______ _
(_____ \ | | _
_____) ) ___ | | _ ___ | |_
(_____ ( / _ \| || \ / _ \| _)
| | |_| | |_) ) |_| | |__
|_|\___/|____/ \___/ \___)
_ _ _ _ _
| || || | | | | |
| || || | ____ ____| | ___ ____ _ | | ___
| ||_|| |/ _ |/ ___) |/ _ \ / ___) || |/___)
| |___| ( ( | | | | | |_| | | ( (_| |___ |
\______|\_||_|_| |_|\___/|_| \____(___/
_ _ ___ ______ _ _______ _____
| | (_)/ __) | ___ \ | | (_______)\ / ___ \
| | _| |__ ____ | | _ | | ___ _ | | ____ _____ / \| | | |
| | | | __) _ ) | || || |/ _ \ / || |/ _ ) | ___) /\ \ | |_|
| |_____| | | ( (/ / | || || | |_| ( (_| ( (/ / | | | |__| \ \____
|_______)_|_| \____) |_||_||_|\___/ \____|\____) |_| |______|\_____)
Version 1.01
8th Sept 2007
baby ice dog
------------------
~ [0.0] CONTENTS ~
------------------
[1.0] Introduction
[2.0] Trade Tables
[2.1] Body
[2.2] Arm
[2.3] Leg
[2.4] Weapons
[2.5] Shields
[2.6] Options
[3.0] Tune-Ups
[4.0] Miscellaneous Information
[4.1] Character Levels
[4.2] Environments
[4.3] Tips
[5.0] Suggested Builds
[5.1] Starting Out
[5.2] Tuned Parts
[6.0] Contact & Legal Information
----------------------
~ [1.0] INTRODUCTION ~
----------------------
What is Life Mode?
------------------
Life Mode allows you to take developed characters and their bullets into
randomly generated missions, to earn money, experience, and tune-ups. Money can
be used to purchase new weapons and bullet parts.
How do I get access to Life Mode?
---------------------------------
Complete the eleven missions of Story Mode and you will be prompted to save.
Life Mode now appears on the main menu.
How does Life Mode work?
------------------------
Choose Life Mode from the main menu, select a file to load, and you are
presented with three missions of increasing difficulty and reward. These
missions are randomly generated each time you load a file. Once you have chosen
one, you can choose characters and load-out, visit the shop, and apply
tune-ups. Once the mission is over, you are prompted to save, and the game then
quits to the main menu. Be aware that you need to save to continue with that
file! Life Mode only offers one mission at at time, after which you need to
reload your saved file.
Why a FAQ?
----------
I found the Life Mode information given in the manual to be confusing,
incomplete, and suprisingly inaccurate, with no information about tune-ups. The
trade screens do not give full information, and can be awkward to wade through.
Writing out tables of part stats and tune-up effects helped me design the
killer bullets I wanted with minimum fuss.
Key to Tables
-------------
To save space, I have used the following table headings for this FAQ:
HP - Endure/Durability
Arm - Armour
MV - Motive Power
HR - Hits Received (from incoming fire)
Load - Maximum Weight
Left - Load left after subtracting leg weight
Att - Attack Power
Hit - Hit Ratio (for outgoing fire)
RF - Rate of Fire/"Rapid Fire"
Amm - Ammunition/"Shell Count"
---------------------
~ [2.0] TRADE TABLES~
---------------------
There are two trade screens - one to buy items, the other to sell unequipped
items at half the listed cost.
