Overview
Here is a guide I made with all info I could find around the web about the game and the mechanics, since a lot is not explained in the game.
MANUAL – GAMEPLAY TIPS
• Each character has a large number of combos that can be performed using the light and heavy melee attack buttons.
• You can view a list of combos available for your character at any time during gameplay by hecking the “Move List” in the Sub-menu.
• Your available combos change depending on the melee weapon you currently have equipped.
You can use the Directional pad to swap between weapons.
Pull the Left Trigger to aim and the Right Trigger to fire your currently selected ranged weapon.
In the very beginning of the game you don’t have the option to change characters, but upon
being introduced to Teletraan Uplinks, you can switch characters whenever you visit the Ark.
You can buy new moves for your characters in the Lab. Any move you buy in the Lab is accessible for all characters unless the move’s description states otherwise.
Some of these are incredibly powerful, so be sure to check them out!
The Lab also allows you to buy a selection of weapons in stock and purchase consumable items such as auto-repair kits.
If you’re up against a particularly tough opponent, try using consumable items during battle.
These can be accessed at any time during gameplay via the sub-menu (Back button).
These items can heal you, restore your ammo, temporarily double your attack or defense, and provide other great benefits to give you the edge you need!
There are two types of character stats – your STATUS and your TECHNICAL DATA.
• Your TECHNICAL DATA shows each Autobot’s key attributes – these stats increase as you gain experience by completing missions and defeating enemies.
• You can spend credits to level up any TECHNICAL DATA stat of your choosing. To do this, enter the Ark and choose STATUS, then select the stat you’d like to increase and press the Y button.
• CAPSULES are sometimes dropped by enemies or found in chests, and you can use them to boost a stat permanently (the capsule is consumed when used).
• Your STATUS values show your raw attributes, such as health, melee attack power, and defense.
These cannot be raised directly, but increase along with your TECHNICAL DATA.
Below is a list of each TECHNICAL DATA stat and which part of your STATUS values it affects:
• STR affects Health
• INT affects ranged attack power
• SPD affects attack power in vehicle mode, and the power of Rush Attacks, Vehicle Attacks, and Reversals
• END affects defense
• RNK affects max number of allowed T.E.C.H. slots
• CRG affects defense and ultimate attack power
• FRB affects melee attack power and defense
• SKL affects ranged attack power and melee attack power
There are a variety of status effects in the game, and some weapons have a chance to apply status effects to enemies, while others are only applied to the autobots or enemies.
The full list of status effects is shown below:
Burn – Temporarily take gradual damage
Shock – Temporarily become unable to move or attack
Freeze – Temporarily become unable to move or attack
Stuck – Temporarily become unable to move or attack
Slow – Temporarily move much more slowly than usual
Rust – Defense lowered temporarily
Confuse – Enemies temporarily attack other enemies
Weak – Attack power lowered temporarily
Stun – Temporarily become unable to move or attack
Transfix – Temporarily unable to change form
Download link[support.activision.com] for the manual (it is a link to the xbox manual since there is no PC manual).
CHARACTERS
- Health: Low
- Melee Attack: Low
- Ranged Attack: High
- Defense: Medium
- Top Speed: Medium
- Ability: Evasive Slide
- Super Move: Bomb Barrage
- Health: High
- Melee Attack: High
- Ranged Attack: Low
- Defense: High
- Top Speed: Medium
- Ability: Dash Grab
- Super Move: Flame Inferno
- Health: High
- Melee Attack: High
- Ranged Attack: Medium
- Defense: High
- Top Speed: Medium
- Ability: Trailer Swipe
- Super Move: Power Slam
- Health: Medium
- Melee Attack: Low
- Ranged Attack: Medium
- Defense: Medium
- Top Speed: High
- Ability: Rapid Dash
- Super Move: Missile Barrage
- Health: Medium
- Melee Attack: Medium
- Ranged Attack: High
- Defense: Low
- Top Speed: Medium
- Ability: Energy Shield
- Super Move: Spread Bomb
Nemesis Prime*
Goldfire*
Red Alert*
Defensor (Steve Blum)
Superion (Jamieson Price)
Megatron (Frank Welker)
Starscream (Scott Whyte)
Shockwave (Darryl Kurylo)
Soundwave (Frank Welker)
Blitzwing (Dave Boat)
Thundercracker (André Sogliuzzo)
Skywarp (Scott Whyte)
Frenzy (Christopher Swindle)
Rumble (Scott Whyte)
Laserbeak
Buzzsaw
Ravage
Devastator (Dave Boat)
• Scrapper (Michael Bell)
• Scavenger (André Sogliuzzo)
• Mixmaster (Jamieson Price)
• Long Haul (Gregg Berger)
• Bonecrusher (Steve Blum)
• Hook (Jamieson Price)
Menasor (James Arnold Taylor)
• Motormaster (Liam O’Brien)
• Breakdown**
• Offroad**
• Dead End**
• Drag Strip**
Ground Soldiers (Steve Blum, Darryl Kurylo, Jim Ward)
Seekers (James Arnold Taylor, André Sogliuzzo, Liam O’Brien)
Insecticons (Darryl Kurylo, Christopher Swindle, Dave Boat)
Kickback
Skrapnel
Bombshell
Teletraan-1 (Jim Ward)
Teletraan Alpha (Jim Ward)
Nova Prime
Jhiaxus†
Kranix†
Kremzeek
* Indicates character available only as downloadable content skin.
