Last weekend, two big things hit the Test Server. Firstly, three new energy guns: light Halo, medium Corona and heavy Glory. All three shoot a wide destructive wave that has a chance to immobilize all enemies hit.
Secondly, we started tinkering with Shocktrain. First experiment: remake its targeting system. Test server version of Shocktrain didn’t waste any time on locking on target, but required you to aim manually.
Let’s take a closer look at both.
War Robots Test Server opens every weekend. You can find a schedule and details on upcoming sessions here. Anyone can join: just download this week’s test build and play!
Halo, Corona and Glory
- Commentary: I already have Gust, Storm and Thunder. Why do I need more similar guns?
In a nutshell: Gust, Storm and Thunder are made to crush. Halo, Corona and Glory are made to catch.
Classic shotguns deal about 50% more damage that new energy weapons. That’s a lot. With this sort of punch physical, energy or even Bulwark shields shouldn’t stop you — you can just break any of these head on.
However! If enemy constantly outmaneuvers you, it's hard to follow them with fire. That is where Halo, Corona and Glory enter the ring: they deal less damage, but they lock fast robots down and make their mobility a non-factor.
And don't forget that you can combine different weapons. Say, instead of two Glories try mounting one Glory and one Thunder. This way you’ll trigger less lock-downs, yet will hit much harder. Go forth and experiment!
- Commentary: Shredder and Pulsar are already pretty good at locking enemies down. Why do we need more guns with the same effect?
Even though the lock-down effect is the same for all weapons, the weapon you trigger it with can change a lot. One thing is to catch one enemy from afar. But sneak behind the enemy, engage and immobilize the whole bunch of robots with a couple of shots — is a completely different experience. It feels great. It makes your heart pumping.
So, Shredder and Pulsar work best for careful picks offs. And now we test lock-down weapons for daredevil pilots willing to go all-in. Halo, Corona and Glory shoot continuously and let you immobilize several targets at once. They shine at close distances and among large groups of enemies.
By the way, Halo, Corona and Glory are last in the Lock-down pack. What’s coming up next? You’ll see soon.
Shocktrain experiments
- Commentary A: Shocktrain rebalance is perfect! Release it ASAP!
- Commentary B: Shocktrain rebalance sucks! You just broke my favourite gun!
Shocktrain targeting tweak was met with opposite reactions — as we expected. Some pilots love this weapon, some — outright hate it. It is extremely polarizing for all the obvious reasons.
To balance Shocktrain we have to meet expectations of both these groups. On one hand, it shouldn’t become weaker. Every hit should still feel powerful. But at the same time, this feel shouldn’t come for zero effort.
Sometimes it is hard to distinguish an experienced Shocktrain user from a newbie. Our goal is to make this difference more apparent. If you say “I just dealt 1.5 million damage with Shocktrain”, you should hear “Holy snap, you’re good!”
The targeting tweak from last test server isn’t the last thing we want to try. We’ll continue our experiments until we find the best possible Shocktrain. Rule of a thumb: using it should be as interesting as opposing it.
This weekend on test server
- New weapons: Halo, Corona, Glory
- New map: Castle
- Weapon redesign: Orkan, Punisher, Thunder
