So you have played some PvE, done a few missions rated 'hard' and you are feeling ready to take on other players right? Well be careful because there are some things you need to know before stepping into PvP.

First of all have you seen this?


The english isn't perfect but what this means is that unit cooldown is reduced.
This applies to ALL OF YOUR UNITS IN PvE & PvP

I can not stress enough the importance of getting all the prisoners in story mode!
But how do you do that? In the PC version you can't buy medals, you can only win them by getting all S ranks in PvE or by playing PvP. Medals are awarded even when you lose but those are awarded the next day so even if you lose a lot be sure to keep trying so you can buy radars to unlock those prisoners.

You see this trusty little guy?


Been with you from the very beginning. Well he is the second biggest reason you will die in PvP and lose. Range is everything and if you can kill the enemy before they get close enough to hurt you then you will win. Don't even enter PvP until you can replace him with something better!

On the subject of beginner traps...


Now sandbags McGuffin is useful because sandbags stop enemy advancement.
What I see too many players doing however is simply sending him out, which is wrong. One shot and he will turn tail and run away wasting precious points and time.
The best way to use him is to send him out then click on him well in advance to build the wall.
A misplaced wall is better than no wall at all because he has a long cooldown if you mess it up.

You cannot, I repeat CAN NOT buy medals on the steam version, period.
This means that the DLC packs will not magically make you win, infact many of them are better than the free starter units but significantly worse than the later free units.
I have killed over 50 players with Camel Slug Eri and she is free and here I will tell you why.

Each unit has an attack animation and until that animation is finished, no damage is dealt.
What this means is that Tarma's shotgun attack has pushback and if DLC Iori is pushed back, he can't attack.
This is why out ranging your foe is so important and now it makes sense why melee units or short ranged units in this game are so bad. Being pushed back is akin to being stunlocked and some characters are VERY good at keeping enemies at bay.

You can buy the DLC units if you wish but don't be fooled into thinking they will score you wins. On the other hand the faster you get rid of your own rubbish characters the better, so in that regard they are a step in the right direction.

I have killed many DLC players with the free starting crab because it has no attack animation, it just needs to touch the enemy and they die.

Pay attention to the attack animation of units in order to find the good from the bad.

You need credits to boost your units and you get credits from PvE.
You need to free all prisoners on every stage in order to boost your base, your HP, your AP generation, everything!

The key then is just to PvE a lot. It really is that simple. If you die a lot in PvP everything you need is gained from PvE to make you better at PvP.

If you buy the DLC units keep in mind that you still need to level them up for them to be good and that takes, you guessed it, credits from PvE.

Most of the players I defeated on my way to the top would have done so much better if they had spent some time in PvE getting all the prisoners.

With that said, against equally skilled players, never rush.
Another common mistake is to send out the blue soldiers ASAP but they are mostly useless but looking past that, send out the strongest unit you can! If the enemy builds barricades in front of you, increase your AP generation speed instead. The more units you can swarm them with the greater your advantage.

Sandbags are destroyed immediately by the walking crab so check your foes loadout before the match. If they have the crab don't send sandbags out, get ready to launch your own crab instead.

Never let the enemy get too close to your base, often my victories come because the enemy waits until I am outside their base and then they decide to send their own troops to counter attack but this has one flaw: Special Attacks.

Tarma's shotgun, Eri's Laser & various other units have attacks that deal splash damage so I can hit your base and your units. Try to keep the fight in the middle or as far away from your base as you can manage.

And thats it, the secret to winning is as simple as find all the prisoners in PvE and check unit ranges so you can out shoot your enemy.
Good luck soldier.