General tips | The Cycle The Cycle guide, tips

The Cycle is a game that at first glance may seem simple, but the high pace of the game leads to the fact that during the skirmishes there is very little time to plan the next steps and sufficient knowledge of the production is worth its weight in gold. In this section, we present tips to help novice players just starting their adventure on the Fortuna III planet.

• Play your first matches in group modes, preferably in 4-man squad mode
• Use the option to pact with other players
• Never fight monsters and other players at the same time
• Complete contracts
• Choose the equipment for your gameplay style
• Pick up equipment from each price range
• Use your special abilities
• Create your first kit after completing the tutorial
• Upgrade and modify weapons
• Break down unnecessary equipment into craft materials

Play your first matches in group modes, preferably in 4-man squad mode

Playing in a group is much easier than going solo.

The Cycle is a game that puts a lot of emphasis on the the pace of the game, while at the same time severely punishing the player for errors and wrong moves. For this reason, it is best to play the first matches in a group, preferably in the 4-man squad mode. Thus, there is a good chance that you will get into a team with experienced players who will know well what to do - and by analyzing their actions, you will be able to quickly learn the gameplay. Moreover, playing in a team allows you to better cope with encounters with other players.

Use the option to pact with other players

The game allows the player to pact with others, forming temporary alliances.

Playing in solo mode, the player is initially solely on his/her own - everything that runs and flies on the Fortuna III platen has quite hostile intentions. Here the pact mechanic comes to aid. By hovering your crosshair over the figure of another player and pressing the "T" key, you will send the player an invitation - if the other person accepts it, you will be placed in a team and you will be able to fulfill contracts and fight together.

Note- remember that both you and the other player can terminate the contract at any time by pressing the same key. When this happens, you will receive information from the game that the contract was broken, and in a few seconds you will again be hostile to each other with another player.

Never fight monsters and other players at the same time

Monsters are not much of a problem and one can best them all quite easily. The problem, however, begins when other players appear in the vicinity. Fighting against monsters charging at you in melee range and with players shooting at you from a long distance will in most cases end in your death. For this reason, it is worth, if possible, to avoid doing so. If you see another player in the area, it is generally a good idea to wait a short while (provided that you do not want to fight him/her), let the player move away and then initiate an encounter with the monsters.

Complete contracts

Completion of contracts is one of the main components of the gameplay.

In addition to fighting monsters and other players, a large portion of gameplay in The Cycle is the completion of various contracts. Those are marked on the world map (opened by default with the "M" key), and various actions are required to complete them. For example, you can start drilling a veltecite field. After completing the action, you will be able to collect this raw material to complete the contract and get valuable raw materials and credits. There are several contracts on the map at the same time, so you can choose the ones that best suit you.

Note - the number of completed contracts is an indicator of who is leading in the rankings during a particular game.

Choose the equipment for your gameplay style

Each player starts the game with only a handgun - either with a pistol or a different version of it. You can purchase new equipment - assault rifles, sniper rifles, rocket launchers or special abilities - by using the credits earned during the game. Those are selected before starting the game. It is recommended to choose the equipment in accordance to your gameplay style - if, for instance, you are fighting effectively from a long distance, you should have an option to purchase a sniper rifle.

Pick up equipment from each price range

It is necessary to equip weapons from every price range.

The prospect of having multiple weapons that cost 800 credits that are capable of killing an enemy player in seconds is no doubt tempting. There is, however, one major problem with such an approach - each one of those weapons will cost you the aforementioned 800 credits. While credits accumulate quickly in the final minutes of the game, in the early game acquiring enough to purchase an expensive weapon might cost you the entire match - if, for instance, you are forced to fight against a player wielding an assault rifle while you still have your handgun.

Choose your equipment wisely so that you can purchase weapons for 200, 500 and 800 credits. This will allow you to purchase a weapon once you acquire 200 credits - and a need for a better weapon arises - or postpone the purchase until you reach 500 or 800 credits to get a better one.

Use your special abilities

The Heavy Turret ability deserves special attention.

In The Cycle there are over a dozen different special abilities. They allow the player to use grenades, call in orbital air strikes, give the option to heal the player or his/her allies or to construct an automated turret. Each player can have 2 such abilities equipped at the same time - under the "E" and "Q" keys respectively. It is worth to get a special ability relatively early - e.g. after purchasing a weapon for 200 credits. Their use is limited only by the cooldown time - they do not run out and do not cost any resource to use.

A good ability to pick up at the initial levels is the Heavy Turret. It is extremely effective at distracting monsters, as well as for locating enemy players nearby. In addition, with double improvement (2x100 credits), you will be able to place several of them at the same time, thereby significantly increasing your chances of survival.

Create your first kit after completing the tutorial

The training mission in The Cycle is automatically activated when you first start the game. When you are done, you will get the right amount of crafting materials to create your first Kit - the suit in which the character moves while on the Fortuna planet. In order to do this, go to the Crafting tab and the to the Kit tab. There will be 3 schematics to choose from:

• Basic Prospector Kit Mk2 - improved version of conventional suit. Has 3 mod slots.
• Aani Quicksuit - characterized by less durability than the base kit, gives, however, the ability to perform charges, dodges and high jumps. There are 4 slots for modification.
• Dragonfly Flightsuit - has the durability in between the two above, turns the jump into a short flight. There are 4 slots for modification.

Choosing a kit is an individual matter, but it is worth creating it immediately after the end of the tutorial mission, and install improvements in it - to do this, just click on the empty slot (the "+" icon) and select the improvement.

Upgrade and modify weapons

Most of the weapons in the game can be modified.

Most of the weapons in the game can be upgraded and modified. Upgrading occurs during the game on the Fortuna III planet - to improve the weapon, you just need to buy it again from the store. Such a purchase will cost much less credits than the first time around, and offers a pretty significant improvement to weapons like increased range or damage. Each weapon can be upgraded twice.

Weapon modification works in the same manner as the kit improvement described above- you need to select an empty slot (the "+" icon) and install the improvement you want there. This will increase the statistics of weapons without the need to purchase upgrades during the gameplay. The process, however, requires crafting materials. Note that you can only modify the weapons that have empty slots for mods - the three weapons available from the start are not suitable for this (but you can craft versions of those weapons with sockets for modifications).

Break down unnecessary equipment into craft materials

If you have in your inventory weapons that were previously created and which you never use anymore, consider breaking them down to acquire craft materials (using the Scrap mechanic). This will return some of the invested crafting materials. However, if you do not need materials, it is worth leaving those weapons intact - you might find a use for them later.