Here are some tables to visualize the broad strokes of Gear Up covered in this guide.

1: Neutral
To play for value. What is valuable can be many things, effectively trading HP, maneuvering to a more advantageous position, etc.

2: Recovery
To break away from combat to recover lost value. Usually regaining HP and trying to get out of a disadvantageous situation and back to playing Neutral.

3: Finish
To get the kill on an opponent, irrelevant of value. Assuming one player has a lead in an encounter they can prioritize getting the kill, even by getting a less valuable exchange. This is because getting a kill is binary. It doesn’t matter if a big advantage was thrown away if it meant scoring the kill.

There are no hard lines between playing Neutral, Recovery and Finish in the sense that only one can be done at the same time. These objectives must all be simultaneously evaluated and players are often trying to reach multiple objectives at the same time.

Neutral is the most complex, layered and important of the three objectives.
I divided the Neutral to core and specific components. Core components are relevant in every situation while specific components depend on conditions to be met.

Strength
HP, DPS, Dodge and Hit all increase the effective Strength.

• More HP means the opponent has to deal more damage before scoring a kill.
  Damage taken and the shield pickup factor in to the HP (don't just read the max HP from the garage).
  
• More DPS means the opponents health bar can more quickly be depleted. DPS can be calculated based on the weapon and damage supports, but it is also effected by the damage boost pickup and ammo (no ammo=no DPS).
  
• A small hitbox and fast movement (acceleration and max speed) increase the chance to Dodge. Dodge increase at longer ranges as every design is harder to Hit from a further distance.
  
• Increasing the change to Hit means more effectively being able to utilize DPS.
  Higher projectle speed, lower rate of fire and firing at an opponent at a shorter range with a lower chance to Dodge all increase the chance to Hit. Longer Support Radius means having reduced support weapon accuracy, since they are further spread apart.

Enforcement
A design might have a high Strength value in a given situation, but this is irrelevant if the design is incapable of Enforcing said situation on the opponent. A design with strong short range, but poor long range capability can use a high max speed to chase down and "Enforce" this strength on an opponent. Enforcement takes many forms depending on what is being Enforced. It is better to consider Enforcement on a case-by-case basis.

Recovery
If a design isn't capable of Recovering it wont be able to enter situations at it's highest Strength value, effectively reducing it's ability to play Neutral.
Having the different objectives be components within each other might be confusing, but it makes sense.

Starter Tank example:
Disclaimer: 50% of the playstyle is the Starter Tank, but 50% is the opponent. For the example I assume an "average" opponent. This is an observation of which components generally matter the most for the Starter Tank on average.

The Starter Tank can not rely on raw Strength to overpower most opponents, but it is at it's strongest at longer ranges. This can be Enforced with the high max speed allowing it to control the range of the encounters. The Recovery is strong (more on that later) meaning it can usually enter situations at it's highest Strength value.

70 max HP is weak. 43.75 DPS is subpar due to lacking damaging supports.
Even with 35 max speed and good acceleration on paper the chance to Dodge is poor:
The Scout tracks are a pretty big target. When they accelerate the center of gravity causes the tank to do a little jump, reducing the effective acceleration and making it unviable to rely on Dodge.
With a projectile speed of 200 and rate of fire of 1.25 the Cannon Basic has a good chance to Hit at long ranges. At shorter ranges this advantage is negligible, all weapons have a higher chance to Hit at shorter ranges.

All specific components are techniques be used to generate value to aid the Neutral. More techniques exist, I'm just covering the most important ones. Each of the specific components have to be Enforced to be effective.

Poke
By placing the tank behind cover and revealing only the turret and the weapon the player can get line of sight to the opponent while only revealing a small portion of the tank.
Having a longer weapon radius places the gun in a more favorable position to use Poking.
Poking is more effective at long ranges, Hit chance is important.

Curve
By placing the entirety of the tank behind cover projectile curve can be curved over the terrain/cover to deal damage to the opponent without them having an opportunity to return fire, as they do not have line of sight.
While using Curve at shorter ranges having a low profile and a high weapon radius is beneficial.

Cover
Weapons deal a certain damage per hit, during the reload the player can hide behind cover. The time spent behind cover wont reduce the DPS as the player was reloading anyways. This is made more effective with high damage per hit and a low rate of fire. After the reload the player can exit the cover to deal the damage per hit again, or wait for the enemy to enter their line of sight for a similar result.

Retreat
Slow projectile speed can be used to deal damage without ever being in line of sight.
By shooting where the enemy is anticipated to break cover and enter line of sight, and Retreating behind further cover before the enemy gets a chance to establish line of sight.

Splash
By using the impact radius of a weapon damage can be dealt without the opponent getting line of sight.

Starter Tank example:
Poking is the primary way to gain value in the Neutral. The Hit chance is good. The tall profile allows it to reveal it's weapon without revealing the big hitbox of the Scout tracks by Poking the turret over the terrain. The solid movement allows continuous repositioning to Enforce the ability to Poke.

The projectile curve of the Cannon Basic is not enough to make effective use of Curve. The Splash isn't anything special. Retreating can be done, but with a high projectile speed it isn't the most relevant. With some decent acceleration and 35 damage per hit Cover has some uses.

Movement
Max speed can be used to escape the effective range and put cover between the like of sight of the opponent. The most common way to restore HP in the Recovery is to use the Movement to gather HP pickups.

Dodge
Evading enemy fire is simply a way out of bad situations.

Self-Heal
Apart from HP pickups, Auto Repair supports and self-splash with healing weapons can be used to restore HP, aiding the Recovery.

Sidenote: By avoiding detection with Stealth Supports a player can have freedom to Recover without enemy pressure

Starter Tank example:
The Recovery is strong. With a light weight and max speed of 35 it can effectively outrun opponents and it is usually a quick process to recover lost HP or reposition somewhere more advantageous.

Neutral
Without getting an advantage in the value the enemy wont be weakened and they can't be Finished off.
Finish also depend on the fact the player has value to sacrifice, without Neutral this value wouldn't exist in the first place.

Movement
Without sufficient max speed it will be difficult to chase down the opponent. If they can simply run away the Finish is ineffective.

Hit
Without confidence that the shots fired will Hit, going for a Finish is less desiarable. Having a lower projectile speed also reduces the effective range, making it easier for the enemy to escape to safety. Splash capabilities can be used to Finish off weakened opponents.

Recovery
Going for a Finish is less desirable if it is followed by a difficult Recovery process to regain the value spent in the Finish. A strong Recovery means a design can better rely on the Finish.

Starter Tank example:
At 35 max speed it is effective at chasing down weakened opponents. The high chance to Hit allow it to go for aggressive plays in confidence, and have a large effective range making it hard to outrun. The Recovery is strong, so it is relatively low-risk to throw away value for the Finish. These factors make the Starter Tank capable of some flashy and aggressive plays to chase down and destroy weak targets.