PHOENIX POINT

BACKER BUILD #4

Geoscape Controls
Left Click​ = Select/Confirm Action Right Click​ = Plot flight path/Cancel Action
Shift + Right Click​ = Chain multiple flight path orders
ESC​ = Open/Close Game Options Mouse Wheel Scroll ​=​ Z​ oom in / Zoom Out
Space ​= Start / Stop Time + / -​ = Increase/decrease time speed

Tactical Controls
Left Click​ = Select/Confirm Action Hold Middle Mouse Button​ = Max Zoom out
ESC​ = Cancel Action X​ = Cycle through Weapon Selector
Tab​ = Next Character 1, 2, 3, 4​ = Select weapon to use
WASD/Arrows​ = Move Camera F​ - Fire selected weapon
Q/E​ = Rotate Camera 90 degrees Y​ - Overwatch
T/G​ = Zoom in / Zoom Out I​ = Character Inventory
Space​ = Select ‘End Action’ Ability Backspace/End​ = End Faction Turn
Right Click​ = Move soldier/Cancel Action Double Space​ = End Soldier’s Action

New in Release #4
Welcome to Backer Build 4. Here’s the new stuff:

● Strategic Geoscape game improvements

○ Global event encounters
○ Strategic level gameplay throughout the entire globe
■ Build Radar Stations to reveal new locations and explore map sites
■ Recruit Soldiers and New Jericho Armadillos from havens
■ Explore and locate Phoenix bases
■ Find Phoenix Scarab vehicles and use them in battle
○ Squad equipment, inventory, and roster management
● New Resource management
○ Global base resources: Food, Tech, and Materials
○ Resources can be found in Resource Crates scattered in various missions
○ Sometimes resources are given or requested in global events that take place in
havens along the geoscape. They can additionally be used to recruit soldiers and
improve diplomatic relations
 ○ Tech and minerals are needed to construct weapons and Radar stations at Phoenix
bases
○ Tech and minerals can also be salvaged from existing equipment if it is destroyed at
a Phoenix base
● New Mission Types and Objectives
○ Phoenix Base Defense mission:​ Defend your base from alien attacks. Losing will
result in the destruction of the base and the end of the game, if it is your only base.
○ Site encounters​ - respond to events and offers from haven leaders upon arriving at
site locations. Responses will affect the diplomacy with the existing factions and the
haven itself, and also might result in new recruits of resource gifts
○ Protect Civilians objective​ - ensure that as many civilians as possible survive during a
tactical mission
○ Protect Key structures objective​ - ensure that as many key structures as possible
remain during a tactical mission
● New Soldier progression system
○ Class skills​ - 6 unique skills for each class
○ Proficient class weapons​ - using weapons from another class has a chance of ending
in failure
○ Dual class selection​ - allows the creation of hybrid soldiers combining two classes
○ Personal skill​s - grant passive advantages to a soldier when learned
● New interface additions and changes
○ New storage inventory section
○ New soldier training section
○ New base management section
○ New soldier health, willpower, and armour displays (during tactical missions)
○ New items display (during tactical missions)
○ New status effect, damage types, and passive ability icons
● New Alien Queen abilities
○ Goo Spitter head​ - spits goo at enemies, causing them to become immobile for a
while
○ Sonic head​ - performs a vocal cone attack that stuns all enemies it affects
● New Crabman abilities
○ Poison Spitter head​ - spits poison at an enemy, causing the enemy to suffer damage
over time
● New terrain effects
○ Goo​ - green slime that prevents soldiers from moving for a period of time
○ Fire​ - scorching fires that deal damage to creatures they touch
● New aliens
○ Chiron: ​can launch artillery-like projectiles that do severe damage
○ Siren: ​can slash, spit acid, and infect soldiers with a deadly virus
○ Fireworm: ​can go near a target and burst in flames, dealing damage to anyone in
proximity
○ Fireworm Egg: ​Pods that spawn fireworm when they are dealt damage or sense
soldiers nearby
● New soldiers
○ Phoenix soldiers​: PX Assault, PX Heavy, PX Sniper
● New weapons
○ Phoenix weapons​: sniper, grenade launcher, heavy cannon
 ○ Phoenix armor sets​: assault, sniper, heavy
○ New Jericho weapons​: incendiary grenade, flamethrower
● New status effects
○ Acid: ​loses 1 Armor from each affected body part per turn. If there’s no armor, loses
1 HP instead. Acid decreases by 1 each turn
○ Bleeding: ​receives 1 HP damage for each bleeding point per turn
○ Burning​: receives up to 6 HP damage per turn
○ Frenzied:​ receives a temporary increase of 25% AP and 50% WP.
○ Gooed: ​unable to move from current position
○ Infected​: loses 1 WP per turn. When the target’s will reaches 0 it becomes zombified
○ Stunned​: loses 75% AP for the current and next turn
○ Panic​: loses control and flees
○ Poisoned: ​loses as many HP damage as is the amount of poison each turn. Poison
decreases by 1 each turn
○ Zombified​: controlled by the enemy. In addition loses 10% of its HP per turn
● New abilities
○ Targeted Overwatch​: General ability - determine the area of a soldier's overwatch.
You can increase the cone’s width by using CTRL+mouse wheel (or using LR and RP
with gamepad)
○ Bashing attack​: General ability - perform a melee attack with the weapon pr item
currently held
○ Ready for Action​: Assault ability - inventory actions and reloading do not cost action
points
○ Grenade Spam​: Assault ability - throw grenades at no action cost and a range bonus
of 50% until end of turn
○ Overwatch Focus​: Sniper ability - targeted overwatch is increased by 50%
○ Eagle Eye​: Sniper ability - perception range is doubled
○ Master Marksman​: Sniper ability - Accuracy is increased by 25%
○ Heavy Lifter​: Heavy ability - weight carried without encumbrance is doubled
○ Body Slam​: Heavy ability - charge into an enemy, dealing melee damage based on
weight carried
○ Turret Combo​: Technician ability - have all deployed turrets shoot at one target
alongside the technician
○ Personal abilities​: numerous abilities selected at random when a soldier is recruited.
The abilities range from proficiency in specific weapons to stat bonuses
● New location types
○ Disciples of Anu​: Various types of slum zones, including food production, training,
residential, and factory (Temple zones are not included in this build).

