New here, just wanna have fun

Stop now before it's too late!

Oh Lord... well, be glad you specified it was for fun only. Lots of sour milk to serve here towards Pix.   But, I agree, the game is still fun for a lot of folk.

Here is a book to read....

Sniping is a weird role in War Robots... I will explain:

I wouldn't focus on more than 1 bot of that type in your hangar at one time. Beacons are the point of the game in the currently available game modes and snipers don't excel at getting them. You HAVE to be prepared to ditch it if the game isn't progressing... and many new pilots don't ditch them while the beacon bar drains steadily. Of course, I expect if you are trying to learn the bot, you can ignore that and just deal with the fact that you are going to piss peeps off if you stay in it for the whole game... but practice is deffo needed for any setup... and it's your game and your time to do with as you will, in the end.

Anyway... A good beginner sniper capable bot that can hold its own as you climb up is the Natasha. You can get it for Ag and it gets to level 9 (max speed for all bots is level 9) pretty quickly for a Heavy. Cheaper than most Heavies, too, I believe. First, you won't be real happy with sniper setups until you get the weapons leveled to at least 8... no matter the league.  A common semi-good sniper weapon setup for it is Nashorns and Gekkos. But, you want to be aiming for the Trebuchet for that heavy spot if you truly wish to snipe. It is a powerful weapon if you have patience and wait for both the full charge of the weapon to build up and the right shots against the right targets. Gekkos in the light weapon slots on a Natty work to both test your shot (shooting them separately from the heavy cannon looking to see if they hit... [sometimes it's hard to see the target clearly across the map but if your Gekkos hit you will see the Red "X" at your crosshair and should be able to successfully hit with your Heavy weapons]) and to do decent damage.  Molots are OK as subs in the light slots if you don't have Gekkos. And frankly... it is most likely you won't have them for a while, as you should at least get the 4th slot and a pair of Orks before spending Au on anything else... but it is your decision and this is just advice. By the same token, you should get at least a pair of Tarans and maybe up to 3 or 4 Mags before saving WSP for a Trebuchet. If you are not level 20 yet, however, you can't even get WSP anyway, so no big deal.


Run and Gun. 

Hmmm. 

To me, the first bot that comes to mind is the Rog. It is expensive at 2500 Au just for the bot... and if equipped with 1500 Au apiece Orks, which are the best Run and Gun weapons (unless the new medium shotgun weapon, the Storm, turns out to be good), even moreso... but it is the epitome of bot selection for that type of play in War Robots (pre-Korean Bots era, anyway.)   Fast, decent HP, 2 medium weapons, and a quickly recharging jump ability. Great for ambushes and strafing runs.

Boa with a Thunder and a single Ork is a pretty decent bot that could fill that role... for a time, at least, in the early leagues.  Lots of HP and a quick bot, for a medium... it can serve in a pinch.

Golem can do it, as well, as it can be upgraded very high with very little Ag and time investment... giving it it high HP and pretty good speed... but not until then.  It will die quickly if not at least double the level of the average Heavy you meet. Even then, it is a tricky bot to get the most out of if used at close range... but common good builds are Thunder Orkan Pinata, Thunder Taran Magnum, and Thunder Punisher-T Punisher.

If you have tons of Au (or are lucky at the chests) and don't think you want the Rog, Galahad and Gareth are good bots for speed and have decent hit and run firepower... equipped with an Ork and Pinatas, they are pretty fast and have a physical shield which will block plasma and some amount of ballistic fire... although not as much as they used to since the buff that multiplies their damage against shields.  They are vulnerable to splash weapons though, as they bypass the shields completely, gaining access to their low HP for their class.  Me, I love those two bots in Silver and Gold leagues and will use them with everything from all Plasma weapons to all Punishers, to anything in between. They can still be used higher up if you are extremely careful and aware of your surroundings, but many will tell you not to waste Au on them unless you have all of the bigger and better purchases already.

As an aside...You may be happy with a Griffin carrying Orks and Pinatas. They are slow on the ground, but have a large trajectory jump and can cause problems for anything you come across in the lower and high levels once you get the hang of how to survive and thrive in them. They are not really Run and Gun, however, so I don't know if you will take to them.

