How the chaining system works

Last time we talked about the new play rank system, this time we are going a little in-depth with the chaining system. If you have played the original Söldner-X game, you already know its significance. Chaining helps you to gain extras and power up your ship.

Speaking about the chaining system in Söldner-X 2: Final Prototype, this is very much the same. Successfully complete chains and gain bonus items, such as power ups, health ups, weapon extras, score bonuses, extra lives and so on.

However, the system itself has very much changed in Söldner-X 2. As you may have seen from a number of screenshots, the new chaining gauge consists of the following elements.

Your target is to fill the chain energy bar before the chain clock runs out of time. Do so on time and the chain target extra will automatically release. Run out of time and you will lose some of your chain energy.

So how do you fill the chain energy bar? When enemies are hit or shot down, chain rings are spawned on screen (see following screenshot) and will remain for a limited period of time. Collect these chain rings and your bar fills up. It might sound easy, but can become very challenging on higher play ranks.

Also don't forget, the chain bar needs to be filled on time. There are however possibilities to add time, by:

• Collecting chain rings within the time limit
• Collecting a supportive extra (such as a chain freeze extra)
• Ceasing fire for a moment. This will gradually add time whenever your timer got below 50%.

Just like in Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer, chaining is not absolutely necessary if you are new to the game. However if you want to boost your power and aim for a higher score, it's something that you shouldn't neglect.