The Energon Pub

Firstly welcome to HMW & the Forums - Warning contains nuts!

You’ll find lots of useful information in the Help Pages
http://www.seibertron.com/heavymetalwar/help/

The following Forum threads should also be of use to you: -

Level 0-3 help & discussion thread.
http://www.seibertron.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=125&sid=e92e3fc5ed2bb00ed530df5378104f22

There are also Faction Specific Forums where you can discuss strategy and request backup.
Darkmount for Decepticons: http://www.seibertron.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=55
Iacon for Autobots: http://www.seibertron.com/forums/viewfo ... ?f=54&sid=
You may not be able to view your appropriate forum just yet if you are a new player - if so drop a post in the Bugs thread mentioned below.

The Forum Moderators are:
Omega Sentinel (Who also programs HMW in his spare time)
http://www.seibertron.com/members/profile.php?id=16019
Mkall
http://www.seibertron.com/members/profile.php?id=8638
Alpha Strike
http://www.seibertron.com/members/profile.php?id=4045
Caelus
http://www.seibertron.com/members/profile.php?id=4074

In the event of finding a Bug or problem post about it in the stickied Insecticon's Lair thread here: http://www.seibertron.com/forums/viewto ... t=420&sid=

WARNING! The following posts relate to advice for HMW version 1. Version 2 will be out soon and things may change that will affect the following advice. Also be aware that The Programmer (Omega Sentinel) is also making changes and testing things ready for V2 as we speak (Quintessons missions, minicons etc.) in preparation for V2.

There's a stickied FAQ thread for Version 2 here: http://www.seibertron.com/forums/viewto ... =6386&sid=

Handy Hints
Glyph previously setup up a HMW help website – most of this is now in the help files but there’s still a few bits and bats like minimum XP to get to level 1 etc. you might like here.
http://beta.wiserhosting.co.uk/~evermor/hmwutil/index.php

Your bots and cons will normally slug/blast it out in robot mode unless they use Tactics. In this case they will transform into their Alt-mode so the tactics available to them depend on what Alt-Mode you select for them. As I’ve already said there’s loads of info on this in the help files but this is also worth knowing: -
Speed boosts Avoid,
Strength boosts Ram,
Firepower boosts Strafe,
Intelligence boosts Repair,

Firepower doesn’t actually boost your damage caused by weapons, it lets you equip better weapons but it does boost your Strafe tactic attacks.

Also everytime you perform a successful Avoid you get 50xp and 50 energon - which can come in very handy to gain xp quickly in low levels.

Pre-HMW Version 2 Stuff

Omega Sentinel is releasing a few items we might see in V2 into the program as it is now so that he can test for bugs and how the new stuff works out before going 'live' to V2. Most of the time he'll drop them in as a surprise so we won't know about them when they turn up but here's a few that we do know a little about.

There's a stickied FAQ thread for that here: http://www.seibertron.com/forums/viewto ... =6386&sid=

Quintesson Missions
The Quintessons are trying to invade Cybertron, Autobots & Decepticons are joining forces to defeat them. Yes that's right you will fight side by side with member of your opposing faction, Sweet!

Be warned that they are Very Tough opponents (Level 6-8) and I highly doubt any transformers below level 3 will survive long enough to even attempt to attack the Quintessons, let alone hit them. - Omega Sentinel may be readdressing the balance of levels to allow for a lower level mission so you guys don't miss out.

You'll face Sharkticons (Level 6 warriors), Judges (Level 8 characters with a large array of special attacks including the ability to possess transformers and make them attack their fellows, tearing your Transformers apart and removing 1 ton of their armour as well and many other attacks.) and we presume Allicons will also be making an appearance but little is know about them yet.

Winning a Quintesson mission stocks both factions with a few minicons.

Minicons
As previously stated, winning a Quintesson mission stocks both factions with a few minicons.
You buy minicons, have the opportunity to rename them, and link them to a Transformer to give that Transformer a boost while the minicon is attached.
Don't get too attached to them - if your Transformers dies and it has a Minicon attached to it the Minicon dies and cannot be resurrected - you'd have to buy another.
They are designed to be used sparingly and carefully (hence the dying) to occasionally give you a boost in certain missions that you will want every advantage you can grab to win it.

