Changes: Abilities

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Introduction

Abilities refer to the special functions available to some robots. Abilities are manually activated and have a cool-down period after each use before they can be used again. Abilities have separate, distinct icon buttons in the control layout. The Carnage's built-in Ancile shield is not considered an ability as it is always active and not controllable by the player, the same being true for the Haechi's energy shield, Lancelot's front-mounted shields, and the Bulgasari's side-mounted shield, as these are built-in and cannot be removed. Some abilities like the Fujin's sentry mode are instead toggled on/off and have unlimited duration in both modes. They all have a short cool down before you can switch modes again.

Below, the abilities are separated into three categories; Standard, Multi-Charge, and Mode Based. All of the abilities in each section are in alphabetical order.

Standard

The abilities in this section are single use, have a duration, and a cooldown that starts after the ability's duration is finished.

Note: Some of these abilities can be triggered during its duration (by pressing the ability button during the abilities duration), and in some cases this shortens the ability's duration, which in turn starts its cooldown earlier.

Break-In

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This ability grants the robot a speed boost (akin to the Rush ability) and activates a temporary low durability Aegis-class shield that can block all damage types for 9 seconds. Lastly, right after activation three separate horizontal arcing bursts of kinetic projectiles (buckshot), with 350 meters range are fired, that can both deal damage and suppress enemy weaponry by 75% for 5 seconds. Like kinetic type weapons, both energy and physical shields can block the damage and effect of the buckshot.

A brawling play-style works well with this ability, due to the Blitz gaining increased speed which allows it to close in quickly, and durability from the combination of the Aegis shield and buckshot suppression, essentially making the robot extremely difficult to deal with in one on one battles.

Note: After the suppression wears off the enemy robot gains a 5-second immunity to all suppression effects.

Descend

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This ability is a combination of the Jump and Stealth abilities. When activated, the robot jumps as far as a Griffin would, simultaneously activating stealth with it. After landing on any surface, the Inquisitor's stealth lasts for 5 more seconds, while the Spectre's lasts only 2 more seconds.

Like Rush and normal Stealth, the ability countdown starts after the stealth is over. Like Stealth, splash damage from unguided rockets and stray fire can still damage the robot, and this robot still suffers from landing lags due to it having 2 legs instead of 4. This ability can still be broken with a critical hit on the torso/leg connection, preventing it from using that ability again, like the Jump ability, and the jump distance remains the same for levels 1 and 12.

This ability should be used to make a hasty retreat in a desperate situation or to jump over enemies and do damage without the fear of being fired at. Also, the stealth that is left after the landing can buy time for players to find cover quickly or to do as much damage as possible before you become visible again.

Dragon Breath

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When the Ao Jun activates this Ability, the robot flies up into the air for 10 seconds with Stealth active and its speed boosted to 75 km/h. While the robot is in the air, and an enemy robot is within 350 meters, the Ao Jun will automatically attack the enemy with two jets of fire similar to the Ember that deal DoT similar to the Corrosion guns. The robot exits Stealth only when the robot is on the ground again.

The ability can be canceled mid-flight, doing so starts the 20 second ability cooldown early.

Dragon Fangs

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When the Ao Guang activates this Ability, the robot flies up into the air for 12 seconds with 80% Damage Resistance and its speed boosted to 61km/h. While the robot is in the air, and an enemy is within 600m, the Ao Guang will automatically attack the enemy with a homing missile launcher similar to a Hydra. The robot stops its damage reduction only when the robot is on the ground again.

The ability can be canceled mid-flight, doing so starts the 20 second ability cooldown early.

Dragon Strike

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When the Ao Qin activates this Ability, the robot flies up into the air for 8 seconds, however this does not come with any defense-based effects, but its speed is boosted to 59km/h. While the robot is in the air, and an enemy is within 600m, the Ao Qin will automatically attack the enemy with a laser similar to a Spark, Scourge or Calamity.

The ability can be cancelled mid-flight, and doing so starts the 15 second ability cooldown early.

