This is an attempt to build an informational companion to Dr. Shwazz’s tap location guide because that made me realize that while everyone “knows” what taps are and do, nobody seems to have actually compiled the details in one location with the final game tuning. Please expand with what I’m missing.
“Capturing” a tap entails one or more human or A.I. players standing in a corresponding silver (near one shown turning blue) circle(s) for 15 seconds for one player (human or A.I.), or a faster 12 seconds if two players are in the ring. I wasn’t able to wrangle repeatable timing for additional players lol, but more players speed it further.
If all players leave the ring before it’s fully captured, the percentage you’d captured up to that point decays at the same rate as single player acquires it (i.e., after ~15 seconds if it had almost been completely captured), but you can step back in to start acquiring from the current percentage again. If an enemy enters the ring while capturing, progress is immediately reset to 0 and won’t increase until the enemy has left/died.
When you first capture a tap in any Horde mode, all players:
- get instantly healed if injured, regardless of where they are on the map. I unfortunately don’t know numerically how much health is provided, but it’s substantial.
- get a 10% max health bonus (note: I haven’t confirmed this UI number or how exactly it stacks with other buffs). This bonus will exist until the tap is destroyed; until then it doesn’t matter if the tap is less than full health. Each tap cumulatively provides this bonus, so starting Horde Frenzy by capturing the 2 initial taps means 20% max health bonus, 3 taps would grant 30%, and so on.
Thereafter, every time a wave is completed, rotating energy icons will appear above each undestroyed tap, and energy can be collected from it by any player holding one of the tap’s activation buttons continuously for 3 seconds. The energy will be given to every player regardless of who interacted with the tap. Once the end-of-wave energy has appeared above the tap, it can be collected at any time thereafter, between waves or during any subsequent wave, as the energy will not disappear unless the tap is destroyed. But once collected it can’t be consumed again from a given tap until the end of the wave provides the next cycle of energy.
Collecting energy also upgrades the tap to the next level, up to 3 times (max level 4). Immediately upon collection the upgrade grants an additional 5% player max health bonus, and thereafter makes increasing amounts of energy collectable starting at the end of the wave.
The number of rotating energy icons that appear above it equals the level of the tap as shown above. You can also tell the tap’s current upgrade level from the number of cylinders that protrude from the top (in a fixed position when there’s energy to collect, or animated by periodically extending & retracting at other times).
If a tap is destroyed, then recapturing it starts it again at upgrade level 1.
Here’s a table showing the upgrade level of the tap, the health that level provides players, and the energy it will offer at the end of waves:
| Level | Team max health bonus | Energy provided - Horde Frenzy | Energy provided - all other modes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10% | 1500 | 300 |
| 2 | 15% | 1800 | 600 |
| 3 | 20% | 2100 | 900 |
| 4 | 25% | 2400 | 1500 |
Note that the more human players you have, the more energy the taps effectively provide, since each player is given the above amounts. A.I. players do not get tap energy or have their share of tap energy distributed to the team.
Difficulty level and the Power Drain modifier have no direct effect on tap bonuses or the energy the provide.
Periodically (nominally after “boss waves”), an additional tap location will appear. Here’s a table showing the initial and maximum number of taps for each Horde mode with taps, as well as the “schedule” for when they appear.
| Mode | # of Wave 1 tap locations | Additional tap added | Maximum # of taps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boss Rush | 3 initial taps | Every 5 waves | Maximum 4 taps |
| Escape From Kadar | 3 initial taps | Every 5 waves | Maximum 4 taps |
| Horde | 1 initial tap | Every 10 waves | Maximum 4 taps |
| Horde Frenzy | 2 initial taps | Every 4 waves | Maximum 4 taps |
| Horde Mania | 1 initial tap | Every 5 waves | Maximum 4 taps |
| Horde Roulette | 2 initial taps | Every 2 waves | Maximum 5* taps |
| Jingle Juvies | 1 initial tap | Every 10 waves | Maximum 2 taps |
| Mad Man’s Monsters | 1 initial tap | Every 10 waves | Maximum 2 taps |
( * except on the 5 out of 6 tile maps that have only 4 total tap locations - Abyss, Command, Overload, Rail Line, and Turbine )
I don’t have numbers for how much fortification health a tap has. Operation 4/Title Update 5.2 notes indicated that it “Increased Energy Tap health from 4500 to 9000. (Level 4)”, That also seems to imply they have different health at different levels, but I’m unable to measure any such differences in the current game. All tap levels appear to have the same health when controlled damage is done to them.
Engineer perk & card fortification health bonuses do not benefit taps. Similarly, taps aren’t included in the fortifications repaired by Combat Medic’s Team Repair or Robotics Expert’s Precision Repairs. They can only be repaired by a repair tool or Jack’s healing beam.
Other miscellaneous notes:
- When within 10 in-game meters of a tap, Blademaster’s Energy Surge card at level 6 gives her 6 stim every half second, and Robotics Expert’s L6 Homebody card gives him 32% damage resistance.
- If the team wipes on Wave 1 and restarts, any captured taps are destroyed and the initial locations are re-randomized.
- The more taps you capture, the more health bonus given to the team, and the more energy that can be collected. If you’re playing a mode that supports 4 taps, for example, and you’ve captured + maximally upgraded them all, then the team has a 100% (double) maximum health bonus (e.g., considerably more than the 60% of Anchor’s Crazy Tough or Brawler’s Perk Up cards at level 6), and for Horde Frenzy can pull in 9600 energy per wave per player from them (e.g., more than the price of 3 barriers built by a non-engineer under the Power Drain modifier, for each person).
- Conversely, having a level 4 tap destroyed will instantly deprive every player of its 25% max health bonus, which anecdotally can make it seem like enemies suddenly “hit harder” and lead to quickly escalating downs/team wipes.
To see all possible locations and permitted arrangements of energy taps on every map, see the previously linked excellent guide:
