Glider Drone - Kinda Underrated!
Apr 5, 2022 22:31:14 GMT -5
Koko Bop, Eradicator1, and 5 more like this
Post by 079 on Apr 5, 2022 22:31:14 GMT -5
Before I begin, just a quick primer on drone microchip types: A is status effects, C is defense points (resistance), D is healing, and F is shields. Glider’s microchips are ADDF, while Nebula is ACCF. Remember this, because I will be using these letters to refer to chip types. Now let’s get started!
Glider is a bit of a strange case in the drone world, nobody is saying it is bad, yet people are hesitant to use it. With the 20000 gold for $7 or less offers being commonplace, I decided to invest some of my splurge outcome into one of these bad boys, and I gotta say, I’m surprised this drone is not getting more attention. In fact, I’m gonna be a bit bold and claim that this drone is a legitimate competitor to Nebula! Is it better or even as good as Nebula on average? No, but like many things in this game, Glider has some overlooked niches where it seriously shines.
Of course the star of the show for this drone is its special function, that being an ultra-powerful version of the After PhaseShift: Fix microchip, granting 22% durability restoration after Phase Shift is used. This function is actually quite handy for a number of reasons, most of which pertain to the Phase Shift module itself. Phase Shift is in a loosing battle with Advanced Repair Unit for what players want as a defensive module for a brawl, and After PhaseShift: Heal actually solves a lot of that: the lack of healing.
Phase Shift has some undeniable advantages over Advanced Repair Unit, mainly completely ignoring damage instead of mitigating it and removing status effects, but these are useful for avoiding bursts of damage, not outlasting one’s opponent in a jostle for a beacon. After PhaseShift: Fix turns Phase Shift into a kind of 2-in-1 package of invincibility and healing, which is only made better by Glider’s two D-type chips. One would initially think to stack After PhaseShift: Fix chips to double down on the drone’s ability, but this is actually quite unoptimized. As it turns out, given the robot has more than 182,000 hit points of base durability or makes up the difference through other healing sources in 5 seconds, Glider’s special function meets the 40000 hit point heal requirement to trigger On Repair: Fix microchips, which are both more powerful than After PhaseShift: Fix microchips and can be activated by more sources than just Phase Shift, so these microchips are the better choice. With high-tier On Repair: Fix microchips equipped, Glider can heal robots for amounts that rival Advanced Repair Unit, plus remove status effects and make enemies waste ammunition! And if one does not want to lean so heavily on Phase Shift, one or both microchips can be swapped for On Mild/High Damage: Fix microchips instead.
Now this all sounds great on paper, but why is Nebula so much more popular? Well, the answer comes with the difference between C and D-type microchips. Glider may heal a ton, but without any resistance, it cannot prevent one’s robot from just loosing all that restored durability in under 10 seconds to a supercharged enemy. That’s where Nebula steps in, bringing powerful On Repair Unit: Defense microchips to prolong a robot’s durability in addition to healing it with Advanced Repair Unit. Thus, it’s obvious why robots like Revenant or Fafnir prefer Nebula, they do not need the short-term invincibility but do need resistance, and for most other robots, Nebula works just as good as Glider. So where does Glider really shine over Nebula then?
There are two robot types that lend themselves very well to Glider, and those are healers and tanks with built-in resistance. Starting with the tanks, a robot like Fenrir already has 100 defense points (50% resistance), and given how defense points operate on an exponential decay model (the more defense points you have, the less impactful additional defense points are), On Repair Unit: Defense microchips are not as good as they are on Revenant, so Glider may actually be better than Nebula by providing more efficient D-type microchips to make up for healing, and providing the utility of Phase Shift. As for healers, On Repair: Fix microchips have synergy with both Glider’s special ability and the robot’s ability, so all the extra healing and Phase Shift’s utility easily make up for the loss of defense points. Plus, Glider provides the same F and A microchips that Nebula does, so no functionality is being lost with picking it there.
