In classic role-playing games, there’s a popular concepts of role split: those who attack, those who defend and those who make sure others can do their job. Supports.
Some may ask, where’s the fun in supporting others? It is simple: not everyone wants to only do damage. Many would rather save, protect and lead by example. Good leaders can make or break team’s synergy… if they have an opportunity to do so.
While War Robots always had solid options for attackers and defenders, supports never were prominent enough on the battlefield. Now we found an opportunity to fix this: for update 4.0 we prepare two robots based around an all-new mechanic — mid-combat repairs. They sacrifice some of their firepower for the ability to save teammates from dire situations.
This weekend both robots will make their debut on the test server for first round public trials.
Mender
- Equipment slots: 2L, 1M
- Ability: Support
A quick quirky robot that works kinda like a mobile ambulance. By activating the ability, Mender speed up, gaining damage resistance. After some delay, it launches a wave, repairing a fixed amount of HP to all allied robots nearby.
(You can think of it like Reverse Hellburner...)
On the upcoming trial session we’ll try two variations of Mender. Blue Mender does all healing in one quick burst. Purple Mender splits this burst in three waves with 1 second between each.
In the end, there can be only one Mender, so when you try them both on the test server, choose carefully. Which one you’ll like more?
Weyland
- Equipment slots: 2H
- Ability: Repair Mode
Four-legged Raijin-like robot. After entering stationary mode, Weylands starts to slowly restore HP for all allies around. If Mender is good for supporting mobile storm groups, Weyland’s strength lies in securing backlines and establishing a strong defence on critical points.
Questions!
Q: Do Mender and Weyland have weapon slots?
Of course! You should have something to defend yourself, especially when your repairs are on cooldown. But obviously, supports have less firepower than their attack/defence focused peers. Doing damage is not their top priority.
Q: Do Mender and Weyland repair themselves?
Yes!
With this, they can remain useful in modes like FFA.
Q: Will Mender and Weyland players receive rewards for repairs?
Yes!
At this point, we add part of the healing done up to your damage score. That means you can now farm silver with not just by doing damage.
As a side-effect heals prolong your robot’s life, so you can farm more for one life. Isn’t that sweet? Pretty dang sweet, if you ask us!
Q: How do you figure when your allies need healing?
Mender and Weyland pilots see their allies HP bars by default. At this stage, we only enable these indicators for repair-bots to avoid overloading everyone with information they don’t always need. But, we might add always-on ally HP indicators as an option if there will be a lot of people feeling like they actually need it.
Q: Mid-combat repairs might drag battles quite a bit. How do you solve turtling?
There are limits to how much HP you can restore. Every time a robot takes damage, it also chips a bit from its maximum HP.
For example (numbers are arbitrary):
- You have a 150000 HP Boa
- You catch a shot from Kang Dae, taking 17000 damage head-on
- 20% of this damage also subtracted from your maximum HP until the end of the battle. That means, Mender or Weyland can only patch you up to 150000 - 17000*20% = 146600 Max HP
This means, even though your robot can survive much more under Mender or Weyland’s care, it will still gradually deteriorate. At some point, you’ll have to switch to something else.
Q: Do heals also restore damaged physical shields?
No, at least not at this point. Same goes for energy barriers and Bulwark’s Aegis.
Q: Will restored HP count towards post-combat repair bills?
No. At least it shouldn’t by design. If you catch something weird about the numbers you see on the test server, please let us know!
Prepare for trials!
Want to try Mender and Weyland among the first? Join us on test server this weekend! We’re eager to hear what you’ll think about the new robot class, so don’t hesitate to give your opinion.
You can find the schedule and all details on this Facebook page. You don’t need to sign up for testing — just download the test build below and launch it during the times of the session.
Buckle up!
