Introduction[]
Rhinos are one of the more interesting of the heavy bots. With 2 Medium and 2 Light weapon slots, a durable physical shield and its unique ability, Assault Mode seems to make it an ideal beacon capper and brawler. Despite all these advantages, this colossal 15,000 WP robot is under threat, much like its rapidly declining namesakes in the wild.
Firepower[]
Firstly, we have the Rhino's firepower. Boasting 2 Medium and 2 Light hardpoints, its firepower, whilst powerful, isn't anything exceptional and is roughly the same as most other heavy robots. However, this weapon slot configuration allows it to be equipped as a Death Button (Orkan/Pinata), Plasma Death Button (Taran/Magnum), Hellfire (Orkan/Magnum) and a variety of other setups. The unique advantage offered by this weapon slot loadout is versatality, allowing the Rhino to be effective in almost any role. Due to its ability, the Rhino is often used as a beacon capper, and in this role, its firepower outguns all of its rivals by a considerable margin, such as the Kumiho or Strider. The only downside to having four weapon slots is that it increases the amount of time and silver spent upgrading all of its weapons.
Health and Ability[]
Secondly, we have the Rhino's health and ability. With over 170,000 health at level 12 mk1, it is a durable heavy robot, however its health, like its firepower, isn't anything special either. However, it does have much more health than its closest rival, the Griffin, which has only 158,000 health at the same level (level 12 mk1). Nevertheless, its health is enough for it to act as a brawler and close-range fighter. The Rhino's unique strength is its Assault Mode ability. The Rhino's speed is increased by 100%, putting up an incredibly durable physical shield but it is only able to fire two light weapons. This allows it to charge across various battlefields until it reaches effective range, where it can then open fire and destroy its opponents with all four weapons once it puts down its shield. Putting up the physical shield and activating Assault Mode is also useful if the Rhino is on low health, or if it has had one of its medium weapons blown off due to a critical hit. Rhinos can also use this ability to charge into robots with Anciles before opening fire with rocket or kinetic weapons when inside the Ancile, bypassing their opponent's important source of protection.
Why Rhinos are being threatened[]
Finally, we need to look a why Rhinos are under threat. With the meta having changed once again (to Dash bots), the Rhino is struggling to adapt to change. Almost all of the new robots ruling the meta (such as the Haechi, Bulgasari and Inquisitor) are either shielded, have stealth or are more agile and nimble than the Rhino, in some cases all three. This excarberates the problem of the Rhino being vulnerable to flanking when in Assault Mode, somewhat making its ability a weakness rather than its strength. However, situational awareness usually solves the problem of being flanked for most Rhino pilots. Increasing use of splash weapons which are unaffected by the Rhino's shield are another threat. The Dash robots are often able to use their ability to dash out, fire their weapons, then dash back behind cover once they have fired their weapons and if they are outgunned or on low health.
The Bulgasari in particular is a threat to the once-meta Rhino. With the same firepower, but with significantly more health and a more durable physical shield, the Bulgasari (which is the current meta) outclasses the Rhino in almost everything apart from forward speed, in which case it will then have more firepower. The only advantage that the Rhino offers over many of its current meta rivals is cost-efficiency, being extremely cheap when compared to the Inquisitor, Spectre and Dash bots. The Ember weapon, commonly used in higher leagues also bypasses all shield types and does more damage than other heavy weapons, and even has a short 5 second reload. This is also difficult to counter.
Overview[]
Overall, the Rhino is an excellent but threatened robot, with great firepower, health and and an awesome ability. However, the current meta requires substantially more skill and situational awareness from Rhino pilots in order for them to be able to pilot their robots effectively. Creating strategies and tactics to specifically counter meta robots (e.g Haechi and Inquisitor) and their weapons (e.g Ember and Shocktrain) is recommended.