With every free-to-play game there is the question: How free is it really? How much can I do without having to pay?

In the case of Blacklight: Retribution you can play the game without any real restrictions and not spend a cent on it. Every gun, secondary gun, guns part, armor, helmet and so on can be bought with in game currency. The only things that you would have to spend real money on is weapon and armor skins but that is optional because they don't provide any in game advantages. When new gear items are released for a while they can only be rented with in-game currency, but in time they are made available for permanent purchase too.

So long story short - no pay to win. If you want something, you play the game and earn some GP (in-game currency) and buy it.

If you like something you can either buy an item permanently or rent it for a temporary duration. Renting is good if you want to try it out, but if you know that you want it it's much cheaper in the long run to buy the permanent version of the item.

The default gun (Assault Rifle) is very good. Actually it's so good that it was banned from competitive play. So you don't need to worry about getting a different gun until you have some spare in-game cash or you want a sniper rifle.

What you are missing as a new player:
1. You have no tactical gear. So saving up for one should be one of your priorities. The general consensus is that the Heal injector is the best because with it you can heal yourself and your teammates.

2. Your helmet and armor is middle ground - not too much health, not too much speed, not too much HRV. It doesn't mean that it's bad, but it means that when you customize it you can make it suit your play-style better.

It's best not to buy any pieces of armor at early levels, because later you can get more extreme variations from the average stats, so these ones will probably suit your play-style better.
Also pay attention that each piece of chest armor and boots have two circles next to them. These indicate how many slots for gear (grenades, knives. etc.) this armor provides. The number of circles with a dot inside them means the number of gear slots the armor gives you. Chest armor and legs can provide you up to two gear slots each for a total of 4 gear slots.


In this example:
The Dataluxe BattleVest OS gives you no gear slots.
The Dataluxe X2 Tactical gives you one gear slot.
The Overmatch Impact CQT gives you two gear slots.

3. You have only one grenade, a low damage melee item and no "cheese" items. Most of this actually depends on your play-style, but more grenades is often beneficial. To actually use melee it is best to have a speed oriented build, so it is better to try that later on when you gain some levels and unlock speed oriented armor pieces. Finally "cheese" items such as the Tomahawks, Stun Shurikens and Proximity mines are easy to get kills with, but they won't earn you any respect.

This section of the guide is designed to give some tips for someone that is relatively new to the multiplayer FPS genre but others might also find something useful here so I'd recommend having at least a quick look at the contents.

Movement
In firefights use cover and always try to position yourself so that you would have an advantage over your opponent. These advantages can be various such as shooting from behind cover, having a route to escape safely if the fight is not going your way and so on.
This is something a player learns in time, but watching the movements of highly skilled players also helps develop this sense so in the Links section I put some links to the YouTube accounts of some of the best players in the game. Try to pay attention to how they move around the map, when and how they choose to engage the enemy, how they use cover and so on.

Aiming
In Blacklight: Retribution a headshot is not an instant kill except weapons like the Bolt action Rifle or the Anti-Material Rifle. Despite that it is still always worth aiming at the head because a headshot does double damage. So if you have an Assault Rifle that does 50 damage and your opponent has 200 health you would only need to hit him 3 times (or just 2 times if you make 2 headshots). The difference of that 1 extra bullet can mean life or death.

Recoil
All weapons in this game have recoil. For some weapons it is barely noticeable and for others it's very strong.

What is recoil?
It means that like in real life if you continuously fire the weapons (press down your mouse button and don't release it) the weapon will start shooting more and more upward.
For example, the Bullpup Full Auto has almost no recoil and the Heavy Assault Rifle has very strong recoil.

What can we do about recoil?
You have two options:
1. Use Spray Control. I won't go into much detail about it here, but basically what you want to do is to counter the recoil with your mouse. Go into training mode, stand in front of a wall at a medium distance and just hold down you shooting button. See how much you bullet holes in the wall go up. Next try the same, but this time as you shoot try pulling your mouse down. Your goal is to find the speed at which you need to pull the mouse down while shooting to stop your gun from shooting up.
2. Customize you weapon by reducing it's recoil stat (using Stocks and ). The downside of this is that since gun parts are more or less balanced you will generally have to give up other stats for this (for example have lower accuracy).

