Concord play tips: Crew Roles, Clever Loops, recommended Freegunners and more

Freegunners, Concord’s Open Beta launch now, granting you a week’s worth of celestial action on PS5 and Computers. Jump aboard the starship Northstar, meet the Freegunners, next brain planetside to take on enemy personnel across many different game modes. You get to know Crew Builder, the Job Board, and more through Open Beta, which gives you the chance to try out the 16-person figure squad. You’ll find further play details, tips and mythology in the’ How to Play ‘ part of the Open Beta’s main list. We sat down with Firewalk Studios ‘ lead gameplay designer Claude Jerome and lead character designer Jon Weisnewski to discuss the intricate details of the online shooter’s game mechanics and methods and provide you with additional play tips ahead of release.

Concord’s 16-strong figure squad offers a lot of selection from the out. However, based on their experience in the online sniper style, there are some Freegunners in the roster who are suitable for some players.
Weisnewski notes that” a number of characters are truly created to serve as entry points for people who experience anxiety or stress when they enter a game like this.” ” For that person who’s always played a gunman before, I’d suggest Lark. Lark was designed from the ground up to be inviting]to those people ]. Their weapons, the Razor Pod Launcher, storms out this little circle that hovers in the air. We have a gun that does n’t require players to be precise with their aiming because an enemy that gets close to that sphere detonates and produces tiny homing projectiles that will track down the enemy and cause damage.
” One of Lark’s Abilities is to cut a Spore Seed. It creates an area that buff your crew and debuffs the opponent team – you’ll get faster flexibility, a little bit of destruction resistance. That Seed has a large uptime, so you can be frequently planting. By running around the image and distributing Seed Seeds in crucial locations, you’ll aid your staff. The Transplant Pod is one of their different abilities. They initially create this tiny flower, and then they teleport back to it after a second activation. There’s a ton of high level strategic play, but]for newcomers], they have a tool they do n’t have to aim, an Capacity that always helps their staff and if they get stressed during fight, they can transfer out.”
” Kyps is comparable,” Jerome continues”. She’s a detective machine that does grow security traps, she can go into stealth]on dodging]. In this small level of anxiety, she can be a valuable asset to the group. People may be spotted behind the windows.
That feeds into a fluid of our idea, which is “brains versus goals.” We want both to issue. Although having a strong thumb is important, we also want to battle with this cognitive style. Be thoughtful with every move you make to feel as though the outcome of the game things.
” For the very competent shooter person, someone who is already very, very skilled at these games, really wants to pick it up and, and be productive straight out the wall, I would recommend Teo”, concludes Weisnewski. Tee was purposefully made to appear familiar to those who have played shooters. He’s got a very military-inspired loadout: a Guild Guard Rifle, a side arm pistol he can swap to. He has Cluster and Smoke Grenades. He’s got a double dodge. He’s quick. If you’ve played any shooter, he should just feel immediately familiar”.
Rather than traditional archetypes, each of the 16 Freegunners fall into one of 6 Roles – Anchor, Breacher, Haunt, Ranger, Tactician and Warden. Each has been defined and constructed in accordance with play styles, with additional variation found in the characters who fall under those roles. ” We have three different Rangers”, examples Weisnewski. Each has a distinct feel to them, they say. We have a more support-leaning character, a defensive-leaning character and a more traditional offensive-leaning character … we hope players will gravitate to one that actually feels like it was made just for them and how they want to play”.
” One of our philosophies we’re talking about is this concept of like recipes versus ingredients”, explains Jerome. ” Recipes are this authored, crafted thing that you have to play this way, right? We simply give you a large number of tools so you can choose how you want to go about fighting. You’ll see each Freegunner’s Role displayed on the Character Select screen.
Every Freegunner has two unique Abilities, mapped to L1 and R1. Not all recharges are based on cooldown time; they are customized to each Freegunner and are based on what is most enjoyable and effective way to develop that individual’s personality. It’s a resource model Firewalk coin as “Skillful Loops” or” Sloops” for short. ” I think Jabali was the pioneer of sloops”, says Weisnewski, the concept successful enough to inspire the studio to apply it all Freegunners. ” Take a character like Lennox, a precision shooter. A character with a lot of faith in their thumbskill will have a significantly higher DPS than others. So that’s the skill we’re trying to encourage, train and reward. So Lennox regains his throwing ability when he lands a kill. In contrast, 1-Off’s Trash Bomb recharges by vacuuming up projectiles or items in the world. In the Character Select screen or the Freegunners section of the main menu, you can learn more about the Ability requirements for each Freegunner.

” This goes back to that recipes versus ingredients analogy”, says Jerome. With Freegunner combative options that work well together,” Combos are these implicit combinations of actions and status effects.” The” DaVeers” Burnite grenade launcher causes purple chemical spouts when its projectiles strike. If they hit those with their Ignition Dart, they’ll ignite and explode. But if another character like Haymar uses her fire abilities, it’ll also ignite those chemicals”. Start experimenting with different skill sets during matches to get an idea of what works best.
Some Freegunner Skills are permanent, allowing you to place an item in the middle of battle that can aid your team or impede rivals. Examples include Daw’s Heal Pads that top up an ally’s energy bar, or Duchess’s Construct Walls which block paths or provide cover. These will continue indefinitely until the enemy team corrects them in the interim, or until the match is over. So for multi-round matches, there’s value in long-term strategy by populating the map with useful gear. ” It allows you to take advantage of characters beyond their lifespan]during a match ]”, explains Jerome.
Each of the six Freegunner Roles benefits from a Crew Bonus. Rangers, for example, have Improved Weapon Recoil, Tacticians, faster reload speed. In Concord, if your next deployed Freegunner has a different Role, the previous character’s Role-specific perk stacks on top of theirs, ultimately letting you play a much more capable combatant infused with the buffs of 6 Roles. It’s an additional layer of strategy applied over a match as you play through Freegunners to adapt to the circumstances at hand. Crew Builder, selectable within the Freegunners option on the main menu, allows you to build custom team compositions, deck builder style, to take into specific modes. There’s more details in the” How to Play” menu.
Freegunners are mercenaries, guns-for-hire who roam the galaxy and do high-stake jobs to keep them going. ” We want each match to]feed into that fantasy ]”, says Jerome. That corresponds to our progression system, so to speak. The Job Board lists all the different things you can get paid for during that match. That could encourage Ability usage, kill combinations … when you complete those jobs, those challenges, that gives you XP. Your payout. That unlocks more options, more customisation for your characters”.
Concord’s Open Beta is available on PS5 &amp, PC July 18 – 21. An extended interview with Firewalk can be found in the Official PlayStation Podcast, which will be available tomorrow.