Archipelago

The Archipelago is an a group of islands roughly to the west of the main continent on the map. You can use this area to attack other players and earn ranking points and resources.

Reaching the Archipelago requires the use of a helicopter from the Heliport and an internet connection. Using upgraded helicopters allow you to access larger areas within the archipelago, with more attack targets.

New targets appear every 2 hours.

Target Reconn
Selecting the green radar icon within the Archipelago allows you to peek at the possible target's defenses, displaying the number and types of turrets, and your chances of detection.

Regular PvP Attacks
Selecting one of the red markers in the Archipelago will start the battle. The battle consists of you and your current partner, against the opposing player and his/her best two partners (as determined by the game). The game selects the best weapon in the opposing player's inventory (usually a Machine Gun).

You must kill the opposing player and their two partners in order to win. By winning, you earn 30 Ranking Points as well as the resources listed on the pre attack screen. If you lose, you lose 7 Ranking Points.

If you are detected, you will have to battle one of the opposing player's turrets at the beginning of the battle.

Command Center
Activates at 700 PvP points. These battles are for ladder position only. At some interval, each position on the ladder is paid in Gems with the top place receiving 100 Gems and the 100th place receiving 10 Gems.

The battle is very similar to a standard battle. In that it is you and your chosen partner against your opponent's entire team. No turrets are involved and the radar has no effect. Once your opponent has more than two partners, new ones will rotate in as in standard battles.

Losing the battle neither affects your PvP points nor consumes resources. You must rest 15 minutes between battles if you win or if you lose. Performing a recon once unlocks the ability to view all opponents until the Archipelago resets. This means you can view multiple opponents if you win battles.

The twist is that these battles always apply at least one of these battle rules:
 * no grenades: your grenades will not appear on the battle screen. Not clear if this also prevents shotgun grenades.
 * no partner: you get no help from your partners. However, you will still fight all of your opponent's partners.
 * assault rifle only: you cannot use a machine gun or shotgun. Grenades and partners are available.

Defending Against PvP Attacks
When you are attacked by another player, you don't have to do anything, the game takes care of the battle. You will know that you where involved in a battle by looking at the Ranking charts.

But you can prepare ahead of time and give yourself a better chance of victory by:
 * Fully upgrading your most powerful weapon. Even if you don't use your best Machine Gun much, its worth upgrading it as a defense against other player's attacks.
 * Purchasing additional turret slots, upgrading your turrets, and building the Radar. An attacker encountering one of your turrets will have a harder time beating you.  To give yourself an even higher change of detection, activate the Shield Mode within the Radar, to give yourself a temporary edge.
 * Fully upgrading your two most powerful partners. You may not normally use your second most powerful partner in regular battles, but his/her abilities will count when defending in PvP.

When you are attacked in PvP, none of your resources are used.