Be the Citys Villain Tanks, Gunships, Mechs, Rivals
The city answers demolition with armor. Here is how a villain leaves the street alive.
Destroying the city in Be the Citys Villain is the easy half of the pitch. The hard half is the response: tanks on the boulevards, gunships in the lanes you hover, mechs in the holes you open, and rival supers at wanted 55, 75, and 90. This page is the survival manual. If you cannot take off yet, read Getting Started first. If you only want the shop order that supports this manual, use upgrade priority.
The army is not a bug and it is not a reason to install a script. It is the timer that makes wanted 99 a win instead of a walking tour.
General rules (all threats)
- Altitude is default. The street is enemy property. Visit it for a slam snack, then leave.
- Never fight in a crater you just made. Mechs and rivals both read that hole as an arena.
- Do not hover like a commuter. Straight lines are gunship math.
- Shop on roofs. The upgrade panel is not i-frames. See upgrade powers.
- Hold Chest Blast for commitments. Lamp posts do not hunt you. Supers do.
- Relocate after every serious exchange. The district you “cleared” is the district that remembers you.
Flight is S-tier on the powers list because every rule above is a Flight rule.
Tanks
Tanks own ground sightlines. If you slam in front of one, you have volunteered for artillery.
Do. Finish facades from a hover on the far side of the block. Cross streets high. If you slam, slam behind cover geometry that is still standing, then take off on a heading that is not the tank’s barrel.
Don’t. Reload a slam in the open because the building is “almost dead.” Don’t kite at walking height “to look cinematic.” Don’t shop at an intersection because the UI is pretty there.
Upgrade answer. Flight takeoff, then Heat Vision range so you never have to stand in the barrel. Slam recovery if you insist on farming the street.
Gunships
Gunships own predictable air. They are why “I have Flight, I am safe” is false.
Do. Change altitude and heading after each beam. Use building mass as a hard break in their lead. Descend behind a tower, pop out the other side, leave on a new vector. Short Heat Vision bursts while moving beat a channeled beam they can pre-aim.
Don’t. Hover over the same roof for a full shop session. Don’t climb forever in one spiral; you become a skeet. Don’t ignore audio/telegraph if the live build gives you a lock warning — that warning is the whole mechanic.
Upgrade answer. Air control and speed. Laser range so you can farm while being a rude target. Not slam radius.
Mechs
Mechs own the wound. They arrive where the city already failed — your crater, your favorite landmark, the block you keep returning to because the rubble looks like progress.
Do. Treat a mech as a reason to change zip code. Poke with Heat Vision from a neighboring block. Chest Blast only if it has committed a stomp and you have an exit heading. In a duo, the peel villain lasers the mech while the farm villain leaves. See co-op tips.
Don’t. Ground Slam “to show it.” Don’t stand in the hole to inspect the model. Don’t pull a mech through a street that also has tanks; that is a mash-up you will not win on purpose.
Upgrade answer. Range and blast cooldown. Flight so a missed blast is not a death.
Rival supers (55 / 75 / 90)
These are the skill checks the listing warns you about. They are not extra tanks. They are other supers — hunters with the same fantasy kit pointed at you.
Prep. A few wanted ticks before each breakpoint, stop slam-chaining. Confirm Chest Blast is available. Confirm you have sky, not a canyon. Read Reach Wanted 99 for how these windows sit on the route.
Fight. Keep altitude. Poke. When they commit a slam or a close blast, spend yours and leave. You are not here to honor-duel on the pavement. You are here to make 99.
Reset. If you lose the sky, do not greed the last building. Survive. Wanted does not fall off because you took ten seconds to be alive.
Duo. One peel, one farm-at-the-edge. Both of you stacking on the hunter is a double highlight for them.
Crowd servers (up to 25)
Other villains are extra demolition and extra aggro. They will slam “your” block. They will pull armor into your hover. That is the 25-player cap working as designed, not a reportable crime. Relocate. If you queued with a friend, stay on voice and on a shared heading so you do not become two unrelated disasters. Public strangers are weather.
Recovery after a bad hit
You got clipped, you are not dead, the panel is screaming. Leave first. Horizontal plus vertical, behind mass, then shop. Buy the axis that just failed (almost always Flight). Do not buy slam because you are angry at a building.
If you did die, spawn and do not sprint back to the crater. That crater is still owned. New district, small facades, rebuild the hover, then resume the wanted 99 plan.
Loadout that survives
The surviving kit is boring on purpose: Flight you trust, Heat Vision that works from a hover, Chest Blast in reserve, slam as a snack. The bounty spend guide is the shopping list that produces that kit. Anything a thumbnail called “army skip” belongs in the trash with the rest of the unverified scripts pitch.
Stay airborne. Stay rude to lead shots. Stay cheap with blast. The army is allowed to answer. You are allowed to be gone when it does.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers for codes, wanted 99, bounty upgrades, and army fights.
When does the army show up?
As wanted climbs from destruction. Pressure ramps through tanks, gunships, and mechs, with rival supers at 55, 75, and 90.
What is the best counter to gunships?
Irregular Flight paths and Heat Vision from behind mass. Do not hover in a straight line over one roof.
Should I Ground Slam mechs?
Usually no. Slamming plants you in their arena. Poke from a neighbor block and keep a Chest Blast for a committed stomp.
How do I handle rival supers?
Prep blast and altitude before 55 / 75 / 90, kite, spend burst when they commit, then leave. Details also sit in Reach Wanted 99.
Does co-op make the army easier?
If you split peel and farm, yes. If you both slam the same crater, you pull more armor into one hole. See co-op tips.