Plenty of people, including me, had a rough start having to figure out the controls and such. Some people are however familiar with most of the mechanics due to having plenty of hours in Robocraft. I have my fair share of 200+ hours on the steam version and a lot more on the non-steam version (the older one). Sharing my experience with those that need it is and will be perhaps the key to your first victory.

Do note that this guide is mainly aimed at beginners in the early sections of the guide. If you are already past the beginner stage then perhaps the sections from and after strategy might be useful for you.

This guide doesn't cover every single thing. It is mainly because I do want you to discover your own style of playing and winning. Learning from failure is a good way to improve. The goal of this is to help you get started as well as to know how to survive to get a decent position before you die.

Most sections described here are from my personal experience so far that got me a victory. Others are mainly based on my failure.
For example as an aerial I died due to missiles (LOML) so as a tip it is adviced to use missiles against aerial units as well as flak cannons since they are very effective (experienced it myself as both, victem and executor).

Latest update
Here will be briefly described what the latest update at this guide was.
* Improved encounter section about what to do against each one.
* Increased introduction section to clarify what this guide is about.

The controls come in a few variations due to the different stages in the game.

Drop-off controls
Once you enter the game you will be in a ship with all other players. Pressing space will allow you to exit the craft. However it is advised to strategically plan your dropping point by having a look at the map. This can be opened with m. A simple left mouse click will allow you to place a waypoint. This will make it a lot easier to figure out where to go.

So after leaving the craft you will be in a shuttle dropping down into earth. Using w-a-s-d you can move around slightly. Pressing space will toggle the thrusters. Having these active will allow you to fly and drop at a slower pace. With this you can easily reach your waypoint if it is far on the map.

Ground vehicles

Once landed you will be in a small simple car a small mech. This has been changed for convenience. Each and every single vehicle in the game have w-s as forward and backward controls. For left and right you will have to move your mouse to look around. Alternatively you can use a-d for left and right. This however only works properly when you are looking around with the camera. To achieve this you have to keep alt pressed.

When you are close to an unmanned vehicle you can press e to enter it. It will have a blue glow around it for you in order to notice it. If you are in a vehicle that has legs then it has the option to jump by pressing space. You might find yourself in a pickle where you get stuck or are somehow upside down. Pressing f will flip your bot over. Be aware that this takes about 5 seconds and makes you quite visible in your surroundings!

Hovers/flight vehicles
These vehicles also share the same basic controls as the ground vehicles. However space increases your altitude while ctrl decreases it. This makes it easier to hide at the ground or go up high in the sky to have a great overview of the area underneath you.

Combat
In order to be victorious you will eventually have to be aggressive in order to win. This can be achieved by attacking the enemies. The keys 1-2-3 hold weapons/power-ups and pressing the key will select it. Weapons and power-ups can be fired/activated by pressing the left mouse button. Using the right mouse button you can zoom in a bit, or if you have a railgun (sniper) you can scope. It will make it a lot easier to hit your target. There are homing missile launchers in the game. This has a lock-in mechanism, meaning that you have to wait a little bit for it to lock on the target, locking is done by zooming on the target with the right mouse button and following it. After that you can fire with the left mouse button. The missiles will home into the target. If it isn't locked then it will simply fly straight forward towards the aimed direction. It is possible that you end up partly destroyed with no repairs around. Pressing e will allow you to exit your robot and enter the small start-up car. This takes 5 seconds which can't be interrupted. So it's impossible to do during combat.

Ammo and health
Around the map there are many blue and green items scattered. These are mainly found in buildings. Simply going through them allows you to pick it up. The green ones are used for healing/repairing while the blue ones simply refills the ammo. Once you have at least one ammo pick-up you can press r to reload. Once you have at least one health pick-up you can press 4 to repair yourself. These all can be done during combat or when a power-up is activated without canceling the effect of it.
By killing an opponent you will get the ammo and health packs they were carrying. In this picture the drops were from me, since I died ;(

With many robots comes many types of weapons. These can be categorized in just a few classes. I will only cover the classes and not the weapon specifications. This will otherwise become an extremely long section. Each class has more than just shown in the images. The images simply just are there to give you an idea about their general look. The text marked between the parentheses are used to describe the weapon as closely as possible with an existing weapon type that most people know about.

Lasers (smg)
These are the most basic and simple weapons in the game to use. Simply aim and shoot. Spray and pray. They come in a few sizes with the small ones having a high fire rate vs low damage while the bigger ones come with quite a lot damage with just a little bit slower firing rate. Depending on their size the energy drain increases, meaning you have to reload more often. However the biggest ones can destroy simply vehicles in just 3-4 hits when aimed properly. They are also effective at long distance shots.

