Latest revision as of 11:40, 26 October 2023

The Basics

Player vs Player combat is what, to many people, the endgame of Neocron is all about. The four classes can each be potentially devastating if used correctly, awful if used incorrectly. PvP is not possible with a Law Enforcer installed.

You see somebody, you shoot them. They shoot you back. Repeat until one of you dies, or runs away (see zone whoring or stealth whoring). Expect shit-talk - even if you don't indulge yourself, you need a thick skin - Neocron PvP isn't really for the faint of heart - it has been known for some to suffer from uncontrollable shakes whilst PvPing.

This page is intended as a place for new and returning players to learn what PvP in Neocron entails, as well as some concepts that will help you help you hit the ground running.

Being Prepared

There are several criteria when considering if you are ready to PvP. These include;

Is your character fully levelled?
- If not check out this New Player Guide
Do you have a solid character setup?
- If not check out this Character Setup Guide
Do you have the right gear to PvP?
- If not check out this Character Setup Guide
Do you understand PvP concepts / tactics?
- If not check out the General Concepts section
Are you skilled enough to compete?
- Practise fighting other players

Removing Your LE

Some veterans may suggest removing your LE as soon as possible, but I would suggest it’s different per player – if you decide to do so at all. I would suggest new players complete at least the first 3 points above, the more skilled and knowledgeable you are, the earlier I’d consider it “sensible” to remove your LE.

If you want a real rush, you can remove you LE upon character creation to experience the game to it's fullest - this will mean that you are vulnerable for others to pray on you though.

Removing the LE implant takes about 10 minutes, you can cancel this at any time during the process – but once it’s out there’s no putting it back in if you are rank 30+. Once the implant is out you will be PvP enabled, and the fun can begin.

Law Enforcer Tip:
Taking your Law Enforcer implant out changes the colour of your name within the local player list.

Death

Some unfortunate person caught at the moment of death at a Tech-Haven spawn event

Upon dying, assuming there is no resurrection available, you are forced to GR either to your apartment, or any other GR that is both pre-tagged by you, and open to your faction. You will have to wait off 42% synaptic impairment (SI) and most likely have to get several implants poked back in. Also, some items of armour will be moved to your inventory. You do not drop implanted implants, though other non-epic items can be dropped, with the exception being an item in your safe-slot. Good soul light assumed.

Any item dropped with be dropped in your quick-access belt, which you drop upon dying. People skilled in hacking can gain unauthorized access to this item, the level of difficulty in hacking is determined by how high your soul light is. Also, teamed runners can access you quick-access belt, to pilfer your goodies.

Dog Tags Tip:
You'll also drop a dog-tag if killed by another player. This is like a mini trophy, to show that someone has killed you, although not many people seriously bother in collecting dog tags.

Soulight

Whilst PvP is encouraged, indiscriminate killing can be punished, through loss of Soul Light (SL) and faction sympathy. These consequences are governed by the Sector that you kill within. The next section covers these in more detail.

If your soul light gets too low (below -32) then you will lose your safe-slot and drop several items when you die. Also, your belt will be easier to hack, meaning the dropped items are likely to be taken before you get the chance to retrieve them.

Low faction sympathy can mean you cannot join a faction, or even run standard missions for a faction to increase your faction sympathy, instead of having to run other longer, more difficult missions for little reward.

Sectors

Each location you travel to will be defined as different sector types (this is shown as a console message when you enter a sector). Each sector has it's own consequences for killing others.

Consequences for killing per sector
Sector Type	Friendlies	Neutral	Enemy	Note
Apartment	Punished	Punished	Punished
City	Punished	Punished	Rewarded	There are likely to be guards who will fire upon those with a weapon draw
Dungeon	Punished	Punished	Punished
Outskirt	Punished	Punished	Rewarded
War Zone	No Consequence	No Consequence	No Consequence	Quick belts will not drop in these zones
Wasteland / Hacknet	Punished	No Consequence	No Consequence

Common PvP Scenarios

City PvP

Club Veronique, a popular hub for City PvP

Generally, ad hoc casual fighting which takes place in City sectors when players stumble across each other. Fights often occur near a zoneline with a safe sector. Numbers involved are generally on the lower end (less than 10 people).

Over the years the popular sectors have changed but popular sectors from the past were Military Base & Plaza 2. Currently favored zones are Plaza 3 & Pepper Park 1.

City PvP Tip:
Tradeskill & low level characters without an LE should take extra care when moving through these dangerous sectors.

Wasteland PvP

Canyon Reloading Point, a popular area of action for Wasteland PvP

Generally, ad hoc casual fighting which takes place in Wasteland sectors when players stumble across each other. Fights often occur near to Points of Interest such as Dungeons or public GenReps. Numbers involved are generally on the lower end (less than 10 people).

Wasteland PvP Tip:
This is the biggest danger for an unprepared character who removed their LE whilst levelling. Beware Spy ambushes!

Outpost Fights

PvP at an op-fight

Somewhat structured fights between at least 2 clans. This involves a clan attempting capture an Outpost from another clan by hacking several layers and fighting off the defending clan whilst they do so.

