Hello Agents,
ODS_Roy here to talk a little about the different types of damage your weapons and skills can perform, and how they apply in the game. You may see some information overlapping with previous blog posts, but please take this as a refresher to build upon with more advanced information!
There are various types of weapons scattered throughout Blackout Protocol. By increasing your arsenal, you’ll gain more ways to play in whatever style that suits you best, and increase your chances of survival.
Before we start, we should talk about how weapons are acquired.
As you move through Section 13, you can acquire weapons via random drop, or by finding blueprints. Every weapon will have some unique randomized elements—such as overall level or unlockable perks—so be sure to take a close look at every gun you come across.
Weapon Blueprints are how you unlock new weapons permanently. But they won’t be available right away. First, you’ll have to reach the next safe room and turn them in at the Weapons Printer. The next time you die and restart, any weapons you’ve unlocked will be available at the beginning of your run.
Now, let’s talk about different types of weapons.
Every weapon you find displays a colored background in your inventory: red, green, purple, or gold. (At first glance, you might assume these denote rarity, but that’s actually not the case.)
A weapon’s color represents the S2P Department that developed it. Red represents the Firearms Department, purple for the Psionics Department, gold for R&D, and green for Bionics. These coincide with your Agent’s various skill levels, and determine things like overall damage output and available weapon perks.
One piece of information you’ll need to be aware of is how your weapons’ department impacts your gameplay. In addition to doing different kinds of damage in battle, a weapon’s type also affects how your character build unfolds during a run.
During gameplay, you’ll often encounter Nethercubes. These are random pick-ups that provide Synaptic Enhancements: single-run boosts that alter your Agent’s stats and abilities, as well as those of your weapons.
Any time you pick up a Nethercube, you’ll be presented with a selection of 3 Synaptic Enhancements to choose from. As with your weapons, the colors on these enhancements correlate to each of the 4 departments.
Selecting a card from a specific department will raise the skill level it corresponds to. These skill levels, in turn, unlock new perks on each weapon — whether that’s adding some range to a shotgun, or turning one lightning beam into two. So choose your cards wisely, and don’t be afraid to try out lots of different weapons and playstyles.
There are also weapons that don’t belong to any department, like your standard-issue handgun. (Because let’s face it, not everyone can be trusted with a prototype beam cannon.)
Now that you have a bit of understanding on the various types of weapons, let’s talk damage.
There are two main types of damage in Blackout Protocol: Physical and Psionic. Physical Damage is pretty straightforward: it reduces the health bar of a Quarantined Entity (or QT) until they die. Psionic Damage, on the other hand, does something a little different, which we’ll discuss in a second.
Though they all have their own unique quirks and boosts, weapons from most departments (Firearms, R&D, and Bionics) deal Physical Damage. Meanwhile, weapons from the Psionics Department deal damage to an enemy’s Panic Gauge first – then start chipping away at their health after.
Reducing an enemy’s Panic Gauge to zero will trigger various effects, from becoming staggered, to dropping their weapons.
But anything that can hurt enemies can hurt allies, too. When an Agent’s Panic Gauge falls to zero, they’ll enter the Panicked state, significantly reducing their visual range and limiting their actions.
Different enemies will require different approaches. Some foes can’t even be killed unless you’ve got some way to deal Psionic Damage. So when assembling your team, take this info into consideration, and try to bring a diverse set of tools that will allow you to adapt to any situation.
Remember, teamwork makes the dream work!
I hope you found this information to be helpful. Now, get in there and kick some QT butt!
ODS_Roy, signing off.
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