Pre-fire
What pre-firing means is that you shoot before you actually see the enemy. For example, if you know that an enemy is about to turn the corner you should aim at where his head should appear after he turns the corner and shoot just as you think he is about to come out. This tactic gives you (the defending player) an advantage over the player that is attacking you because you can shoot and you enemy will just run into your bullets.

"Cooking Nades"
In real life cooking grenades would definitely be a bad idea, but in games this can be very useful. What "cooking nades" actually means is activating a grenade, but not throwing it right away and keeping it in your hand for a few seconds. This is useful because grenades have a fixed timer after which they explode. If you throw it at your enemies after "cooking" it a little they will have less time to react to it. You can time it so that the grenades would explode the moment they are close to your enemies leaving them no chance to escape. Just don't keep them in your hands for too long.

In this section of the guide I will talk about things that are in Blacklight: Retribution that are not common for all FPS games.

Using the HRV
The HRV is this game's key function that makes it different from most other games in the market. You could call it a temporary wall-hack that is available to all players for a limited time (it has a cool-down that depends on the gear you are wearing, but more about that later). By pressing "V" (or another button if you changed you keybinds) you get an alternative view where you can clearly see all enemies and teammates through walls, but in this mode you cannot use any of you weapons. Using HVR effectively is very important in this game and it is also a skill that you will have to learn if you want to be good.

Tip No.1
Turn off HRV toggle in the options menu. Then HRV mode will only be active while you are holding down the HRV button ("V"). This will help you use HRV quickly and not get caught in HRV mode without being able to fight back.

Tip No.2
You should always use HRV quickly, often and in safe places. Don't use HRV as you are turning a corner or if you think you might get rushed by an enemy. If you use HRV at the wrong time you are pretty much guaranteed to die, but learning to use it is key to the game because it provides you with vital information about your enemies.

Depots
Depots can be found in all maps and have a few different appearances (usually an interactable terminal at some wall).
At depots you use a currency called CP. It's only relevant during the match (after the match it all disappears and you start each match with 0 CP).
By spending CP you can buy an ammo or health refill or you can buy special weapons like a katana, a flamethrower or a hardsuit.
If you don't know where the nearest depot is you can use the HRV and all the depots on the map will be marked with a white circle.

The gear you can get from the depot will not have as big of an influence on you performance as learning to use the depot to refill your health and ammo in-between firefights. If after a firefight you are left with only half your health don't rush at other enemies because you will most likely die. If there is a depot nearby refill your health and then take on the enemies with much higher chances of survival.

Hacking
In Blacklight you can hack door panels to close them or in some game modes, such as Domination (DOM) you are required to hack special nodes to capture them. To hack a panel simply approach it and press the "Use key" ("E"). A hacking screen will appear. As shown in the example it contains one number in the center and two numbers on each side. You have to find which number matches the number in the middle and press the movement arrow in that direction. In the example the matching number was on the right, so I pressed "D" (or the "move right" button). To hack an object you have to correctly match four times in a row. If you make a mistake you have to start over.

Taking out Hardsuits
It is quite likely that you will soon have an encounter with this mecha so you should be prepared. If you just try to kill it by shooting at it, you will die...many times. However if you know what you are doing neutralizing them can be quite easy.

There are various ways to neutralize a Hardsuit. You can use depot items such as Stinger rockets (it takes 2 of these to destroy a Hardsuit) or the Flamethrower (you have to sneak up to the Hardsuit, but it kills the pilot quickly and also leaves the Harsuit almost unharmed for you to take if you wish).

However if no depot is available and you have good cover from which you can shoot at it you can try to kill it with you gun. Note that this is VERY risky and other methods should be used it they are possible.
If you want to destroy a hardsuit with your gun you first have to use the HRV because each Hardsuit has a random weak point. It will be shown in a different color in HRV mode.

Shooting at the weak point increases the damage multiple times and makes it much easier to destroy it. You will know that you are hitting the weak point when instead of yellow sparks you will see blue ones.

Although customization is also something not found in all FPS games (especially this level of customization) I decided to put it in a separate chapter so that people that are interested in it could find it more easily.
In Blacklight: Retribution you can customize a lot of different elements regarding yourself (helmet, armor, boots) and you gun (muzzle, barrel, stock, clip, weapon tag) that affect your stats and can help you optimize for the game-style you want (for example, you can be fast in exchange for having less hitpoints).
As stated in the section "Your gear compared to a max level player's gear" your starting helmet and armor is middle ground - not too much health, not too much speed, not too much HRV. It doesn't mean that it's bad, but it means that when you customize it you can make it suit your play-style better.

