn tubes,
equipment terminals, turrets, or the generator and render an enemy base useless
for them. Then, when you wipe the enemy out of the base and secure it for
yourself, your engineer can repair everything to make the base functional once
again. This is in essence a much better way to take out an enemy base than to
sheer pound the enemy troops into submission until the hacking of the base is
complete.
>>Advanced Hacker (Cost:3+2, TCPS,13): Advanced Hackers also fall under the 3
most important support roles. Note that anyone can hack a door or base, but it
takes hacking certifications to hack anything else. The Regular Hacker
certification is worthless. It is merely a stepping stone to reach the Advanced
Certification. Anything worth hacking requires the Advanced Hacking
certification. Also, the Advanced Hacking certification makes hacking things
that do not require the advanced certification a lot faster. Hacking a door
takes about 3 seconds as opposed to 10 seconds without any hacking certs.
[6.3]: After BR12
That’s what a support character might look like at BR12. A HEAVY HEAVY INTENSE
support character may even be suicidal enough to drop medium assault and
reinforced armor and pick up AMS driving and maybe a Galaxy. AMS's also fall
into the 3 most important support roles. AMS's are life. I think a complete
squad should carry TWO AMS drivers. 1 AMS can stay safely hidden slightly
farther away from the enemy base. And the second can drive in and setup shop
right inside the enemy bases courtyard once the courtyard has been secured and
the enemy is contained inside. This way you spawn right there on the enemy, and
should they happen to re-secure the courtyard, you can fall back to the AMS
farther away. Note that when it comes to MAX suits, AMS's are no substitute for
the base itself or the adjacent towers near the base. MAXes can not be equipped
at an AMS. Other than that, you can make a lighter support character and maybe
drop 1 support role for special assault, so that you are a capable fighter when
forced to fight. But for the most part, Support characters are the 1 type of
character where you can’t really cover EVERYTHING in 1 character. My main
character is actually a support character and he looks like this:
Medium Assault
Engineer
AMS Driver
Galaxy Pilot
Advanced Hacker (note that I don’t carry reinforced armor, but there are times
when I really wish I did)
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Section 7: Combat Vehicle Specialists
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[7.1] Description
Vehicle specialists are not exactly the masters of subtlety. You WILL attract
the attention of everyone around you when you are encased in about 2000 points
of armor and are feeding hot fender to all the enemy infantry in your path
while your gunner spews forth the hand of death itself at the enemy farther
away. Vehicles are the kings of outdoor combat and it will still take more than
1 Anti-Vehicle Infantry to bring a vehicle down. Please note that many think to
get vehicles for the big guns they pack. But with the exception of the Reaver
and the Lightning, you are stuck in the driver position of the vehicle and rely
on a gunner to do the shooting for you, which some may not regard as very fun.
The following are the combat Vehicles:
>>Harasser(Cost:2):a 2 man light buggy with a light AP Machine gun mounted on
it operated by a 2nd man. While really meant more as a means of personal
transportation, it is not completely useless in combat.
>>Marauder/Thrasher/Enforcer (Cost:3): These are Empire Specific buggies, and
more advanced than the Harasser which any empire can access. The TR Marauder is
in my opinion the best of the 3, but not by much. The advantage the TR has is
it seats THREE players, the driver and 2 gunners. 1 gunner operates the mortar,
and 1 operates an AP Machinegun similar to that of the Harasser. The NC
Enforcer has the most powerful weapon mounted on it of the 3, the Phoenix
rocket launcher, which is very similar to the handheld AV weapon, and the AV
MAX weapon. however unlike the other 2 weapons, this weapon is very sensitive
and jittery, making aim a more skilled affair than the other 2, especially
combined with the rapid movement of the vehicle. The VS Thrasher is the weakest
in terms of firepower of the 3. What little advantage it has over the other 2
is that it is a HOVER buggy and can glide over water, is less affected by
terrain, and can strafe left and right making it a much harder target. NOTE
that an Advanced Hacker CAN hack the vehicles of other empires and if you are
certified to drive your empires counterpart of that vehicle you can drive the
newly hacked vehicle as well. It’s a lot of fun to turn your enemies own
vehicles against them. Especially when drivers bail out of their own vehicles
before they are completely destroyed, and you repair and hack them and put them
to use for you.
>>Lightning (Cost:3): A 1 man tank. This is the light version of the empire
specific tanks. It’s smaller, leaner, and faster with off-roading capabilities.
It’s really more of a buggy than a tank. While it has decent firepower on it,
its main drawback is its inability to rotate its guns around it.
>>Prowler/Vanguard/Magrider (Cost:3): These are the 3 Empire specific heavy
tanks and the most powerful vehicles in the game. As usual the TR have the best
gear. The NC Vanguard features a single 200mm arch-firing cannon versus the two
100mm cannons on the Prowler which means that they spit out the same amount of
firepower at a faster rate. As usual, the TR Prowler seats 3 players, a
secondary gunner sporting dual AP machineguns, while the NC Vanguard only
sports a single machinegun, and both weapons are operated by one gunner,
meaning they can’t be both used at the same time. The one advantage the NC has
over the TR here is it is significantly faster vs. the prowler which packs more
armor. The VS once again get shafted in terms of firepower in order to make
room for added mobility. The VS Magrider can strafe and glide over water,
however it is no match against the other 2 tanks in a tank fight.
