Guide to Wave Mode Mechanics [Enhancement, Classes, Achievements, Ribbons, and More!]
Going to be a big thread so I’ll split it up into posts but I have to wait 1 minute between posts. Please don’t reply until you see the post that says “Reserved for future update”. Thanks.
Dammit Hamster what did I just say - -
Introduction
Wave Mode was recently added to CFNA, and I’ve put together this guide to help players understand the basics of this game mode. This guide is meant to provide an overview of the mechanics of Wave Mode and, in particular, provide some insight into how card enhancement works (some of you might have seen my old thread about card enhancement, that's all covered in more detail in this new guide). As such, I won’t go into detail about picking weapons and class cards or how to do well in this mode. In any case I don’t pretend to be an expert on which classes work well, I’ve only really used two classes extensively. But this guide should answer most of your questions about how Wave Mode works. I might add more pictures and information in the future if I have time, some parts of this guide are just walls of text and I apologize for that. If you’ve already been playing Wave Mode for a bit, the beginning probably won’t be useful for you and you might want to skip directly to the part about card enhancement.
Contents
Part 1: Basic Information
Dammit Hamster what did I just say - -
Introduction
Wave Mode was recently added to CFNA, and I’ve put together this guide to help players understand the basics of this game mode. This guide is meant to provide an overview of the mechanics of Wave Mode and, in particular, provide some insight into how card enhancement works (some of you might have seen my old thread about card enhancement, that's all covered in more detail in this new guide). As such, I won’t go into detail about picking weapons and class cards or how to do well in this mode. In any case I don’t pretend to be an expert on which classes work well, I’ve only really used two classes extensively. But this guide should answer most of your questions about how Wave Mode works. I might add more pictures and information in the future if I have time, some parts of this guide are just walls of text and I apologize for that. If you’ve already been playing Wave Mode for a bit, the beginning probably won’t be useful for you and you might want to skip directly to the part about card enhancement.
Contents
Part 1: Basic Information
- Leveling System
- Achievements
- Lobby Interface
- Ribbons
- Class Cards
- Earning Class Cards
- Card Enhancement Part 1: Overview
- Card Enhancement Part 2: Enhancement Upgrade
- Card Enhancement Part 3: Enhancement Transfer
- Card Enhancement Part 4: Buffed Statistics
- Card Enhancement Part 5: Analysis of Enhancement Buff
- Gem Attachment
- Map Mechanics
- Credits
Comments
-
Part 1: Basic Information
Leveling System
Wave Mode introduces two leveling systems: an in-game leveling system which is reset after every game and another leveling system which is not reset (to avoid confusion this will be referred to “Wave Mode level”). The in-game leveling system has 20 levels, and the maximum HP a player can have is increased at each level. Respawn time is also increased at each level. Class card abilities are available for use after level 5 (in-game level); the in-game level is reset after every game so players will need to reach level 5 in every match to use class card abilities.
The Wave Mode level has 30 levels and is not reset. Leveling up will allow players to attach more gems to their class cards to further enhance their performance. The Wave Mode level has no further effect on gameplay. Class cards, card enhancement, and gem attachment are covered in more detail further in this guide.
Achievements
Wave Mode also features four achievements: “Surf’s Up!” (awarded for killing NPCs), “Wipe Out” (awarded for destroying towers), “Hang 1000!” (awarded for killing enemy players), and “The Big Kahuna” (awarded for winning Wave Mode matches). These achievements have various effects on gameplay in Wave Mode. The “Surf’s Up!” achievement rewards the player with gems which can be attached to class cards; more information about gem attachment can be found further in this guide.
Lobby Interface
Wave Mode lobbies have a unique interface, the key features have been highlighted in the screenshot below.- Team balance is a feature that is intended to automatically create balanced teams. If it is turned on, players will be unable to choose which team to play on.
- The card enhancement level for the player’s class card is displayed here (will be discussed in detail further in this guide).
- The Wave Mode level for the player is displayed here.
- The gems attached to the player’s class card is displayed here (will be discussed in detail further in this guide).
