06/06/2011

Strategy Guide to Robotek hexage

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Strategy Guide to Robotek

Posted by hexage May 27, 2011 Comments Off
Filed Under robotek, strategy
Firstly, some clarification: The AI never cheats. The AI is however, good. Its damn good.
This guide should help you discover how the AI thinks and show you some advanced tricks to beat AI at its
own game.
For starters, a few basic rules:
1. Never leave your mainframe unprotected. Get robots.
2. Never leave your robots unprotected. Get a firewall.
3. Never bet on a Hack. Especially not when you need it!
If you play by these rules, you will soon come to realise that lady luck is on your side. Why? Because it is
you, player, who has a much better chance to score a perfect roll. Just bear in mind that alone wont help
you against an AI thats a master at exploiting your openings!
Try staying without robots for one turn and I can guarantee the AI will make sure you regret it. Letting the
enemy robots shoot at your mainframe is like giving them free level-ups. Having friendly robots around is
always the better strategy, even when they die a lot.
Nota bene: Splash damage from exploded robot is nothing compared to the full force of enemy
firepower that made it explode in the first place.
Protecting your own robots helps them level up, giving you an advantage the AI will need incredible luck to
overcome.
SYMBOLISM: PRACTICAL USE
Tap any symbol on the slot machine for its detailed description. What it wont tell you is how to use the
symbol to the fullest effect. Following this guide may just help you with that.

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TANKBOT
Tankbot is a damage sponge with an almost negligible damage output. Thats fine though. Its protection gives
you enough time to roll out some sweet lazer-action of your own. Its a unit that you can rely on to keep your
healthbar safer for few more vital turns. Nothing less, nothing more.

DRONE
A medium armor robot, quite capable of standing its own ground. Its main advantage is a volley of
projectiles. This means:
1. it is more effective at damage distribution (A Drone wont waste all of its firepower on a single weak
unit)
2. it levels up quicker as it has a better chance to gain EXP from multiple kills and mainframe hits.
Nota bene: Drone becomes especially deadly at the fourth, heroic level.

DROID
Frail little robot that needs to be protected by a Firewall in order to be fully effective. It deals tremendous
damage to a single target. Due to high base damage, it gets the most out of percent-based Energy Leak
boosts.
A Droid wont last long in the open. But every turn you keep it alive, it kills or cripples something on the other
side. Combine yourself a heroic level Droid coupled with the use of a Rapid Fire ability and you have a
combo with the scope to win the battle really quickly.
Advanced WARFARE tips:
1. Less is more? - Two good robots are better than three weak ones! Lower numbers reduce the
probability of them being hacked. The AI hates the risk involved with the use of a hack, so its less
likely that it will attempt to steal your elite robots if you have less than 3 total.
2. More is even more than less! - If you have 3 or more robots, try to steal another, even if you dont
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need it. The AI will surely try to hack some of its robots back, and it will most likely succeed so let it
take back the one you didnt even need.
3. Let the lil ones have their fun. - If both you and the AI lose robots in battle always choose to
call new ones. Its tempting to pray for an Unmaker when theres nothing standing in its way, but resist
that urge and just call in some robots instead. Your robots get to fire directly at the enemy mainframe,
which is a priceless EXP harvest.

HACK
The first rule of hacking is if youre going to use it, dont rely on it to tip the scales in your direction while
youre taking a pummeling. Picture the scenario; you have no robots on the field and your enemy has a pack
of high-level robots. The first thought is hey, I can just use a hack and snag me one of them fancy robots for
myself! Great idea right? No. Its not. Heres why:
1. What if the hacking fails? Youll get hammered with their full force Enemy robots would all level
up like crazy and your chances to win fly straight out the window.
2. What if the hack succeeds? Youll get just one unit, which the enemy is most likely going to execute
for its insubordination in that very same round.
Is hacking any good then? Oh boy. Heres the skinny: Well used, it will most probably turn the tide of the
entire battle in your favour. However, be sure to only use it when you are safe (in case it fails), or when the
potential prize is worth the risk. Stealing a fresh heroic robot is a glorious triumph sometimes just too good to
pass up!
Note: Chances to make a successful hack are listed in the symbols description, however you have to
multiply the chance with the number of enemy robots. If you roll 1 Hack symbol with only a 12%
chance and the enemy has 3 robots, the probability youll make a successful hijack is 36%.

ENERGY LEAK
Imagine
1. You have a pack of high-level robots. Your enemy has only a single weak one, or (better yet) none.
Thats when its a good time for Energy Leak. Every stray shot that manages to hit the enemy
mainframe translates directly into experience. Boosting your robots when they get to shoot at the big
guy equals more level-ups for them. Level-up means full repair, better armor and better damage.
Level-ups are totally worth it.
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2. You have a pack of high-level robots and the enemy has them too! Energy leak causes the enemy
robots to be less effective, while giving a vital boost to your own forces. Therefore its good to use
Energy leak, especially when it grants few extra kills to your units. Even better when the enemy robots
are hurt badly and levelled up. (More EXP for each kill and more enemy damage gets negated by the
leak.)
Note: Energy Leak is best served with a side order of Droid and a sprinkling of the Rapid Fire ability.
Such a combo can outshine even the mighty Unmaker Omega.

