Overview
Looking for some quick tips to make that Robot that will take you through the tiers and NOT get blown up 10 seconds into the match? This is the guide for you.
Intro
So
You’ve just started the game, maybe jumped into a few matches, seen some CRAZY configurations on some enemy robots, and think your own robo is…meh….okay? But it could DEFINITELY be COOLER right? You need something special; something that that will stand out and DEFINE you on the battlefield…..yeah!!
So you make….something like….this?
YEAH. NAILED IT. That Robot is SO YOU.
Let’s go show the world!
Match starts…let’s rock….!
Enemy comes into your sights and…
WHAT!?
2 shots and your robot blows up.
As you sit there befuddle, trying to fathom how your godly creation was blown to smithereens instead of razing the enemy team and capping their base, you suddenly notice this other guy on your team. He’s zipping about with some ugly box of a robot that seems to have guns plastered on every ugly inch he could fit it….but somehow…he’s flattening the enemy team…
Why can’t that be you? Can it? Wait are you saying that you have to have some ugly box car to win?
And herein starts the guide.
Starting Basics
Do I need to have an ugly robot to win?
The answer to this is simply yes…and no.
Like many things in life, having a good robo means making compromises. You’re going to have to strike a balance between liking what you see, and having something that performs well.
It’s all well and good to have a saucy looking striker, but if you’re the first person on your team down, you are quickly going to become frustrated at you lack of ability to level up because you can’t get any kills.
On the other hand, building a machine just to trash people is all well and good too….but people might look at your robot and wonder what unholy forces colluded to produce the monstrosity you are piloting.
So the key then, is balance. Have something in mind for what you’d like your robo to look like, but be willing to compromise where needed for the sake of functionality.
Building a good starter Robot.
The basic starter robot is of course limited to ground class.
You get eight starting wheels, some of the regular, some of them steering.
They stick out a good bit from the robot, and when you lose them during battle, you lose the acceleration or steering that provided.
Knowing those facts, these are the things you should keep in mind when designing your Robot:
- The more wheels you have, the more you can stand to lose.
- The more protected your wheels are, the less likely you are to lose them
Common mistakes among newcomers when building their robo:
- Wheels not set wide enough on the chassis-this can allow for unbalanced robots to tip
- Sticking wheels out from the side unprotected
- Putting wheels at different levels, which can lead to an unbalanced robot
The number of wheels you add to your robot is up to you, but the more normal wheels you have, the more acceleration you have. This means higher speed, which is good for heavier robots. The more steering wheels you have, the better turning you can manage, and also the less likely you are to spin out or tip.
Lastly, when placing the wheels on your robot, it can be tempting to be simple with your design:
Don’t do that. Wheels left like that are open to enemy shots and therefore a quick loss. Use your blocks creatively to shield your wheels, like thus:
Next, you’ll need to look at your weight distribution.
Weight distribution means a lot in the realms of survivability, because an all too common problem of untested robots is tipping accidentally while driving, and then being unable to flip over the rest of a match, which makes you helpless and useless. This can be avoided with good design.
The heavy chassis blocks are designed for this purpose. They have a higher weight than most of the other blocks, although their armor class is low. On the starting robot that comes with the game, you can find the heavy chassis blocks on the bottom of the robot, and this is a good position for them on all your future robots, because the higher weight on the bottom helps keep your robot on the ground, and more likely to land on that side when flipped. Even with flying robots, this is still the case. Try to place heavy chassis blocks on the bottom.
Also, when placing heavy chassis blocks, try to keep the amount on the front and back halves of your robot even. (actually try to do this for all blocks of any kind) This will allow for smoother turning without spinning out or over-turning. Building a robot with no heavy chassis blocks will allow you to be lighter, but will cause you to flip and spin out very often. So not recommended.
Lastly, weapon configuration.
One of the biggest and at first most unnoticed problems of your robot is the placement of the weaponry. When you are on tier 1, this is not such a problem, but on higher tiers up when you start ecnountering flying or more manueverable robots, you may realize that…..some of your shots aren’t hitting. This is because your own robot can block your shots. The weapons you fire go straight forward, and are stopped by any surface they hit, friendly robot, terrain, enemy robot, self. So if you happen to arrange your robot with guns on opposite side of it, each gun is only going to be able to hit one side.
