EDF 5: Comprehensive Wing Diver Guide

This is a guide to cover some essential basics as well as advanced techniques for Wing Divers.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Hi everyone! This is my first ever Steam guide, so please bear with me in terms of the formatting. I am also writing this on a whim at 4:30 in the morning, so forgive me for not including any videos or images, however I may add some later on if necessary.

The reason I've decided to write this guide is twofold: firstly, I have not seen any (written, anyway) guides that cover more than the bare-bones basics of Wing Diver gameplay, but plenty of "advice" that contains false or misleading information, which I believe contributes to the second reason-- Many people seem to misunderstand Wing Diver or play it poorly, and in some cases this leads them to abandon the class altogether. While I don't know what the statistics on Wing Diver prevalence are, I know that I don't see them as often as Air Raiders despite being a much easier class to play (in my opinion.)

With no exaggeration, I believe I am one of the better Wing Diver players in this game, and since I haven't seen any other guides for it, I feel I'm in a good position to try and write one. However I am not an expert on making guides, so if I make mistakes or exclude information, please let me know and I will make amendments. I am also not good at maths, so I will not be providing any numbers, stats, nor calculations in this guide. Additionally I do not own any of the DLC, therefore I will not be providing information on DLC weapons. However the knowledge from this guide can and will carry you through DLC missions.

Lastly, this guide is intended primarily for co-op play, and while certainly many portions of it will also be useful for solo play, some things may not apply. Additionally, weapons that are not very useful in co-op may be viable or even preferred in solo play. My apologies for any discrepancies.

With all the disclaimers and other information out of the way, let's proceed to the guide.

1-A: What is the Role of a Wing Diver?

Wing Divers are perhaps one of the most flexible classes in the game, right up there with Fencers (though I'm no expert Fencer, so take that statement with a grain of salt.) Either way though, Wing Diver is much easier to master than Fencer. But what is a Wing Diver actually meant to do? What does she contribute to the team, and how?

The answer really depends on what is needed. A Wing Diver is able to fulfill multiple roles on any given team based on the situation. Rather than prescribing a set number of specific jobs a Wing Diver can do, I think it would be better to list the strengths and weaknesses of the Wing Diver so that each of you can decide for yourself which things you want to try. Experimentation is an important part of this game with any class.


Wing Diver Strengths

• Among the most consistently mobile classes in the game with very fine control over each individual movement.
  
  
• Extremely evasive and able to kite enemies very effectively with practise and situational awareness.
  
  
• Exceedingly potent burst damage with a wide variety of weapons.
  
  
• Selection of energy cores provides additional flexibility in roles and can emphasise firepower or mobility depending on need.
  
  
• Cutest voice.

Wing Diver Weaknesses

• Most vulnerable to enemy attacks out of all classes in the game.
  
  
• Absolutely no independent access to healing equipment.
  
  
• Limited options for long-range damage output.
  
  
• Nigh on defenseless against enemies whose attacks cannot be dodged.
  
  
• Nigh on defenseless and immobile when core is depleted.
  
  
• You will have to learn how to tune out the dash voice.

I have experienced the most success when using the Wing Diver as a close-range ambusher with extremely deadly burst damage weapons, or a long-range barrage unit with a Big Bang Core and Plasma Great Cannon (though the latter is only available after a certain point in equipment progression.) If you learn to evade attacks while being in very close proximity to the enemy, there is almost nothing that can stop you.

1-B: Wing Diver Basics

Before learning anything more about the class, there are a few basics that are absolutely necessary in order to make a good Wing Diver.


Movement & Manoeuvring

The way you navigate the battlefield, position yourself, and manoeuvre during combat will determine your success as a Wing Diver. It is your most powerful tool and is strictly necessary for your survival. I will briefly describe each type of movement the Wing Diver has access to here.

• Walking - Standard movement available to every class. Wing Divers have the joint slowest walk speed with Fencers, but unlike Fencers, there is no way to upgrade Wing Diver walk speed.
  
  
• Jumping - Standard jump available to every class. The jump will get you over small obstacles. When you jump on the ground, it will be used as a small boost before initiating flight.
  
  
• Falling - Yes, falling is movement too, and is obviously available to every class. I mention it now because it is also a very useful part of the Wing Diver movement package, though perhaps not the most important one.

• Flight - Standard Wing Energy movement. Upwards flight is your most basic form of energetic movement. It consumes a modest amount of wing energy for as long as you hold the flight button, and is your most common way of scaling tall objects (i.e. buildings, teleportation anchors, reaching teleportation ships.) You can also move laterally whilst flying, which is faster than your walk speed.
  
  
• Gliding - If your jetpack has been engaged before you began falling, you will enter a gliding state. Whilst gliding, your lateral movement speed will be equivalent to your flying movement speed. You can tell when you are gliding by noting the blue flame effect coming from your wings, even if you aren't holding your flight button.
  
  
• Dashing - Special Wing Energy movement. Dashing provides you with more lateral movement for a small chunk of your Wing Energy, with the specific amount depending on your core. Cores with a faster/longer dash will also have a higher energy cost to dash. Dashing on the ground will significantly shorten the distance of your dash, and your inertia will not be maintained in this manner. Therefore in most situations, it is preferable to dash only while airborne.

Energy Management

This is by far the most crucial skill for a Wing Diver to possess. Wing Energy is your lifeblood; it is what allows you to rival the mobility of the most mobile class in the game, and it is what fuels your devastating weaponry. However, if you deplete your energy, you are the least mobile class in the game, and your damage output will plummet to the point that merely defending yourself can be perilous. Therefore it is imperative to practise and master this skill.

If you are running low on Wing Energy, and do not have a weapon with an independent energy battery: retreating to a safe location to initiate an emergency charge should be your number one priority. Failing to do this will almost certainly result in death.

There are three things that deplete wing energy: upwards flight, dashing, and charging/reloading weapons. Please note the importance of the phrasing here-- Firing weapons does not cost energy in any case, and this can be used to your advantage.


Equipment Selection

Even if you can move effectively and efficiently, all that effort will go to waste if you don't have appropriate weaponry for the situation. Thus, Wing Divers are required to plan ahead or risk becoming dead weight (perhaps literally.)

Wing Divers have access to two weapon slots, as well as one energy core. Like all classes excluding Fencer, Wing Diver cannot equip duplicate weapons.

Wing Diver cores will fundamentally alter your gameplay, especially during higher levels. Unfortunately this also can serve as a weakness: at low levels, Wing Divers will have very few options to choose from and thus will not have the flexibility which makes them so strong. And similar to weapons choice, choosing the wrong core for a situation can completely negate your advantages. When in doubt, use a general-purpose core that you can use effectively in every situation.

Chapter 2: Wing Diver Equipment

In the following sections I will explain how Wing Diver weaponry works, give an overview of each weapon type, and discuss cores and a small number of core/weapon strategies. Remember though: nothing I say is law, and experimentation is the only way to find new combinations. Don't be afraid to try something if you think it could work, but don't be afraid to decide something definitely doesn't work, either.

2-A: Weapons Basics

Your weapon choice will make or break your effectiveness in battle. Experiment with each type and familiarise yourself with the different variations, and you will become a truly menacing presence on the battlefield.

There are two types of weapons in terms of their charging mode. For the sake of simplicity, I will refer to them in this guide as charged weapons and battery weapons (C-weapons and B-weapons for short.)

• C-weapons must be charged before firing by holding down your attack button until the weapon accumulates energy (it will drain your core as long as it is doing so.) The energy is discharged continuously when you release the attack button, at which point the weapon will fire until it has depleted its accumulated energy. Examples of C-weapons include but are not limited to Lances, Phalanx, Lightning bows, Thunder Crossbows, Pulse Machine Guns, Plasma Cannons, and Closed Lasers.
  
  
• B-weapons cannot be fired until they are fully charged, but many do not fully discharge its energy when you attack. In other words, it has a battery you can deplete one attack at a time before requiring a reload, much like the magazine of a Ranger's assault rifle. However, there are two key differences between these two cases: For one, your weapon will recharge even when it is not your active selected weapon. And secondly, once it starts recharging, the only way to halt the recharge is to deplete your core. There is no other way to interrupt that process, even if you need that energy to escape a deadly situation. Plan accordingly! Examples of B-weapons include but are not limited to Spark Whips, Bolt Guns, Mag Blasters, Bolt Shooters, Blink Balls, all homing weapons, and all special weapons.

Additionally, Wing Diver weapons can fire a variety of different projectiles. The projectile types are as follows:

• Beam: Beams of concentrated light particles forward to damage the target. These projectiles reach the target practically instantaneously; the delay between discharge and impact is negligible.
  
  
• Lightning: Beams of electrical energy that arc towards the target. These projectiles also bounce along surfaces and can travel down narrow passageways.
  
  
• Plasma: Projectiles of condensed plasma which explode on impact with any surface. These projectiles also inherit the Wing Diver's inertia and thus are much more difficult to aim while flying, depending on the projectile velocity.
  
  
• Seekers: Energy projectiles that track their target autonomously after discharge and may or may not feature an explosive radius.
  
  
• Nuclei: A hand-thrown projectile that hovers in the air for a certain amount of time while firing off one of the aforementioned projectile types in a particular direction until it expires. Nuclei, like plasma projectiles, also inherit the Wing Diver's inertia.

Lastly, some weapons have a damage falloff depending on the range at which you attack, while others do consistent damage regardless of the range.

Weapon Categories

The general categories of Wing Diver weapons are:

• Short-Range: High-damage, short-range weapons. Typically these specialise in dealing very high burst damage or very potent sustained damage. This category includes Lances, Rapiers, Phalanxes, and Spark weapons.
  
  
• Mid-Range Kinetic Weapons: B-weapons with flexible performance and decent range. I do not recommend any weapon from this category for any situation. However if you frequently find yourself initiating an emergency recharge accidentally, you may consider bringing one of these to potentially save you while you learn to manage your energy better. This category includes Mag Blasters, Destroyer Blasters, Spine Blasters, and Reflectron Lasers.
  
  
• Mid-Range Energy Weapons: Weapons with flexible performance and decent range. All weapons in this category use lightning projectiles, which travel along surfaces and can strike all targets in its path. This category contains Lightning Bows, Thunder Crossbows, and Bolt Guns.
  
  
• Mid-Range Pulse Weapons: Weapons with high performance and long range. All weapons in this category feature projectiles which explode on impact with any surface, dealing damage in a small area. However, they have high energy costs, their projectiles are affected by inertia, and each projectile individually does low damage, making them not suitable for combat at medium-to-long ranges. This category contains Pulse Machine Guns, Pulse Busters, and Stardust Cannons.
  
  
• Long-Range: Weapons with high attack range in exchange for low damage. This category contains Closed Lasers, Bolt Shooters, Monsters, and Raijins.
  
  
• Ranged Weapons: Less-ambiguously called "plasma weapons," these weapons have a moderate-to-high energy cost, moderate damage, high range, and high blast area. This category contains Plasma Cannons, Grit Guns/Shots, Plasmafalls, Blink Balls, and Grit Balls.
  
  
• Homing Weapons: Weapons with automatic target tracking and mediocre damage. This category contains Mirages, Fenrirs, Geists, Psiblades, and Ghost Chasers.
  
  
• Special: Thrown weapons that remain stationary for a certain time while discharging projectiles. This category contains Diffusers, Gleipnirs, Thunder Clusters, Psi Clusters, Heaven's Gates, and Final Days.

Even weapons within the same category can vary wildly in performance. It is important to know the attributes of each weapon so that you can choose the most effective loadout for a given situation, as well as weapons which compliment each other.

2-B: Weapons: Short-Range

• Power Lance
  Accumulation: C
  Projectile: Beam
  Damage falloff: Yes
  Penetrates: No
  
  A very versatile weapon that does quite high damage per discharge, has a respectable range within its category, and costs almost nothing to charge. I strongly recommend taking one of these if you don't know what else to bring. This weapon is usable in-flight due to its very low energy cost.
  
  
  
• Double/Triple Lance
  Accumulation: C
  Projectile: Beam
  Damage falloff: Yes
  Penetrates: No
  
  A very versatile weapon that does decent damage per discharge, has a respectable range, and costs very little to charge. A solid choice, and these can fill in the long level gaps between Power Lances. This weapon is usable in-flight due to its low energy cost, but sustained aerial discharges will drain your core faster than a Power Lance. Fires two to three beams consecutively, so the damage can be stacked on one target or may potentially impact one different target per-beam, or destroy armour and immediately damage the enemy underneath.
  
  
  
• Dragoon Lance
  Accumulation: C
  Projectile: Beam
  Damage Falloff: Yes
  Penetrates: Yes
  
  A weapon that deals devastating damage per discharge, has the longest range in its category, but costs significantly more than other lances to charge. This weapon is extremely potent, despite its higher energy cost and longer charge time than the other lances. Its single-discharge damage is unmatched in its category and can strike multiple enemies in a line to-boot. Sustained fighting with this weapon, however, is not recommended. Use it to get in, deal with a priority target, and get out. Under good conditions it can also be used to deal with swarms of ground targets, but this will put you at a much larger risk of taking damage than using it evasively. Discharging this weapon before it is fully charged can still deal significant damage and will make it more sustainable in drawn-out engagements.
  
