Any action you take costs Action Points in Wasteland 3. Anytime you do anything there’s going to be a cost. If you want your squad members to move into cover, that has a certain point value attached. Moving your squad members over greater distances requires more points, which results in more planning needed. Each turn your points refresh, and certain abilities can alter your total points in a turn. And on higher difficulty options, players may have less overall points to work with.
You will need to consider your Rangers first. The various squad members you bring into battle each have their own base stats, which also includes Action Points. Then you will have to look at the map itself and plan movement, while considering where your AI opponents will go. Blue tiles are areas that cost 1 Point to move through. Orange tiles are within a Ranger’s maximum movement, but take up too many points to also fire at the end of the movement.
Each weapon type has its own restrictions. When you use a weapon, you consume Action Points in Wasteland 3, along with any other action. Sidearms and semi-automatic weapons can be fired twice per turn, while larger weapons, flamethrowers, miniguns, and rocket launchers, can only be fired once. Each one will use one Action Point per firing.
One of the strategic elements in the game is considering how well you’re managing your Action Points. When you wrap up your turn, you will want to keep track of your points and other resources. When you want to use an item or action in battle, it takes up Action Points. There are also Final Actions that can be used, in addition to the other normal actions you take in a turn.
Don’t forget to use up all of your Points. Instead, use the “Final Actions” button or key, located on the right of the screen, to bring up the sub-menu. Final Actions help you prepare for the enemy’s next turn, and there are three choices available to you:
- Defend – Hunker down and protect yourself from attack. Uses all remaining Action Points for that character. Gives a 5% bonus to evasion chance per each Action Point left to spend.
- Ambush – Set up an attack that will occur during the enemy’s next turn. Uses all remaining points, gives a 5% bonus to hit chance per point remaining.
- Prepare – Ends your turn, brings two Action Points into the next round.
Once you have picked the actions you want to use, tap the A button on Xbox One, X on PlayStation 4, or left-click your mouse to confirm the action. From there the game will get going carrying out the rest of your turn and those of the AI.
