PlanetSide 2 (Part Five)

Base Installations
Terminals
Regardless of it being a small outpost, a large outpost or a huge facility, you are bound to find some of these terminal thingys in them. Apart from memorizing their functions, another important point to note is that these terminals are destroyable (anything from a couple of rockets to four or five clips of ammunition should do the trick) and also hackable (by a certed infiltrator).

And while it is needless to say that an Engineer can repair any destroyed friendly terminal, to recover a hacked terminal you will need to either re-hack it or destroy it and then repair. However, there currently appears to be a bug whereby if an enemy infiltrator hacks a terminal and then destroys it, you would be unable to recover that terminal (no console to hack and cannot repair enemy's installations) apart from losing that territory and then reclaiming it.

Aircraft Terminal The Aircraft Terminal allows the person accessing it to customize and spawn fighter-type aircraft such as Liberator and faction specific fighters (Mosquito, Reaver & Scythe).

Equipment Terminal The Equipment Terminal allows the person accessing it to switch to one of the five infantry unit classes, re-equip as a MAX, change loadouts or simply to resupply themselves.

Galaxy Terminal The Galaxy Terminal, as its name suggests, allows the person accessing it to customize and spawn the transport-type aircraft, Galaxy.

Ground Transport Terminal The Ground Transport Terminal is a "sub-version" of the Ground Vehicle Terminal. It is usually found in the smaller, rural outposts and allows the person accessing it to customize and spawn specifically, ground transports such as Flash and Sunderer only.

Ground Vehicle Terminal The Ground Vehicle Terminal allows the person accessing it to customize and spawn all ground vehicle types including combat tanks and transports.

Warpgate Terminal The Warpgate Terminal allows the person accessing it to warp to either one of the three continents, Indar, Esamir, Amerish as well as to the VR Training Center.

Turrets
Turrets are usually found mounted on some high platform or on an elevated plain in order to guard the perimeters of/entry points to outposts and bases. And similar to the terminals, these turrets are also destroyable and hackable.

As far as I know, destroying one turret would require the use of explosive weaponry like rocket launchers, C4 explosives, cannon shells from tanks and perhaps maybe...just maybe grenades as they are treated like an armored vehicle by the game system (thus are impervious to ordinary infantry firearms).

Aspis Phalanx Turret [Anti-Aircraft] The Aspis Phalanx Turret launches 20mm explosive shells into the sky that burst within proximity of aircraft.

Spear Phalanx Turret [Anti-Vehicle] The Spear Phalanx Turret is capable of rapidly firing 120mm AP tank rounds that is damaging to heavily armored targets.

Xiphos Phalanx Turret [Anti-Infantry] The Xiphos Phalanx Turret is armed with two high accuracy gatling guns that are capable of shredding infantry.

Generators & Force Fields
Generators and force fields are two entities that are interrelated to one another. In essence, the generator produces the energy needed to power up a force field. And by destroying the generator, you can disable the force field that is preventing you from gaining entry to the facility or a vital structure.

To destroy a generator, you will only need to get close to it and then overload it by pressing and holding "E" (just like you would when accessing any other consoles). A countdown timer will then appear to announce the time left until it explodes. Likewise, in order to re-stabilize the overloaded generator, the defenders will need to get close and then access the same console (by pressing and holding "E") to shutdown the timer. Well...you can kindda think of it as "Bombing-n-Defusal" in Counter-Strike.

Generator	Force Field	Info
		This force field is usually found at the outer perimeters of a facility. It kind of acts like a fence to prevent hostile vehicles from entering the premises.
		The horizontal field generator powers the horizontal portion of the force field. Destroying it would weaken the force field.
		The vertical field generator powers the vertical portion of the force field. Destroying it would weaken the force field.
		This force field shields the Spawn Control Unit (SCU) from hostile enemies, preventing them from entering and overloading the SCU.
Not Applicable		This force field permanently shields the room from hostile enemies. Entry into the said structure is purely defenders only.

Others
The following are a couple of more base installations that cannot be categorized easily but are nonetheless still important in their functions.

	Aircraft Resupply Landing Pad The Aircraft Resupply Landing Pad serves the purpose of re-arming all friendly aircraft that lands upon the pad.
	Foothold Flip Switch The Foothold Flip Switch (something I casually nicknamed for this unknown point) allows the attacking faction to gain a foothold when sieging a very large base. Like a control point, a capture bar will initiate when you stand close to it. And once captured, all surrounding terminals controlled by it will become your faction's.
	Jump Pad The Jump Pad serves to propel an infantry rapidly from one fixed point to another fixed point. By just walking onto the pad itself, it will automatically launch you towards the other fixed point and vice-versa.
	Spawn Control Unit Found mostly in large facilities, the Spawn Control Unit governs the ability for players to spawn within that facility. It can be destroyed by overloading it in exactly the same way as a generator. Once destroyed, defenders can only head there from the nearest spawn point or deployed Sunderer.
	Teleporter Just like a Jump Pad, the Teleporter works to teleport an infantry from one fixed point to another fixed point and vice-versa. Basically, think of it as kind of like an elevator without the hassle of moving in between. Step into it and you will be warped to the other point.
	Vehicle Resupply Tower The Vehicle Resupply Tower serves the purpose of re-arming all friendly ground vehicles in close proximity to it.

