*****************Wipeout Pure**********************
A Beginner's Guide
This guide is:
Copyright 2005 Lars Comstock
This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web
site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation
of copyright.
All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.
Contact info:
[email protected],
[email protected]
All ideas on strategies, descriptions of boards, items, and vehicles presented
herein are MINE.
Any names, game mechanics, etc. are all property of the rightful owners of
Wipeout Pure.
Okay, legal mumbo jumbo aside, you can probably tell this is my first guide on
Gamefaqs.
This guide is designed to help the beginning racer save trial and error time
spent in selecting a vehicle, messing around without understanding how things
are unlocked, and experimenting with how to best use the various weapons. You
should read the owner's manual before reading this guide.
-------Stats, What They Mean, and Their Significance--------
In my mind, selecting the right vehicle for the job is the first thing that a
player needs to understand. And selecting the right vehicle means understanding
what you're looking at when you see all the pretty numbers and graphs under the
image of the car.
Here's a quickie on what the terms are referring to (all stats are on a scale
of 5):
Speed: You're vehicle's top speed
Handling: How responsive the vehicle is when you press a button
Shield: How much shield power you have
Thrust: How fast your vehicle can get to it's top speed
Here's what the terms mean and how important they are:
Speed: Speed isn't all that important honestly. About 60% of the tracks don't
allow you to get even close to top speed before throwing a turn at you, and
when you do hit a straight-away you have a great chance for weapon usage, which
heavily evens the odds if not tips them in your favor. Speed should be your
third consideration when choosing a vehicle, it's important but a vehicle with
a 3 speed is just as effective as a vehicle with a 5 speed.
Handling: Handling should be you're first consideration! Wipeout Pure has many,
many hard to hairpin turns, as well as many viscous S curves. These areas will
absolutely murder a vehicle with less than a 3 in Handling. With a good
handling stat you will be able to navigate trouble areas without hitting walls,
the cardinal sin of Wipeout, hitting walls will slow you down immensely, take
down your shield, and leave you vulnerable to debilitating attacks. A car with
a 4 handling at 3 speed will beat a car with a 2 handling and 5 speed any day.
Shield: All in all, Shield should be your last choice when it comes to a
vehicle. You should avoid a rating of 1, but a 2 or higher will be adequate in
any situation.
Thrust: A more important stat then most people give it credit, thrust
determines how fast you accelerate and how quickly you regain lost speed. This
stat should be your second choice in a vehicle. Here's why: hard to hairpin
turns will cause you to take your speed down to nearly zero, this applies to
any vehicle, so it's very obvious that if all cars start from zero at the end
of every turn, then the car with the fastest acceleration or thrust will be the
first to get to the next turn, and subsequently take it faster, and again
recover more quickly. And seeing as it's rare for any vehicle to make it's top
speed, especially vehicles with a 4 or 5, why invest in speed when you can
invest in thrust? A thrust score of at least 3 is a must.
WHAT THE $#&% DOES ALL THIS MEAN!?
If you learn one thing from this section it's that a combination of handling
and thrust is the most important in the game. Handling causes you to take turns
easier and maintain speed, and thrust means that you can regain any speed you
lost quickly. A vehicle with low handling and thrust will be fast on the
straight-aways but unfortunately the areas which allow for full speed are few
and far between. But most importantly, a car with low handling and thrust will
slow down more on turns, take them wider, possibly hit a wall, and will not
regain it's speed before the next turn when it's knocked back down again on the
speedometer. While the car with high handling and thrust can maintain it's
speed, take the fastest line, and work up to a higher speed before the next
turn. Which would you rather have?
--------------------Vehicles and Their Analysis-------------------------
With the knowledge of stats and what they really mean, let's take a look at the
vehicles.
Feisar - "A great run, but not a winner."
Stats:
Speed 2/5
Handling 5/5
Shield 3/5
Thrust 4/5
Analysis:
This is a solid vehicle. Great handling, great thrust, good shield, but no
speed. This vehicle is a solid beginners vehicle. But that's who it's for,
beginners, people who don't understand the game, feel like they need practice,
or just want a good car to take on a few practice runs. Sounds good but it's
not. This car has great handling, and if you get used to that, when you play on
the rougher tracks with higher speed and a lesser vehicle handling wise, you'll
get smoked. Feisar takes a very advanced player in order to win
with it.
Final word:
I don't even touch it. Not enough speed, too good of handling
to really
get used to using air brakes.
Auricom - "Solid as a rock, but you won't get there too quick."