  
  
• Spark Foil/Vine
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Lightning
  Damage Falloff: No
  Penetrates: Yes
  
  A weapon that deals middling damage and has a usable range. You are mostly paying for the B-type accumulation when you select this weapon. When considering the time-to-kill and range of this weapon, there is much to be desired, but it can be used in-flight or as a defensive weapon during an emergency recharge. Compared to the Spark Whip, this weapon does better single-target damage at the cost of area of effect.
  
  
  
• Spark Whip
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Lightning
  Damage Falloff: No
  Penetrates: Yes
  
  A weapon that deals decent damage and has a short range. This weapon seems to shine against swarms of ground enemies, especially if they are large and fragile. Does very solid area damage for a B-weapon. This weapon's performance might make it desirable when pairing it with weapons/cores that increase your risk of triggering an emergency charge in a bad situation, depending on what enemies you expect to encounter. However its usability against flying targets, armoured targets, or targets at the edge of its range is mediocre.
  
  
  
• Rapier
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Beam
  Damage Falloff: ~
  Penetrates: No
  
  Think of this as the Wing Diver's combat knife. This weapon deals very high damage in its category, but has a pitiful range. However, when using it at extremely close range, it is almost unmatched for damage. It discharges beams in a wide cone in front of you, so the effective range is even less than is listed in the stats: you may as well consider it to be a melee weapon. If an enemy can be stunned, it will almost always be unable to respond for as long as you are hitting them with most of the beams from this weapon. It also features a very fast recharge time and a very low energy cost. This weapon can be fired continuously nonstop without depleting your core, save for the very brief recharge window. Hovering just above the ground and firing straight below you makes this weapon extremely effective at dealing with swarms of alpha types and green mutants. Have extreme caution when using this weapon against gold mutants.
  
  
  
• Phalanx
  Accumulation: C
  Projectile: Beam
  Damage Falloff: Yes
  Penetrates: No
  
  If the Rapier is the Wing Diver's combat knife, this weapon might be the Wing Diver's chainsaw. It has a very short range, but much longer range than the Rapier. It has a much shorter discharge time and much higher energy cost, but it does substantially more damage, especially up close. This is an ideal weapon for moving in, destroying a priority target, and disengaging before you can be overwhelmed. Any enemy that can be staggered will be unable to respond for as long as this weapon is striking them, although at the edge of its range they may be able to escape. Move in as close as you can to ensure their demise. Sweeping this across a horde of ground enemies or even flying enemies if they are close enough will do considerable damage, but is not a sustainable mode of combat; get some distance to recharge and reengage.

2-C: Weapons: Mid-Range Kinetic

• Mag Blaster
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Beam
  Damage falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  The most generic weapon in its category. Does respectable damage for the first 25% of its charge, but damage falls off significantly beyond that. The high energy cost makes this very difficult to work with. Even as a mid-flight/emergency charge weapon, I can't recommend it.
  
  
  
• Destroyer Blaster
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Beam
  Damage falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  A shotgun-like weapon similar to the Mag Blaster, including its strengths and drawbacks. It does typically seem to do more damage than the Mag Blaster, but I still do not recommend it. However if you are using a weapon that has a relatively short recharge time and low energy cost, this might make for a decent backup weapon.
  
  
  
• Reflectron Laser
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Beam
  Damage Falloff: Yes
  Penetrates: No
  
  A longer-ranged version of the Mag Blaster that deals less damage. One additional quirk of this weapon is that the projectile will reflect off of surfaces, but it still terminates once it strikes a target. Thus, you may still damage something even if you miss the target you were aiming for. It still features the same drawbacks as the Mag Blaster, and thus I cannot recommend this weapon.
  
  
  
• Spine Blaster
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Beam
  Damage Falloff: No
  Penetrates: Yes
  
  A penetrating variant of the Mag Blaster with shorter range. If there is a weapon in this category to use, it is this one. The penetration feature of this weapon means you can fire through a mob of enemies to deal significant damage. Unfortunately it still features the same damage decrease as the other weapons in its category, but does at least have a slightly lower energy cost. It is the most usable weapon in this category, but the vast majority of the time, you will be served much better by a different weapon.

2-D: Weapons: Mid-Range Energy

• Lightning Bow
  Accumulation: C
  Projectile: Lightning
  Damage falloff: No
  Penetrates: Yes
  
  The most generic weapon in its category. Very solid range, but its damage at range falls off significantly the longer you discharge due to projectile dispersal. However, this can also make it easier to suppress large groups of enemies, which makes this a flexible weapon. These aspects also make it a solid candidate for combat in tight spaces, especially caves. The low energy cost and charge time also means you can deal decent damage at medium ranges by firing off a partial discharge and then recharging to full before firing again. However, the energy cost is not low enough to make this an effective weapon to use in-flight for sustained periods. Have care.
  
  
  
• Thunder Crossbow
  Accumulation: C
  Projectile: Lightning
  Damage falloff: No
  Penetrates: Yes
  
  A powerful weapon with quite good range and solid damage output. It is slower to charge and requires more energy than Lightning Bows, but all projectiles focus on the same target and discharge simultaneously, which makes this weapon much better suited for dealing high single-target damage. They are still decently versatile, but even while grounded it is not a suitable weapon for sustained combat. For the same reasons as the Lightning Bow this weapon shines in underground combat, and in my experience, even more so than the Lightning Bow. Manage your energy well and you will be nigh on untouchable when fighting in tight spaces.
  
  
  
• Thunder Crossbow W
  Accumulation: C
  Projectile: Lightning
  Damage Falloff: No
  Penetrates: Yes
  
  Similar to the standard Thunder Crossbows, but they discharge over a wider area at the cost of single-target damage. Seeing as the concentrated projectile path of the standard model is its standard version's greatest advantage over the Lightning Bow, this seems like a bit of a downgrade. I tend to avoid these, but they can still be decent in caves if your standard Thunder Crossbow is too many levels lower.
  
  
  
• Bolt Gun
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Lightning
  Damage Falloff: No
  Penetrates: Yes
  
  This is the only weapon in its category that utilises a battery rather than charged accumulation. Thus, its performance is lower than other weapons in its category. At the edge of its range all projectiles strike the same area, but between the weapon and that point, they spread massively, making this weapon almost comically bad to use at close range. However, its damage is respectable for a B-weapon, and the high capacity means that it can be a solid choice for use in-flight. Due to the aforementioned close-range issue, I do not recommend using this weapon as an emergency recharge weapon.

2-E: Weapons: Mid-Range Pulse

• Pulse Machine Gun
  Accumulation: C
  Projectile: Plasma
  Damage falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  This weapon deals middle-range damage over a relatively small area, but with a very high rate of fire. This means that for unarmoured targets, it can maintain a stun for quite some time. This can be useful for killing humanoids, but this is far from the ideal weapon to do so. At higher levels, the blast radius of the plasma projectiles means that one of these can effectively seal off an entire tunnel if it's narrow enough. The Pulse Machine Gun ZDM is especially good at this, and does solid damage to boot. Beware of friendly fire when using this weapon in tight spaces, however. The high energy cost of this weapon combined with the projectile inertia makes this a very poor choice for in-flight combat.
  
  
  
• X-Way Pulse Machine Gun
  Accumulation: C
  Projectile: Plasma
  Damage falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  Similar in concept to the standard pulse machine gun, but spreads out its damage over a wider area by firing a higher number of projectiles (X being the number of different directions it will fire in.) Shines most in similar situations to the standard model, but the higher spread of the projectiles means it typically does less damage. It is easier to use against hordes of ground targets in open areas, but there are weapons much better suited to that task. It can be a decent choice against flying types in some scenarios, but is not ideal for the task.
  
  
  
• Pulse Buster
  Accumulation: C
  Projectile: Plasma
  Damage Falloff: No
  Penetrates: Yes
  
  Similar in concept to the standard Pulse Machine Gun, but fires a larger number of projectiles that deal a smaller amount of damage per projectile. Think of it as a shotgun variant of the standard model. Therefore it has all the same strengths and weaknesses, but it does have a narrower firing sector than the X-way variant, so it can deal its damage much more efficiently. Its fire rate is significantly lower though, so it allows enemies much more time to approach. Use with caution in tight spaces.
  
  
  
• Stardust Cannon
  Accumulation: C
  Projectile: Plasma
  Damage Falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  Unlike any weapon in its category, this weapon deals extraordinary damage per projectile, and even fires a large number of them at once. However, it only fires one shot per charge. It does have a faster charge speed and lower energy cost though, so in many ways this is an advantage over the other pulse weapons which may drain a large fraction of your core if charged fully. If most projectiles hit a target it will deal immense damage, and follow up shots will arrive quickly. This will drain cores very quickly however. The damage is also potent enough to oneshot friendlies or yourself. Use with extreme caution.

2-F: Weapons: Long-Range

• Closed Laser
  Accumulation: C
  Projectile: Beam
  Damage falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  A very generic beam weapon that has one of the highest discharge ranges in the Wing Diver's entire kit. However, it has a high energy cost and mediocre damage. The high energy cost combined with this weapon being a C-type means that it is extremely energy inefficient unless you are firing at a stationary target with high health. The plus side is that if you aren't under threat from enemies, it is a very easy weapon to use.
  
  
  
• Bolt Shooter
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Lightning
  Damage falloff: No
  Penetrates: Yes
  
  A B-type alternative to the Closed Laser. The damage seems comparable, but this weapon benefits from being much more energy efficient than the closed laser. It also has the bonuses inherent to all lightning weapons such as target penetration and shot reflection. The damage per discharge is enough to kill minor enemies in 1-2 shots, but this becomes less reliable at higher difficulties. I don't really recommend this weapon.
  
  
  
• Monster
  Accumulation: C
  Projectile: Beam
  Damage Falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  A much more potent weapon in its class. Think of this as a Closed Laser that discharges its energy much more quickly. As much as this weapon's damage is an improvement over the Closed Laser, it's still quite modest compared to the overall Wing Diver kit. There are very few situations I would recommend this for, but it is decent at dealing with humanoids (not greys) at long range when you have no better alternatives. This weapon is very ill-suited to sustained engagements; bring an energy-efficient backup.
  
  
  
• Raijin
  Accumulation: C
  Projectile: Lightning
  Damage Falloff: No
  Penetrates: Yes
  
  This weapon is unique in its category in that it deals incredible damage. Its range (especially before upgrades) leaves something to be desired though, and it has a monstrous energy cost. You can expect to completely empty most cores in a single charge of this weapon and still not be at full charge. Firing this weapon before a full charge results in a scattering of the projectiles, lowering its efficiency even further. In ideal circumstances however, this weapon can deal with some very pesky targets, such as Deroys or clustered groups of humanoids, very efficiently. Be wary if you attempt to fire it down along the side of a tall building; if you hit the ledge, it will almost certainly kill you.

2-G: Weapons: Plasma Weapons ("Ranged")

• Plasma Cannon
  Accumulation: C
  Projectile: Plasma
  Damage falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  A generic Plasma Cannon. Think of this as the Wing Diver's equivalent to a rocket launcher. They have a moderate energy cost and deal mediocre damage. They're better at scattering small enemies than killing them, which is generally not what you want. They do however have surprisingly good range, which might make it one of the Wing Diver's best options for striking large clusters of enemies at long range. However, you would be much better served by picking a more potent weapon and closing some distance.
  
  
  
• Plasma Big/Great Cannon
  Accumulation: C
  Projectile: Plasma
  Damage falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  Technically part of the standard Plasma Cannon series, but these two weapons specifically are so different from their cousins that they deserve their own section. In exchange for a significantly higher energy cost and charge time, these weapons deal substantially more damage and feature a larger blast radius. They also feature decent velocity, and are thus well-suited to ranged combat. For dealing high damage at long range, these weapons will be your bread and butter. It is just as deadly to you and your allies however, so have extreme caution. If you hit a teammate with these weapons, you will not have the chance to direct them to a health pickup. The only exception is a Barga swarmed by small enemies or a Fencer using a dual-shield setup (they will most likely tell you if this is the case.) Do not fire this at allies unless they explicitly tell you friendly-firing them is okay.
  
  
  
• Plasmafall/Splasher
  Accumulation: C
  Projectile: Plasma
  Damage Falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  A low-velocity, high-density plasma weapon specialised for indirect fire. This weapon excels at targetting enemies over a large range, but deals even less damage than the standard variant. Seeing as it exaggerates the main downsides to the Plasma Cannon, it's not particularly useful in the vast majority of circumstances. It is possible to use it as a sort of "Plasma Cannon shotgun", but there are weapons far better suited to the task and are significantly less dangerous to the Wing Diver herself to wit.
  
