User blog:Golurk 88/Mender and Weyland: A New Dawn?

Introduction
Recently, Pixonic has started to make more extreme changes to War Robots, adding entirely new content, such as modules, some of which are rather controversial. One of these changes was the release of Mender and Weyland in Update 4.0. Both robots have the ability to heal teammates, so this opens up a whole different world of in-game possibilities. In this blog we will be looking at their health, abilities, firepower and how they could affect the game.

Ability
Both the Mender and the Weyland have healing abilities which health both teammates and themselves. They project a healing wave that slowly regenerates a limited amount of HP to all teammates (and themselves) within a certain radius (luckily, this ability doesn't affect enemy players).

The main difference between the two robots is that, while the Mender can use its ability on the go, the Weyland is forced to station itself similarly to the Fujin and Raijin, and cannot move. This makes the Mender most suited to supporting mobile attack groups while the Weyland focuses on helping teammates fighting a 'last stand' defensive battle. Like the Raijin, the Weyland can also climb.

The Mender's ability lasts for 7 seconds with a 15 second cooldown, whilst the Weyland's has a 3 second cooldown.

Health
First of all we have these two robots' health. The Mender itself has 140,000 health at level 12 mk1, which is one of the lowest of all medium robots. Even the Carnage and Fujin, which have 114,000 and 135,000 at the same level respectively, have in-built Ancile shields to make up for their weakness. Despite this, due to it being a healing robot, the Mender has the ability to heal itself as well, somewhat compensating for its low health.

The Weyland however, is a stark contrast. Boasting 200,000 health at level 12 mk1, its durability is only behind the Raijin and Leo, the both of which are known to be a formidable battlefield presence. Like the Mender, it can also heal itself when using its ability, as well as teammates within the healing area.

Firepower
The Mender is equipped with 1 Medium and 2 Light hardpoints, giving it relatively modest firepower equal to the Galahad's. This means that it is outgunned by most of robots of the same class. However, unlike the Galahad, the protection given by its ability is more of a long-term effect rather than full protection when needed. Considering this and the Mender's mediocre health, the Mender is definitely a support robot in all major aspects, being outgunned and usually outlasted in 1 vs 1 battles. Its firepower is meant to make it able to defend itself and support teammates who are doing most of the fighting and help their robots last longer, not to be used as a brawler.

The Weyland is equipped with 2 Heavy hardpoints, giving it quite a bit of firepower. This means that the Weyland is not only able to defend itself and support teammates, it can also do more of the fighting itself. Be aware that the Weyland is still outgunned by robots such as the Bulgasari, Raijin and Lancelot though. Despite its decent firepower, the Weyland should NOT be used as an out-and-out brawler.

Strategy
The Mender, with its modest health and firepower, should focus on supporting more heavily armed teammates whilst avoiding enemy fire. Stay close to your teammates for protection, as most enemy robots featured in mid-high league metas are fully capable of eliminating your robot very quickly, even with your ability. Treat you robot carefully, as if you are destroyed, your teammates will have lost both health that could've been regenerated, time and firepower.

The Weyland on the other hand, has a strategy similar to the Raijin's. With its ability and firepower, it is best used in last ditch defense situations where your team is protecting a vital beacon or area, regularly healing all teammates and itself within the healing area, defined by a bright green circle (this goes for the Mender as well). A Weyland stationed next to a Raijin and/or Fujin can be an almost unbeatable defense for nearly all situations, given their abilities.

Both robots can be especially useful on Free-For-All and Team Deathmatch if their abilities are used well. The Weyland in particular can be a massive obstacle to enemy beacon cappers on Beacon Rush when supporting teammates.

It is recommended that the Weyland and Mender are equipped with close range weapons, such as the Taran and Avenger for maximum (defensive) firepower. Also, given the Mender and Weyland's role, the ability to move with teammates is crucial in order to support them effectively. In this case, hanging back with sniper loadouts is a complete waste of your robot.

Overview
Overall, both the Mender and Weyland are there to support teammates by regenerating their health...this is their primary function. Despite their different playstyles, they are both very interesting robots with new playstyles and should make a positive impact on the game.