Flight school

Well, since were here to talk about flight, I'm going to talk about flight.

There are 2 types of flight: Controlled and Uncontrolled.

The definition of flight in War Robots is the presence of distance between a robot and the nearest form of ground.

In controlled flight, flying robots are locked to an altitude as part of an ability. You can tell when a robot is in this flight because they are not easily moved in the air, although ground contact while in flight may effect the angle axis the robot is allowed to travel. This is most commonly used as a trick; using a building with an angle to fly higher or lower to reach somewhere you normally cannot.

In uncontrolled flight, the robot is in free fall at all times. Most things in the game have uncontrolled flight even if they are not flying robots. If you run too fast down a slope, or fall off a cliff, you are in uncontrolled flight. It is the robot's abilities that allow them to guide their uncontrolled flight in any way they can. A jump module, Raven, Griffin, and everything that touches the ground has this.



All different types of flight in War Robots

In total, there are 9 different intended ways you can move through the air, and many other unconventional ways of travel.

Jumping
A Robot can launch itself at any angle they choose based on how their legs and momentum are aiming.

Crashing
A Crash is a type of jump with a secondary ability that lets them crash into ground. The robot jumps up, and after a delay based on where their legs are pointing they can crash straight down.

Dashing
Dashing can technically be counted as a method of flight; although normally used on the ground you can use it to fly, but it is much more unconventional. While dashing, they are in a controlled path. No outside momentum will effect them much, and at the end of their dash, all of their momentum is cancelled. I will talk about super dashing in the Unconventional travel section.

Hovering
Specific to the Hover, this type of flight allows you the most maneuverability in flight. Granting you 3 dimensions of travel, this flight works by starting with a normal jump, and then the ability uses many small pushes to keep you in the air. Due to the continuous thrust, when you point your legs in a direction, the thrust will point that way. Because of the ratio of fuel use to fuel refueling, you cannot fly forever and must eventually land if flying normally; holding the button down to try to cross as much distance as possible. Of course there is the obvious bypass I will talk about later.

Cruising Type 1
These types of robots have a flight in 3 segments: Rising, Cruising, and Falling. While rising and falling, the robot is actually in a state of uncontrolled flight, and can be moved far in the air, until their ability locks them in controlled flight. While in controlled flight, if they make contact with angled terrain, they can change their axis of movement.

Cruising Type 2
This works exactly the same as Cruising type 1 except for a small change: they cannot change their axis if they run into an angle.

Launching
This is a special type of jumping that only the Luchador has. It begins with an initial jump, and after a delay they begin to point themselves in a direction and accelerate using Hover type thrusters (they are Hover type because they are not locked onto a path, they have gradual acceleration, and they have a small amount of guidance). Their secondary ability lets them crash into ground wherever they choose based on where their legs point. If you aim correctly you can hit many places.

Controlled Acceleration
This ability has several phases. They begin with a rise to an altitude, and upon reaching that altitude have a secondary ability to launch themselves in any given direction completely forward or to aim at a target. Only Rook has this flight style as of now.

Controlled Distance Jump
Technically the Mars turret does fly, and it would be counted as a Controlled Distance Jump. Based on player input the amount of jumping force the turret gets changes.



Unconventional Travel
This list is not entirely related to flight, as not all of the robots listed have flight as an ability. I will list the simple ones first because they do not need an explanation.

I am going to say how common/uncommon it is to see people perform these tricks in a battle to give an idea of what to expect.

1 = Common
2 = Uncommon
3 = Unusual
4 = Rare
5 = Extraordinarily Rare
6 = Hidden
7 = Unknown (No one knows)

Falling = 1
Skipping on terrain and losing ground contact = 1

Being Launched by a Minos = 2
Being Launched by a Minos is a common experience. The Minos has a pushing force that allows it to push any robot not in Controlled flight. It can even get you to skip over the ground if you are on the ground and launch you from there.

Super Dashing = 3
It is uncommon to see players do this and be good at it. If you measure a dash to perfectly line up with terrain at the end of the dash, then it will not cancel momentum and you can use this to cross a lot of distance.

Stacking Jumps = 4 - 7
If you spam a jump ability and a Jump module at the same time, 2 things will happen. Either your robot cannot stack jumps so it will jump after it's landing is configured, or you will be able to jump twice. It's 4 - 7 because people may try to stack jumps on things that don't work like Griffin and give up, or try it on something like a Hover and.... get better results.

Angling Controlled flight = 4
It is rare to see someone actually do this. To use an angle to get somewhere else, for instance there is a slanted building in Dreadnought on both of the tall sides that if you use correctly can get an Ao Jun on top of the Dreadnought in 1 ability from the ground.

Even more Super Dashing = 3
Timing a Jump ability perfectly with the end of a Dash is hard to do, but possible. You will be able to cross great distance with this. it is unusual to see people do this.

Using Dashes to Cover Vertical Terrain = 3
Rather easy to do, if you use multiple dashes, you can use them to go down and back in cover on a lower floor.

Controlled Flight Jump = 2
Using a jump module and activating an ability provides 2 separate boosts and results with you near the top of any map. It's pretty uncommon to see people do this.

Advanced Controlled Flight Jump = 5
If you time a Jump Module perfectly with the end of a Controlled flight, you can jump from your flight altitude.

Intentionally using a Minos or other push physics to jump = 4
To most, they were launched. To them, they activated their jump where they needed to have it pointed, and used a charging enemy Minos to fling them across the map.

1,100m range Teleporting = 6
This is exclusive to Revenant, Demeter and Scorpion. If you switch lock on to another opponent the moment you activate your ability, you will be able to teleport to the other opponent as far as you can see them which is 1,100 meters.

Double jumping = 7
Exclusive to Hover. If you spam your ability while landing, you can reactivate the initial jump and soar back in the air. You can do this as many times as you can spam it.

Power jumping = 7
Exclusive to Hover, and potentially Raven. If you spam fast enough, you can activate 2 initial jumps at the same time, allowing you to fly from the bottom of Abyss (below the lava) up to the top of the map in 7 seconds. It can cover from the bottom ledge on Castle map to the Top cliff in 4 seconds.

Power jumping with a Module = 7
Works with any jumping Robot that can activate it's jumps in the air (Probably just Raven and Hover). If you spam the jump module and ability at the same time, you can stack both of these jumps similar to Power jumping. The difference being that the Jump unit has more X axis travel, so you can cross 500 meters in 2 seconds flat. You can jump from the ledge in Castle almost to the top ridge in the highest part of the map.

Using under the map = 5
Sometimes people get under the map mid match and either fall forever, onto a ledge, or have something that can fly and attack from below. If someone does this, just remember that Vortex, Aphid, and Thermite can hit people under the map, and so can any Area effects.

Flying Forever in a Hover = 4
Not many people know you can do this, but a lot of people do. It's one of the fastest robots in the game, and using it's flight on Yamantau to cross safely guarded by the bridge is a lovely experience. To do this, you need to spam the ability really fast; about 6 taps per second can keep you airborne, and down to 4 will barely keep you in the air. The faster you spam, the more powerful the flight, but if you spam correctly then you can expel much more fuel while recharging fuel, and accelerate much faster at full fuel. This is a specific frequency which is hard to find and may vary, but you need to hold down the button long enough to get the boost and short enough to bypass wasting fuel. It's about .1 seconds if I had to guess. 

Skating on top of the map = 5
Usually on accident, any player on top of the map will not be able to move, but because of the Hover's glide physics, and several other ability types, there is still movement for them.

Using Jump module to cross distance = 1
Literally the purpose of the Jump module, but people can become good at it.


I think that covers all the lore of flying - any questions?