Summary
FatalZoneswitches up a lot of things that players familiarwith theVampire Suvivor-esquegenre of gamesare used to. This subgenre of games is already niche enough, considering no one can seem to decide what term to use to describe these games (Survivor’s-like, Rougelike Shoot Em' Up, etc). However,FatalZonemanages to scratch an itch that’s somehow even more niche as it blends the Survivors-like, Roguelike, RPG, and Tower Defense subgenres all into one game.
One of the main ways it integrates RPG and Tower Defense mechanics, for example, is with its playable characters. Instead of selectable ‘classes’players will be hiring different Mercsthat fit into different classes, with each one having their own Skills and default Stats. Skills in particular, in contrast tothe overall Power Up boosts inVampire Survivors, make a huge difference in the overall strength of a hired Merc, but it can be a bit of a bummer to level up a specific Merc all the way to Rank 10 only to figure out that most of their Skills aren’t work using. With that in mind, let’s go over some of the best Skills for Mercs thatFatalZonehas to offer.
Glass Cannon
-30 Percent HP/+50 Percent Physical Damage.
Let’s start things off with a Skill that’s surprisingly very useful, but only once players have reached botha certain upgrade level for their Base Campand have the right Mutations on their main Merc. Essentially, when enabled, Glass Cannon trades a significant portion of the player’s overall HP for a big damage buff. When players have enough base defense and overall mastery ofFatalZoneas a whole, this Skill is amazing. However, up until that point, this Skill almost always makes players too confident only to have them die before extracting and end up losing their favorite Merc.
Berserk
When below 50 Percent Health, +75 Percent Physical Damage.
It’s one thing to lose a big chunk of the character’s overall HP potential, and it’s another thing to incentivize players to try and keep themselves under 50 percent of their maximum HP. With Berserk equipped, players will see that they’re outputting a lot more damage on most Mercs (depending on their loadout) as long as they manage to keep themselves under 50 percent HP.
And, if things start to get dicey, they can simply allow their natural HP Regeneration to kick in or look for a nearby Medkit. Having the option to look for healing and basically ‘back out’ of this buff for a time gives players a lot more freedom than if this Skill simply kept their HP at 50 percent always for a constant damage buff.
Turret Spirit
While standing still, -20 Percent Reload Speed.
Let’s be honest, one of the most satisfying parts ofany true Survivors-like gameis when players manage to reach the point in their build or in a run where they can literally take their hands off of the keyboard/controller and they’ll still be totally fine.
It’s like watching a solid get blended into a liquid, as players can just simply watch while enemies run toward their character, only to break themselves apart before ever reaching them. So, a Skill in a Survivors-like game (or even a Tower Defense game) that buffs the player when they’re standing still is basically only making it easier for them to reach this state in their run.
Generosity
Attack Area of Effect +30 Percent.
Area-of-effect buffs are pretty much universally amazing in any Roguelike game and are especially amazingin most (if not all) Survivors-like games. For Survivors-like games in particular, this is usually due to the fact that most of them have some weapon variation players can grab that emits an AoE field of damage around the player character.
InVampire Survivorsit’s Garlic and inFatalZoneit’s the Biodestructor. For any of these weapons, even the smallest AoE buff has a massive effect, but even outside of these weapons, AoE buffs tend to make most (if not all) weapons better in general.
Looter
Magnetism Radius +50 Percent.
This might just be a preference thing, and this Skill really only matters a lot on one specific Merc (Scavenger), but being able to pick up the EXP orbs easier in Survivors-like games always feels like a great buff. If players don’t need to weave between deadly enemies nearly as much in order to level up, then it makes sense that getting a Magnetism buff would increase their chances of survival.
Plus, once players are at the point in a build where they can stand still and kill all enemies who even get close to them, a Magnetism buff allows them to keep standing still and still level as the EXP orbs just get ‘sucked’ into them.
Fortune’s Darling
Luck +30 Percent.
The Scavenger Merc seems to be one of the more popular Mercs inFatalZoneoverall, falling just short of the truly overpowered Mercs like the Biotech or Pyro. However, one area where the Scavenger is miles ahead of any other Merc is in resource gathering. It makes sense, as that’s sort of the overall purpose of this Merc as a whole.
Luck inFatalZoneimpacts a few different things. Not only does it impact the chances of different items spawning in the lootable crates all over any Raid map, but it also impacts the chances of getting more options when leveling, or even the chance of getting bonus Upgrades from the Upgrade Chests that drop after killing boss-level zombies.
Effect
Menace in Motion
+15 Percent Physical Damage to enemies within 4 Meters of the player while the player is moving.
This next Skill is pretty much the exact opposite of Turret Spirit in its design philosophy. Instead of enabling players to try and build towards a ‘stand still to win’ playstyle, Menace in Motion makes it easier for players who constantly stay on the move to survive.
And funnily enough, these two Skills would actually work really well together too, as Menace in Motion would make it much easier for a player to survive until the point that their build is strong enough for Turret Spirit to be useful. In any case, players are almost always on the move in Survivors-like games, so a Skill that buffs the player character while they’re moving is almost always active.
Rose Technique
+50 Percent Physical Damage to enemies within 5 meters of the player.
Another Skill that’s worth using in any scenario is the Rose Technique, though it is certainly more useful on some Mercs than it is on others. Essentially, when enemies get close to the player character, they’ll take a lot more Physical Damage from them, which both enables a close-combat playstyle and makes it harder for players to die when they’re getting swarmed. On any Merc with the Shotgun as their primary weapon, for example, is going to benefit a ton in the early parts of a run from Rose Technique.
Isekai Hero
Every Revival of player = +10 Percent Speed, +10 Percent Projectile Speed, & -5 Percent Reload Speed.
While the Survivor Merc is designed around its innate Revive mechanic, all Mercs have access to Revives either through Mutations or other Skills in their Skill Tree. And, even if they only have one Revive, this Skill is pretty great. But, if they manage to stack multiple, this Skill will scale exponentially in terms of utility. Of course on the Survivor, this Skill is absurdly overpowered, which is exactly why they don’t unlock it until they reach Rank 10.
Adrenaline Burst
When below 50 Percent Health, +40 Percent Speed & -20 Percent Reload Speed.
And finally, let’s go over Adrenaline Burst. While both this Skill and Isekai Hero work as either a first or second-place pick, it’s first place here mostly because Adrenaline Burst is more universally beneficial. While it might seem like only triggering at 50 percent HP is a bit of a situational ask if people actually play around using this Skill, they’ll almost immediately see why it’s worth it.
Not only is a 40 percent Speed buff absurd, especially for collecting Resources inFatalZone, but the 20 percent Reload Speed buff is also incredibly substantial. And, even if players don’t intentionally keep themselves at 50 percent health or less, if they happen to get there by accident, the Speed and Reload Speed buffs make it much easier for them to get around enemies so that they can look for a nearby medkit.
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FatalZonewas released on October 23rd, 2023 on PC, Steam, & a variety of other indie game hosting platforms.