Fangs Out

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This ability allows the robot to activate its two heavy weapons (on its back) for 12 seconds, however, during the duration it disables its built-in damage reduction. This requires the pilot to take risks for the increased damage output.

During the duration (12 seconds) the Falcon can make one jump, this allows the robot to get out of danger quickly.

Once the ability's duration ends, it enters a 10-second cooldown phase.

Note: Due to being able to choose when you want to jump (during the ability's duration), you can time it just before the ability ends, doing this allows the damage reduction to enable while in mid-air. This can be used strategically to quickly cover ground, without receiving full damage from enemy weapons.

Glide

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This ability acts like the Jump ability only that the flight trajectory and altitude are user-controlled, not pre-defined like the Jump ability, and that the gliding speed matches the robot speed at the time the ability is triggered, not slower or faster. However, robots using this ability are still prone to the stun effect upon landing (as the robots have 2 legs).

This ability is the only one so far that allows for partial use and "reload while using" ability, as it can be used to maintain a constant altitude when using the ability, in short, controlled bursts. However, this ability isn't totally a "reload while using" ability as the player must wait for 7 seconds before the ability can be triggered again upon landing.

Helldive

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This ability is like the Descend ability, but it has a unique twist to it; whenever it lands, it deals an explosive area damage around it, damaging any other robots within the explosion's range (red circle surrounding the Mercury while it is in mid-air).

After one second in midair, the Helldive button can be activated again to instantly force the Mercury to the ground, allowing for specific landing points on enemy lines.

There is a 5-second stealth period after the explosion. The explosion's damage depends on the level of Mercury. After the stealth ends, it enters an 18-second cooldown.

Mercury pilots, should they have close-ranged setups, should use the Helldive abilities to target small groups of enemies, dealing damage to all of them at once and catching them off guard. An even better tactic would be to jump from behind a wall and drop down on top of them for an ambush.

Hunt

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This ability combines the abilities of both Rush and Stealth, giving the robot a 33% speed boost and cloaking (cannot be targeted) at the same time.

Allowing users of the Pursuer to quickly close-in and cause serious damage to enemies, and then retreating before the 10 second duration ends, possibly unscathed, due to the enemy being unable to target the robot. Once the ability ends, it enters a 20-second cooldown phase.

Incursion

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This ability allows the robot to jump in the air with 33% damage reduction to all weapon types while airborne and five seconds after landing.

Like the Mercury's Helldive, can be forced to the ground at any time during its jump (one second delay).

Upon landing it sends out a pulse that suppresses all enemies' weapons with the ability's radius (red circle surrounding the Invader while it is in mid-air) by 66% for 5 seconds. It them enters an 16-second cooldown phase.

Using high damage close range weapons like a Scourge and two Sparks, or a Storm and two Gusts, work well with this ability, due to this ability's capability of suppressing multiple enemies, which can allow you to focus on dispatching one enemy, while ignoring the other enemies' weakened firepower. This strategy is made easier due to the Invader's immense health pool.

Note: After the suppression wears off the enemy robot gains a 5-second immunity to all suppression effects.

Jump

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This ability propels the robot into the air. Each robot's jump distance is pre-set (with the Rogatka's being shortest and Griffin's being the longest) and cannot be changed, even via upgrading.

While jumping, robots travel much faster than their walking speed (this speed boost only lasts as long as the jump). Jump allows a robot to quickly gain an advantageous position, jump over obstacles, retreat, or dodge rocket fire.

The cooldown for jumps is started as soon as they are triggered. Due to this, assuming the landing occurs on the same plane as the jump, Cossack only has one second between landing and being able to jump again, while Rogatka has 2 seconds, and Griffin has 19 seconds.

One important point to note is that the robot is stationary for a second after completing the jump and landing on the ground. This can be known as the "stun" effect because of the animation the legs do upon landing. This mechanic also applies to all 2-legged robots that land upon falling down a cliff or other edge.

Jump drive can be broken by getting a critical hit from an enemy. Upon breaking, the jump can no longer be used for the duration of the battle (or how long the robot is still alive). It is the only ability in the game that can be destroyed.

