Commanders!
Today we’d like to tell you more about the upcoming passive ability mechanic called Synergy that, while simple on paper, works in a rather complicated way internally. So let’s dive right in.
The core of the idea is this. You have three Battle Path vehicles, each with its own unique passive ability:
- ZBD-100 with Slipstream
- Type 100 CSV with Fury
- ZTZ-100 with Endurance and Protection
These abilities activate whenever the vehicles get close to each other (currently within 100 meters). When that happens:
- The vehicle receives its own buff (the full version)
- The other Battle Path vehicle or vehicles within range receive the full buff as well
- All other friendly vehicles within 100m of the vehicle receive a reduced version of the same buff
Multiple buffs of the same type do not stack – you can receive it only once. The buff starts being active when in range and deactivates when you leave the range for both you and the other Battle Path vehicle. Upon leaving the range, the ability will still remain active for 3 seconds, after which it’ll switch off. There is no cooldown for re-activation – as long as you get back within range, you receive the buff again.
The bonuses are as follows:
- Slipstream – 10% improvement of maximum speed and acceleration (2.5% in reduced version)
- Fury – 10% improvement of reload time (2.5% in reduced version)
- Endurance – 50% reduced module damage and 50% faster module repair time (15% in reduced version)
But there is one more ability that activates when all three are active (that is, three different Battle Path vehicles are within 100m of each other) called Protection.
Protection is an ability centered on ZTZ-100 and its advanced Active Protection System. The way it works is as follows – it improves the range reload time and charge of its APS module to 200 meters, effectively creating a “bubble” that intercepts guided missiles, including FPV ones. The “bubble” covers not just the three Battle Path vehicles, but every other friendly vehicle within range.
It works much like supercharged APS but is automatic – missiles get intercepted as long as the ability is active or the APS runs out of charges. There are several things that should be noted:
- Missiles launched from within the bubble do not get intercepted
- Activating Supercharged APS ability (which the ZTZ-100 has access to) disables the Protection ability temporarily (it’ll re-activate as long as the conditions are met)
- The “bubble” is not really a bubble at all – mechanically it is a hemisphere (reflecting the positioning of the APS launchers), so there will be some fringe situations where it won’t work 100% (for example standing at the edge of a slope or a cliff might make the vehicle vulnerable from below)
Let’s take a look at the required vehicle positioning. In the game, vehicles do not work as re-translators. What that means is the following.
In the example below, vehicles A and B have abilities A and B active. Vehicle C does not have any ability active.
On the image below, vehicles A has abilities A and B active, vehicle B has the abilities A and B and C active and vehicle C has abilities B and C active. Ability D (Protection) is not activated because vehicles A and C are too far from each other.
On the image below, all three vehicles have all three abilities active and the ability Protection is activated as well.
When activated, the abilities will appear in the UI on the left end of the lower bar but the UI is very much a work in progress and we’re not ready to share the final appearance yet.
And that’s pretty much it, commanders. We hope you will enjoy the mechanic and, as always:
See you on the battlefield!
