Next Robot To Invest

Well Leech and Phantom aren't in the workshop yet, so neither is an option right now. Are you running only 4 bots or is there another one in your hangar? At first glance I'd say it'd make sense to replace your Carnage with an Ao Jun. The other option would be to add a beacon runner. Strider is the best of what's in the workshop now, but if you are saving up for a 5th slot still, then it might make sense to get the Ao Jun now and wait until Phantom is available. I think Strider is the most fun bot in the game myself but Phantom is pretty tough to beat at the beacon.

Also you might want think about a different weapon setup for your Ao Guang. Generally I feel like teams with a Vortex tend to lose their matches more (although some Vortex players are devastating). All the tanks with advanced repair, DR, Last Stand, PS and stealth now really reducing its effectiveness. Maybe that's less the case in Expert, but I'd be wary of investing too heavily in them as you creep towards Champion League.

Just my 2¢ of course.

You sure? I got 8M silver, and I can keep on going, but Fenrir's gonna cost me alot. And the stupid conversion costs are high

Perhaps you can win won during christmas event

Ao Jun will net you a lot of silver so it's worth the investment. Not actually my favorite bot to play but it does massive damage, is very mobile (in the air only though) and the big point is you already have the weapons. I tend to focus on that last point when giving bot advice so as not to stretch folks in too many directions at once. Also it is one of the best Titan killers, although currently taking down Titans doesn't net you any silver. Downside is that it'll probably get some sort of nerf soon, although I doubt it'll be that big a one. What I don't like about it is that it is very much an ability-then-hide robot, although I am enjoying it more now that I have Road Hog on it. Exodus work well on it and require you to hide anyway to reload so similar to the Carnage I'd imagine.

That said, if you are looking for a cheaper but effective bot, hands down I'd recommend Strider. A highly-levelled Phantom has a bit of edge on it, but I beat regular Phantoms all the time. Have 2 Striders and about to build a 3rd. Great beacon runner (which will up your gold for 5th slot), great mid-game hunter, fun as hell to play. Punches well above its weight. Right now Spark-Calamity is the best setup for it (especially against Phantoms and AJs) but there are a lot of good options for equipping it. And they ain't going to be nerfing it. Obviously depends on your playstyle and what game modes you like best, but well worth thinking about.

Glad to hear the Vortexes are working for you. They're definitely fun. Overall, play what you enjoy most, that's always the best route IMO.

I thought we were supposed to ask you, the War Robots expert, the questions........

It’s called opinions. The investing robots are soooo difficult to decide. Ao Jun is OP, but I likey Fenrir, and a Nemesis would be awesome.

One thing I don't see in your lineup is a beacon runner, I would try to get one of those, maybe after you get a fifth slot.
You could grab a phantom when it comes to the workshop or something like a strider or hellburner.
And then if you want to replace the carnage you could go for an ao jun, or a bulwark.

Fudge, about the 5th slot...can’t get it. 5K gold is wayyyy too hard. Besides, I got Falcon capturing a lot of beacons.

Ok. But I dunno if I can. The massive decrease of silver is getting into my nerves. I mean, is Pixonic lying to us about fixing it?!

What about Operation: Cold Snap? Hope it’s worth it.

Agreed. And have some skins available in free pass.

I took out an Ao Jun and a Phantom w my Strider at a contested beacon. All full health and none of us had Last Stand. If either of them had a Last Stand, no way I would have taken em, but strategic use of cover and dashes won the day.

Edit - Strider is a great bot and one of my all time favs (I’m running 2 in my fun hanger!), but a well piloted Phantom is superior. 

What league are you in and what levels do you normally upgrade your stuff to?

I've played Exodus Carnage a fair bit and it's a fun bot when played well. But, the Carnage gets harder to play the higher up you go, and it's easy meat on some maps. Trident Falcon is a great bot. I've retired mine only because I've got too many bots now and it can't beat Dragoon Falcon. Ao Guang is pretty good with Vortex, but quad Vortex Spectre and Vortex/Aphid Raven are probably the two best chuckers in the game. Ao Guang does really well with Scourges and Pulsars if you've got them. Avenger/Gust Mercury is a great bot. Avenger/Gust is the best "cheap" build for this bot. I honestly can't decide if I like my Glory/Halo set up better than Avenger/Gust with Lockdown Ammo. But, I run Glory/Halo cause I have it and I need my Avenger on my Ao Jun.

Speaking of Ao Jun, it's still arguably one of the most powerful bots out there. It's literally playable from L1 onwards. It can be a good replacement for your Carnage, or if you have other decent heavies, you can run those too. 

I like my Phantom and my Leech. I'm still struggling to find the best build that works for me for my Phantom. At L9 in Masters 1, I can't run it like the unstoppable speedy tank other people do. I'm currently playing it with Orkan/Rimes and it does ok. I think I'll be switching it to Corona/Halo eventually though.

My L9 Leech is pretty fun too. Not as much fun as I thought, but still pretty fun. I'm running it with Scourges, but I've done Orkans, Storms, Coronas. I think I prefer Scourges because it forces me to rely on corner shooting more and brute force less. At L9 with no premium mods, I have to play it smart and not like the bully bot those with high levels do.

Anyway, my point, if I had one, is to think about what weapons you have ready. The Leech needs 4 decently leveled mediums. Do you have those handy? The Phantom needs 2L and 1M. Can you spare them? Ditto with just about any other bot you can think of. I mentioned the Ao Jun cause you can directly replace the Carnage with it.

Phantom does seem superior although I am getting good results against equally leveled Phantoms with my Taser Strider. Because their hit box is so tiny, tasers really seem like the weapon of choice against them. Highly-levelled Phantoms and those with Last Stand/PS win out against my L10 Strider with regular modules and Quantum Radar. When I finally get to level my Striders more, I'll probably put Last Stand back on and see how well it holds up against those.

But right now I am really enjoying keeping Last Stand off my Striders. Hurts me in a head-to-head beacon brawl and when locked down, but in general my Taser Strider lasts longer now that I've removed it. I just play it smarter. Removed Last Stand from my 2nd Halo-Glory Strider just a couple weeks ago. Reduced the lifespan because you have to get in close, but I'm figuring it out and enjoying the challenge.

Kinda feel bad that I have now stuck Last Stand on my super-meta Ao Jun and Leech but they actually need it more than cheap old Strider. It's ironic since I originally got Last Stand so I could keep my older/lighter bots competitive against the meta, lol.