The Machines Arena (TMA) is an action-packed top-down shooter game that offers both PvE and PvP game modes. Let's begin by exploring the PvE mode called Death Run, where players choose a familiar to guide them through each stage.

The Machines Arena Familiars

Once a familiar is chosen, players can select either an energy SMG-style rifle or a sniper-style rifle as their main weapon, depending on their preferred playstyle and desired abilities for later stages. Do you prefer close-range combat with mobility or long-range precision with minimal damage taken?

Next, players get to choose their path and select the difficulty level for each stage, ranging from easy to very hard. The NPCs encountered in these stages scale in health points and damage based on the chosen difficulty, offering greater rewards for more challenging levels.

After completing rooms, players collect golden reward credits that can be spent in the upgrade room, which appears every four to five stages. Here, players can enhance various aspects, including their health and weapons. Upgrade rooms do not involve combat engagements and serve as dedicated spaces for personal progression.

On the left-hand side of the screen, you can observe two experience bars. Once filled, players can upgrade their weapons or abilities, showcasing their advancement in these areas. When selecting upgrades, choose wisely, as each subsequent level becomes increasingly challenging to achieve. Abilities play a crucial role in clearing Death Run levels and can be equipped from the playable characters in PvP mode. We will cover the characters and their abilities later in the guide.

PvP Modes

Now, let's delve into the PvP modes available in The Machines Arena. In the main menu, you'll find a tutorial option that guides players through the objectives of each PvP mode. We highly recommend playing the tutorial before entering a match. However, note that the tutorial does not allow testing different characters and abilities. For practice, you can utilize the custom lobbies mode, where you and your friends can experiment with different characters to find the perfect team composition for dominating public servers.

In the normal lobbies, players are randomly loaded into two available modes: Detonation and Pushback.

Detonation

Detonation features an attacker team and a defender team. The attackers must retrieve the fuse from the middle of the map and deploy it at one of the two objective points. Deploying the fuse leaves the player vulnerable to attacks, and each hit prolongs the deployment time. Once deployed, the attackers must defend the fuse for twenty seconds to destroy the objective. A strategic approach involves retrieving the fuse and gradually moving it toward the spawn area while keeping the opposing team occupied. Once placed, the attacking team can defend the fuse.

The defending team's goal is to protect both objectives from the attackers for five minutes. If an objective is destroyed by the attackers, the timer is extended by two minutes. To counter the attackers, the defending team must prevent them from retrieving the fuse and eliminate any fuse holders who approach the objectives. If the fuse remains untouched for a period, it will respawn in the middle of the map. If the fuse is placed on an objective, a team member must disarm it by pressing the "E" key, which also exposes them to attacks.

Pushback

The other game mode in the normal PvP lobby is Pushback. This mode features a cart with two gates, one for each team. Both teams aim to push the cart through the opposing team's gate within five minutes. The cart can be pushed by standing close to it, and the speed increases with multiple team members nearby. If neither team successfully pushes the cart through the opposing gate within the time limit, the gates start moving toward each other. The team with the most progress wins when the gates meet.

A smart strategy in Pushback mode is to make gradual progress with the cart while keeping the enemy at bay. Pushing the cart too far in a closely matched battle may allow the opposing team to respawn quickly, turning the tide of the fight. However, one drawback of this tactic is that if the enemy wipes your team, they can gain a significant advantage.

Mastering both PvE and PvP modes in The Machines Arena will require skill, teamwork, and strategic decision-making. Explore the game, experiment with different characters and abilities, and enjoy the thrilling battles in this dynamic top-down shooter experience.

The Machines Arena Characters

Now that we've covered the different game modes, let's dive into the playable characters of The Machines Arena (TMA)! TMA offers three categories of characters: tanks, support, and assault. We'll begin by exploring the tanks category.

Tank Class

First up is Daye, a formidable robot armed with a powerful minigun that wreaks havoc on the battlefield. Daye boasts the longest attack range among all tanks. His basic attack involves shooting projectiles from the minigun, which can hit enemies at a considerable distance. The minigun has 70 rounds and requires a one-second reload after depletion. Daye's passive ability, Slowdown, applies a movement speed debuff to enemies hit by the minigun, reducing their speed by 30%.

He also possesses the advanced attack Rocket Barrage, where he unleashes a salvo of ten missiles, each dealing 15 damage. The missiles have an extended range. Daye's other advanced ability, Wally, allows him to deploy a damaging wall. It can also serve as a shield, providing cover and allowing for repositioning or escape. Lastly, Daye's ultimate ability, EMP Burst, releases a powerful area-of-effect EMP attack that damages and stuns enemies caught within its range. While casting the ultimate, Daye is vulnerable to attacks.

Next, we have Pyro, a fiery robot ready to set enemies ablaze. Among the tanks, Pyro possesses a medium attack range with the highest damage output. His basic ability, Heartwarmer, is a short-ranged flamethrower that inflicts burn damage over time. Rocket Fuel, his first advanced ability, empowers Heartwarmer, increasing its damage output by 50% for five seconds with a cooldown of nine seconds.