FIREWALL
Unquestionably a must-have for any self-respecting Droid. Without a Firewall, your Droid dies. With a
Firewall in place, your Droid can deliver numerous encores of its world famous, critically acclaimed laser
show!
Conclusive philosophy of HACKING:
With hacking you can rarely go wrong, but it should never be relied upon. Firewall or Hack alone wont win
a match, but youll be hard-pushed to win a match without them. It is always a good idea to take the
worst possible outcome of a roll into equation! Sometimes, its great to get one symbol of the three (i.e:
successful hack, Firewall) but in the case of an unlucky roll, the other two symbols would be wasted (for
example, you dont have any robots wholl reap the benefit of an Energy Leak, or, the enemy doesnt have
enough robots to justify the use of a Hack). Always imagine the worst possible outcome and consider
whether or not the other two categories wouldnt be a better course of action for the situation at hand.
Introductory philosophy of POWERS:
Powers are all about the math. If the enemy employs the use of heroic robots, its best to go with a Shock
attack. This can swiftly reduce their high damage stats all the way down to zero. If there is a single strong
Tankbot or Citadel Firewall, its a good plan to take it down a notch with a laser and then let your robots go
in for the kill. If there are any frail units hiding behind an enemy firewall, warm them up with Microwave
blasts. The results can often be surprisingly effective.

LASERS
Synthesized Damage in its purest, most destructive form. (Oh wait, no. Thatd be Nuke. )
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Just be reminded, that when making easy kills with a Particle Beam or the Unmaker Omega your robots get
no EXP out of it. They do however get a big kick out of watching it though. They even took the time to
assure me quite recently, that its witnessing precisely that level of carnage which makes them so proud to be
on your side.

MICROWAVE
Microwave may, at the first glance, appear to be the least effective of the offensive techniques. But
appearances as they say, can be deceiving. Microwave can be in fact much more devastating than Unmaker
in certain situations. Just be sure to multiply its damage by directing it at a higher number of enemy targets
(this also includes the enemy mainframe). Also, microwaves penetrate through the firewall, which is good for
trashing even the most heavily protected Droids. On top of that, microwave blasts always hit the enemy
mainframe, which is great for finishing that nearly dead mainframe hiding behind a freshly summoned Tankbot.

SHOCK
Even the weakest shock guarantees that the most dangerous enemy unit wont fire this round. Shock targets
and you can scramble the hostile robot with the highest damage output. Its also fantastic for shutting down
your own stolen (hacked) robots, as the enemy cant repair your models (Suck on that you dirty, thieving
AI). On higher rolls, shocks deal damage to different targets not unlike the microwave disabling and
damaging everything they can along the way. Mind the Firewalls though as shocks will never make it through
them.

USING ABILITIES RIGHT

Icons at the bottom represent Abilities they unlock gradually as you level in the game. If you have enough
cycles (you get 1 each turn) you can activate an ability and then spin the slots as usual the ability will aid you
afterwards. Remember to tap the cycle counter for descriptions of available abilities.
RAPID FIRE Be sure to try and use this ability only after youve gotten yourself a good number of
damage dealing robots on your side, i.e: when youve just hacked an enemy Elite Droid and suddenly found
yourself with two of them. If you dont have enough capable robots in your service, RAPID FIRE wont help
you at all and youll only waste precious cycles using it.
EMERGENCY REPAIR - Just as the name suggests, its best used only once things start to look really
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bleak with regards to the old healthbar. There is however one case where the use of Emergency Repair may
grant you a victory that is when you find yourself surrounded with severely damaged elite robots. ER brings
your forces back in shape and all your opponents previous efforts are suddenly rendered redundant.
SUMMON HERO Save this for a moment when things start to look their bleakest for your team of
robots. If you have 3 good robots and decide to add a hero to the mix, the AI will most likely attempt to steal
it. And it will, sooner or later, succeed. Sadly
NUKE - Nuking is fun. Its like a thousand suns exploding in a fiery testament to the fact that you are a
mighty force to be reckoned with!
There is just one important thing to consider: If you both have Nukes, and youre both doing well with your
health (like, at least 250+ hitpoints) it is better to let the enemy fire the Nuke first.
Sound absurd?
Think about it: you lose all your robots in the blast and the hostile forces accrue tons of EXP out of your
mainframe. Then its your turn. You make new robots and launch your Nuke. The enemy loses everything
and your robots get the EXP. Now youre both devastated, youre both out of Nukes but only you are
the one surrounded with EXPed robots Result!
Oh and one more thing: when it feels like your enemy is about to unleash some ungodly nuclear wrath, roll the
Firewall. It will endure the blast and provide some shade for your radiation-ravaged mainframe.

