In a game that feels very over the top and larger than life, Warplots are WildStar’s late-game PvP centerpiece. They are highly customizable 40 vs. 40 battles taking place in massive settings. Each faction gets its own side to deck out with a system similar to the way housing works in the game. Build, set into place, add some guards, lay some traps, throw in a raid boss, and a superweapon, and let the other side in for the goal of mass amounts of enemy slaughter. It won’t be easy since the other side also has it out for you too.
One Big Happy Destructive Family
Each warplot will have about 120 plugs for features, similar to the way housing works, with several particular sockets in each side. While the sockets do somewhat restrict the number of certain plug types you can have on your side (for example, only one superweapon!), the rest will be entirely up to your team to lay out and also maintain. This is where the customization comes in and can get more than a bit on the crazy side. Warparties will want to have players specializing in the Architect crafting specialization on the team, given that many of the items, known as Deployables, will be one-use crafted items. As in housing, Architects will supply consumable kits to create traps, a teleport center, and other advantages for your side. Most of these will be able to be upgraded, and upgrades will last for the entire round. However, items on the plot can be damaged or even disabled, with damage lasting from round to round, so your warparty must maintain its plot carefully if you want to remain competitive.
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Plug Types
Plugs are the building blocks of this whole crazy thing. So these bones of your destructo-park will range in size and type, as well as function. Some of the smaller types will include plugs that offer passive bonuses to your side, ones that hinder enemies, assorted trap types, and barriers. There are also guard plugs, complete with loyal guards whose utterly fuzzy cuteness you wouldn’t want to run into in a dark alley (or solo, as I learned later that day). Some examples of these are the Chompacabra Pen, which can be upgraded once to add a health bonus and shield bonus to these guards, and once more to add all of the above, plus damage. Those teeth. Ouch.
As you get into the bigger plugs, you’ll have to make some choices, since there are only a limited number of places these will fit. A Boss summoner plug is quite cool, letting you use boss tokens earned from raids (although three will be available to buy for warcoins should you not be so PvE-inclined) or purchased on the auction house to pick one boss from each round that you’d like to bring into the match. The result will be a holographic representation of a raid boss from the warparty bank’s store of tokens. Not only will this boss be available in your base for others to come fight or be stalled in their progress, but if you feel confident in your defenses, you can send your boss into the enemy warplot to fight for you. Since the usual raid bosses are five-man fights, these holo bosses have had all their skills upgraded to need about half of your 40-person team to take down. If you have one of these in your base, it could stall a significant amount of the enemy team for a while. Perhaps just long enough for you to strike with your ---
Superweapon plug? Each side gets one of these. And it is exactly what it sounds like. Who doesn’t want a huge plasma cannon on their base? You’ll be able to pick which method of enemy destruction suits you best.
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There are also multiple “decor” plugs, which might as well be called decor of destruction. Because these hurt. You can have about 100 deployables laid out on the plot at once and 100 more in your storage crate. So bring your Architect know-how and a variety for each situation you face.
Think of your warplot as a group investment, so there will be several levels of access available for the entire group. Leaders will be able to set ranks to members with council, officer, and member positions. These ranks determine who can take certain actions, including who can repair the damages after a run through. Repairs cost collective resources, so making sure that repairs are truly beneficial for the round at hand and not wasted on a corner that the team has given up defending in order to concentrate forces elsewhere.
Maintenance costs will vary depending on what plugs you have selected but each side has a total battle maintenance cost that will pull from collective resources.
