Mann vs. Machine

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Mann vs. Machine is a co-op game mode released in the update of the same name. In Mann vs. Machine, a team up to six players attempts to prevent a horde of AI-controlled robots from carrying a bomb to their base. Players can purchase upgrades for their weapons using in-game currency, called credits. All purchased upgrades will last for the duration of the game. If a player leaves during the game for any reason, providing they reconnect, their upgrades will be retained.

Gameplay

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The team is attacked by a horde of AI-controlled robots, and must try to prevent the robots from successfully delivering a bomb to the players' base (as in Payload). Each robot destroyed provides the players with credits (when one player collects a money pile, it is divided equally amongst the players). At any time during the match the players have the chance to upgrade their weapons at an Upgrade Station inside the base using this money. They may also upgrade abilities for their current class. All upgrade abilities are kept, even while switching to a different class, but the purchased abilities are only available for the class that they were purchased for.

Before each wave begins, Defenders are shown relevant information in the top HUD, such as the enemies the next wave will contain, the current wave and the number of waves for that mission. Pre-set enemies have a number under each icon to indicate how many will be present in the wave, while support classes are listed to the right-hand side. A flashing blue icon means that the enemy or enemies will always fire critical hits. During pre-wave intervals, Engineers are able to instantly place level 3 buildings and Medics have an notably faster ÜberCharge fill rate.

When at least three players enter a Mann vs. Machine server, the option to ready up is enabled. Once one player declares they are ready, a 150-second countdown clock begins. As more players ready up, the countdown clock reduces to a minimum of 30 seconds until all players are ready. When all players are ready, the countdown reduces to 10 seconds. When the countdown ends, the wave begins. Players joining the server during the countdown will not increase the time.

When the wave begins, the top HUD will change to show a strength gauge to depict the quantity of pre-set enemies left. Robots will begin spawning in the battlefield in groups. Until they are on platforms that are accessible by players, attacking a robot will do nothing but cause them to glow as if they were ÜberCharged. During the wave, information about certain enemies may appear in the top HUD and will be announced by the Administrator.

After each successful wave, the defenders will be evaluated based on how well money was collected (with a credit rating ranging from F to A+). If all the piles of money are collected (the A+ grade), the team will earn a $100 bonus. Once a mission is completed, the defenders will be given a final evaluation, and the server will load the next Mann vs. Machine map after an interval of 20 seconds.

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