The AI Never Cheats OR DOES IT?!?!

No. It doesnt. You can exhale now. That said, not every perfect roll is a pure coincidence. Some perfect
rolls are forced by gaming mechanics that moderate unbalanced battles this mechanic significantly favors
player over the AI.
HOW IT WORKS:
When one of the players scores too many perfect rolls and their health is much higher than the other players
health, a balancing mechanics kicks in to help the unfortunate player. This system adds a very small bonus
chance to force a perfect roll. This chance increases as the health gap between the two players gets bigger.
In the absolute extreme situation, where one player has 100% health and the other player has just 1% health,
the losing player is favored with a bonus chance as big as 14% to force a perfect roll.
That is, when the favored player is the AI.
If it is you, player, who needs help, then the bonus chance gets as high as 25% !
As soon as the favored (read as unfortunate) player pulls a perfect roll (no matter if it was a forced or a
normal perfect roll), he loses the bonus chance.
To sum it up:
The added chance triggers only in greatly one-sided battles.
The added chance ends as soon as the favored player makes a perfect roll of any kind.
The added chance reaches its maximum at:
14% bonus chance for the AI
25% bonus chance for the player.
Nota bene: Bonus chance alone wont help much without good, well-reasoned tactics.
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SO THAT EXPLAINS WHY THE AI *always* ROLLS 2 UNMAKERS IN A ROW!

No, no, no it doesnt! If you experience highly improbable streaks of luck or misfortune then it is purely
coincidental, but sadly not an improbable, occurrence. Remember that the slot machine is a lottery of just 3
symbols in 3 slots and the chances to make a few perfect rolls in a row are not as low as it may seem.
There are 27 possible outcomes of a roll on your slot machine. Out of these 27 outcomes only 9 start with the
symbol youve selected by stopping the first reel. Out of these 9 possible outcomes, 4 contain double the
desired symbol and just 1 is a perfect roll.
The chances to score a perfect roll are 1:8
(Starting from version 1.5) AI is further handicapped to prevent it from performing long sequences of perfect
rolls. The third perfect roll AI makes in a row is forcefully discarded.
The Good News: There is no limit to luck for players. Players can score an unlimited number of perfect
rolls in a row.

COIN OPERATED!
Coins can be inserted into your slot machine to upgrade its slot symbols. Each Coin adds an extra chance to
trigger a particular side effect associated with the symbol selected. You are awarded with one more Coin at
each level up. You can also get extra coins with any of the in-app purchases.
The AI only gets and invests 1 coin for each level of its mainframe. If you are battling a Le Puck Node (level
1) the AI has invested just 1 coin. If you are battling for example the King Node (level 13) - you know that
it has invested 13 coins into symbols of its choice.
Now if youve made any in-app purchase, you got extra Coins that are forever yours, giving you an
everlasting advantage over the AI.
AI can only invest Coins it gets for its level. If you make a 10 Coin purchase, you are forever 10 Coins ahead
of the AI.
Note: Purchased Coins are preserved even if you restart the Campaign in the Options. In case you
wish to start the Campaign over, you can reinvest all your previously purchased Coins again.
Following list will show you the detailed numbers behind slot symbols upgrades:
LUCKY STRIKE Drone upgrade. Up to 28% probability (each time it fires its volley) to launch an extra
missile. Lucky Strike bonus multiplies with the Rapid Fire ability.
REPULSOR ARMOR Tankbot upgrade. Up to 28% probability to block all incoming missiles from an
enemy Tankbot or Drone.
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CRITICAL HIT Droid upgrade. Up to 28% probability to cause extra 30% damage. Critical Hit damage
bonus stacks with the Energy leak boost and it multiplies with the Rapid Fire ability!
DEFLECTOR Firewall upgrade. Up to 26% chance to deflect all incoming missiles from a hostile
Tankbot or Drone.
MESSY HACK Hack upgrade. Up to 42% chance to scramble enemy robot upon failed hack attempt.
SUPERBOOST Energy Leak upgrade. Up to 38% probability to double both the boosting effect (your
forces) and the draining effect (enemy forces) of your Energy Leak.
ELECTRON FURY Shock upgrade. Up to 22% chance to discharge 1 extra electron bolt!
LASER CRITICAL Lasers upgrade. Up to 27% chance to cause 20% higher damage.
RESIDUAL BLAST Microwave upgrade. Up to 22% chance to cause extra blast of Microwave 1.0
grade damage.
As you might have noticed, majority of these effects favor the unlucky rolls, where even the three different
and weak slot symbols may suddenly make a tremendous impact on the ongoing battle.
Now get out there and show Empire of Machine whos the boss once and for all!
(spoiler: its you)

Strategy Guide to Robotek

Knowledge is power. Good luck!

SPECIAL THANKS TO SKIP!

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