[2.1] BODY
----------
Name HP Arm HR Hit Weight Cost
Corvus 300 28 9 20 5400 180k
Ulmer 300 38 9 10 5800 190k
Pavo 350 32 9 20 6300 190k
Intrigue 350 42 9 10 6700 200k
J01L 400 30 7 10 5600 200k
Aquila 400 36 9 20 6900 200k
Munster 400 46 11 10 7300 210k
J01M 450 34 9 10 6500 210k
Rambler 400 28 7 15 5500 210k
Starina 450 32 11 0 6000 220k
J01H 500 38 9 10 7100 220k
Noisette 450 32 7 15 6400 220k
Centifolia 500 36 13 0 6900 230k
Damask 500 36 9 15 7000 230k
Code 3 550 40 13 0 7500 240k
[2.2] ARM
---------
Name HP Arm HR Hit Weight Cost
AR/ARL 200 28 3 10 7400 90k
GAX-AR-L 200 38 3 5 7800 95k
AR/ARM 230 32 3 10 8600 95k
GAX-AR-M 230 42 3 5 9000 100k
J01-AR-L 260 30 2 5 7600 100k
AR/ARH 260 36 3 10 9400 100k
GAX-AR-H 260 46 4 5 9800 105k
J01-AR-M 290 34 3 5 8800 105k
BE-AR-L 260 28 2 10 7500 105k
BET-AR-L 290 32 4 0 8000 110k
J01-AR-H 320 38 3 5 9600 110k
BE-AR-M 290 32 2 10 8700 110k
BET-AR-M 320 36 4 0 9200 115k
BE-AR-H 320 36 3 10 9500 115k
GAX-AR-X 350 40 4 0 10000 120k
[2.3] LEG
---------
Name HP Arm MV HR Weight Load Cost Left
AR/LGL 300 28 7 6 5400 20300 180k 14900
GAX-LG-L 300 38 8 6 5800 20800 190k 15000
AR/LGM 350 32 6 6 6300 23700 190k 17400
GAX-LG-M 350 42 7 6 6700 24200 200k 17500
J01-LG-L 400 30 9 5 5600 20300 200k 14700
AR/LGH 400 36 5 6 6900 26300 200k 19400
GAX-LG-H 400 46 6 7 7300 26500 210k 19200
J01-LG-M 450 34 7 6 6500 23600 210k 17100
BE-LG-L 400 28 10 6 5500 20200 210k 14700
BET-LG-L 450 32 7 8 6000 21300 220k 15300
J01-LG-H 500 38 6 6 7100 26300 220k 19200
BE-LG-M 450 32 8 7 6400 23400 220k 17000
BET-LG-M 500 36 6 8 6900 24600 230k 17700
BE-LG-H 500 36 6 7 7000 26000 230k 19000
GAX-LG-X 550 40 5 8 7500 26900 240k 19400 *
*Note: The GAX-LG-X appears to have no turbo capability. I'm not sure if any
other heavy legs suffer from this.
If a bullet's weight is over the maximum load for its legs, the bullet will
have half MV (it seems to round up OR down, depending just how overweight the
bullet is) and no turbo capability. You can eject weapons during a mission (or
they can be destroyed), and if this reduces the weight to under the leg's
maximum load, the bullet will regain turbo and normal MV.
[2.4] WEAPONS
-------------
BG - "Buster Glove", a fist or blade-type weapon. These have no ability to
counter/intercept or use targetting.
SB - "Depth Charge", a close-combat bomb, effectively a fist-type weapon with
limited ammunition.
AMG - Short-range machine gun, lightweight and high capacity, but low attack
power.
MG - Medium-range machine gun, high capacity but low attack power.
SHOT - Shotgun with good damage, low RF, sturdy armour and HP. Inaccurate at
short range.
GR - Grenade launcher with good range, good damage, but low capacity.
GG - Gatling gun with great damage and RF, but limited capacity.