Your Objective
● Explore the world and find the other Phoenix bases
● Defend havens from alien attack
● Find loot at scavenging sites
● Destroy alien bases
● There is currently no game over condition - just see how long you can protect humanity from
extinction
Game saves
● There is only one game save slot, and you can only save from within the geoscape
● If you wish to play over multiple sessions, press the “SAVE” button on the top right of the
geoscape before quitting.
● When you restart the game, you have the option to continue playing from your last save.

Please send your feedback with F12

If you find any bug or issue, or would simply like to comment on the game, you can hit F12 and write
a report with a screenshot. Please be as descriptive as you can, and use the screen drawing feature
to highlight parts of the screenshot. If you choose to include your email address we can contact you
directly to ask further questions. When you send a report this way some basic information about
your machine configuration is also included in the report.

Geoscape Systems
The Soldier Roster
● With a craft or phoenix selected you can access the soldier roster
● The roster screen shows soldiers at a location
● Click on a soldier to edit that soldiers equipment, training, or assign him to another location
(aircraft or base)

Equipping your soldiers

● This screen is a work in progress - so there are quite a few problems
● You can drag and drop items to move them or swap them
● You can select an item and hover over another item to compare their stats
 ● When you select an item you can also manufacture a new item of that type, construct ammo
for it, or scrap it for resources

Manufacturing

●
● Manufacturing Weapons: ​selectan the weapon, then click on the manufacture icon at the
bottom of the screen

● Manufacturing Ammos: ​selectan the weapon, then click on the manufacture ammo icon at
the bottom of the screen

● You will get a manufacturing display. If you have the right resources you can clone the item
multiple times. The items will be added to the base stores.
Scrapping Items
Select a weapon​, then click on the scrapicon at the bottom of the screen