Stats:
Speed 4/5
Handling 3/5
Shield 4/5
Thrust 2/5
Analysis:
A great vehicle until you look at thrust. This vehicle can take the damage, can
hit the straights hard, can even handle pretty good around the curves, but
without that thrust, you will never use the speed, you will leave yourself open
to attacks, and in a series of turns, you will loose that lead you gained on
the straight.
Final word:
If you can handle a vehicle like an expert, Auricom can work for you, but it's
still not the best bet.
Quirex - "It's all good, but not great."
Stats:
Speed 3/5
Handling 3/5
Shield 4/5
Thrust 3/5
Analysis:
A good vehicle, in fact a great vehicle. Handling is right where it should be,
and with a three thrust and three speed, you can make the most of your craft's
abilities. But the shield is too high! You will never, ever use that much
shield. It could be better invested in another stat.
Final word:
Solid, a good choice in multiplayer. But still lacking that winning umph.
AG Systems - "You can go anywhere you want, but you won't be getting there
fast."
Stats:
Speed 2/5
Handling 4/5
Shield 2/5
Thrust 5/5
Analysis:
With AG Systems you can take the turns perfectly and work up to top speed
quickly, but there's a problem...your top speed is horrible! I profess handling
and thrust, but you need at least some speed to back it.
Final word:
Too slow in my opinion, in addition humans in multi will knock you
around like
there's no tomorrow.
Piranha - "I'm winning, I'm winning...wall!"
Stats:
Speed 5/5
Handling 2/5
Shield 3/5
Thrust 2/5
Analysis:
The Piranha is a tough fly. High speed, but low everything else.
A good airbrake
operator can make do with the 2 in handling but everything
else is so low!
Final word:
Unless you seriously know what you're doing...
Triakis - "You can't touch me, you can't touch me! Wait, where are you going?"
Stats:
Speed 4/5
Handling 2/5
Shield 5/5
Thrust 2/5
Analysis:
Same as Piranha only with some extra shield. If you have
mastered airbraking
then go for it, this is a great craft. But be careful, not a good
beginner ship.
Final word:
Not a good beginner ship.
Assegai - " Well rounded, with a kick in the right place."
Stats:
Speed 3/5
Handling 3/5
Shield 3/5
Thrust 4/5
Analysis:
Assegai is a great blend of all you need, and in the right quantity. With
Assegai, you have good speed, and considering the thrust you may have a chance
to use all of it. Your shield is more than adequate, and with that handling and
a little practice you can really smoke. The all around, super vehicle.
Final word:
I play it, I win with it. I can get my speed up, keep it up, and hit the right
lines...a winning formula.
Harimau - "A great vehicle...but something's missing."
Stats:
Speed 3/5
Handling 4/5
Shield 2/5
Thrust 3/5
Analysis:
Harimau follows the winning formula as close as you can get it without getting
there. Good speed, great handling, all the shield you need with no excess...but
considering all the tracks, I would rather have a three in handling and a four
in thrust.
Final word:
Close, oh so close to perfection. A good vehicle if you need a little extra
help in the navigation dept. Harimau will win you races.
----------------------Final Breakdown----------------------------
My first choice of vehicle is Assegai. If you follow the formula of importance
then Assegai is the obvious choice. But for a beginning racer who doesn't
understand the tracks, I could understand needing a slight bit of help in the
handling area, this is where Harimau comes in. The vehicles to avoid are
Piranha and Triakis, both have too much speed, too much shield and not enough
handling and thrust to make good of it.
-------------------Weapons, and how to use them----------------------
#1 lesson:
HOLD YOUR BOOST! A boost is best used in a straight portion of the track that
is also devoid of boost pads. Note: Boost pads slow you down while you are
boosting! Make sure that you use your boost when nobody else will have a chance
to boost with you and avoid turns and pads. The number one place to use a boost
is when you are coming out of a turn onto a straight, use the boost even
slightly before you fully recover from the turn, it acts like an instant
thrust, making time spent in the turn shorter and giving you a good lead going
into the straight where you might not have the best speed.
#2 lesson:
FIRE PROJECTILES WHILE ON CURVES! The most vulnerable time for any vehicle is
while it enters a tight turn, it is "sliding" and therefore unstable, it's
speed is already close to zero, and it can't maneuver to avoid hazards. Hit
your opponents as they enter a turn, it does the most damage and with a little
luck, they might get hung up on a wall, furthering their damage and making it
impossible to catch you.
#3 lesson:
IF YOU ARE IN THE LEAD, SAC YOUR WEAPONS! If you are leading the race, don't
hold rockets! Sac them for shield, it gives you a buffer against attacks, and
you might get something more beneficial over the next weapon pad: like a boost
which will elongate your lead, a bomb which can stall your opponents, or a
shield which can be a maker or breaker at the end of a race.
