[So, you have passed some missions. And you`ve kill quite a lot of folks lately.
But still you wonder, that you can do much better?

Now worry not! This guide will make your bloody hands much bloodier, your blades much deadlier, and your weapons twice as dangerous!!]

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"Of course, upgrade your skill!!", most players would say that first.
And I say, they are never wrong. Skills and Stats are very important in arena mode.

Picking the Right build is important.
For my case, I would definitely recommend going Ranged focus for new players.

Why?

First, look at this.





At this moment, I am holding a 9-magazined 30 ammo rifle in each hand, and the same two rifles on my back. If I do the math, there currently 1,080 bullets in total.
Considering if all my bullets connect, it is possible for me to do a total of 8,640 damage onto my enemies.

This is only an portion of how much firepower you can possess.
During checkpoints(end of a wave), you can press the I button on your keyboard to bring out more weapons. If you manage your ammo well and use inventories after every wave, it is possible for you to never run out of ammo during all of the missions.

But before doing that, let`s talk about one of the most important features in this arena mode...

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About Armor
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Armor is really important in arena mode.
Of course you can go all-nude and show all your enemies your [natural self] and I`m not judging you.

It decreases most incoming damage from your enemies, and makes your 'simple cross face' into a much nicer looking 'simple cross face'.

Furthermore, armor even gives you special Perks!!






Everytime you complete each mission, the Quartermaster will sell new armor.
Armor like these will give you added magazines for the according weapon type!!

But, if think pew-pew is boring, there are other options waiting for you!














These specific armor increases your unarmed speed.
The defense they provide are not that great, but you can punch much faster than before.













Some gloves adds some damage bonuses to your fists!
They usually come with melee speed downsides, so don`t use these when you are going for a melee only gameplay.

Sadly, I am not wary of melee-upgrading armor for now(but lets talk about it in the weapons section!).

It will be nice to check for new armor every now and then, for there might be a fitting armor for your gameplay and taste.

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Element types (What are they?)
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There are three different types of elements in this game
Each elements deal additional damage to the enemy when hit, and if the hit counts as an finisher-damage(The one which destroys the corpus), the same element will be inflicted to the enemy`s death condition.

[Negative] : When inflicted to an enemy`s death, the enemy`s body will disappear into black dust. Some melee weapons or 'Dissonance' weapons have this element attached.

[Fire] : When inflicted to an enemy`s death, the enemy`s body will be burnt.
Some melee weapons or 'Laser' weapons and 'Flame/Fire' weapons have this element attached.

[Shock] : When inflicted to an enemy`s death, the enemy will get shocked. It doesn`t guarantee total death to some enemies(ex : vampire punks).
Melee weapons and guns with 'bright-blue' effects have this element attached.


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What weapons should I have?
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The first Thing I would say, is follow your heart.
Everyone has their deviant tastes.(I know you, you psycopaths and perverts.)

There are certain 'terrible' weapons, or 'underwelming' weapons...
But all weapons are 'usable' at some point.

Hell, even a scalpel can be used to instakill an enemy.
Just look through the stats, and choose your favorite weapon.

But here are some weapon types that I would recommend using.

[Unarmed]
- Your four-fingered fists.


[Melee]
- Dual wield-able melee weapon : Damage should go over 6 and duarable at least 150 or more.
- Dual wield-able melee weapon(element based) : Damage should go over 5. Duarable at least of 65 or more(Cause I like the slayer knife)
- Two hand only melee : I don`t recommend this for newer players, as it is infuriating to use most of the time, but damage over 12 and durable about 200 or more would do just fine.
- The pee-pee


[Ranged]
- Pistol : Damage at least 8, ammo over 15.(I only recommend using it until the 'Goods' mission)
- SMG : Don`t use any of it. Too much bullet spread, can`t control your ammo count, damage is pitiful, quite-expensive, hurts your ears like hell. Overall ♥♥♥♥ weapon type.
- Shotgun : Everything else except the 'Ultralite 12ga break open'. (it is also advised to use shotguns when you have decent mobility and dodge, as most shotgun playstyles rely on hit-and-run.)
- Rifle : Over 8 damage, ammo over 25. Or... Damage of 6 and ammo over 40.
- Heavy weapons : Most of them. Not the sniper rifles though. No. (You can buy heavy weapons from the chef at dormatory)


Shield
- The Riot Shield, Light. And only that.


[Throwable]
- Everything except the 'molotov'. ♥♥♥♥ the molotov.


[Honorable Mentions]
















The Dissonance Cannon is probably the most underrated rocket launcher at this point.
It has 35 ammo per magazine, guides itself towards enemies, and has really big explosion radius, and it kills regular sized enemies with only 2 direct shots.

Extra magazines also gives this weapon added ammo, which means you can have more than 245 shots of deadly grenades at ready.
















The Dozer Model E is the most damage dealing shotgun in arena mode. It deals 40 damage per single bullet(if not modded), means you can kill a unhelmed golem with only 5 shots. Also, you can hold these with both hands. Also each bullet pierces multiple enemies(not golem armor). Freaking amazing.

...The Minigun has its own subject. I`ll talk about it at the Expert guide.

The Base has its unique features.
I won`t spoil so much so you can find it yourself.

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Medical bay(Skinner)
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Medical bay is unlocked very early in the game.

You can upgrade the hireling death insurance, so you can insta-revive hirelings with less money than usual(Cost depends on your hireling`s level, usually about 100~300$).



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Black Market(Chef)
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The Black Market is unlocked after the mission 'Goods', and right after playing a single mission while your new workers move into your base.

The chef(not really a chef though) sells random Modded weapons or Heavy Weapons, or some unique weapons that the Quartermaster doesn`t sell. The catalog changes each time you finish a mission(or fail), or a certain amount of time passes, or simply restarting the arena mode.


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Dormatory
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You can upgrade your backup team.
When you press and hold enter during a wave, 4 soldiers from your base will drop down and help you in your fight. They will not follow your orders, and have heart marks above their head to recognize. Every soldier will run away after a wave is finished.

Each upgrade gives you better and stronger soldiers each backup, but each backup cost more(800$ at mazimum). Somehow they last longer than most hirelings(I don`t know why).

Also, you can upgrade your maximum hireling capacity & level cap.
You don`t need to upgrade it to full. Unless you want lots of variety in your base.

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Lobby(Bossman)
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You can purchase hirelings!!
(I said purchase, Yeah. You don`t pay them at all, and still use them like your meat-shield.)
















Other people has already put up nice hireling guides, so I`ll make it simple.
Buying low level hirelings are totally ok, but you`d better level them up for certain missions.

Bossman usually sells hirelings with under level.15.
I usually prefer hirelings with lots of endurance, for they will have the most chances to survive with the right armor.
Also, I`d recommend buying a hireling with three corpus, for they usually get up to four corpus pretty quick.

Giving strong weapons are recommended, but not explosive or fire based ranged weapons(For your team is likely to transform into suicide squad)(On second thought, go for it!).

Do not focus so hard on your character!!

I do not want to spoil anything, but I have to say that you`d better not give too much affection to your current character.

Soon, you will fight against the strongest of enemies, and discover the truth behind Nevada.
And yes, there will be a moment when you have to decide.

Giving too much affection to your current character will make your decision very hard.
Just simply play the game with ease, and don`t pour so much time in your current gameplay.

You will all understand what I mean later on.

Thank you for reading my guide.
And hopefully, after seeing the truth and you made your decision, let us cross pass again on the expert(end game) guide.