Logically one might solve this problem by making a large flat robot, so all guns are even. But you still can have your shots hit your own guns, or be unable to shoot downward at an angle because your robo is one large board, etcetera etcetera. The key is simply to have enough guns placed in the right locations to hit enemies no matter where they are. You should not have to worry about your back at least!
One last thing on that-For weapons you have, if you have multiple SMG’s, they fire one at a time unlike plasma cannons and rail guns. So if you have 8, they will all fire in order, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-back to 1.
So if you have guns on one side of your robot, say, the back, and no robots ever attack that direction, you are wasting the firing time of two guns, and they should probably be removed.
More guns does NOT always equal better!
What should I buy for upgrades?
What should I buy from the Tech Tree to upgrade my robot?
This is a biggie. The moment you start playing, you’ll be able to earn the currency to unlock new and better parts for your robot. But with all the options, from guns, to armor, to radars, to movement…you might wonder which way to go….all? None?
First off, the game was cleverly designed so you have to unlock things tier by tier with your tech points. However, that merely limits the number of items you can buy. Which way to go first?
Mostly, the answer to this depends on your playstyle. If you are confident and good at handling your robot, I recommened heading down the weapons tree first.
If you want to get into flying robots and such first, head down the movement tree.
If you want to make that armored juggernaut, head down the armor tree.
Honestly out of all of them however, I would recommend the weapon tree first. Weapons are expensive, but being able to run around in one tier with a weapon of the next tier up makes a huge and amusing difference. Someone once told me “always upgrade guns first” and it seems to be an agreed-upon yet unspoken rule in the Robocraft building books. And it isn’t unwise. When you do more damage, you get more currency, which means you can buy more of what you need sooner. Makes sense logically.
That in mind…the other parts of your hardware that are good in order would be thus.
- Flipper-Get this thing SOON-if you just so happened to mess up during construction and made your robot unstable, or get something broken and flipped during battle, the flipper is your lifesaver. It’ll keep you in the fight much longer.
- SMG’s-You may not need a TON of these guys if you simply have a few high-tier ones-their accuracy is great and with some good sniping you can take off parts of enemy robots from far away and help your team out.
- Hovers-These baddies will allow you to make hovering robots, which will allow you to overcome terrain effects like ice, and also shoot at enemies from a little higher. Although this also leaves you a target.
- Thrusters-These will allow your heavier robots to move a bit faster so you can evade attacks or get to battle sooner.
You’re good to go!
Now that you’ve got the basics, if you follow these outlines, you should be good up through the tiers.
It only gets more vicious and you just have to play more and more to get currency for more parts, so prepared for a haul.
Last things to keep in mind:
- Hitting and killing enemies gives you currency. So simply sitting back and waiting for your team to win so you can get points does nothing. So don’t worry about getting your robot wrecked-no pain no gain. Literally.
- Your skill above all else determines how well you do. You can have a lightweight robot with barely any parts and still win-play lots and get gud.
- You can name your robot by pressing G and looking along the right side of the screen in the garage-there is a box you can name it and press enter. Make it something cool.
- Railgun Snipers are a thing-watch out for them at lower tiers. Railguns may unlock at Tier 3 but people still like to make T1 robots with them, and those railguns can one shot most tier 1 robots.
- You can shoot parts off enemy robots. Hitting hovers and wheels reduces their mobility, hitting guns lowers their firepower by removing them, radars and flippers can be removed to take out their effects, so on. You can help out teammates a lot by crippling enemy robots in creative ways.
Here are some pics of my Tier 1 and Tier 2 Robots for reference. The Tier 1 has tier 1 armor blocks and a T3 SMG bottom mounted, and triple hovers and a single thruster. The weight and balance are good enough to make gentle turns by tapping, and the height is decent.
The T2 is an armored behemoth essentially a tank, with low speed, but it can take a LOT of abuse and the positioning of the guns makes it hard to shoot them all off. Also note the protection of the wheels-makes the robot very hard to cripple.
Tier 1-Sparrowhawk
Zanarkand Technical
