THIS WILL BE UPDATED FOR THE NEW DROP PADS AFTER 9/24

Why am I writing this guide?

Hello all, I am Paradigm! You may have seen me on the in game, on the forums or on reddit under Paradigm_CG. I'm a very active member of the forum community and a regular player of Gotham Divided.

With the recent launch of the open beta, I've been seeing more and more new players joining the game, which is really exciting. However, I've also been seeing many veterans getting frustrated at the newer players for picking up the spawned drop pads in base. The players picking them up use them clumsily and obviously do not understand their function very well. This is a huge shame, because it's my opinion that this mechanic is really what makes Gotham Divided a unique and fun map.

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Explanation of the terms and general information about them.

Before we do anything, we need to make sure we're on the same page with terminology. The drop pads are the objects that certain jungle camps drop. When you kill a jungle camp it will give you a one-time-use "tactical skill" back in base. This "tactical skill" is bound by default to the keyboard key "T." You only need to kill the jungle camp to get the pad, you do not need to pick up the temporary buff that the monster drops. This is a very important concept to understand, because if the enemy team steals the kill, they get the pad.

There are three different types of drop pad: Speed, EMP and Health. Each of these have two different jungle camps that drop them (the monsters who drop them are called "Destroyers". One on each side of the map. The Health and Speed Destroyers are in the jungle, and the EMP Destroyers are in lane. I will be more specific in later stages of the guide.

Each drop pad can be upgraded to a second level of effectiveness, as well as altering the style a little for both the Speed and Health pads. Again, I'll be more specific in the following sections. Once you pick up a tactical skill, be it a drop pad, a ward, a Raider tower or a Leviathan skill (Raider, ward and Leviathan will not be addressed in this guide) you have it until you use it or die. If you pick up something new, what you were holding will be erased so be careful! If you die holding anything but the Raider and Leviathan skills, they will be gone forever. Be careful!

How to get them?

I stated this in the about paragraphs, but it deserves its own section. To get the Drop Pads takes two steps:
1. Your team must land a killing blow one of the specific Destroyer mobs: Speed Destroyer, Health Destroyer, and the EMP Destroyer.
2. You must pick up the "tactical skill" from your base. They are behind where you spawn, each on a pedestal.

At "level one" the pickups look like:
[list]

The EMP looks like a white circle with electricity inside of it.

The Health looks like a big green plus sign.

The Speed looks like a yellow lightning bolt.
[/list]
At "level two" the pickups look like:
[list]

The EMP looks like a white circle with electricity inside of it. It is noticeably larger than the level 1 EMP.

The Health looks like a big green plus sign. It will have a circle around it and smaller plus signs floating around.

The Speed looks like a yellow lightning bolt. It will have a circle around it and a ball orbiting it.
[/list]

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Specific Information about the Health Pad and the Health Emitter

OK, you've picked up your first Health Pad, or Health Emitter and you're ready to use it! But first there are few things you need to know:
[list]

I assume this would be obvious, but just in case... You walk on it to get the heal effect for the level 1. For the level 2 you need to be in the field.

Hover over the new tactical skill you got (located around the right side of your abilities bar, above your "R" ability. Read it. Take it in. Look at your minimap. Notice the ridiculous range it has. That is not you seeing things, you can drop this baby across a third of the map.

While reading notice that the pad has a drop delay and does scaling true-damage when it lands. This is a big part of the ability and separates the good use from the great use. Through practice you will eventually be able to snipe running enemies, snipe objectives, save running teammates and even turn the tides of a fight!

The level one Health Pad is around for a set amount of time (last I checked it was three minutes) or three uses. The enemy players and drones cannot affect this thing at all. They can't steal it and use it, they can't destroy it. It's safe.