You will get a manufacturing display, showing the amount and type of resources you will gain when
scrapping the item.
Alien Activity in the Geoscape
● Mist zones
○ These are highlighted in red, and expand from undersea locations, covering the
globe
○ Aliens will construct bases in mist zones
○ Havens are more likely to be attacked by alien bases in range if the haven is in a mist
zone
○ Scavenging missions are more dangerous in a mist zone
● Alien bases
○ Alien Nests
■ The first type of base constructed will be nests
■ Nests generate their own mutation of crabmen
■ A nest gradually expands its operating range over time. Any haven within
range is at risk of attack.
■ You can check the operating range of a revealed alien base by left clicking on
it. The range is shown as a purple circle.
■ A nest will be revealed if it participated in a haven attack that was repelled
by Phoenix forces.
■ Radar stations will also reveal alien bases in a wide area.
○ Alien Lairs
■ Two nests may be abandoned to make a third into a lair. This will happen if
the operating range of three nests overlap.
■ The operating range of a lair can grow much larger than a nest.
■ A lair has sirens and chirons, in addition to its crabman mutation.
○ Alien Citadels
■ Two may be abandoned to make a third into a citadel. This will happen if the
operating range of three nests overlap.
■ The operating range of a citadel can grow much larger than a nest.
■ A lair has a queen, in addition to other alien types.
■ Queens are persistent characters. They will attempt to flee a battle if they
are too badly injured. Their injury heals at the rate of one hit point per hour.
Diplomatic Relations
● There are three factions in the game which control havens
○ Disciples of Anu
○ New Jericho
○ Synedrion
● Each faction has an attitude to Phoenix which ranges from -100 (very hostile) to +100 (very
friendly)
● There are also independent havens
● Each haven has a leader, and leaders also have a diplomatic attitude to Phoenix ranging from
-100 to +100
● A leader’s attitude can differ dramatically from the faction he belongs to. However, over
time the leader’s attitude will tend to align with his faction’s attitude.
● One immediate and dramatic effect of a leader’s attitude is that you cannot build a refuelling
station or radar station at a haven if the leader’s attitude is negative (less than zero).
Furthermore, if you have an installation at a haven which becomes hostile then the
installation may be destroyed.
● A leader, and his faction, will improve their attitude if you successfully defend their haven
against aliens
● Factions will become more negative for each haven you have revealed that gets destroyed
by aliens

Haven Attacks
● You will only be aware of alien attacks on havens if you have visited the haven or revealed it
through a radar station.
● Havens will defend themselves from alien attacks. Havens with higher populations will have
greater strength.
● The alien strength attacking a haven depends on the number and type of alien bases in
range
● If a haven loses a battle it is destroyed. If it belonged to a faction, that faction’s opinion of
Phoenix will decline, but if the haven has been discovered by the player.
● If you successfully defend a haven you will get a reward of resources. The size of the reward
is increased for havens with favourable leaders and higher populations, and also if the alien
threat was overwhelming rather than minor.
● Different factions tend to give more of certain resources

Alien Types
● Crabman: ​Each alien nest or lair will generate its own random crabman mutation.
● Mindfragger​: Attaches itself to a nearby soldier and assumes full control. The attached
mindfragger can be killed and control of the soldier will return to Phoenix.
● Fireworm​: Crawls to a nearby soldier and burst in flames, engulfing the area in fire
● Chiron​: Acts as a walking artillery, that can also stomp the ground stunning nearby soldiers
(depending on its mutation).
 ● Siren​: Sliders to a nearby soldier, attacking them with acid and slashing arms. Can also
decrease enemies’ will using her psychic scream, infect them with an alien mind control
virus, or instill frenzi in allies.
● Alien Queen​: Destroys buildings with ease, spawns Mindfraggers, releases deadly mist, and
has a nasty pincer attack
● Mindfragger Eggs:​ Pods that hatch Mindfraggers upon receiving damage or when a soldier is
sensed.
○ Sensing range: 6 tiles
● Fireworm Eggs:​ Pods that hatch Fireworms upon receiving damage or when a soldier is
sensed.
○ Sensing range: 6 tiles
● Hatching Sentinel: ​Alien lair guardian that surveys a zone and hatches all Mindfragger eggs
in an area upon receiving damage or when a soldier is near
○ Sensing range: 12 tiles
○ Hatching effect range: 20 tiles
● Mist Sentinel: ​Alien lair guardian that surveys a zone and releases mist in an area upon
receiving damage or when a soldier is near
○ Sensing range: 12 tiles
● Terror Sentinel: ​Alien lair guardian that surveys a zone and screams, reducing all humans’
will points, in an area upon receiving damage or when a soldier is near
○ Sensing range: 12 tiles
○ Hatching effect range: 20 tiles
○ Will Point damage: -5