** Indicates character who only appears in vehicle mode.
† Indicates character who only appears in text-based log entries.
1. My character stats seem to be stuck at 32 or 64. Why is this happening and how do I increase them?
A character’s maximum stats are dependent on the game difficulty levels you’ve unlocked. Unlocking the game’s Magnus difficulty will increase your character’s maximum stats. Unlocking Prime difficulty will raise them again.
2. If I haven’t unlocked Magnus or Prime difficulty level, are all my experience points being wasted?
No. All experience gained will be applied to a character retroactively when the new difficulty is unlocked.
3. Why did my character’s stats suddenly increase?
A character’s maximum stats are increased when the Magnus or Prime difficulty levels are unlocked. Prior to that, the game stores all experience points earned in a bank that is applied retroactively when the difficulty is unlocked. If your stats suddenly increase, it means you’ve unlocked a higher difficulty level and received those banked experience points.
4. Why can’t I play as Wheeljack or Grimlock?
Wheeljack is unlocked after completing chapter one of the game. Grimlock is unlocked after completing chapter two.
5. Why is my character unable to equip a specific weapon?
Some characters are limited in regard to what weapons they can equip. If you look at the weapons in your inventory, you’ll notice that they will display the faces of those Autobots that can wield them.
6. How come Grimlock can only equip one TECH chip?
An Autobot’s RNK stat affects how many TECH chips they can equip. Each Autobot is affected differently by the RNK stat, however, and Grimlock is affected the least by RNK of any Autobot. He’ll need to raise his RNK stat to 99 before he can equip more than one chip.
WEAPONS PART 1
Transformers Devastation has a large number of weapons. Some are even duplicates that have different stats due to them being of a different rank or level. All weapons are unique, but sometimes it can be hard to tell which weapons are better than others based solely on their stats. And when you add in the additional complexity of weapon synthesis, then things can become even more challenging to figure out.
So how do you make the best weapons in the game?
Basically, you can use the synthesis ability to take a good weapon and boost its stats to make it even better.
• There are a total of four weapon slots – one can only contain a melee weapon, one can only contain a ranged weapon, and the other two are “free” slots that can contain either.
• There are two key types of melee weapons – Physical-based weapons and Energon-based weapons.
• Physical-based weapons have a base attack stat and depending on the weapon, an element-based attack stat.
• Energon-based weapons have a third “Energon” attack stat, which causes the weapon to apply extra damage when the weapon has energy. Weapon energy depletes when you attack, and when you run out you no longer inflict the additional damage from your energon attack stat.
Weapons are acquired by playing through story missions, and you’ll obtain even more if you play in Challenge mode. The more you play in Challenge mode, and the better your performance, the more weapons you’ll earn. Once you have two weapons that aren’t being used by any of your Autobots, that’s when you can start using weapon synthesis.
Credits are required to perform weapon synthesis. These are earned by doing pretty much everything in the game. Whether it’s beating enemies, smashing up cars, or locating weapons and item caches, earning credits in the game is fairly easy. You’ll need everything you can get your hands on, because weapon synthesis can be quite expensive.
Combining two weapons into one is a great way to create extremely powerful weapons. However, there are a few things you should know about the synthesis process before you begin. The rank of a weapon determines the maximum damage the weapon inflicts. In most cases, you want to synthesize two weapons so you can increase the damage output. However, the rank of a weapon is determined when it’s created and cannot be increased, even through synthesis. With that said, if a base weapon and the secondary weapon have the same ability level, that level may increase by synthesizing. So while you can’t increase the damage output of the weapon, you can increase the ability level.
(When you combine two weapons with the same skill, the skill can upgrade to a higher level (rarely happens). I believe both of the skills must be the same level for this to work considering you can have different levels of the same skill on a weapon.)
