Invasion

"defend your island against attacking enemies"

- In-game description

Invasion is the main gamemode in Island Wars 2 and Island Wars 2 Xmas. It is completely unique to these games, the only element being ported over from the original Island Wars being the cannon itself.

Rules
3 rules can be set in total:


 * Play... - Determines if the game will be single-player or multiplayer with another person at the same device.
 * Difficulty - Determines the toughness of the waves and the number of palm trees the players have to defend

UveDX8/UveXX versions:

5 palm trees in Very Easy

4 palm trees in Easy

3 palm trees in Normal

2 palm trees in Hard

1 palm tree in Very Hard

UveUDX versions:

10 palm trees in Very Easy

8 palm trees in Easy

6 palm trees in Normal

4 palm trees in Hard

2 palm trees in Very Hard


 * In-game help - Determines if gameplay tips will be shown during gameplay. Can be ticked or unticked.

Gameplay
Upon starting the game, the player will be presented with a series of waves, where they will have to protect their palm trees from the incoming different types of enemies. Each enemy has different HP values and attack methods (some don't attack at all) There are 50 waves in total, with every tenth wave featuring the same boss. The game ends when either all 50 waves are completed, or what all of the player's palm trees are destroyed.

During gameplay, the player can be aided by bonuses in the form of small balloons that they have to shoot down. Every bonus last for the wave it was acquired on Special weapons that have a set ammo that cannot reload can also appear in falling supply crates.

Ending
If the game ends by the player's palm tree(s) getting shot down, a text saying "Game over!" will appear, and after a while the screen fades out (the player can still earn points inbetween the text appearing and the fadeout itself), followed by the "cease fire" screen, after which the camera pans to the player's island. They are then given a rating, dependant on the settings they played against and the mutators used, with which they can enter the leaderboards. If the game ends by the last enemy of the 50th wave disappearing, the player is greeted by a text congratulating them. The screen then fades out and the ending continues as in the case of a game over.

In the demo version, you can only play the first 10 waves. After defeating the zeppelin, the game will automatically end with a game over.

Mutators
All mutators can be used in this gamemode, except for Bouncy Bombs and PX-35 "Palmkillers", which have no significance in gameplay, but still lower ratings.

Waves
Information for all fifty waves is here.

Strategies
''"this gamemode is probably the most complex out of them all. there's a lot to pay attention to during gameplay, but i'd say the most important thing is that you almost shoot down the closest attacker enemy to you first, then occupy with the rest, because slip-ups can always happen and you can't really save yourself when the attack is a millimeter away, no matter how good your aim is at the end of the day. on the topic of weapons, i'd say there is no objective best, but if your aim isn't that good, i don't reccommend you aim-based weapons like the rockets or the laser. on the other hand, everyone can and should use autocannon because its mostly spam-to-win. also, be sure to pay attention to not pick up any bonuses on the end of a wave - since they won't apply in the next wave -, instead wait for the next one and then shoot them down, unless they're on the very edge of the screen since the game can randomly zoom in and boom there goes your precious point cluster. with a good enough aim, stamina and attention span, it is possible to tackle all 50 waves, although rng can sometimes be in your favour as well :p good luck have fun!"''

- TheGreatestRoman111

Trivia

 * This is the only gamemode when the cannon doesn't have a blaster energy by default, since only weapons other than the main one (basic bullets) have a set ammo.