Anyway, glad you are having fun and welcome to the boards!   Hope I have given you some ideas on what to go for. Just remember, sniping is meant to support the goal of getting and, most importantly, holding, beacons. If you are not doing that, get out of that bot and get in something that will.  Just my advice, anyway.  Of course, it is just a game and having fun is the goal... so if that is your most enjoyable role... do what you do.

Oh, and I would start with getting all weapons and bots to level 6 to begin with... as long as you are still in Silver League, that will suffice. Once you get to Gold League you should already be at level 8 for weapons or well on your way. Debates about how and what to update first will always exist... but I just upgrade 1 weapon at a time on 1 bot at a time, 1 level at a time, until they are all at the goal I set. It takes a bit... but allows for a balanced hangar so that not just 1 bot setup is super good while the rest suck.  Far better to be even across your hangar... but again, there is a LOT of debate about that.

Well... Good luck!  At both your choices and your games!

IMO, YMMV.

Awesome effort ⓣⓡⓘⓒⓚⓨ48

OP, one longer range bot that I played with for a short time and liked (also respect when on the red team) is the Molot Griff. It is not a tempest fury but beats a tempest fury hands down when it comes to value for money and mobility. For well under 2M silver you can give it a test run. And in any case, everyone should have at least one griff in the hanger/inventory IMO.

Will range up to 800m and Pixonic just keeps on buffing kinetic weapons and I don't think they are about to stop either. Griffs are very versatile and are good on any map unlike the traditional snipers.

Yup... was gonna say a blurb or two about Molots, but my damn fingers are cramping.  Deffo my choice over sniper weapons for long range... If I have a Tempest, I have a bot that carries it and Molots to pair with it.  I don't really like them past 700m, but they make Snipers put their heads down all the way out to their max 800m, for sure. 

And yes... Griff and Rhino Molot builds are extremely dangerous if you are caught out in the open.

Glad you are here! It is not a sniper nor a run and gun bot, but an all punisher Griffin is a staple in my hangar. It puts A LOT of lead down range and is agile enough to evade most fire if you watch you distance.It only cost silver so you don't have to spend gold or wsp on it. Next thing I would work on getting is some taran and magnums. Strap those on another Griffin and you will have 2 builds that will last you a long time.

Whatever you do I suggest to know what you are shooting for and collect the weapons first. Put more effort into leveling them up, the idea is to kill folks faster not stand in front of them as they take you HP to zero because they have stronger weapons than you. Just my 2 pennies worth!

Forget the sniping!. Nothing more fun than slugging it out in the trenches with thunders, orkans, punishers, and tarans.

I actually got myself a Kang Dai, and it really does some punishment! Also, thanks for all the advice!

I'll do my advice in bullet points as in a bit of a hurry:

: welcome to the forum! You will get lots of good advice here
: level 6 is a good plateau for a while. War Robots is more a marathon than a sprint
: avoid spending RM (real money)
: play for fun above all, it's not worth getting stressed over. a game!
: snipers are good but know when to eject and got toe to toe with an enemy
: close up fighting is like a boxing match - stick and move, don't stand still and get punched on the nose, always keep your guard up and don't try for a K.O. round one wear em down, go get em kid!
- never underestimate the usefulness of mid range bots (esp Molot Griffin and then later Zarnage)
: be prepared to change a) your playstyle and b) your hangar if you get "stuck". sometimes a light bot just isn't up to the job etc
: try to get into the habit of "picking your fights" - during battle think "who can i damage, which teammates needs support, what range does that red have, where can I get to cover? A moment spent thinking like this pays off. Rushing into battle usually means getting killed and maybe killing 1-2 reds. That's fine if it's what you want to do but staying alive in battle is always an advantage!

Hope that helps - all the other from other posts advice above this is also v useful. Have fun.

I agree with others in that sniping isn't the most prolific role in War Robots. Furthermore, the most common go-to setup for sniping at lower levels is the Natasha with Zenits and Noricums, but this setup will get you scorned by fellow blues and will handicap your learning of the game (as the goal is to control the map and beacons).

