Developer Blowfish Studios is back with more info on the Early Access version of their third-person mech shooter, Phantom Galaxies, this time helping new players get up to speed with some of the game’s core mechanics, such as Starfighter Attributes, Power Level, and Avatar Level.

Starfighter Attributes

Each Starfigther comes with a list of attributes that can be viewed in the ‘Mecha’ section of the Player Menu. There are 6 different Attributes, each of which you’ll want to increase over time: Durability, Shield, Manouverability, Power, Force, and Ordinance. Power affects the cooldown time for your Super Ability as well as the time it takes for heat to dissipate. Force is related to the cooldown time of your Empowered Melee in Mecha form and your Tech Ability in ship form, while having higher Ordinance can lower the cooldown time of your Missile Ability. 

You can improve each stat by equipping a variety of different Gear, which can be collected as loot from enemies you blast away, but they can also be bought using Terminals in areas such as the Halberd-001 station.

Power Level & Avatar Level

Power Level is a crucial mechanic that is determined by the level of Weapons and Gear you have equipped. Each enemy also has their own level, and if you stumble across one with a higher level than yours, then you’ll be in for a tough fight, as you’ll inflict less damage while sustaining a bigger amount of damage than usual. This can be countered by upgrading your Gear and Weapons, meaning that it’s not necessary to buy a completely new item to increase your Power Level but you can instead continue using the equipment you’d like to play with the most. Upgrading requires various upgrade materials, and you can see exactly which by pressing R on a selected Gear or Weapon in the ‘Mecha’ area of the Player Menu. What is generally needed for the upgrade process however is a higher-level piece of Gear or Weapon, a U-Cube, Credits, and a few other resources. 

Next to the Power Level, each Avatar also has their own level, which is increased by gaining XP from various in-game activities. The Avatar Level has an effect on the highest level of Gear you can equip, which is 5 times higher than the level of your Avatar.

Phantom Galaxies is available as a free-to-play title in Early Access on Steam and the Epic Games Store, as well as on Ultra and HyperPlay.