There's a lot of information about XvX Battles in the in-game help section, but I find that there are many aspects of the game that just aren't readily understood by brand new-players. I see the same types of mistakes made again and again by new players - the same mistakes I myself made before experience taught me otherwise. Hopefully this very basic beginner's guide will allow some players to skip that awkward learning phase.
Attack vs Support[]
ATTACK: []
An X-team can consist of as many as 20 players. Of those, only the 5 most powerful players will make up the attack team (often refered to as "strikers.") These top 5 spots are determined by the total of the players' combined attack + defense stats.
These 5 players will be responsible for dealing most of the damage to the opposing team. In fact, the attack team is incapable of doing anything BUT attacking (whereas support players are capable of attacks AND support.)
In addition, only the attack team is capable of sustaining damage from the opposing team. Should a member of the attack team lose all their hit points, they can revive themselves at the cost of 20 CP.
SUPPORT:[]
Anyone not in the 5-person attack team is on support duty and their primary function is to both protect the attack team via defense bonuses and to enable them to do increased damage via attack bonuses. Every time a player performs a support action, they will give a random defense or attack boost to one of the members of the attack team. These bonuses are cumulative, and will last until the end of the battle, provided that the support combo timer does not expire.
When the support combo is high enough, additional support actions may cease to boost the attacking team, and instead serve to weaken the attack and defense stats of members of the opposing team.
Support members can also attack, but because they don't receive any of the support bonuses, their attacks will be weaker and thus their function should be either to bolster the attack combo or else to keep the attack combo timer from reaching zero. Support members who attack in this manner are sometimes refered to as "pokers." Their function is not to deal heavy damage, as this is the role of the attack team.
Combos[]
Combos are perhaps the most important component of an XvX battle, yet it is often one of the least understood by new players.
ATTACK COMBOS:[]
When a player on either the attack or support team performs an attack on the opposing team, they will begin a combo chain, starting at 1. When another player on the same team performs an attack, the combo will increase to 2. By alternating attacks in this fashion, the combo number will increase, and all players will receive an unspecified boost to their attacks which will last the length of the battle, provided the combo timer does not expire. However, should the same player attack twice in a row, the attack combo chain will not increase upon the second attack. The combo will only increase if the action is alternately performed by different players. Once another player has attacked and increased the combo, the first player is once again able to increase the combo by attacking.
SUPPORT COMBOS:[]
Just like attack combos, support combos are raised by alternating support actions between different players on the team. However, only members of the support team are capable of performing support and increasing the support combo. Each time a support is performed, it will boost either the attack or defensive stats of one of the members of the attack team. As the combo chain increases, these stat increases will cumulatively add up, and will remain in effect as long as the combo timer is active.
- Note: The higher the combined attack + defense stats of the support member, the higher the bonus they will impart upon the attack team
COMBO TIMER[]
When an attack or support is performed, it begins a combo timer which counts down from 5:00. As long as the timer is active, the benefits of the combo will be in effect, but once the timer reaches 0:00, all combo benefits will be lost and any new attack or support will start the combo over again at 1. Thus it is imperative to not allow the timer to reach zero. This is accomplished by having another player increase the combo by either attacking or supporting, which will reset the timer at 5:00.
Just as having the same player perform an attack or support twice in a row will not increase the combo level, neither will it reset the combo timer. But sometimes knowing who attacked/supported last can be difficult to keep track of, and checking the battle log wastes precious time. Luckily, a simple solution can be found by looking at the timers themselves. When a player performs an attack or support, the attack timer (on the left) or the support timer (on the right) will display the time in gray numbers. However, once another player attacks/supports, the first player's timer will change colors (attack: red / support: green) which indicates that it their turn to attack/support again in order to both increase the combo and reset the timer.
Players should be aware of these timers at all times, since allowing either of them to reach zero and losing all combo benefits will put the team at a serious disadvantage.
- Please note that should the same player support twice in a row without another player supporting in between, the combo timer will not reset nor will the number of the combo chain increase. However, the stat bonuses of both support actions WILL be received by the attack team and remain in effect so long as the combo timer is active.
COMBO REWARDS[]
In every battle, if the attack combo reaches 50, every team member participating in the battle will receive one time diamond. Likewise, a time diamond is received when the support combo reaches 50, and another when it reaches 100. These numbers should provide a hint at the importance of support. Having twice as much support as attacks is never a bad idea, and an even higher ratio of support can be even better (remember, there's a reason there are a possible 15 support members vs only 5 attackers).
