Standing By: Modules

Introduction[]

It’s been a long wait, but modules are finally here. And...they’ve received mixed views from players, which given Pixonic’s recent decisions is by no means surprising. But they have come a long way from the concept first revealed this Summer (2018), and they, like many new features introduced into the game, have real potential to make their mark and fundamentally change how battles are fought. So in this blog we will be covering the different types of modules, what they are and what they do, and how to use as well as how to counter them. Enjoy!

Note: All statistics will be at level 1 mk1 for modules, and level 12 mk1 for robots.

How Modules Work[]

Each robot will have a number of modules ‘slots’ that are unlocked depending on what level robot it is (up to 3 passive and 1 active). There are two types of modules: Passive ones cost quite a large sum of gold to buy (the less effective ones cost 50k silver) and have permanent effects while active ones are free to equip but require power cells or gold to activate each time. Each player has received a certain number of power cells depending on what league they are in for free.

Passive Modules[]

There are two types of modules, and the first type of module is called ‘passive’. These have permanent effects so long as they are equipped and most robots in your inventory and store automatically come with one or two of them. More modules of the pre-equipped type only cost less than 100k silver. Sounds good so far, right? Well, in keeping with tradition Pixonic has made the rest of passive modules cost gold...a few thousand gold. So essentially passive modules are free to use and equip but not free to buy.

These are the passive modules in-game as of Update 4.6:

Armour Kit. This module increases your robot’s durability by 2% (up to 5% when fully upgraded which costs 9 million silver in total). This can be quite useful in boosting one of your weaker robots’ health to enable it to withstand more fire...or to make one of your tanks even more durable. Armor Kit is one of the two modules that your robots are automatically equipped with.

Nuclear Reactor. This modules increases the equipped bot’s firepower by 1% (up to 4% at level 5). So if you find some of your bots are able to critically damage enemies but can’t quite finish them off then Nuclear Reactor can help. And no, your robot doesn’t explode like a Hellburner when it dies.

Battle Born. Now this is a much more interesting module...that costs 2.5k gold. Now, for the first 20 seconds starting from when your robot spawns onto the battlefield it gains a number of defense points that can reduce incoming damage in the first 20 seconds by up to 60% depending on the exact number. Great fun if you play Beacon Rush and use an Avenger

Last Stand. Like Battle Born, Last Stand is perfect for defending vital chokepoints and beacons, except it has a higher price tag of 5k gold. It grants the equipped robot invulnerability for 2 seconds when it reaches 5% health (up to 4.5 seconds when at 30% health at level 5 at a cost of a couple hundred million silver and several days). Great for dealing that extra damage and destroying another enemy robot to ease your teammates’ burden.

Thermonuclear Reactor. 5k gold and a 5% damage increase. This is a stronger Nuclear Reactor (hint is in the name) and should be used in the same way.

Heavy Armour Kit. This costs 5k gold but increases the equipped bot’s durability by 7%. As with the Armor kit, it should be used to strengthen more fragile robots or to make your stronger bots even stronger (personally I’d go for the former for balance but it’s your decision).

Active Modules[]

These modules are free to equip, but cost gold or power cells every time you use them (including in custom games). Each player received a certain amount of power cells depending on their league when modules were released. Personally I recommend using gold, as it is cheaper to use gold instead of using power cells then buying more with gold. Watching adverts to complete quests (which give you 30-40 gold each) to compensate should keep your gold stocks safe.

Active modules require 20 power cells or 3 gold every time you activate them in battles.

Lock-down Ammo. This will enable you to potentially immobilise any enemy robot that you hit for 5 seconds. It is very useful for preventing enemy robots to escape abilities like Overload, Helldive and Incursion, as well as ordinary brawlers, ambushes and knife fighters trying to finish off a crippled enemy. It can also come in handy in preventing any enemies from chasing you when vulnerable or to prevent them from reaching key beacons. It has a cooldown of 25 seconds.

Repair Unit. This module’s purpose is as simple as its name suggests: to patch your robot up when you need it. It repairs 25% of your bot’s health in 5 seconds. It has a cooldown of 20 seconds, and can come in handy to help you repair your robot after a fierce fight or ambush, or to prepare it for an approaching battle. However, it will not restore any weapons that were blown off due to critical hits.

Quantum Radar. This is definitely the most interesting of the 3 active modules, giving the pilot the ability to lock onto stealthed robots for 5 seconds, with a cooldown of 25. Ever wished you could take out that Orkan Spectre mid-flight before it killed you? With Quantum Radar, who says you can’t? (If you’ve ever seen those EE adverts you’ll know where I got this line from). With Quantum Radar you diminish the threat of stealthed robots and increase their vulnerability, so you can forget about running away and instead meet the threat head-on.

Are Modules Worth It?[]

Yes, and no. Unless you’re in a high league (Masters/Expert and above), you might not feel the need to invest the amount of gold into the premium passive modules which are only slightly better than the free silver ones, which you can upgrade. Battleborn and Last Stand are the only passive modules worth the gold in my opinion. If you are in lower/mid leagues, such as Gold, then you’ll probably survive without them. However, do make full use of the free Armor Kits and Nuclear Reactors...you’d be dumb not to use them, as they’re free.

Active modules are slightly different. I recommend using them (though carefully)...and it is important to NOT WASTE THEM. Make sure to keep an eye on your currencies and re-supply your gold stocks via the quests after every couple of games.

Overview[]

Well, I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading this and found it useful. Modules are far from full-on game-changers that we were promised, but aren’t exactly p2w luxuries either. They have high potential to turn no-win situations into major victories, but only if used carefully (as usual, caution is key). Anyway, if you have any feedback, please comment and thank you for reading!