>>Mosquito Fighter Jet (Cost:3): This is the fastest vehicle in the game. It is
undetectable by radar, and is not designed primarily for combat, really more of
a "QUICK, GET THERE NOW!!!!" kinda thing, designed for reconnaissance, however
it can make very effective strafing runs against infantry with its forward
mounted machine gun.
>>Reaver Fighter Jet (4): The 2nd fastest vehicle in the game with
significantly more armor than the mosquito. It sports dual machine guns and
dual rapid fire Rocket Launchers (not lock-on missiles) can turn any vehicle
short of an AMS or a Galaxy into swiss cheese in a single volley of rockets.
However the rockets are really meant for ground targets so they fail against
the speed of the mosquito's. Mosquitoes have a tendency to win aerial dogfights
against a Reaver. Also, a single Anti-Air weapon is all it takes to take out
fighter aircraft vs. the heavy armor of ground vehicles which may require more
than 1 Anti-Vehicle weapon present.
>>Liberator Aerial Bomber (3): In my opinion this is the most devastating
weapon in the game. IT KILLS ANYTHING AND I DO MEAN ANYTHING in a single
bombing run. Even a Galaxy with fully powered shields gets killed with 1 set of
bombs. Unlike its Mosquito and Reaver aerial brothers this one attacks from
much higher altitudes making them harder to notice so it’s usually too late by
the time you spot one. There is a bomb with your name on it coming down on you.
The bombs ARE area effect weapons, not target specific. So an entire area gets
blanketed in death when these things fire.
>>Skyguard Anti-Aircraft Buggy (3): It was released at the same time as the
liberator bomber actually, to counteract the liberator so you wouldn’t be
completely defenseless to its cheating death. However, I have only encountered
1 in all my planetsiding since it was released. It’s VERY effective, but only
for 1 specific scenario which makes them unattractive to most players. You
won’t see too many of them. The AA weapon is a flak cannon similar to the TR AA
MAX, so it is NOT lock-on. It also fields a light machinegun for AP groundwork.
[7.2]: Certs
>>Medium Assault (Cost:2)
>>Assault Tank (Cost:3, TCPS:5)
>>Assault Buggy (Cost:3, TCPS:8)
>>Engineering (Cost:3, TCPS:11): Vehicles DO get damaged, so it is very common
for a vehicle pilot to be a certified engineer so he can retreat his vehicle
and repair it at a safe distance, then return to rain more death. Most ground
vehicles do get packed with enough ammo that they will get killed LONG before
they run out of ammo, so keeping the vehicle operating for long periods is kind
of how it’s supposed to work anyways)
>>Reaver (Cost:4, TCPS:15)
[7.3] After BR12
After BR12 a Liberator Bomber is a great asset to any squad. As usual Special
Assault would be great for fighting in the event you can’t access vehicles.
Advanced Hacker is an option to consider so you can use the enemies vehicle
terminals to get your vehicles when you don’t have one of your own near you.
And, maybe a Lightning Tank or Harasser for when you have no tech plant at your
disposal. People who wish to specialize specifically with aircraft might drop
the tanks and buggies and pick up the mosquito, and pick up the liberator at an
earlier date. They may even get certified in the galaxy just because it flies
=).
There are 2 things to keep in mind about vehicles. A: the assault tanks and
buggies, the Reaver, the Liberator Bomber, and the Skyguard can not be acquired
from a base unless you have a Technology Plant Base connected to the base you
are trying to acquire the vehicle from along the continental lattice. If you
have ever looked at the map of the base you should have seen a network of lines
connecting all the bases. This is the "Continental Lattice" it connects all the
bases together and transfers the benefits of one base over to the others. Keep
in mind that that bases have to be CONNECTED. If your empire owns a tech plant,
but there is no connecting line of the same color between it and the rest of
the bases its effects will not work. So, in short, no Tech Plant=no toys. It’s
something to think about when you are getting rolled over by a squad full of
vehicles. B: like MAX suits, vehicles have 5minute spawn time limits to each
type of vehicle. If you get a vehicle and it is destroyed within 5 minutes of
acquiring, you will still have to wait the 5 minutes out before you can get
another of the same kind. So, while vehicles are great, they are best used in
large numbers.
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Section 8: Stealth Units
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[8.1]: Description
Stealth units are all centered around 1 simple certification, the Cloaking suit
which takes 2 points and makes you invisible to opponents when activated. The
Cloaking suit is NOT armor and provides no armor protection leaving the player
completely unprotected against enemy fire. You can not wear armor with the
cloaking suit. The cloaking suit does NOT have any rifle slots and only 1
pistol slot, so cloakers are NOT meant for combat. This does not mean however
that cloakers aren’t deadly. They just have to use more creative means to do
their death-dealing. Many cloakers will usually pack the Melee Booster implant
which when using the alternate fire on a knife can kill any player in 2 slashes
which is usually faster than they can turn around to react to the first slash.
