A N00b's Guide to Gundam Duel Company (GDC)

Gundam Duel Company (GDC) is up for about 2 weeks now and the game's popularity is growing fast everyday considering that it's still somewhat in its beta phase. So for everyone out there that just got into the game, here's some handy tips to live by your battles in GDC.
Gundam Duel Company (GDC) is touted to be a 'hybrid' CCG/browser game in which a player gets to set up a company of Mobile Suits which is also referred to as 'decks' in the game (hence the connection to Collectible Card Games).  The Mobile Suits in the game can be acquired by registering real cards brought from retailers or from digital 'rental' cards that can be obtained  in-game.   

Now once you have your Mobile Suits (cards), you would have to assign them into platoons. Each company/deck consists of 3 platoons of 4-5 Mobile Suits (MS) in it, depending on the conditions of each game mode. The back of the card shows the stats of each MS: Hitpoints , Attack (how much damage it can inflict), Armor (how tough it is) and Mobility (how fast it is). The card back also shows what weapon the MS has, it's preferred pilot and some fluff for it.

Platoon set up can be done on the 'Formations' tab in any game mode. In setting up platoons, keep in mind what kind of weapons the MS has. If it has weapons suited for the mid row for example, then it should be at the middle row as much as possible. Some units may have weapons suitable for the 2 rows, for the front and back rows for example. This shows that the MS is a bit more flexible so you can put it on either row without much issues.

Formations would have to be set up for your Attack and Defense decks. the Attack deck is what you fight with when you're active online and the Defense Deck is what you fight with when you're offline. 

What my Zeeks look like.

If you have pilots at this point of the game, it is advised that you have them on their preferred MS as this will result into combos* that would bring about the best of an MS.Pilots themselves have these game-changing abilities so even though you don't have his or her MS yet, you can still rely on a pilot to contribute to an MS' performance in battle. 

After this you would have to designate Captains for each of your platoons. A captain is any pilot in each of your platoons. Knowing who to assign as your captains would be crucial as the captain's Command Ability is the one who would take precedence in each Command Ability Phase. A majority of Captains would have the Repair Command Ability but some have stats altering abilities like Graham Aker's Attack Level 2 ability (raises all of your MS' attack stat significantly) to name one. 

After designating your Captains, you have to set up your Attack Strategies and Retreat Conditions. There are 4 settings in each so choose what strategies you want your platoons to do in battle according to your play style. I go for 'Target the Enemy that is Easy to Destroy' for my attack Strategy so that my MS would prioritize MS destruction. Then for my retreat strategy, I go for '30% or less HP' so that my platoons would retreat much more often. 

I guess you can see where this platoon build would go to.

You would have to set your MSand pilot formations, Attack Strategies and Retreat Conditions for your Attack and Defense decks separately. You can also copy your formations and strategies on both decks if you like. Don't go into Battle Missions or Conquest modes just yet when you're done with your platoons! Test them out against a friend's Defense Deck to see which MS and strategies are suited for your style of play. This can be done in Troop Exercise mode and wins/losses are recorded for future reference.Once you have settled on what MS and strategies to use for your battles, then you're ready to face other players in the world in Battle Missions or Conquest mode!

Twitter became handy to me in this game

A few more unsolicited pieces of advise for you all:

1.Get a twitter account so that you can redraw cards from the daily rental card draws so that you can have better chances to draw better card.

2.Get real cards for your decks as they can be upgraded by stacking (registering the same type of card)*

3.Don't take the rental cards for granted! Some of them turn out to be Rare 3-4 cards that can prove to be quite useful until you get a real copy of the said card.

4.This is a strategy game so good choices on your set-up would be the key to more victories. Plan and plan ahead! There are no short cuts!

5.Research on possible MS and pilot combos as well as those for MS groups. A good knowledge of most of the Gundam series would be an advantage. There's even talk of 'Secret' combos* that would appear in-game soon enough.

6.And lastly, take a good look at your cards. Read up and take time to analyze each of them to get the most out of them. Information is ammunition!

And get a cool emblem design too

More on Gundam Duel Company in my future posts. Stay tuned and SEE YOU IN THE BATTLEFIELD! 

Special Thanks to Gundam Duel Company Philippines. 

*these features are not yet implemented on the Beta version of the game.