Bio Lab

Return to PlanetSide 2 - The World

Overview
The Bio Lab facility rises into the sky and can be seen from a distance, immediately recognized by its iconic domed shield structure on top. The entire facility is supported by large legs that stretch out from the center. Two large platforms extend from the upper levels for air support vehicles to launch from and land on. The center of the base provides the support structure for the large dome at the top. The upper level has several small buildings inside the dome within its own ecosystem, all of which circle the center building. The exterior of the base is a suitable layout for aerial battles and tank warfare, while the interior dome area is prone to close quarters combat.

Oshur doesn't have Bio Lab facilities.

Indar Continent Bio Lab Facilities

 * Saurva Bio Lab
 * Allatum Bio Lab
 * Rashnu Bio Lab

Esamir Continent Bio Lab Ruins

 * Andvari Ruins
 * Ymir Ruins

Amerish Continent Bio Lab Facilities

 * Onatha Bio Lab
 * Xelas Bio Lab
 * Ikanam Bio Lab

Hossin Continent Bio Lab Facilities

 * Acan Bio Lab
 * Bitol Bio Lab
 * Zotz Bio Lab

Base Capture
To begin capture of a territory, a player's empire must control a majority of the security terminals in the area as well as an adjacent lattice territory. A player cannot capture a base that is not connected through the Lattice network. Most territories have one security terminal, but a few large bases have multiple terminals. Players gain bars for the duration of time their empire controls a security terminal. You gain control of a security terminal by standing close to one and remain within its control area and defend it against other empires. It should be noted that MAXs, vehicles and aircraft do not help to capture security terminals/control nodes as they do not influence them. Once the majority of terminals are captured the corresponding occupation timer starts. The standard time is 7 minutes for most facilities. The timer can go faster if all terminals are in control. Once a facility is captured or defended, all security terminals transfer over to the winning empire. The losing empires must again gain majority control of security terminals in order for it to be contested and restart the occupation timer.

There are also external spawn points at local outposts close to the main base facility. These have their own security terminal that controls this area's cluster of buildings. Taking control of the local outpost security terminal will enable the controlling empire use of vehicle/equipment terminals as well as use the local spawn point.

See also Base Capture Mechanics.

Base Map


Each facility location is slightly different. They will have between one and four outposts surrounding the main dome structure in the center. The dome itself sometimes also has a wall surrounding it, as at the Saurva and Andvari Bio Labs. The center of the dome facility at ground level provides four ground vehicle terminals protected by a shield and a teleporter directly linked to the top floor of the base. The upper level has several small buildings inside the dome, which all circle the center building where the spawn control unit is located as well as the teleporter to the ground level is linked.

Interior Dome
The interior of the upper section within the dome has several key areas which circle around the center room where the spawn control unit is located. The largest building next to the center teleporter is the spawn point. Inside the shielded doorways on the lower level of this building are the spawn locations and equipment terminals for changing classes. The upper floor has balconies that provide an excellent view of the interior dome. Several adjacent buildings house the remaining security terminals that players will fight over. They are located close to each other and provide several corners and areas to hide in. One particular pair of buildings are connected via a catwalk on their second floor.

There are a number of teleporters inside the dome that connect to the outpost teleporters outside the main dome, varying on how many outposts are in the immediate area. The teleporters are located at opposite corners of the dome structure, directly across from the spawn building. It is impossible to win facility control unless several of the upper level terminals are controlled; therefore, the teleporters become valuable territory to defend and attack. The interior of the Bio Lab's main dome cannot be assaulted from the air directly as a shield reinforces the dome wall. Only two large platforms allow for air support. They extend from opposite sides of the dome and can be reached from inside the dome. Each platform has an air support vehicle terminal. These platforms also provide an excellent bird's eye view of the surrounding area.

Spawn Control Unit
Spawn Control Units (SCUs) enable the main spawn point of the base facility. An offensive player can initiate an overload sequence that after 2 minutes will destroy the SCU. A defensive player can override the self-destruct sequence and return it to normal. Destroying the SCU will prevent players from spawning in the main facility, forcing them to spawn at one of the local outposts or even further away. Like Shield Generators, they can be repaired by Engineers.