Name Att RF Amm Range Hit HP Arm HR Weight Cost
BG-7 130 1 - 0-2 40/0/0 400 20 2 700 70k
BG-8 150 1 - 0-2 40/0/0 400 20 2 800 80k
BG-9 170 1 - 0-2 35/0/0 400 20 2 900 90k
BG-10 190 1 - 0-2 30/0/0 400 20 2 1000 100k
BG-11 210 1 - 0-2 30/0/0 400 20 2 1100 110k
SB13 180 1 5 0-2 40/0/0 200 24 2 600 80k
SB15 200 1 5 0-2 35/0/0 200 24 2 700 90k
SB17 220 1 5 0-2 30/0/0 200 24 2 800 100k
SB19 240 1 5 0-2 25/0/0 200 24 2 900 110k
SB21 260 1 5 0-2 20/0/0 200 24 2 1000 120k
AMG-10 40 12 216 1-9 32/28/0 250 24 2 300 80k
AMG-11 45 12 144 1-9 32/28/0 250 24 2 400 100k
AMG-12 45 12 216 1-9 32/28/0 250 24 2 600 110k
AMG-13 50 12 144 1-9 32/28/0 250 24 2 600 120k
AMG-14 50 12 216 1-9 32/28/0 250 24 2 800 130k
MG1000 44 10 300 2-15 20/35/0 250 24 2 500 90k
MG2000 50 10 200 2-15 20/35/0 250 24 2 700 120k
MG3000 50 10 300 2-15 20/35/0 250 24 2 900 130k
MG4000 55 10 200 2-15 20/35/0 250 24 2 900 140k
MG5000 55 10 300 2-15 20/35/0 250 24 2 1100 150k
SHOT-Z 80 5 50 2-12 5/30/0 350 26 2 500 100k
SHOT-ZZ 100 5 40 2-12 5/30/0 350 26 2 700 130k
SHOT-Z3 100 5 50 2-12 5/30/0 350 26 2 900 140k
SHOT-Z4 120 5 40 2-12 5/30/0 350 26 2 900 150k
SHOT-Z5 120 5 50 2-12 5/30/0 350 26 2 1100 160k
GR-R 120 1 15 3-30 0/21/25 200 22 2 600 100k
GR-M 140 1 10 3-30 0/21/25 200 22 2 700 110k
GR-W 140 1 15 3-30 0/21/25 200 22 2 900 120k
GR-W2 180 1 10 3-30 0/21/25 200 22 2 900 130k
GR-W3 180 1 15 3-30 0/21/25 200 22 2 1100 140k
GG-080 60 12 96 2-12 20/35/0 200 28 3 700 110k
GG-090 70 12 96 2-12 20/35/0 200 28 3 700 130k
GG-100 70 12 120 2-12 20/35/0 200 28 3 900 140k
GG-110 80 12 72 2-12 20/35/0 200 28 3 1000 150k
GG-120 80 12 96 2-12 20/35/0 200 28 3 1100 160k
[2.5] SHIELDS
-------------
Shields have good armour, good HP, and a high chance of taking hits.
Name HP Arm HR Weight Cost
MSH-100 400 40 12 600 50k
MSH-200 500 42 15 700 60k
MSH-300 600 44 18 800 70k
[2.6] OPTIONS
-------------
SM - Smoke discharger, can drop one smoke square in front arc of starting
position, as a "Special Action" (costs TP).
M - Mine dropper, requires "Motion Technique" skill to use (costs TP).
RL - Rocket launcher with good damage, good range, but low capacity and quite
heavy. Best at long range.
ATG - Anti-tank gun with astonishing attack power, but crippling weight and
barely any ammunition.
Name Att RF Amm Range Hit HP Arm HR Weight Cost
SM10-A - 1 10 0-5 - 300 24 1 300 50k
SM10-B - 1 10 0-7 - 300 24 1 400 55k
SM10-C - 1 10 0-9 - 300 24 1 500 60k
M12 100 3 9 0-1 - 300 20 3 1000 70k
M30 80 4 8 0-1 - 300 20 3 1000 80k
M50 120 2 8 0-1 - 300 20 3 1400 90k
RL-M1 140 1 8 5-30 0/12/45 250 24 3 1200 130k
RL-M2 180 1 5 5-30 0/12/45 250 24 3 1350 140k
RL-M3 180 1 8 5-30 0/12/45 250 24 3 1550 150k
RL-M4 220 1 5 5-30 0/12/45 250 24 3 1600 160k
RL-00 220 1 8 5-30 0/12/45 250 24 3 1800 180k
45mm ATG 300 1 3 5-30 0/12/45 300 26 3 1850 150k
57mm ATG 350 1 3 5-30 0/12/45 300 26 3 1950 160k
76mm ATG 400 1 3 5-30 0/12/45 300 26 3 2100 170k
90mm ATG 500 1 3 5-30 0/12/45 300 26 3 2250 180k
105mm ATG 600 1 3 5-30 0/12/45 300 26 3 2400 200k
------------------
~ [3.0] TUNE-UPS ~
------------------
You earn one random tune-up after each successful mission. These can each be
applied once to any unequipped item, giving a renamed item with modified stats.