Ribbons
There are two ribbons which can be earned by playing Wave Mode: “Head of the Class” and “Tsunami”. Card enhancement is required to complete the “Head of the Class” ribbon and more information about the card enhancement system can be found further in this guide.
Class Cards
In each Wave Mode match, the player must select a class card. Class cards grant the player a unique set of abilities, for example the Blaster class allows the player to use an RPG-7 while the Medic class allows the player to restore their own as well as their teammate’s HP. Class cards consist of an active skill (which can be used by pressing the “F” key) and a passive skill (which is constantly applied).
Players start with nine class cards: Blaster, Demolition, Hunter, Juggernaut, Marksman, Medic, Panther, Shield, and Shock. There is a chance of earning a random class card upon completing a Wave Mode match; there is actually a tenth class card, the Gold Blaster and it can only be acquired in this manner. Extra class cards can be used to enhance other class cards (the card enhancement system is covered further in this guide). The abilities of each class card can be found below.
Earning Class Cards
After playing a match of Wave Mode, there is a chance of earning a class card. Additional class cards can be used in the card enhancement system, covered in the next section. If matches are not sufficiently long, no reward will be received after the match. It is commonly believed that playing matches of around 13-15 minutes will increase the probability of earning a class card.
After a Wave Mode match, players are able to select one of three rewards as seen below.
Class cards are the most desirable reward, as there is no other way to obtain them.
The Gold Blaster, Hunter, and Shock class cards do not have icons. If one of them is earned, they will be displayed like so:
-
Part 2: Card Enhancement and Gem Attachment
Card Enhancement Part 1: Overview
Class card enhancement is probably the most important part of this guide, as there are numerous informational errors in-game about the card enhancement system. Class cards have enhancement levels attributed to them; they start at enhancement level 0, and can be upgraded through the card enhancement system to a maximum enhancement level of +10. At each enhancement level, the class card’s statistics will be buffed (improved).
In the card enhancement system, a material card is sacrificed to upgrade a prospect card. There are two different types of enhancement process: enhancement upgrade (where the objective is to increase the enhancement level of the prospect card by +1) and enhancement transfer (where the objective is to transfer the enhancement level of the material card to the prospect card). Note that these are not official terms; they are used to make a distinction between two unique processes and avoid confusion in this guide. The requirements and details of enhancement upgrade and enhancement transfer will be covered in the next two sections.
Card Enhancement Part 2: Enhancement Upgrade
In enhancement upgrade, the objective is to increase the enhancement level of the prospect card by +1. The material card will be destroyed in the process, and it should be noted that enhancement upgrade has a chance of failing. Any class card can be used as the material card as long as it has not been enhanced and it is not the last card remaining of that class. (The description in-game erroneously states that only cards of the same class can be used as enhancement material.) Class stabilizers can be used to improve the success rate of this process (but aren't required); each enhancement will cost one class stabilizer. It should be noted that after the prospect card has reached enhancement level +5, any subsequent enhancements without the use of class stabilizers may result in the card being downgraded (enhancement level decreased by 1) or reset (enhancement level reverted back to 0) if the enhancement fails. There are two ways to improve the success rate of enhancement upgrade: using a Gold Blaster as the material card and using class stabilizers. The effects of these will stack and further increase the success rate as seen below.
An example of enhancement upgrade can be seen below. A Marksman +1 card is used as the prospect card and an unenhanced Shock card is used as the material card. A class stabilizer was used in the enhancement. The enhancement succeeded; the Shock card was destroyed and the Marksman card has been upgraded to Marksman +2.
Card Enhancement Part 3: Enhancement Transfer
In enhancement transfer, the objective is to transfer the enhancement level of an enhanced card to a different class card of lower enhancement level. Unlike enhancement upgrade, enhancement transfer has no probability of failure but it is required to use class stabilizers for enhancement transfer. In enhancement transfer, the material card must have a higher enhancement level than the prospect card and cannot be the last card remaining of that class. (The in-game description erroneously states that the material card cannot have a higher enhancement level than the prospect card.) After the enhancement, the prospect card will be given the enhancement level of the material card and the material card will be destroyed. As stated before, class stabilizers are required (not optional) for enhancement transfer and the amount of class stabilizers required is equal to the enhancement level of the material card. The enhancement level of the prospect card does not affect the amount of class stabilizers required and has no impact on enhancement transfer whatsoever, making it wasteful to use enhanced cards as the prospect card in enhancement transfer.