  
  
• Blink/Split Ball
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Plasma
  Damage Falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  A hand-thrown projectile that behaves like a tiny, battery-powered version of the Plasma Cannons, sort of like a grenade. The Blink Ball behaves more like the standard Plasma Cannon, while the Split Ball is more like the Plasmafall variant. Both do decent damage, and it's much easier to use the Split Ball against a single target than the cannon version. Notably, these are the only weapons in the Wing Diver's arsenal that have an energy cost of zero. As such they can be used as supplemental damage when using B-weapons with a middling recharge time.
  
  Of special note in this group is the Blink Fork, which is uniquely designed to stagger the Wing Diver herself with very low damage to escape hazardous situations using the i-frames in the ragdoll state or potentially use it to access positions that might otherwise be inaccessible (like most perches whilst using the Big Bang Core.) I personally do not have much experience with this weapon, so I will not elaborate on it here; try it for yourself. Note that if you use your jetpack to recover from the ragdoll state, your i-frames will end instantaneously; have care not to use it while enemy attacks are still incoming.
  
  
  
• Grit Gun/Shot
  Accumulation: C
  Projectile: Plasma
  Damage Falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  A weapon that closely resembles the performance of weapons from the mid-range pulse weapons category, but with a lower energy cost and lower capacity. It is essentially just a Pulse Machine Gun with a lower capacity that is more energy-efficient to use in small bursts. It does feature a much higher projectile velocity though, making it a better choice for in-flight combat and long range combat. There are still much better weapons to choose for both these purposes.

2-H: Weapons: Homing

Special note: Weapons in this category are affected by an Air Raider's guide beacons. For homing weapons that target multiple enemies, this can be used to focus the weapon's entire damage output on a single target.

• Mirage 5-Way
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Seeker
  Damage falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  The most generic weapon in its category. This weapon features small seekers with a small explosive range upon impact with the target or an object. The high energy cost, low fire rate and target quantity, and low damage makes this a generally subpar weapon, but in early levels where the Mirage 15s are unavailable, they can be a less-effective alternative. This weapon's tracking is generally good, but not perfect. You can expect to miss fast-moving targets, and you may see projectiles orbiting a target rather than hitting it.
  
  
  
• Mirage 15
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Seeker
  Damage falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  A version of the Mirage series that lacks the explosive hit on impact, but targets significantly more enemies at once. The lack of explosive damage is actually a huge improvement over the base series; while the damage is lower, it stuns enemies rather than launching them, meaning you can hit them with follow-up shots much more effectively. This weapon is especially effective against flying aggressors and can take up to just over a dozen of them out of the fight at any given time, substantially reducing incoming damage to your team. It is much harder to mitigate their damage to you as the closer they get, the less of them will fit within your targetting field, and they will also attempt to spread out and surround you. Even so, this is one of the better weapons in its category.
  
  
  
• Geist
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Seeker
  Damage Falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  This weapon discharges very potent projectiles with a very slow speed. Most enemies, even species alpha, can outrun these projectiles. The projectiles feature a large blast radius and can therefore damage tightly-packed clusters of enemies with a reasonable degree of efficiency. By angling your aim upwards to target enemies with the very bottom of the targetting field, you can fire this weapon over cover to decent effect. Unless you're using a Big Core and are receiving beacon support from an Air Raider to deal consistent damage at range with impunity, I do not recommend this weapon.
  
  
  
• Ghost Chaser
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Seeker
  Damage Falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  A weapon that fires extremely accurate projectiles at a huge quantity of targets. It recharges exceedingly quickly with a hefty recharge cost, and its projectiles rarely miss their target, making it ideal for accurately hitting swarms of fast-moving enemies. However, its damage is predictably quite bad against individual targets, and it has another negative trait as well: immediately after being fired, its projectiles have a huge shot spread and a significant delay before they begin tracking the target. This means that if you are near the ground, almost half of your shots will impact the ground at your feet. Paired with the small explosive radius of this weapon, you risk staggering yourself every shot, especially with the upgraded version at level 68 (unless you fly first, which makes the energy cost of this weapon even more punishing.)
  
  However, it's not all bad. The explosives are equally good at staggering small enemies, and you can target a vast number of them very quickly. This gives this weapon one very unique niche use: you can use it to stagger entire swarms of tadpoles, preventing them from using their green fire breath attack. You won't kill them in any appreciable amount of time, but you can reduce incoming damage to you and your team to almost zero. Additionally, using the level 21 variant of this weapon with a much more powerful core means you can fire the weapon for much longer, or with some cores even continuously. Make sure to coordinate with your team: allies utilising homing weapons with no top-attack vectoring or weapons that require direct line-of-sight to the target will not appreciate you dropping all their targets into cover and dealing milquetoast damage. In situations other than stunning tadpoles, I do not recommend this weapon.
  
  
  
• Psiblade
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Seeker
  Damage Falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  This weapon might be considered the missile launcher of the Wing Diver kit. It fires, with great energy cost, a single high-damage projectile with a large blast radius. The tracking is decent as is the projectile speed, so it's a fairly accurate weapon. Unfortunately, it does pitiful damage for the energy cost and is nigh on unusable at anything but long range. I do not recommend this weapon.
  
  
  
• Fenrir/Rapid Mirage
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Seeker
  Damage Falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  These weapons target only a single enemy and fire a rapid stream of high-velocity, high-accuracy projectiles with a small explosive radius. Their performance is similar to the standard Mirage, and thus it is a rather lacklustre weapon, but is even less effective against groups of enemies. I do not recommend this weapon.
  

2-I: Weapons: Special

Note: All weapons in this category feature an exceedingly long recharge time. Your core will be accumulating energy as usual, but constantly draining a small amount of energy from the moment you deploy these weapons until they are fully recharged. Thus, it will appear as though your core's energy accumulation rate has decreased. Manage your wing energy carefully in the meantime, as it will deplete even faster than usual for this duration.

• Diffuser
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Nucleus (Plasma)
  Damage falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  A standard, hand-thrown special weapon. This weapon fires plasma projectiles similar to those found within the mid-range plasma weapons category in all directions. Predictably, the damage output is very low even on large targets, but can add up over time on building-size stationary targets, like a flying type nest. If you deploy this weapon high enough above you, it can create a safety zone from ground enemies below it if you must emergency recharge. Obviously this runs the risk of damaging yourself with your own weapon, but decide on a case-by-case basis if that risk outweighs the risk from the enemies themselves. The air-to-surface variant is much better suited to this purpose, but will obviously not protect the Wing Diver from even low-flying air targets. The anti-air variant, by contrast, can do decent damage to flying enemies provided they are close enough or large enough, but there are weapons better suited to handling flying targets in this category.
  
  
  
• Gleipnir
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Nucleus (Seeker)
  Damage falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  Probably the most well-known and least understood weapon in this category, the Gleipnir is a very niche weapon. While the projectiles are far, far more accurate than any other weapon in this category, they also do almost negligible damage, barely enough to stagger most enemies. For individual enemies or small groups this isn't much of a problem since all seekers emitted from this weapon will track the same target or small group for okay damage and pretty solid stun, but if you're being swarmed, this weapon might not even really reduce the amount of incoming damage. Offensively it also has very limited uses, like tossing it into a large swarm of flying aggressors targetting your allies and then disengaging, but other weapons in this category are better suited to the task. This weapon seems to be at its most useful when used against tadpoles, but even then in many circumstances the air-to-surface diffuser will serve you much better. This may be a controversial take, but I do not recommend this weapon. (Note: I'm not sure and unable to test whether this weapon is affected by an Air Raider's guide beacon. If anyone knows the answer to this, please let me know!)
  
  
  
• Thunder Cluster
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Nucleus (Lightning)
  Damage Falloff: No
  Penetrates: Yes (Secondary projectiles only)
  
  This weapon behaves much like a Lightning Bow pointed straight at the ground. Despite this, it's shockingly effective at dealing with large clusters of ground enemies, and furthermore is almost perfectly safe to stand underneath. If you need a weapon to cover you during an unexpected emergency recharge, this may possibly be the best one. The level 87 version deploys two nuclei, which allows you to cover a slightly larger area with it. This version also fires bolts upwards, so it can be used to provide a modest degree of cover from flying aggressors too. Be wary of its steep energy cost. I admit, I was very surprised by this weapon upon revisiting it. Also, my apologies for the terrible pun.
  
  
  
• Heaven's Gate
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Nucleus (Beam)
  Damage Falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  A standout weapon in its category and honestly one of my favourite Wing Diver weapons. It deploys ten different nuclei in a horizontal spread pattern to make a "wall" of long beams firing directly downwards, creating a sort of screen in front of you. The longer you hold down the attack button before throwing, the further they spread, to a maximum distance large enough to easily let a Wing Diver through, but still too small for enemies to safely pass through. This means you can near-instantly deploy a deadly barrier anywhere and dash through it repeatedly to kill anything that attempts to follow you through. While this trick doesn't work particularly well on ground targets (especially not species beta since they can just jump through the beams for a tiny amount of damage), it is phenomenal against swarms of flying aggressors, and has turned that matchup from a painful slog into a walk in the park. You can pair this weapon very effectively with a Power/double/Triple Lance to pick off flying aggressors that manage to skirt around the outside of your death wall, or the red mutants to ensure that their potential damage to you is mitigated. I cannot stress enough how devastating this weapon is against this type of enemy.
  
  Additionally, you can press and then instantly release the attack button to cause all ten nuclei to deploy on the same spot, resulting in a single pillar that annihilates anything that walks underneath it. It takes only a few of these to completely wipe out a flying aggressor nest, and if you manage to get a queen, mother monster, king, or kaiju to stand under one of these for a substantial time, you will deal immense damage to it. If you do try to use one of these against ground targets, most particularly species beta, keep a high altitude above them. Not only will that keep you safe from their attacks, but it will also make them try harder to jump directly beneath you rather than trying to flank or get behind you, causing more of them to stop in the beams. I cannot recommend this weapon enough. It's incredible.
  
  
  
• Psi Cluster
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Nucleus (Beam)
  Damage Falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  Similar in concept to the Diffuser, but uses non-explosive beams instead of plasma. Think of this weapon as a Rapier that you can tape the trigger of and then just leave floating in the air. Uniquely, it seems to "point" in the direction of your throw. Have care, because if it bounces off of something before activating, it will fire along the vector it was last travelling along, which means it may end up pointing directly away from whatever you were trying to attack. All that said, at appropriate levels it seems to do pretty respectable damage. Sadly if there is a version of this above level 41, I have not seen it.
  
  
  
• Final Days
  Accumulation: B
  Projectile: Nucleus (Beam)
  Damage Falloff: No
  Penetrates: No
  
  This weapon is similar in principle to the Heaven's Gate, with two key differences: it discharges beams forwards parallel to the ground instead of downwards perpendicular to it, and the beams fan out rather than firing parallel to one another. The resulting shape is sort of like a seashell. Maybe it has some kind of use, but if it does, I haven't found it. The damage is just too low to be much more than a staggering weapon, but it only discharges a few beams that do not penetrate through enemies, meaning it can stagger, at best, ten at a time, and significantly less the closer any single enemy is to the nucleus. I'm not sure what the point of this weapon is, if it has one, but the weapon description seems to greatly overexaggerate how powerful it is.

2-J: Cores

Your choice of core will significantly impact your playstyle as a Wing Diver. There are generally no wrong answers when it comes to which core to use on which mission, but there are absolutely wrong answers when it comes to which weapons to pair with which cores. When in doubt, take a Plasma Core.

Note: Your core will automatically replenish energy at all times, except when using energy to ascend or dash. This includes the time spent charging/recharging a weapon.

• Plasma Core
  
  Your standard Wing Diver energy core. This core provides no changes to movement nor weapon performance. These cores generally have the highest energy capacity of any cores with no effect on flight performance, making them very solid general-purpose cores.
  
  
  
• Turbo Core
  
  A core slightly more specialised for speed over the plasma core. In exchange for a slightly higher dash energy cost, your dashes become noticeably faster. One might consider this the training wheels for the Jet Core.
  
  
  
• Rush Core
  
  This is the first core to feature a change to weapon performance. Although flight performance is unchanged, this core boosts weapon charge/recharge speed, which makes it excellent for performing faster follow-up shots for burst damage, allowing you to move in, kill a target, and disengage in a shorter amount of time. However, the core's charge rate is not improved over that of the Plasma Core, and its maximum energy capacity also falls short of it. Therefore, extra care must be taken to balance mobility with weapons charging. Have particular care when using weapons with high energy cost with this core. If your energy is low, it may be preferable to discharge a partially-charged weapon and evacuate rather than fully charging the weapon and initiating an emergency charge.
  
  
  
• Loading Core
  
  This core sacrifices flight performance for a significantly higher maximum capacity. However, charge speed in both standard charge and emergency charge are pretty much unchanged, meaning that while you can sustain attacks for much longer, it also takes much longer to replenish your energy. It might be useful for fully charging a very energy-intensive weapon and still having some energy left over to manoeuvre and defend yourself, but this core is generally not a very good option.
  
