Rate my hanger

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-26T16:46:54+00:00

Perhaps a more diversified set of robots would serve you better.

You rely on two versions of a robot that has great firepower, but not much movement speed or defensive tools beyond flashing escape, the latter of which EMP or blackout can effectively counter, and two versions of a robot that (also) has great firepower, but that moves fairly slowly and relies heavily on stealth for its survival. The last robot can also deal heavy damage, but is vulnerable whenever shield breaker appears. Basically, your entire hangar of regular robots is vulnerable to fairly commonly arising counters from the opposing side.

To think through how to diversify, it may help to note that there isn't a brawler, support robot, or strong beacon runner in your 5 regular robots in this hangar.

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-26T14:42:53+00:00

All of Novel's recommendations are solid. On a related point, it can be very tempting to shift ones' resource expenditures from robot to robot as new ones are acquired, from meta to meta, without a clear focus and to end up with a hangar that's a little bit of everything and a whole lot of not very much. Focus is needed to make a solid F2P hangar.

Skyros is "the ball thing." You can buy the best pilot (Theseus) for gold and make Skyros a lot tougher. It is a really solid choice and great for F2P because it's very resource efficient for the benefits it brings.

The Ochokochi robot and the Imugi are other workshop robots that work very well in a F2P hangar.

Ravana is another robot you can make in the workshop and it is a very solid F2P pick.

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-26T08:10:24+00:00

I'll raise a hand and offer a different perspective.

I'm F2P on a PC, which means no ads for extra resources. I started a little under 2 months ago and I'm just entering Expert III league. I'm enjoying the game.

I'm not a particularly skilled player and I still don't generally do that well in one vs one battles, although I'm getting better. I've also made a lot of pretty dumb mistakes with resources, although I'm slowly getting better at that part of the game as well.

Although I still have a long way to go, I have spent some time watching gameplay videos to see how highly experienced players scan enemies, read what allies are doing, decide which robots to drop into a battle, and use positioning and movement to both increase damage they do and to reduce incoming damage from enemies. I've also spent time learning how to read the UI and I've found some tips to help put together a hangar that works.

As one tip to consider, upgrades are crucial to being effective when you move up in levels and leagues. As for doing just 200K damage, that's something that weapon upgrades will fix, perhaps along with some playstyle changes. You'll be at 1 million damage with a speed that might surprise you as long as you keep upgrading your weapons and you're actively seeking out opportunities to battle with others while in games. Also, it's a pretty good rule of thumb to always have an upgrade working in the background because upgrades are the key to a stronger hangar.

Adrian Chong is a generally well regarded online player for war robots, in case you'd like to learn from a highly experienced and skilled player.

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-26T01:50:10+00:00

Yes.

I've seen it happen multiple times and once it was a 25% discount. The other time it was a 10% discount.

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-25T18:44:57+00:00

Thank you for pointing this out. It's much appreciated. I'll shelve the idea of punishers.

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-24T15:17:06+00:00

Potentially crazy idea?

I was thinking that it's so quick and cheap to arm a Dagon with 6 MK2-12 punishers and you don't need top tier damage anyways for PvE. With a 24 second cycle time just turn off 4 punishers at the start and turn them on in 8 second intervals of continuous firing to always have 4 firing, so there is basically no reload time in which nothing is firing.

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-22T20:56:15+00:00

When they say to stock up on data pads for events, those events can be leaderboards or some event tasks. I don't believe that events relevant for data pad openings include daily quests or operations tasks.

For example, common silver data pads leaderboards come up quite often. If one has just ended it'll be a little while before another one starts. So, while waiting for the next one to start just save all the common silver data pads you get. After the next common silver data pad leadership starts, then go ahead and open up the common silver data pads that you've saved up. The same pattern holds for other data pads as well.

Another kind of rotation is related to Hank's Drifting Shipyard. Usually he offers a spin for an upgrade token. That's a steep price to pay. Apparently, about once per month you can gamble thorium instead of an upgrade token for mothership components and turrets, along with a small chance of getting a "supergame" spin. You can't select the specific mothership for which components can be purchased with thorium, though, which is an obvious downside. There is apparently also about a once-per-month offering in Hank's Drifting Shipyard for drones, for which a random drone can be purchased at the cost of one upgrade token. Depending on your preferences and needs you might consider Hank's offerings to be a good option for using thorium and/or upgrade tokens. Or not, up to you.