Plasma's (grenade launcher)
These require a lot more skill to use properly. The balls fly a lot slower, meaning you have to predict your enemies movement. On top of that you will have to get used to gravity as well, however once you land a hit the damage will be enormous, compared to lasers. These come in their respective sizes as well. Their energy drain is a lot more than that of the lasers.

Ion variations (shotgun)
The shotguns come in just 2 variations. A small and a big one. Both of them do tremendous damage, but they are only effective at close range. It is adviced to go with vehicles that have these weapons when you are used to moving fast in circles around the enemy. However if you can sneak up on an enemy you will need max 3 hits to kill it. The enemy won't even know what happened.

Tesla blades (melee)
The only weapon on your starter vehicle. Some other vehicles have this as well. While they might seem useless and weak (they actually are that in this game) they can shred easily through ground units. If you are able to hit someone with it, it will be only a matter of seconds before you gain another kill for your incredible killstreak.

Protoseeker (homing lasers?)
This is quite an unique gun. It only has 1 variation. The PSK has bullets that automatically home to an enemy within its vicinity that is close to you as well. If you are close to hitting it with a normal laser then the PSK will definitely hit it. However the damage is extremely low as is the energy drain. Chances are that you are dead before you can kill the enemy with this weapon.

Railcannons (snipers)
One bullet, one kill. That's the saying that most snipers use. This however doesn't have a bullet and the odds of you getting a 1-shot are pretty low. However with a high damage drain and a small waiting time in order to fire again you do get a massive damage output. Land a few shots while scoping through the environment and you are certain to increase your killcount (if you hide properly).

Lock On Missile launchers
Lock on to your target and pew pew pew! The homing missiles will follow the target until it runs out of flight time or collides with the target or an obstacle. These are extremely powerful against air vehicles as they can't hide easily. If you are on high grounds you can take out ground vehicles easily as well.

Mortar
Extremely high damage at the cost of difficulty in landing it as well as the ease of dodging it. This is probably the most difficult weapon in game to use properly. It launches a major grenade that explodes on impact. You will have to calculate the trajectory based on angles and predict where it will land. If it hits the target it will pretty much immobilize it. It also has a big area of damage which decreases the odds of missing significantly.

Chainguns (Miniguns)
The true spray and pray weapon. Firing a lot bullets per second will shred any enemy at close range. It is also able to do long distance shots with a low accuracy. This weapon comes in 2 variations and both have an extremely low energy drain per bullet.

Flak cannons (Anti Air)
I am not certain if this is in the game yet as I yet have to encounter it however I will cover it anyway. This weapon is made to be used against aircraft. Using it against ground units will simply result in you wasting energy. The bullets explode when it is near an aircraft, meaning you don't have to snipe. Hitting a target once allows you to fire another bullet rapidly shortafter. Those pesky flying enemies will just be a problem solved in a matter of seconds.

There are many variations in vehicles. A lot more than the weapons, so I will narrow it down to global types based on the movement component (wheels, legs etc). Do note that like the weapons these come with their own sizes as well.

Tanks
Slow speed but can move on any terrain type. It has struggles to climb steep hills, but it has a lot health, meaning it won't be destroyed in a few hits.

Sprinters
These legs allow you to run around the map extremely fast. They also allow you to jump around. You can cover a lot ground in a short time, even when climbing a mountain.

Walkers
These are the same as sprinters, they simply just have a slower speed but more individual health.

Climbers
These are legs that look like those of spiders. And as spiders you can climb walls with it. Having a sniper and standing on the side of a building can result in extremely good cover and places to snipe from. They are also very mobile but slow compared to most of the other movement types.

Racers
These are the wheels found on your starter vehicle. They allow you to drive extremely fast. If you are low on time for the safe zone then this might just be the wheels that can rescue you.

Hovers
Extremely mobile and quite fast. Hovers will allow you to cover any type of terrain without any worries. The only downside is that to stop the floating movement you will have to go backwards in order to bring the speed back to 0. Standing still is quite difficult due to this. A huge pro with this however is that they make the lowest amount of noise from all movement types. Enemies won't hear you coming (unless they have superhuman hearing)! Perfect for the ninja's between us.

Airplanes
Loud, noisy and easy to hit. These guys are fast and very agile. Don't underestimate them. But they don't have cover up in the air. To make up for that you have a great view on the ground units. Raining down your bullets from hell have never been so easy... unless they enter a building.

Helicopters
Flying with control. Unlike a plane you can hover at the same position high in the air. You can even go down pretty quick to the ground if you spot an enemy that has anti air weapons such as missile launchers and flak cannons. The smaller ones can easily enter buildings as well to fight the ground units. Do note that these are extremely loud. Enemies will know that you are around before you can even spot them.