  
  
• Jet Core
  
  This is the next step up from a Turbo Core. Both the boost speed and the energy consumption for boosting are substantially increased. With this core, the Wing Diver's speed increases to rival that of an advanced Fencer for short bursts. However, the greatly increased energy consumption while boosting is extreme and care must be taken when boosting at low energy. As a result of this, it is more difficult to maintain altitude when using this core. It is best used with the hop boosting technique that will be covered later in this guide. Despite the energy-related drawbacks, there is no core better suited to making blindingly-fast hit-and-run attacks on priority targets. This core can even help you escape from stunlocks, provided you're not on the ground when you attempt to boost.
  
  
  
• Reverse Core
  
  This core seems to be a bit of a gimmick; it appears only once in the base game's arsenal. Despite this, it has admirable performance. Constant ground dashing combined and firing off consecutive dragoon lance shots with this weapon will still result in core depletion, but it takes far longer than it would for most other cores. Whilst recharging a special weapon, this core seems to function similarly to an unburdened Plasma Core. If one of these is available with the DLCs, please let me know how it performs; I'm very curious.
  
  
  
• Big Core
  
  The Big Core and Big Bang core are very special cores in the Wing Diver's arsenal. In exchange for your ability to fly any better than a Ranger can, you receive 200% weapons charge/recharge speed and an extremely large energy pool to draw from. This essentially turns you into walking artillery. Weapons that would consume almost an entire Plasma Core will take up maybe a sixth of this one, and in a fraction of the time. These cores pair extremely well with the Plasma Big/Great Cannons from the plasma weapons category as you can rapid fire them for a staggering amount of burst damage. All weapons, including special weapons, will also charge significantly faster with this core, and B-weapons used as backups will be practically free to use at all times; just make sure to initiate a manual reload when your emergency charge is done. All Wing Diver weapons effectively gain a fire rate increase. This is especially noticeable with weapons from the homing category and can turn lacklustre weapons into death machines. With the Ghost Chaser, it is possible to fire almost indefinitely. The Dragoon Lance is transformed from a poke-and-run weapon to a rapid-fire enemy shredder. There is almost no enemy in the game that can stand up to that kind of firepower, provided the Wing Diver herself can remain in one piece long enough to utilise it. To list every weapon combination with this core here would take an age, so I encourage you to try it with weapons that you may not even find very effective. This core completely transforms the performance of almost the entire Wing Diver arsenal.
  
  
  
• Sky-High Core
  
  This core has pretty much the standard performance except that the energy cost for boosting is reduced, allowing you to boost indefinitely while still achieving net positive energy accumulation. This core can be used in combination with a Dragoon Lance or another weapon with a similar charge cost while ground dashing to sustain attacks for much longer (but still not indefinitely.) Aside from that, there's not really anything noteworthy about this core.
  
  
  
• Bird Core
  
  This is my personal favourite core. Although its maximum energy capacity is comparably low and it consumes more energy for standard flight, this core might be the best core in the game for aerial combat. It enjoys a sizeable increase to flight speed, which includes vertical speed and gliding speed, making it a very solid core for kiting. Additionally the energy consumption for dashing is the standard amount for a core of its level, meaning that even though it consumes energy faster whilst ascending, it can gain back a much larger portion of lost energy by dash coasting. Pairing a Power/Double/Triple Lance or any low-energy weapon with this core means you can fight in the air for extended periods of time, which is extremely handy for picking off targets on the ground that are unable to hit you and for stalling against flying enemies while your Heaven's Gate recharges.
  
  
  
• Return Core
  
  This core functions similarly to the Turbo Core. Higher dash cost, higher dash speed, only the dash cost isn't as high and the speed is applied when moving backwards rather than forwards (both cores increase lateral dash speed.) If you are comfortable dashing sideways, this core is more energy-efficient than a Turbo Core while retaining the benefits to your mobility.

Chapter 3: Wing Diver Positioning and Movement

In the following sections I will provide in-depth information on the movement mechanics of Wing Diver, some techniques for efficient and effective movement, and strategies for battlefield positioning to maximise your damage output while minimising risk to the Wing Diver and team as a whole.

3-A: Movement

"Movement" as used here refers to the specific inputs and resulting motion of the Wing Diver during gameplay. Your movement techniques will comprise the second half of your overall energy management, the first being your weapons choice and usage. As such it is crucial to know how to move not only quickly, but also efficiently.

Note that the Wing Diver maintains momentum from directional inputs during flight for a short time.


Wing Divers' movement kit is composed of the following:

• Bunny Hopping
  
  Inputs: Flight (~1.5sec) > Release flight > Flight (~1.5 sec) after landing > Repeat
  
  This is a familiar technique for Wing Divers arriving from EDF 4.1. This technique involves using your flight for a certain amount of time before releasing it and falling back to the ground, then beginning flight again. If performed correctly with a compatible core, your net energy gain will be positive. Generally, using two ticks of your energy gauge before releasing your flight button will be right around the correct amount of time, but over time you'll get a feel for it and it will become automatic. In my own case, I learned this technique completely on accident just by playing for a long time. This technique combined with a very energy-efficient weapon can make for a very sustainable mode of combat if enemy attacks do not require dashing to evade. Using directional inputs while performing this technique also provides you with a much faster energy-positive movement option than walking while still reserving some energy for weapons use. You'll also notice that immediately upon landing, you can hold the flight button to take off almost instantly; weapon use notwithstanding, there is practically zero delay from landing to becoming airborne again. If you become locked on the ground after landing, try holding your flight button only after you hear the distinctive "clink" of a Wing Diver landing.
  
  
• Hop Boosting
  
  Inputs: Jump > Dash > Jump > Dash > Repeat
  
  This technique may be the single strongest tool the Wing Diver has both for kiting and for surviving on low energy. To perform this technique, tap your flight button whilst on the ground and dash at the apex of your jump. You will skid along the ground with speed and from your boost until your next boost, your energy will be recovering. If you deplete energy during your jump, tap your jump button for a shorter amount of time.
  
  
  
• Left/Right & Forwards/Backwards Dashing
  
  Inputs: Dash forward > Dash backwards > Dash forward > Dash backwards > Repeat
  
  or,
  
  Dash left > Dash right > Dash left > Dash right > Repeat
  
  This technique has a variety of uses, but most commonly it is used to fire at targets in a single area while staying within optimal weapons range, or for engaging a target while avoiding its attacks. The forwards/backwards variant has very limited uses, while the left/right variant is preferred for its finer control over your distance to the target.
  
  
  
• Dash Coasting
  
  Inputs: Flight (to desired altitude) > Dash (brief pause) > Dash (brief pause) > Repeat until landing
  
  This technique utilises the immediate cancellation of downwards momentum from dashing to maintain altitude for longer periods. Pausing for a short moment between each dash, for about as long as it takes to notice your acceleration towards the ground, will give your core time to recharge a small amount of energy. Doing this technique correctly can increase the Wing Diver's survivability substantially; not only is dashing a very evasive movement option, but this also means that by the time the Wing Diver has reached the ground, she will have accumulated enough energy to repeat the process (albeit for a shorter time.) This technique, when used continuously while circling a target on the ground, allows the Wing Diver to engage with aerial weapons for a long time with little to no risk without landing (assuming the energy cost is low enough.)
  
  
  
• Precision Landing
  
  Inputs: Flight (until a few metres below landing target) > Release flight and adjust with direction keys
  
  This technique is mostly useful for using the minimum amount of energy required to land atop an object such as a building or a teleportation anchor/ship. It will take a fair bit of practise and of course it also changes depending on the flight speed of your core. I doubt any Wing Diver gets this right every single time, but with time you'll become better at it. If you realise you're going to fall short of your target and you still have energy left, you can give yourself a little boost to reach your target, but this is less energy efficient than boosting for a bit longer and overshooting (as long as you still land atop the object.)
  
  
  
• Animation Locks & Cancelling
  
  Inputs: N/A
  
  Some weapons, notably the Dragoon Lance but perhaps a couple others I'm forgetting, lock you into a brief (but still deadly) recoil animation after firing. Such animations can be cancelled by dashing, which reduces the time you're forced to remain stationary to almost zero. This is significantly more punishing on the ground than in the air; whilst grounded, there will be a substantial delay between the end of your dash and when you can begin flight again. If you're under threat while engaging in this manner, it may be worth sacrificing some of your sustainability to get a small amount of altitude before each shot, just enough to avoid the grounded penalty. However it is possible to avoid it by hop boosting as well, with much tighter timing. If you're confident in dodging enemy attacks, it may be safer to just ground dash.
  
  
  
• Weapon Recoil
  
  Inputs: N/A
  
  Some weapons have a small amount of recoil, which will propel you backwards a short distance or add their velocity momentarily to yours. This is less something to use intentionally and more something to be aware of, though it's possible in select circumstances to use it to your advantage.
  
  
  
• Falling
  
  Inputs: Don't make me vapourise you.
  
  Falling off of a tall object pretty much functions as a downwards dash in terms of evasiveness. Enemies that can't hit you while you're dashing probably also can't hit you while you're falling. Of course, acceleration due to gravity is not instant, so if you've just started falling, unlike with a dash you're still vulnerable for a moment. Falling seems a bit floaty in this game, which works to our advantage; this is time that we are difficult for enemies to hit and accumulating core energy for free.

I recommend practising each of these whenever you can, and at first it will be easier to do so without worrying about attacking while doing them. If you're with a team, this should be enough to keep you alive at least for a bit for them to help you escape any bad situations. But ideally, try to integrate use of weaponry while moving to maximise your effectiveness as a Wing Diver.

3-B: Positioning

Where you move is as important as how you move. Ideal positioning will depend on a variety of factors, including:

• Your equipment selection,
  
  
• Teammates equipment selection,
  
  
• Type(s) of enemies,
  
  
• Position of teammates,
  
  
• Position of incoming enemy reinforcements,
  
  
• Map boundaries and terrain,

and other situational considerations.


As a Wing Diver, your number one priority will always be safety. If you are at risk of being hit by attacks (be they enemy or allied), you need to finish whatever you're doing expeditiously and retreat to a safe position. Wing Divers can easily be stunlocked to death, and they have the lowest total health pool of all classes, meaning that a single mistake can spell death. Whenever you enter a hazardous area, be certain you have an escape plan or three.

Your second priority will be dealing damage. Position yourself so that when you're ready to fire, you have a clear shot to the enemy and you are within your weapon's effective range. The longer you can continue unloading your firepower at your targets with impunity, the better. If you've selected good weapons, very few enemies can withstand your onslaught for very long. Use this to your advantage and consider it when deciding when and where to move. Additionally, be wary of debris, nearby teammates, and nearby enemies; any of these can potentially appear in front of you as you discharge your weapon, usually to catastrophic effect.

Mission familiarity will be a key aspect in your decision making for what equipment to bring and, more importantly, where you position yourself. Standing in the right spot when a new wave of enemies appears can be the difference between a drawn-out fight and the deaths of your teammates, or discharging a weapon for a few seconds and then going straight to loot collection.

3-C: Maps and Terrain

Although it is not the most important of our considerations as Wing Divers, the terrain and map features will still influence the decisions we make regarding equipment, movement, and positioning.

There are six main types of maps in EDF 5: Cities, industrial areas, plains, hills, caves, and bases. These may sometimes limit our weapon options or make certain weapons significantly less effective. When considered in combination with which enemies will be present on a given mission, you'll have a basis for deciding which weapons will be most or least effective. It may be a good idea to consult this section and the enemy guide before deciding which weapons to bring with you.


Terrain Guides:

• Cities
  
  Urban areas are one of the most dynamic types of terrain in EDF 5, because its most prominent features can be removed both by attacks from you and your team, but also by enemy attacks. If a trigger-happy teammate (especially Air Raiders) are involved, your close-range ambusher kit might end up being gutted in effectiveness as a single Phobos run transforms your urban playground into a field of rubble better resembling a flat plain. As such, having a backup plan is a good idea, and coordinating with your teammates is an even better one. Notably, Wing Divers can land on even small ledges and windowsills, meaning that it can become very easy to perform a safe emergency recharge or evade enemies just long enough to accumulate some energy before taking off again, and you can extend this time by jumping off.
  
  Generally speaking, any weapon with a reasonable degree of precision and short-to-medium range should suffice, but if your Air Raider brings a Phobos you may opt for something more akin to a Thunder Crossbow in range, and weapons that strike a wide area increase in viability as building cover decreases. Weapons that can be effectively fired from rooftops become increasingly effective, as well as weapons with higher energy costs due to potential energy that can be stored by perching on buildings.
  
  Common hazards here include enemies ambushing you from around corners and from above on the sides of buildings, as well as getting stuck on small objects.
  
  
  
• Industrial Areas
  
  Similarly to cities, industrial areas can be rapidly transformed by strikes over wide areas, so similar considerations apply in terms of the transformation of the terrain. When structures are left intact, there is one key difference from cities: Cover is more sparse, but much more navigable. Contrary to the large movements required to effectively use buildings as cover, industrial structures have a lot of nooks and crannies to slip in between, which can diversify the types of weapons you can deploy from within them. However, these building are ironically more dangerous to fight from primarily because enemies can approach from many more angles, but also due to the increased precision required to efficiently navigate them; lots of twists and turns to keep track of while firing at enemies, railings and ledges to get stuck on, and small objects to bonk while adjusting positions with small bursts of flight. Thus, in-flight combat-oriented loadouts may situationally be preferable.
  
