First up, release date is moving from December to January 24th. However, included in this update will be:

• PvP Mode
  
• Player Profile
  
• Skins
  • These will be unlocked through in-game means, not paid

It's got its own banner!

---

The first thing you'll do in PvP is choose your Loadout. You choose 3 Starting Defenses and 2 Overloads. Note, you can't see what your opponent chooses.

• Also, your starting Defenses are Bans. Hypothetically, you and the other player can select the same Defenses, but if you don't, those Defenses will never show up for your opponent throughout the game.

The Lobby looks a little different...The mode currently has three map "layouts". That is, each layout has some degree of randomness:

Procedurally generated maps? In Axon TD?Like Survival, you'll unlock Defenses over time, though it's a bit expedited, as you'll unlock Defense Upgrades at a faster rate. Maze your side, connect to Generators... and Send Axons. It's a new button on your UI.

It's a tech tree for Axons! Are those Bosses at the end?How it works is, as you send Axons, two things will happen:

• Every two of the same Axon you send will Upgrade it. The cost is raised by 5 Credits, but it gains Armor, or Mk 2, and eventually even Shields.
  
• Send enough of one Axon in a tree, and you'll Unlock the next tier of Axons in that branch.

There's also a default wave order. If you don't send anything, this will spawn. But if you do Send Axons, it'll get mixed into the wave order.


We're still working on improving the UI so it tells you these things, but some things to consider:

• End-of-wave Rewards are mostly identical.
  • The Defense Upgrades may be different, but you and the opponent are given the same New Defense choice, Tech choice, and same distribution of Credits/Adds/Power.
• You get Credits back for Axons you send when they're destroyed.
  • However, you don't get the Credits back when they leak.
• Each life you lose gives you a Free Send. These won't progress the Axon Tech Tree, but you can send something back without cost!
  
• Some Defenses cost less in PvP than other modes. This should help make most builds viable!

---

To try out the PvP Mode, follow these steps:

• Right-click Axon TD: Uprising in your game library
  
• Select Properties
  
• Select Betas
  
• From the Beta Participation dropdown menu, select "alpha - Public testing"
  
• You'll then have access to the Version 1.1.alphas!

Let us know what you think of it on our Discord[discord.gg] in the #axon-alpha channel. We'll be posting up patch notes soon. You'll also be able to find people to play against in there, so hop on in!

---

That's it for today's preview! As we get closer to Version 1.1's release, expect to see a couple more previews detailing other aspects of the patch. In the meantime, we hope you'll try out the alpha, and let us know what you think of the PvP Mode!