Rhino

US$ "Considerably outperforms any opponent at close-ranged exchange of fire. Rhino is a living incarnation of indomitable rage, a true berserk of the future"

Introduction
The Rhino is a heavy robot with 2 medium and 2 light hardpoints.

Ability
This robot has the Assault Mode ability, when activated, a physical shield deploys in front of the robot, disabling its medium weapons and the Rhino's forward movement speed is increased by 100%. In Assault mode, it's upper torso's rotation is limited to about 5 degrees and has a rotation speed of 5 degrees per second, while its lower part also has a rotation speed of 5 degrees per second but without any limits. Similar to the Écu, the Rhino's shield offers protection against energy and kinetic type weapons, but does not block rocket (splash) type weapons. Pilots should also be aware of the fact that kinetic weapons, such as the Thunder do double damage to physical shields. Sometimes, two Rhinos will charge headfirst into each other to bypass each other's shield, reminiscent of actual rhinos fighting in real life.

Strategy
The Rhino is a strong robot and is a fearsome sight in battle, however, it isn't without flaw. Its glacial traverse speed with Assault Mode activated makes it extremely vulnerable to small, fast robots.

However, the Rhino can still deactivate its ability and open fire on circling robots, in most cases destroying them with ease, without sustaining significant damage. Also, remaining in Assault Mode at ranges less than 100 meters allows even medium robots to circle the Rhino and quickly get around the frontal shield and out of the line of fire of its light weapons before the shield can be retracted to allow traversing. Again, be cautious. At close range the Rhino can inflict devastating damage to your robot, and is usually able to survive encounters with medium and light robots, due to its higher health, firepower and shield.

The Rhino is also noticably weak to the Pin, Tulumbas and Trident weapons, as the splash damage properties and ranges of 500-600 meters, allow for these weapons to damage the Rhino with or without the shield, and the robot possessing the weapons can fire in safety, with the extra distance. This was formerly one of the main reasons of why the "Russian Death Button" (Pins and Tulumbases) had become popular in competitive play. To counter this, Rhino users can activate Assault Mode and rapidly close the distance with the enemy robot, unleashing volleys of rockets and/or energy blasts once within range, outgunning the enemy robot by a large amount. However, in the current meta the Pin and Trident are underpowered by a significant amount, being almost completely outclassed by other mid-range builds.

Rhinos can be devastating for leading charges on city maps like Shenzhen and Dead City. Pushing up to enemy held beacons and continuing the assault straight into the enemy spawn usually leads to confusion among enemy forces and breakthroughs. Other tactics include quickly capturing center beacon at the start of a game and holding off enemies for as long as possible. Then one can spawn onto that beacon in a close combat brawler robot (such as the Raijin with Thunders) where it can usually inflict kill most enemies and hold the beacon.

With 2 medium hardpoints and 2 light hardpoints, this robot is a force to be reckoned with if used properly. When using Assault Mode, you are prone to be flanked as the robot turns slowly when not moving and loses much of its firepower, allowing fast light/medium robots to destroy you if you're not careful. Wise activation of Assault Mode will allow late destruction or the potential to survive the whole battle as the shield resists most non-rocket weapons.

The favored combination of weapons on Rhinos is usually 2× Pinatas or Magnums on the light hardpoints (or 2x Aphids) and 2× Tarans or Orkans on the medium hardpoints. Especially with Orkans, as the burst damage potential on the Rhino is high, meaning it can quickly bring down the opponent’s health, then one could activate Assault Mode, and finish them off with the light weapons. This strategy applies very much to ambushing targets in the spawn area, although this will inevitably lead to the destruction of the robot. However, it gives your team to regroup and capture beacons as you draw enemy fire and do large amounts of damage.

The Rhino excels as a brawler, using its Assault Mode to quickly get into its weapons' range and then unleashing a devastating barrage of fire. The shield works well for blocking enemy fire while waiting for medium weapons (e.g. Orkans) to reload, with the light weapons providing cover fire. It is recommended that a player equip the Rhino with Orkans and Pinatas ("Death Button"), Tarans and Magnums (plasma), or Orkans and Magnums ("Hellfire") (see more setups in the next section below). However, it can still be used as a mid-range robot. Scourges with Gekkos, Tulumbases with Pins, and Shocktrains with either Gekkos or Arbalests are all setups to consider. Despite this, the Rhino performs best as a brawler and beacon capture unit, with enough firepower to destroy other robots.

Possible Setups
Some effective builds for the Rhino are:

Note: When "Opt." is next to a slot type, it refers to one of the multiple options that can be used in combination with the other weapon(s) slot type(s).

Each slot type is filled with only one particular weapon. For example, if a robot has 3 light all three of those slots are filled with Pinatas, as mixing weapons of the same slot type is not advisable.

Overview
The Rhino is usually used as a brawler and beacon capper, and is seldom equipped with mid-long range weapons. Most players agree that the Rhino is most effective as a close-range brawler and beacon-capper, and although it is still decent in a mid-range role (although it is less effective), the its use for long-range fire isn't recommended as it is outclassed by robots such as the Butch and Fury in this role.

Not Recommended

 * The use of Punishers and Punisher T weapons on the Rhino is not advised due to it being outclassed and outgunned by all the combinations listed above. However, one can use these as a cheap and relatively effective setup before they can purchase the recommended weapons.
 * The use of the Tulumbas and Pin isn't recommended due to the relatively low damage output.
 * The use of the Arbalest isn't recommended due to its extremely low firepower (it is outclassed by the Gekko).
 * Using long-range setups usn't advised due to the Rhino being best used as a close-range brawler and beacon capper. Long-range Rhino builds are often, if not always, outgunned by dedicated range robots such as the Fury.

Poll
Best setup for the Rhino is? 2x Orkan/2x Pinata (Death Button) 2x Taran/2x Magnum (Plasma) 2x Orkan/2x Magnum (Hellfire) 2x Storm/2x Gust (Shotgun) Other

Trivia

 * This robot has a visible horn on its head, just like the rhino animal.
 * It has been noted that the heavy weapon, Nashorn, translates to 'Rhino'. As a result, some refer to the weapon by its old name, Kwk 448mm, to prevent confusion.
 * Although Rhino has become less viable now due to the fire-while-reloading mechanism of rockets, it is still very good in the meta-game. There is a highly informative guide for Rhino piloting, by Strayed.
 * Despite previous claims of the Fury being the tallest bot, it has been disproven in Pixonic's height comparison chart, with the Rhino being the tallest (excluding the RoboDuck).
 * The player needs 6,537,480 Silver and 28 days in order to gather enough WP to get Rhino (using all six WP slots and no Gold to buy WP).
 * This robot, along with the Lancelot, are the slowest heavy robots in the whole game, at a maximum of 30 km/h, when no ability is taken into account.
 * However, the Rhino is also the fastest heavy robot, coming in at 60kph when in Assault Mode.
 * This robot is one of the 2 heavy robots that can deploy a shield, the other being the Raijin. (Britbots' shields are always active)


 * The Rhino also has the second strongest shield, at 289,000 HP, behind only the Bulgasari's, which has 365,000 HP