(Mech Arena) Which mech to avoid?

Starting out:
Plasma Cannon 2 and 4 are the only 2 and 4 energy weapons worth upgrading. They have higher cycle DPS than all of the other 2 and 4 cost weapons.

Keep Lancer and Paragon in your hangar until they are at 2? level 7
Lancer at 1? is good with dual plasma 2, when 2 stars: Plasma 2 and Rocket 4
Paragon at 1? is fine with Rocket 4s, 2?:Rocket 6 until you get Plasma cannon 6

Juggernaut can be upgraded into endgame. It has the second highest base HP in the game, and it's shield is highly abusable. The only bot with higher health is Brickhouse(one of the last items unlocked) and Juggernaut can get way more mileage due to it's shield acting like recoverable HP.
1?: Plasma cannon 4+ Rocket 2
2?: Plasma cannon 4 x2
3?+: Plasma Cannon 6 until you get late game items.

Instead of ranking up Lancer and Paragon to 3?, replace them with Killshot and Panther, which can be upgraded all the way until end game.

Killshot will have 2 more energy than the Lancer at that point, and Panther's base speed and ability are better than Paragon with the same weapon energy.

2? Killshot can pick up Rocket 4s, 3? can pick up Rocket 6. Javelin 6(675 premium) can be thrown on it when you can afford it, and it can go to end game. Killshot is the fastest Medium bot, and it's ability is a charge that moves it 40M in the direction it's facing, and does a hefty chunk of damage to bots it hits in said charge. Great for running to center at the start, and picking off other Scouts and support that might try to run away from your team's fatbois.

When Panther hits 3?, it can equip dual Snipers. Sniping is actually effective in this game, so Panther can hold on to Long Arm 8 until you get to late game items Like Missile Rack, Carbines, and the Railgun.

After those first 3 slots are solid, adding more bots depends on the direction you want to go. If you want speed, bacon stealing pressure, and to be a general sneaky nuisance, Shadow(1275 premium) with Plasma cannon 4 is a solid addition.

If you want to go the fat route, Ares with Rocket 6, Thermal Lance 6, or Pulse cannon 6 are solid secondary tank set ups. Ares shield creates a wall in front of it. You can be flanked, and hit from above by Javelins and Rocket Mortars. It also has slightly less health than a Juggernaut of the same Rank(?). It can shield friendlies with it's shield, whereas Juggernaut focuses more on being a pain in the 「bum-bum」 to take down from any angle.

Guardian is kind of optional. It's best weapon sets are 4-5? weapons(Mid-late game). If you buy Missile racks early(real money), or save up for Pulse Cannon 8, Guardian is a solid bot to fill the next slot. It's ability forces whatever the ability hits(wave that reaches 30M) to have their reload and ability timers reset. It's strong against shields, and can stop a Killshot's charge.

MD is a matter of tastes. It has decent health, but low firepower. It's ability heals, so you're more or less committing to being stapled to a heavier mech's backside. Javelins and Plasma cannons are the go to for this thing.

The last 3 bots, Zephyr, Cheetah and Brickhouse are faaaaaaar along the EXP path to unlock, and by the time you get to the point where you can obtain them:

Zephyr is a side grade to Guardian. It's slightly faster, has less HP, and less overall firepower, but it's ability stops bots in their tracks in a small radius around you. They can't do anything for 5 seconds. It doesn't disable shields though.

Cheetah is a hit and run bot. It's ability drops up to 3 mines that do chunks of damage to anything that steps on them. It can slow an enemy push, punish flankers, or generally hang around beefier bots to make it even harder for your opponent to take down your friendly fatbois.

Brickhouse is a side-grade to Juggernaut. Instead of having re-usable health in the form of Juggernaut's shield, it just has the highest Health in the game, by a long shot.

Lancer and Paragon are pretty much the only bots that are fairly mediocre.

It costs the same amount to buy Shadow that it does to bring Lancer to rank 3(Shadow's starting rank). Killshot has slightly less health than Lancer at the same ranks, but higher move speed, weapon capacity, and an ability that can be used to cover ground as well as deal significant damage. Lancer is the only bot that can travel vertically with it's jump, but outside of that, all of it's stats are middle of the road compared to other bots that fill the role.

Paragon shares the highest weapon capacity with Panther and Guardian at the same ranks. Panther has better base speed and protection with it's fence ability. Guardian has a slower base speed and more health, but it can shut down one or more enemies with it's ability. It's biggest drawback is the lack of decent weapon options that take advantage of it's strengths until late game/end game.

Plasma cannons are bread and butter until you can get the 4? missile racks.

Pulse cannons are optional, and only really do well on tanks and Panther.

If you're not running MD or Shadow, 4 energy cost Javelins are optional. The 6 energy cost ones are end game viable.

Missile racks are the chunk weapons. Think War Robots y1 Orkans that fire like Pinatas.

Carbines are the damage over time kings, but they're hella expensive, so you'll be steering clear of them until your hangar starts reaching 4-5? on average.

Long Arm 8 can be taken all the way into the end game. The 10 cost one is useless, because you only get 1 until it's maxed out, and by then, Panther would have 24 energy(Max) and be able to use Long arm 8 and Railgun 16.


Thermal Lance 6 is a solid weapon, and debuffs the enemy to take 50% more damage with overheat. It's Y1 Gekko that's actually useful. The only reason to focus upgrading it is if you intend to use it with Stasis Beam 12(Slow status instead of overheat) on a Tank(Ares /Juggernaut /Brickhouse) to essentially mark bots for death while being a giant roadblock. Tanks have to reach 5? before they have 18 energy, and Stasis beam 12 is a 4? weapon that's on the costly side, so it's a mid-end game only setup. It can't burst bots down like snipers and rockets, but it's the most consistent 0-130M setup in terms of damage, active firing time, and time to kill.

Jug over MD? Not sure how big the HP difference is, but seems to me that healing is more useful than a shield, as the bot can heal roughly as much HP as the Jug gets from the shield, but heal allies too. Yes, I guess it shines most in squads where you can attach yourself to a reliable player, preferrably with some kind of shield (Panther, Ares).

Just wanted to comment on this part since most of what you said is either correct or fairly optional.  This is the only area I may disagree with.  Guardian might be somewhat optional on the onset, but is a solid contender for late game mech because of his energy.  He is largely compared to Zephyr since their abilities are similar and start with the same energy. Most people think Zephyr is better since his ability is better (and it is; slightly), but Guardian will have 24 energy end game and thats a big difference from 18 when you consider loadouts.  Hes definitely one to consider investing in, but probably after others like panther are already maxed.

This brings up a point that I really like about this game: it’s not so much about acquiring all the latest and greatest gear, it’s more about upgrading. So many early game bots are serviceable later if you upgrade the crap out of them. My problem right now is keeping up with the credits to do the upgrades. I’ve got a pile of bots and weapons ready to go, some 2 levels or more, but no credits in the bank. That of course is my own fault for shooting my load for the Guardian. 

Next month’s game budget is already earmarked for a crapload of a-coins.