Titan Fundamentals — Titanfall eGuide

You just initiated Titanfall—now what? Moving around as a Titan is a completely different experience than roaming the map as a Pilot. So here’s some pointers on getting the most out of your Titan, complete with some insider tips from the developers at Respawn Entertainment.

The Dome-Shield

Don’t attack an enemy Titan until it steps outside its Dome-Shield.

Upon initiating Titanfall, your Titan comes crashing to the planet’s surface, temporarily protected by an energy barrier called the Dome-Shield. This shield remains in place for a few seconds, protecting your Titan from enemy attack. This should give you more than enough time to reach your Titan. The Dome-Shield is invulnerable, capable of absorbing heavy damage without failing. But the Dome-Shield won’t last forever, so get to your Titan soon— the Pilot’s Dome-Shield Battery Tier 1 Kit increases the amount of time the Dome-Shield is active, giving you more time to reach and embark your Titan. The Dome-Shield also disappears when you put the Titan in Guard or Follow mode.

Maneuvering as a Titan

Dash in and out of cover while engaging enemy Titans.

Jumping into a Titan for the first time is an exciting yet somewhat jarring experience. Compared to the light and nimble Pilots, the heavy, lumbering Titans move at a much slower pace. The sudden change in speed and agility requires a different tactical mindset. But Titans are by no means sitting ducks. Their ability to sprint and dash allows them to maneuver around the battlefield with relative ease. Dashing is ideal for gaining a sudden boost in speed. But it’s best to reserve your limited dashes for combat—dashing laterally is ideal for evading incoming fire.

While piloting a Titan, it’s easy to get caught up in the moment, charging headlong into battle with weapons blazing. But more experienced Pilots play more defensively, keeping their distance from enemies while formulating engagement and escape plans based on the surrounding terrain. What can you use for cover? Can enemy Pilots attack you from surrounding rooftops? If you’re ambushed, how will you escape? Are friendly Titans nearby to provide support? These are the things you should be thinking when piloting a Titan.

DEVELOPER TIP

Staying within dash range of cover is important for winning Titan fights. This should affect how you navigate through levels with the different Titan chassis.

Remember to keep track of how many dashes you have left—using your dash wisely can make a big difference in combat. Sometimes you need it to get somewhere quickly, and other times you need to keep it in reserve to dodge incoming fire or to escape an ambush. You can see how many dashes you have at any time by looking at the rectangular pips just below the reticle.

Form an exit strategy before you commit to a fight with another Titan. If you get ambushed by additional Titans, or something else goes wrong, you’ll be glad you did.

Always think ahead and predict potential new threats. Titan fights tend to be longer than those between Pilots, so circumstances can evolve and even reverse themselves dramatically over the course of a Titan fight.

Health and Bodyshield Management

If your Titan has sustained heavy damage, seek cover fast, allowing the bodyshield to regenerate.

Despite their heavy armor and intimidating appearance, Titans aren’t invulnerable. Each Titan has two lines of defense: the outer hull and the bodyshield. The bodyshield is a Titan’s first line of defense. This is an invisible energy barrier surrounding the Titan that absorbs hits from incoming projectiles. Each subsequent hit weakens the bodyshield, causing it to deplete. However, the bodyshield can regenerate if the Titan avoids taking damage for a limited time—this is why it’s so important to utilize cover. During combat, keep an eye on the shield bar, wrapped above the Titan’s health bar at the top center of the HUD. As the shield bar nears depletion, immediately seek cover, allowing the bodyshield to regenerate.

If a Titan’s bodyshield fails, all subsequent damage is dealt to the Titan’s hull. Bodyshield failure exposes vulnerable parts of the Titan, allowing enemies to score high-damage critical hits—these weak spots appear as red glowing sections on a Titan’s hull. As damage piles up, the Titan’s health bar begins to deplete. Unlike the bodyshield, a Titan’s hull cannot be regenerated once damage has occurred. Thus, all hull damage is permanent, as indicated by a diminished health bar. Externally, heavily damaged Titans spew flames and sparks, potentially making them juicy targets for enemy units. But a Titan with low health isn’t necessarily out of the fight. By carefully managing the regenerative properties of the bodyshield, skilled Pilots can keep a heavily damaged Titan on the battlefield indefinitely. The key to survival is escaping danger before the bodyshield is fully depleted.