Raven has jump but has a different feature from the other jumping robots. Unlike the other robots, it has 2 jump charges and can be used in midair. This allows the Raven to jump to places that are inaccessible to normal jumping robots.

The mid-air jump gives the Raven incredible thrusting speed, which allows it to close in on a target, or evade a volley of rockets, faster than any robot in the game.

Overload

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This ability functions similarly to the Rush ability. However, there is a vast difference; after the timer runs out, the robot creates a mighty explosion, damaging both the user by 12.5% of the robot's max health and any enemy robots in the area of effect.

This ability gives the Hellburner a speed boost a duration of 5 seconds before detonating, it then enters a cooldown phase of 5 seconds.

It isn't possible to prevent the explosion from occurring once the ability is activated.

Retribution

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There are three separate versions of this ability, which is dependent on the robot. However, the different versions have the same general mechanics; the ability to deploy an impenetrable (no weapon type can bypass) and indestructible (has unlimited durability) Absorber shield, that has the added ability of absorbing weapon damage to boost the robot's built-in weaponry by up to a 100% damage increase.

The differences are the built-in weapon types, and the duration and cooldown times. The Ares has four built-in energy cannons, the Hades has a single kinetic gun, and the Nemesis has three rocket launcher systems. The Ares has the longest shield duration (8 seconds), but at the cost of having to wait the longest to reuse its ability (18 seconds). The Hades has its duration a little shorter (6 seconds) than the Ares, while having a shorter cooldown phase (12 seconds). Lastly, the Nemesis has a duration half the time of Ares (4 seconds), but in return has the shortest cooldown of the three (8 seconds).

All three robots get their speed reduced during the duration of the ability: Ares' speed is reduced by 33%; Hades' and Nemesis' speed are reduced by 20%.

Note: The weapon(s) by default will start firing as soon as the absorption phase ends, which allows the weapon(s) to finish unloading their projectiles just as the shield deactivates. A pilot can prematurely fire their built-in weapon(s) by pressing the ability button during the absorption phase (akin to the Mercury's Helldive or Invader's Incursion).

Rush

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Temporarily increases the speed of the robot allowing it to quickly close range with the enemy or perform a hasty retreat. It is similar to the Assault Mode ability of the Rhino but without the shield (although both robots with Rush have built-in shields) or severely limited traverse.

Rush increases the base movement speed of a robot by 66% for a period of 10 seconds, followed by a 20-second downtime. Because of its long recharge duration, timing the activation of the Rush ability is absolutely critical. Unlike jumps, the cooldown begins at the end of the ability's effect (not the start). Note, the Lancelot's ability cooldown time is 14 seconds, while the Carnage's cooldown is 20 seconds.

Stealth

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Enemies become unable to target or lock onto the Stalker for 8 seconds. This is followed by a 16-second cooldown period before Stealth can be activated again (2 seconds to recharge 1 second of stealth).

When in stealth, a crossed-out eye symbol replaces the cloaked player's name.

Stealth significantly decreases the accuracy of enemy weapons since they cannot acquire a target lock, disabling the vertical auto-aim. However, the splash damage from rocket weaponry such as the Pin or the Orkan or stray fire can still damage a robot with stealth mode activated.

Support

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This ability gives it the ability to repair multiple allies and itself via 3 healing pulses (as soon as the ability is activated), along with 33% increased movement speed, and 50% damage reduction for a 7-second duration. The healing pulses can repair a fixed number of hit points, depending on the Mender's level, to any number of allies that are located in the Mender's healing radius (the green circle surrounding the Mender).

Once the ability's duration ends, it enters a 15-second cooldown phase.

The combination of these three abilities in one, allow the Mender to be a front-line healer due to its tremendous survivability (being able to heal itself along with the damage reduction). These bonuses along with its solid firepower can make the Mender an offensive threat as well, and has the necessary speed to ambush opponents.

Note: A robot's hit points can only be repaired up to 80% of any damage taken, so it is not possible to be fully repaired.

