Overview
Tired of getting rekt by the big shiny missile launcher? Having nightmares of the scary and OP modules? Look no further, and with these tips, you won’t have fear of the top class weapons in Robocraft.
Basics and such
In this guide, I describe the most economical ways to deal with:
The LOML
The Chain Shredder
The Ion Distorter (hereon known as the shotgun)
The ghost module
The disc shield module
The EMP module
The Blink Module
Ill do my best if people ask for more, but these seem to be the things people rage about in the forums the most (especially the LOML).
This guide also assumes you are a low level player, and are unable to fight fire with fire, and cannot build super complex designs or have access to things above the uncommon rarity. I’ll assume that most readers are using small, ground vehicles with one of the basic weapon types (Lasers, Plasma, or Rails. Feel free to ask for tips if you do something different.)
As such, most of the tips to this guide will be about how to play smart, not build smart. That’s something that will come with time and effort.
The Lock-on missile launcher
Let’s just take the elephant out of the room.
Basically, you’re trying to avoid looking like this sad pack of scrubs:
What the players in this video do wrong is stay in the open. The biggest disadvantage or the LOML is the fact that there’s a giant exclamation point and arrow saying “for the love of god, dodge this!” before the missiles even fire. Too often, you see a poor little robot scurrying in vain for cover as missiles close in. This is tip #1 for not dying to the LOML
1. Always stay near cover.
Now, another characteristic of the LOML is that it’s obscenely huge. Prime strategy number 2 should be obvious:
2. Shoot for the gun!
last but not least, the homing time for the missiles mean that the LOML player has to see you first in order to hit you first. a great way to execute strategy number 2 is to shoot first, and the best way to get initiative is strategy number 3. Chances are your tiny 800 CPU bot isn’t going to stand up to a LOML in a fair fight, so:
3. Always go for the suprise attack!
the chain shredder
The chain shredder places a slightly different challenge than the LOML. The insane burst damage is still there, but that’s about it. The chain shredder almost always will be a ground unit, whereas the LOML is usually air. This opens up more strategies for counterplay, but takes a few away. I don’t have much to say about the chain shredder (since it has not existed in a pre-power nerf enviroment), but I can say that:
1. respect the fact that it can wreck you, and don’t fight head on.
2. Be the smarter player, use the terrain to your advantage.
3. Running is always a viable strategy, since any small bot running a chain shredder will have to be really slow.
The Ion distorter/shotgun
the Shotgun, at first glance, seems to be totally without weakness. It’s weight and size are nowhere near as restricting as the chain shredder, and it can keep up with the instakill feel like the LOML. However, you can give a shotgun player the most frusturating match of their life with this one simple maxim:
1. Keep Your distance
as soon as you see the shotgun, try to stay as far away as possible, while still damaging the enemy robot. If you are a laser robot, it’s a lot safer to retreat to “tapfire” range than to try to optimize damage. The shotgun player can only offer weak resistance to this kind of playstyle, and you should be able to degun the enemy robot before they can approach.
The easy modules
The modules can be the most infuriating thing to a new player if used correctly. They are so far out of reach financially, as well as granting godlike powers to those who have them. Good news is, almost all of them are situational, or unusuable in low cpu matches. When you do run into these “duds”, they are pretty easy to deal with:
For EMP,
1. Just get out of the way.
For Ghost:
1. be aware and alert to the attacks of unstealthing bots, you’ll have time to fight back, since no bot on low CPU with a ghost module can be very well armed.
The disc shield module
This module can be a huge threat to your team. If in the midst of a multiplayer skirmish, one of these should pop down, unaware teammates could get destroyed in the blink of an eye. This is the best response to it:
1. Retreat away from the disc shield, so enemies will have to move forward from it to attack you.
2. If it’s clear your team will be routed (your team doesn’t/didn’t respect the disc shield), retreat fully to the nearest squadron of teammates.
In my opinion, the disc shield is the 2nd best module, because it can totally shut down a multiplayer engagement before it begins. If you know the module is coming, try to alert your team, and avoid commiting to that engagement if it is on open ground.
The Blink module
I hate the blink module. I really do. Out of all the cheese that I’ve seen from my times playing robocraft (from gun-chairs to bombers to ejector seats, i’ve seen it all), I think the blink is easily one of the worst offenders. Mobility is a strong indicator of competitive strength in any game, from the scout in TF2 to Fox in Smash bros. melee, and the ability for any bot to use it creates a massive power plateau for players from pre-having a blink module to post-having a blink module. Really, there isn’t much a low-CPU bot can do to stop a blink bot from running away. My one and only tip for the blink module is:
1.Don’t try to chase for the kill if it’s through the enemy team.
if you were already able to beat the bot into submission (force it to run away with the blink module), then you are worth more than that robot. Going in for the kill, and then dying therefore is a net loss for your team. I know it’s frusturating to let him live, but what can you do?
TL,DR version
LOML:
1. Always stay near cover.
2. Shoot for the gun!
3.3. Always go for the suprise attack!
Chain Shredder:
1. respect the fact that it can wreck you, and don’t fight head on.
2. Be the smarter player, use the terrain to your advantage.
3. Running is always a viable strategy, since any small bot running a chain shredder will have to be really slow.
Shotgun:
1. Keep Your distance
EMP:
1. Just get out of the way.
Ghost:
1. be aware and alert to the attacks of unstealthing bots, you’ll have time to fight back, since no bot on low CPU with a ghost module can be very well armed.
Disc Shield:
1. Retreat away from the disc shield, so enemies will have to move forward from it to attack you.
2. If it’s clear your team will be routed (your team doesn’t/didn’t respect the disc shield), retreat fully to the nearest squadron of teammates.
Blink:
1.Don’t try to chase for the kill if it’s through the enemy team.
Thanks for reading!
If you have any (non-stupid) questions concerning this topic, feel free to ask away. I think that the higher-up weapons of Robocraft should be made a little easier to deal with using this guide, let me know if it helps!