Glider is an oddball for sure, providing defense in less conventional ways than Nebula, but at the same availability and having legitimate advantages, I find it to be a shame that Glider is seemingly stuck in Nebula’s shadow. If you have a tank with built-in resistance or a healer and am willing to drop some gold on the drone and microchips, I urge you, give Glider a try, it will hopefully surprise you like it has me, and become a staple of your drone lineup, just line it has with mine!
Glider is a bit of a strange case in the drone world, nobody is saying it is bad, yet people are hesitant to use it. With the 20000 gold for $7 or less offers being commonplace, I decided to invest some of my splurge outcome into one of these bad boys, and I gotta say, I’m surprised this drone is not getting more attention. In fact, I’m gonna be a bit bold and claim that this drone is a legitimate competitor to Nebula! Is it better or even as good as Nebula on average? No, but like many things in this game, Glider has some overlooked niches where it seriously shines.
Of course the star of the show for this drone is its special function, that being an ultra-powerful version of the After PhaseShift: Fix microchip, granting 22% durability restoration after Phase Shift is used. This function is actually quite handy for a number of reasons, most of which pertain to the Phase Shift module itself. Phase Shift is in a loosing battle with Advanced Repair Unit for what players want as a defensive module for a brawl, and After PhaseShift: Heal actually solves a lot of that: the lack of healing.
Phase Shift has some undeniable advantages over Advanced Repair Unit, mainly completely ignoring damage instead of mitigating it and removing status effects, but these are useful for avoiding bursts of damage, not outlasting one’s opponent in a jostle for a beacon. After PhaseShift: Fix turns Phase Shift into a kind of 2-in-1 package of invincibility and healing, which is only made better by Glider’s two D-type chips. One would initially think to stack After PhaseShift: Fix chips to double down on the drone’s ability, but this is actually quite unoptimized. As it turns out, given the robot has more than 182,000 hit points of base durability or makes up the difference through other healing sources in 5 seconds, Glider’s special function meets the 40000 hit point heal requirement to trigger On Repair: Fix microchips, which are both more powerful than After PhaseShift: Fix microchips and can be activated by more sources than just Phase Shift, so these microchips are the better choice. With high-tier On Repair: Fix microchips equipped, Glider can heal robots for amounts that rival Advanced Repair Unit, plus remove status effects and make enemies waste ammunition! And if one does not want to lean so heavily on Phase Shift, one or both microchips can be swapped for On Mild/High Damage: Fix microchips instead.
Now this all sounds great on paper, but why is Nebula so much more popular? Well, the answer comes with the difference between C and D-type microchips. Glider may heal a ton, but without any resistance, it cannot prevent one’s robot from just loosing all that restored durability in under 10 seconds to a supercharged enemy. That’s where Nebula steps in, bringing powerful On Repair Unit: Defense microchips to prolong a robot’s durability in addition to healing it with Advanced Repair Unit. Thus, it’s obvious why robots like Revenant or Fafnir prefer Nebula, they do not need the short-term invincibility but do need resistance, and for most other robots, Nebula works just as good as Glider. So where does Glider really shine over Nebula then?
There are two robot types that lend themselves very well to Glider, and those are healers and tanks with built-in resistance. Starting with the tanks, a robot like Fenrir already has 100 defense points (50% resistance), and given how defense points operate on an exponential decay model (the more defense points you have, the less impactful additional defense points are), On Repair Unit: Defense microchips are not as good as they are on Revenant, so Glider may actually be better than Nebula by providing more efficient D-type microchips to make up for healing, and providing the utility of Phase Shift. As for healers, On Repair: Fix microchips have synergy with both Glider’s special ability and the robot’s ability, so all the extra healing and Phase Shift’s utility easily make up for the loss of defense points. Plus, Glider provides the same F and A microchips that Nebula does, so no functionality is being lost with picking it there.
Glider is an oddball for sure, providing defense in less conventional ways than Nebula, but at the same availability and having legitimate advantages, I find it to be a shame that Glider is seemingly stuck in Nebula’s shadow. If you have a tank with built-in resistance or a healer and am willing to drop some gold on the drone and microchips, I urge you, give Glider a try, it will hopefully surprise you like it has me, and become a staple of your drone lineup, just line it has with mine!