INTRODUCTION

This FAQ is intended to provide basic information regarding the game, Gundam Senki: Record UC 0081, on the Playstation 3 platform. This guide is intended to be used primarily as a point-of-reference so that non-Japanese literate gamers can fully enjoy this exquisite title. If you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding the content of this guide, please feel free to email me: mwulf.0079@gmail.com

NOTES

I've tried to include as much, accurate information in this guide as I possibly can. However, as I am a human being, and thus vulnerable to mistakes, it is possible that you may encounter the occassional error. The fact that I am worky on my own, far-from-perfect understanding of Japanese makes things a bit trickier. As I've mentioned before already, please feel free to contact me directly if you notice anything amiss.

This marks the fifth and final iteration of my Gundam Senki FAQ: it is 100% complete. I hope you find it a worthy and helpful resource.

DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT

Two of the biggest draws for Gundam Senki are the online play modes and the promise of downloadable content. Already, Bandai has released a hefty amount of downloadable mobile suits, as well as a handful of special downloadable mission—both of which an only be accessed in the Free Mission Mode.

DLC suits must then be purchased from the in-game store before you can use them. All of the mobile suit's weapons will also be available in the store. It would, therefore, be advisable to avoid purchasing the DLC unitl such a time that you have sufficient in-game points to purchase them in the game. For help purchasing DLC from the Japanese PSN store, please refer to the "Frequently Asked Questions" section at the tail end of this guide.

MENU TRANSLATIONS

Gundam Senki is a fairly straightforward game, one that's easy enough to pick up pretty much everything you'll ever need to know after only an hour or two of playing around. For the more esoteric bits of knowledge you may need, or if you're too impatient to take the whole trial-by-error approach, I've prepared this small section to give you a very clear idea of precisely how to go about playing this game.

I would still, however, recommend against using this section of the guide as it is far better, I think, to figure these things out all on your own.

For those of you who purchased the ASIA version of the game, odds are you noticed the single difference between it and the Japanese printing the menu translation card. Most of the stuff you'll find in the game is very straightforward, but if you have any trouble understanding anything, please consult this translation.

Mobile Suit Customization Menu

Customizing mobile suits with parts and weapons is pretty straightforward, so you shouldn't have too much trouble. I have included, however, a brief explanation of some of the key aspects you'll want to be aware of while you tinker away at your Zaku.

Melee	This number indicates the relative strength of your melee (close-combat) attacks
Shoot	This number indicates the relative strength of your ranged attacks.
Speed	This number indicates the relative speed of your mobile suit while walking or boosting.
Radar	This number determines the distance at which you can detect enemy targets.
Damage	This number indicated the combat strength of any given weapon—logically, the higher the number, the greater the damage dealt.
Generator Cost	Your mobile suit can only produce a finite amount of power, the generator cost is the amount that will be subtracted from your mobile suit's total GEN output.
Usage / Reload Speed	If you'll examine the Japanese descriptions of each weapon at the bottom of your screen, you'll notice letters—S, A, B, C, D or E. Each letter corresponds to how quickly an individual weapon can be used or fired. S is the fastest, E is the slowest—so an A weapon would have a much higher rate of fire than a D weapon, etc., etc.

Pilot Upgrade Menu

As you complete missions and earn experience, your pilot will level up. When you level up, you are given four different stats to upgrade. These stats are as follows, from top-to-bottom.

Melee Skill
Ranged Skill
Defense Skill
Piloting Skill

Melee skills effect how quickly and how much damage you can deal with melee attacks, and ranged skill does the same, only with ranged attacks. Defense skill, obvious, effects how much damage you recieve. The one skill most people have questions about is the piloting skill. The piloting skill effects both the speed of your mobile suits, as well as boosting duration.

Keep in mind that the maximum level your pilot can reach is 200, and you earn one skill point for each level. This means you will only be able to max out TWO skills, assuming you ignore the other two entirely.

ONLINE MODE

To play Online Mode, you must decide to play either as a Host or as a client.