Meanings of stats:
"Health" means how much damage you can take until you die.
"Run" (Running speed) means the speed at which you move all the time.
"Stamina" means for how many seconds you can sprint by pressing the sprint key (default is "Shift").
"Armor" means what percentage of damage is reduced in case of a headshot.
"HRV" descrives how long you can stay in HRV mode.
"Recharge" is used to describe the rate at which your HVR recharges.

Helmet stats:
The Armor % on helmets doesn't mean an actual overall damage reduction. It only means that in case of getting hit by a headshot the damage will be reduced by that percent. So it's only useful against certain weapons and in certain builds. Otherwise it's not important and you shouldn't buy helmets based on it.

When choosing a helmet you can go with either extra health or run speed and stamina. This is your choice to make, but many people opt for more health, because playing a speed build effectively takes skill and they are considered under-powered because of the limited advantages over tanky high-health builds.

HRV is the key to this game (it's the legal Wall-hack you activate by pressing "V"). So it's common to get a helmet with a high HRV stats (unless you are going for a high armor build or you want to trade of some of the HRV for more run speed).

It's best to use HRV quickly (just a second to quickly check your surroundings) so get a helmet with a high HRV Recharge stat. It means that you will be able to use HRV more often.
The other HRV stat is only important if you want to stay in HRV mode for a long time, which is not recommended because in this mode you can't defend yourself and are very vulnerable.

Upper and lower body armor stats:
The main stats that you want to pay attention to when buying armor is how it affects your health, running speed and stamina. Usually armor that gives you more health reduces your running speed and stamina and visa versa.

Also pay attention that each piece of chest armor and boots have two circles next to them. These indicate how many slots for gear (grenades, knives. etc.) this armor provides. The number of circles with a dot inside them means the number of gear slots the armor gives you. Chest armor and legs can provide you up to two gear slots each for a total of 4 gear slots.


In this example:
The Dataluxe BattleVest OS gives you no gear slots.
The Dataluxe X2 Tactical gives you one gear slot.
The Overmatch Impact CQT gives you two gear slots.

Popular choices:
It's best not to buy any pieces of armor at early levels, because later you can get more extreme variations from the average stats, so these ones will probably suit your play-style better.
Typically a popular Upper and lower body armor choice is going with the ArmCom Break Guard or Guardian Colossus, because it gives you a lot of health and it still leaves you mobile enough.

For helmets you should decide on what you want to modify in you current build because typically helmets either:
have slow run speed but add health (Datalux Slant, Allied Hunter, Fox+cat, etc.);
have fast run speed but low health (Overmatch Bonebreaker, Allied Ghost, Allied Sniper, Prex Chem/Hazmat, etc.);
They also have either good HRV recharge rate or not independed of that. I personally like the Hunter, Fox+cat or Atago (limited release item) paired up with some low health high run speed armor.

This section of the guide aims to give you some basic information regarding customizing your weapons.
To change your weapon or some of its parts go to (starting from the main menu):
Customization->Weapons->Click on the weapon you want to change->In the list "Custom" select what part of the gun you want to change. The base of your gun (smg, rifle, sniper rifle) is called "Receiver".

Choosing a weapon (receiver) for the occasion:
The weapon (receiver) you decide to use and customize should mainly depend on you playstyle.
The Assault Rifle is a great and very versatile weapon. It is the best overall weapon in the game because it can be used in all situations.

Other guns generally are very good in some situations and quite week in others so choosing one of them depends on your playstyle:
if you like moving around without ADS'ing (aiming down the sights) the Bullpup Full Auto is a great choice;
if you like to fight mainly in close range - the M4X Rifle has a superb fire rate;
if you mostly fight at mid to long distances - you can chose to tap fire (shoot only a few bullet at a time) the Heavy Assault Rifle (or the AK470 Rifle if properly modified) or the modify the Burstfire Rifle to get 0 spread;
if you just want to snipe - the Bolt-Action Rifle or the Anti-Materiel Rifle (I would recommend using a Bolt-Action Rifle and trying to get headshots. Just make sure that when customizing you don't exceed 180 damage or you will get a reduction of accuracy - the spread-aim will go above 0).