You can keep applying tune-ups to an already tuned item.
Tuned items are named as follows:
T-XX-YYY##
Where XX is a two letter identifier for the weapon type (for example, "SM" for
a smoke launcher), YYY is a three letter identifier for the last applied
tune-up (IDs are listed in the table below), and ## is the lowest two digit
number that will uniquely identify the item in your inventory (starting at
"00").
Below is a list of the tune-ups that I've found so far. All have both positive
and negative effects (for example, most will drop the HP and raise weight), so
it's a good idea to plan what you're going to do before applying them, and make
sure you are not creating something that will be too heavy to equip. Tune-ups
also come in double- and triple-effect versions of their basic form - these
have the same name as the basic version, and can only be identified by checking
their tuning effect.
You can keep up to 32 tune-ups in your inventory. When you have this maximum
number, you will NOT earn any more tune-ups for successful missions.
Name ID HP Arm HR Att Hit Weight RF Amm
[Tough] END +50 +5 +1 +50
[Defence] ARM +30 +10 +1 +50
[Close] GRA -10 -5 +5/0/0 +50
[Halfway] MED -10 -5 0/+5/0 +50
[Further] DES -10 -5 0/0/+4 +50
[Attack] ATT -10 +20 +100
[Rapid] LAU -10 -5 +50 +1 -5
[Magazine] NUM -10 -5 +50 -1 +10
[Normal] AVE +15 -5 +15 +75 +2
[Size] BOU -10 -2 -3 +50
[Light] LIG -15 -5 -10 -100
Notes:
There is no way to affect the ammunition of GR, ATG or RL-type weapons.
There is no way to affect the firing rate of BG, SB, SM, GR, ATG, or RL-type
weapons.
Tune-ups cannot be applied if they would cause a parameter to fall to zero or
below.
-----------------------------------
~ [4.0] MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION ~
-----------------------------------
[4.1] CHARACTER LEVELS
----------------------
Characters level up when they reach the following experience points totals.
1 0
2 150
3 300
4 500
5 800
6 1200
7 1700
8 2300
9 3000
10 3800
11 4700
12 5700
13 6800
14 7000
15 8300
16 9700
17 11200
18 12800
19 14500
20 16300
21 18200
Characters will usually gain +1 Max TP every other level and a new skill at
each level (at lower levels they don't get so many TPs). I haven't found a
maximum level yet, but my Kazuma Saeki stopped gaining new skills at level 15.
[4.2] ENVIRONMENTS
------------------
The following environments are available in Versus mode, or during the Story
Mode:
Eastern Europe Forests
Eastern Europe Streets
Eastern Europe Plains
Tunnel
Shinjuku Daytime
Ochanomizu
Forest
Countryside
Haneda Airport
Parliament Building Park
Odaiba
Life Mode missions only occur in four different environments:
Forest - Unpredictable tree positions can make for awkward fighting
and blocked routes.
Countryside - Fewer trees, but some nasty fenced-in areas.
Streets - Doesn't appear in Story Mode, a rural village with small
buildings and a few trees.
Tunnel - Grid arrangement of pillars and passages, with piles of cargo
blocking movement.
[4.3] TIPS
----------
[4.3.1] Life Mode Tips
Don't lose any bullets! You are charged for total and partial repairs at the
end of each mission, and rewarded for kills and mission success. The total
balance of this CAN be negative, even though the assessment screen doesn't show
this well. Expect one lost bullet to negate the reward from 3-4 enemy kills.
If you don't like the look of a stage from its preview, feel free to back out
and reload. Stages are randomly generated when you load your save file.
Bear in mind that you can't save until the end of a mission, not even during
set-up. If you have complicated and long-winded changes to make to your team or
equipment, then choose an easy stage, make your changes, dominate in battle,
and save.