  Common hazards here include small objects to get stuck on, complex and difficult-to-navigate structures, and tight spaces.
  
  
  
• Plains
  
  Frankly, this is not a good situation to be in as a Wing Diver, but we can still make it work. The main downside here is that combat in open fields over long distances greatly favours weapons with long range, which Wing Diver has in very short supply. Speed is our friend here. Wing Divers will be very effective at kiting and destroying swarms of small, fast enemies. Additionally if you have a core that improves your movement speed substantially, ambushing enemies is still more than possible (doing it with a standard core will still work, but will be a massive pain and a lot riskier.)
  
  The advantage to this type of terrain, however, is that we can see practically everything that's going on at once, and therefore we can pick our battles and avoid incoming attacks very easily compared to other situations. Whether you focus on kiting swarms, ambushing priority targets, or bombarding from long range, prioritising the most important targets and dealing with them quickly is our best strategy. In these situations especially, often the best defence is a good offence.
  
  Random small rocks or logs on the ground can be a hazard here. The map boundary in these maps can also sneak up on you, which can be a dangerous situation.
  
  
  
• Hills
  
  Wing Divers are quite strong here primarily because this is the best terrain we could ask for in terms of energy conservation and generation. By utilising the hill skimming technique (covered in the energy management section later) we can use high energy cost weapons much more effectively, which essentially equates to more sustained firepower that we would not have in other types of terrain. Additionally we can outrun enemies far more easily, we have indestructible cover, and enemies in the valleys between hills are far more susceptible to ambushes from the air (which we can perform much more frequently.) Use weapons that capitalise on these bonuses and you will wreak havoc on enemy forces.
  
  Running out of energy whilst in a valley is the greatest hazard to a Wing Diver in this terrain.
  
  
  
• Caves
  
  This type of terrain, along with bases, is somewhat unique in that vertical movement range can be severely limited depending on the specific map. Thus it is often advisable to invest into better lateral mobility such as with Turbo Cores, Jet Cores, or Return Cores. Often, but not always, hill skimming can be used in these locations to better conserve energy.
  
  Close-range weapons, scatter weapons, and especially lightning weapons will be immensely effective here, especially in narrow corridors. These situations are where weapons like the Lightning Bow, Bolt Gun, Stardust Cannon, and especially Thunder Crossbows and Pulse Machine Guns, absolutely shine. A good Thunder Crossbow can be fired haphazardly into a tunnel full of enemies to devastating effect, killing a handful of enemies with every shot whether or not they are within line-of-sight. And by firing a Pulse Machine Gun down the length of a tunnel, you can effectively halt the progression of enemies through it, completely sealing off one angle of attack. Be mindful not to overextend however, as being stuck with low energy and no teammates nearby to support you is especially dangerous in this environment. Firing while retreating is an essential skill in any environment, but doubly so here where a swarm can engulf you much faster.
  
  The main environmental hazard here is falling into pits of enemies while low on energy.
  
  
  
• Bases
  
  Bases, such as the tunnels in Base 228, differ slightly from caves in that they often involve more open spaces than caves, and large rooms full of enemies that appear all at once as the door opens. In these situations it is preferable to maintain distance from the door and fire at enemies coming through it rather than entering the room, though entry can also be made for very brief periods without too much risk (assuming your teammates are aware that you intend to do this.) Weapons that can continuously saturate the entire opening are few and far-between, but are ideal. The next best thing are weapons that can cover a decently wide area and can be quickly aimed to pick off enemies that slip through; the Stardust Cannon excels at this. Because enemies can surround you very quickly in this environment, it is likewise from previous very important to be able to fire while retreating. Since mobility is a lesser concern here, it may be worthwhile to take a core that sacrifices mobility to increase weapons performance.
  
  Getting overrun by enemies approaching and attacking from the sides and ceiling is the primary hazard here.

Chapter 4: Energy Management

This section will highlight some particulars about getting the most out of your energy core through your movement throughout the terrain and in combat, as well as efficient use of weapons. Some techniques may touch on both; a third combination section will cover such techniques.

Whether you're employing movement-based methods, weapons-based methods, or a mixture of both, the fundamental skill required for effective energy management is core energy awareness. Your energy gauge and health bar, in many cases, might as well be the same bar. Always know where your energy level is. Be aware of how much gravitational potential energy you have, how long your core takes to conduct an emergency recharge, whether your weapons are recharging or not, and whether you have enough energy remaining to dash or charge a weapon without depleting your core.

4-A: Movement & Positioning in Energy Management

There are two main realms in which our movement and positioning can help us manage our energy outside of combat; these are energy-efficient movement and storage of gravitational potential energy, respectively.


Energy-Efficient Movement

This refers to any movement we make as Wing Divers that achieves the highest ratio of mobility to energy cost possible. As per the disclaimer in the Introduction, I will not be performing any calculations or providing numbers here, and I do not expect other Wing Divers to do that either. Maths are inhumane. That being said, the availability of reserve energy we can use for weapons and the amount of time we can spend evading enemy attacks will help us get a feel for what movement is the most efficient over time. The movement discussed in section 3-A are excellent examples of efficient movement, but the ones to focus on the most are our bread and butter to conserve energy: hop boosting for ground movement, and glide coasting for aerial movement.

Hop boosting is very significant for a few reasons. Chief among them is that (at least based on feel alone,) it has the highest mobility-to-energy cost ratio of any mode of movement a Wing Diver has, excluding those which require zero energy and are very slow (such as walking.) The majority of our time while doing this is spent charging, rather than depleting our core, but we maintain a speed that is only slightly less than how fast we can dash in-flight. The key to this is that we are using the midair dash, which conserves our inertia, rather than the ground dash which kills all inertia as soon as the animation ends (and locks you in the animation to boot; generally not a great deal for us.)

This is also where our greatest advantage in hilly terrain (and to a lesser extent in bases and some other maps) comes from. Hop boosting works just as well when travelling up an incline as it does when travelling over level ground, and all the height we get from scaling a hill or mountainside translated into lots of juicy, juicy gravitational potential energy for us to use to travel long distances very quickly or unleash hell from above with a full core charge. The inputs for hill skimming, as I'll call it when used in this manner, can differ slightly from hop boosting, but not always. It depends on the steepness of the surface you land on at the end of your inertia from your boost. For hills, generally if you land on grass or dirt, you must hop again before you can boost. If you land on stone, you can boost again without hopping. This is because stone tends to indicate that terrain is too steep to land on, so the game considers you to be in a gliding state until you land on something flatter. This is only a rule of thumb though and will not guarantee a 100% success rate when hill skimming; sometimes you can still land on bare stone. Use your best judgement.


Gravitational Potential Energy

So what is this "gravitational potential" I keep mentioning? I'm glad you asked, faceless, voiceless stranger. In physical terms, gravitational potential is basically the energy that is stored within mass that is being attracted by another nearby mass, and could thus be converted into kinetic energy until the distance between them is zero. In other words, it's the energy stored in the Wing Diver that manifests as falling towards the ground after jumping off a building.

But more importantly for us, it's a way to store the energy that we used to fly from the ground to the roof. As soon as you land on a high place as a Wing Diver, the amount of energy your core accumulates basically equates to free energy that you're getting just for being in a high place without having to press your flight button. All of the energy that you would have used just to get up to that height is now available energy you can use to charge/recharge weapons, perform manoeuvres, or gain even more altitude.

However, this does require some time to actually let your core charge to be useful. Generally landing on a roof will let you charge your core for at least a brief time, but if for whatever reason you have to take back off immediately after perching, you won't have gained much energy at all. And naturally, the higher up your perch is, the more energy is stored. If you begin charging a weapon immediately after perching, you will achieve a net energy gain, as your core accumulates charge even whilst charging/recharging weapons.

4-B: Weapons Usage in Energy Management

There are also various methods that Wing Divers can use with weapons to maximise energy efficiency. As ever, awareness of the level of energy remaining in your core is paramount. With weapons, there is one additional consideration; you should try to get a feel for how much a full charge/recharge of a given weapon will deplete your core. Our method for achieving this depends on the charge speed of a weapon:

• For weapons that accumulate energy quickly, we can observe how many ticks of energy gauge are depleted when we charge/recharge them. It's difficult to get an exact number, and it isn't necessary anyway; just have a rough idea of how much energy you need in your core to charge/recharge your weapon without triggering an emergency recharge.
  
  
• For weapons that take a long time to accumulate energy, particularly weapons from the special category, the prior method is impractical since during recharge we still have a net-positive energy accumulation. Therefore it is not important to note how much energy they require to recharge, and instead focus on the charge time and the impacts on charge rate to our energy generation. This will essentially just look like your energy gauge filling much slower than it usually does. This is particularly dangerous while firing your other weapon and performing combat manoeuvres, so have special care not to deplete your core whilst charging. And remember, initiating an emergency recharge will also interrupt the recharge on your B-weapons until your core has been replenished fully.

For situations where a full energy charge is not necessary to eliminate the target, or when a full charge would initiate an emergency charge, it is advisable to discharge your weapon after a partial charge. This will not increase energy efficiency during sustained fire, but if you time your attacks the same as if you were charging fully by delaying when you begin charging, you will save some energy. This requires patience, composure, and practise, so don't give up.

C-weapons can also serve as an energy weapon battery, much like gravitational potential or even the battery of B-weapons. This is also an effective method for using C-weapons which drain most or all of your core on a single charge; begin charging the weapon, and initiate an emergency recharge without discharging your weapon. Finish charging the weapon once your core is replenished, and now you not only have your mobility restored to make the most of your devastating projectile, but you can also potentially make a weaker follow-up shot immediately to finish off the poor thing you were aiming at with the first one. Of course, this will deplete your core, so have care where and when you utilise this tactic. Alternatively, especially with weapons with a low or middling energy cost, this can be done when your energy is nearly full. Charge your weapon before taking off, and you'll have that little bit of extra energy to work with in flight for extra flight time or an additional weapon charge/recharge. For this reason it's also generally better to recharge your B-weapons while on the ground.

For homing weapons specifically, the extremely fast recharge time means that weapons with a high rate of fire will deplete your core very quickly. We can mitigate this somewhat by using controlled bursts instead of firing off our entire energy reserve at once. The result of this is a steady stream of moderate damage rather than one quick burst of slightly higher damage. Seeing as homing weapons have abysmally low burst damage to begin with, keeping up sustained damage over time is usually preferable. This tactic is especially important when using a Rush Core or Big Core, as they will increase the rate of fire of your homing weapon significantly.

Volley firing follows a similar principle in some ways, but the key difference is that it's about impact time and effect on target rather than damage uptime. For example, if you are using the level 15 Plasma Big Cannon and you fire a plasma mass at a distant target, it will take some time before it impacts. Until it does, you won't necessarily know whether the target will die or not, because it may have too much health to kill in one shot, or you might have missed outright. But if you fire a follow-up shot just to find that the target was vapourised by the first one, all the energy you charged into the second shot was wasted. Therefore depending on the weapon, range, and situation, wait until impact before firing another shot. This applies especially to weapons with a high energy cost.

Aim your weapons carefully. Missing a shot wastes all of the energy that was used to charge it. Consecutive misses with a Dragoon Lance are universally painful. Additionally, staggering yourself with an explosion can cancel your discharge and waste all the energy you put into charging your weapon. This also applies to enemy fire; don't get hit by enemy artillery while charging!

Lastly, heed your weapons' effective range. Especially for weapons with damage falloff, most energy discharged when your weapon is at the edge of its range is essentially wasted. By closing in, you kill enemies much more efficiently, meaning you can use the remaining energy to target another nearby enemy, or you might not even have had to charge the weapon that much to begin with. Conversely, firing at the edge of your range can consume a large amount of energy for very lacklustre results on the target. This may not always be possible, and sometimes the lower energy efficiency is a worthy trade-off for the additional range and safety. Use your best judgement.

4-C: Weaponry-Manoeuvring Interactions in Energy Management

This brief section will touch on some additional energy considerations that combine movement and weapon techniques, or simply things to be aware of whilst manoeuvring and engaging enemies.

Depending on their energy cost, you can charge and fire weapons while performing hop boosts. To do this, discharge your weapon immediately before your dash, then immediately hold down your charge button (it doesn't matter if it's before or after your dash.) This is best performed with weapons that discharge all accumulated energy instantaneously, like Power Lances. If you are using this to flee from enemies whilst firing at them, always be aware of objects that might obstruct your escape. You may need to perform multiple hop boosts between discharges depending on your weapon's charge time. For B-weapons fired while hop boosting, you can simply hold down the trigger.

When integrating weapon discharges to dash coasting, charge the weapon to the desired level and discharge. Your weapon will fire immediately, even if you're still in the middle of a dash animation. However, the dash will cancel the discharge of your weapon; if you're using a C-weapon that fires multiple projectiles before requiring a new charge, any accumulated energy remaining after you dash again will be lost. Similarly to hop boosting, B-weapons can be fired in this manner by simply holding down the trigger.