Multi-Charge

These abilities can store multiple uses (charges), allowing the pilot to activate the ability in quick succession. Like the standard abilities they have a cooldown, however, for these abilities each charge has a separate cooldown.

Dash

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Dash could be perceived as a cross between Rush and Jump. Robots that use Dash travels 60~80 meters horizontally in a single quick leap. No vertical obstacles could be jumped over with the use of this ability.

Cooldown is 5 (Kumiho and Bolt) and 15 (Bulgasari, Haechi, and Strider) seconds per charge. The Korean robots can all store up to 2 charges, while the Strider can store 5, and the Bolt only 1. Once the first charge is expended, a recharge begins. A second charge could be used while the first one is on reload, making it very flexible to use. For example, if the dash on the Kumiho is used twice in a row, you only have to wait for 5 seconds after the second dash (that is the first one already recharged) and can be used that way to outrace many light robots if dashing constantly.

Glance

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This ability allows the robot to fire 5 red energy beams (per charge) with up to 600 meters range at an enemy, dealing solid damage and more importantly reducing the enemy's weapon firepower (suppression) by 75% for 5 seconds. It can store up to three charges, with each taking 10 seconds to recharge. Like energy type weapons, physical shields and Aegis-class barriers can block the damage and effect of the beam.

Due to the range of this ability it works well with mid-range weaponry, like a Dragoon or Zeus paired with a couple of Sparks, which allows the Rayker to be an excellent support option. However, due to the Rayker's agility it can also ambush enemies effectively, so close range weapons are not totally discouraged.

Note: After the suppression wears off the enemy robot gains a 5-second immunity to all suppression effects.

Mode Based

The abilities in this section have an infinite duration (and are usually passive), which are only ended (or changed to a different mode) when the pilot chooses to (by pressing the ability button). Most of these abilities have a short cooldown, however, they can also be long, or almost non-existent (can switch between modes almost at-will). Lastly, there can be a short delay between the switching of modes.

Assault Mode

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Deploys a passive frontal assault shield which can absorb enemy fire. The shield works the same way as the Ecu shield. Rocket splash damage bypasses the shield and the shield can ultimately be destroyed after receiving enough damage.

Activating Assault Mode also dramatically increases movement speed (100% increase), but disables the medium hardpoints and severely hinders main hull rotation speed, making the Rhino vulnerable to flanking. This means that when you move the camera to another location, this robot will turn very slowly on its legs, and targets can't be acquired on the other side when this mode is active. It also prevents the robot from moving backward. This ability can be a huge advantage when used correctly: it allows the robot to absorb composite or plasma shots, quickly seize vulnerable beacons, or make a breakthrough in enemy lines.

If the shield is destroyed, the robot will act normally as if the ability was disabled (medium weapons become re-enabled and the hull can turn again).

The cooldown for deploying/dropping the shield is 2 seconds.

Bastion Mode

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Deploys two passive frontal shields which have the same mechanics as the Ecu shield, and blocks every type of weapon except unguided rockets (splash) and homing missiles hitting its sides. It takes a few seconds for the Raijin to fully establish this mode.

While it is activated, the Raijin's torso is raised for a more advantageous field-of-view and can be turned around to shoot, but the robot itself remains stationary (cannot move). The Raijin also gains a 30% damage increase to its weapons.

It takes four seconds to exit Bastion Mode.

If the shields get destroyed, one still can use this mode to get a +30% damage boost without an actual shield.

When activated, bastion mode raises the target zone immediately to where the Rajin chassis will be. Players can use this to effectively dodge incoming fire.

Phalanx Mode

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This ability rotates the in-built shield on the Gareth and Galahad from the side to the front of the robot (and vice versa). When in the front position the shield blocks any non-splash damage weapons, but it also reduces the robot's walking speed by 20%.

The time required for deploying/dropping the shield is 2 seconds for the Galahad, and 1 second for the Gareth.

Note: If the shield is shot off, one still can use this mode, getting 20% speed handicap without an actual shield.