Mist in Battles
● Mist can be generated by Queens and Mist Sentinels
● The mist will block soldiers vision, but not aliens
● A soldier inside mist is spotted by the aliens, and suffer -1 will points at the start of the turn.
● Alien minions get a +1 will point bonus if they are inside mist at the start of a turn
● In the future, the mist will gain additional effects which can change during the course of a
game

Goo in Battles
● Goo is created by Chirons and Queens
● Goo prevents soldiers from moving as long as they are in it
● Goo remains active for a total of 3 turns
● Goo Goo can extinguish fire

Fire in Battles
● Fire is created by incendiary weapons and fireworms
● Fire prevents creatures from walking through it (unless they are frenzied)
● Fire deals up to 6 damage to every unit on a tile that is set on fire. The damage is applied
when a unit enters the tile, as well as at the start of their faction’s turn
● Units receive one round of additional damage when they leave a tile that is on fire
 ● Fire dies out in 3 turns
● Fire can be extinguished by Goo

Battle Game Mechanics

Action Points
Movement, shooting and other actions consume Action Points, which are not explicitly stated, but
represented by the action bar at the bottom of the screen and the action zones in the map.

You can move after shooting, move in small steps, or shoot multiple times - the only limit is your
Action Points.

If you move within the ​blue action zone​, then you will be able to use the currently selected
equipment item as least once. Changing the item in use may change the size of the blue action zone.

Generally, using equipment or abilities consume a proportion of a character’s action bar, as follows:

No Action Points: ​Changing the item in use in the item wheel, drop the currently selected item

One quarter​: Inventory actions, reloading, shooting with a pistol

Half​: Shooting with an assault rifle, throwing a grenade or launching a missile

Three quarters​: Shooting with a sniper rifle or machine gun

Will Points
A character’s willpower represents his ability to suffer stress and perform extraordinary feats. Will
Points are used for certain abilities, as indicated by the small number attached to the ability icon.

Some abilities require both Action Points and Will Points, such as Overwatch, and some may only use
Will Points, such as Gunslinger.

Will Points can be earned by:

● Reaching a strategic objective, indicated by a glowing blue area on guard towers, control
rooms, and officers quarters.
● Opening crates
● Using the Recover ability to rest for a turn. This will restore half of the character’s Will Points

Will Points can be lost by:

● Suffering wounds resulting in a body part becoming disabled

● Death of a comrade
● Being affected by a Terror Sentinel

If Will Points are forced below zero the character will panic, forcing it to move to safety and
recovering some Will Points.
In the future, there will be powerful abilities that consume many Will Points that allow characters to
use equipment in extreme ways, or perform special feats.

Explicitly Ending a Character’s Turn

Moving and using equipment won’t generally end that character's actions for the turn, because
there is usually something that the character can still do (dropping an item costs nothing, for
example). You can explicitly do this by selecting the ‘End Actions’ ability on the left, or hitting the
spacebar twice.

Shooting and Free Aiming

The ranged combat uses a realistic ballistics system with each bullet following its own trajectory and
inflicting damage on anything it hits, including your own soldiers.

You can fine tune the aiming by scrolling up with the mouse wheel when in shooting mode. This will
display two circles:

● Blue circle​: All your shots will be randomly distributed in this circle (with a bell curve
distribution where extremes of inaccuracy and accuracy are less likely).
● Red circle​: Half your shots would be expected to fall within this circle.

These firing circles give you a visual representation of the accuracy of the attack, and the ability to
evaluate blocking objects or friendly fire.

You can fine tune the aiming by holding down the left mouse button and dragging, or by clicking on
the screen.