Weapon recoil will affect your gravitational potential energy when engaging enemies in-flight from above or below, and is one reason it is generally better to ambush enemies from above. Firing upwards at an enemy will push you downwards, instantly consuming a portion of your gravitational potential energy and imparting downwards inertia that can carry into other actions. Conversely, firing downwards from above will have the opposite effect. The effect is more noticeable in the former case due to this force pushing you in the same direction as gravity rather than working against it. Additionally you may knock yourself off of a ledge due to recoil; if this catches you off guard, it can cost you a lot more energy.

The weapon charge period for B-weapons with a long recharge time can be especially taxing on movement and combat abilities during this time. Not only will you be fighting with one weapon, but you will also have significantly less energy available for movement and attacking. In cases where you are dash coasting, you may be forced to choose between stalling for time by dodging, or thinning out your targets at the expense of altitude.

Target quantity maximisation means to strike as many enemies with a single discharge of a multi-target weapon as possible. For weapons with a blast radius, this means catching as many enemies in the explosion as possible (this is the primary reason that most Plasma Cannons are not very effective weapons; splashing a group of enemies without killing them will scatter them.) For homing weapons, this means locking on to as many individual targets (or all of your locks attaching to an Air Raider's beacon) before discharging. This is, in essence, maximising ratio of damage dealt to energy spent.

Perhaps the most obvious movement method for diverting more energy to weapons is simply not moving at all. Specifically, not energy moving; except in very specific circumstances, a Wing Diver should always at least be strafing from side to side and/or jumping to avoid incoming damage. But if it is not necessary to fly, don't. All the better to fire off your carefully-selected weapons, and typically it is easier to aim whilst stationary.

Chapter 5: Combat

In this section, I will provide options for maximising your damage output in combat as well as recommendations for which weapons to use against each enemy type.

I'll cover weapon/core combinations, tips for effective weapon usage, tactics for defeating each type of enemy, and team strategies.

You are the scariest EDF unit to see approaching. The enemy dreads the sound of jetpacks on the battlefield. The worst possible moment that an enemy could imagine a Wing Diver to appear should be the precise moment that you do. Take a hunter's mindset into your engagements, be calculating and opportunistic, and give them hell.

5-A: Loadouts

There are a wide variety of viable loadouts for the Wing Diver to use, and I will not claim to know every combination off the top of my head; know what you'll be facing in a given mission, consider the terrain and where enemies will be positioned, and bring your deadliest tools to bear upon them.

Here are some of my favourite kits to use.

• Ambusher Kite:
  - Power/Double/Triple Lance
  - Secondary weapon depending on expected enemies
  - Bird Core or Jet Core
  
  Use the mobility of your core and the negligible energy cost of your lance to remain mobile throughout the entire mission. You will also have plenty of energy to spare for an energy-intensive weapon, so this is also an ideal basis to make an ambushing kit off of if you add a Phalanx or Dragoon Lance. Use Bird Core to kite in midair, or Jet Core to kite along the ground.
  
  
  
• Long-Range Heavy Bombardier:
  - Power/Double/Triple Lance or a C-weapon of your choice
  - Plasma Big/Great Cannon
  - Big Core/Big Bang Core
  
  The energy capacity and charge rate of this core can turn the Plasma Big Cannon and Plasma Great Cannon into rapid-fire tank shots that can vapourise enemies from across an entire map. Additionally your C-weapon in the primary slot will have an incredible rate of fire increase and most can be rapid-fired to absolutely devastating effect. Dragoon Lances, Thunder Crossbows, and Stardust Cannons are amazing here.
  
  
  
• Swarmsbane:
  -Power/Double/Triple Lance, Spark Whip, or Bolt Gun
  -Heaven's Gate, Thunder Orb, or Air-to-Surface Diffuser
  -Bird Core
  
  Maintaining near-perpetual flight by using the Bird Core, you can deploy a Heaven's Gate into the air or a Diffuser close to the ground to decimate swarms of flying types or ground insects respectively. Each weapon also works on the other type of swarm or mixed swarms to a lesser degree, and the Thunder Orb should work decently in either case. Your lance or other low-cost weapon can pick off dangerous enemies mixed in with the swarm or just take care of any that get around the hail of death decimating all its friends. I personally prefer lances, but any B-weapon with a high capacity could work in theory. Try different ones and see what works for you. And say goodbye to flying aggressors. The special weapons can also be used against queens, kings, and mother monsters, but it requires a bit of finesse and patience to lure them into them as they can sometimes dodge around it completely. If you're fighting a swarm of just species alpha and green mutants, you might swap the Diffuser for a Rapier and hover near the ground in a circle, firing it directly beneath you. It will absolutely shred that swarm long before you're forced to land.
  
  
  
• Breacher
  - Thunder Crossbow
  - Stardust Cannon
  - Rush Core
  
  The Thunder Crossbow absolutely rips and tears through anything in narrow passageways. The Stardust Cannon has got you covered for when you need your damage a bit more fanned out or if the range of the Thunder Crossbow is too short to reach something. Rush Core means you can dish out an immense amount of damage and then retreat back to safety swiftly. You don't have to worry about getting chased; find a narrow enough corridor, and you'll only need to fire once every few seconds with the crossbow to be totally safe. Just be mindful of enemies approaching from multiple directions.
  
  
  
• Guerilla Fighter
  -Any low energy cost weapon
  -Phalanx
  -Jet Core or Turbo Core
  
  The last thing many a grey will see-- Should they be fortunate enough to see you at all. Zoom in with your empowered dashes, melt straight through their armour and flesh, and zoom back out before their friends have even registered that their compatriot's insides have been cooked well-done. This kit also excels at conducting hit-and-run strikes on anything that dies in 1-2 charges of the Phalanx. Which, frankly, is most things.

5-B: Weapons Usage

Here are a brief few tips for handling Wing Diver weapons. There's likely more to this than I'm remembering at the moment, but this should give you an idea of the kinds of things to expect.


Discharge Cancelling

It is possible to cancel the discharge of a C-weapon by dashing, switching weapons, or pressing the reload button during discharge. For most weapons, this will safely cancel discharge and discard the remaining energy accumulated in the weapon. Double and Triple Lances seem to be a special case: by dashing immediately after beginning discharge, it is possible to "save" the second and third beam to fire later. It seems to fire off while charging the next salvo, but to figure out the specifics this would probably require more testing. That being said, it's not a useful trait to begin with, mostly just an interesting little quirk.


Exploiting Plasma Inertia

The inertia imparted onto our plasma and nucleus projectiles by flight can be manipulated to our advantage. For example, if we equip a low-velocity Plasma Cannon and fly directly towards an enemy, we can flatten the projectile trajectory and make aiming much easier. This can also be used to fire beyond the normal aiming angles that can be achieved and enables the Wing Diver to even attack enemies directly behind herself (but only from the air and if they are substantially below her.)

With nuclei, our inertia can be used to aim them precisely in the same manner as plasma weapons in the previous example. There are two main things to be wary of: throw distance and bouncing. The throw distance for certain nucleus-based weapons can be deceptively long, which can result in the projectile overshooting the target or even bouncing off of it. A nucleus bouncing off of a target or surface can significantly impact the targetting area of the weapon, so special care should be taken to avoid unexpected mishaps with these weapons; it will take a long time and a gruelling low-energy fight to earn a second change to get it right.


Hop Boost Chain with Dragoon Lance

Hop boosting can be used with a Dragoon Lance despite the recoil animation. The process for this is the same as hop boosting with any other weapon, but the timing is much tighter. If you intend to try this one, I recommend practising it before joining a co-op lobby, unless you have friends there who agreed to help you learn. Take care to time your discharge so that you can fire at the apex of your hop and then immediately dash; if you mistime it, you'll end up with a ground dash and potentially be overrun with a very inappropriate weapon for that situation.

As a reminder, the inputs are:

Charge weapon > Jump > Release charge > Dash & begin charging again.

5-C: Enemy Guide, Part A

Here is a list of each general type of enemy, and my preferred weapons and tactics for dealing with them at various ranges. Consider close to mean Phalanx range, medium to mean the edge of the range of a Dragoon Lance, and far to mean anything beyond that. These are by no means the only weapons that can be used to deal with these targets; I am only listing my go-to's. Consider experimenting with other weapons to see what else works.

Threat levels:

Innocuous

Harmless under most circumstances. Awareness required.

Threatening

Can cause problems, but easily avoidable. Some caution required.

Hazardous

Can inflict high damage and stun very suddenly, extreme caution required.

Extreme Peril

Can render a Wing Diver completely helpless and kill her within seconds. Extreme caution required.

These threat levels refer only to the danger to Wing Divers. Communicate with your team and support your allies against enemies that are the most threatening to them.


Aggressive Alien Species Alpha
Threat level: Innocuous

• Close: Spark Whip, Lightning Bow, Thunder Crossbow, Dragoon Lance, Power/Double/Triple Lance, Rapier
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance, Thunder Crossbow, Stardust Cannon
  
• Far: Don't bother. Close the distance first.
  
  Cluster them up and rain hell with impunity. You can avoid the majority of their attacks by simply hovering and moving in a circle.

Green Mutants
Threat level: Innocuous

• Close: Spark Whip, Rapier, Phalanx
  
• Medium: Stardust Cannon
  
• Far: Don't bother. Close the distance first.
  
  Cluster them up and rain hell with impunity. Same avoidance tactic as the standard version.

Gold Mutants
Threat level: Hazardous

• Close: Power Lance, Dragoon Lance, Phalanx
  
• Medium: Power Lance, Dragoon Lance, Stardust Cannon
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon, Stardust Cannon
  
  Don't let them near you. Pick them off from medium range if possible, and prioritise these over everything else in a swarm. If you must dodge them at close range, pay attention to the attack animation. Just before the projectiles form, dodge perpendicular left or right. Nothing is more important to dodge than a gold ant at point-blank range. It will oneshot you.

Mother Monster
Threat level: Threatening

• Close: Rapier, Phalanx, Dragoon Lance
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance, Heaven's Gate, Air-to-Surface Diffuser, Stardust Cannon
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon, Stardust Cannon
  
  Get directly underneath it and melt its underside. If it's on a vertical surface, disengage until it's on flat ground. Keep walking laterally to avoid the small amount of damage it will deal to you directly under it. Avoid fighting in tight spaces.

Aggressive Alien Species Beta
Threat level: Threatening

• Close: Spark Whip, Thunder Crossbow, Power/Double/Triple Lance
  
• Medium: Power Lance, Thunder Crossbow, Stardust Cannon
  
• Far: Mirage 15
  
  Aim carefully and pick off one with every shot. Maintain situational awareness; getting surprised by one of these can ruin your day. Their attack animation makes the timing predictable, and it's not difficult to dodge a couple of these at a time even when grounded.

Silver Mutants
Threat level: Threatening

• Close: Dragoon Lance, Phalanx, Rapier
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance, Power Lance
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon
  
  Stunlock them from medium range while you close the distance, then switch to a close range weapon and decimate it before disengaging. If these do more damage than the standard version I haven't noticed, but beware of them cutting off your escape; they can't be picked off to avoid damage like the standard ones.

Aranea
Threat level: Innocuous

• Close: Dragoon Lance, Power Lance, Phalanx
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance, Power Lance, Stardust Cannon
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon
  
  Pretty harmless unless you're not paying attention. Even if they grab you, you can free yourself by dealing enough damage to it; this process can be accelerated by boosting towards it as it pulls you in. The biggest threat from these is not the damage they'll deal to you, but the damage from other enemies that they will render unavoidable. Once you become familiar enough with the missions in which they appear, it's almost impossible to be surprised by an Aranea.

King
Threat level: Hazardous

• Close: Phalanx, Rapier
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance, Power Lance, Heaven's Gate, Air-to-Surface Diffuser
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon
  
  Poke at it from medium range while dash coasting and move in when you spot an opening. Stunlock with Phalanx or Rapier (make sure you are fully charged before you engage) and blast it back to hell where it belongs. Be aware that it fires two separate bundles of webs, so you're not safe if you've only dodged the first one. They do extremely high damage, so if you don't kill it after your full discharge, evacuate immediately and reset your engagement.

Aggressive Alien Species Gamma
Threat level: Hazardous

• Close: Rapier, Phalanx, Thunder Crossbow, Lightning Bow, Spark Whip, Air-to-Surface Diffuser, Thunder Orb
  
• Medium: Thunder Crossbow, Lightning Bow, Power/Double/Triple Lance
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon, Thunder Crossbow
  
  Ideally, get somewhere that is covered from all sides but one and you can just equip a Rapier and hold down the discharge button. Failing that, kiting and staggering are your best bet. You can make yourself nigh on untouchable by Gammas from one direction by discharging your Rapier in front of you. Being caught out in the open by a mob of these is a death sentence unless you can escape to high ground.