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PlanetSide 2 (Part Four)

Ground Vehicles
Common

• Flash
  

  - Two-seater - One weapon mount

  The Flash is an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) used to quickly (and cheaply) transport infantry to the front lines. Due to its low cost, it is often abandoned after fulfilling its purpose. However, it may also be equipped with a Scout Radar to detect enemy movements so if you ever see a hostile Flash parked within your base, be sure to dispose of it just in case.
  
• Harasser
  

  - Three-seater - One weapon mount

  The Harasser, in my opinion, is kind of a hybrid between a Flash and a turret. It combines the off-road capabilities and proximity detection of a Flash but also has access to mount weapons that are capable of dealing with tanks, aircraft as well as infantry. Furthermore, the passenger in the third seat (at the back) is free to fire their weapons at will and can be occupied by a MAX so its potential is practically limitless.
  
• Lightning
  

  - One-seater - One weapon mount

  The Lightning is a light battle tank that can be outfitted with various types of anti-air or anti-vehicle cannons/turrets. It is fast-moving and is often used in the beginning of an assault to weaken the opposing force before the cavalry (heavier tanks and slow-moving infantry) arrives. But one thing to note is that fighting in a Lightning is often very tricky because the driver is also the one who mans the cannon/turret.
  
• Sunderer
  

  - Twelve-seater - Two weapon mounts

  The Sunderer is sort of like an Armored Personnel Carrier. It is capable of transporting up to twelve infantry units at a time. But apart from merely transporting, a Sunderer equipped with the right "Utility" may also function as a respawn point for infantry units, a vehicle repair or vehicle ammo resupply station.
  

Faction Specific

Prowler (TR)		Vanguard (NC)		Magrider (VS)
- Two-seater			- Two weapon mounts

Though all three are built for a common purpose, to act as the faction's main battle tank, they each have somewhat slightly different specs. For example, a Prowler boasts a higher top speed and its twin barrel cannons are capable of inflicting damage quicker than the other tanks. The Vanguard, on the other hand, is more heavily armored on its front, side and top compared to the other tanks, but is more slow-moving. As for the Magrider, though it is not as powerful as the Prowler or as durable as the Vanguard, it does have the best maneuverability and also the least main gun drop rate (arc in its trajectory).

Aircraft
Common

• Galaxy
  

  - Twelve-seater - Four weapon mounts

  The Galaxy is an air transport that can be used to air-drop up to eleven soldiers onto objectives where a ground assault would have been impossible. But to perform such a maneuver, it would either have to fly very high or very close to the ground to avoid detection. For once discovered, it will have a hard time evading other aircraft as it is very cumbersome.
  
• Liberator
  

  - Three-seater - Three weapon mounts

  The Liberator is a three-man gunship that is used to provide air support in "hot" zones. It sports a belly-mounted cannon to bombard ground vehicles and infantry targets as well as nose and tail guns to fend off enemy fighters. However, I must stress the importance of needing the Liberator fully crewed or it would be unable to unleash its full potential.
  

Faction Specific

Mosquito (TR)		Reaver (NC)		Scythe (VS)
- One-seater			- Two weapon mounts

Being the faction's air superiority fighter, the Mosquito's, the Reaver's and the Scythe's main purpose is to lock down the airspace above a territory and deny opposing forces of their air support. However, with the right weapons and skills, they can also provide decent air-to-ground support such as performing a bombing run against ground targets using their high rate of fire cannons and missiles.

And just like the faction specific tanks, the Mosquito, the Reaver and the Scythe each have their unique differences in design, performance and handling. For instance, the Mosquito has the best acceleration and highest cruising speed amongst the three as well as a small frame (thus making it difficult to hit). The Reaver is more heavily-armored, has the most damaging cannons and also the fastest afterburners (good for a quick escape but sadly doesn't last long). And lastly, the Scythe has the best stability (when hovering) and also top-notch agility to perform wacky and insane aerial stunts.

Good-to-Know Stuff
A couple of things to note here with regards to ground vehicles and aircraft is that...first of all, any one of the infantry class units can drive or pilot a ground vehicle or aircraft (except for a MAX). But usually for convenience-sake, the driver or pilot would normally opt to become an Engineer for the ease of being able to just exit the vehicle and repair any damage sustained without the trouble of having to look for one.

Next, you may enter or exit a friendly ground vehicle or aircraft at will, via pressing "E" while facing it and being at close proximity, so long as it is not restricted or locked by its owner (menu can be accessed by pressing "PgDown").

	Driver Seat Gunner Seat Passenger Seat
	Occupied	Available

And finally, while being inside of a vehicle, one may choose to switch between seating positions by pressing the keys F1 to F12 (which corresponds to the seats numbered 1 to 12). If unfortunately the seat is occupied, then the switch would not take place until the person in that seat agrees to the swap.

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