The first weapon you select when executing weapon synthesis is the base weapon. This is the weapon you want to upgrade – and the higher the level of this weapon, the more expensive the synthesis will be. That’s why you need all the credits you can get, because as you progress, synthesis will eventually start costing you a lot.
This is the weapon that’s going to be used up once the synthesis has been done. Choosing the right weapon can be tricky – essentially, you want to use a weapon that will provide the biggest upgrade, while also being a weapon you don’t mind losing, because the process of synthesis will destroy it.
Pay attention to these two aspects of the weapon that you’re synthesizing. Indeed, they’re very likely the most important facets of weapons synthesis. The base weapon needs to have open skill slots for them to transfer from the parts weapon. If it doesn’t have any open skill slots, then no skills will transfer over.
If you don’t see any skills listed on a weapon, that doesn’t necessarily mean there are no available skill slots. Look for a block with a horizontal line in the middle of it. If the weapon has one, then no skills will transfer over. If there are no ability slots available, you can swap an existing ability to receive any new abilities.
You can use two weapons with the same level skill, and that skill will increase when the synthesis is complete. By selecting both weapons, you can see what the final stats will be before you do the synthesis. It’s a good idea to check this every time you perform a weapon synthesis to ensure that you’re making the right decision. If you don’t see the desired final stats you’re hoping for, don’t complete the synthesis, and work out what the problem is.
Other important factors in weapon synthesis are the level and rank of a weapon. The higher the rank and level of the base weapon, the more it’ll cost. Something you should check for is making sure that you’re getting a good bang for your buck out of synthesis. Some weapons might only increase in level, but the individual stats won’t change. If that’s the case, it’s probably not worth doing a weapon synthesis on it. What you want is for stats like Energy, Shot Speed, Recoil, and Range to improve too. It’s easy enough to check to see if that’s going to be the case – any category that’s highlighted in yellow will tell you that there’s going to be an increase in that particular stat. If it’s not yellow, then an increase isn’t going to happen.
The final thing you need to check – and this is very important – is to see which characters can actually equip and use the weapon. Not every character can equip every weapon – so make sure that you’re upgrading the weapon so that the designated character can use it. Or conversely, that you might have a weapon that can only be used by a certain character that you no longer need, and that might make an ideal parts weapon for synthesis.
WEAPONS PART 2
Freeze/Slow skills only work on Cryo weapons.
Shock/Confuse skills only work on Lightning weapons.
Burn/Rust skills only work on Thermal weapons
Energon-based melee weapons will drop in attack power after their energy has depleted.
Prime’s Axe
Battle Blade
Shockwave Blaster
Ion Blaster
Starscream’s Null Ray
Small Blaster
Grimlock’s Gloves
Bumblebee’s Gloves
Devastator’s Drills
Wrecking Ball
Fusion Cannon
Galaxial Launcher
Solar Beam Rifle
Menasor’s Cyclone Gun
Forge of Solus Prime
Flamethrower
Grappling Hook
Grimlock’s Sword
Star Saber
Dark Star Saber
Menasor’s Ionizer Sword
Photon Eliminator Rifle
Loudspeaker
Photon Disruptor
Fusion Cannon (MOD)
Bumblebee’s Blasters
Golden Hunter
GZS-3 & MA685
Sideswipe’s Swords
Wrenches
Magna Shot
Drill Missiles
Some named weapons seem to have special ability and tend to have a huge jump in attack when maxed:
Bumblebee’s Blasters shoot both guns at the same time per shot.
Devastator’s Drills fire their drills when you do a charged heavy attack that does insane damage to large enemies,
Megatron’s Fusion Cannon comes with an energy like Wheeljack’s but infinite when you’re aiming with it.
1. When I’m aiming down the sights of my weapon at an Insecticon, I never seem to aim directly at them. Why?
Insecticons are a bit shorter than other Decepticons. As a result, the auto-aiming targeting will often aim slightly above them. Lowering your sights just a bit when targeting an Insecticon will alleviate this issue.
2. The grappling hook is sometimes not working against certain enemies. Is there something wrong?
No. If an enemy is designed to wait at a specific place, the grappling hook won’t work on them. You’ll need to use another item or weapon to take them down.
3. Why is my elemental weapon not causing elemental status effects?
Merely being elemental is not enough for a weapon to inflict elemental status effects. In order to do so, a weapon must also have an element bonus such as “Burn Lvl.1.” These bonuses will sometimes be found on a weapon by default and they can also be added through weapon synthesis.
In addition, every enemy also has a measure of elemental resistance. In order to inflict an elemental status effect your weapon must deliver enough elemental damage to this enemy to overcome its elemental resistance. Should that happen, the weapon will check whether or not it places the status effect on the enemy. Sometimes that chance roll comes up negative and the status will not be inflicted.