DEVELOPER TIP

When a bodyshield takes damage, you will see small hexagons flash momentarily in the air around the Titan as the bodyshield absorbs the hits. The bodyshield fully restores itself after a short period of time, if no further damage is sustained.

When a Titan’s built-in bodyshield is depleted, its hull and critical hit locations are exposed. Critical hits do extra damage, so try to aim for these locations when they appear—look for the spots highlighted in red on the front and back of the Titan. Keep in mind that not all weapons are capable of inflicting critical hits.

If your Titan’s bodyshield is depleted, try to move and dash away from your enemies until your Titan’s bodyshield regenerates. If possible, deter any pursuing enemies by firing missiles from your Titan’s built-in Ordnance pod as you back away. Using your defensive abilities can help buy time for your shield to regenerate.

Any shot from any Titan weapon will prevent an enemy’s bodyshield from regenerating. Sometimes landing a few well-placed shots to keep an enemy’s bodyshield down is a better tactic than brute force.

As a Pilot, use Arc Grenades against Titans before using your Anti-Titan weapon. A couple of Arc Grenades can bring down a Titan’s bodyshield very quickly, allowing your Anti-Titan weapon to hit the hull directly. Even when a Titan’s bodyshield is active, Anti-Titan weapons deal a small percentage of damage to the hull.

Titan Tactical Abilities

The Vortex Shield catches and refires incoming projectiles.

Like Pilots, Titans can equip one of three Tactical Abilities, each providing a unique defensive benefit. The Vortex Shield is the first Tactical Ability available to all Pilots. When active, the Vortex Shield can catch incoming bullets, missiles, and rockets and redirect them at a target—this is a great way to use an enemy Titan’s weapons against them. The Particle Wall ability deploys a stationary energy barrier capable of blocking incoming projectiles. However, unlike traditional cover, the Titan who deployed the Particle Wall can shoot through it, as long as they stay behind the wall. The Electric Smoke Tactical Ability is a multi-purpose countermeasure, perfect for deterring rodeo attacks on your Titan. In addition to obscuring your Titan in smoke, the electrical properties inflict damage on enemies within the smokescreen, including enemy Pilots and Titans.

DEVELOPER TIP

Projectiles released by the Vortex Shield ability can be caught mid-air by another Vortex Shield.

The Vortex Shield takes a second to cool down once deployed, so if you find yourself stuck in a game of “catch” with an enemy Titan, try returning fire with your own Vortex Shield immediately after you catch your opponent’s incoming attack.

If you have lots of ammo caught in your Vortex Shield but you suspect an opponent has more Vortex Shield time remaining than you, discard the contents of your Vortex Shield into the sky or to one side. This way, you avoid feeding more ammo into the enemy’s Vortex Shield with no way for you to block the imminent blast of Vortex Shield fire.

The Particle Wall ability will buy you extra time to aim more carefully or charge a weapon more fully, protecting you completely from incoming fire. It works well in concert with long-range or charge-dependent Titan weapons such as the Plasma Railgun, the Arc Cannon, and the XO-16 Chaingun.

The Particle Wall only allows weapon fire to pass through in one direction, no matter what team you’re on, so try chasing an enemy around to the opposite side and use his own barrier against him.

Electric Smoke is very effective against enemy Pilots that jump onto your Titan’s back. It will kill them over time or force them to jump off of you. Once they are off, dash far away so that they don’t easily jump back onto you.

Standing in a cloud of Electric Smoke will negate all weapon lock-ons, including your own.

Core Abilities

Damaging enemy units reduces the time it takes for your Titan’s Core Ability to come online.

Aside from speed, acceleration, and durability, the three Titans have another major difference: their Core Ability. When activated, these unique Core Abilities give Titans a significant tactical advantage. But that advantage differs based on the selected Titan chassis. For instance, the Atlas benefits from Damage Core, temporarily increasing damage output substantially. The Ogre’s Shield Core enhances the Titan’s bodyshield, allowing it to absorb more punishment for a short period of time. Dash Core temporarily gives the Stryder the ability to perform unlimited dashes.