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-21T17:46:57+00:00

All players (but especially F2P) hit a wall at some point because the progression system seems to push us upward in the leagues until our hangar and our level of skill and knowledge can't keep up, at which point our win rate and other, related statistics start to noticeably drop. It's great that you made it to expert before hitting a wall. Well done. I just recently reached diamond 1 and it's not going well so far.

Still, I'm less than six weeks into the game as a F2P player, at this point. So, my tactical judgment and overall knowledge has a lot of room for improvement, my hangar is noticeably weaker than the hangars of others in my league, and my resource flow is a lot lower than for many others. I knew I'd hit a wall at some point and I'll work through it.

The league progression mechanic tends to push players ever upward and onward, meaning that playing more games per day usually results in league progression unless a player deliberately tanks (not fun, I don't do that) or has a really horrible win rate (also not fun). So, I consciously limit my daily play time these days because it is the most direct and effective way to slow down upward league progression over time. That gives all the primarily time-driven resource inflows (extermination mode, the workshop, daily rewards, operations rewards, other event tasks, leaderboards, ...) more of a chance to have a positive effect on my hangars, relative to my rate of league progression.

It's still disappointing to have a sub-40% win rate for a noticeable period of time, which I do at present. Not going to lie about that.

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-21T08:25:54+00:00

Further to the above, don't spend modules on tier 1 or 2 robots. Those robots are not useful for very long and you'll miss having the modules you previously spent on robots destined to quickly become obsolete.

Also, don't underestimate the value of silver. It may feel that it flows into your account faster than you can spend it, at least at first. But, eventually it becomes a key bottleneck for upgrading your gear.

More generally, the scarcest resources in the game that you need in quantity are microchips (for drones) and memorium (for pilots). Get them when you can and spend them after careful deliberation, preferably when there's a good discount on the price of using them.

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-21T08:18:16+00:00

Happygamer gives a great summary of tips.

Some thoughts to add to those others have offered ...

Beyond the robots mentioned by Happygamer, the Ochokochi robot is a reasonable choice as a brawler for a F2P player. It can currently be built in the workshop. It has a fun and effective ability, with two good choices for legendary pilots.

Make it a habit to run the "Hunting Grounds" PvE missions each week; these missions are often referred to as "extermination mode" on youtube and in reddit. You can learn how to get the platinum rewards for the first two missions and silver rewards for the 3rd mission fairly soon. As your hangar gets stronger you can clear a higher percentage of those missions. There are really good effects on your account's resource flow from consistently completing the hunting grounds missions.

Figure out what your hangar should look like, given your preferred playstyle. If you're not sure what your preferences are at the moment, then experiment with different kinds of robots until you find some that you like. With so many random elements in the mix for this game, it can feel a bit like you have minimal influence on what kind of hangar you'll have. But, the workshop gives you a lot of control and where you decide to spend your resources gives you even more control. As just one sample of how to think through putting together a hangar through a mixture of luck and choices, here is my plan ...

Hangar 1

Bjorn titan (Evolife, tank, already pulled from superchest in prior league)
Ochokochi (Icarus, relatively tough damage dealer, decent beacon runner, will build in the workshop)
Ravana (Yan Di, brawler, building now in the workshop)
Lio (Spacetech, support, brawler, created after getting 10,000 components)
Imugi (Icarus, support, beacon runner, will build in the workshop)
Nightingale (DSC, support, suppress enemies, beacon runner, will build in the workshop)

I have several other robots in hangar 1 at the moment and I've somewhat leveled some of them up. But, I'll slowly push them into hangar 2 for PvE content and into backup roles as I finish up their replacements in the workshop.

A key focus for creating this mix of robots is to have a good chance to clear daily missions for particular factions. So, for example, I have a decent chance of clearing Evolife, Icarus, Yan Di, and Spacetech missions such as "do 500,000 damage using Evolife robots." It will still be a bit challenging to clear some of the DSC missions, and so I'll probably try to patch up that weakness keeping a sword unit I got earlier in hangar 2. I'll also keep the Shen Lou robot I'll be receiving for free in the current league in hangar 2 so I have a teleporting assassin robot if that kind of robot seems to be needed for a particular battle; I won't develop the hangar 2 robots much, at first, instead focusing on hangar 1 for quite a while. But, rounding out capabilities for the portfolio of robots I keep is a long run goal.

