Meta-Skills

Learn about Meta-Skills in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, including Phase Plasma EMP, Instant Team Cooldown, and Power Boost.

Phase Plasma EMP

This Meta-Skill is given to you for free during the tutorial in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. It deals low damage to all kaiju on the field, enough to defeat smaller ones but not medium-sized ones. It applies EMP to all targets, stopping their movement and resetting their power attacks. Additionally, it pushes all kaiju away from the terminal. It functions as a panic button to stabilize a failing situation, providing EMP, ripping shields off kaiju, or creating breathing room to manage kaiju spawns. Do not hesitate to use it early to prevent situations from escalating.

Terminal Recovery

This Meta-Skill heals the terminal for 30% of its defense value. It does not consistently reduce the Terminal Damage Taken statistic that influences your ranking. While it usually works, there are times it does not, and the controlling factors are unclear. For reliability, assume it does not work and focus on preventing terminal damage.

Heal Team HP

This Meta-Skill recovers 30% HP for all units. Taking 30% damage on everyone typically results in a lower rank. Since healing minimally reduces Sentinel Damage Taken, it is better to avoid taking damage than to heal it afterward. This skill is not useful.

Heal Team EP

This Meta-Skill recovers 30% EP for all units. It provides EP equivalent to a Defend action without the 8-second wait. If your team is low on EP and facing numerous kaiju, this can be a crucial escape. It is more useful than Heal Team HP, but not significantly. On Nintendo Switch, Sentinels only regain 50% EP after victory instead of 100%. In this case, purchasing and using this Meta-Skill at the end of combat can help ensure your team starts the next wave with at least 50% EP.

Instant Team Cooldown

This Meta-Skill sets everyone's WT (Wave Time) to 0, allowing immediate actions. It is a top-tier Meta-Skill that you should use most often. For maximum benefit, ensure all units perform an action, preferably one with a long WT, before using this to gain extra actions and time. It is particularly useful for resetting the cooldown of abilities like the Super Large Missile. As a bonus, any unit Defending when this Meta-Skill is used will instantly restore 30% max EP and be ready to act. This makes it superior to Heal Team EP in most scenarios, as you can have units Defend and then use this skill to grant them EP and an immediate turn. Heal Team EP is only preferable when the entire team requires EP more than an additional turn, which is rare.

Team Barrier

This Meta-Skill shields the entire team for 10 seconds, acting as a superior version of Shield Matrix and another effective panic button. While Phase Plasma EMP is often better for critical situations, Team Barrier is valuable when attacking and you do not want targets pushed away. If you play optimally, you may not need it, but mistakes happen. Since meta-system upgrades can be purchased mid-combat, consider buying this only when necessary.

Team Accelerate

This Meta-Skill doubles the movement speed of all Sentinels for 30 seconds. Many Sentinels (G2s, G3s, and some G4s) do not need to move, and G1s have an ability that already doubles movement speed, making this skill largely useless or redundant.

Power Boost

This Meta-Skill doubles the damage dealt by Sentinels and automated defenses in a small target area for 15 seconds. The boost only applies directly to the Sentinel, not to units it summons like Sentry Guns or Interceptors. While many Sentinels remain stationary, the small area may not encompass them all. In the late game, most enemies can be defeated in one hit, and bonus damage does not award points. Power Boost is highly effective for defeating bosses and can trivialize waves containing them. It is recommended for boss encounters.

Defense Boost

This Meta-Skill provides a defensive boost similar to Power Boost but for defense. Team Barrier is generally superior as it protects all units on the map and prevents all damage, unlike Defense Boost which only halves it. Despite Defense Boost's longer duration, its small area and the fact that enemies are not constantly attacking make it less effective. Team Barrier is a better solution for preventing multiple high-power enemy attacks and most other threats.

Gravity

This Meta-Skill is a larger, longer-lasting version of the G4's Gravity Missile, which is not a particularly strong attack. Gravity does not consume a turn, but Instant Team Cooldown likely provides more overall value through additional turns.

Deploy Type-98 Biped

This Meta-Skill summons four units near the terminal that automatically target and engage kaiju. While theoretically providing four extra Sentinels, these units are slow, fragile, and less effective than actual Sentinels, making them a poor choice, especially early in the game.