Atlas Reactor is a competitive turn-based team tactical strategy game developed and published by Trion Worlds. It was introduced at PAX Prime 2015, and won "Best Player versus Player" video game at PAX West 2016. It was released on October 4, 2016 and went free-to-play on January 17, 2017.
Overview[ | ]
Atlas Reactor is a PvP battle arena that fuses simultaneous turns with tactical team combat. Players control a singular character known as Freelancer, each of which has a role, play style and their own set of unique abilities. Teams of 4 battle go head to head in a vibrant and futuristic world, attempting to either be the first to 5 kills or have the most kills after 20 turns.
Gameplay[ | ]
The gameplay in Atlas Reactor is really what sets it apart as a unique game in the genre. Each match is broken up into a series of turns, and each turn broken up into a number of modes and phases.
The first part of every turn is called the Decision phase and this is where all of the player choices are made. During the Decision phase, all players from both teams have 20 seconds to choose which abilities they want to use that turn as well as where they want to move.
Next, during the Resolution phase the game will play out all of the decisions chosen by both teams. The choices are played out in an order determined by the game, however the order in which they are played out does not affect the outcomes as the math is all done at the start of the Resolution phase.
The Resolution phase is broken up into 4 smaller phases: Prep, Dash, Blast and Move. Due to the fact that these phases occur in a specific order, abilities which happen in earlier phases can change the outcome of abilities in later phases.
Prep Phase[ | ]
Typically this phase has abilities which provide shields, heals, buffs or debuffs as well as the setting up of traps.
Dash Phase[ | ]
Abilities that take place during this phase can cause damage but the main purpose is to move a Freelancer, thus the name. Moving during this phase means that any abilities that trigger during the Blast phase may actually miss since they are targeting a location where the Freelancer was at the start of the turn but are no longer at once the Blast phase starts.
Blast Phase[ | ]
This phase is where most of the damage happens. Most abilities will trigger during this phase and can potentially miss if the target has dashed out of the way.
Move Phase[ | ]
After all of the abilities have completed, Freelancers move to their new positions. Sometimes debuffs, such as Slow, may cause a freelancer to not be able to move to their desired location and leave them vulnerable.
Pricing Model[ | ]
The game currently supports two different pricing models, free-to-play and pay-to-play. Both models offer in game purchases for both earned currency as well as real money.
Free-to-Play[ | ]
In the free-to-play model players gain access to a set amount of Freelancers on a rotational basis. This rotation is not the same for every player so any two players might have access to different freelancers every week.
Pay-to-Play[ | ]
With the pay-to-play model players can buy into the game for a set cost and gain access to all current Freelancers as well as all future freelancers. There are 3 different packs to choose from:
All Freelancers Pack[ | ]
- Instantly unlock every Freelancer, forever!
All Freelancers Pro Pack[ | ]
- Every item in the All Freelancers Pack, plus:
- Emojis (x5)
- Banner Pack (x3)
- Zuki Moonwalker Skin (x3)
- Rask Warforged Skin (x3)
- Aurora Voltaic Skin (x3)
- PuP Prototype Skin (x3)
- Grey Untamed Skin (x3)
- Garrison Prototype Skin (x3)
- Helio Moonwalker Skin (x3)
- Lockwood Unforgiven Skin (x3)
Ultimate Reactor Pack[ | ]
- Every item in the All Freelancers Pro Pack, plus:
- Exclusive “Golden Age” Skins for all Freelancers, forever
- Bonus “All Freelancers Pack” Code for a friend
- GG Boosts (x60)
- Nix Loot Suit Skin (x3)
- Gremolitions Inc. Great War Skin (x3)
- Titus Untamed Skin (x3)
- Rampart Centurion Skin (x3)
- Quark Unobtanium Skin (x3)
- Asana Hardlight Skin (x3)
- Oz Jimmy Six Skin (x3)
- Elle Apocalypse Skin (x3)
- Trion Worlds In-Game Loot:
- Trove: Lil’ PuP Ally
- RIFT: Rampart’s Shield & Asana’s Sword
- Defiance: Zuki’s Helmet
In Game Transactions[ | ]
There are a number of cosmetic items that can be purchased within the game using various currencies. These include (but are not limited to): skins, emojis, overcons, banners, visual effects and taunts.
Loot Matrices are Atlas Reactor's version of chests in other games. Loot Matrices can be purchased with real money and contain items from the list above.