Power ups are used in weapon slots as well. They can give you a huge advantage over your enemies. Consider yourself lucky when you encounter a vehicle with a power up.
Each power up only has a single version and they all have their own cooldown period after use. These are different from the original Robocraft as confirmed by a dev as well as experienced in game.

EMP
This has quite a huge radius and you can't damage yourself with it. Aim it on an enemy and he won't be able to move/shoot for a couple of seconds. The area of effect is a cylinder shaped, meaning it also affects aircraft even if you aim it on the ground. As long as they are in the circle they will be affected and start to fall.


Blink (teleport)
In a tough spot? This might just be your saviour. Aim it anywhere and teleport to that place. This can allow you to hide easily or teleport right behind your running target and slaughter them.

DSM (shield)
In a heavy firefight nothing is better than a shield through which only your bullets go. This shield allows you to move through it as well as your bullets. Perfect for cover in a firefight and it will increase your chances of taking the enemy down. The shield only lasts for about 10 seconds, but this might be just what you need to repair.

Ghost (invisible)
Got some good weapons? Why not sneak up behind your enemy with this module. It will drain energy slowly as long as your are stealthed, but you can sneak up on anyone. It is hard to spot (but possible) and hard to hear (but possible as well). It is possible to reload your energy, meaning you can be stealthed for extremely long. Shooting your weapons or getting hit removes the stealth effect.

Power
This module once activated restores 50% of your energy, after that it will be on cooldown. This is extremely useful incombination with heavy energy demanding weapons. Activating it around 25% of your energy will put you back at 75%. Absolutely perfect when you are battleing your way through the horde of enemies.

Windowmaker (radar scan)
This highlights the position of nearby enemies on your screen for about 10 seconds. Great for when the map is small or when you suspect enemies to be nearby. Sneak up on them after knowing their position and show them who deserves to be in the top 10.


All of the above modules are in the game! I have personally confirmed this.

So now you know the basics of the vehicles, weapons and controls it's time to get down to strategy.

Killcount
While it is cool to show off how many kills you've gotten it might sometimes result in you getting overwhelmed. Sometimes it is better to stay hidden and have a low killcount while the others butcher each other up. In the end of the day the game is about winning not killing (even though you will only have 1% chance of winning without killing). This basically means that you should only kill when neccessary. Don't engage into meaningless combat. You might use the supplies that you would just need for the final showdown.
It is better to win with only 1 kill than to lose with 29 kills. Because in the end, you'd still be a loser.

Waypoints
It is possible to place waypoints on the map. Use this to your advantage. Place a waypoint in a position where you want to hold out until you have to move to another position. Having the mark on your radar might just help you to manouver around the enemies to get to an advantageous position.

Drop-off point
Once in the big spaceship you will have to decide where to drop off. Choosing a good point will help you in easily making it to the top 25. A pro tip is to not pick places where most people drop-off. This is mainly, but not limited to, Vanguard's End, Birmingham city/powerstation, tyhonian canyon and whenever you can press space to jump off. The grey spots on the map are buildings and they always have a mech or energy/health boost. So it is adviced to drop when you are close to the center of the map and then pressing space in order to fly around a bit. With this you can easily travel 2.5 tiles to your desired not crowded location. By the time you have landed plenty of players will have already died. And by the time you got your pickups and a sweet mech less than 40 will be remaining. After this you will have to play strategically in order to make it to the top 10. Reading more of this section will help you achieve that easy ;D

Crowded drop-off
Sometimes there are 90+ players, meaning that it is very likely you won't be alone once landed. For this there are 2 strategies that come to mind to use. Get a laser weapon aircraft or get a laser ground unit. Both preferably with high tier guns. This is because of the accuracy and energy consumption. They will allow you to do well against aerial and ground units. Most people will hop in whatever they can find with having focus on aircraft due to ease of travel. If you find a unit that has anti air weapons such as flak cannons or missiles then make sure to wipe out the aerial units while hiding in buildings so that they can't hit you as often as you hit them.
If there are many ground units and possibly no aircraft then it is great to go with units that have a chain shredder/t4+lasers/ions/mortar. This will allow you to kill enemies in just a few shots.

Terrain
In a game like this the terrain is your biggest friend. Use it to your advantage. High ground provide great overview for ground units while low grounds provide amazing cover against all sorts of enemies.

Environment
There are many probs around the level that can help you staying unsighted. Hiding behind a rock for cover or in the leaves of a tree can help you remain undetected. You can also use buildings for cover from aircrafts. Some vehicles also blend in with certain terrain making you look camouflaged. Use this to your advantage as well in the environment. Stick close to waters with blue colors and close to snow with white colors. The harder you are to spot, the easier you will end up in the top 10.