-----------What to use and when--------------
The first rule of thumb is use the craft you are most comfortable with.
Unfortunately finding that craft can be time consuming so here are a few tips.
---Tournament; use vehicles with at least a two shield and be especially
concerned with thrust and handling. On high level tournaments there is no way
that you will ever use a speed above 4 and there will be so many mines, bombs,
and sudden turns that handling and thrust are necessary. Assegai, Harimau, and
Quirex are all perfect choices for your tournament career.
---Single Race; in single race you have a little more leeway in the fact that
you are only racing one track of your choice and some tracks are tight and
twisty, while others are broad and open. Of course at any difficulty the same
rules when choosing a vehicle apply. But on single race they bend a little to
the track. Chose Assegai or Qirex for Chengou Project, Blue Ridge, Citta Nuova,
Sebenco Climb, Karbonis, or Manor Top. Choose AG Systems or Feisar for Modesto
Heights, Sinucit, or Manor Top. Choose Auricom, Assegai, or Qirex for Sol 2,
Vineta K, Sagarmatha, or Mandrashee.
---Time Trials; Generally follow the Single Race guidelines.
------------Unlockable vehicles, tracks, and what to do first---------------
Note: YOU MUST HAVE GOLD MEDALS TO DO ANYTHING IN WIPEOUT. SILVER AND BRONZE
MEAN NOTHING! IF YOU WIN A BRONZE OR SILVER, DO IT AGAIN UNTIL YOU GET GOLD.
Also, do not even touch Time Trials or Single Race because after you unlock
some of the better vehicles you will just be doing them over again.
The first thing you want to do is start doing the tournaments. Your first
priority should be to clear Alpha, Beta, and Ascension on Vector difficulty.
This should give you ample opportunity to get the feel of the game, when to
turn, how hard, when to use boosts, and which vehicle is your favorite.
Second order of business. Start clearing Zones. You may only be able to clear
the first two for a little while, but that's not a problem. Work on them as you
clear Venom tournaments.
The first real checkpoint in the game is when you have cleared Venom and Vector
tournaments and have also cleared the first two tracks of Zone.
From there you want to beat Flash difficulty tournaments and finish Zone. Once
you have finished Zone you will unlock the Zone vehicle (read below). After
unlocking the Zone vehicle you will want to use it to start beating time trials.
After that everything should fall into place and the game will fly past you.
------------Advanced Vehicles, Notes, and Considerations------------
This section is for those of you who have played Wipeout for a few hours,
beaten at least Vector and can think about these things with some education and
experience.
-Vehicles:
---Zone
Zone is a great vehicle for passing time trials. Awesome handling, speed, and
thrust means that you can rip up the track...and in time trials shield doesn't
matter. Also, heads up or in a small multiplayer game, Zone will smoke the
competition.
---Medieval
A cool looking vehicle but that's about it. Zone is better for time trials, and
with a 1 shield you don't want to take Medieval onto the track. However, heads
up or in a three person race, Medieval will kick ass.
---Both of these vehicles should only be used for time trials or heads up play.
Their shield is deathly low and you will have a hard time
---As an advanced player you should have a good feel of when you do and don't
need certain weapons, and you should also have a sense of when to pay attention
to your shield. As you learn which weapons can be discarded you can choose
vehicles with a lower shield rating and a higher score in a more useful area.
-When to use certain vehicles
---Tournament; use vehicles with at least a two shield and be especially
concerned with thrust and handling. On high level tournaments there is no way
that you will ever use a speed above 4 and there will be so many mines, bombs,
and sudden turns that handling and thrust are necessary. Assegai, Harimau, and
Quirex are all perfect choices for your tournament career.
---Single Race; in single race you have a little more leeway in the fact that
you are only racing one track of your choice and some tracks are tight and
twisty, while others are broad and open. Of course at any difficulty the same
rules when choosing a vehicle apply. But on single race they bend a little to
the track. Chose Assegai or Qirex for Chengou Project, Blue Ridge, Citta Nuova,
Sebenco Climb, Karbonis, or Manor Top. Choose AG Systems or Feisar for Modesto
Heights, Sinucit, or Manor Top. Choose Auricom, Assegai, or Qirex for Sol 2,
Vineta K, Sagarmatha, or Mandrashee.
---Time Trials; Zone and Medieval cannot be beaten for time trials, else use
Assegai, or Harimau.
And that does it for this guide. Beginners, good luck! And all of you
competitors out there, watch for me when Wipeout goes online.
Thanks and look for more FAQs from nosoup_foryou