Some general advice:

* Save all gold to get the fourth and fifth slots, before you start spending on anything else. The only exception might be two orcans for a specific bot to help make farming gold from wins a bit easier; the procurement of which would be after you have your fourth slot. The reason for this advice is that it keeps you in the battles longer, thus helping you deal more damage (see below about game rewards) and results in more game time per match, and thus more fun. And as you become more competitive, the fifth slot is a must.

* Join a clan. Having team mates to play with usually increases fun. Plus if a decent clan, there will be plenty advice and guidance. Furthermore, you can earn extra gold for your first three clan matches each day, and it all adds up

* Understanding rewards: As you will be saving gold for slots and equipment, best to ensure you understand how gold is earned. The top three players for the winning team earn gold; 5 for 1st, 3 for 2nd, and 1 for 3rd. The order is determined by how much damage you deal (hense the aforementioned recommedation about slots and orkans). Furthermore, whomever on the winning team captures the most beacons get an extra 5 gold for that match. Plus there are daily tasks (always reroll WSP task to a gold task), and extra gold for clan matches.

* Keys: Most players report pretty dismal rewards from the Black Market. But as long as you are not paying real cash for keys, then just think of it as possible free stuff for the game time you would log regardless. Bronze boxes are pretty crappy odds for getting anything nice. Silver boxes have better odds, but still not great. Gold boxes offer decent odds of getting useful weapons or bots, but takes a bit of effort and patience to get the 1k keys. I have been fortunate to get a few decent things from silver chests; usually invest in the 100 key silver boxes.

* Ads: iOS hasn't gotten the patch yet, Android has (and who cares about Gameroom or other platforms ). Seems the general advice is to use the ads to get bronze keys as it will help acumlate credit for a super box quicker and help collect components. Don't bother trying to rush upgrades or quick complete daily tasks. {So save keys from pvp for silver or gold chests, and use ads for bronze chests}

* Events: If you have the time, kill it during events. Lots of premium gear to be earned. Events run approx every 3 months. The next event will be the Christmas event and is scheduled for Dec 5th to Jan 8th. Rewards will include a hover bot (new 3.4 bot), storm (new medium shotgun akin to heavy thunder weapon), a shocktrain, and a Bulgisari (F yeah!!). Additionally there will likely be a couple silver bots with skins and a couple premium weapons before you get to the aforementioned rewards, but it will take substantial effort to earn the top prizes.

* Hangers: When putting builds together, the general advice is don't mix ranges (short, med, long) or damage types (rockets/splash or energy/plasma)
- Ranges: Short range is 300/350 meters or less; mid/medium range is out to 600 meters; and long range 600 to max weapon range
- Dmg type: rockets/splash provide amazing burtst but can be ineffective vs ancile/energy shields; plasma energy is less bursty but can go thru energy shields. Note that bullets (punishers/mallots) can be stand-alone builds (i.e. punisher Griff) or compliments both energy and splash builds, tho usually pair better with rockets, as tarans and magnums usually pair better with other energy weapons.
- It is also worth discussing weapon abilities. And by this I mean certain buffs to weapon types that benefit builds and that you should be aware of for play style. For example, kinetic weapons like the thunders and storms do double damage to shields. A more knowledge forum member will need to provide more insight about this tho. I don't want to give wrong information, as I am still researching the topic.

* Effective combat: Just as you put your hanger together based on dmg types and ranges, you need to learn weapon ranges, weapon effects, salvos, and reload times to be effective in combat, and this is true of both offense and defense. I.e...
-Offensively - your Orkans cannot hit targets beyond 300 meters, your tarans beyond 350 meters, Punishers 500 meters, etc. Your rockets have amazing burst but a long reload cycle so plan your attack as well as if you don't kill your target, where are you going to go for cover while you reload? If playing with random players it is hard to really coordinate efforts, but you can still learn to watch the field and help your own engagements or that of fellow blues, i.e. thunder an ancile if you see a team mate about to rocket attack a shielded bot, or if you see a team mate attacking a red with a shield, save your rocket salvo for the moment you see their shield go down to maximise your damage. If you are in an Ancilot (Lancilot with an ancile equipped), Carnage, or other energy shielded bot, try to provide cover for your team mates (and learn where that coverage is most effective, i.e. Lance from the front, Carnage from the back). Likewise, if you see other blues with shields, use their shield and work as a pair.
-Defensively - you see an enemy bot with orkans and pinatas coming toward you, so backstep and keep it at range while you hit it provided your weapons have better range, or move closer to cover or jumo/dash to help minimize damage while it unloads its salvo, then attack while it is reloading. Zeus has a five second reload, so count in between shots if you see those beams coming your way, and use that timing to seek cover and engage accordingly. Watch for the bright glow if you see a treb sniper in the distance. Etc. And as mentioned above, if you are in a shielded bot, either physical shield or energy shield, learn how to use that shield to not only protect yourself, but also your team mates.
*** Biggest take-away from this - learn to watch ranges