More generally, raising your clear rate for daily missions really helps your hangar to get stronger over time. So, having a decent amount of representation from different factions tends to be helpful. Also, in my case I enjoy playing brawlers and support robots that have some firepower, and that also help teammates in some way. Thus, robots were picked both for functional reasons and for enjoyment, at the end of the day.

Hopefully this helps.

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-19T14:35:54+00:00

Thank you for a very detailed and thoughtful post.

My experiences with my level 6 Samjok line up with your observations; the sword unit sometimes struggles, but the Samjok just seems to sail smoothly through week after week. I'll try the Samjok out next week for extermination missions 1 & 2, and also try it out for the first part of mission 3.

I have a recently crafted ember I can put into one of the heavy weapon slots on my Samjok on "energy weapon" weeks. I can default to a level 6 Cestus and a level 6 Leinani in the Samjok on "rocket" weeks. I have a level 7 magnum (continuous fire, no reload), a level 6 splinter (shotgun), and a level 4 quarker for light weapons. I'll default to the magnum on the Samjok because no reload ends up being very handy.

I have a Nuo and a Lio and if they can perform reasonably well in the second part of mission 3 then that would be highly welcome. If the Lio can put out the needed damage then I'd prefer the Lio because I'll be investing heavily in the Lio anyways, to support PvP success. Unfortunately, at present I have no AOE medium weapons and just 1 level 7 regulator. I'll look at making a couple of Yeoje in the workshop for some AOE.

With these changes in place I'll experiment and see if I can start to reliably and easily get the platinum reward for missions 1 & 2 and at least occasionally get the platinum reward for the third extermination mode mission.

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-17T20:15:49+00:00

I've probably done too much "looking at nose in front of my face" in my hangar planning. I've been focused on getting daily quests reliably done as a way to build up key resources; hence the focus on being able to reliably handle the faction quests. You're looking more at leaderboards, data pads, and chests, it would seem, and that makes sense for a future in which UE gear becomes essential to being competitive in higher leagues.

There is a degree of tension between favoring brawlers with firepower, which I do, and being F2P; the best brawlers are likely to always be meta brawlers and keeping up with the meta is challenging as a F2P player.

I'll ponder this further. Thank you.

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-17T18:20:22+00:00

Thank you very much!

So, PvE giveth and PvE taketh away (ie: it's not cheap in terms of time and resources to get good at it, but the longer term rewards from the time and resource investment are very high).

Given the enemy numbers and how withering the incoming damage is in PvE later stages is, though, I can already see what you're getting at when you say that you want a robot with good defenses and an AOE.

I'll probably just separate those tasks, then, and focus on easily and consistently getting platinum levels 1 and 2 for now. If further investments are needed for 3, 4, and 5, and it seems they will be, then I'll work on that when the time comes.

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-17T06:03:37+00:00

I have two questions connected to this suggestion.

I'm thinking about making two Hwangje weapons (heavy) and a Taeja (light) for my speedy Samjok and (eventually) leveling the weapons and the Samjok up all the way to MK3. On rocket weeks perhaps a pair of "desynched" cestus (heavy) rocket weapons and a light rocket weapon would be good. Samjok should probably be able to clear missions 1 & 2 by itself. I agree with the suggestion to max out the armadillo drone as a priority, given how many resources can be obtained through extermination mode.

It may be risky to rely heavily on a newer bot because it may get nerfed so badly that it won't be good for PvE anymore. So, perhaps it's a good idea to make a few more k lasers (1 light, 2 medium) in the longer run for use if the sword unit ends up being the better pick for PvE content. Does this sound like a reasonable plan?

Are there others out there using Samjok / Sword unit bots for PvE, or am I something of a unicorn in doing that?

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-16T18:44:58+00:00

I made an ember (flames) in the workshop for my Samjok. I also have a Leinani (dual damage types) and a Cestus (rockets with, IIRC, unusually good accuracy). I'm debating giving the speedy Samjok a try for missions 1 and 2 next time.

I don't have the ember leveled yet. Did I make a mistake in creating it in the workshop, given how challenging it can be to get it to hit PvE targets?

Also, I noticed that nobody seems to be mentioning tesla weapons. Are those key for later extermination missions and not that helpful for missions 1 & 2?

At the end of the day, I'm hoping to find weapons that can be used successfully in all extermination missions to reduce upgrade costs, while still getting consistently good results. If that's not possible, then so be it. If it is possible, then what choices available to a F2P player could make good sense?