[4.3.2] General Strategy Tips
Take a moment to check the enemies at the start of each stage - the battle
cutscenes will show you if they have ranged or close-combat weapons, and
cycling through them to look at damage levels will show you if any have options
equipped (usually long-range, high damage weapons).
Stay out of sight of option-equipped enemies until you can close the range.
Once you are close enough, and if you have blocked the line of sight to any of
your distant allies, they won't use their options.
Use bullets in close-combat to block line of sight to vulnerable allies.
Enemies don't like to back out of close-combat, even if they don't have any
means to attack you at short range. But they WILL attack any other bullets they
can see. Use their own tactics against them - position your close-combatter to
block their line of sight, and angle yourself away from them a little, to let
you use interception fire on other nearby enemies.
Bullets will not counter/intercept an enemy which is shooting directly at them
and causing damage. This means that if you are moving towards an enemy you know
is countering, you should be able to suppress their intercept fire by attacking
them with a rapid-fire weapon as you approach. Tempting though it is to run up
and punch, you will be exposed to intercept fire as you move. Bear this in mind
when YOU are countering as well - there is no point using TP on targetted
interception against a single enemy who will spend his round spraying you with
suppressive fire. An bullet can still intercept during action phases in which
it takes no damage.
Better shots mean more body hits (I think!). It seems that if you invest your
TP in targetted techniques (including precision firing or interception), you
have a better chance of scoring body hits. Wildfire tends to scatter all over
the target, targetted fire seems to hit higher on the "hit table" (the list of
damaged parts that you see after each round).
Surround and conquer! If everyone is out in the open, and if your bullets are
fast enough, consider spending a round to turbo one or two through the enemy
lines. Sure, that bullet won't be facing the enemy to be useful that turn, but
next round they can turn and provide interception. With the enemy surrounded,
your advantage is twofold - firstly, however they rotate, someone will always
be firing at their rear or sides; secondly, they won't be able to get
interception fire on all of your bullets.
Exploit bottlenecks. Conversely, if the stage isn't open, and the enemy is
starting to come at you through an obvious bottleneck, just position yourself
and wait. In a best case scenario, the enemies come through one-by-one, taking
fire from your whole team, and clogging up the route to prevent other enemies
getting line of sight. If not all of your bullets can get in a good position
here, turbo the spare ones down any side-routes you can see, to flank the
enemy.
Turn order seems to be based on total weight, rather than on MV values. This
means that it is worth saving weight, even if you're not going to be saving
enough to equip a faster pair of legs (or if you don't want to, for armour/HP
considerations). On the same basis, ejected or destroyed parts no longer count
towards a bullet's weight, meaning that its turn order may change if enough
parts are lost.
--------------------------
~ [5.0] SUGGESTED BUILDS ~
--------------------------
So, fresh out of the rather restrictive Story Mode, and into the confusing
options of Life Mode... What will you do? I went with a two-stage upgrade
process - first earning cash to buy improved stock parts, and then using
tune-ups to create specialist parts that suited my fighting needs. I am heavily
biased towards rapid fire weapons and punching, so feel free to adjust these
suggestions to your own style.
[5.1] STARTING OUT
------------------
Straight out of Story Mode, I was using:
2x Close-combat bullets:
J01M body parts, BG-9 and GG-090, no options (200 weight free).
1x Medium-range bullet:
J01M body parts, GG-090 and GR-W, no options (200 weight free).
1x Long-range bullet:
J01H legs & arms, J01M body, GG-090 & GR-W, RL-M1 option (0 weight free).
Improving these with stock parts:
Replace BG-9 -> BG-11 (+200 weight)
Replace GR-W -> GR-W3 (+200 weight)
Replace J01-LG-M -> GAX-LG-M (+400 max load)
Replace GG-090 -> GG-120 (+400 weight)
This still leaves the long-range heavy untouched.
