Adversarial

Adversarial is one of the two Mission supertypes in ShackTac (the other being Cooperative). An Adversarial mission pits two or more separate teams of players against one another, rather than against the AI. When more than three Sides are present, the dynamics between them may vary wildly, but there will be at least one player team working strictly to defeat another player team.

Adversarial missions require splitting players into more than one group, so each group is likely to be about half the size of the maximum allowed on the server or required by the mission. Nevertheless, the size of two different Sides may be deliberately lopsided to give one side a numerical advantage, while the other side receives other advantages such as defensive positions or high-tech gear. Adversarial missions rarely feature heavy vehicles on either side, though some Adversarial missions have featured Transport Helicopters, CAS Littlebirds, or even Tank on Tank combat.

Adversarial missions typically do not feature any type of Reinforcements, and REJIPs are not allowed. Most Adversarial missions have had a strict format of one Side simply attacking an area held by the other Side, with the intent to wipe them all out or get killed in the process. Such missions end only if one side is indeed wiped out, or if the survivors of one side decide (and manage) to flee the battlefield.

On the other hand, there have been multiple Adversarial missions over the years that worked on a highly unique premise and conditions, including the famous Dark Business and Caesar Merlin. In these missions, the victory conditions are more complex, and success can be graded according to several variables. Both missions feature at least three Sides, each with its own goals (which may or may not overlap).

Since 2017, ShackTac has stopped featuring Adversarial missions in their videos, and seem to have stopped playing them altogether. Public comments made by Dslyecxi indicate that ShackTac's mission designers have been working on making these missions more balanced (likely to ensure that all players enjoy the mission as equally as possible), though as of 2019 there has been no further word on progress in this matter.