The standard game mode of the game. It has no rank requirements to play it and pits 2 players of opposing factions directly against each other. It comes in 3 variations which are Confrontation, Domination, and Maneuvers.
Confrontation: It's basically a Deathmatch, destroy all enemy buildings and you win
Domination: Conquer Flags spread around the map to gather Control Points. The one who fills up their Control Points first wins the battle. You can also destroy the enemy base to win as well. Flags also provide between 3 to 10% additional attack in their area of influence and between 3 and 5% increased total resource production.
Maneuvers: The map is filled with Flags like in Domination which provide the same benefits. There are no Control Points though which makes this a Deathmatch game mode in which map control is key.
Each time you play you will play one of these 3 modes, it will be randomly chosen by the game. It is possible to exclude Domination and Maneuvers as possible game modes but will result in the battle reward being decreased by 20%. If you want to exclude them without this decrease in income, you can either buy the Starter Pack or permanently switch to 2v2s after you reach rank 10 as this game mode consists only of Confrontation Style battles.
This game mode is unlocked at rank 7 pits you and a partner against a huge AI-controlled base. The goal is to "simply" destroy the AI's base which can prove to be quite challenging when it starts to send huge armies after you. The AI is always of the opposite faction and has a tendency to use a lot of Cyclones / Dragonflies (which one depends on the faction), something that human players rarely do. Skirmish maps usually change every second week with a 1-day cooldown between them.
After the end of one skirmish, a leaderboard is published, showing which teams defeated the AI in the shortest amount of time. The 50 best teams receive a reward and the best 10 teams also get a medal, which is visible in their player profile forever.
Players are separated into leagues based on their player rank. Each league has its own leaderboard and rewards.
Known Skirmish Maps are Bloody Shore, Forgotten Post, Forty Roads, Icy Mountains, and more.
This game mode unlocked at rank 10 (often abbreviated as 2v2) is basically a PvP Confrontation match, just with 2 teams of 2 of the same faction facing each other. The matchmaking is based around the strongest player of each pair and is NOT limited to different factions which means Confederation against Confederation or Resistance against Resistance battles are possible as well.
Every player has access to a team chat which also includes premade map markers to quicken communication. These premade map markers also make communication with players who don't share your language easier.