Protection

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When in Aegis Mode, a special Aegis-class energy shield is deployed, it is capable of blocking all weapon damage types (kinetic, energy, and splash [rocket]), however, it cannot block damage from abilities that cause (literal) explosive damage (like the Hellburner's Overload).

When in Physical Shield Mode, it turns off its energy shield, which allows the robot to regenerate any lost energy shield HP (+3% capacity per second), and the Bulwark deploys a frontal physical shield to help protect it while its energy shield is regenerating.

There is a 4 second cooldown for switching between modes.

Notes: The energy shield can only regenerate when the ability is disabled, but the physical shield cannot regenerate.

Like an Ancile shield, this energy shield can be used to protect allies as well as itself, and it needs to be at least at 20% full capacity in order to function (although you can have the Protection ability enabled at less than 20% shield capacity, the shield it will not function however).

Quick Draw

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The ability deactivates one set of weapons and activates another, allowing the deactivated set to reload while inactive.

While it is activated, the animation for the weapon switch plays takes place. This animation is played and lasts about a fraction of a second

When toggled, it has a cooldown time of 10 seconds for Jesse, 14 seconds for Doc and 20 seconds for Butch before the weapons can be swapped back.

Repair Mode

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This ability upon activation, causes this robot to elevate and enter a stationary mode akin to the Raijin. While stationary, it produces a healing aura around itself (the aura is the size of the green circle surrounding the Weyland). All robots location inside the aura get repaired at a fixed rate of hit points per second, based on the Weyland's level. It takes 1 second for the Weyland to establish this mode.

The robot needs 3 seconds to exit Repair Mode.

The Weyland is best used as a mid to long range supporter due to not being able to repair while on the move. Also due to the wide range of powerful heavy weapons that fill this role. The Weyland can be very difficult to destroy (due to being able to constantly regenerate health while stationary) and has enough firepower to pose a serious threat to the opponent.

Note: A robot's hit points can only be repaired up to 80% of any damage taken, so it is not possible to be fully repaired.

Sentry Mode

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Activates a passive energy shield, similar to the Ancile but faster-regenerating. Energy weapons, such as the Zeus, bypass the shield. It is vulnerable to Thunder, as these can quickly deplete the shield at 500 meters. See the Ancile section for more information. The shield regenerates over a period of time, noticeably much faster than an Ancile.

While the mode is activated, Fūjin becomes stationary (cannot move) and is raised for a more advantageous field-of-view, and can still turn around and shoot.

When toggled, it has a cooldown time of two seconds before it can be triggered again.

Note: The energy shield can only regenerate while in Sentry Mode.

Shapeshift

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There are three variations of the Shapeshift ability, which is featured on all three of the Ragnorak squad robots.

Loki, in its Recon Mode, gains infinite stealth and a speed boost, however it cannot fire its weapons. In its other form, Attack Mode, Loki activates all three of its Light weapons, however this deactivates stealth and thus exposes itself to the open, which makes it extremely vurnable. This ability makes Loki a good Beacon capper, as it can run around in stealth and capture beacons.

Fenrir is much more of a 1v1 fighter. In Mobile Mode, it activates its Aegis-class barrier and gets a considerable boost in speed, however it can only fire the two Medium weapons of its armament. Its Aegis shield will also not be able to regenerate. Whenever Fenrir chooses, it can activate Defense Mode, this drops it Aegis shield and speed boost in exchange for 50% damage reduction and its Heavy weapons. This mode also allows its Aegis barrier to regenerate.

Tyr, the final robot of the pack, is a fairly mobile support unit which can swap between to support roles. In its Support Mode, Tyr gets a speed boost and activates a Healing Aura akin to the Weyland , however its two stashed Light weapons remain on its back. Whenever it wishes, Tyr can activate Assault mode, it stops its speed boost and healing to activate its light weapons and a physical shield. One can think of it as a mesh of Weyland and Raijin, as Weyland is faster than Raijin and can heal, but Raijin can activate a physical shield and gain a 30% damage increase.