Pyro's second advanced ability is Molotov Grenade, which creates an explosion that burns enemies within its area of effect. Additionally, Pyro's passive ability, Healing Flames, allows him to heal for 30 health points per second when standing in his own flames. Pyro's ultimate ability, Inferno, boosts his movement speed and enhances his damage reduction, enabling him to unleash devastating attacks. Enemies caught in his flames are pulled toward him, leaving them with no choice but to burn.

Due to the AoE of his basic ability, Pyro can deal a ton of damage to the enemy team by attacking more than one enemy at a time. This means if the opposing team are bundled up, they are in a lot of trouble as the damage output from Heartwarmer when empowered by Rocket Fuel makes quick work of any character in The Machines Arena. Paired with the ability to throw a Molotov on the enemy, which heals him at the same time, this is a recipe for success. 

The last tank in TMA is Riot, a sword and shield-wielding warrior with the shortest attack range but incredible stun and pull capabilities. Riot's basic ability, Tranquility, involves swinging a large slab of metal at enemies within a short distance, dealing significant damage. With his first advanced ability, Sword Chain, Riot can pull enemies closer by launching his sword at them, stunning them in the process. This ability helps bring enemies into range for both Riot and his team. Riot's second advanced ability, Energy Shield, deploys a shield that blocks enemy fire within a circular radius. If the shield is destroyed, it deals damage to enemies within range. This ability proves useful in defending objectives, such as the fuse in Detonation mode and the cart in Pushback mode.

Riot's passive ability, Armor, grants him a 20% damage reduction bonus at a 100-degree angle in any direction he faces. This makes him ideal for absorbing initial damage before utilizing Sword Chain to bring enemies closer. Combining Sword Chain with his ultimate ability, Shield Rush, allows Riot to charge forward with his shield, dealing damage and stunning enemies in his path. If Sword Chain is cast before Shield Rush, any enemies caught by it will be pulled along with Riot.

Support Class

Let's explore the support category in TMA. The first support character is Devol, a master of turrets capable of dealing damage and healing teammates simultaneously. Devol's basic ability is the Boomstick, a miniature flak cannon that fires projectiles in a tight frontal area-of-effect (AoE). She possesses two turrets as her advanced abilities. The first is the Defense Turret, a twin cannon turret with unlimited lifespan that attacks enemies within medium to long range, dealing significant damage.

This turret can be destroyed, and enemies who underestimate it will surely regret their mistake. Devol's second turret is the Healing Turret, which provides healing to all allies within its range. Similar to the Defense Turret, the Healing Turret can be destroyed, but it poses no threat to the enemy if no allies are nearby. Devol's ultimate ability, System Overdrive, buffs allies by granting them a 30% heal and damage increase, as well as a 25% boost to their movement.

This wide-ranging ability can turn the tide of any battle. Devol is best utilized by strategically placing turrets near objectives, taking advantage of corners to allow allies to heal without taking damage. She can also repair her turrets by standing close to them, thanks to her passive ability, Devol's Auto Repair. Saving her ultimate ability for significant group engagements can provide a powerful advantage.

Next up is Ozymandias, a support character wielding a crossbow and capable of dealing damage and healing allies. Ozymandias has a larger attack range than Devol. His basic ability, the Crossbow, delivers medium to long-range attacks with high damage output. This allows him to engage enemies from a distance, complementing his first advanced ability, Chaos Orbs.

Ozymandias can launch Chaos Orbs in any direction, causing damage to nearby enemies and healing allies. These orbs last for four seconds and can also be directly shot at allies, latching onto them and providing healing. Ozymandias' second advanced ability, Poison Grenade, launches a grenade that inflicts poison damage to enemies within its area of effect. The poison effect persists for a short duration even after the grenade dissipates.

Ozymandias' ultimate ability, Corrosive Gas, releases a massive gas cloud that poisons enemies within a wide radius. This ability also cancels and prevents any healing effects on affected enemies. Ozymandias excels in short corridors and tight spaces, using his crossbow to deal damage from afar. The orbs can bounce off walls, causing substantial

Ozymandias’ ultimate ability, Corrosive Gas, throws a huge gas cloud affecting a wide area causing poison damage to any enemy inside the radius. This also cancels and prevents any healing effects that an enemy may have whilst they are affected by this ability.

Short corridors and tight spaces are perfect areas for Ozymandias to strike. If he hits an enemy with his crossbow, the recharge time on his orbs is reduced by 30% due to his passive ability. As the orbs travel and can bounce against walls, they can cause enormous damage to enemies that are trying to use corners to protect themselves. Combining this with his poison grenade or his ultimate ability can lure enemies out of safety and allow for the team to fully engage them. The healing effect on the orbs is also not to be underestimated, as with four orbs it is relatively quick to heal up the entire team before an engagement.

The last support character that is playable is Tesla, a true sniper featuring snare abilities and a super long attack range.

Her basic ability, Lightning rifle, shoots a bolt of energy at a long distance that can arc to the nearest enemy at the point of impact due to her passive ability. Tesla’s advanced abilities also have healing features, with her first advanced ability, Piercing shot, being a projectile that goes through enemies and allies. This damages enemies that are passed through and heals allies and can even be charged by holding the ability key. Her second advanced ability, Healing Grenade, heals all allies inside the affected area by 100 health points. As this is a ranged ability, it allows Tesla to stay back whilst allies are at the frontier of battle staying true to the traits of a sniper.