The level two Health Pad becomes the Health Emitter. This is around for a much shorter set amount of time and can be destroyed by the enemy team. The advantage to this, more fragile, more transient version is that it provides a large AoE heal for your entire team that is in it. This should be saved for team-fights and sieging, not wasted on a one-on-one.
[/list]
Below are some examples of good use of the Health Pad (level 1)
[list]

Simply dropping it in your lane to heal up if you're low on health.

During a fight try to drop it on the enemy player. It's really useful if you're a ranged character and they are melee. Drop it on yourself so they have to take the damage or get out of range to damage you!

Use it to steal EMP if they are doing it. Timing is hard, but EMP is worth more than a Health Pad.

Drop it in front of an ally when they are being chased.

Drop it on an enemy in another lane for a surprise assist! (you get kills and assists from the damage, but not the heal)

Snipe running away enemies!

Deal damage to towers. Drop pads hurt towers, too. Neat, huh? Be careful with this one because you'll have a hard time getting to the pad to use it to heal.
[/list]
Below are some examples of good use of the Health Emitter(level 2)
[list]

You and your team are pushing a tower and you're taking a lot of damage from harassment. Use this to keep your health up while chipping away at them and their tower!

Teamfights! Hugely helpful in team fights.

Drop it on a tower to deal damage when planning a group tower-dive. Preferably coordinate an EMP drop with your team (EMP is explained later)

Great for securing Leviathan, as it is very challenging to defeat. Remember to drop it on the monster for extra damage!
[/list]

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Specific Information about the Speed Pad and the Speed Emitter

OK, you've picked up your first Speed Pad, or Speed Emitter and you're ready to use it! But first there are few things you need to know:
[list]

I assume this would be obvious, but just in case... You walk on it to get the heal effect for the level 1. For the level 2 you need to be in the field.

The level 1 Speed Pad only increases your movement speed. The level 2 Speed Emitter increases both movement speed and attack speed, but the buff is lost immediately after leaving the field.

Hover over the new tactical skill you got (located around the right side of your abilities bar, above your "R" ability. Read it. Take it in. Look at your minimap. Notice the ridiculous range it has. That is not you seeing things, you can drop this baby across a third of the map.

While reading notice that the pad has a drop delay and does scaling true-damage when it lands. This is a big part of the ability and separates the good use from the great use. Through practice you will eventually be able to snipe running enemies, snipe objectives, save running teammates and even turn the tides of a fight!

The level one Speed Pad is around for a set amount of time (last I checked it was three minutes) or three uses. The enemy players and drones cannot affect this thing at all. They can't steal it and use it, they can't destroy it. It's safe.

The level two Speed Pad becomes the Speed Emitter. This is around for a much shorter set amount of time and can be destroyed by the enemy team. The advantage to this, more fragile, more transient version is that it provides a large AoE movement speed and attack speed buff for your entire team that is in it. This should be saved for team-fights and sieging, not wasted on a one-on-one.
[/list]
Below are some examples of good use of the Speed Pad (level 1)
[list]

Chasing an enemy. Try to hit them with it. At the very least use it so it lands in your path so you don't need to go out-of-your-way to get it!

During a fight try to drop it on the enemy player. It's really useful if you're a ranged character and they are melee. Drop it on yourself so they have to take the damage or get out of range to damage you!

Use it when engaging on an enemy! If you drop it out of their vision and run in extra fast they have less time to react, which is good!

Use it to steal EMP if they are doing it. Timing is hard, but EMP is worth more than a Speed Pad.

Drop it in front of an ally when they are being chased.

Drop it on an enemy in another lane for a surprise assist! (you get kills and assists from the damage, but not the deal)

Snipe running away enemies!

Deal damage to towers. Drop pads hurt towers, too. Neat, huh? Be careful with this one because you'll have a hard time getting to the pad to use it to move faster.

Remember that Flash gets bonus Power Damage from bonus movement speed. Including from the Speed Pad.
[/list]
Below are some examples of good use of the Speed Emitter(level 2)
[list]

You and your team are pushing a tower. Use it when you know you'll have some time to hit the tower. The increased attack speed really helps make those towers melt.