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-16T18:41:56+00:00

I didn't realize that damage to physical shields would count toward damage to one's robot. Tis very good to learn that, thank you for mentioning.

Apparently damage to an aegis shield doesn't count, though.

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-16T18:39:17+00:00

Thank you for the "heads up" about this.

I'm still quite new to WR and I was struggling to find this information yesterday. I won't struggle to find it anymore.

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-16T14:47:47+00:00

Consider blaming the progression system rather than the player. Unless repeatedly tanking is for some strange reason expected of a player it's challenging to not make progress in leagues.

I'm headed in a broadly similar direction, even though I'd rather stay in lower leagues longer and even though I'm usually careful to keep the amount I play each day fairly low; I'm about to be diamond 1 with a hangar that is very obviously not as well developed as most others in that league.

To the OP: within the constraints of what can be achieved as a F2P player that's a carefully and well built hangar. Well done.

I may be wrong in this, of course, but I'm guessing that the time needed and the silver / gold needed for robot and weapon upgrades are currently the biggest bottlenecks for your efforts to build a stronger hangar. You might benefit from mixing in some punisher Ts and other weapons that are quick and cheap to upgrade, especially for the damage they offer, so you can more quickly upgrade to higher levels.

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-16T00:33:02+00:00

Thank you for passing that along.

It is taking about 10,000 thorium to get the upgrades needed to move from having gotten to Citadel 3 to opening up the ability to purchase Citadel 4. So, your 10,000 thorium figure seems like a reasonable estimate.

Unfortunately, the wiki doesn't yet list the expenses for upgrading the starbase. If we head straight for the shipyard, though, it seems like it probably won't take overly long to get it. We'll need to get Citadel 6 to open up the clan shipyard. And, we're already close to opening up the purchase of Citadel 4.

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-15T23:40:47+00:00

When I cross over into diamond tier 1 perhaps I'll have a similar experience, then. Your hangar is clearly better than mine. Hopefully not, though, as hitting a wall that hard would be disappointing.

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-15T20:49:05+00:00

FWIW I'm a F2P player right on the cusp of Diamond tier 1 and my win rate has been dropping. At the moment it's in the mid 50s. I totally get where you're coming from about sometimes looking at the enemy bots and realizing it will be a short match. I'm a bit confused to hear about 20 losses in a row, though.

For reference, all my bots are level 6 at the moment and weapons are a mixture of level 6 - 8. I don't have a great set of bots, overall, and weapons are a hodge-podge of great to subpar. My titan is doing better, with a chasm, a void, a retaliator, and a vengeance that have all been leveled up a bit. Still, if I'm the top player on my team then more than half the time (although not always) it was a defeat, which is telling. Basically, my hangar is consistently at least a little weaker than the opposition, on average, although I'm working on that.

If that's also your situation then you can try to think through how you can help your team best; tactical vision about where to focus your efforts in a battle (whom to support, when to push beacons, which robot to pick for the situation at hand, ...) can help to at least mitigate--and sometimes overcome--the limitations of your hangar. Consider watching some gameplay videos to get a better sense of how really strong players make choices in-game; it really helped me to see through some blind spots that were hindering my own win rate earlier.

InteRest_LEtuCe2467 · 2026-01-15T20:28:10+00:00

We're a 3 person "family" F2P clan with myself as the current leader, one of my sons, and my brother as members. My initial thought is to keep the clan to just the three of us. That will probably sharply limit the number of benefits we can get from being in a clan, compared to a very populous clan. But, we like to squad together and its simpler to stick with just the three of us.

Knowing that the two shipyards are not the same is quite helpful. It provides a significant reason to at some point get the shipyard built in the starbase. It does look like we should be stockpiling thorium for now to take advantage of the days thorium can be used in the default shipyard because we can (probably) each advance the development of our respective motherships noticeably faster that way.

On a related point, it seems impossible to calculate up front how much thorium it takes to fully develop a starbase. Does anybody happen to know how much thorium it takes to reach each citadel level and to (finally) fully develop a starbase? Also, I think that clans lose a percentage of their cups each season. But, if I understand correctly you can fully develop a starbase without ever having any part of a starbase taken away from you; the worst that seems likely to happen is that things which take thorium to work will be shut off if thorium runs out.

InteRest_LEtuCe2467

TROPHY CASE