Once you unlock the online functionality, you get the option to choose a squad whenever you start a session. Think of squads as a way to set your online multiplayer preferences for a given session. If you decide you want to get in some cooperative play after banging out a few story missions, all you have to do is quit the game and select a different squad when you restart. You have three options.
Lifehold Squads
Pick Lifehold squads if you want to keep to yourself for a session. There will still be online elements available to you, but you won’t be pre-sorted into a lobby with other players looking for co-op partners.
Conquest Squads
If you want to focus on completing squad tasks and missions with other human players, pick Conquest squads. You’ll get matched into a lobby of up to 32 random players who have all signed up for precisely this.
Friend Squads
Just as the name implies, the Friend Squad option brings up a list of your friends, allowing you to choose to join whatever squad they are in. Select this option if you know you have friends in-game and want to join up.
BLADE Reports
You communicate with the folks in your lobby via BLADE reports. Think of them as a squad-wide bulletins where you can report findings, coordinate squad tasks, or simply share your thoughts. When composing a report, you can set a topic and even flag it with a spoiler alert. Messages pop up on your screen frequently, but ones with the spoiler marker require you to press an extra button to reveal.
Squad Tasks
Being a BLADE is 24/7 work, and nowhere is this more evident than in squad tasks. Something always needs doing, and BLADE brass makes it easy for you know exactly what. On the bottom right of your screen, you’ll frequently see a running tally of global objectives that need seeing to. This involves hunting specific types of indigens and collecting the listed relics or flora. Knocking out a squad task unlocks co-op squad missions in the BLADE Barracks. They garner you valuable reward tickets, useful for buying materials from the Network Console, as well as BLADE medals, which you need to participate in special squad missions.
Squad Missions
As you finish squad tasks, visit the Network Console in the BLADE Barracks to check out squad missions that unlock. These are special sorties that you can take on with up to four players that net money, experience, reward tickets, and battle points. Some precious materials are only available if you complete squad missions, so if you’re getting into crafting high-end gear, don’t slack on these crucial BLADE duties!
In squad missions, the name of the game is hunting specific indigens. Once your party is ready, you simply head out of the big door near the Network Console, and the hunt begins. You have a set time to complete the mission, as well as other limits to work within, including a minimum level, a maximum number of participants, a set amount of retries, and whether or not Skells are invited to the party. Meanwhile, a squad mission’s sync level is the upper limit for participation, but if you’re too high, you’ll be brought down to match it for the duration.
Conquest Progress and Global Nemeses
As you and your squad complete tasks and missions, your progress contributes to the Conquest Progress meter you see when you start the game. This meter tracks the activity of every BLADE in service around the world. Once it’s full, a powerful boss monster called a Global Nemesis will appear in the world, for all the players to do battle with and claim its precious appendages. Doing so costs valuable BLADE medals, so bring your A game!
You earn better rewards the more times you kill a Global Nemesis while it’s out and about, so give them no quarter!
Time Attack and Support Missions
Two mission types are available from the Network Console: time attack and support missions. Time attack missions allow you to test your prowess against any of the game’s bosses you’ve already faced, challenging you to beat completion speed records set by other players. Support missions, available after beating the game, send you on specific sorties that often garner big rewards. If you’re short on cash, you can some find some that pay out big chunks. Similarly, if you want to give your Affinity rating with a specific NPC a shot in the arm, high-level support missions will give you a head start.
Treasure Deals
When you’re part of a squad, you can also share loot drops with players in your lobby. When you’re in the sharing mood, simply select the treasure deal option when you’re looting an enemy. You have the option of sending it directly to a player or putting it up for the whole squad to bid on in a lottery. What’s in it for you? Division points. BLADE likes it when you share!