Tesla’s ultimate ability, Immortality Grenade, supplements this by allowing her to launch a grenade that prevents from allies dying as well as suppressing damage from enemies by 50%. One important thing to note here is if you are playing against an opponent with Ozymandias on their team as his ultimate ability can cancel out the Immortality Grenade.

Tesla is most effective by staying back from the frontline and dealing damage from range and healing her allies using her Healing Grenade. This also features a small cooldown of only 7 seconds meaning it can be used quite often allowing you to keep your allies at full health. Saving her ultimate ability for the big team engagements is heavily advised as this can give you the edge that is needed to win.

Assault Class

Let's continue with the Assault category, starting with Zulu, a formidable cyborg armed with a machine gun and rockets. Zulu's basic attack utilizes his machine gun, firing rapid rounds with a capacity of 35. With a range similar to Tesla's attacks, Zulu's passive ability reduces the reload time of allies, providing a significant advantage, especially when paired with characters like Daye, whose reload time is reduced by 40%. His first advanced ability, Explosive Rounds, enhances his basic attack by switching to explosive ammunition, adding an extra 14 damage per round for 15 rounds.

This complements his second advanced ability, Missile Barrage, where Zulu unleashes a barrage of missiles at a targeted location, causing damage in a small circular area of effect. This allows Zulu to remain at a safe distance from the frontline. Finally, his ultimate ability, Orbital Strike, enables Zulu to launch a devastating missile strike on any area of the map, dealing massive damage to the enemy.

However, casting this ability leaves Zulu vulnerable to enemy attacks, so it's crucial to find a safe area or have your team provide protection before activating it. Zulu excels as an all-out damage dealer, particularly effective against enemy tanks and clearing objectives with his ultimate ability.

Next, we have Noble, a damage dealer who wields a staff capable of rooting enemies and teleporting. Noble's basic ability, Force Lance, involves firing energy projectiles from his staff at a long range, dealing 60 damage per hit. This requires precise aim to maximize its effectiveness. His first advanced ability, Bear Trap, allows Noble to deploy a hidden trap that snares opponents, causing damage and rooting them for three seconds. This sets up his second advanced ability, Teleport Strike, where Noble teleports to a target area, knocking up and stunning nearby enemies upon arrival.

Noble's ultimate ability, Spirit Wolf Strike, unleashes a powerful energy flow in a wide line, dealing enormous damage of 200 per second. This ability works exceptionally well when enemies are snared by Bear Trap or when they are confined to small corridors, as Noble can quickly eliminate an entire team caught in the energy flow. Noble's ability to regenerate health when out of combat makes him an ideal damage dealer, capable of disabling enemies, dealing damage, and swiftly retreating from dangerous situations.

The final character in the Assault category is Nightcore, an agile Assassin with dashing and invisibility abilities. Nightcore's basic attack involves using her Cyber Blades to deliver melee damage to enemies within a short range. With rapid attacks, she can quickly inflict substantial damage. To close the distance between her and her targets, she can utilize her first advanced ability, Slash Dash, dashing forward and damaging enemies in her path. Successfully eliminating an enemy with her attacks resets the cooldown of Slash Dash.

Further enhancing her assassin playstyle, Nightcore possesses the second advanced ability, Phase Clone. This ability summons a clone that can attack enemies while Nightcore becomes invisible. This allows her to approach opposing healers unnoticed, although attacking or using abilities cancels the invisibility effect. Finally, Nightcore's ultimate ability, Assassination, enables her to dash forward, dealing massive damage to the first enemy she encounters. If she fails to hit an enemy, only half the charge is consumed, and the cooldown is halved.

Nightcore excels as a lethal assassin, best used to eliminate low-health enemies with her dash abilities. When the opposing team has multiple members at low health, Nightcore becomes exceptionally deadly due to the cooldown reset provided by her passive ability. However, Nightcore is relatively squishy and requires careful positioning and decision-making. Use Nightcore to infiltrate enemy lines, dispatch enemy healers, and leave tank enemies to the rest of your team.

Team Compositions

In the PvP modes of The Machines Arena, a well-balanced team is crucial for success. Whether playing alone or with friends, filling missing roles is essential to secure victory for your team.

For example, if the team consists primarily of melee characters like Riot and Nightcore, balancing the composition with a longer-ranged support or damage dealer like Tesla or Zulu can be beneficial. Additionally, if the team comprises solely of tanks and damage dealers, having a support character can provide valuable healing abilities.

Although battles in the game are fast-paced and characters may seem to die quickly, the healing abilities should not be underestimated, particularly Tesla's Heal Grenade. Ideally, teams should include at least one tank and one support character, with the other two members selecting damage dealers or an additional tank and damage dealer, depending on the currently played tank. Combining tanks such as Pyro, with his tremendous damage output, with Riot can be advantageous, as Riot can pull enemies closer, allowing Pyro and the team to decimate them.