* Hanger set-up: Although you are not locked into a deployment order, consider your hanger set-up and arrange accordingly as it will instill basic concepts - beacon capturing bot first (light, fast robot), mid or longe range robot second (your sniper or ranged bot if you are going to play one), and knife fighters in remaining slots. Note that it is not always prudent to drop your beacon bot first. Watch as other players drop their bots. If you see a couple other light beacon bots dropped, save yours as it is sometimes effective, and can save matches, if you drop your beacon bot last and run the map capturing beacons while a couple slow reds are left, as they will not be able to keep up with you and you can steal a last minute beacon victory.

* Upgrading: Upgrade uniformally; weapons first, then bots, i.e. upgrade all weapons to 6, then bots to 6, then weapons to 7, then bots to 7, weapons 8, bots 8, etc.

Sorry if the above points are already known to you.

As for a newbie hanger: There are plenty silver only hangers that can be pretty effective and fun

* Griffon w/ pins & tulumbas (up to 500m range)
* Griffon w/ punishers (up to 500m range, but more effective the closer you get)
*** Griffon w/ molots are effective up to 800m but are very situational and have a lot less damage potential than punisher griff
* Natasha w/ thunders & punishers (up to 500m, but most effective within 200m)
* GI Patton w/ noricums (long range splash damage)
* Boa w/ thunder & punsher
* Cossack makes a great entry level beacon bot; equip it according to your playstyle
*** Don't be the guy in a Natasha with a thunder, a trebuchet, a punisher, and either a malot or gecko lol. Don't know why I see that build so often, but laugh everytime I do
*** There may be some build or playstyle bias in the aforementioned recomendations. Others might offer some good alternatives that I haven't considered as they didn't suite me.

Premium: Orkans should be first weapons purchased with gold. Tarans and later magnums priority WSP purchases; deffinately weapons for bots. Once you start accumulating premium weapons and gear there are plenty builds, and plenty threads on them, for you to play around with. But generally speaking, some easy to put together meta builds are:
* Griffon w/ orkans & pinatas (300m range) (or Rhino similarly equipped)
* Griffon w/ tarans & magnums 9350M range) (or Rhino similarly eqipped)
* Carnage w/ either thunders (most effective <200m) or zeus (600m range)
* Rogatka w/ either tarans (350m) or orkans (300m)
* Galahad w/ taran & magnums
* Lancilot w/ ancile & tarans
* GI Patton w/ aphids (likely to be replaced by Griff w/ aphids and the new medium aphid equivalent weapon {name?})
* GI Patton w/ gekkos
* Leo or Natasha w/ trebs & gekkos
* Stealth or Gareth, equipped according to playstyle, as beacon bot (assuming you won't have dash bots for a while)
*** Note that Lancilot and Carnage are the bots most likely to stay vusable well into the most competitive leagues (again, assuming you don't have dash bots)

Lastly, forgive the forums for the often negative threads and pessimistic view. Yes, Pix has earned much of the scorn. But keep in mind that the forums are usually comprised of some of the most passionate and/or disgruntled players. There is still plenty fun to be had, and doom and gloom may not be as eminent as the forums would lead you to believe.

