Description:
Zone Battle is a multiplayer variant of the ZONE mode included within the
Fury
downloadable content for
WipEout HD. Contrary to the ZONE mode, Zone Battle
has a preset target zone to be reached. The one who reaches the target zone
first wins the race. To rabidly progress towards the target zone fly over Zone
Pads that are distributed all over the track. These pads will load your craft
with Zone Energy indicated by a Zone Bar displayed on your HUD. The
accumulated energy can either be converted into a boost that will accelerate
your craft to a higher zone level or into vital lost energy your craft depends
on. Each time you boost, a Zone Barrier will be left in your wake as an
obstacle. Avoid these barriers by all means necessary. Hitting a barrier
without being shielded will cost you Zone Energy and a large fraction of your
craft's vital energy. A brief shield is provided by just absorbing your Zone
Energy.
Technical details:
Running over multiple Zone Pads, without using the current accumulated
Zone Energy in-between, will increase your total Zone Energy a lot faster. The
following table shows how the Zone Energy translate to zone levels and vital
energy upon use either by boosting or absorbing the Zone Energy;
[pads, boost, absorb]
01, 0.0, 00.0
02, 0.3, 18.6
03, 0.6, 27.9
04, 1.1, 37.1
05, 1.7, 46.4 -- being save for one barrier hit
06, 2.5, 55.7
07, 3.4, 65.0
08, 4.4, 74.3
09, 5.6, 83.6
10, 6.9, 92.9
11, 8.0, 100
The given values will be indicated by your Zone Bar.
However, there are also some other ways how you can gain some Zone Energy
for example by doing a barrel role, a perfect zone, or a perfect lap;
[action, boost, absorb]
barrel role, 0.1, 12.9
perfect zone, 0.2, 15.7
perfect lap, 0.3, 20.0
based on an empty Zone Bar with one pad already taken. Note that a perfect lap
amounts for about 2 pads.
Hitting a Zone Barrier will decrease your Zone Energy and your vital energy as
follows;
-4 boost, -29.1 absorb, -40 vital energy.
Getting destroyed will cost you 5 zone levels that you had already attained.
Tips & Tricks:
First and formost, get youself familiar with a track where you wanna race a
Zone Battle on. Know where the pads are located and get used to the handling
of your Zone Battle craft. Pretty obvious, isn't it? Wait!
How you can
gradually improve will be described on the end of this section. But let's have
a look at some things you should care about when doing Zone Battle;
- remember the target zone
- watch the rate at which you opponents improve
- watch who got eliminated
- always try to fill-up your Zone Bar
- expect more barriers close to the general racing line, on straights, and
right after and before pads - an opponent having the shield put on won't likely to boost within the next
few pads, but stay sharp, don't necessarily ride straight behind - always remember where you saw a barrier last time around
Filling up your craft with Zone Energy depends on your piloting skills and at
the situation at hand. As longer you can hold up filling your craft with Zone
Energy as further you can go while boosting, but as higher the risk becomes
loosing Zone Energy and vital energy due to a possible barrier hit.
Techniques: How to treat a Zone Barrier?
A Zone Barrier will be indicated ahead of time by a new device installed in
every new Fury craft, called the Barrier Prediction Unit (BPU) displayed on
your HUD. But be careful, this device has its limits.... The BPU will give
you a hint ahead of time where on the track a barrier is positioned once you
are in close proximity. If the BPU flags a barrier then immediately plan an
alternative route and adjust the craft accordingly whether you can just
actually see the barrier or not. Always try to swing-by in a rather smooth way
to not mess up your steering on high speeds. However, if there isn't enough
time or room for a proper swing-by maneuver then, odd as it seems, target the
barrier and to a quick side-shift just before you would actually hit it.
Side-shifting is quite effective on being 'close' to a barrier. Finally, if
there isn't even enough time for a side-shift then the last option left is
your shield.
Hence, depending on the proximity to a barrier, we have the following
techniques one can use to get rid of them;
- smooth swing-by
- side-shift
- shield
Hints:
- Don't smash into a wall to dodge a barrier. This would mess up you steering
and will cost lots of vital energy on high speeds. - Since a barrier hit cost 40 vital energy, always try to keep at least this
amount of energy. However, going for victory sometimes means to take the risk
of running sub 40 to collect Zone Energy for the final boost. - If your Zone Bar is almost full and if you got plenty of vital energy
(>> 40) then don't put the shield on for an "inevitable" barrier hit, just
boost through the barrier and refill your vital energy shortly thereafter. - If the BPU fags a barrier (that is currently not within your sight) on the,
for example, left side of the track, then prepare to go for the clear right
side because the indicated barrier may stay closer to the middle of the track
as you might think by just looking at the BPU. - if you got caught by a tie in your brain whether you should go left or
right around a barrier -- activate your shield (if you can) - Wanna annoy your opponents? Then just place a barrier at a blind spot
or watch at what places the BPU fails and place them over there. xD - special: Show that you own the competition by winning a 55 Zone Battle
with 62.9 zones.
I pwn at Phantom Speed Lap, but I suck at Zone Battle. How to git gud am
cry!? xD : I've thought off a way on how everyone can make real progress
in Zone Battle. Go to Racebox and choose Zone Battle (max. zone 55, difficulty
Novice) and choose a track where you wanna improve. Now start the race and
boost up to the zone level you feel quite comfortable with (you can do perfect
laps easily etc.). From there on never boost again! Just let the zone level
increase by itself and try to lap perfectly by practicing to dodge all the
barriers on the track. The AI takes ages to catch up (if you boost up to zone
10 or so). So you got plenty of time practicing the whole thing. If you wanna
have some more barriers on the track then switch over to Skilled.
For additional information see Vartazian thread;
Zone Battle Strategy Guide.
(btw; Ignore my first two comments.
)