Flying Aggressors
Threat level: Hazardous

• Near: Heaven's Gate
  
• Far: Heaven's Gate
  
• Wherever you are: Heaven's Gate
  
  Seriously. I cannot recommend this weapon against this enemy type enough. Try it. Works best against huge swarms aggroed on you. Make sure you have some altitude so you can dash coast through your hornet zapping net. Use your lance to pick off any that sneak around the side or prioritise red mutants. And half-jokes aside, Bolt Guns and Stardust Cannons are also decent against swarms at medium range. Mirage 15s are decent, especially with charge speed cores. Don't bother at far range. These are one of a few enemy types that can chase you down and kill you very quickly. Don't give them the opportunity. Buildings can extend your health against these slightly, and tightly-packed ones might give you enough time to complete an emergency recharge.

Queen
Threat level: Hazardous

• Close: Phalanx, Dragoon Lance, Power/Double/Triple Lance
  
• Medium: Heaven's Gate, Plasma Great Cannon, Power Lance, Dragoon Lance, Stardust Cannon
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon, Raijin, Stardust Cannon
  
  Try to stagger it from medium range and close in fast enough to stunlock it, then finish it off with a Phalanx or Dragoon Lance. Other lance types can work in a pinch but are not ideal. Avoid chasing it upwards as it will rise to remain out of weapons range and drain you of your energy. Note that they will sometimes avoid our nucleus-based weaponry; it is possible to lure them into it, but harder than most other enemies. Have care.

5-C: Enemy Guide, Part B

Humanoids
Threat level: Threatening

• Close: Rapier, Phalanx, Dragoon Lance, Power Lance
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance, Power Lance, Stardust Cannon
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon
  
  You can fire at the hatches on the bottom of a dropship immediately after they open to severely maim or outright kill any humanoids dropping from it with the Plasma Great Cannon. Use this to completely nullify enemy reinforcements. Pairing the Plasma Cannon with a Big Bang Core makes you a humanoid's worst nightmre. However, being caught off guard by these is a bad time. Prioritise shotguns, then rifles, then artillery. Don't engage groups of shotguns at close-medium range. You can easily dodge rifles while closing distance to them by dashing diagonally alternating left and right.

Greys
Threat level: Hazardous

• Close: Rapier, Phalanx, Dragoon Lance, Power Lance
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance, Power Lance, Stardust Cannon
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon
  
  If using a Rapier or Phalanx, get right up to them, aim center mass, and discharge until you hear the big "splorch" sound. Rinse and repeat. Don't fight them in groups. Prioritise beam rifles, then shotguns, then assault rifles. Beam rifles are nigh on impossible to dodge even at long range. Shotguns can easily lock you in place and deal lethal damage unless you manage to stagger them and flee; don't engage groups. Assault rifles are relatively safe to engage one or two at a time. In very select situations, firing a Geist at them from behind cover might be a decent option.

Heavy Armour Greys
Threat level: Hazardous

• Close: Phalanx, Dragoon Lance, Stardust Cannon
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance, Stardust Cannon
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon
  
  Engaging groups of these at close range is not advisable. You can blow off chunks of their armour from distance with your Plasma Cannon. If you find one or two isolated at close range, you can Phalanx them down in exchange for taking a little damage. All of their weapons have a startup delay; aim for whichever one is closest to firing, except the rocket launchers which can barely hit you if you're moving. Don't get too close, as their weapons can blind you by clipping into your camera. Dragoon Lances can stagger somewhat reliably. In very select situations, firing a Geist at them from behind cover might be a decent option.

Tadpoles
Threat level: Hazardous

• Close: Rapier, Power/Double/Triple Lance, Thunder Crossbow, Surface-to-Air Diffuser
  
• Medium: Power/Double/Triple Lance, Thunder Crossbow
  
• Far: Ghost Chaser
  
  Tadpoles are an enemy type that Wing Divers really struggle with. They're too spread out to use our typical anti-swarm strategies on, they stagger with physics rather than staggering in place which renders Heaven's Gate nigh on useless against them, and they fire very painful projectiles that usually hit before we can stop them. Ideally hide in a small niche and fire a Rapier from behind it continuously, preferably from behind an Air Raider's barrier. In many situations, there isn't much a Wing Diver can do to mitigate damage from these things.

Green Mutants
Threat level: Extreme Peril

• Close: Rapier, Power/Double/Triple Lance, Thunder Crossbow
  
• Medium: Power/Double/Triple Lance, Thunder Crossbow
  
• Far: Ghost Chaser
  
  Everything that makes the standard variant turned up to maximum. Even faster than the standard, smaller size, and a much more potent projectile that is impossible to dodge on Inferno. If you're facing more than a few of these, there's simply not much you can do. Stay behind your team, try to keep them staggered, and hope to every god your team can handle it.

Blue Mutants
Threat level: Extreme Peril

• Close: Rapier, Phalanx, Dragoon Lance, Power/Double/Triple Lance
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance, Power/Double/Triple Lance
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon, Raijin
  
  These things can take a beating but still deal immense damage. They function almost as gunships, swooping in and attacking from range repeatedly while sustaining several hits from return fire. Don't half-arse your efforts to kill these. Thankfully, they are slower than the other two variants, so it is possible to dodge them if your situational awareness is good.

Drones
Threat level: Innocuous

• Close: Power/Double/Triple Lance, Thunder Crossbow
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance, Power/Double/Triple Lance, Thunder Crossbow, Stardust Cannon
  
• Far: Don't bother, let them close in.
  
  Drones are an irritating enemy but far from the most dangerous. They deal pretty pitiful damage individually and miss their shots quite often, especially if you're flying. The greatest danger from standard drones is having one fly in front of you as you discharge a Plasma Great Cannon. Just don't stand still for too long, keep your health topped up, and you'll be fine.

Red Drones
Threat level: Hazardous

• Close: Dragoon Lance, Power/Double/Triple Lance, Stardust Cannon
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance, Power/Double/Triple Lance
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon, Raijin
  
  In contrast to standard drones, these drones are extremely accurate and deal a great deal of damage. They can be avoided by taking cover from their beams, or most of their damage can be mitigated by shooting them as they begin firing. However if you get caught off guard by one of these, they will sap a sizeable chunk of your health and you will be stunlocked for a few seconds as well, rendering you extremely vulnerable even in the air. In a swarm of drones, focus these down first.

Type-Two Drones
Threat level: Hazardous

• Close: Not advised.
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance, Power/Double/Triple Lance, Stardust Cannon, Thunder Crossbow
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon
  
  These drones aren't that dangerous in theory, but they typically deploy in large numbers and tend to hover annoyingly just out of range of most Wing Diver weapons. Flying up to engage them at their altitude prompts them to ascend further, causing them to drain your entire core just to kill one or two and make yourself very vulnerable. Their projectiles are also numerous and deal area damage, so despite their middling accuracy, they can deal a solid chunk of damage if they catch you on the ground. A very irritating enemy, and it may be best to prioritise these over enemies that are easier to avoid.

Imperial Drones
Threat level: Threatening

• Close: Dragoon Lance, Phalanx, Power/Double/Triple Lance
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance, Power/Double/Triple Lance, Stardust Cannon
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon, Raijin
  
  Ironically these drones are less dangerous than standard Type-Two drones; they appear in much more conservative numbers, and do not share their tendency to maintain a high altitude, meaning attentive Wing Divers can pick them off relatively easily. That does not mean they are harmless, however; getting hit with their salvo on the ground can easily deal more than half your health in damage, and stunlocks you into the entire burst as well. Just flying is usually enough to evade them without much more thought. Nothing to write home about, but certainly not to be ignored either.

Deroys
Threat level: Threatening

• Close: Dragoon Lance, Power/Double/Triple Lance
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance, Power/Double/Triple Lance, Stardust Cannon
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon, Raijin
  
  Deroys can deal devastating damage up close, but they're quite slow and they're large targets, making them an ideal candidate for burning down with high-power weaponry. As long as you keep your distance you should be fine, but if you must close in, prioritise striking the head of the Deroy above all else; do not attack the leg cannons at close range. You'll waste your energy, still take a tonne of damage, and still be vulnerable to its leg attack.

5-C: Enemy Guide, Part B - Addendum

Due to the character limit for steam guides, I was unable to add this to the tadpole entry, but I want to write a bit more about the usage cases of the Ghost Chaser against tadpoles.

The Ghost Chaser is a bit unique in the Wing Diver arsenal when it comes to combatting tadpoles because it turns their physics-based staggering from a problem into an asset. You can target a large number of them in a very short time and stagger them for a very long time, as once they're staggered it takes a long time for them to recover. You won't deal a tonne of damage to them in this way, but you can suppress entire swarms of them at once and reduce incoming damage from tadpoles to almost zero. If other enemies are attacking you while you're doing this, you will be very vulnerable, as the Ghost Chaser does consume a lot of energy very quickly and is nigh on unusable against anything but large swarms of small enemies with a physics-based stagger (it can be an okay option against beta types in ideal conditions.)

As such, it's a very situational weapon. Ideally, if there are other enemy types around, your team should be handling those as well as picking off grounded tadpoles. If your team can deal with them, that is ideal. If not however, it may be necessary to switch between suppressing the main swarm and focusing dps on the other enemies with your second weapon based on which is more dangerous at any given moment. It is far from an ideal situation, but thankfully it occurs in only a couple of missions where the other enemy types are actually a significant threat.

5-C: Enemy Guide, Part C

Shield Bearers
Threat level: Varies

• Close: Dragoon Lance, Rapier, Phalanx
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance
  
• Far: Not advised.
  
  The danger of shield bearers depends entirely on which other enemies are present. On their own they're completely harmless, but pair them with groups of greys, Deroys, or certain other combinations of enemies they can be devastatingly effective. If using weapons with a blast radius, have great care when engaging a shield bearer moving away from you; you may suddenly find yourself blowing yourself up. If you are being mindful of this hazard, the Stardust Cannon can also be a decent option here.

Mobile Base
Threat level: Extreme Peril

• Close: Dragoon Lance, Power/double/Triple Lance
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance, Power/Double/Triple Lance, Stardust Cannon
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon
  
  The mobile base has incredibly accurate weaponry on the underside that deals immense damage to Wing Divers and stunlocks them so they can't escape. I recommend flying to the top of the base before it stands, eliminating all plasma cannons, then using your gravitational potential energy to swoop down, pop a laser turret or three, then swoop back up and recharge. Repeat until it's safe enough to stand under the base, and then finish off the lasers and finally strike the weak point. Alternatively, use the Big Bang Core and Dragoon Lance ZM, destroy laser cannons as quickly as possible, and wait directly underneath the weak point. When the hatch opens, unload with a barrage of Dragoon Lance discharges to quickly dps the base down, aiming right at the centre so it catches anything deploying from the hatch. When attacking at range, be wary of incoming plasma artillery; they seem to target players at random.
  
  Of note is that when the mobile base deploys drones, they emerge straight down from a hatch and are unable to move laterally for a few moments. Especially in the first mission that we encounter the mobile base, a Dragoon Lance can be used to very easily dispatch all of these drones the instant they deploy. Be wary of plasma cannons while doing this, as they will stagger you and allow some drones to escape.

Teleportation Ships
Threat level: Varies

• Close: Dragoon Lance, Power/Double/Triple Lance, Rapier, Phalanx
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance, Stardust Cannon
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon, Raijin
  
  The danger posed by a teleportation ship depends almost entirely on what enemy type it drops. Thus teleportation ships that drop tadpoles or gold ants are our highest priority targets of this type. Species Gamma are also good to get rid of to avoid as many staggers as possible. These ships have a small ledge directly underneath them that's perfect for a Wing Diver to land on. There are also longer ledges near the top front, but those are less reliable platforms, though they are easier to stand on if it's slowly moving. Depending on the altitude of the ship, these can be used to avoid the attacks of new spawns swarming below it, but be wary that any additional spawns when it opens again may be able to attack you on their way down.

Teleportation Anchors/Big Anchors
Threat level: Varies

• Close: Dragoon Lance, Power/Double/Triple Lance, Rapier, Phalanx
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance, Phalanx, Stardust Cannon
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon, Raijin
  
  Similar to teleportation ships in most regards. The key difference is that anchors are physically connected to the ground, so even creatures that can't attack as high as the device at the top can still scale the tower and threaten you. However these can be destroyed quickly enough that it's not usually an issue. It is often worthwhile to destroy 2-3 of these in a single attack run, then retreat behind your teammates to help them fight off the large wave of approaching enemies. Their multiple tiers of ring platforms around the edges can be useful for storing gravitational potential energy, assuming you can defend yourself long enough to charge your core.

Teleportation Device
Threat level: Varies

• Close: Dragoon Lance, Power/Double/Triple Lance, Rapier, Phalanx
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance, Phalanx, Stardust Cannon
  
• Far: Not advisable.
  
  Functionally identical to teleportation anchors, but only appear in underground missions. As such long range weaponry will generally not be an efficient choice.