Know your role: the importance of support[]
OK, so that's the gist of attacking and supporting. Attackers attack, and supporters do both. But when should the support team support, and when should they attack? This is another area that new players are often confused about. Many underestimate the importance of support, seeing that it does no damage to the opposing team and earns less BP than most attacks. The truth is, however, that it is often the support team that is responsible for winning battles, albeit indirectly.
When a battle begins and the combos are at zero, all players are on an even playing field, so to speak. Assuming they posessed identical cards, a member of the support team would be capable of doing the same amount of damage with an attack as a member of the attack team. However, once the support combos begin accumulating, the attack team will quickly become much more powerful, allowing for devastating attacks, while the support team's attack power remains static.
This leads to a common mistake made by new players, who are usually in a support role. Support members will find that their attacks appear somewhat weak, sometimes doing as little as 1 BP of damage. Frustrated by this, many new players will then attack using all their cards at once, which usually results in more satisfying results damage-wise, but at a huge cost in CP. Thus, they will quickly burn through all of their stamina refilling their CP in the Command Station, sidelining them for the remainder of the battle.
This is not an efficient battle strategy.
Any attack team member can tell you that they are only as good as the support they receive. Without the benefit of a high support combo, even players with the best of cards will not be able to compete with the less-impressive cards of a well-supported player on the opposing team. Those 10,000+ BP attacks are only possible because the attacker has received a boost to their attack power from a high support combo. Thus, even though a player who only supports will earn less BP than an attacker, by enabling the attacker to deal heavy damage to the opposing team, the support player is indirectly responsible for earning more BP for the team.
This is important, because while a player's total BP will determine their individual ranking, this ranking ultimately serves no purpose other than to stroke one's ego. However, the team's overall BP (note: NOT the win/loss ratio) will determine the team's ranking, which actually IS important, as it will not only determine which teams you are pitted against in XvX battles, but also because a high team ranking is necessary at certain times to receive special rewards.
The Final 5 Minutes[]
Many battles are won or lost in the last few seconds when strikers unload flurries of multi-card attacks all at once. Often the key to success or failure begins at around the 5 minute mark, however. Because both the attack and support combo timers last for 5 minutes, as long as one attack and one support action are preformed any time within the last 5 minutes, the combo will be preserved until the end of the battle. This is important to keep in mind because of knockouts.
KNOCKOUTS:[]
When a player loses all HP, they will be "knocked out" and unable to attack unless they revive themselves. New players should be aware, however, that even if all players on an attack team are knocked out, the battle is not over. While the attack team is unable to act, the support team is still free to attack and support. This is very important, as knocking out the opposing team too early will often lead to a loss.
Here's an example of the classic mistake of an early knockout:
Team A attacks and knocks out all of team B's players at the 6:00 mark. This resets team A's attack timer to 5:00. However, because team B has been completely knocked out, team A cannot attack to reset the timer, and thus at the 1:00 mark, their attack combo is lost and reset to zero. Meanwhile, although team B's attack team was knocked out, their support team was able to continue attacking and supporting, keeping team B's combo level active. Once the 1:00 mark causes team A's combo to disappear, team B's attack members can revive with their combo level intact and deal massive damage to team A, which no longer has the benefits of their attack combo.
Thus, you should NEVER knock out a team with more than 5 minutes remaining on the clock. The only exception to this would be if the two teams have made a pre-arranged agreement to revive imediately upon a knockout, with the primary motivation of each team being to earn as much BP as possible by beating on each other continuously in what is called a "brawl." This is a common occurance during certain events where team rankings based on total BP will net teams exclusive prizes, and thus the rewards of having high BP outweigh those of actually winning the battle.
- Please also note that whichever team is trailing in BP can continue to attack even if the opposing team's attack squad has been KO'd. For example, Team A knocks out all of Team B's attack squad. If team A is ahead in BP, they will be unable to attack unless Team B's attack squad revives. However, if they are behind in BP, they can continue to inflict damage upon Team B's attack squad, even though they have already been knocked out! Thus, it can sometimes be advantageous to be behind in BP when your own team knocks out the opposing team.