Off The Grid is a free-to-play battle royale shooter from Gunzilla Games. The current game mode, Extraction Royale, pits several teams in an action-packed arena where only the toughest survive and get to head home with their winnings.

Our Off The Grid guide has several tips to help you win Extraction Royale matches, including unique mechanics that make the game stand out from the pack. We also go into detail about the equipment system, Hex decoding, and the best loadouts in Off The Grid.

What is Extraction Royale?

Since Off The Grid is currently an Early Access title, the only available game mode as of the time of writing is Extraction Royale. Think of it as a cross between a battle royale game (such as Fortnite) and an extraction shooter.

Extraction Royale sees teams of three players—up to a maximum of 20 teams or 60 players in total—duking it out on a massive location called Teardrop Island. There are several mechanics you'll need to be aware of, including:

• The main goal is to be the last team standing. Not only do you need to watch out for enemy squads, but you also have to be aware of the Overloaded Zone. It shrinks the play area, and being outside its boundary causes your character’s health to deplete gradually.
• From time to time, you might discover key items known as Hexes. If you manage to extract these successfully, you’ll be rewarded with items in your permanent inventory, i.e. retained outside of matches.
• You can revive your downed teammates—but for at least part of the match, players that are killed also have an infinite number of respawns. The unlimited respawn mechanic is eventually disabled as the match progresses.
• Fast-paced gameplay requires you to make use of Cyberlimbs, cybernetic enhancements that grant unique effects once activated.

Look for vantage points and master the jetpack controls

Looking for good deployment zones and staying mobile is important if you want to win matches in Off The Grid. Ideally upon deployment, you should look for high-rise buildings or construction cranes, such as those in Little Kyiv and Stork City, respectively. These offer great vantage points of the surrounding area. Likewise, keep your eyes peeled for ropes dangling off the edges of buildings or from drones. These let you quickly climb to the top.

You also have a jetpack, which can be activated by pressing the 'Spacebar' while you’re in mid-air. Holding the 'W' key pitches your character downward to increase the speed of your descent, whereas holding the 'S' key lets you fall down at a vertical angle.

If you angle your character so that you’re level with the horizon, you should be able to glide for longer periods. This is especially integral once the Overloaded Zone is closing in and you need to glide to a safe location.

 

Acquire the right gear pieces

Similar to other battle royale games, you start with default equipment when you play matches in Off The Grid. By opening loot containers and picking up items dropped by opponents, you should eventually have a full arsenal, including:

• Weapons: Two main weapons, such as assault rifles, submachine guns, light machine guns, marksman rifles, and sniper rifles. You also have a sidearm or pistol by default.
• Cyberlimbs: One for each arm, and another for your legs.
• Consumables: These include health injectors.
• Backpack: Increases the number of items that you can hold in your inventory.

Aside from these core items, you may also find an assortment of other goodies:

• Armor kits: These improve survivability by mitigating damage.
• Rips: This is an in-game currency you amass during each match. You can obtain Rips from containers, Teardrop Op rewards, or by looting defeated opponents.
• Hexes: We discuss the extraction process later in our guide.

Help teammates respawn with Redeployment Terminals

Once the infinite respawn mechanic has been disabled during a match, the only way to bring back eliminated squadmates is via a Redeployment Terminal. Your spectating buddies can also ping these terminals so they appear on your map.

Upon finding a Redeployment Terminal, you have to spend Rips to make a teammate respawn. This is the only way for allies to get back into the fight.

 

Extract Hexes for long-term rewards

Off The Grid‘s gameplay loop involves acquiring items that you get to keep for your loadout long-term. You do this by obtaining Hexes, which are found randomly in item containers or as Teardrop Op rewards.

Once you have Hexes, you need to find a machine called a Hextractor, which is located at various points on the map. Upon activating a Hextractor, you’ll see a countdown timer. You must defend this device until the process is completed. If you’re successful, the Hex will be added to your inventory after the match.

Note that it’s possible to obtain Hexes from other players as well. You can do this by eliminating someone that’s carrying a Hex in their inventory or by stealing from an active Hextractor before the process is completed.

In any case, the Hexes you’ve successfully extracted or acquired as rewards can be found in the Hexes tab in the main menu. Decrypting each crate costs GUN, the cryptocurrency used in Off The Grid. The rewards are completely random, though they can take the form of weapons, weapon skins, Cyberlimbs, attachments, and character cosmetics.

 

Set up your loadout so you can buy it mid-match

As you collect more rewards from Hexes, you should see plenty of options in the Loadout menu. Bear in mind that you don’t actually start matches with these items automatically equipped. You still need to buy your loadout using Rips (in-game currency) each match. Open every container and tackle Teardrop Ops early in the game so you can accrue cash quickly and purchase your loadout.

Once you have enough Rips, open your inventory and call in your drone to buy your loadout package. Note that the price goes up the more gear pieces you add to your loadout (and the rarer they are).

If you want some hands-on practice, you can press the 'R' key in the Loadout menu to enter the Try-Out Zone. This lets you choose from various weapons and Cyberlimbs so you can test and pick out the equipment that you’re most comfortable with.

 

The best weapons in Off The Grid

While many weapons in Off The Grid are viable contenders, there are a few that stand head and shoulders above the rest:

• Assault rifle - M4 Commodore: The M4 Commodore has decent damage and range. Moreover, its accuracy and rate-of-fire are amazing, making it the perfect choice for medium-range engagements.
• Submachine gun - Kite: The AZV 100 deals more damage and has a higher rate-of-fire than the Kite. However, the Kite more than makes up for this discrepancy by having better recoil control and a 42-round magazine. When enemies get too close, this SMG can help you take them out.
• Shotgun - Squall: Although the Flenser does tremendous damage, its fire-rate, recoil, and accuracy are terribly low. This makes the Squall the better shotgun option, if you want to get into the thick of the fray.

The best Cyberlimbs in Off The Grid

After spending some time with the game, we feel that these are the best Cyberlimbs in Off The Grid:

• Arm - Ghost: The Ghost Cyberlimb is perfect for hectic situations where you need to get the drop on enemies. On activation, it creates a portable cloaking device that keeps you stealthed while standing in its radius. However, the device can be seen and destroyed by foes, so you need to find a decent spot for it.
• Arm - Phosphor Fury: This Cyberlimb option deals a high amount of damage on a direct hit—and even if you miss, it still creates a field of flames on whatever surface it lands on, which can force enemies out of cover.
• Arm - Paralyzer: The Paralyzer is a top-tier choice due to its debilitating effects. It not only disables the Cyberlimbs of affected targets, but it also highlights nearby hostiles and loot.
• Legs - Roadrunners: Chased by an enemy team or the Overloaded Zone is closing in? Need to get out of dodge quickly? The Roadrunners Cyberlimb is the best pick for those that want to stay mobile.

That does it for our Off The Grid best loadouts and survival tips guide. We hope this article helps you achieve victory in the Extraction Royale mode.

Off The Grid is available now as a free-to-play Early Access title on the Epic Games Store.