EPOCH HINTS AND TIPS

Combat Guide

EPOCH lets you take your character through a ruined city, encountering enemy robots that are determined to stop you. Most encounters are divided into three combat spaces.

Most Combat Spaces have three positions for your robot to occupy: Left, Middle and Right.

Standing and Taking Cover

Your robot can either stand or take cover at a position, and you can switch between the two stances by swiping up or down.

Moving

Swipe left to move left, right to move right. You can move whether you’re standing or in cover.

  • Check the bottom of the screen for arrows that show you which way you can move.
  • Combat Spaces in the ARENA mode are even more varied!

Super Move

When you’re standing in a Left or Right position, you can swipe up to perform a Super Move. This move will launch you to the other side of the combat space, and is a great way to avoid damage and throw off your enemy’s aim.

Targeting an Enemy

Your robot won’t fire without a target. To select a target, simply touch the enemy that you want to shoot.

Attacking

Your robot only attacks when he is standing out of cover. Swipe up when in cover to make your robot stand and fire. He will attack that target until it is dead, or until you choose another target.

Reloading

Your robot’s weapons have unlimited ammunition, but they still have limited shots in each clip. When the clip is empty, the robot will automatically start reloading. Reloading can be interrupted, for example, if you need to swipe to move out of the way of incoming fire.

Counters

Counters – or Countermeasures – are special abilities that are used against a targeted enemy. Importantly, Countermeasures ignore cover, so you can hit an enemy even if you can’t see them, as long as they are targeted. Different Counters have different effects.

Boosters

Boosters are special abilities that affect your robot. Each Booster has a different effect, and is aimed at a different play style. Experiment with each Booster to find the one that suits you best.

Missiles

Missiles are auto-targeting – they will spread themselves amongst all of the possible targets in the combat space, favouring enemies with higher health. Use missiles to either reduce the health of all combatants by a small amount, or fire them when you have only a single enemy to deliver a more powerful blow.

Advanced Strategy Guide 

Here are some extra tips and tricks that will help you perfect your EPOCH play style.

Keep Moving!

Most enemies track your position slowly, so the more you move, the more likely it is that they will miss.

Manual Reload

Sometimes you will want to force the robot to reload – it’s better to greet a new wave of enemies with a full weapon! To force a reload, swipe down when in cover.

Combo  Commands

You can set up combos by issuing one command quickly after another:  the robot remembers its current and next commands. For example, you can “double move” by swiping left twice, or move and attack by swiping right and up.

Damage and Armor Types

Each weapon has a damage type – such as Kinetic, Corrosive or Explosive – and each armor is resistant to one or two damage types.

The enemies in a location have damage and armor types that can be seen when the location is selected on the Telemetry screen. Use this information to choose the best weapon and armor combination from the Scrapyard before visiting a location.

For example, in the picture below, you would want to choose armor that has Kinetic resistance, and any weapon that isn’t Explosive or Laser-based.

 

When and Where to Move

Whilst it’s best to keep moving, there are extra factors worth keeping in mind.

  • Draw enemy fire to a position and then move. Useful against Gunner and Grenadier enemies.
  • Wait until the last moment before moving. Useful against Blaster enemies.
  • Super moves can only be performed from the Left or Right positions. Useful against Slicers enemies.
  • You can sometimes flank an enemy by moving to the position furthest from their cover and firing diagonally across the combat space – some of your bullets might just clip them.

Choosing Your Targets

When choosing a target you need to decide who poses the greatest threat, but it’s not always simply the enemy that does the most damage. Take the time to assess who it is that damages you the most.

Concentrate Your Fire

In general, it’s better to concentrate your fire on a single target to destroy it rather than spread your damage around: a dead target can’t fire back. Possible exceptions to this include using corrosive or chaining weapons – consider their effects and how you might better spread their damage out.

Target the Destructibles

Destructibles are pieces of ancient technology that litter the world and that yield a Credits bonus when destroyed. You can fire at Destructibles  by selecting them, but remember that you will be spending time shooting at the destructible object instead of an enemy.