An example of enhancement transfer can be seen below. A Juggernaut +8 card is used as the material card and a Demolition card is used as the prospect card. After enhancement, the Juggernaut +8 card has been destroyed and the enhancement level +8 has been transferred to the Demolition card, which is now Demolition +8. Eight class stabilizers were used because the material card (Juggernaut +8) was at enhancement level +8. Class stabilizers are required for enhancement transfer, so even though the “Class Stabilizer” option was not selected, class stabilizers were still used.
Card Enhancement Part 4: Buffed Statistics
Each time a card is successfully enhanced, the statistics of the class card will receive a buff. For example, the cool down time will decrease by a certain percentage or the duration of the active skill will increase by a certain percentage. The buff received by each class card at each enhancement level can be found below.
It should be noted that some of the statistics are in red (namely Hunter +10, Marksman +10, and Shield +10); this is because I have not encountered these class cards in-game. The statistics are a prediction based on the system used to calculate the buffed statistics at each enhancement level (covered in the next section). I was collecting these statistics even before I started working on this guide and back then I had to extrapolate even more statistics. As I collected more data, I could verify that the statistics were accurate; so far, every extrapolated statistic has been accurate.
Blaster / Gold Blaster
The Gold Blaster is just a reskin of the Blaster, the performance and buffs received by the Gold Blaster are identical to that of the Blaster. I collected statistics at every enhancement level of both the Gold Blaster and the normal Blaster and verified this.
Demolition
Hunter
The statistics for Hunter +10 are unconfirmed.
Juggernaut
Marksman
The statistics for Marksman +10 are unconfirmed.
Medic
Panther
Shield
The statistics for Shield +10 are unconfirmed.
Shock
Card Enhancement Part 5: Analysis of Enhancement Buff
Warning: Math ahead. Skip to section after the graph if you are interested in card performance but don’t care how it’s calculated.
Each time a class card is upgraded, the statistics of that card receive a buff to improve the performance of the card. Naturally, enhancing a class card to +10 gives the maximum performance. As stated in the previous section, some of the data for the buffed statistics was unavailable and had to be extrapolated (predicted based on the existing information). The data was already being compiled before this guide was written, and at the time even more of the card statistics were unavailable and had to be extrapolated. So far, the extrapolated statistics have always been accurate.
The increase in buff at each enhancement level is non-linear, but while it may seem random at first, there is in fact a system which is used to calculate the increase in the card statistics at each level. The maximum increase in the card statistics is at enhancement level +10, so the size of the buff at each enhancement level will be compared with this value. For example, Medic +1 has a cool down decrease of 2% while Medic +10 has a cool down decrease of 40%. Medic +1 has a buff which is 20 times smaller than that of Medic +10, i.e. at enhancement level +1 the buff is 5% of the buff at enhancement level +10. Repeating this for every statistic of every card at every enhancement level (for the data available), it is found that these proportions are always the same. The graph below shows the buff at each enhancement level compared to the maximum buff (at enhancement level +10). At +1 the buff is always 5% of the maximum, at +2 the buff is always 10% of the maximum, etc.
Now why am I telling you this? Well because this allows us to compare the card performance at each of the enhancement levels. At +1, the buff is 20 times smaller than the buff at +10, so if you have a +1 card you definitely do not want to go up against someone with a +10 card. Even at +5, the buff is still 4 times smaller than the buff at +10. Here are the key points to take away from this:- Enhancement level +5 has a buff which is 25% of the maximum, while +6 has a buff which is 50% of the maximum. This is a massive increase in performance, so a +5 card should be upgraded to +6 as soon as possible.
