War Zone

From GRAY RAVENS

War Zone is a game mode where users can battle endless hordes of Corrupted for ranked scoring. It is unlocked after completing Main Story stage 3-12 A New Seed on Normal.

War Zone Overview

In War Zone, Commandants deploy teams of their choice in two of five available elementally-themed regions. Each region possesses three stages for the user to clear; clearing these stages will earn the user a score. Stage entry in this mode is unlimited and costs no serum.

Users in this mode will be grouped together in teams of three with two other Commandants. The team's collective score will contribute to their placement on a ranked, competitive leaderboard.

War Zone operates on a biweekly cycle, with each cycle being separated into three major phases: Recruitment, Battle, and Results.

Recruitment

During this phase. users have the option to form teams with other Commandants of their own choice. If no action is taken during this phase, the user will be placed in a team with two other random Commandants.

  • PGR GLOBAL: Recruitment begins every Sunday and Wednesday at 20:30 UTC.

Battle

This is the main phase. Users can freely enter any of the available battle stages during this time.

  • PGR GLOBAL: The Battle Phase commences every Monday and Thursday at 07:00 UTC.

Results

Eventually, all currently opened War Zone stages will lock and the system will begin tallying scores. During this time, no action is required from the user.

After this period, Commandants’ ranking in their group is used to decide which Commandants promote to the next group, which are retained at the current group and which are demoted to the previous group.

  • PGR GLOBAL: Tallying begins every Sunday and Wednesday at 20:00 UTC.

War Zone Groups

There are 7 groups that you can be placed in for each War Zone cycle, which depends on your ranking for the previous cycle. These groups, arranged from lowest to highest, are:

  • Reserve
  • Scout
  • Vanguard
  • Elite
  • Leader
  • Hero
  • Legend

Stage Environment

There are five War Zone regions in total. During each cycle, two regions will randomly become available for the user to challenge. Although both of these regions will be locked by default; the user will be able to unlock both stages to gain entry to its stages. This unlocking process can be done for both stages at any time during the Battle phase.

Each of the five regions has a different Stage Environment which buffs a specific type of elemental damage. Omniframes or Uniframes deployed in these regions will deal 30% more of the corresponding elemental damage type. Note that this bonus has no effect on Omniframes or Uniframes that do not deal the corresponding damage type (e.g. Karenina: Ember will deal 30% more Fire damage in the Cycle of Fire stages, while Kamui: Tenebrion will gain no effect in the same region).

  • Machine Factory: Increase Physical DMG by 30%.
  • Cycle of Fire: Increase Fire DMG by 30%.
  • Laser Alloy: Increase Lightning DMG by 30%.
  • Shadow Forest: Increase Dark DMG by 30%.
  • Crimson Frostland: Increase Ice DMG by 30%.

Additional buffs are also given for both regions under Full-Realm Support. These effects tend to buff actions usually done by certain Omniframes during combat. There is an image next to the buff description to indicate which Omniframe benefits the most from the current buff effects, although it can also apply to other Omniframes.

Stage Areas

Each region has three stages for the user to challenge.

Area 1

The maximum score in this stage is 10,000. Clearing the stage will earn the user this score by default. It is possible to skip the combat phase and earn the maximum score automatically on subsequent clears if the user reached the maximum score at least once.

Area 2

The maximum score in this stage is 20,000. Clearing the stage will earn the user this score by default. Note that this stage inflicts a steady bleed effect to all deployed Omniframes or Uniframes that bypasses invincibility (such as the protective effect of Nanami: Storm's signature skill). It is possible to skip the combat phase and earn the maximum score automatically on subsequent clears if the user reached the maximum score at least once.

Area 3

This stage does not have a maximum score and the bleed effect encountered in the previous stage is removed. Instead, users will have two minutes to defeat as many Corrupted as possible. Enemies will be grouped into waves, which vary according to affixes of the stage in the cycle.
These affixes are:

  • Desperate Fight: 1 Enemy per Wave.
  • Duo Challenge: 2 Elite Enemies per Wave.
  • Crowd Battle: 3 or 6 Normal Enemies per Wave.
  • Joint Operation: Multiple Normal and Elite Enemies per Wave.

War Zone Influence

There are three main rewards to be gained from participating: Black Cards, War Zone Influence and BP Currency.

Black Card rewards are given for simply participating in every War Zone cycle and is given in a fixed amount regardless of your ranking in the cycle and the group you are placed in. Since the amount is fixed, you need not worry about your own personal performance or ranking if you are purely focused on the Black Card rewards. You can also follow the Quick Weeklies guide below to save time while collecting the same amount of Black Cards per week.

War Zone Influence is a currency that can be used to purchase Memories from the War Shop. It is rewarded based on the user's individual score (not the user's team score!) and group at the end of any given War Zone cycle.

In this shop, both 5☆ and 6☆ Memories can be purchased. Randomized selections of different Memories in different equipment grid placements will appear here; this selection of Memories will rotate at the beginning of every new biweekly cycle.

In addition to memories, players can also purchase 6☆ Memory Resonance Material Picks (used to select specific resonance slots for 6☆ memories), Leap Wafer Chips (used to purchase materials needed for Power Leap Modification) and Uniframe single Crystals (used to purchase materials for Uniframe Power Modification). It is recommended for players to purchase the discounted Resonance Material Picks if possible, while the other two resources can be obtained from other avenues such as the Voucher Shop (BP shop) and Events.

The last major reward for War Zone is BP currency, which is also based on your score, ranking and group at the end of each cycle.

Another currency that can be gained from War Zone is War Zone Merit, which is distributed based on your ranking in every phase. The amount gained varies per group and rank. Upon reaching 100 Merits, you can no longer gain anymore Merits. However, if you were to be at a rank where you can be demoted, the 100 Merits will be consumed in exchange for you being exempted from demotion. Additionally, 100 Merits is also required to be promoted from Hero to Legend.

Lastly, by promoting to Hero or Legend, you will also gain a badge, “Proof of a Hero” or “Proof of a Legend”.

Tip for Quick Weeklies

If, for whatever reason, you find yourself needing to clear all War Zone-related Weekly Missions as quickly as possible, the below strategy may be utilized.

  • Make sure the very first War Zone Area (Area 1) is uncleared.
  • Form a party that contains only your single weakest character.
  • Start Area 1's battle and let the enemies defeat you. DO NOT defeat ANY enemies! Defeating enemies earns the user a score, but as this strategy will only work if the user does not earn a score, it is necessary that the user ensures that all of them remain alive.
  • Repeat this 6 times.
  • Afterwards, clear all 6 Areas as you normally would by Auto-Clearing Stages 1-2 for each region and clearing Area 3 with your more powerful team(s).