Playing as a Host

Create a new Room.
Select the Game mode. (in order of selection: cooperative mission-play, battle mode and Battle Royale).
Set the number of players (2-8).
Set Voice Chat ON/OFF.
Input comments for the room's description.

Playing as a Client

Custom Search: Set search criteria and the system will search existing rooms for a match.
Quick Search: Randomly searches for open rooms.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Federation players can only join games hosted by other Federation players. Zeon players can only join games hosted by other Zeon players. Mercenaries can join games hosted by either Federation or Zeon players, but only Mercenaries can join rooms hosted by other Mercenary players.'

PvP (Battle or Battle Royale) Options:

Game Mode:

Death Match
Time Match
Death Flag (Battle mode only)
Time Flag (Battle mode only)

Time Limit

Magazine: (Unlimited / limited / no-magazines)

Damage: 25% / 50% / 100% / 200% / 500%

As per usual, I would recommend ignoring this translation crap and just focus on learning everything as you play. You'll have a lot more fun, with a lot less headache.

GAME CONTROLS

Since the game's options menu provides a nice visual, I would ask that you look to the in-game display with the translation provided above for the easiest way to see how all of the in-game controls are mapped out.

Basic Controls

Movement	Right Analog Stick
Move Camera	Left Analog Stick
Change Camera Angle	Select
Menu/Map	Start
Alternate Order Selection	L1
Center View	L2
Fire Primary Weapon	R1
Fire Fixed Weapon #1	R2
Fire Fixed Weapon #2	Square
Melee Attack	Triangle
Select Target	Circle
Boost / Jump	Cross

Advanced Controls

Sniper View	R3
Zoom In/Out	R3 + Left Analog Stick
Kneel (Heal)	L3
Boost Forward	X (Double-Tap)
Charge Attack	Attack Button (Hold)
Change Radar Mode	L2 (Hold)
Order Team Ahead	D-Pad Up
Order Team Attack	D-Pad Right
Order Team Kneel (Heal)	D-Pad Left
Order Team Formation	L1 + D-Pad Up
Order Team Formation	L1 + D-Pad Right

GAME TIPS

As usual, my motto is "practice yourself until you learn the skills you need!" But for those of you who are trying, but just can't quite seem to get the hang of this game, I've made a short list of handy tips that ought to help you make mince meat of your many foes.

Keep moving: you're an easy target when you're standing still, so try to always be moving. Be especially careful when you kneel down to heal, as you will be incredibly vulnerable to enemy fire.
Don't count on your comrades: the allied AI stinks. If you need something done, do it yourself.
You'll often face enemies that can attack you at extremely long-ranges and deal out devastating damage. The best way to avoid oncoming fire is to NOT approach in a straight line, assume a slightly diagonal entry vector, and you'll manage to avoid a lot of incoming fire with ease.
Resupply (and heal) as often as you can! Sometimes, a single hit can take away as much as 70% of your AP, and you do not want to have to restart a mission because you were too impatient. Enemies also have a bad habit of targeting your supply points, so if you don't resupply when you can, you may not have another opportunity.
Pace yourself. Some missions will have a lot of enemies, and very difficult resupply situations (or no resupply at all). Fixed emplacements can be a big pain. You do not want to waste all of your ranged ammunition on small-fry mobile suits when it counts, always be sure to leave a few shots in your magazine, just in case.
Don't discount embedded weaponry! Head Vulcans, most of all! The weapons embedded in your mobile suit are not weak! The weakest of all, the Head Vulcans, can still tear an enemy to shreds in a matter of seconds. Don't forget you have them預nd don't forget to use them, whenever the need arises.
Watch your back. An enemy you can see is an enemy you can avoid洋ost of the shots that will kill you will come from behind, so watch out.
Be aware of your surroundings! The most common symptom of poor play I've seen is a player who just doesn't seem to realize where he or she is, or where the enemy is. Remember to expand your map so you can see exactly where all of your allies and enemies are, and determine where to move accordingly. You're not helping anyone flying blind.

