Making the most of mediocre units

My playstyle of highly expendable bots making gradual net gains in score does not exist anymore in Universal. Most bots when using their base level cost limit cost as much as my entire team did in CBen at times, meaning there's now a requirement to turn everything into capable killers else be a drain on the team. Or be a heal slave, but that's a bit boring to do all day.

Problem is, I never learned how to make a 500+ cost unit, let alone a 1000+ cost unit. My insistence on using stuff like Frog Lander and Nuttz Bombrisu instead of moes leaves me firmly out of the meta already, but I have zero idea what to actually aim for. No weapons (especially with no LND zooks now) no weapon tuning, no stat guidelines, no just... general purpose, easily accessible builds that even my junkbots can do and find consistent success, no matter how small.

TLDR I guess: What are things any unit can do or use to not suck? Viable shop weapons and tunes for all types and sizes? High cost unit stat benchmarks to aim for in tuning?

a typical build was 40 in a atk stat, 38 in a mobility stat and a fully tuned weapon, like 3 great rapid betas. extra capa invested in hp(via basic stat-hp combo tunes) or the opposite mobility stat to specific points depending on movement cart(via planning ahead and only sacing it to the point you want).

exceptions depend on weapons and plans like
using your sub weapon for movement or not planing on retreating for neglecting mobility stats
or not dealing damage directly for neglecting atk stats

speed is very important for both the bot's and weapon's stats

Right now most any AIR is usable. The only ART you should use is Natascha. Leaving LNDs and SUPs

Squidol Girl EV (Her BD and Whip)
Alestar RS (His BD)
Winberrl (Her AMs)
Dismoke (His BD)
Kururu Gradd (Her WB)

Come to mind here with their unique utilities that at least give them edge.

The real answer is to 3x Great GRAP Machinelet AM with Stun Regain, Max TGH and STR and some form of enhancer to boost the AM's damage. The bigger the bot the better. The goal being to cleave as much as fucking possible. Only serious viable melee LND right now.

My personal list so far:

You cannot go wrong with baltheon. Even if there are weapons that can bypass the barrier, it's easy to escape by reactivating the shield to bail out. Mobility and damage tunes are useful but are not mandatory as you'll be able to contribute to the team by just having your barrier out. Just use any long range weapon.

Mighty byne is good right out of the box for diving into the enemy team as a big melee bot. I have not invested tunes and can target overextending artillery or supports with little problem.

Toybox/Alba/any L art that can slap a ballistic or scram launcher is also decent for anti air. Most common ballistic launcher bot I see around is toybox.

Otherwise, I think poppet summed up most of the info you need. It's beta and everything's gonna get wiped, so just feel free to experiment and enjoy; try whatever you notice looks fun. If you feel like you made a mistake, it's nothing 1 week's wait probably won't fix as we'll be getting 1k rt weekly throughout the course of beta.

It's just beta, sp no need to tryhard or go with what metaslaves are using.

Begin with leveling up your bots. capacity carts always good, then guard carts and movement carts. Some movement carts are available in shop, check them out. But people mainly used Boost run or ass. step for land melee, but since it's like old meta short boost will be great too. Arts. usually use float dash or boost step.

If you're into building mechs then try to get parts with as much stats as you can get rather than look.
Some parts come with special attack or special effect(like Bloody star with accelerated munitions), may be try to utilize them.

Robot, parts will be revised before full release, and nothing(player's account) from the beta will be carried over.
So, better try out as much stuff as you can.

elmatalast wrote:

It's just beta, sp no need to tryhard or go with what metaslaves are using.

You're not wrong, but at full pop I get kicked out of 90% of games for poor performance and have to spend the next 20 minutes trying to find another game, and that's not fun. It's the crux of this topic really - I want to keep using my Frog Landers, Nuttz Bombrisus and such as it's the core of my Cosmic Break identity, but without the ability to make low cost fodder anymore I have to find a way to equip and tune them to their theoretical perfection so I don't get excluded for trying to be different.

I posed it as a generic question as the sort of information I need is useful for anyone - decent weapons, tools, and benchmarks for tuning, and thanks to those who have contributed so far.

I suppose the ideal situation would be to pick a weapon to build around, rather than a bot. Back in early CBEN, I got my hands on a railgun and started sniping with it on a S size art. I've had my butt kicked by Victory 1 using a linear cannon, too.
For a SUP right now, I'd recommend the Winberyl AM route. I'd use 1 for less cost and add a handgun for extra cheap damage, or 2 AMs/guns for added reliability/damage. Just note the added delay between bursts and you should be fine.
My favorite go-to LND in Zero Saber got nerfed with the added invulnerability when spin-stunning, but in theory it should still be viable to slap a reaper scythe on and step-combo from zero step's invulnerability frames. Can someone confirm Zero Saber still has those?

Rexir2 wrote:

For a SUP right now, I'd recommend the Winberyl AM route. I'd use 1 for less cost and add a handgun for extra cheap damage, or 2 AMs/guns for added reliability/damage. Just note the added delay between bursts and you should be fine.

Hm... so what is it that makes them a top choice? If I wasn't cautious around low force weapons right about now (I'm already not doing much damage) I could run a Cross Shooter with Great Rapid Alphas or something and have higher performance across the board, on paper at least. Cost difference isn't so much and that'll close right up if you put a buckler or such on the AM. The idea of having that protection is nice admittedly. And the bonus stats are good too. Maybe that's why.