One new massive multiplayer PvP arena game is Diep.io, which ditches the total simplicity seen in the previously mentioned games and instead introduces stat points and classes for players to mess around with.

That sounds good, right? Diep.io is quite a bit different from Agar.io and Slither.io.

For one, you control a tank in Diep.io. You can shoot with the left mouse button, which you should do often – you have to shoot square, triangle, and pentagonal obstacles to farm up EXP to level up. 

With each level up to 30, you get a stat point. Each stat point is precious and will vastly change the way you play, as will class changes. Players can change their class the first time at level 15, and will be able to do so again at a later levels.

What makes this unique is that each time you play is different depending on the stats and class(es) you choose. If you pump stat points into Movement Speed, you’ll be significantly faster than tanks that have not. If you put points into Bullet Penetration, your shots will be able to go through more obstacles, other tanks, and bullets at a time. Each stat brings its own benefits.

The classes themselves are vastly different from one another in terms of capabilities. For instance Snipers can see a little further and have longer shots, but don’t reload quickly. On the other hand, Flank Guard is more maneuverable and can shoot from the front and back but fires weaker shots. The other classes (along with their subclasses) vary just as much.

The Diep.io developer has been pushing changes to the game all weekend and hasn’t seemed to find a way to balance it yet – the game is very unbalanced – but the groundwork is fun and hopefully will be melded into something that can compete with the big dogs like Agar.io.

Here are a few tips before you get started.

Diep.io tips

Shoot backwards from the direction you’re moving for additional speed. The recoil on your shots propels you when shot behind and slows you down when shot ahead (Note: Flank Guard goes faster when you’re shooting forward. ) Take the time to farm instead of trying to fight other players. High level players have a huge advantage over low levels and it’s not worth trying to fight early on. The leaderboard is sorted by how many kills each player on the map has (for the time being). Those pink triangles that home in on you occasionally are homing shots from another player. Your first class change is at level 15. You stop getting stat points every level around level 30, instead you’ll start getting them every two or three levels until you hit max. Accept you’re going to be spending a lot of time running away at early levels.

What stats do

Health Regen - Increases the amount of health you regenerate. You only regenerate health after haven’t gotten hit for some time. Max Health - Increases your maximum health so you can take more hits. Body Damage - Increases the damage dealt when you ram into an enemy or obstacle with your body. Bullet Speed - Increases the speed at which your bullets fly. Bullet Penetration - Increases the amount of bullets, obstacles, and enemies your bullets can pass through at a time. Bullet Damage - Increases the amount of damage each bullet does. Reload - Increases your firing speed. Movement Speed - Increases how fast you move.

Diep.io is brand spanking new and even this weekend has undergone a lot of changes. The information you see may not even be relevant next week, but it is now and the game is fresh and fun. It’s going to be interesting to see how it changes over the coming weeks.