Dust 514: Skirmish

Skirmish is the most popular game mode in the beta for Dust 514. It is also the format that Corparate Contracts operate under.

Both sides start on opposite sides of the map and players can choose to spawn at either the Mobile Command Center (MCC) or at a Clone Reactivation Unit (CRU) on ground level, usually to south or north of the MCC.

The MCC's of both sides fire at each other at a consistent rate of fire causing damage to the other. However, on ground level, there are the controls for the automated Null Cannons. By hacking these controls the teams can cause extra damage levels to the opposing MCC from the Null Cannons they control.

When the game first starts, the Null Cannon will target and fire apon the opposing MCC as soon as its hacked. Players then fight to gain control of the Null Cannons from each other until the enemy MCC is destroyed.

When hacking an enemy controlled Null Cannon, which is done by pressing and holding the X button near the controls, a player is vulnerable and can't fire at opponents. It takes approximently 30 seconds to hack the controls and load a virus into the computer system. This virus then takes a couple of minutes to do its job and take over control of the Null Cannon. During this time it can be counter-hacked by its defending team and prevent the virus from doing its job.

Counter-hacking takes longer to accomplish than hacking. The time it takes to hack and counter hack can be speeded up in two ways. The first is to have more than one player hack the controls at a time. The second is by learning the Hacking skill. This reduces the hack time by 5% per level and unlocks access to dedicated code-breaker modules in the marketplace, that can further reduce hacking time

The game is won by either the MCC of a team being destroyed or the clone reserves of a team being depleted.