Body Part Info Box

In the free aiming mode, you can select different body parts of a target, or any item of equipment
carried, and an information box will be displayed. This shows the following information:
 ● Body part name or equipment name: ​The specific body part, and whether it is already
disabled or not, or the equipment name.
● Armour​: Each body part has a separate armour rating. Equipment items also have an armour
rating. Flashing armour pips indicate the likelihood that the armour would be removed due
to the armour shredding ability of the weapon.
● Hit Points​: Each body part has its own Hit Points (in addition to general Hit Points). If
reduced to zero then this body part will be disabled. Equipment items also have Hit Points. If
they are reduced to zero the equipment is destroyed and removed from the game. Flashing
Hit Point pips indicate likely damage, and hatched flashing possible damage.
● Disable effects​: What will happen if the body part Hit Points are reduced to zero.

Damage, Wounding and Death

Each bullet has a damage rating which represents the amount of Hit Points removed from a target if
it hits. Each bullet subtracts the armour rating of the target body part before applying the damage to
the target. Some weapons fire a burst of shots, with each bullet doing damage independently.

Residual damage is removed from both the body part’s Hit Points and the character’s general Hit
Points. If body part Hit Points are reduced to zero, the body part is disabled and any stats, abilities or
weapons given by that body part are removed. Bleeding can also be applied. If general Hit Points are
reduced to zero, the character is killed.

Damage Estimation
When targeting an enemy an estimate of damage is indicated in the enemy’s health bar above its
head, as follows:

● Likely damage​: Flashing white/red pip - this damage level can be expected, but is not
absolutely certain.
● Possible damage​: Flashing white/red hatched pip - this damage level is unlikely, but possible
(note: it is not the theoretical, absolute maximum, but something improbably lucky).

Possible armour shredding is also indicated by flashing armour pips above the health bar.

A possible kill is indicated by a flashing skull icon over the class icon. The faster it flashes, the more
likely the kill.

The damage estimation is based on a Monte Carlo simulation of the attack, so treat it as a rough
guideline rather than a definitive prediction. However, it does take into account everything that
affects the attack - ammunition, rounds, accuracy, cover, and so on.

Explosive Weapons
Grenades and missiles have a trajectory to the target, and may target any object or character. The
attacks also have a limited range.

An explosion will apply damage to all body parts exposed to the centre of the explosion. Damage is
applied once to general Hit Points based on the weakest armour rating affected.

Explosions can shred armour, and each body part affected may be subject to shredding.
Inventory Actions
You can spend one quarter of a character’s Action Points to perform any amount of rearrangement
of equipment items. If you don’t have enough Action Points, you can still view your inventory, or the
contents of a crate.

Moving items:

● You can drag an item into another box, or click to select it and click on the destination box
● If the box already contains an item, it will be swapped
● You can compare items stats by clicking on one to select it, then hovering over another with
the mouse pointer
● The interface also works with a controller

There are three zones in the inventory screen:

● Body​: Items carried on the body, on belts or in backpacks.

● Ready items​: These are the items that can be selected for use at any time without spending
Action Points. (Ready items can be cycles through in-game using the X Key.)
● Ground​: Items on the ground or in an adjacent crate.

You can also give an item to an adjacent character by dragging it onto that character’s icon on the
right side of the inventory screen.
Ammunition

The ammunition pips under the selected weapon icon show the number of full bursts available. Thus
an assault rifle with 4 ammo pips can fire four bursts of six shots each, for a total of 24 bullets.

However, an assault rifle will fire half a burst when using return fire, so occasionally a rifle will be left
with just 3 bullets for a full attack.

The reloading action will take any available ammunition clip from the body inventory section.

Ammunition cannot be placed in any of the three ready item slots (although this will change in the
future).

Crates
Crates have fairly random deployment and contents. Move next to a crate to open it and
automatically enter the inventory screen.

Resource Crates
Resource crates can be found in tactical missions and contain food, tech, and materials that can be
used for building weapons, ammo, or Radar Stations. They must survive until the end of the tactical
mission in order to be claimed.

Classes
There are four soldier classes in the game - heavy, sniper, assault, and technician. There will be many
more, and many unique to different factions. A class represents a set of skills relating to a combat or
support role, rather than a restrictive set of abilities. Soldiers will be able to adopt more than one
class, unlocking new skill trees. You may notice that the soldiers may swap weapons at will in the
game.