Outposts
The main dome structure for the facility is usually surrounded by one to four smaller outposts with their own control terminals. A key feature of the Bio Lab's outposts is that they provide ground vehicle terminals and sometimes are equipped with their own teleporters or energy jump gates that send players through the air landing on the air support pads. The teleporters directly link to an interior building on the upper level of the facility. The teleporters and energy jump gates are very useful in both defending and attacking the Bio Lab.

The Wall
The Bio Labs Saurva and Andvari have their very own walls encircled around them, with supporting towers on each corner. These towers are equipped with two turrets and are accessible via energy jump gates that slingshot infantry from tower to tower. Elevator systems bring troops up and down on the inside of the tower with access to the center of the wall. There is only one small opening in the wall and it is equipped with an energy shield that only the defending empire players can use. A Shield Generator on the ground level must be overloaded by the opposing faction to drop this shield. This is a separate SGU from the unit on the dome level which supports the SCU shields.

Shield Generator
The Shield Generator powers the shield protecting the Spawn Control Unit on the upper level of the dome. A Shield Generator must be overloaded by the opposing faction to drop the shield. Engineers can repair a damaged Shield Generator. One shield generator is located at all Bio Labs with an additional generator on the ground level for Saurva and Andvari to power the wall shields.

Offensive Strategy
The offensive strategy for this facility is a multistage approach. The initial infiltration needs to be effective enough to gain a foothold capable of re-spawning attackers in order to maintain a sustained assault. The sustained assault is critical; gaining control of the interior requires constant pressure. The next phase can take several different tactics depending upon which ground or air space is being controlled. However, the takeover is always the same reducing the battle to only infantry close quarters combat inside the dome.

Assault Infantry
The infantry assault will be the deciding factor for the control of this facility. The infantry play a support role in the infiltration. This includes clearing the Outposts to setup a base of operations. Once control of an outpost is established, MAXs and Heavy Assault will do the damage while laying siege to the dome. These classes will crash the teleporters or air landing pad attempting to break through fortifications inside the dome. The MAXs' heavy armor and artillery are key to surviving once the siege on the dome begins. Once a hole is made, Engineers should follow through to set up turrets, and heal the MAXs keeping the defensive players pinned down. Medics should be present to support healing and, more importantly, resurrecting players. Re-spawns take much longer for attackers than for the defenders.

It is important to get a foothold first before rushing off to control a security terminal. This method of pushing through and fortifying enables movement to other terminals. The goal is clearing the facility room to room and building to building, pushing the defense back to the spawn point. The first stop for the infantry once the foothold is in place and players can begin spawning for the attack is to take out the enemy Spawn Control Unit. Keeping in mind the SCU has a shield defense that requires a generator overload before proceeding. Once the SCU is taken out, the defenders must spawn back at an outpost if it isn't already under opposition control or another spawn point even further away. As a result, the offensive empire players become capable of spawning and returning to combat faster than the defense. Therefore, the control terminal takeover can quickly change the Influence of the facility.

Ground Vehicle
Tanks own the ground at this facility. The initial ground assault should concentrate on gaining control of one of the outposts and elevator buildings. Multiple tanks and a troop carrier should be enough to blitz an outpost. Tanks should keep themselves between the outpost and the dome to mitigate incoming missile fire and air support from the dome. The Saurva and Andvari Bio Labs can also rain down turret fire from the wall towers. The key to taking the outpost is to use the tanks to protect against the quick response from the defending tanks quickly responding from the dome as well as provide heavy artillery for the offensive. Once an outpost is under control, the use of a spawn point, ground vehicle terminals, and a direct teleport into the dome will be opened up. The same strategy should be employed to gain control of the other outposts surrounding the dome.

The next phase is to take the ground under the dome away from the defenders. At the base of the dome are four vehicle terminals. In order for the defenders to retake any of the outposts or elevator buildings, ground vehicles will be critical to this success. At the Bio Lab facilities without the surrounding wall, control comes down to open field tank battles. Have Engineers on hand to repair tanks in battle and Heavy Assault infantry to support with anti-tank missiles. The infantry should be careful of sniper fire coming from the air support wings on the dome. Parking a Sunderer under the dome next to the elevator building is a great way to maintain control and support an infantry assault of the interior dome. The other location for a Sunderer is at the outposts right next to the jump gates that send players to the air support pads. This location saves time during a continued assault.

