The storm, also called The Cycle, is a game mechanic in The Cycle: Frontier. The weather on Fortuna III is unpredictable and dangerous, with it fluctuating between clear skies and pitch-black storm. The storm lasts a total of 
4min 40sec.
Mechanics
The storm is preceded by a period of cloudy skies and rain. Five minutes before the storm starts every Prospector in that Instance will get a warning that the storm will start in five minutes. This happens again at one minute before the start of the storm. Ten minutes before the start of the storm no new Prospector will drop on the map until the storm ends.
The storm is split into two phases:
- Storm (180s)
- Storm Peak (100s)
During the entire storm it becomes pitch-black and therefore hard to see. When the Storm reaches the Storm Peak period, lightning will strike more often.
Evac
During the storm, Prospectors cannot call an Evac Ship at an Evac location. Ships called before the storm started will still land during the storm.
Lightning
Lightning will strike during the storm. There are two types of lightning:
- Lighting that strikes around the position of a player. A warning animation will play for ~1sec, and then the lightning will strike that location. If it hits the player, it deals roughly 50 damage. It deals less damage the farther away the player is from the center of the lightning strike. Lightning damage is mitigated by the armor you're wearing.
- Lightning that strikes a point outside the map, which lights up the entire map for a few seconds. This happens roughly every 20 seconds.
Lore
The Teratomorphic Energy Field, more commonly known as The Cycle, is a hazardous radiation effect that encompasses the entire planet of Fortuna III, though there exist 'windows' that allow for humans, and their technology, to operate without suffering the worst effects.
Initially only causing delicate equipment to malfunction, each wave, found to be following a predictable cadence, increased in intensity until basic machinery failed entirely and colonists were left unconscious for the duration. Less than a month after the colonies were evacuated the energy field settled over the entire world, with its ebb and flow causing terrible storms over the areas not fully covered by The Cycle.
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