However with proper customization and player skill other roles/uses of the weapons are also possible.

Weapon stats:
"Damage" - the amount of damage this weapon will do with one bullet.
"Ammo x/x" - the amount of bullets in a magazine/ the maximum amount of bullets you can have for that weapon (total).
"Zoom" - the level of zoom you will have when aiming down the sights.
"Spread-aim" - the amount of inaccuracy when aiming down the sights (lower means more accurate).
"Spread-hip" - the amount of inaccuracy when shooting from the hip (lower means more accurate).
"Spread-move" - the amount of inaccuracy when shooting while moving (lower means more accurate).
"Firerate" - the number of bullets that can be fired in one minute.
"Reload" - the time (in seconds) that it takes to reload the gun.
"Scope in" - the time (in seconds) that it takes to aim down sights (from the moment you click the button until you are fully zoomed in).
"Recoil" - the amount of recoil this gun has (lower means less recoil so the gun will move up less when shooting).
"Range x/x" - the range of the weapon when it starts doing reduced damage / the range at which the weapon does minimal damage.
"Run" - the speed at which you move when holding this weapon (holding heavy weapons will make you move slower).

Weapon parts and what stats they affect:
"Receiver" - the basis of your gun. It affects all the gun stats except "Zoom".
Note that "Firerate" depends only on the receiver (the only exception is the Bolt-Action Rifle where it depends on other parts, such as the muzzle, barrel, clip and stock).
Also note that different receivers with similar stats can still act slightly differently.
"Muzzle" - can affect "Damage", "Spread (all)", "Recoil" and "Range".
"Barrel" - can affect "Damage", "Spread (all)", "Scope in", "Range" and "Run".
"Magazine" - can affect "Damage", "Ammo", "Reload", "Recoil", "Range" and "Run".
"Scope" - can affect "Zoom" and "Scope in".
"Stock" - can affect "Spread (all)", "Scope in", "Recoil", "Range" and "Run".
"Weapon tag" - can affect any stat except "Fire rate", "Zoom" and "Scope in". Can also affect not gun related stats such as health, HRV and so on.
"Camo" - does not affect any stats.

Weapon tags
Weapon tags are useful because they provide a small boost to some of your stats. For example the +Damage weapon tag gives +1 damage. Usually it's for one specific stat, but some rare weapon tags provide boosts for multiple stats. However in that case the boost that is provided to each stat is smaller than from a single stat weapon tag.

If you have one, use a +Health weapon tag to get to 201 or 202 health. You will die a little less because it's common to make weapon builds that can shoot 200hp players with an optimal amount of bullets.

Later on in the game, when you customize your armor the way you want it to be it is common to use Accuracy or Damage weapon tags. However you always want to use a +Ammo weapon tag on a sniper rifle because it gives you 2 extra bullets which is a huge advantage.

Choosing scopes
At the moment there is no way in-game to see what the scope will look like. So to make choosing one easier I've made a guide with screenshots of what each of the scopes looks like. I think it can be very useful for new players because you don't want to waste your hard-earned GP for a scope that you don't like.

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=222199471
Weapon builds
Since a fellow community member ZeroArmada has already done a guide containing some weapon build suggestions for each of the receivers I will give you the link to his guide:

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=165481134

The Proving Grounds
There are special servers for players that are new to the game. Look for these special servers with "Proving Grounds" in their name. These servers are limited to players that are level 1-10 so you will have an easier time getting used to the game. They also give you 10% extra XP so it's worth it.

Level up packs:
Each time you level up you will get two in-game emails. Each one of them has an attachment.
One of them contains a random weapon tag pack. You have to detach this pack from the email and then activate it to get your free random weapon tag.

The other in-game email contains a pack that has temporary versions of all the in-game items that you unlocked at that level. You should activate that pack and use that gear and weapon parts to find out if you like them. This lets you test out the weapon parts and other things without having to spend in-game currency to rent or buy them.

Missions
Missions are something like achievements that you are rewarded for and are a great way of earning GP. They have various different requirements like "1 Win", "3 captured flags", "Run a certain distance" and so on. The rewards typically are either GP or Mission chance packs but you can get some other items too.