Quick destroys
It is possible to quickly kill a huge chunk of the enemy. Most people will go with the strategy to slice them in half since the biggest chunk will remain and the other chunk will be destroyed. This is an efficient and quick method of tearing through your enemy.
If you happen to have a high damage weapon then simply aim at the centre of the body to blow a hole in it. Depending on the hole you can destroy the edges and the enemy will be defeated in 2-3 hits. A shotgun is the perfect weapon for this.

Modules
Modules are ingame for a reason. They give advantages, sometimes even unfair when used properly. Using stealth on a nearby enemy is great to either run away or kill him without taking damage. It's up to you how to use it, but certainly don't think that they are useless. Most people simply forget using them or use them when they didn't actually need it. Save it for when you are in a pinch or when you know that you have enough time after the fight for the cooldown to finish.

Cosmetics vs usefulness
You won't win the game in an epic happy face looking vehicle. You will win with a vehicle that has decent weapons and that blends in with the environment. So sometimes you see something cool, but if your remaining enemies are all aircrafts, then it might be wiser to just stick with the ugly sniper weapon or missile launcher.

Switch your rides
During your travels on the map you will be in different environments. Changing from vehicles that blend in well is extremely important. You can also switch from vehicles when your current one has taken damage and you find one that is undamaged. You won't waste a repair package on it unless you are surrounded by repairs.

Reload often
You can reload during combat and you can hold 10 of those packs. Use them when your energy hits 30-50%. You don't want to be without energy mid-combat so make sure to use them well. After killing an enemy chances are high that it will drop a few packs as well. And always fully reload after combat while searching for new packs.

Stalkers
Get rid of those pesky bots that are trailing you while you manouvre into safety. While you make sure to go to safe places they will follow your footsteps. Once you spot some bots following you from distance make sure to kill/surprise them. Otherwise chances are pretty high that they will steal the glory from you and kill you.

Once you memorize all the strategies above you still aren't guaranteed to win. This is because skill is also an important factor in this game. Sometimes you might just be simply outplayed by a higher skilled opponent. That is nothing to be ashamed of. Learning from how they defeated you will bring you a step closer to that #1 spot.

Aerial encounter
Sometimes you will have to face-off with an aerial enemy while you are just a race-car. The best strategy is to make them waste their energy. While you move from building to building to rack up repairs and energies they will have no place to do that as well. Once their energy runs out you can easily kill them even with inaccurate weapons. Energy = ammo so if they shoot you and miss then you will be another step closer to hauling that kill in. It is a patience game, but you will get there. Do move in unpredictable patterns and not just straight lines so that they won't hit you, or at least not as often.
Another strategy might be to switch from vehicles. Sometimes you have to admit that you are outclassed. A shotgun won't hit that 100ft high helicopter. But a laser might just work.
Ofcourse if you can find anti air weapons then you will shred through them easily. Missiles and flak weapon types are designed to take out aerial units easily. However with flak's you will have to predict their movement as their speed is slow. They do explode near the aircraft so you don't have to hit accurately, as long as the bullet comes close to the enemy. This only works against units that are in the air.

Ground encounter
Usually you will face-off against similar classed vehicles; ground units. Taking them down can be quite difficult because if you can hit them then they can hit you. Unless it is a sniper vs shotgun ofcourse.
The first rule of thumb is stopping their firepower. Right now an EMP would be great. Hitting the guns will destroy it quickly. If you notice that the player is panicking or not as impressive as you then you can destroy the wheels/legs so that it can't move while you slowly butcher it apart.
Using plasma weaponry or chain weapons will easily take out any unit. Using a shotgun is great if you can manage to get very close. However for aircraft your best bet is with plasma's. Lasers are okay as well they do however require accurate aiming.

Fighting multiple enemies
It is very likely that you will run into a group of bots having a fight. Waiting patiently while hiding on the fight to finish will give you the upper hand. When you see only 1 survivor remaining he will most likely start to heal. This is your chance to quickly nab a fast and easy kill. Basically you let the others do the dirty work for you while you march on the path of glory to the #1 spot.
If you see a particular bot outclassing the others then it is very wise to not engage battle, only if you are confident about taking it down.
If one is reloading (or about to reload) and the other is almost dead then you can also jump in to kill the reloading one and then kill the almost dead one (which is most likely trying to heal/escape) giving the almost dead one a shot every few seconds will prevent it from escaping/healing.

This guide took a lot longer to make than I thought. I do hope this guide will have helped you at least a tiny little bit. This game is pretty huge mechanic wise so I might've left out/forgotten some important parts. Feel free to ask any questions you have and I will try to answer them or to include them in the guide.

No bots were harmed in the making of this guide.