Agents

You are the agent in the game. Therefore, you have only one agent. You! Simple enough …

You do a bit of styling for your agent at the outset, mostly deciding what your head will look like. Do you want an agent who looks as much like you as possible, or do you want to be someone entirely different? The choice is yours. The game displays you holding whatever weapon you bring into combat, and there you go: a rootin’ tootin’ SHIELD agent, ready to kick butt and chew gum.

Uniforms

Uniforms constitute the single biggest decision, or set of decisions, you have to make when deciding how to play your agent. When you start the game at Level 1, you’re given a sporty Generalist Kevlar uniform (see the sidebar for the quick notes on Character Classes). Kevlar’s good, right? Not really. Although many players prefer to use Generalist uniforms throughout their game play, the Level 1 Kevlar uniform is the lowest-level, and resultingly the least protective, outfit in the game. You will want to upgrade as soon as possible. That entails moving up in levels, Researching the appropriate uniform, and purchasing it in the Store.

Deciding what class to be (if any other than Generalist) and when to upgrade, is entirely up to you. I can’t tell you which one is “best.” It depends on your own game style. For me, I decided relatively early to be a Tactician, because my style of play is tactician-like.

As you gain levels, silver, and Shield Points (SP), you can choose to research and buy more than one uniform, with different classes. In other words, you can be a Blaster in one battle and switch to a Scrapper in the next. This is incredibly useful, and something I encourage you to do whenever possible.

There are eight levels of uniforms: Jumpsuits (Kevlar and Dermosteel); TechSuits (Nanolaire and BetaCloth); Impact Suits (Recon2 and SpecOps); S.Tech Armor (Combat and Alpha); Trenches (Reinforced and Commander); Power; Aegis; and Empowered. Wow, that’s confusing. But there’s a system behind it all.

The first five categories – Jumpsuits, TechSuits, ImpactSuits, S.Tech Armor, and Trenches – can be ResearchedResearchYou research various levels of uniforms before you can buy them and purchased in the Store. The last three categories – Power, Aegis, and Empowered – can only be won in PVP tournaments.

Let’s break it down just a bit further.

• Jumpsuit uniforms come in two categories. The Kevlar uniform can be bought with silver and SP. The Dermosteel uni must be bought with gold. You must be between levels 6 and 10 to research these suits, depending on the class.
• TechSuits come in two categories. The Nanolaire uniform can be bought with silver and SP. The BetaCloth uni must be bought with gold. You must be between levels 20 and 25 to research these uniforms, depending on the class.
• The Impact Suits come in two categories. The Recon2 unis can be bought with silver and SP. The SpecOps uni must be bought with gold. You must be between levels 35 and 40 to research these uniforms, depending on the class.
• The S.Tech unis come in two categories. The Combat unis can be bought with silver and SP. The Alphas uni must be bought with gold. You must be between levels 45 and 50 to research these uniforms, depending on the class.
• The Trenches come in two categories. The Reinforced unis can be bought with silver and SP. The Commander uni must be bought with gold. You must be between levels 65 and 70 to research these uniforms, depending on the class. You want a Commander’s Trench. Trust me on this one.

Don’t even worry about the other three categories now. When you’re able to win one, wear it with pride.

If you’re a non-money spender, you need to remember that uniforms are like baby clothes: your agent “grows out” of them quickly as you level up. If you try to keep your agent in the latest uniform, you’re going to spend a lot of silver and SP on uniforms that you don’t wear for very long. On the other hand, the newer unis give more protection and house more ISO chipsISO ChipsFictional elements that, when attached to agents’ or heroes’ uniforms, give bonuses in their statistics. What to do?

Your ultimate goal for your uniform is at least one Commander’s Trench uni. That will cost you 24 gold and cannot be acquired until Level 65 at the earliest. Until then, you should balance your need for the best possible uniform with your need to spend your silver and SP wisely.

One Possible Uniform Strategy

Here’s one method of getting adequate, if not optimal, uniform coverage until you can get a Commander’s Trench. Sometime between levels 6 and 10 you will be able to use Dermosteel Jumpsuits. Playdom offers a one-time free acquisition of a Scrapper’s Dermosteel Jumpsuit at a link on this page. Download it and use it as soon as you can. It’s a good, solid uniform that would ordinarily cost you 10 gold. If you don’t mind playing as a Scrapper for a while, you can get by on it until you can buy the Commander’s Trench, when you get to level 65. If you have the silver and SP to get at least one uniform between the Dermosteel and the Commander, you might consider the midlevel Impact Recon2 uni.

Naturally, if you have the gold (or silver and SP) to spend, you can keep your agent in the best possible uniforms at all times.

Multiple Agent Uniforms

Because I am a non-spender, I never have had the gold to spend on multiple Commander’s Trench uniforms for the six different classes. I have had, however, the silver and SP to buy the not-quite-as-good Reinforced Trenches. So I now have six uniforms: the Tactician Commander and Reinforced unis for Blaster, Bruiser, Infiltrator, and Scrapper. I never got around to getting a Generalized Reinforced Trench uniform, so I was more than pleased when PD released the Generalist Empowered uniform for free to commemorate MAA’s second anniversary. Usually, I play the Generalist Empowered, because it is significantly stronger than any of the trenches. When there’s a reason to play as a particular class, I can select from the other classes and go into battle with a bit less protection – the Commander is a good bit stronger than the Reinforced, not least because it has two more ISO slots than the Reinforced – but with the class bonus that I think will stand me in good stead in that particular battle.

Naturally, I always wear the Generalist Empowered uniform in PVP. You need every advantage you can get in there.

Learn more about agent uniforms.