Attackers require 4 hackers to hack 4 layers, therefore at least 4 characters are required to take an outpost. Numbers involved are generally are on the higher end (more than 10 people).

These fights take place in Battlefield sectors, in these sectors you do not drop a belt or lose SL. This encourages fighting as there is no lasting consequence to death.

This is considered the end game goal of many PvP players, fighting for the glory of their clan by defeating others.

Hacking an Outpost Tip:
More information on hacking an Outpost can be found on the Outpost page.

Ganking

Generally, a capped & prepared player praying on unsuspecting vulnerable player to get an easy kill. That vulnerability could come in many forms;

Being a low level
Already being hurt from PvE
Attacked whilst hacking
Having SI from a GenRep
etc

NeoFrag

An entry gate to an NF arena

NeoFrag allows for quick paced fights where death loses all consequences. In these special sectors the game evolves into a Free For All deathmatch where you can instantly respawn with no SI, no implant loss, no item loss, meaning you are instantly ready to fight again.

Upon entering the NeoFrag a snapshot of your character is saved, when you leave NeoFrag you return as the snapshot and any changes made within NeoFrag are forgotten. This makes it useful for testing builds as you can take LoM pills within and when you leave your character, items, xp, skills, money, everything is restored to exactly how they were when you entered.

NeoFrag arenas are located in Pepper Park Sector 1 and Pepper Park 2.

Neofrag Tip:
These zones come with a kill count stat to keep track of who’s the deadliest.

Events

From time to time GM’s or players will host PvP events with a variety of flavors. Some are chaos filled Free For Alls, organised team fights, tournaments, and anything in between.

These events have sometimes had rewards attached such as Gold PAs for the Masters of the Universe tournaments and Last Man Standing tournaments.

The official discord in the best place to keep informed of these.

General Concepts

Well Stocked

Ensure when you leave a safe zone you have what you require to protect yourself;

Medkits
Stam / PSI boosters
Ammo for each weapon you are carrying
Armor (which is not about to break)
Heal / resist nanites (if required)
Drugs

v4 Booster Tip:
Medkits, PSI boosters, Stam boosters, Hack boosters come in V4 editions which have higher usage counts. These can be gained from Job Center First Floor missions.

Keeping Your Guard Up

Monks, Private Eyes & Spies all have ways to apply a “shield” to themselves; either through use of PSI shields or resist nanites. Ensure your setup includes either, and that you have the necessary equipment and skills to use them. Keep those sheilds active at all times to prevent an opportunist taking advantage.

Walking Armory

Try to carry at least 2 weapons which have differing damage types, this will enable you to be effective against a range of setups. These weapons could be a high-tech Energy & Xray weapon and a low-tech Piercing & Poison weapon.

If you think you might face a Spy, you will also want some sort of Area of Effect weapon in order to sustain damage / finish them whilst they stealth. In their stealth they cannot damage you, but you certainly can still damage them. You'll be more effective if that Area of Effect weapon applies a Damage over Time effect which makes the stealthed player more visible and easier to follow.

Weapon Tip:
Consider your weapons and their strengths when thinking about engagements. For instance, if you are carrying a sniper you want as much range as possible between yourself and the target. If you are an APU, you will generally want to be in close proximity, so all your module types are effective.

Hit Zones

Players & NPCs are split into 3 hit zones (head, torso & legs). Attacking each of these zones will have different slightly different results and understanding these will improve your tactic knowledge. Some situations may call for headshots for extra damage, some situations might call for leg shots to slow your target, sometimes you may want the consistency of torso shots.

Attacking the head will do 120% weapon damage
Attacking the torso will do 100% weapon damage
Attacking the legs will do 80% weapon damage + cause an increasing amount of speed reduction (to a point)

Most ways of adding resistance to your character equally apply that resistance across all hit zones, armour pieces however apply protection to only a specific hit zones (excluding the Power Armor slot).

Power Armor / Underwear = protects all hit zones
Helmet = protects head hit zone
Neck = protects head hit zone
Vest = protects torso hit zone
Belt = protects torso hit zone
Pants = protects legs hit zone
Boots = protects legs hit zone

Headshots Tip:
Whilst it's obvious to aim for the head for most damage, some players will periodically crouch and this could result in your shots firing over them instead.

Counter the player setup

You can use the armour you see an opponent wearing to determine possible resist weaknesses. Bear in mind that some may balance their resists to fill this weakness, or even overcompensate to bluff you. Tanks and Private Eyes are more effective at doing this as they have more Strength and Constitution points in order to do this effectively.

As you play you will get an instinct for how high your damage numbers should be and whether your weapon is being effective.

For instance;

Underwear wearing Monks commonly have a Piercing weakness
Power Armor wearing Monks commonly have a Poison weakness
Holovest wearing Spies commonly have a Force weakness
Regant Power Armor wearing Spies commonly have an Energy weakness

Drug Addict

Drugs play a big part in enhancing your character. The most popular drugs give positive benefits for all PvP setups, these are: