Overview

Templar Battleforce is a turn-based tactics game with RPG elements. You command a squad of Templar Knights in missions against aliens. Templars are human fighters, piloting 10 feet tall mechs called Leviathan battle suits. The win the game, you must successfully complete all missions in the Campaign. Templars earn experience points in missions, and as they do, they grow stronger in physical/mental attributes, develop basic skills and advanced talents. The equipment of knights can be changed, and more advanced gear can be researched with requisition points which are also gained in missions.

Thus the game takes place on two planes. One is the Battlefield with its multitude of tactical decisions which most directly reward the skill and experience of the player. The other is the Headquarters where research is carried out, Templars are provided with Equipment, and points are allocated to Attributes, Skills and Talents. Finding the right squad composition and making research decisions are especially strategic in nature and require a long-term vision, while the horizon required for optimizing the squad for individual missions is somewhere in between.

## Templar Knights

*Main article:* Templar Knights

**Templar Knights** are specialized fighters. What they specialize in determines their Class which in turn affects how their Attributes and Skills translate into Combat Stats, the cost of deploying them in missions, and maybe most importantly their Talents. For example, the Fortitude attribute contributes to HP, while the Strength attribute - among other things - affects attack accuracy with strength-based weapons. The chance of successful melee defense and attacks are increased by the Warrior skill. The Stealth skill helps remain undetected by enemies. As opposed to Attributes and Skills which are more passive in nature, Talents are special actions available in combat. The Sensorkit Scan talent, for instance, reveals an area of the battlefield, and the Crippling Fire talent slows down enemies by reducing their Move Points (MP).

Every Templar has five slots of Equipment that can be changed. One Armor slot, two for Weapons, and two for War Gear which provide miscellaneous bonuses. The various Armors, Weapons and War Gear are all grouped into subcategories which are available to a subset of all Classes. So not only do Templar Classes come with different intrinsic qualities, differences in the equipment available set them even further apart. Even within a class, many builds are possible. Finding builds that work well individually is fun. Designing squads that cover each other's weakness and accentuate their strengths is even more so.

## Battlefield

### Missions

*Main article:* Missions

The Campaign consists of many missions. In each, a number of Templars are deployed to a battlefield where they must accomplish some objective. The maps and objectives of all missions are designed by hand, there are no auto-generated ones.

A Mission starts with the Initial Deployment phase in which some Templars are first auto-deployed, then optionally you may Swap them out in favour of other veterans before they do anything.

After the Initial Deployment, the squad works towards the primary objective. During the course of the Mission, if Tact Points are available, additional Templars may be deployed. Finally, the deployed squad may accomplish the primary objective of the Mission, win and reap the Rewards.

### Combat

*Main article:* Combat

Templar Battleforce has an elaborate **combat** system. Templars and their Enemies share the same Combat Stats (except Heat that only applies to Templars). Templar stats vary per Class and build, while there are a few enemy races; each of which has its own specialized units such as Scitterings of the Xeno.

Whenever an attack is performed by a Templar or an Enemy, the Combat Rules kick in, which prescribe how a ranged attack may be Dodged, a melee attack Parried, when a Shield may Auto-Blocked and when the defender gets a chance to Counter-Attack.

If an attack connects, some damage is rolled depending on the attacking Weapon and also on active Buffs, War Gear. Even some Armors have damage bonuses. The attack may be upgraded to a Critical Hit which multiplies the damage caused. This damage, though, still has to pass the defender's Armor that may deflect and soak some of the damage. Finally, the defender's HP is reduced by the remaining damage.

Physical Damage, which may be caused by a Blade or a Rifle, is not the only kind. Fire, Plasma, Radiation and Bio-Poison damage round out the list of Damage Types, each with its own associated Res.

## Headquarters

*Main article:* Headquarters

Between missions, Templars are at the Headquarters. Here new technologies can be bought for hard-earned RP in the Requisition Tree. In the Veterans' List, Templars can be recruited to or dismissed from the squad, their Attributes, Skills, Talents and Equipment adjusted. The Campaign Record screen shows the current Leaderboard Score, the missions completed so far, and the bonuses achieved.

### Requisition Tree

*Main article:* Requisition tree

For the RP that's acquired over the course of the campaign, from the Requisition tree you can unlock additional Templar classes, talents, Armor, Weapons, Gear, Ordnance. Every templar force starts at root of the tree, (at the centre north). From there you are relatively free to expand in whichever direction suits your play style; the need for certain templars on a regular basis will encourage a minimum level of investment in Engineers, Scouts, Soldiers and Captains (left half of the tree). *Do not expect to acquire everything the requisition tree has to offer in one play through as the cost of everything is 18 590 RP. This more than triple the base reward level (5105 - 5595 RP) of all the missions including the Kaldun and Stratos missions on easy difficulty.*

### Veterans' List

*Main article:* Veterans' List

Members of the squad, dead or alive, are listed on the Veterans screen. Templars belonging to Classes already unlocked in the Requisition tree can be recruited. Templars can also be dismissed; apart from decluttering the list, dismissal of inexperienced knights can improve the Score.

On each Templar's status screen, you can allocate Levelup Bonuses to Attributes, Skills. Talent points can similary be allocated on the talents screen. You can also rearrange Equipment on the equipment screen.

## Respecing

On the status and talent screens, it is also possible to *respec* Templars entirely by redistributing all previously earned Attribute, Skilll and Talent points. This allows Templars to be switched to different builds. Some parameters of the next Mission are displayed in the blue circle in the screenshot, but these only give vague idea of what is to come. Effective respecing requires knowledge of the challenges facing the squad and is primarily for runs on high Difficulties.

### Campaign Record

*Main article:* Campaign Record

On this screen, accessible from the Headquarters, the overall Campaign statistics ("Lifetime Battleforce Record") are displayed (such as the total number of turns, kills in all missions completed so far).

Below that the statistics for each mission is displayed separately. In a New Game+, the second (or third) playthrough missions are visible alongside the first.

The Leaderboard Score is displayed at the bottom of the screen.