1. What is weapon synthesis and how does it work?
Weapon synthesis is the process by which the Autobots take two weapons and merge them together to make one of them more powerful. To do this, one weapon is designated as the “base” weapon. This weapon goes through the synthesis process to possibly gain the experience and special abilities of the second weapon. The second weapon will be destroyed in the process.
A few notes about the synthesis process that may not be immediately obvious:
- A weapon’s rank is set at weapon creation and cannot be changed through synthesis. This rank will determine the maximum damage for the weapon. If your base weapon’s damage does not increase after synthesis, that means it is at the highest possible damage for its rank.
- If the base weapon and the second weapon have the same ability at the same level, there is a chance that the ability’s level may increase after synthesis.
- Weapon synthesis is not free. The cost in credits is determined by the base weapon’s rank and is automatically deducted from your wallet at each synthesis attempt.
2. I’ve just merged two weapons through weapon synthesis and the second weapon’s ability hasn’t transferred. Is something wrong?
No. If this happens it means that the base weapon didn’t have a free ability slot to accept the ability. You need to make sure that your base weapon has a free ability slot before synthesis or the second weapon’s ability will be lost. A weapon’s ability slots can be seen on the right side of the weapon detail screen.
TECHNIQUES AND TIPS
Dodge Offset is incredibly handy for going into finisher quickly without having to commit to some of the start up frames. It actually works pretty different than in games like Ninja Gaiden and Bayonetta. Even though you can still use Dodge Offset as you would in this games, this is incredibly handy for quick finishers.
The first part shows that even at a very high jump with a double jump, you can only get a chain of 3 combos into the finisher.
In the next part, if you dodge offset, you can get 2 or even 3 finishers in the air.
Here’s a mini practice combo
Heavy Attack > (cancel)Light Attack > (Jump cancel) [buffer (air) charge attack] > dodge cancel > heavy attack > (dodge offset) > Heavy Attack > finisher.
(Yes, you can jump cancel in this but there is no enemy step)
This rids you of the recovery frames of light combo 1 AND gives you the bonus of floating down that is given to you when shooting in the air. A pseudo-inertia like DMC4.
(credit to BumblebeeCody[www.neogaf.com])
Overdrive has three build-up tiers to it and once it reaches its max limit (red and pulsing quickly), there’s a substantial difference in attack speed + damage + other differences like the spinning lariat quirks. You wind it up by hitting enemies as well as proccing Prime Time; kind of functions like an obscure style meter of sorts in other words
Hold RB to Spin Your Tires After a Vehicle Slam
After putting an enemy on his back with a vehicle slam (simply jump straight up, then hold RB), you can continue dealing damage by holding RB. You’ll spin your tires on the downed enemy, draining his precious hit points.
Headshots with Ranged Weapons Trigger Opportunities for Vehicle Attacks
In Transformers: Devastation, honing those sharpshooting skills will open up new avenues for attack. In fact, scoring a headshot with one of the game’s ranged weapons will throw your enemies off balance and trigger a vehicle attack opportunity, even at long range.
Learn the Delay Combos
PlatinumGames is famous for creating deep, intricate combo systems, and this game is no different. All of the characters in Transformers: Devastation have a set of combos that require a bit of patience. You’ll press a sequence of buttons, pause for a bit, and then continue. Controlling the timing of those thumbs is essential. All of these combos can be found in the game’s move list.
Hold X button at Max Vehicle Speed to do a Flying Uppercut
When your vehicle starts shooting flames from the exhaust, you’re at max speed. From here, holding X button will trigger a rush attack, resulting in a spectacular uppercut that will launch you and your enemy into the air. Once airborne, immediately hit the enemy using the Y button to trigger a vehicle attack opportunity. This will result in some crazy air combos. To perform this you’ll need to purchase Rush Combo in the Lab.
Parry is Super Useful
The timing on this defensive move is difficult, but it’s incredibly powerful if used correctly. You can even parry Devastator’s drill projectiles in mid-air and throw them back at him. Parry is available for purchase in the Lab.
– Each character’s stats increase at a different rate.
– When in vehicle mode, press B to brake or turn quickly.
– Press B over a downed Ally to help them recover.
– You build ultimate gauge by attacking. Each character builds ultimate gauge at a different speed. Sideswipe builds ultimate gauge the fastest.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Defeated 100 enemies with Rush Attacks.
Completed all Challenge Mode missions on any difficulty.
Collected half of all collectible items.
In chapter 6, on difficulty COMMANDER or greater, defeated Soundwave without taking damage.
