Team Stages

Team Stages are played in a different format compared to regular stages. As of the latest update, there are 6 chapters available.

Aries and Taurus, each with their separate rankings for players. Each Chapter comprises of 8 stages and utilizes the bosses that were fought in their respective constellations, i.e-

 Taurus

For more information on the later stages, simply visit **Stage Mode** for the structured lists.

## Prerequisites

Team Stage mode is played using **Team Keys** rather than Energy. Team Keys are earned in **any mode of play that expends Energy** in a 1:1 earning rate, ie. 20 Energy used for a stage upon completion earns you 20 Team Keys. 60 for 60, 12 for 12, etc.

Each play expends 100 Team Keys, and although not officially mentioned, a player can only play up to **10 times per day**, before an error pops up to alert you.

The power rating mechanics are similar to Purgatory Mode. They do not reflect the actual difficulty you are about to face. But, you're going to need every bit of power you can muster to optimize combat. **Every.Last.Bit.Of.It.**

## Mechanics

**Taking Aries Star Field as example...**

First off, 3 Miniboss stages have to be cleared. These consist of regular waves followed by a battle with Heavy Red. Each stage also has a 2 minute time limit similar to Purgatory Mode. Using these 2 minutes, players must progress **as far as they can** in the selected stage. If the player fails to complete, the player will leave the stage and be brought to the report screen. (see right).

* Damage Dealt is a quantifier for rankings. The accumulated amount is tallied into the player's rankings at the end of the relevant chapter. (More on that later)
* Progress generally indicates the amount of damage done to the Boss ship as well as stage progress. It is an indicator for the player and also your fellow teammates on the current progress of the stage

At this time, 3 things can happen-

1. The current player may continue to progress on the stage and it will resume at the point of play where they left off. If it was during a boss battle, its HP will also be reduced down to its last recorded battle.
2. Or, a team member may spontaneously take up the battle and continue its progress. Because progress is shared, no two players can play the same stage at the same time, and a pop-up will notify you of another member currently attempting the stage.

**Note:** Be advised that Team Stage bosses are deliberately made into stone wall enemies that can never be shot down in a single attempt.

Because **there is no pausing** either, players are advised to find undisturbed time to play this relatively high stakes game mode.

* The only way to pause is to actually crash and die, *not the best idea*.
* Switching off the screen works too, it halts the game and will trigger the pause screen upon switching it back on, **however, the game may recognize it as a disruption and null your progress when game ends.**
* A legitimate way to pause the game is by pressing the peacemaker button when the player has 0 peacemakers, prompting the pop-up to freeze the game.

## Enemy Attribute

A newly introduced element is the Attribute system from Chapter 3 onwards. There are 3 Attributes - Babylon, Pompeii, Atlantis. They play out in a rock-paper-scissors fashion, where Pompeii > Babylon > Atlantis > Pompeii.

* Or in color naming - Red > Green > Blue > Red. (Think R>G>B)

With this, also comes a new equipment component known as Nuclei (I will explain in-depth on Nuclei in the link). However, the true importance of these enemy attributes isn't their associated weaknesses, but how **they actually make your life more difficult in combat.**

First, while not a complete myth, this needs to be addressed. The power of your nuclei means nothing to your enemy. Their great amounts of HP negates even the effect of the strongest nuclei you have on board.

Second, enemy attributes determine the types of **gimmicks** the boss ship possesses. Each of these attacks are triggered during the first attack of the battle, and subsequently when a certain boss ship attack is used. To explain how they function-

 Bouncing mines
 **Pompeii** | Spawned bullet sprays
 Extensive bullet sprays
 **Atlantis** | Falling bullet stars
 Flanking bullet stars
 **Mixed** | -

## Ranking/Rewards

    Each Chapter has their individual rankings, whose icons can be found at the base of the respective Star Fields. Rank is determined by the amount of damage inflicted through enemy waves and boss battles. The top 5 players involved in each chapter will be awarded a larger sum of tokens accordingly by rank, while the rest beyond 6-15 will have significantly lesser tokens (as seen on the Taurus image). The later chapters will grant more tokens as well.

Once a Chapter is finished when all 8 stages are cleared, the rankings are cleared and the respective Chapter can be restarted.

To earn tokens, there are 2 ways - Simply by playing, a player will be ranked and earn tokens according to their rank when the chapter is finished. The other way is to simply play the games.

## Strategic Planning

    Now that you have read the above, this mode is all about maximizing firepower. I hope you have been practicing the juggling of power ups because each one will be extremely valuable. Here are some tips to follow for best output.

* Your ultimate goal is to **inflict as much damage as currently possible** in 2 mins**.** Make tactical choices when deciding how to utilise your Pilot's skills, especially Roy's or Angelina's.
* **Use Peacemakers judiciously**. Be advised that Peacemakers are not scaling weapons and will barely scratch the HP bar of the boss ship, save for a few ticks. They are however just as crucial in a battle with a boss that is almost destroyed, and can make the difference between last-minute success and failure.
* As long as the **Boss ship begins to explode** before the timer reaches 0. The run is considered to have been **won** (100%) once that happens.

* Destroying the fodder planes- Every complete set of fodder planes destroyed bears the chance of a valuable weapon upgrade. And each power-up means a chance to go Overload. As far as possible, ***LET NONE ESCAPE.***
* Plan your skirmishes. *Capitalize on your team's progress just as they would capitalize on yours.*
* Remember, **priority goes to inflicting more damage**, not how many stages you clear out.
* For info on **Tokens**, see Team Tokens.

## Trivia

Since the Team Key earning rate is pegged at 1:1 against Energy, a normal player without VIP perks will recover energy at 1:5mins. Hence-

* 1440 mins in a day / 5 = 288 Energy points
* With the 100 Energy daily bonus = 288 + 100 = 388 Energy
* 3x 100 Energy refreshes = 388 + 300 = 688 Energy
* 5 Energy receives from Teammates = 10 Energy (5x2)
* 15 Energy receives from Friends = 30 Energy (15x2)
* **Maximum Energy <-> Key earnings = 728**

VIP Players on the other hand, assuming they have all VIP Tiers granting them 1:4min recovery, 150 Energy cap, 4x Energy refreshers, increase from 15 to 20 Friend energy-

* 1440mins in a day / 4 = 360 Energy points
* With the 120 Energy daily bonus = 360 + 120 = 480 Energy
* 4x 100 Energy refreshes = 480 + 400 = 880 Energy
* 5 Energy receives from Teammates = 10 Energy (5x2)
* 20 Energy receives from Friends = 40 Energy (20x2)
* **Maximum Energy <-> Key earnings = 930**