[5.2] TUNED PARTS
-----------------
Note that these are works in progress - getting the tune-up parts you need for
a project can be a tiresome business, especially when you periodically have to
clear out your inventory of unwanted tune-ups. Even though these projects
aren't "finished" yet, they offer an advantage over even the best stock parts,
and a good indication of what can be done with tune-up parts.
[5.2.1] Hard-Hitting & Rapid Fire
AMG-10 + [Attack]x5 (800 weight)
MG1000 + [Attack]x5 (1000 weight)
The concept here is simple - take a high capacity rapid fire weapon, and
increase the attack power as far as possible. The downside is that the chosen
weapon loses HP and armour, and gains weight. I started with the lightest
weapon in each category, because larger versions have marginal increase in
attack power, but much greater weight. The result (so far!) is a pair of
weapons that will deliver grenade power, at machine gun firing rates, with
enough ammunition to last a whole battle, all for the weight of an "average"
stock gatling gun.
The AMG version is ideal for a close-combat bullet, because it allows you to
fire at an adjacent target - even when you're up close ready to punch an
opponent, the AMG allows you to intercept fire against them. The downside is
its limited maximum range.
[5.2.2] Light & Tough Body Parts
Corvus + [Tough]x2, [Defence]x2, [Size]x1
AR/ARL + [Tough]x2, [Defence]x2, [Size]x1
Here I've taken the lightest body and arm parts, and increased HP and Arm
beyond those of stock medium-weight parts. [Size] has been used to offset the
increased HR, and [Light] could be used to strip even more weight off if
desired. Each of these parts frees up ALOT of weight, either for heavier
weapons or faster legs. Something similar could be done with leg parts, but
this requires good planning because you need to calculate required maximum load
before choosing legs.
[5.2.3] Disposable Sniper
105mm ATG + [Further]x5, [Halfway]x3
I created this solely to use up [Further] tune-ups, and added some [Halfway] to
attempt to make it more useable. The idea is to equip this on a medium weight
bullet that has some other useful long-range weapons (GR types, for example).
The ATG makes it overweight. Assess on the first turn whether to eject the ATG
and proceed as normal, or whether you have a chance to snipe a few opponents
(either via firing or interception) before doing this. The ATG will destroy any
stock bullet part it hits, and increasing the accuracy with [Further]
should/may increase the chance of a body hit. Use up the ammunition as soon as
possible, eject, and continue the fight with full MV. I've had mixed success
with this weapon, but it could be improved further - note that it doesn't
matter how heavy the tuning makes this weapon if you treat it as "disposable"
this way.
[5.2.3] Other Tuned Parts
I'm still finding new tune-ups, and I'm still working on the parts above. There
are some more concepts that I'd like to try - a shield with multiple [Defence]
to bump up HP/Armour, equipped on a bullet with low HR parts (making the shield
by far the most feasible target); or a killer BG with high Close accuracy and
good Attack. I've also been using [Magazine] to make useful smoke launchers and
mine-layers (though with hindsight, [Normal] might be a better choice for
mines). Right now the problem is finding enough tune-ups of the right part.
If you have any tuned parts, concepts, or entire bullet set-ups, please send
them to me so I can include them here (with full credit, of course :D).
-------------------------------------
~ [6.0] CONTACT & LEGAL INFORMATION ~
-------------------------------------
This FAQ may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web
site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation
of copyright. The only sites permitted to host this guide are:
GameFAQs.com
GameSpot.com
Neoseeker.com
SuperCheats.com
Please respect the work I have put into this, and let me know if you see it
hosted elsewhere.
All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.
I can be mailed at baby_ice_dog<at>hotmail<dot>com with any submissions,
corrections, or questions. Please make sure to mention that you're writing with
reference to this Robot Warlords Life Mode FAQ! Also, bear in mind that I am no
expert at the game, I just made this guide to help others starting out in Life
Mode :)
Special thanks go to CJayC, for creating the best gaming resource on the net &
keeping it pure, and to The777howling, for advice and encouragement during the
tougher moments of Story Mode.
ASCII art courtesy of:
http://www.network-science.de/ascii/ (ASCII Generator);
FIGlet;
David Walton ("stop" font).
Copyright 2007 Brian Towlson
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