Carbine Studios blew the lid off of WildStar's Warplots at PAX East 2014. Here's what you need to know...
Just when you thought things couldn't look any cooler for WildStar, Carbine Studios' upcoming sci-fi MMO, the company blew the lid off of their formerly super-secretive warplot battles. We met with lead PvP designer Jen Gordy to discuss warplots, and we couldn't be more excited to demolish our opponents' stronghold!
Entering a Warplot Battle
In WildStar, once you hit level 50, you'll be able to enter into 40v40 wars by forming war parties, decking-out a warplot, and then queuing for war. With war parties, you don't have to be a member of a guild, and can enter the queue as a mercenary to help fill those groups that aren't quite big enough. Basically, you and your opponent will defend your carefully crafted bases from the other.
War parties will have a bank to store items in, which will have a rank-based permission system. Wars will be crossrealm, so you might not be able to chat with the mercenary afterwards if you want to ask him/her to join your guild/war party in the future.
Customizing Warplots
After joining the war party, players will have to customize up their warplot, tricking it out with different plugs--some offensive, some defensive. There are your typical cannons and traps, but Carbine also included some really unique and creative plugs that I can't wait to try. One plug will allow you to summon 20-man raid bosses during the war to go to battle for you and help defend your warplot. Potentially (and we saw this mechanic in action) wars could consist of a battle between two raid bosses. The way that this plug works is that it requires what's called a boss coin, which can be collected from specific raid and dungeon bosses and then used during battle to summon that boss. There's another plug that will allow you to request missile fire upon your enemy while on the battlefield. Other plugs include a sort of radioactive queue line that damages your opponent when they enter into it, and a transporter that allows you to drop into the middle of the battlefield if properly placed and upgraded--yes, plugs can be upgraded throughout the battle. The plug system was definitely deep, filled with all different sorts of options to play with. Warplots will also have decorative options similar to the housing system, if you're into that sort of thing.
Buying plugs will require warcoins, which will be earned in battle (you'll also start with 500 that will allow you to buy the basics).
There's no timer during the customization phase, so players can take their time to get their warplot to function exactly how they'd like without feeling rushed.
Players will also be able to put certain items--like turrets and cannons--into crates to take on the battlefield with them.
Team Ratings and Rewards
War parties will earn themselves a team rating, as well as individual ratings, that will allow them to earn rewards. Reward examples given include plugs that are restricted by team rating or individual rating, as well as season rewards. We'd definitely like to learn more about what sorts of rewards will become available. Players will also earn war coins upon completing matches which will be used to purchase more items to customize their warplots.
Winning a Warplot Battle
The warplot battles look enjoyably complicated, with more than one way to win. Apparently, you can capture points throughout the map to drain your opponent's resources--similar to any MOBA or World of Warcraft's battlegrounds--or you can defeat an opponent by destroying your opponent's two generators that are at the back end of their warplot base.
Any damage taken to your warplot and any of the plugs you added before the match will transfer to the next battle. Players will have the opportunity to repair damaged warplots with match resources and warcoins.
As of right now, Carbine has not included a way to challenge another guild to a war, but Gordy definitely sounded open to doing so in the future. It's also unfortunate that players won't be able to participate in a war party until level 50, as it appears to be one of the strongest aspects of the game. But, overall, warplots look incredibly fun and creative, and now we have even more reason to want to spend the first week of WildStar's release locked in our room in our underwear. Too much info? I don't even care at this point, I'm too excited...
WildStar releases June 3rd, and is now available for pre-order.
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek. And Google+, if that's your thing!