Health, Weapons & Ammo

In Panzer, there are no item pickups. Any equipment you require may be purchased from one of the three dispensers, each readily available in most friendly lairs. The health dispenser will replenish your hit points (up to a maximum of 250), the weapon dispenser will provide you with an incremental weapon upgrade, and the ammo dispenser will grant you more munitions for your currently selected weapon. Purchases are made by approaching the appropriate dispenser and pressing your fire button. The dispensers may also be queried with the jump button, to help ensure you know what you've buying and for how much.

Monster Summoning

In addition to providing your team with supplies, many lairs are able to summon monsters to do your bidding; in such a case, buttons similiar to the above dispensers may be found. One or more of these buttons will be marked with arrows and may be used to cycle through the monsters the lair provides. The current selection will be represented appropriately nearby (here, as a small statue to the left). Finally, your monster may be materialised by activating the summon button, emblazened with one of Quake's nightmarish inhabitants. The summoned monster will immediately act out your currently selected order.

Your Minions

Monsters are ultimately the key to victory in Panzer, as only they can relinquish lairs from the enemy. To command your minions, you need simply approach an individual and press either the fire or the jump button, where fire will issue the selected command to monsters of the same type (ogres, knights, etc) and jump will issue the command to all monsters in the vicinity. Assigning an attack order will cause monsters to tirelessly seek out and destroy your foe, defend will send them forward to the front-lines to protect what you've captured and take-and-hold will begin as attack but switch to defence upon seizing a non-friendly rune.

Your Status Bar

Panzer's status bar is identical to the regular status bar, with the notable exception of your armour display. In place of the original armour icon is a command icon to represent your currently selected monster order. The space bar (impulse 21) is used to cycle through the three main orders - attack, take-and-hold and defend - which may then be issued to your loyal servants. What was once the armour counter has now been replaced with your credit count, to help keep track of your infernal finances. In the absence of armour, Panzer instead offers a maximum, non-rotting health of 250.

Runes and Credits

All purchases you make in Panzer will require a small credit outlay. Slaying the foul beasts of your enemy will reward your team with a bounty of 50% of their original summoning cost, or 5 credits per weapon carried should an opposing player be killed. A more stable income may be obtained by taking control of the neutral pentagram runes scattered around most maps, which will each generate 1 credit every few seconds. Keep a watchful eye on your runes and use monsters to defend them - if the enemy captures any, you'll soon find your resources running dry!

Lair Defences

As a bastion of power, your lair must be protected at all costs. To supplement your own firepower and the monsters you summon, lairs will often possess static, turret-like defences to help ward off intruders. These defences are totally automated and will regenerate quickly if destroyed during an attack. In addition to you main lair, they may also be found nearby neutral lairs and runes and will help protect them should they fall under your, or your enemy's, control.

Winning the Game

To win the game, you must relieve the opposing team of their home lair. This is not a simple task, as the only vulnerability of a lair will be the summoning portal it harbours. Allowing one of your monsters to pass through this portal will nullify any control your enemy has over the lair, damning them to defeat. They will be well aware of this, and a formidable army may be required to overcome their defences.

Neutral Lairs

Occasionally, you may discover unclaimed lairs hidden in the recesses of the map. These lairs are equipped much like your home lair and serve as excellent fortifications or staging points for attacks. Taking control of them is expensive and may be done by approaching an available dispenser or summoning button and pressing your fire button. Like your main lair, the only way to lose a neutral lair is to have an enemy creature pass though the summoning portal. Fortunately, this blow will not cost you the game, and the lair may be retaken again later, should you have enough credits.