Core Abilities aren’t readily available upon receiving your Titan. Instead, they take time to charge up—reference the Build Timer in the lower-right corner of the HUD to see how much time is left until your Titan’s Core Ability is available. But just like your Titan’s build time, the time you have to wait for your Core Ability can be decreased by inflicting damage on enemy units—the more damage you dish out, the quicker you’ll gain access to your Titan’s Core Ability. Even once your Core Ability is available, wait to deploy it until you can put it to good use—each Core Ability is online for only a few seconds. After the Core Ability has expired, it must recharge before it can be deployed again.

DEVELOPER TIP

Each Titan has a unique Core Ability, which takes some time to charge up. The time remaining is indicated in the Build Timer. You can reduce the amount of time it takes to charge your Titan’s Core Ability in the same way you earn your Titan as a Pilot—by inflicting damage on Titans and enemies. The more damage you deal, the less time it takes to charge your Titan’s Core Ability.

Once you activate your Titan’s Core Ability, it is available for a short time before it expires, after which it must be recharged. In each combat situation, look for the best possible moment to activate your Titan’s Core Ability to get the most use out of it.

There is a brief warm-up delay when activating your Titan’s Core Ability before it actually takes effect. Keep this in mind and anticipate accordingly during battle.

The Atlas’ Damage Core enhances the damage of all of the Atlas’ attacks. Primary weapons, ordnance, and even Electric Smoke will inflict more damage while the Damage Core is active.

The Stryder’s Dash Core provides unlimited dash capacity while active. You can dash as much and as often as you want until the Dash Core shuts down.

The Ogre’s Shield Core enhances the Ogre’s bodyshield capacity substantially—you are not made invulnerable, but it will take a lot more hits to deplete the bodyshield.

Auto-Titan

When attempting to evacuate, use your Auto-Titan to distract the enemy while you make a run for the dropship.

Following Titanfall deployment, instead of embarking, Pilots have the option of initiating one of two Auto-Titan modes: Follow mode and Guard mode. While in Follow mode, your Titan will follow you around the map, automatically engaging enemy units it encounters. Obviously, a Titan cannot access all the places a nimble Pilot can, such as rooftops or building interiors. But the Titan will do its best to stay close to the Pilot’s position. In Guard mode, the Titan stays put and attacks enemy contacts within its line of sight, ideal for defending fixed positions.

Application of the Auto-Titan modes differs from Pilot to Pilot. Some Pilots prefer to stay on foot, allowing their Auto-Titan to serve as a distraction. In this sense, the Auto-Titan is a true force multiplier, adding its weapons to the mix while the Pilot continues to fight on foot. This is an effective way to divide and conquer during Titan battles—have your Auto-Titan engage a threat while you fire your Anti-Titan weapon from a safe distance. Or better yet, rodeo attack an enemy Titan while your Auto-Titan engages it.

Doomed Titans

When your Titan is doomed, get ready to eject—there’s nothing you can do to save your Titan when it reaches its doomed state.

Even the most durable Titans eventually fall when subjected to heavy damage. Once the Titan’s health bar is fully depleted, it enters what is called doomed state, indicated by a striped yellow-and-black bar that appears at the top of the HUD. This doomed state bar slowly depletes, even when no damage is being taken, essentially counting down to the Titan’s self-destruction. During doomed state the Titan is still functional, capable of moving and firing weapons. However, a Titan is also extremely vulnerable during this state, particularly to melee attacks. Instead of fighting, it’s best to eject—otherwise your Pilot will die when the Titan explodes or get killed by an enemy Titan’s melee attack. Ejecting launches a Pilot high into the sky, allowing them to escape and continue the fight on foot.

DEVELOPER TIP

When a Titan’s health bar (not bodyshield) is depleted, it becomes doomed, and its health bar changes from a solid color to a striped pattern. That Titan will soon self-destruct.

During the time that a Titan is doomed, the enemy Pilot in that Titan can still try to disembark, eject, or keep fighting. You can guarantee a kill on the Pilot of a doomed Titan if you can close the distance and melee attack it before the Pilot has a chance to activate the ejection sequence. The Atlas, for example, will punch through a doomed Titan’s hull, yank out the enemy Pilot, and throw him to his death. This is known as a Titan Execution.

Equipping the Auto-Eject Kit will prevent you from being executed by enemy Titans. Auto-Eject will also cloak you automatically when you eject. However, with this kit, you will lose the ability to continue to fight in your Titan once it is doomed.