Permadeath — but rookies aren’t fed to the grinder: why we built a training camp
Training battles, decaying stat gains and a safe place to learn before the losses become real.
The most common objection to permadeath: “a new player loses their first squad in one evening and quits.” Fair. Our answer is the training camp.
Rubber bullets. A training battle plays by all the real rules — same simulation, same simultaneous resolve, same fog of war. But there are no losses: a “killed” soldier comes home bruised (down a few percent of health), not memorialized. Gear isn't lost either.
Progression with decay. Training grows stats, but each session gives less than the last: drilling recruits on the range forever is pointless. Real growth happens only in real battles, where there's something to lose. The range prepares you for war; it doesn't replace it.
“Field ready.” A soldier who's been through enough training earns a readiness badge. It's a hint, not a gate: nobody stops you from taking green rookies into PvP — you just do it knowingly now.
On first launch the game states the difference outright: training means rubber bullets and zero losses; a combat drop means permadeath and full loot. From there, it's your call.
The idea is simple: fear of loss is the game's fuel, but fear needs a gym. Learn to plan where a mistake costs a bruise — then step out to where cost is life.
The training queue is already live in the closed alpha: play the demo battle (invite code or waitlist).