Campaign Guide

Rewards

At the end of each combat, you are rewarded with items that you’ve found or earned: salvaged parts, data intercepts, experience and credits.

  • Salvage – Parts that you can use to upgrade your robot, or sell for Credits .
  • Data Intercepts – These intercepted transmissions are a window into the past and provide insight into the world and the people who lived there.
  • Experience – Gaining experience allows your robot to level up. Each new level gives you a bonus to your attack and defense.
  • Credits – Credits are the currency in the world of EPOCH, used to purchase more upgrades from the Scrapyard. There are a number of ways that you are rewarded Credits.
    • Found – Lucky you! You found these lying around and no-one seemed to own them.
    • Destructibles – Find and destroy the destructible objects in each combat space.
    • Efficiency – The more of your bullets that hit an enemy, the higher the reward.
    • Defense – The amount of health you have left at the end of a combat – the more, the better!
  • Bonus – Equipping certain pieces of salvage will give you a Salvage, Experience or Credit reward bonus.

Selecting a Location

Each location on the map has a different combination of enemy types, their damage type and resistances. Locations also get more difficult the further up the map you go.

Difficulty Levels

EPOCH has three difficulty levels: Easy, Medium and Hard. Medium is unlocked by completing Easy, and Hard is unlocked by completing Medium. Enemies in the harder levels are tougher to kill and also exhibit more challenging behaviours.

Replaying a Location

If you get stuck, or if you just want to earn more rewards, you can replay any completed location whenever you like. Just select the difficulty level and the location and you’re good to go.

Scrapyard Guide

In the scrapyard you can view your robot’s current statistics, check out the inventory of items you’ve found, and purchase new items with your credits.

Statistics

At the top of the scrapyard are your robot’s statistics:

  • Level – the higher your level, the greater your base attack and defense stats
  • Attack & Defense – these are a combination of the base stat and the equipped weapon or armor respectively.
  • Credits – your cash reserves.

Equipment Tabs

There are five tabs, one for each category of equipment.

  • Weapons
  • Armor
  • Counters
  • Missiles
  • Boosters

Comparing Items

You can make comparisons between your currently equipped item and those in the list below. Just scroll the list and check out the details on the right.

Item Info

For some more detailed and useful information about each item, press the Info button.

Buying and Selling

If you’re really itching to try out that expensive weapon, you can always sell items you’re no longer using. Compare your items and trade in the ones that are clearly inferior.

Data Intercept Guide

Data Intercepts are transcripts of intercepted transmissions from before the war.

People

There are a number of people who have left behind messages, displayed in a scrollable list at the top of the screen.

Number of Intercepts

Each person can have multiple messages, displayed in a scrollable list at the bottom of the screen. Each message has a number so you can tell how many you have left to unlock.

ARENA Guide

In the ARENA, you can challenge yourself and your friends to see who can get the top score against an endless horde of robots.

Your experience, equipment and credits are shared between the ARENA and CAMPAIGN modes.

Leaderboards

When you’re logged in to Game Centre, you can post your top score to the Leaderboards, see what scores your friends have, and see the worldwide top scores for each ARENA map.

Missions

Want to spice up your ARENA playthrough? Try out the challenging Missions, and receive and XP bonus for every one you complete!

You can review your active Missions by pressing the Missions button in the ARENA screen.

Utilities

Utilities are special tools you can use to help you improve your score in ARENA

  • Blitzkrieg – This utility annihilates the first three waves of robots of any ARENA level, giving you a great head start. Sit back and watch the fireworks, then get ready for battle!
  • Overclock – When you’re down to 75% of your health, Overclock gives you a speed and damage boost to help clear the decks of those tougher enemies. Be prepared for ludicrous rounds-per-second!
  • Barriers – When your health reaches 25%, this utility will deploy bullet-stopping barrier shields at every cover point. Catch your breath, take aim, and keep fighting!
  • Last Stand – Finally, the Last Stand utility will bring you back from the dead, restoring some health and obliterating everything on screen. It’s a second chance at gouging out those last few, precious ARENA points.

Each utility can be turned on or off at the beginning of an ARENA round, so you can decide what you want to use, when you want it.