Customization Tips

Mess with your mobile suit, and customize them to whichever end most suits your style. I can't really help you too much, but I can mention a few things that were of help to me, in hopes that they can be of help to you, too.
First, you'll notice three bars on the right side of the customization screen. These bars represent how well your mobile suit will handle in the three types of terrain (from left to right: land, underwater and lunar). Certain parts can be equipped that boost (or lower) your mobile suits affinity for a particular type of terrain, be mindful.
Guns are just for show—it's all about melee. When you compare the damage you deal to the risk you take, melee trumps ranged combat all the time. You can deal out a lot more damage a lot faster, you're also vulnerable to the enemy's melee attacks, but the AI isn't that great and the enemy suit you're so close to will also serve as cover for ranged fire. Ranged weapons? They have limited ammo and tend to missa lot a problem with melee. I recommend not modifying the Shoot (melee) stat, and only use ranged weapons for aircraft and fixed weapons, and things of that nature.
Speed is awesome. Upgrading your speed and boost stats is a MAJOR help. The limit is 99, and if you reach it, you'll be a monster even the Red Comet couldn't beat.
AP is not as much of a concern as you might think. Regardless of how much AP you add up, you're not going to want to be taking too many hits (if any) because you never know how powerful the enemy attack is going to be. If you can keep your AP above 2200 or so, you should be fine.
The three biggest elements of MS customization are firepower, armor, and speed. Sensor range is worthless—most enemies will be able to easily dodge anything that's not shot from mid or close range. Personally, I find armor to be equally pointless—for me, the best tactic seems to be to prioritize speed above all else, with a secondary focus on firepower. This gives the game a fast pace, which is tons of fun, and can also add an element of "realism." Similar to how battles were fought in the One Year War, you'll be able to kill most enemies in 1-3 hits at top levels, and you'll also go down with just as few hits. As I've said before, the key to this game is moving—being fast, and being nimble. If you're getting hit more than once or twice in any mission, you need more practice!

MULTIPLAYER TIPS

Multiplayer in Gundam Senki is handled exclusively through the Playstation network, sorry, folks—no split-screen multiplayer here. Whatever you do in the single-player free missions transfers over to the multiplayer freemissions, and vis versa. Playing online can be pretty daunting if you don't have much knowledge of Japanese, but there are a few things you can do to make your experience flow smoother.

Be polite. Not knowing the language is no excuse to be rude, though that's no guarantee others won't be rude to you. When you enter a room, it's nice to say something. Even something simple, like Yoroshiku (akin to "nice to meet you") will be understood by most of your fellow players.

From an Anonymous of /m/:

Just say, '4649' and that'll be fine.
Choose your mobile suit wisely. Many players are high-level, so they really don't have the patience for other players who want to show off. Don't go around in a Gelgoog Jager with a beam machine gun, killing everything in sight, before anyone else gets a chance. That's no fun for anyone, and it'll get you kicked.
Remember, almost everyone you meet online is playing the game for one simple eason: to have fun. If you can't be a team player, don't play at all.

There can be a great many people online at a given time, and it currently takes the game a VERY long time to load up the room list. When finding a game, you'll want to be selecting your room as quickly as you can, or it will be full by the time you decide.

Pay attention to the comments for each room. It's okay if you can't read Japanese, but there are a few symbols you should look out for. I've done my best to draw the characters, but I don't exactly have the best skills with kanji, don't expect 100% perfect accuracy here.

Look at other people. When you're in the room, you can view the mobile suits and equipment of the other players with you, so do so. Try to emulate what they have. If everyone else is using a low-tier suit, don't go in with a Kampfer or Gegloog Jager, that just ain't fun.
Don't steal kills. If someone else is fighting an enemy... you should be fighting a 'different' enemy.
Don't get angry if Japanese players boot you from the lobby! It's hard to manage a lag-free game with players from all over the world, and frequently hosts will boot players with poor connections. Don't get mad—move on. Host your own game, or find some local friends.
In short, be polite and courteous. As time passes, the online community will become smaller and smaller—particularly among those of us who speak English. If you want to be able to play with other people, you'll only be able to do so if they feel like playing with you.