Some will also pack the AMP rapid fire pistol and cheap pop you at point blank
range right in the back. TR cloakers can also use the Repeater for the same
effect as it is the only pistol worth a god damn. More devious cloakers may
even use Boomer remote mines and wait nearby to hit the button the moment you
walk over their mine. I’ve also seen more skilled cloakers in a completely
outdoor visible environment lay down an entire minefield around you before you
even notice what is going on, sometimes even trapping you in a circle of mines,
or setting up remote spitfire turrets at every corner ahead of you after you
have secured an area for surprise ambushes. Also when running at full speed the
cloaker is SLIGHTLY visible. Also most players use the Dark light vision
implant to see any cloakers within about 15meters of them, which works great
indoors where cloakers do most of their damage anyway. So, cloaking is not
ABSOLUTE stealth. You still have to keep your wits about you and move sneakily.
However, cloakers can be very useful.
[8.2]: Certs
>>Cloaker Suit (Cost:2)
>>ATV Cert (Cost:2, TCPS:4): The ATV Cert gives you access to the Wraith ATV,
which when plugged into an activated cloaking suit makes the bike cloak as
well, making it the ideal means of travel for a cloaker who is trying to recon
an enemy position. Note that like the cloaker himself, the bike is somewhat
visible at higher speeds.
>>Advanced Hacker (Cost:3+2, TCPS:9): The primary function of a cloaker is to
sneak into an enemy base via the backdoor while all the fighting is going on
outside and no one realizes it, makes his way to the Bases Command Console,
hacks it and takes over the base quietly and stealthily. So being able to hack
the console 3 times as fast as any other unit (during which point you ARE
vulnerable and visible by the beam the hacking tool makes) is a big advantage.
>>Combat Engineer (Cost:3+2, TCPS:14): When the CC is being guarded and is not
accessible then the alternative function of taking a base out subvertly is for
the cloaker to make his way to the bases underground generator and use the
Boomer remote mines to take it out as it is the only weapon he has available to
him that packs any punch. NOTE that a base generator is VERY thickly armored
and I’m not sure how many Boomer mines it takes destroy it. The Generator will
also warn everyone in the base for EVERY hit it takes, so you are better off
destroying it as quickly as possible before someone comes to catch you in the
middle of your handiwork. Also, the cloaker can’t carry more than 4 mines and
his hacking tool at one time. So, this will be a delicate operation that may
require a few trips back to an equipment terminal or locker. However, if the
cloaker succeeds in knocking the generator offline, the enemy will not be able
to spawn there.
[8.3]: After BR12
That is what a good cloaker setup looks like at BR12. After BR12 a good idea
might be to pick up a MAX suit. No you might be asking "What the hell? What
does a MAX suit have to do with stealth work?" But in actuality it is a very
effective tactic for a cloaker to work his way into an enemy bases spawn room,
hack one of the equipment terminals and turn into a MAX suit right in that very
room laying death to every poor idiot who happens to spawn there, and taking
out the equipment terminals and spawn tubes. The goal here is to take out the
spawn tubes so the enemy can’t spawn anymore. However, more often than not if
enough people are respawning they will overpower you and make their way to
their lockers or terminals and get weapons to fight you with before you can
destroy all the spawn tubes. Whether you succeed or not, you will deal a
crippling blow to your enemies offensive as you will be spawn raping them and
it may take a minute or two to stop you which is enough time for your squad to
work its way into the base and take over even if you don’t succeed. Some
cloakers also take mosquito's and fly from unoccupied base to unoccupied base
hacking them away from the enemy before the enemy can react.
One additional note about cloakers: REMEMBER enemy cloakers names. While most
cloakers work alone, there is really no way of telling how many of them there
are. If there is more than 1, you can be in BIG trouble. So, remember the names
of enemy cloakers that you have killed. That way, you will know if there is
more than 1, and your squad can react appropriately.
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Section 9: Credits and Final Words
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Anyways, this is the basic information on all the classes and certifications in
the game. for additional info you can check the certifications and listing of
vehicles and equipment at http://planetside.station.sony.com or get yourself a
copy of Prima's Official Strategy Guide for PlanetSide which should be
somewhere on the PlanetSide site as well. I own and have read the guide, and
while I didn't access it in the creation of this FAQ, a lot of what I do know
about PlanetSide comes from that guide so I can personally tell you it is very
useful.
I hope this has given you a few ideas of what you want to do with your
character and how to get it done effectively. Also, remember that these are
just suggestions. You can setup your character however you like and may not
even abide to any 1 particular type of character or to the setup types shown
here. While most people do it wrong, some people mix and match different
aspects of different types of characters for a character that can be actually
effective. Experiment and see what works for you.