The missions can be repeated multiple times but each of them have a reset timer meaning that you can only do this mission once in a certain time frame. Most missions can be done once every 24 hours but there are a few that can only be done once a week.

You can find a list of all the missions and check the possible rewards and reset timers for each of them if you click on your name in the upper right of the screen and go to the tab "Missions".

A few missions that you should always try to complete to get GP are:

"I would sprint 500 miles" - You just have to run a certain distance in-game while sprinting (default - Shift key). Gives 2000(!) GP. Can be done once in 7 days.

"Winner!" - Win 10 games in 24 hours. Gives 1000 GP. Can be done once in 24 hours(!).

"Behind enemy lines" - Capture the flag 3 times in 24 hours. Gives 500 GP. Can be done once in 24 hours.

"Winner!" - Win 1 game in 24 hours. Gives 100 GP. Can be done once in 24 hours.

Choosing Taunts
If you have more than one taunt equipped you can select with one you want to use by holding down the "Taunt" button (default is "T") and moving the mouse to select the taunt you want. After that just press the "Taunt" button and you will use the newly selected taunt instead of the old one.

These tips might not be for everyone, but I believe that at least some people will find these useful.

Changing the HUD
What is a HUD you ask? Well it's how your remaining health, bullets, information about kills ("kill feed"), the color and size of objective's names, the color of player names and similar information is displayed on screen.

In Blacklight: Retribution you can customize the HUD to have it the way you want. You can rearrange the elements in any way you want, change the color of some things or even remove some elements of the HUD if you don't want to see them at all.

Is changing the HUD allowed? Yes, the Developers of Blacklight have stated that they have nothing against this.

If you want to change your HUD you have 2 options:
1. Use the HUD tweaking software developed by Duvel. That way you can make a personal HUD like no other in-game. For that have a look at his guide:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=127520716
2. Find a HUD that you like and copy+paste the configuration details into your game files. This is a link to the official forums where many really nice HUDs were shared:
http://blacklight-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=602281&highlight=contest

To change your HUD this way (Option number 2) you have to find the folder on your computer where the game's files are stored. When you go inside that folder you should find a folder named "Cooked". This folder contains most of Blacklight's configuration files. What you are looking for is the file "FoxHud.ini" which contains the configuration of all the HUD elements. Make a backup copy of the file (just in case). It is a text file so open it with Notepad, Wordpad or any similar text file editing program. Now all you have to do is replace the information in the file with the information from a HUD file that you like. Save the changes and enjoy your new HUD setup!

Helodeck is a crowded map, so it's best not to stay in one place for too long. Especially in the corridors linking the two rooms because if people see you there they will definitely throw some grenades at you leading to your death.

Try to memorize the main spawn locations so that you wouldn't be caught off-guard. Also keep in mind that if you team advances too much the spawns will flip and enemies will start spawning behind you, so keep an eye out for that.

Armor (202 health):
Fox+Cat SR-7 helmet
ArmCom Break Guard Chestplate chest
Dataluxe R7 Skirmisher boots

Weapon:
Assault Rifle
ArmCom Two-Step AM22 muzzle
Vulcan BP-15 barrel
Extended magazine
Lightsky ELO-Tech R.6 scope
V2 Folding CQC/B stock
+Damage Weapon tag



Slumlord is another small and crowded map, so the same advice applies.

Armor (202 health):
Fox+Cat SR-7 helmet
ArmCom Break Guard Chestplate chest
Dataluxe R7 Skirmisher boots

Weapon:
Assault Rifle
Default parts
Extended magazine
Lightsky ELO-Tech R.6 scope
+Damage Weapon tag

This section contains links to the Youtube accounts of some of the best players in the game, because watching good players can teach you a lot about choosing fights, using cover, moving around the map and various other topics.

Roger
Roger is the leader of one the oldest and strongest clans in Blacklight: Retribution called Warrior Nation (WNx).
http://www.youtube.com/user/RogerGaming

redMerc
redMerc is the most consistent pubstomping player in the game as well as a very strong competitive player.
http://www.youtube.com/user/redMercse

Guilte
Guilte along with Previlution are two of the best snipers in the game, but they are skilled with other weapons too.
http://www.youtube.com/user/GuilteTV

ZeroArmada
Probably the best know player in Blacklight: Retribution but also highly skilled in roaming the map and slaying enemies.
http://www.youtube.com/user/z3roarmada