The Bio Lab Saurva makes this strategy much more difficult. The Saurva facility has a special Shield Generator located at ground level under the dome since the dome is protected by the wall. Thus accessing and destroying the Shield Generator is required to advance through an energy shielded choke point in the wall. Light Assault infantry can additionally advance on towers using their special jump jet ability to scale the wall. The wall towers house turrets, which add another level of difficulty unless the Light Assault can take out and control these towers. Ground vehicle should focus long range fire at these turrets to allow infantry to get close to the wall. This strategy could be a much longer fought battle requiring tremendous coordination.

Air Vehicle
Air support attacks are rather light at this type of facility. There are two basic reasons for air vehicles. The first is direct air to ground attacks. During the opening assaults on the outposts, air support is useful for taking out enemy tanks as well as snipers, Heavy Assault, and MAXs from the air platforms. The unique part of this facility from an air support perspective is that it often ends with in-flight dog fights since the defenders can quickly access the Bio Plant air terminals.

The second and perhaps the most effective use of air support is to hot drop a full squad from a Galaxy into an outpost. Immediately dropping troops into the outpost to flip the control point provides a critical spawn point effectively creating a foothold that has access to a teleporter or jump gate allowing troops to enter the dome. That kind of surge is a huge success if coordinated with a full crew backed by Medics and Engineers to provide healing. This method is also most successful on a lightly occupied outpost and can be swiftly executed.

Defensive Strategy
The defensive strategy for the Bio Lab focuses on controlling the major choke points for as long as possible. The interior dome must stay within control at all costs, most importantly the maintaining of the Spawn Control Unit and Shield Generator. Therefore, defending each section of the facility for as long as possible is critical. If necessary, the exterior of the facility should be sacrificed to fall back to the interior dome. The outposts do not contribute any influence for the full control of the facility. Additionally, when the facility is successfully defended, all the control terminals flip over to the defending empire's control. At that point, defending players should go on the offensive and clear out any outposts as the attacking empire players won't be able to re-spawn for a short period.

Assault Infantry
The infantry defense will be the deciding factor for the control of this facility. The Engineers and Heavy Assault infantry play a support role on the ground. The Engineers should take cover close to the center ground terminals behind the shield to provide repairs to the ground vehicles. Straying into the open field can be dangerous, and players are constantly at risk of being run over. Heavy Assault should also support the center simply to unload anti-tank missiles. MAXs and Heavy Assault will be able to run in and retake any captured outposts once the defending ground vehicles begin the attack to recover them. Infiltrators can provide great coverage from up on the air platforms by focusing fire on any attacking Heavy Assault or Engineers supporting the ground offense. Additionally, they can provide cover for any ground infantry taking enemy sniper fire. Light Assaults dominate these facilities, having buildings and trees for vantage points, having a clear view of unsuspecting enemies. Light Assault works best while attacking, as the aircraft pads are usually congested with infantry. At Bio Labs Saurva and Andvari, use infantry to defend and operate the turrets at each tower.

Regardless of what happens on the ground level, the infantry needs to maintain the interior dome and must be able to drop everything to retreat back into the dome if necessary. It is very easy to be spread too thin covering everything at this facility rather than coordinating fallback choke points. MAXs' heavy armor missiles; Engineer turrets, mines, and repairs; and capable Medics will all need to coordinate defenses at all the major choke points, including all the teleporters. MAXs, Heavy Assault, and Engineer turrets should be staged at the main outpost teleport doorways if that outpost is lost.

The Spawn Control Unit at the center of the dome is the most critical objective of all. If it is overloaded all resources available should be used to retake and rebuild it using the help of some handy Engineers.

At the Saurva and Andvari Bio Labs, the infantry should be on the wall with Heavy Assault, Medics, Engineers, and Infiltrators. The Heavy Assault should focus on any enemy vehicles incoming with or without the use of a turret. The Engineers must remain focused on repairing any of the destroyed turrets. Infiltrators perched on the top level of the towers jumping tower to tower to take out enemy infantry. Medics should be focused on keeping all of them alive.