WEAPON STOCKS
Shockingly in the run up to and after the release of the movie we've had a lot of new players arrive and weapons stocks for low level players are currently either extremely low or non-existant. You can view a listing of all the weapons here and this also lists how many are in stock: http://www.seibertron.com/heavymetalwar ... eapons.php

There's a later post in here advising about which weapons are worthwhile but to be honest unarmed brawling works better than most low level weapons anyway.

SIG GUIDELINES (pinched from another forum section)

awkwaRd wrote:1. Your sig cannot be any larger than 300 x 500 pixels either horizontal or vertical. This does not mean you can have a 500 x 500 pixel sig.

2. Your sig cannot be larger than 40kb in file size. If you need help shrinking your sig, ask and someone will certainly offer to help.

Sig Guidelines
http://www.seibertron.com/forums/viewto ... t=369&sid=

AVATAR GUIDELINES (from memory)
max 100 x 100 pixel size, 40kb file size.

AND FINALLY
Please be aware that this forum is PG13 so keep your language in check (or use cybertronian) and no posting offensive or saucy images.
(apparently anyone seeking such images can contact whisper...)

A bloody good idea, like a n00b control device but less violent.

I second the notion to sticky this. Maybe also add a warning that Smack Talk can be taken the wrong way by those who are unable to grasp the concept of sarcasm?

nice sc

hmm howcome I never thought of that..... oh yeah because I don't care

Nice job there SC

great thread

Stickied; let's see what happens

Edited the title too

Thanks for this guide, it has given me some much needed help.

And like everyone else says, nice job, Supercollider!

Suggestion for tip to add to the first post: When posting on these forums, write in coherent English.

I know, I'm a fine person to speak considering the astronomical number of typos that I make, but I really don't like to have to decipher anything and this is sorta directed at...

Sorry if you think that I'm hinting at you in particular. Spellcheck will tell you whether or not I am.

Good job SC!

Good luck with the thread Supercollider. Speaking from personal experiance your going to need it. However I sincerly hope it doesn't come to that again.

nice i like it


(on a side note im still alive)

_I_ROBOT_NS5_ wrote:(on a side note im still alive)

Glad to hear it. WB.

Is it possible to add the max Avatar sizes on here as well? Ive just been looking for the guide as there dont seem to be one.

Psychout wrote:Is it possible to add the max Avatar sizes on here as well? Ive just been looking for the guide as there dont seem to be one.

Yeah if someone can remind me of them I'll edit my first post.!

OK following a spate of "what's good stats for level 0" posts here's a breakdown of the stats & tactics from the Help guide with some extra notes from me.

CAVEAT: Nothing I say here is gospel, it's just advice based on what I think works for me and therefore only an opinion, there are many other opinions out there as I'm sure you'll find out.

STATS
Strength: Increase damage. Allows you to wear armour. Boosts Ram Tactic. [Good at Level 0]
Intelligence: Learn certain tactics. Boosts Repair Tactic. [Useless at Level 0]
Speed: Increase hit frequency. Increase dodge frequency. Boosts Avoid Tactic. [Good at Level 0]
Endurance: Increase damage absorption. [Not so good at Level 0]
Rank: Wear better armour. [Useless at Level 0]
Courage: Increase attack frequency. [Not so good at Level 0]
Firepower: Allows you to equip better weapons. Boosts Strafe Tactic. [Not so good at Level 0]
Skill: Allows you to equip certain weapons. Learn certain tactics. [Useless at Level 0]

TACTICS
Avoid: A purely defensive move. This tactic begins when you dodge an attack and allows you to move out of range of the enemy for a time. (You get 50xp and 50 energon per successful avoid) [Good at Level 0]
Ram: A ramming attack on one target. This tactic sometime stuns the target to prevent them from executing another attack. [OK at Level 0]
Repair: Repairs yourself or a teammate. [Useless at Levels 0-2]
Strafe: A continuous attack on one or more targets. This tactic always hits at least one opponent, and has a possibility of hitting more. [Not so good at Level 0]

