Gears Tactics offers players a dynamic twist on the Gears of War franchise by pitting the Cogs against the Locust in a turn-based shooter. Taking a lot of ideas and what makes XCOM popular, Gears Tactics is a fresh rendition on the franchise, forcing players to think much more tactically and strategically aside from wall bouncing into a gun-fight. Gears Tactics is quite challenging, so expect it to take some time to finish.
Of course, many new things set the game apart from its predecessors such as skills and weapon mods. But all the weapons, enemies, and some gameplay aspects are familiar in Gears Tactics, making it easy to get into. One of those aspects includes the appearance of Emergence holes that can serve as a nasty deterrent to players from making progress. Emergence holes are sudden locust spawn points where any kind of locust can spawn and attack players. The kind of enemies and numbers are never really the same so getting rid of them as soon as possible is the best way to keep making progress. Here's how players can take care of that.
How to Close Emergence Holes in Gears Tactics
Emergence holes can get ugly very quickly, and that's putting it mildly. The longer players take to close them, the more enemies will spawn, and the harder it will be to get rid of them. Emergence holes are usually marked by an icon and will show the surrounding area start to break apart signifying a hole is about to emerge. Players are given the opportunity to move all characters into an advantageous position before the hole opens up, spawning a wave of new enemies. Players should set up an overwatch to keep enemies from getting to0 close, establishing themselves in cover, or flanking players depending on the distance from the hole. Injuring too many enemies rather than killing them is a quick way to become overwhelmed and completely vulnerable especially to wretches. Wretches are the weakest but have a tendency to move very far and the ability to inflict instant melee damage when within immediate range of players. This mechanic can also restrict movement, forcing players to use their shots to clear them up.
When closing up Emergence holes, simply grab a character who can use frag grenades, get them in range, and toss one into the hole. The Emergence hole will instantly disappear preventing more enemies from spawning. If waiting them out is more plausible depending on player positioning, Emergence holes will crumble and stop spawning enemies sometime after 3 turns. Again, this isn't the best idea but sometimes players might haven't the freedom to do so due to previous moves. Characters may already be in disadvantageous positions, so moving them back into suitable cover is the only option. Whether players want to within an optimal range from the jump or close their way in from a safe point, ideally 1 or maybe 2 waves should be the absolute limit for allowing enemies to spawn. Use frags smart since they take multiple turns to cool down, and make sure those grubs don't see the light of day!
Gears Tactics is available on PC.