Ground Vehicle
The ground vehicles will need to respond very quickly once a part of the facility is under attack. Depending on which outpost is under attack, players at the spawn point can quickly get down to the four ground terminals and set up the defense with tanks. The main focus for the ground vehicles will be to retake any of the outposts quickly before reinforcements can spawn and secure the sites. A good combination of fast moving Lightnings and a few of your empire-specific heavy tanks will provide the best defense. The quick Lightnings should support the initial battles first. If the attackers are able to drop troops or take an outpost, the heavy tanks will lay down heavy artillery fire; support them with a manned gunner to take out any Heavy Assault or MAXs taking cover inside the structures of the outposts. Engineers are critical to sustain a defense as they can quickly repair ground vehicles, which help maintain the defending empire's ability to react to outpost attacks. Given the very open field of battle at the Bio Lab base, the ground vehicles need to be careful not to run over their engineering support.

The ground vehicles should be on the lookout for any Sunderers attempting to park and set up shop. These should be the focal point for the defense to eliminate, especially if one is parked at the building directly beneath the air landing pads where the energy elevators can send troops right up into the dome.

Air Vehicle
The air support simply defends the skies from other air support and aids in attacking any ground vehicles. The air vehicle terminals are very easy to access from inside the dome. This enables the quick flying air vehicles to initiate aerial dogfights with any incoming air attackers. The main goal is to focus damage on any Galaxy attempting to drop reinforcement troops on the outposts. When not engaged in air to air combat the best vehicle for this defense will be the empire specific fighter craft. They have the best mix of air speed and damage for both air to air and air to ground combat.

Avoidance
The avoidance strategy involves ignoring the Bio Lab and attacking the outposts around the Bio Lab to cut off all spawns before actually engaging the Bio Lab. In any non-Amerish Bio Lab there're rooms that will continue to allow you to spawn even if the facility has been lost and completely cut off. Due to these rooms, it's commonplace to find a large number of players on your faction sunk in the dome. If you have any friends, an even remotely cohesive squad, an active bastion or any other excuse, avoid any non-Amerish Bio Labs at any cost.

If the enemy is using the Bio Lab as a spawning point, place landmines 5 meters from the landing section of the jump pad and tank mines around the base of the dome to prevent easy Sunderer spawning. If necessary, use the jump pads to quickly reposition from one surrounding outpost to another. If you are in a cohesive squad, allow solo players to attack the dome once it has lost its connection to the warpgate or to hold the air vehicle spawn platform for jump-pad transportation while you protect the surrounding outposts.

If you have access to faction leader chat, watch for high population in non-important, non-Amerish Bio Labs and suggest the players move to more lucrative outposts.

Advanced Offensive Strategies
Outfits, or newly grouped players, need to coordinate on a very large scale in PlanetSide 2. As a group of players form up and decide on a Bio Lab as their objective, there are three basic approaches to infiltrating and capturing the Bio Lab. In all these scenarios players should join together as a squadron to gain all the advantages in coordination and communication that a squadron can support.

Gain control of Outpost and Assault through Teleporters
Starting from a Warpgate or a recently captured Outpost can leverage this method. A ground assault force with a mixture of Heavy Assault, Combat Medics, Engineers, and Light Assault should group up with at least one Sunderer, several Lightning tanks, and a few empire specific heavy tanks. Over voice or chat communications, the squadron should create this envoy and ready it to move out. Once fully loaded and equipped, the envoy should proceed together led by the armor class vehicles toward the outpost in the Bio Lab area linked by their empire's controlled roads and thus supply lines.