Recommend you consider a punisher griffon vice punisher patton.  The medium punisher-ts dish out quite a bit more damage than the light punishers, the griff has more health, and the griff has jump, which once mastered, can provide quite in edge in engagements or retreats.  A few battles will net the silver to get another griffon   

Also, golem has quite a bit of health.  The silver sniper weapons aren't too effective in most scenarios.  You might enjoy a fist fight with a thunder, punisher t, and a punisher on it more.  Give it a try.  The thunder is a pretty impressive heavy fist fight weapon, and the sustained fire rate of thunders and punishers means you can really throw down.  Or even try a thunder and a pinata and tulumba on it; use the thunder to break shields (press only the thunder fire botton vice the red button that fires everything) then unload with the rocket salvo while keeping the thunder barking (lay into the big, red button)...bit more finicky of a set-up, but can be fun and provides moderate burst damage.

Oh, I know.  The Halloween event was my first one in the game, but I managed to earn the Kumiho.  Lots of effort involved

Might just train my daughters how to cap beacons for the Chrstmas event lol

Here's my 2 cents...

You say you're playing for fun... so, my advice is to understand what "fun" means for you. I spent so much time and currency, and yes, RM on this game to get to where I am in terms of what I consider fun. I even put the game down for a long time because I couldn't answer that simple question.

For me, fun is running around in fast bots. My hangars are NOT balanced. I have a fast bot hangar with 3 Rogs, 1 Bulg and 1 Jesse. I'll swap bots around whenever I feel like playing something different. My second hangar is what I drop when I see a large map. It's filled with heavy bots outfitted for mid to long range fighting, and yes, I even have a Spydra in there now. I don't care about league points, don't really care about what league I'm sitting in. I just want to go in, and blast things. And now with my second hangar, I don't get as frustrated in large maps as I used to. Now, if I get hit by a sniper, at least I can hit back!

A quick word about sniping from a guy who used to hate snipers. It's more challenging than people say - especially on large maps. When I snipe, I'm not just looking to spam fire a red. I'm looking for the best target of opportunity. Whether it's a jumping Griffin, or a crippled red that might still be dangerous. The role of the sniper is to support your blues from a distance. I've actually seen a red that I've been sniping at run straight into a blue's guns. And, I've said this before. One of the deadliest combos in this game on large maps is a sniper bot supported by a mid range bot. Think of the the cannon piece in Chinese chess.

So, decide early one, what type of bots you like to run, and play to your bots strengths. That means, if you're running a fast bot, do NOT go head to head against anyone bigger than you. Your role in a fast bot is to flank and to cap beacons and the occasional ambush. If you like fast bots, and hit and run tactics, a Gepard with 3 Aphids is a ton of fun. Or, if you get your hands on a Jesse with 4 Aphids and the quickdraw ability, you can really wrack up the damage in certain situations. Stalker is a good bot too, and one that you can get with WSP, and its stealth can save your bacon in a lot of situations. Obviously, I love the Rogatka. I bought 1 with RM when I came back into the game, and won the other 2. One during the event in July, and the other on the BM. For me, the Rog fits my play style the best. It's the jack of all trades, master of none. Everything the Rog can do, there will be a bot out there that does it better. Ambush? DB Griffin and Thunder Carnage. Flank? Stalker and Gareth. Cap beacons? Rhino, Stalker and Gareth. But what I love about the Rog is that I can be totally fluid in the game.

So, find your zen and enjoy the game!

Wow, you guys are writing a great starters guide in this thread. A for effort!

Weapons before bots is standard rule.

You will need at least two tarans and two magnums in your inventory; probably several more tarans on top of that.

I would buy one taran and one magnum for now.  On or about Dec 5th the Christmas event will start.  Personally, I would wait to see what will be up for grabs before buying anything else.  Get the second taran and magnum if not offered as an earnable reward, and throw all four on a griffon (a build referred to as the PDB Griffon - PDB = Plasma Death Button).

And although ill advised, if your heart is set on a bot first, I personally would recommend a Carnage first.  Fujins are nice, and can be very effective.  But a Carnage will serve you much better, especially since you can throw thunders on it, a silver cost weapon, for it to be extremely lethal, whereas the Fujin will need tarans, orkans, or hydras (or God forbid Shocktrains) for it to really be lethal.  Plus Carnages can be meta all the way into Champ's League, whereas you will find few, if any, Fujins in Champs.