Hover



"A scout robot, well-suited for quickly capturing beacons and chasing down quick opponents."

Introduction
The Hover is a medium robot with 2 medium and 1 light hardpoint. It was released in version 3.4.0.

Ability
This robot has its own ability taken to a completely new concept: partial use of its gliding ability. This ability acts like weapons that can reload while firing and can be used to make short bursts of it instead of one long burst.

When the glide ability is activated, the robot will turn on his jets and jump in the air in a fashion similar to a Griffin. If one simply taps on the button, this will result in virtually no fuel consumed, and in a jump about 1.5 times the height of the Griffin one, but with a slower descent (a "static" Hover jump lasts about 6.5s vs 4.5s for a Griffin).

Keeping the button pressed increases the altitude of the jump, making the robot fly higher as the button is held down longer. It also allows sustained static or horizontal flight for as long as the fuel lasts. However, all maps currently have an invisible "roof" that will impede the Hover to fly higher than it. In Dead City, for instance, the "roof" corresponds to the height of the tallest buildings.

After landing, the user must wait for 7 seconds before the ability can be used again, no matter the amount of fuel left. When falling down from a ledge the jets are activated, and the glide ability can be used without engaging the initial jump, which is useful to reduce exposure while still benefiting from the glide possibilities. However, since the initial jump lifts you to considerable height without costing fuel, the distances that can be traveled with the "jumpless" glide are shorter.

Strategy
Gliding too high can result in you heavily exposed while gliding too low can result in an inability to go over tall obstacles. This means that unlike the Jump ability, which is the same for each individual robot, this ability allows the player to control the flight trajectory. Not controlling it properly can result in being trapped in the midst of enemy lines, or even worse, landing in glitched areas that can be extremely difficult to get out of.

However, when properly used by a trained pilot the ability give the Hover unparalleled mobility. In sustained horizontal flight the Hover speed is very similar to a max-speed Rogatka, thus about 60 km/h. Flight can be sustained for 13-15s. This for instance allows a Hover starting from near the ledge near beacon B in Springfield to land on beacon D in less than 15s. Again for reference, the distance a Hover can fly over level ground is almost exactly the full length of the Shenzhen central square, from  beacon A to C (although this is not advisable in battle due to the extreme degree of exposure). To obtain fast horizontal flight the pilot must activate glide while moving in the desired direction then use the jets in short pulses about one second apart to maintain constant altitude. The glide capability also allows the Hover to move between different vertical planes in ways most enemy pilots will not expect (such as jumping down from the "corridor" in Yamantau, hiding under it, then fly back up in the corridor on the other side to attack again). However, the glide ability is better used sparingly and not as a simple way to "get someplace faster", since one is always trading cover and maneuverability for speed. Since the Hover has a respectable top ground speed of 50 km/h, "walk there" is often preferable to "fly there".

When first acquiring a Hover, it is extremely useful to open solitary custom games on each map, and train to learn them from the flight perspective, figuring out how to best take advantage of different firing points, as well as learning the Hover flight dynamics and how to contemporarily steer, control altitude, point and fire. When using the Hover's ability, pilots should be aware of the fact that they are more exposed to sniper fire, and should prepare strategies to counter this increased threat, especially when using the 'Hover' ability to escape battles when on low health.

Possible Setups
Some effective setups for the Hover 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
Common loadouts of this robot are mostly derived from corresponding Griffin ones, and include 2x Orkans and 1x Pinata, or 2x Tarans and 1x Magnum, 2x Tulumbases and 1x Pin. 2x Punisher Ts and 1x Punisher is also used. With respect to the Griffin equivalents one trades one light weapon slot (thus losing 20% or less of firepower, depending on setup) for roughly 10% higher HP (175000 vs 158000 at L12), much better ground speed (50 km/h vs 35 km/h maxed), and a much more versatile (but potentially risky) "jump" ability.

Dual Scourges or Shocktrains, with a Gekko can also be effective.

Trivia

 * The Hover is the first robot with an ability that can be used partially, and not completely (glide).
 * This robot is one of eight robots without an official faction, the others being the Stalker, Carnage, Rhino, Inquisitor, Spectre, Strider and Mercury.
 * When the jets on Hover activate, every player on the map can hear it.