Upon arriving at the Outpost, be prepared to encounter several levels of defense. Sometimes there will not be any defenders, other times there will be many. The first target will be to control the ground with the armor in two ways. First, eliminate enemy vehicles and create a line between the dome and the outpost. Second, provide suppressive fire with heavy artillery and gunfire through the doors and windows of the buildings. The primary target should be the spawn building, with the secondary target being the teleporter building in order to push back enemy infantry. Then the infantry should deploy from the Sunderer and begin to capture the control point by clearing the inside of the building. Once captured, this control point does not impact the influence on the capture of the Bio Lab; however, it does give access to a spawn point that is easier to defend than a Sunderer. It also provides access to vehicle terminals. More importantly, this outpost now connects via a teleport system to the interior of the Bio Lab where shields defend re-materializing on the Bio Lab side. Depending on the type of Biolab there may be jump gates that send players to the air support pads. After the outpost is flipped the sunder should move right next to the jump gate or teleporter room. It will save time running to the jump gate or teleporter.

At this point the squadron should send MAXs, Heavy Assault, and Engineers through the teleporter/jump gate and push through the shields to create a foothold capable of pushing back defending infantry. Multiply this effect based on capturing more than one Outpost. Bio Labs with more than one Outpost, such as Allatum, optimize this strategy since this method eliminates a spawn point once the SCU is taken out. Additionally, multiple fronts in the dome create chaos and split the lines of defense. The drawback of this method is that it can take some long grueling battles to win because the assault on the Outpost will draw attention and give time for reinforcement troops to arrive.

Assault via Energy Lifts with Ground Vehicles
Starting from a Warpgate or a recently captured Outpost can leverage this method. Be sure the territory adjacent to the Bio Lab is controlled by your empire. A ground assault force with a mixture of Heavy & Light Assault, Combat Medics, Engineers, and MAXs should group up with at least one Sunderer, several Lightning tanks and a few empire specific heavy tanks. Over voice or chat communications the squadron should create this envoy and ready it for moving out. Once fully loaded and equipped, the envoy should proceed together led by the armor class vehicles toward the next Outpost in the Bio Lab area linked by their factions controlled roads and thus supply lines. This method is best employed when attacking a Bio Lab with a few outposts and with speed. Maintaining the element of surprise and speed is important so that the enemy cannot move reinforcement troops in.

First, the Lightning and heavy tanks lead the envoy directly toward the Bio Lab. The tanks should engage and destroy any enemy tanks patrolling directly beneath the Bio Lab dome. The Sunderer should quickly drive into the same area following the tanks and park directly inside the small structure housing the energy lifts to the air support pads. The driver should be sure to deploy the Sunderer on the side that keeps the structure between it and the center of the Bio Lab where the enemy vehicle terminals can spawn more tanks. The Lightning tanks and heavy tanks should patrol around the structure to protect the Sunderer, keeping a watchful eye on the energy shields that protect the enemy vehicle terminals. Additionally, the tanks should be aware of which outposts are enemy owned as enemy tanks could move in from that direction. Be sure the tanks stay patrolling underneath the dome as the cover will make it difficult for enemy air support to engage the ground vehicles.

Once the Sunderer is deployed, the troops must quickly deploy and take the energy lifts.The MAXs should lead the way quickly followed by Engineers to setup turrets and support heals to the MAXs. The Heavy and Light Assault quickly follow to reinforce the foothold created by the MAX and turret firepower. The Light and Heavy Assault troops can then begin pushing through the front line. Typically the dome entrance can make a choke point for this battle. If executed correctly this could be minimal as the enemy has not reinforced troops and the attackers can quickly begin infiltrating the base and taking control of terminals and overloading the SCU.

Assault via hot drop from a Galaxy
This method is easiest to assemble at the Warpgate. Be sure that the planned Bio Lab for the assault has your empire-controlled territory adjacent to the Bio Lab; it will aid in the Influence and supply line for that facility takeover. First, assemble an Outfit or squadron to board a Galaxy ship. Use the voice or chat communication at the Warpgate to gather troops in the Galaxy. Additionally be sure additionally squadrons are creating Liberators and your empire specific light fighter aircraft. These vehicles will clear airspace for the Galaxy. Load up the Galaxy with a mixture of MAXs, Engineers, Combat Medics, and Heavy and Light Assault troops. This strategy is best used on Bio Labs without a defending wall as the towers on the wall are equipped with turrets capable of shooting aircraft out of the sky.