- The buff at enhancement level +1 to +5 is tiny compared to the buff at +10. Enemies with cards at this level shouldn’t worry you, and if you have a card at this level you should keep in mind that you are severely outclassed by anyone with a card at +6 or above.
- There are essentially two tiers of enhancement levels: +1 to +5 and +6 to +10. Cards at +1 to +5 are severely outclassed by cards at +6 to +10 in terms of the buff they receive.
/endmath
Gem Attachment
Gems are an item available for purchase in the item shop which can be attached to class cards to improve their performance. Each gem can only be attached to one class card at any given time. There are two classes of gems: regular gems (available for GP) and so-called perfect gems (available for ZP). There are four different types of gems available in both of these classes, namely Ruby, Sapphire, Topaz, and Amethyst. The effects of these gems can be seen in the table below.
The amount of gems (regardless of whether the gems are regular or perfect) that the player can attach to a class card depends on their Wave Mode level. The table below shows the Wave Mode levels and the amount of gems that can be attached at those levels.
The screenshot below shows the gem attachment interface. The key features have been highlighted:- The class card to which gems will be attached.
- The amounts of each type of gem owned by the player.
- An indicator showing whether or not more gems can be attached to a class card, green means that it is possible to attach more gems (3b) and gray means no more gems can be attached (3a).
- An indicator showing the gems currently attached to the class card. Perfect gems (4b) have a small gold marking below then which is not present for regular gems (4a).
Gems can be removed from class cards to be attached to other class cards. Every day, the player is allowed to remove gems from one class card for the cost of 1,000 GP. If the player wants to remove gems from more cards, they will need to buy a Gem Removal Coupon for 50 ZP. The achievement “Surf’s Up!” will reward the player with some gems, and additional gems can be purchased from the item shop. It should be noted that gems can be destroyed by attaching them to a class card and using that class card as the material card in the card enhancement system. Perfect gems cost real money (ZP), so it is a good idea to remove them from the class card before using it as a material card. -
Part 3: Map Mechanics
Map Mechanics
There are currently two maps available for Wave Mode, Arctic Base and Sandstorm. The gameplay mechanics vary slightly between the two maps. On both maps, supply crates will spawn and can be captured by either team. Supply crates can contain five different items: an armor package (provides the team with bulletproof armor), a medical package (restores the HP of the team), a laptop (allows the team to call in an airstrike), an energy transmitter (increases the HP and damage of NPCs), and a mortar (can be used to deal massive damage against towers). Towers are normally invulnerable while they aren’t attacking, but they can still be damaged by mortars.
Arctic Base is a large map with each team having eight towers (including the two trucks protecting the base). Each team’s basecamp is protected by two trucks, and the basecamp cannot be damaged until the trucks have been destroyed. Two zip-lines are available to allow players to quickly leave their spawn; players should however note that they can take damage from enemies while using the zip-line and cannot use their weapons while on the zip-line. A mounted machinegun is also provided near each team’s basecamp; it should be noted that the mounted machinegun is capable of rotating 360 degrees and so it is possible to use the enemy’s mounted machinegun against them if the players push into the enemy spawn. The only supply crates available are the energy transmitter and mortar, and they spawn at fixed locations on the map. Airstrikes are not captured via a laptop in a supply crate on this map; they are earned by killing 40 enemy NPCs. NPCs killed by towers will not be counted towards airstrikes.
Sandstorm is a smaller map with each team having three towers (including one truck protecting the base). Each team’s basecamp is protected by one truck, and the basecamp cannot be damaged until the truck has been destroyed. Sandstorm also features a zip-line and a mounted machinegun at each spawn like on Arctic Base. Supply crates can spawn in seven different locations and can contain an armor package, a medical package, a laptop, an energy transmitter, or a mortar. Airstrikes can be called in after capturing a laptop; they cannot be earned by killing NPCs as on Arctic Base. While playing on Sandstorm, players start with their in-game level at level 3.