Teamfights! Hugely helpful in team fights.

Drop it on a tower to deal damage when planning a group tower-dive. Preferably coordinate an EMP drop with your team (EMP is explained later).

Great for securing Leviathan, as it is very challenging to defeat. Remember to drop it on the monster for extra damage!
[/list]

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Specific Information about the EMP Pad

OK, you've picked up your first EMP Pad and you're ready to use it! But first there are few things you need to know:
[list]

This is unlike the other two pads because instead of helping you it cripples the enemy team. The primary usage for this is to disable towers for a period of time. It also can disable drones, jungle camps, Leviathan, Raider and player minions (e.g. Star Sapphire's ultimate).

The EMP is of much higher strategic importance than the others, so be careful when using them. Ideally let the more experienced players handle them until you understand when best to use them!

Hover over the new tactical skill you got (located around the right side of your abilities bar, above your "R" ability. Read it. Take it in. Look at your minimap. Notice that the range on the EMP drop is much shorter than the other two! This is because it is much more powerful than the other two.

While reading notice that the pad has a drop delay and does scaling true-damage when it lands. This is a big part of the ability and separates the good use from the great use. Unlike the other two, however, the difference is that you almost always use the damage to hurt the tower and not the players. Try to do both but the priority is the tower.

Another difference is that the EMP's two tiers do not give a bonus effect, rather it increases the duration. Level 1 is 4 seconds and level 2 is 8 seconds.

All levels of the EMP can be destroyed by enemy auto attacks! Be careful that a dive doesn't go sour!

Avoid using it until you know you'll be able to get a good amount of damage in. Wait for waves with cannon drones.

Useful for picking up kills by coordinating a gank / dive. Drop the EMP on the tower and you have 4 / 8 seconds to do your dirty work.
[/list]

Below are some examples of good use of the EMP Pad (level 1)
[list]

Killing towers. Seems obvious, but this is the main usage of the EMP. Killing towers, in the end, is the real goal of the game (For you pedants, the real goal is killing the Power Core, but you need to kill towers to do so).

Tower diving. Remember that these are very strategically valuable, so only do it if you know you're going to get the kill. Make sure you hit the tower with it. Drop it right on it for extra tower damage.

If the enemy team forces a fight under their towers, drop the EMP so you can fight back!

You can use an EMP to do an early Raider with your jungler. Ideally you wouldn't need it, though.

Star Sapphire's ultimate is very dangerous. If they have a fed Star Sapphire don't be afraid to drop it in a teamfight! I've seen it win games!
[/list]
Below are some examples of good use of the EMP Pad (level 2)
[list]

Same as level 1, but with a heavier focus on tower killing. An 8 second EMP is a pretty big deal and can allow a well coordinated group to kill a tower even without drones around, hardening be damned.
[/list]

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My personal opinions and musings

This guide works for everyone. I feel that I've covered enough of the basics that it can be helpful for everyone except those who have figured this all out for themselves. However, the target audience is the "initiated newbie." The player that has general mechanics down and understands the game enough to know that they won't immediately die and waste the tactical skill for their team. It's for a player that cares enough to get better and wants to win.

Please take this guide with a grain of salt. Just like anything, situations will come up where you can't use it optimally. Sometimes you die carrying a level 2 EMP. It's not the end of the world. If you realize that dying with a level 2 EMP is a bad thing, you're already improving.

Also, this may shed some light on why some people are so rude in game when a newbie uses the pads, especially the EMPs. Turbine's term for these abilities as "tactical skills" is by no means an accident. Players are frustrated when those who are not in a position to use them effectively in a tactical manner take them. Again, especially with the EMPS. I am in no way condoning such behavior, however now you may understand a little bit more why they act that way.

Obviously all feedback is welcome in the comments. I'll do my best to make changes if anyone catches any grammatical or spelling errors. Or even just purely incorrect information.

Thanks for reading.