Huge Anchor
Threat level: Extreme Peril

• Close: Dragoon Lance, Power/Double/Triple Lance, Rapier, Phalanx, Heaven's Gate
  
• Medium: Not advised.
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon, Raijin
  
  Spawns a large number of insects as well as boss insects such as mother monsters, kings, and queens, and will continue to do so until it is eliminated. This is a very high priority destruction target, but is difficult for wing divers to reach with effective weaponry from the ground. Due to the very high amount of energy required to enter weapons range, it is not advisable to engage at medium range; time to kill and energy cost would be monumental and leave the Wing Diver extremely vulnerable. It can be exceedingly effective to drop a Heaven's Gate directly atop the teleportation device and then fire at it with a lance until it is destroyed.

Hive
Threat level: Threatening

• Close: Diffuser, Thunder Cluster, Heaven's Gate, Power/Double/Triple Lance
  
• Medium: Heaven's Gate
  
• Far: Not advisable.
  
  Spawns an immense number of flying types, including red mutants, and also attracts numerous queens. By using the Heaven's Gate strategy against the flying type swarms and queens we can thin their numbers enough to remain in the fight, then deploy our nuclei in close proximity to the hive to deal incredible damage to it. Also useful for taking down one of the anchors that spawns while lancing the other one or kiting flying types.

5-C: Enemy Guide, Part D

Erginus
Threat level: Threatening

• Close: Dragoon Lance, Rapier, Phalanx
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance, Stardust Cannon, Heaven's Gate
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon, Raijin
  
  Erginus is only able to attack to its front, from directly underneath its head to several hundred metres in front of it in a line with its lightning breath attack. Incidentally that is the only attack that poses any real threat to the Wing Diver; every other attack is easily avoided by remaining underneath its tail or just beside it. Additionally high damage per second weapons can chain stagger it, making it little more than a damage sponge. Using a Big Bang Core in combination with any lance is an extremely potent combination against Erginus, and if it is the only threat you're facing, soloing it becomes trivial. If you are fighting several enemies though, especially several Erginus, be extremely wary of the lightning breath attack; it does do quite serious damage.

Archelus
Threat level: Hazardous

• Close: Dragoon Lance, Rapier, Phalanx
  
• Medium: Dragoon Lance, Stardust Cannon, Heaven's Gate
  
• Far: Plasma Great Cannon, Raijin
  
  Archelus is a cut above Erginus in terms of the level of danger it presents to the Wing Diver. It is not only able to roll or jump forward, dealing high damage over a wide area very quickly, but it also has access to explosive projectiles, which detonate on impact when fired to its front and is difficult to dodge even for a Wing Diver. If that weren't enough, Archelus is also able to threaten just about every angle around it on very short notice; it can roll to either side or backwards, swipe with its tail, swipe in the air with its claws, seemingly has a hitbox on top of it when it initiates a roll which can one-shot a Wing Diver if she's too close, and even bodyslam anything unfortunate enough to be directly underneath it. So. Slightly harder to deal with.
  
  However, we still have options. Chain staggering Archelus, while harder to do than with Erginus, remains possible. This is especially true with the Big Bang Core and Dragoon Lance combo. Phalanxes are also decently capable of this, but do not gain much benefit from the Big Bang Core. Archelus is able to move forwards, backwards, left, or right near-instantaneously, but it has no diagonal movement. It is able to threaten its diagonals, but only with an explosive attack that has an almost comically long activation time, which will more than suffice as warning to get some altitude and/or distance.
  
  Archelus's roll attacks may be a bit harder to deal with. I do not advise hovering over Archelus to attack; while it's safe from a lot of its attacks, it's very energy-intensive, and even a small mistake can result in getting oneshot. Do not land on Archelus; it will kill you. Hovering in front of Archelus will also get you killed by its swipe attack. The one exception to attacks from above being ill-advised is doing so to deploy a Heaven's Gate with precision, but the timing is extremely tight on this due to the startup lag, and generally Archelus will stagger out of the way after just a few seconds. However, if you can get it to walk into the light beams repeatedly, the damage can stack up more, and you'll be safe from Archelus at the altitude required to deploy this weapon.
  
  Of note is that while Archelus cannot roll diagonally, it can still turn whilst rolling, meaning even if you weren't on its path when it began its attack, it may still curve its trajectory enough to hit you. Be wary of this and be prepared to identify and dash into a safe sector to its side or front, depending on what kind of roll it is performing.
  
  If a Barga is available, using it is a much safer option than any other method of fighting Archelus as a Wing Diver, save for the Dragoon/Big Bang strategy.

5-D: Co-op Tactics

Lastly, no class is complete without considering the cooperative environment in which it will be functioning. As mentioned at the very beginning of this guide, Wing Divers are experts at flexing to meet the needs of a team, not to mention efficiently collecting items. However when it comes to specific equipment and strategies that teammates could use, there are some synergies that are worth mentioning.


Ranger

The Ranger has access to a wide variety of weapons that compliment the Wing Diver arsenal well; they may sometimes struggle to deal with hordes of enemies close up, but Wing Divers excel at this. Conversely Wing Divers are strained to deal good damage to targets at medium to long ranges, but Rangers can dish out ranged damage with ease. As such, these two classes naturally complement each other and when working together can control an entire battlefield. The Ranger also has access to very potent heals which can be used whenever a Wing Diver approaches and lands next to him with low health. As long as the Ranger is heeding his teammates and keeping track of their health, this can happen with next to no communication and is a fantastic way to keep both units in the fight for much longer.

Generally, no equipment a Ranger can bring will substantially alter the strategy of a Wing Diver, and you can safely utilise any of your tactics.


Fencer

The Fencer is the fastest-moving class in the game and also boasts very flexible equipment that fills in many of the gaps in the Wing Diver kit. As such, Fencers and Wing Divers also make for excellent teams. A huge benefit to this combination is that Fencers can revive Wing Divers if they are knocked out on top of a tall structure or object, and vice versa. Additionally, since Wing Divers have many weapons that can do incredible damage provided they are safe enough to deplete their cores, Fencers utilising a dual-shield fortification module/deflect shell strat can allow Wing Divers to offload unspeakable amounts of damage with near-impunity. Lastly, due to their joint-highest mobility in the game, Fencers and Wing Divers can effectively coordinate to share or trade aggro, allowing one another time to retreat and recover while the other keeps the mob distracted. Air Raiders and Rangers can use this time to continue calling airstrikes, firing missiles at swarms, and providing healing for the off-tank.

Fencers who bring explosive weaponry also tend to cover a very large area with them, whether it's through blast radius or the volume of fire. As such, it can be very dangerous to be close to enemies when a Fencer selects such weapons. If you notice a Fencer equipping mortars, coordinate your weaponry with theirs (consider switching to a bombardment or aerial kiting kit) or politely ask them to switch and don't argue if they decline. If you must use a close range weapon in this case, avoid striking the same targets. Designate your targets and inform your team when you're moving in to strike.


Air Raider

As the dedicated support class, Air Raider naturally has many synergies with Wing Diver (and all other classes for that matter.)

Firstly, Air Raiders are able to provide beacon support for Wing Divers, which can transform their homing weapons from multi-target mediocre damage/weak stun weapons into pretty decent and very efficient single-target damage weapons. This also extends the lock on range of her weapons, which can be an issue with some homing weapons especially before upgrades. This has only limited usefulness, however. Nevertheless, if the Air Raider is bringing a guide kit for the Fencer anyway, it may be worth bringing a homing weapon to take advantage of the beacons.

Air Raiders can also furnish Wing Divers with power assist and guard assist buffs. By attaching a power assist to a Wing Diver, an Air Raider enables her to shred through targets even faster, thus increasing her energy efficiency and just making her an overall more pronounced presence on the battlefield at any range. The huge burst damage of her weapons makes even modest damage increases very noticeable. Guard assist buffs are less useful for the Wing Diver, but it does allow her to make riskier plays. Wing Divers can treat their own health like a resource, exchanging health for increased DPS and sustained damage. A guard assist can make this a safer risk to take.

Naturally, Air Raiders can also provide healing for Wing Divers, which is especially useful in the form of the Caliban support vehicle. This is because after it is called in, it requires no further input from the Air Raider, and it can be left in a secure location so the Wing Diver can retreat and heal up. Air Raider vehicles, in general, can also serve as an emergency recharge sanctuary for a desperate Wing Diver, allowing her not only to survive being chased by a huge swarm of enemies, but also manoeuvre a bit, maintain some DPS uptime, and partially or fully complete her emergency recharge. If an Air Raider accidentally gets his vehicle stuck on a building, do the right thing. Bring it down for him.

Last but certainly not least, Wing Diver's excellent kiting ability makes her an ideal candidate for gathering up swarms of enemies to be eradicated by Air Raiders bombing and strafing runs. Because the Wing Diver can spend an extended period of time in the air, she is almost immune to bombs (I have been directly hit by a bomb once or twice), and can lure enemy units to their demise with precision, like a flying siren. This strategy works wonders for just about any area of effect attack that Air Raiders can call in. However, any strike that has projectiles that fall onto the target zone potentially able to hit the Wing Diver directly. KM6 (strafing aircraft) runs fire small enough projectiles that it's usually safe to stand inside them, but avoid the centre of the strike area. Wing Divers cannot safely stay inside of Spritefalls, even at the edges, and will be forced to retreat.

Air Raiders can be a Wing Diver's best friend, or her worst enemy; their airstrikes can appear by surprise and a Wing Diver low on energy will have few options to escape in time. A Wing Diver with enough energy to escape may also lead enemies out of the strike area, causing Air Raiders to waste their valuable credits. If your Air Raider equips weapons that seem to focus on saturating a large area with bombs, lasers, or missiles, consider switching to a bombardment kit. Experienced Air Raiders know what they are doing and can't readily flex their weapon selection like Wing Divers can; thus, it is better to play around an Air Raider's equipment rather than asking them to play around yours. If absolutely nothing else, avoid striking the same targets. Usually it is obvious where an Air Raider is going to strike, so consider focusing on stragglers or providing close-range cover to the Air Raider.


Finally, other Wing Divers

Wing Divers have very very strong synergy with other Wing Divers if they coordinate well. Simultaneous strikes on multiple priority targets can severely hamper the enemy's strategy while also minimising their ability to retaliate. Two or more Wing Divers moving in to strike at the same target in tandem can annihilate even very bulky targets with haste. And similar to the way it is with Fencers, Wing Divers can work together to manage aggro and tank groups of enemies near-indefinitely.

The only threat to worry about from other Wing Divers is getting hit with their plasma weaponry, especially the Plasma Great Cannon. If you notice another Wing Diver equipping that weapon, consider switching away from close-range weapons, or consider politely asking her to switch weapons. If all else fails, avoid striking the same targets.

Conclusion

Overall, Wing Diver's primary strength is its very high mobility with precise control, flexibility, and incredible burst damage. Although you'll suffer extreme vulnerability to enemy attacks, proper play can render you nigh on invincible as well as a key contributor to your team's progress. By selecting an appropriate set of complimentary weapons and a suitable core to supply them, you can make or break just about any mission in the game.

♪ High up in the air our comrades fight! Dashing through the sky now like a million bolts of light! ♪
♪ We shall spread our wings wide and fly high, soaring, gliding through the endless sky! ♪

[TruncatedCake]

I'm honestly really disappointed so far. cores are really good, and dash is good, but literally all of the decent weapons aside from melee has been gimped, and since I play wind diver because of my phobia, I really really really dislike close range.

[SchreiberinRemi]

Glad to be of service!

[Pigeon Pecking Keyboard]

Thank you! I am just picking up this class, and am wrangling with the learning curve on mobility. Having no images does not bother me, this is a lovely and well-written guide

[SchreiberinRemi]

That's fair, it does tend to mess up pretty much anything it can hit most of its shots on

[Red Oni]

Maybe it's just me but I found that the stardust cannon actually works fairly well against the huge anchor, mostly because the things weak spot was so damn big that even from a long distance the entire shot group tends to hit the thing.

[SchreiberinRemi]

Oh does it? Huh, I haven't noticed. I may amend that section then.

[gamadaya]

Ghost Chaser works the same way against blues as any other tadpoles. Ragdolling is different than flinching. It's an explosive weapon, so it will ragdoll them in one hit.

[SchreiberinRemi]

As for the Blink Fork, I actually was not really aware of that weapon at all until very recently. I will probably need to use it more to understand exactly what to say about it, but my initial impressions on it are that while it definitely does what it says, I think it's generally a better option to bring good crowd control and position oneself well to avoid being surrounded in the first place. But I will probably investigate it more and see if my opinions on it change.

Thanks for the feedback ♥

[SchreiberinRemi]

I was considering tadpoles more in the context of Tornado and Scorched Earth, where their threat comes more from being unable to take a specialised kit specifically for them due to the presence of other enemies. In my experience, especially on the latter of those two, using Ghost Chaser to ragdoll the tadpoles doesn't reduce their dps enough to make the Wing Diver and her team safe unless the rest of the threats have been mostly dealt with. Ghost Chaser seems to work best when there is nothing else threatening you since it requires very specific situations to get the best use out of it. I definitely agree that Ghost Chaser should be talked about more in the tadpole section though, and I will get on that right away.

[gamadaya]

Also, you forgot Blink Fork, which is actually a pretty crazy weapon and should definitely at least get a mention.