When fully loaded and ready, its time for liftoff. The Galaxy should lead the air fleet from the Warpgate to the Bio Lab. At this stage enemy controlled towers and Outposts could shoot down the Galaxy. Avoid this enemy fire by maintaining high altitude and traveling over your empire-controlled territory. Additionally, the Liberators and light fighters will fly escort similar to fighter jets escorting air force one. These fighters will take out any enemy fighters foolish enough to engage the fleet.

As the fleet nears the Bio Lab, the Galaxy should slow to allow the Liberator and fighters to clear an outpost for landing. When the outpost is clear, fly the Galaxy  ship at a high altitude directly above the outpost and allow the pilot to eject the crew for an air drop. A good pilot should be able to do this quickly and in a way that allows the squad to land at the control point. The squad quickly focuses at the control point and digs in under cover to defend. Once control is gained the entire empire can spawn there and begin assaulting using teleporters or jump gates. The best use of this strategy is employed when a distant outpost can split the enemy defense forces creating two fronts.

The supporting aircraft should circle the dome once the Galaxy has landed to defend against enemy ships. Remember there are landing pads for enemy troops to deploy air vehicles. If shot down, it won’t be a total loss as infiltrators can hack the terminals and let pilots grab another vehicle.

Advanced Defensive Strategy
The best way to coordinate a strong defense is to create fire teams through squads and outfits. A smaller force can hold its own fairly well at this facility through coordinated tactical use of the choke points. An uncoordinated force can hold the line for a long time with the use of the choke points. The coordination comes into play when weaknesses in the front line occur or infiltrators sneak past to draw defenders away from the front line. There will come times when the SCU or SGU are being overloaded thus requiring players to leave the front line. Designating a fire team as one squadron that can leave the front line to address these flare ups while the majority of the force and even non coordinated players can stay fortified on these choke points. Consider these fire teams like cleanup crews when a mess needs mopping up. The potentially more useful reason for the fire teams are to push back an attack when a lapse in the attacking waves occur.

Push Back the Air Support Pads
The attacking force can gain a foothold on the air support pads sending more players up the lifts. These players can keep defenders under cover inside the dome even with the use of fighters. When the defense successfully pushes back an advance and a clear window opens, MAXs equipped with anti-air and anti-infantry weapons should step out on the pad to take out enemy fighters and retake the foothold from the attackers. Heavy Assault and Engineer turrets should move out on the pads and take cover on the outer rim of the dome for cover. This will allow defenders to take out attackers even before their feet touch down on the pad from the energy lifts. Heavy Assault can even then begin laying waste to enemy ground vehicles below.

Get Back the Ground
The attacking force can pin down the defense at the ground vehicle terminals at the center of the facility. Once the ground level is cleared by the enemy they can successful camp with turrets aimed at the shields. These tanks can easily pick off players and tanks one by one as they exit the shields. A coordinated group of Engineers and Heavy Assault can time a blitz of tanks and missile fire launching all four of the vehicle terminals with the empire specific heavy tank. Staging players ready for a second wave as well as using the engineers to repair any of the initial damage taken from the first wave. The intent is to overwhelm the camping forces and retake the ground under the dome. Coordinating both the number and timing will require an active squad using voice comms. After retaking the ground under the dome, the next step will be to retake any outposts and go on the offensive.

Pin Down the Teleporters
Once an attacking force secures an outpost the linked teleporter becomes a new front line. Engineers, Heavy Assault, Combat Medics, and MAXs need to pin down attackers inside the teleporter rooms protected by energy shields. The Engineers need to setup turrets directly outside the line of fire from the shield door of the teleporter room. They open fire across the doorway once players step out. They are still vulnerable from enemy fire directly in view of the doorway. The Heavy Assault should keep a steady stream of rocket fire at the shield when infantry gets close. The explosions can still cause limited damage through the energy shield. This is costly in terms of rocket ammo which is why engineers should keep ammo replenishment coming. The MAXs will be on the ready should enemy MAXs decide to make a push. All this activity holds the line until the facility is successfully defended thus flipping the Outpost ownership to the defense thus giving access to the teleporter back to the defending empire. This entire defense force then needs to head through the teleporter to begin an offensive mop up activity to clear the outpost while the enemy can no longer re-spawn.

Media
Bio Lab