In War Robots, everything should serve a purpose. Every robot or weapon should play some specific role or fill the niche that was previously lacking.

Lock-down effect was our answer to extreme mobility, and this time we introduce a countermeasure to burst damage. Burst builds are aimed at destroying the enemy quickly and they are extremely popular today, especially in higher leagues. So we aimed to carve more space for pilots preferring more methodical styles of fighting and make bursters less dominant.

Meet Invader, Blitz and Rayker!

Note: these robots will be available on this week's test server. Join to try them in action!

Background

We imagine Invader, Blitz and Rayker pilots as wildcards, observant equalizers invading the battlefield when you expect them the less to tip the scale somewhere unexpected. They belong to no country, no army, but they freely take fights they see challenging and interesting enough.

What makes these robots so good at turning tides? An entirely new mechanic we called Suppression.

What is Suppression?

Robot affected by Suppression deals much less damage from all weapons, which effectively removes it from the fight for a short duration. This is a great tool to create openings for your team. Doesn't matter who you face — with the right timing, you can render anyone powerless.

What makes Suppression strong?

Suppression is a powerful counter against burst builds like Orkan Haechi or Shocktrain Spectre. The idea is simple: suppress the thing before it shoots. You got to find the right time and the right target — but once you nail it down, your whole team will praise you as a hero.

(Even if they don't mention this out loud, you have a full right to consider yourself as one)

On all three robots, the focus is shifted from pure firepower to the ability that allows team-wide tide-turning. However, that doesn't mean that Blitz, Rayker and Invader aren't strong duelists. By suppressing enemies, you create short periods, when you are definitely stronger than your opponent. Utilize these power peaks wisely — here lies the biggest outplaying potential.

How to use Blitz, Rayker and Invader?

These robots are based around the same mechanic — Suppression — and yet they have very different fighting patterns. You can pick the one you see more interesting for you and roll from there.

Invader is a disruptive brawler. It can jump and (almost like Mercury) plummet right on the enemies' heads, suppressing everyone it the hitting zone.

If you manage to land on multiple robots, this alone can win you an entire fight. Just make sure your team is here ready to capitalize on your initiation.

Blitz is a knife-fighter too, but instead of strong initiation, it is focused on dueling. Blitzes' ability gives it a short speed burst (to close the distance), activates a small Aegis shield (to soak in the damage you're definitely going to attract) and then emits series of wide energy arcs that suppress everything on your way.

Landing this form of Suppression on multiple enemies is much harder, but still doable. This is not your core goal on Blitz though: even isolating a single enemy is good for you. You alone is usually enough to ensure it's toast.

Finally, Rayker. Rayker is a mid-range sharpshooter. This robot's suppressor beam affects only one target per hit but also has the longest range and stores multiple charges. With it, you can support teammates from the safe distance or disable bigger threats from afar before you close the distance. In our playtests, both approaches worked great.

How to fight against them?

Anything built for a sustained fight can become a major problem for Invader, Rayker and Blitz. Sturdy robots with autocannons or, say, shotguns can wait till the suppression wears off, brush it away and keep ripping enemies to shreds.

Using physical shields or Aegis is a solid idea as well. They block the Suppression entirely.

If you don't have a shield, you can still catch these robots before they can suppress you... or just predict when they use the ability and move out of its way. All suppression abilities have significant cooldown times, so if you manage to bait them out you'll have an edge for quite a while.

...but will the enemy allow you to outplay them? Maybe. Maybe not. The fight between you is supposed to be a constant mind game where the wittiest, most persistent pilot wins.

So go ahead. Suppress and win!

Blitz, Rayker and Invader are set for the update 4.3. However, you can already join the test server this weekend and try them out in all their work-in-progress glory!