FAQs: Iron Rebellion Basic Gameplay

New to Iron Rebellion or looking to sharpen your fundamentals? This post covers essential gameplay mechanics every pilot should understand — from hosting matches and using mech abilities to pinging targets, managing Mass, and capturing objectives. Master these basics and you’ll win more fights, support your team more effectively, and level up faster.

How does hosting work?

Matches are peer-to-peer hosted. The host’s hardware and connection affect match stability.

You may find that the person hosting is on older equipment that can't quite keep up with the demands. That will lead to poor gameplay for anyone. If you are on older hardware, you can still successfully host a match. The key is to limit the number of bots. If the problem is a poor internet connection, there's really not much you can do to improve the match quality (outside of take steps to improve your connection). If your hardware struggles, leave the lobby so someone else can host.

If the host leaves, the host transfers automatically. When the current host drops out, the game automatically chooses a new host (in order of who has been in the match the longest). It is quite possible to get multiple host changes during a match or while in the lobby. If you stay in a match long enough, you'll find yourself in the lobby with HOST next to your name and everyone looking at you for what's next.

Hosting best practices:

• Change the map unless requested otherwise

• Select map first so players can plan loadouts

• Stick to Conquest or Team Deathmatch for mixed skill groups

• Swap sides occasionally for variety

• Enable bots to maintain balance

• Avoid enabling Custom Slots unless necessary

• Don’t stall the lobby

Why isn’t my camo showing up?

Once you have created and saved your camo (using the tools under the Camo tab), you need to add it to your mech's loadout. You do this in the same place you select class, weapon, and augments. There is a 4th tab in that list called Camo.

How do mech abilities work?

Each mech has one or more special abilities unique to their class. Most require Mass to use. The exception is the Reinforcer mech which can drop Mass/Ammo, Repair Pods, and Turrets. Instead of using Mass, its abilities are on a cooldown timer.

To activate:

• Press A1 / A2 / A3 on the cockpit panel

• Insert the red cartridge to deploy

Exception:

• Breaker airstrike uses the A button to fire at your reticle.

Most abilities require Mass.The Reinforcer class uses cooldowns instead of Mass for its deployables.

Where do I get Mass?

Mass and Ammo come from the same crates (yellow bullet icon).

Mass powers abilities. Ammo reloads weapons.

They are not the same resource, even though they share a source.

Is there friendly fire?

Yes, there is friendly fire. Do not shoot your teammates. Accidents will happen, but do what you can to avoid them.

Be cautious with:

• Breaker airstrikes

• Artillery

• Scoped fire (friendly tags may not display clearly)

  
  

Look for green markers (^) on your HUD before firing explosives.

Why am I moving slowly?

Check for these common causes:

• Ability armed but not deployed

• Repair mode active

• Zoom/scope engaged

• EMP hit (restart switches)

  
  

Any of these will reduce movement speed.

I'm standing on a capture point. Why is it not capturing?

To swing a capture point, there needs to be more of your team on it than the enemy. If you are on the point with an enemy, the capture bar won't move. If you can't see another person, there's a chance that there is a cloaked enemy infiltrator on the point with you.

There's another potential cause, though less likely. If the host player is currently in a disconnecting state and the new host isn't assigned yet, the game won't pause, but many of the mechanics will stop. Capture points stop moving, bots stop shooting, and ammo spawns will be stuck in the sky. This doesn't usually last long, and normality will resume without you having to do anything.

How do I ping targets in Iron Rebellion? Should I?

Use the B button to mark enemy targets or locations. When you do, you’ll get a diamond on your HUD with a relative distance from you. Enemy targets will be red. Other objects will be green.

If you can shoot it, you can ping it. Always ping.

Why you should always ping:

• Shows enemy location to teammates

• Displays distance on your HUD

• Keeps red marker visible even behind cover

• Reveals mech HP and loadout info

• Confirms HOSTILE vs FRIENDLY

Why does their gun work and mine doesn’t? I shot him so much and never killed them!

There are a couple of things at play here. First, try to hit enemy mechs close to their cockpit for maximum damage. You may have hit the other guy, but if you’re hitting legs and he’s hitting center mass, he’s going to win. Second, there is a good chance that they repaired multiple times during the fight or have additional armor. Certain augments allow you to repair faster and carry additional repair pods, giving you additional staying power in a fight.

How do I reload?

Weapons automatically reload when you empty the magazine, but if you want to manually reload before that happens, pull down on the right thumb stick. You will not lose the ammo currently in the magazine. It tops it off.

The Iron Rebellion FAQ guide was created by community member, GenericBeard, as part of a larger community guide on Steam. You can read the rest of the guide here.