Viability Report: Destrier

Dr. Bane (in game, Percy's Bane on Facebook Gameroom) is adjunct faculty at War Robots University.  He joins us for a series of articles which will discuss whether the robots obtainable for silver remain viable in the game, and we are happy to have him!

Fellow Pilots,

Top of the morning to you!  With the rise of component bots and weapons in the mid to high level leagues, there is less and less focus on the silver bots, aside from such staples as the griffin. The purpose of the upcoming reports, written in order from the first you can get, Destrier, to the last, Griffin, is to tell you which of these bots can be used effectively in mid levels, High Gold to Low Diamond League.

Viability Report 1: Destrier


I have a level 8 Destrier and a level 8 Stalker presently in my hangar.  Both are equipped with level 7 Magnums. As is often observed, the Destrier is the only robot completely outclassed in every way. Every other robot has an edge, or niche, of some sort. The Destrier has lower health and lower speed than the Stalker of the same level, without the stealth ability. The stats are 68k health for the Destrier with 71k for the Stalker, and 53 km/h for the Destrier with 64 for the stalker. Though the health is close, the Stalker obviously has a substantial speed advantage, plus its ever-useful stealth ability. But just to be sure, I ran the Destrier and Stalker in a couple battles, with my Patton/Aphid and shotgun/Griffin to keep the damage up.

I ran three rounds with them. In the first, I dropped into Dead City in Domination mode. I used my Destrier first and ran to center to snatch Beacon E. This is a move easily pulled off in my Stalker, because with its cloak and speed I could grab center and get out. The speed difference wasn’t readily noticeable, but the cloak was greatly missed as the RDB griffin that was sitting on top of the citadel-building by the enemy spawn slaughtered me. I then dropped into my Stalker, and ran around to Beacon C, the enemy beacon on the left of my spawn.  I killed an extremely low health Kumiho with my Magnums and then used my cloaking to kill a Carnage with a third of his health, a move I could never have pulled in my Destrier. My Stalker was then killed by a Leo, and I continued the match with my other two bots, getting a few more kills with my Patton.

In the second match, Domination on Yamantau, I tried to sneak around the sides of the map to get to enemy beacon B. Half my health got stolen by Molots and a Shocktrain Bulgasari (CURSES, HIM AGAIN) finished me off. I used my Griffin and Patton, then decided to try the same thing with my stalker, but this time using the bridge because the fighting was over the center beacon now and the bridge was empty. I again got nibbled down by Gekkos and Molots. I used my stealth, got nearly to the beacon, and was wiped by a Lancelot running Taran and Redeemer.

In my final round, I dropped into Deathmatch on Canyon, possibly the worst map and certainly the worst mode for my bots. I used my Destrier to try to nip at some heels, when I was chain-Shocktrained to death. (FOILED AGAIN)

I jumped into my Stalker, and did the same thing. This time my cloaking ability allowed me to duck back into cover, where I observed the Carnage. I then finished of the round with my Griffin and Patton.  Want to guess how General Patton died? Shocktrains, baby.

Q. Is there any weapon build that works uniquely well to the Destrier?
A. Nothing that the Stalker can’t do.

Q. Is there any buff pixo can give it to make it better?
A. Not likely.  Making it faster makes it a Gepard, and giving it more health makes it a Gareth.

VIABILITY: What were you expecting?  For 75,000 silver, Destrier is viable from Recruit to Bronze.  Use only in nostalgia or Destrier-only custom matches.  Stalker is ...

Harder

Better

Faster

Stronger

Stalker, newly removed from the Workshop and priced at 500 Au, has more health, speed, and abilities.  I’m sure you already knew this, but here is detailed confirmation to never use Destriers in middle to higher leagues.  In Bronze you won’t do too badly with it, but once you get to silver it’s much more effective to use the faster Cossack for beacon running.  By the time you’re in silver, you’ll be able to save enough gold to get the Stalker relatively quickly.

All right Pilots, that is today’s viability report. Next time we’ll go over the Cossack.  Now I have to go recoup all the trophies I lost running that pesky Destrier ...

Signing off for now,

Dr. Bane

Faculty Notes

Please consider becoming a supporter of War Robots University.  Patreon makes it possible, and the U's backers become part of an exclusive Discord server.  Your screenies and video of in-game heroics will be immortalized; your in-game name shall strike fear in your enemies!

Become a Patron!

If you read the U's blog, hit the subscribe button here - top right - and at our YouTube channel!  We do not (and can not) spam or bother you.  You get an email notification when we post new content.  Email the faculty at warrobotsu@gmail.com.

Until the introduction of the Greek bots, Pixonic provided component items to War Robots University's professors/pilots for review.  The content of War Robots U is created and edited by its authors exclusively.  For an explanation of the relationship between Pixonic and the U, read this post!

The U is not just a blog ... we are also iOS clans #48669, #141459, and #139479.  We are always looking for champion-league pilots, and welcome skilled communicators from around the world.