TACS Strategy Guide

Using TACS well requires strategic thinking and situational awareness to play the cards your character has been dealt in an effective manner. Here is a brief strategy guide that you may find helpful.

Core Stats
These are stats that are the same regardless of what mode you are in. Those that matter most in combat are usually Endurance, Energon, and Courage. Technical and Intelligence matter occasionally, but mostly only if your character has certain abilities like Scout or Demolitions (although Intelligence does increase a character’s crit rating). You can find information on how those and other abilities work by visiting the combat section.
 * Endurance - Most average Cybertronians have 60-80 health. While some may have slightly higher or lower HP, it is rare to find anyone with less than 50 or more than 90. Keep an eye on your own Endurance throughout a fight, as it is an important factor in almost every strategy. While you won’t be privy to others’ exact current HP, try to keep track of how many times they’ve been hit to get some idea of how much damage they may have taken. Watch the combat text for Critical Hits, Massive Damage, Secondary Damage, and DoTs or damage over time effects (DoTs deal damage whenever the affected character attacks, so keep that in mind especially if your health is low) to help you get a good estimate.
 * Energon - An attack’s Energon cost increases with damage level and number of beneficial effects it has. The lowest damage level is 0, and the highest is 12. You can manage your attacks’ damage level, up to the maximum level available, which is displayed in your !attacklist. Pulling or lowering the damage level will deal less damage, but also cost less Energon if the attack is not ammo-based. Spending 50% or more of your maximum Energon at once is a high-risk move, unless you know have a guaranteed hit. So keep in mind how long the fight has been going, and how much longer you think it will continue when deciding on how much Energon to spend on each turn--or whether you’ll lay low and recharge using !pass instead.
 * Courage - Make sure you are aware of your own Courage-Endurance limit, and try to keep track of how close your health is to dropping below it before deciding on a combat action. Remember that once you fall below that limit, you will find it hard to succeed at anything, so it is best to retreat from battle if that happens.

Mode Stats
As explained on the TACS basics page, mode stats are stats that can change depending on what mode you’re in. These are all important in most combat situations. Additionally, keep tabs on what combat flags you have by looking at !systems, since some effects can temporarily debuff certain mode stats. You can check TF2005’s wiki for more information about these effects, or have a look at !combatinfo in-game. Remember that the debuffs will remain in place until you attack, passing will not drop them.
 * Offensive damage stats - These are Firepower, Strength, and Velocity. Remember that when you take damage, there is a chance that one of your mode stats will be damaged. With that in mind, keep an eye on your character’s current status by taking a look at !systems, and determine which of these are the highest for you in each mode at any given time so that you can be aware of what attack types will hit the hardest for you. You can look at your attacks’ types in !attacklist. Intelligence is used for damage rolls if the attack type is Science, although not many characters have this attack type.
 * Accuracy - Accuracy is always important when attacking, no matter what type it is. Low accuracy can be compensated for by using an area attack to target multiple opponents. However, remember that the attack’s Energon cost is per target, so these can get expensive unless they use ammo instead of Energon. If your Accuracy has been temporarily debuffed by an attack effect, keep in mind that your chances of missing have increased and consider spending less Energon or not spending ammo. Or, try to think of ways to offset it by boosting your accuracy using abilities or attack effects.
 * Defensive stats - These stats are Agility, Armor, and Size, and mainly affect defense. Again, keep tabs on !systems during any given fight, as it will tell you your character’s current status for all stats. Size is one mode stat that cannot be damaged, so it will always be the same, but the others can be, so be sure to watch them. Low defensive stats will lead to more damage taken.

Defense Levels
With all that in mind, be aware of your character’s overall status at any given time. Are you low on defensive stats and getting close to your Courage-Endurance limit? Might be time to take a more guarded approach so you don’t get knocked out too quickly. Or maybe you have the opposite problem--high defense but low on the offense. Then maybe it’s time to be more aggressive and hit as many opponents as you can. Remember that your defense level determines how much Energon is regained when passing. The higher your defense level is, the less Energon you will recover, and the lower it is, the more you will recover.

That being said, don’t lower your defense level if it won’t benefit you in any way. For example, if you know that for some reason your target cannot dodge and therefore you have a guaranteed hit, using a lower defense level will not benefit you at all, and will only increase the odds of getting hit. Or, if you are using an ability on your turn that doesn’t depend on Accuracy, using a lower defense level will not give you any sort of advantage. Likewise, if you know that raising your defense level will not benefit you, such as in the case of having a debuff that will give someone a guaranteed hit against you, you might as well take advantage of the boosted accuracy provided by the lowest defense level.

So, at any given time during a combat session, give careful consideration to whether it’s best for you to be more aggressive and risky or more defensive and play it safe.

Effects & Abilities
I'm not going to go into detail here on every single effect and ability available, as that would be extremely lengthy, however, I strongly encourage everyone who is not already familiar with this system to visit the combat section of this site and research your characters' abilities and attack effects. You can find these in !profile and !attacklist. Read up on how to use them, and based on the information in this guide, consider when and how to make the best use of them.

Disclaimer
Be aware that we aren’t trying to force anyone to use a particular playstyle--you won’t be punished or anything for not making strategic decisions or not being effective in combat. No one is required to follow any of this; however, be advised that if you don’t, you might find yourself losing fights more often than winning.