After dodging, quickly countered with a ranged attack 100 times.
Used parrying to catch all of the following from the enemy: a drill, boulder, and missile.
In chapter 4, on difficulty COMMANDER or greater, defeated Menasor without taking damage.
In chapter 5, on difficulty COMMANDER or greater, defeated Shockwave without taking damage.
In chapter 7, on difficulty COMMANDER or greater, defeated Megatron without taking damage.
Finished the lift battle in Chapter 2 without taking damage from Insecticons.
Defeated 100 enemies with Vehicle/Dino Attacks.
Completed half of all Challenge Mode missions on any difficulty.
In chapter 2, on difficulty COMMANDER or greater, destroyed the shielding without taking damage.
Performed 100 successful head shots.
Collected all collectible items.
Used Focus 100 times.
Completed all chapters, earning the highest rank, on difficulty COMMANDER or greater.
After dodging, quickly countered with a melee attack 100 times.
Completed all chapters on any difficulty using Sideswipe.
In chapter 4, defeated Motormaster while racing him.
Completed all chapters on any difficulty using Bumblebee.
Completed all chapters on any difficulty using Optimus Prime.
In chapter 6, on diff. COMMANDER or greater, defeated Soundwave without defeating any cassettes.
Synthesize 10 weapons.
Completed all chapters on any difficulty using Grimlock.
Completed all chapters on any difficulty using Wheeljack.
Completed all chapters on any difficulty.
In chapter 3, on difficulty COMMANDER or greater, defeated Blitzwing without taking damage.
In chapter 1, on difficulty COMMANDER or greater, knocked Devastator into a building 3 times.
In chapter 1, on difficulty COMMANDER or greater, defeated Devastator without taking damage.
EASTER EGGS
These two opposing swords are significant artifacts when they appear in the Transformers: Prime cartoon. The Star Saber is originally wielded by the first Transformer, Prima, and becomes a mythic object in the millennia that follow. At the conclusion of Transformers: Prime, Optimus Prime and Megatron duel to determine the fate of Earth. The appearance of the weapons within the game should raise the eyebrows of any fan familiar with that fight.
A careful look at potential inventory in Transformers: Devastation reveals a wealth of additional weapons, many of which were lesser known, but still firmly rooted in the traditions of the cartoons and toys. The GZS-3 and MA685 were both weapons that came with the Generation-2 version of the Sideswipe toy, while the the Galaxial Launcher was one of Grimlock’s weapons in the original 1985 toy.
Search the city carefully, and you’ll find a jewelry store in Transformers: Devastation called Bahoudin’s. It’s an homage to the original cartoon, in which the Pearl of Bahoudin is an ancient spherical object covered in jewels, which secretly turns out to be a potent power core that crashed onto Earth many centuries ago. Unsurprisingly, the Decepticons want to use it for evil, and the Autobots (particularly Bumblebee) manage to stop them.
Yet another store that can be found in the game, Lander’s Beverages is an acknowledgment of the somewhat lesser known Super-God Masterforce cartoon, which still had links to the original G1 cartoon. In that cartoon, viewers were introduced to a Transformer Pretender named Lander. Lander was one of several Autobot Pretenders who crash landed on Earth many centuries ago, and took on human form in order to battle the Decepticons, who in turn had taken on monstrous forms. By modern day times, Lander was a connoisseur of fine things, including great wine – thus the nod to beverages in the game.
If you ever collected the old toys, this one will come as no surprise. The major character stats that you upgrade in Transformers: Devastation are directly based on the stats that you could find on the original 1980s toy boxes. These scrambled images could be decoded by holding a red piece of plastic over the graph, which in turn revealed each character’s abilities, with a number between one and ten.
Platinum crafted Transformers: Devastation as a direct nod to the familiar flow of a single 1980s cartoon episode. Megatron has a plot that threatens the whole planet, Starscream defies Megatron and subsequently fails, and the Autobots swing in to the rescue at the final moment.
FUTURE TRANSFORMERS GAMES
Asked what the future of Transformers video games might hold, Activision Producer Robert Conkey told Vice[www.vice.com], “Unfortunately, I’m unable to discuss future plans at this point.” However, he was able to say that Devastation “certainly seems to have struck the right chord with the fanbase, which, I can tell you, warms the developers’ hearts.”
Conkey then talked about how Devastation wasn’t without flaws, and your feedback will be important in shaping future games:
“As for what we’re doing on Transformers games, going forward, we know that while Devastation succeeded in a lot of aspects, it certainly wasn’t perfect and there are a lot of areas where we received valuable feedback for improvement. It’s never possible to make everyone happy, but we do take that feedback very seriously when planning for future titles.”