As a general note, the Black List side on both maps favors offensive play. Black List players who push into the Global Risk’s half of the map will find more buildings that offer cover against air strikes. Black List’s half of the map features more open buildings, so Global Risk players who push into Black List’s half of the map are left exposed to air strikes.
Planning on expanding this section and adding images in the future. -
CactusHorse7 wrote: »One of the best threads made, thread deserves a sticky.
How long did this take you?
Spent a couple hours on it, BBCode for tables isn't available on the forums so I made the tables in Excel and turned them into pictures. Played quite a bit of Wave Mode in the past couple weeks and I went around collecting card upgrade stats during that time. Finally figured out how every worked and decided to put it all together yesterday. I originally intended to just cover card enhancement and the upgrade statistics, but this ended up being a full-blown guide of Wave Mode. -
I tried to find something that you missed out and I can't find anything that you missed, well done, great guide!
I am not sure if you want to do this as the guide is good enough as it is but what about some tactics for certain classes, a preferable class and maybe some opinion. Again it is your choice but still, it is a great guide! -
Only thing I would like to add to clarify is that not all towers must be destroyed. Only the trucks have to be destroyed to attack the base before the game ends. Destroying the towers will make your life easier, but it's not necessary. With this in mind, a single player bum rushing the trucks every time may eventually punch a hole and destroy the enemy base if one is not aware.
I tried to pull this off, but my team loved to kill towers. I did destroy both trucks before the last tower fell, and yes the enemy base proceeded to take damage. -
Thanks for all your feedback
I'm planning to keep this guide objective, so if anyone was looking for information about how something works in Wave Mode they could find it here. I'll definitely consider making a separate guide about some tactics, classes, and weapon choices when I have the time.I tried to find something that you missed out and I can't find anything that you missed, well done, great guide!
I am not sure if you want to do this as the guide is good enough as it is but what about some tactics for certain classes, a preferable class and maybe some opinion. Again it is your choice but still, it is a great guide!
Good point, I didn't explicitly say this in my original post and this should clear things up for anyone who's wondering. I'll expand the section about the map mechanics when I have the time, and I'll definitely bring this up.StickStrike wrote: »Only thing I would like to add to clarify is that not all towers must be destroyed. Only the trucks have to be destroyed to attack the base before the game ends. Destroying the towers will make your life easier, but it's not necessary. With this in mind, a single player bum rushing the trucks every time may eventually punch a hole and destroy the enemy base if one is not aware.
I tried to pull this off, but my team loved to kill towers. I did destroy both trucks before the last tower fell, and yes the enemy base proceeded to take damage.RuSHadow92 wrote: »OP if you see this...I have a question about wave mode
The percentages of successful reinforce are bigger if I use Golden blaster as a material card?
I just have so many of them >.<"
Yes it will, I covered this in "Card Enhancement Part 2: Enhancement Upgrade". I don't know the exact success rates but the probability of success should be increased according to the information provided in-game.iamnubcakes wrote: »There are two ways to improve the success rate of enhancement upgrade: using a Gold Blaster as the material card and using class stabilizers. The effects of these will stack and further increase the success rate as seen below. -
wait, i can enhance 2 diffrent cards? for example : blaster and medic / demoliton and jugger ?
or im wrong?
Yes, that is correct as said by xDIamanob.iamnubcakes wrote: »Any class card can be used as the material card as long as it has not been enhanced and it is not the last card remaining of that class. (The description in-game erroneously states that only cards of the same class can be used as enhancement material.) -
one question running on my mind,
How do you know all these things about wave mode !?
definitely lots of people want to know the answer.
I figured out card enhancement and gems by trying different things and seeing what worked. I collected card stats just by going into a bunch of lobbies and if the players had enhanced cards I'd copy the stats; eventually I figured out how the stats were calculated. The rest of the information I either know from experience or is just readily available (e.g. achievements and ribbons).
![]Sake](https://z8games.akamaized.net/cfna/forum/customavatars/33/navatar_6776233.gif){kind=avatar}
) and while I can't confirm if there are any errors in it since I know not even nearly as much as you about Wave Mode, this thread was very useful. *applause* 
)
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