Published , by Kevin Tucker
Published , by Kevin Tucker
Considering all its amusing quirks and complex combat, maybe we shouldn't be surprised that Dead or Alive 6 has a weird way of unlocking costumes. Since there's no character creation in the game, customizing fighters is the only way for DOA6 fans to showcase their style. However, the way the game handles outfit unlocks will likely keep players sporting default costumes for quite some time. Given the proper amount of time, however, players will gradually earn the Pattern Points and Player Points they need to unlock costumes in Dead or Alive 6. Here's how the process works.
The method to unlock costumes in Dead or Alive 6 is a little complicated. First, players earn Pattern Points which go toward individual character costume unlocks. Once the proper amount of Pattern Points has been acquired, the costume is then available for purchase using Player Points. Essentially, this means players have to unlock costumes in Dead or Alive 6 twice: once by collecting Pattern Points, then a second time by spending Player Points.
We know, it's confusing. To make matters worse, the Pattern Points that players earn cannot be allocated manually: they simply dump into random costumes for random characters. There's no way to tell the game to spend Pattern Points on certain costumes, meaning there is no option for players to manually unlock costumes in Dead or Alive 6. Instead, they'll have to keep earning Pattern Points and eventually the costumes they desire will be unlocked.
Once costumes have been unlocked, of course, they can then be purchased at will. There's no obligation to spend Player Points on unwanted costumes, even if the game decided to put Pattern Points toward them automatically. Once the notification window states that a costume has been unlocked, simply head over to the Wardrobe in DOA Central and spend the requisite amount of Player Points to purchase the outfit. After that, the costume will available to use in any other gameplay mode.
By far the quickest way to earn Pattern Points in Dead or Alive 6 is by playing through missions in DOA Quest mode. Given that there's no way for gamers to distribute Pattern Points themselves, the quickest way to unlock costumes is coincidentally the quickest way to earn Pattern Points: by grinding through DOA Quest missions.
Each mission in DOA Quest offers a set number of Pattern Points upon completion, usually an amount between 200 and 500 Pattern Points. Many of the DOA Quest missions are short, too, involving challenges as simple as holding five mid punches or taking out the final fighter with a Break Blow. Others are more substantial, including several long survival-style fights, but those missions usually offer the highest amount of Pattern Points.
As Pattern Points are distributed among costumes randomly, players would be wise to go after DOA Quest missions that offer the lowest value of Pattern Points first. As far as we know, any Pattern Points that go over individual costume unlock requirements vanish forever, so if 500 points are earned and put toward a 100-point unlock, those other 400 points are wasted. Again, players have no way to avoid this behavior. Instead, they can try to avoid it by playing low-value missions and unlocking low-value costumes first; that way the bigger rewards go toward the bigger unlocks, making the most effective use out of any earned Pattern Points.
Character customization is a big component to any fighting game, which makes it a drag that Dead or Alive 6 requires such a grind to unlock costumes. Still, earning Pattern Points is easy enough, and by the time costumes have unlocked, players will have earned more than enough Player Points to purchase new outfits. Keep on top of other must-know DOA6 guides by heading over to Shacknews' Dead or Alive 6 home page.