With version 2.0 out in the wild, there are a lot of brand new features for players to explore: power-ups, the new PvP leaderboards, special weapons — there’s a lot to see! That’s why this time around I wanted to focus specifically on Guild Contracts and Base Augments, two exciting new elements of the Space Miner Wars 2.0 experience.
If you’re a member in a Mining Guild, you might notice a brand new reward appears in your report screen whenever you complete a mining run or PvP base attack:
That new item is a Guild Mark! By earning stars in mining sectors and PvP, you will accumulate Marks that can be shared amongst your entire guild. Every one you earn is added to a pool that you can view from your guild screen.
But what are these new Marks used for? Guild Directors and officers can spend them to activate special Guild Contracts — a brand new mission type exclusive to guilds that award new items and Guild XP. There are three types of Contracts available at launch: Solar Flare, Miner Mutiny, and Critical Junction. Each of these Contracts presents the entire guild with a problem only teamwork can solve, whether it’s mining special Hexium ore before a sun explodes or trying to stop a band of insane drones from teleporting an army into the Vega System, these are missions no one single miner can complete!
Each of the Guild Contracts has numerous tiers of success, increasing the reward and Guild XP payouts the more points your guild can earn before the Contract expires. Successfully completing a Guild Contract awards not just Scrap and Credits, but brand new Hypercoins and Guild XP.
Starting a Guild Contract will create a brand new sector type on every guild member’s sector map, represented by a purple guild banner and a timer to display how long your guild has before the Contract completes.
Unlike normal sector types, a Contract sector does not disappear on completion, and can be visited multiple times. Players are instead limited by a refilling energy meter, unique to that Guild Contract. All players begin with 3/5 energy when the Contract begins, allowing them to attempt the Guild Contract three times before needing to wait for a recharge. This energy meter is unique to each player and is constantly refreshing, however, so guild members who don’t play at the same time as their counterparts can still stack up to 5/5 energy before venturing into the sector themselves.
Each of these three Contract types feature not only new and exciting gameplay variations from the standard Space Miner Wars you’ve been playing since 1.0, but they also feature increasingly difficult variations balanced toward higher-level ships and higher-member guilds. Veteran Contracts, for example, are harder than Advanced Contracts, being balanced for higher-tier ships and guilds of increased size. To unlock these higher-difficulty Contracts, and gain access to their higher reward payouts, guilds will need to complete Contracts and earn Guild XP to level up their Mining Guild.
Every successfully completed Contract awards Guild XP. Earn enough Guild XP and your Guild will level up, offering numerous bonuses and benefits. Not only do you unlock new Guild Contracts (and their higher reward payouts), but the higher your guild’s level, the more space you get in your personal Guild Vault!
The Guild Vault stores and protects any currencies you earn from Guild Contracts, making it impossible for invaders to steal your earnings. To unload this protected currency, just tap on your Mining Guild structure, then tap the “Unload” button. You’ll see your current vault holdings, and can empty it into your main storage facilities from there.
Completing a Guild Contract nets you not only Credits, Scrap, and Guild XP — it also awards Hypercoins! You might have noticed them up in the main HUD when you started up version 2.0:
These energy-packed artifacts are brand new to Space Miner Wars 2.0 and offer up a counter to all those fascinating new power-ups and special weapons we added onto player ships. Hypercoins actually allow you to Augment your base defenses, giving them brand new stats and features to help turn the tide against invaders!
Every turret on your base has three unique abilities that you can use Hypercoins to improve. Want your Missile Battery to deal bonus damage to ship hulls once the shields are drained? Hypercoins can help! Want your Sniper Turret’s shots to pass through an invader’s shields entirely? Hypercoins can help! Pick and choose the Augments that work best for you, and remember that your base can never be too well-defended!