User blog:Golurk 88/War Robots: Into the Future

Introduction
Thanks to Claudius 14, we will now be looking at the game itself, Pixonic and what could possibly happen next. So far we’ve covered many topics, from Raijins to Shocktrains and Spawn Raiding. Since War Robots came out in late 2014, the meta has switched from Rhinos to Lancelots and then to Dash Bots...with many new game modes and weapons being released. In this blog, we will be covering most features of the game, how it has evolved and what makes the wiki still play it despite the decisions of Pixonic having more than their fair share of uncommon sense. In short, this blog will try to tell the story of WR.

NOTE: Due to the length of this blog, please use the contents table above if you want to only read particular sections.

Meta
The first robots to dominate the battlefields were Destriers. I’m serious by the way. The legendary Destrier was the robot that all pilots started with, got their first kill in and capped their first beacons. Many pilots overlook the fact that when the game was first released, the Destrier was the only robot able to be considered ‘meta’ due to the sheer numbers of them, as higher leagues were almost uninhabited in the early days of the game. For that, the Destrier deserves a place in the history of WR metas.

Moving on from nostalgic moments, the high-league meta was soon occupied by Rhinos, once the game had matured. Armed with devastating PDB, Hellfire or DB setups, Rhinos were invincible, possessing good firepower, a useful ability, a durable physical shield and high health. After a while though, it was time for a change.

In Update 1.8 the Rhino’s nemesis was released: The Lancelot. Boasting greater firepower with in-built shields that didn’t come at the expense of weaponry, the Rhino was soon put into the shade by increasing numbers of Lancelots equipped with a Thunder and 2 Orkans.

It is also important not to forget mid/long range meta robots as well. The TT (Trident) Fury became commonplace as a way of countering Thunder/Orkan Lancelots at range. The rockets would bypass the physical shields of the Lancelot, dealing devastating damage.

After months of countless defeats at the hands of TT Furies, Lancelots began to be equipped with an Ancile and twin Tarans. This is a prime example of an in-game arms race, with setups constantly changing to counter others. The Ancile protected the Lancelot from rocket, missile and kinetic fire, whilst the Tarans were better suited for brawling and their extra range allowed Lancelots to have higher chances of engaging TT Furies.

With their Tridents being much less effective against Ancilots, as they were now called, Furies were equipped with 3 Zeuses instead. Although their energy bolts bypasses the Ancile, they were blocked by the Lancelot’s physical shields. This was made up for by the Zeus’ high damage. Eventually, the Zeuses were replaced by Dragoons, which dealt more damage.

Although the meta had already switched several times before Updates 3.1 and 3.2, the meta changes remained relatively calm and relaxed. That all changed in Update 3.1 and 3.2. Pixonic unleashed the now-infamous Dash bots (Kumiho, Haechi and Bulgasari), along with overpowered weapons and other robots (e.g Ember and Inquisitor). Gone were the days of slow but durable heavy robots...they had been replaced by new ones that emphasised firepower and mobility.

Currency
The first currency that could be used to buy (then) overpowered robots and weapons was Gold. With it, players could buy hangar slots as well as unique robots and weapons that were superior to the robots that costed ‘free’ currency: Silver.

Once a player reached level 20, he/she unlocked the Workshop. The latter produced Workshop points using silver which could be used to purchase next-generation robots (e.g Carnage and Fujin). After years of remaining unchanged, the Workshop was eventually replaced with Workshop 2.0 in Update 4.2.

The biggest change of all in Update 3.1 and 3.2 was arguably nothing to do with meta. Instead, Pixonic released a new currency: Components. Not only were they far more expensive in terms of real-life money, they weren’t interchangeable. Whilst you could get a Lancelot and a Fury for 10k Gold, you had to have 10k components unique to the robot or weapon in order to obtain it. This caused an even deeper divide between P2W players and others. For example, whilst you could get 14k gold for $100 and therefore obtain 3 Lancelots, the same amount of real-life money would openly get you 7000 Haechi components...70% of a robot against 3 robots for the same cost.

Finally, after months of complaints, Pixonic released a new workshop: Workshop 2.0. This allowed players to access component robots and weapons for (a high amount of) silver. This was undoubtedly one of the most popular decisions they ever made.

Wiki
//work in progress//