WEAPONS
Simply put the better weapons are sold out. The list is currently as follows: -
Battle Blades - FRP=3 SKL=2 - Devastating to incredible - Short recharge - €53,000
Dol-Laser Rifle - FRP=2 SKL=0 - Heavy to devastating - Short recharge - €2,200
Poisonous Paralyzer Fluids - FRP=1 SKL=1 - Heavy to very heavy - Short recharge - €5,000 (Plasma Shotguns are better)
Heat-Seeking Laser Blasters - FRP=1 SKL=0 - Moderate to heavy - Short recharge - €3,400 (actually not that good))
X-Ray Laser - FRP=0 SKL=0 - Moderate to heavy - Short recharge - €1,500 (best 0 Firepower weapon)
Disruptor Rifle - FRP=0 SKL=0 - Light to heavy - Short recharge - €400 (good starting weapon)

Either: -
Put your upgrades into strength and do without them,
Save up 30,000-60,000 energon then put at least 2 upgrades into firepower and buy expensive weapons,
Hassle people to sell on stuff, be nice as they'll lose money selling weapons (it's also very unlikely people would sell on Battle Blades)
Join one of the many "the problem with weapons" rant threads that run and run here,
Wait for V2.0.

LEVELLING UP
This deals with the prospect of levelling up from level 0 to level 1.
OK there are roughly two schools of thought here.
Levelling up early gives you better chances to gain more xp & energon per mission but as you'll be very weak compared to the majority of other level 1s out there so you'll get your aft kicked pretty much every mission and as CR now costs you that'll be 250 energon (full heal on auto CR) each bot each mission - it's gonna cost you loads until you hits a reasonable level of competence. You will get slaughtered in the arena unless your opponent has levelled up early same as you.
Levelling up later means you are far more likely to hold your own in missions and maybe the arena, you are more likely to break even in that the energon you gain pays for the CR costs you need so you don't need such a stockpile.
My (humble) advice - if you plan on levelling up early have an energon stockpile 30k or more and start by levelling up 1 or 2 bots as a tester to see if it works for you whatever happens keep some level 0s just to gain energon.
Personally I wouldn't level up a bot with less than 30k xp as at level 1 better weapons make a big difference and that's where I'd rather my money goes. Also, from personally experience in missions, an early levelled bot isn't backup, it's a liability to your faction-mates.

A SECOND OPINION

Tammuz wrote:...I'm certainly not saying don't equip armour (if you've got strength definetly get some) but if you're going to upgrade rank just for the sake of better armour, i'd rather go for endurance, as it doesn't depend on strength, it protects against tactics, it doesn't require an energon outlay, it improves repairs done to you, and might decrese the chances of being stunned

Thanks for this Supercollider! I appreciate all the help you and lots of other guys have given me in my early days of HMW (RiD, Burn, Psychout, Tifereth, Omega Sentinel, Master Maximus, Black Gaurdian and so many others. Too many to put here, but good guys and gals all).

I have to say that this has been one of the friendliest and most helpful forums i have joined in recent years. The quality of this discussion board has helped make this game even more fun

Level 1 here i come. I've got a lot of good karma to spread about

Has anyone ever made an armor guide as to what armors are the best and what level you can attain them? I was used to iron being the best before my hiatus.

Ruthless Cynic wrote:Has anyone ever made an armor guide as to what armors are the best and what level you can attain them? I was used to iron being the best before my hiatus.

We know this much, Iron and Ceramic are good at rank 0 and rank 1 respectively!
But I believe Armor doesn't work properly still so those in the know have been asked not to share their findings.

This thread has a few comments from Glyph that indicate the minefield armour is.
http://www.seibertron.com/forums/viewto ... rt=15&sid=

the longer the install time
the better it is

It seems to me certain armors work better or worse against varying attacks.
The more expensive the armor doesn't seem to always be better.
It's probably just all in my head.

steve2275 wrote:the longer the install time
the better it is

Oy. Don't remind me of install time. I had to wait something like 28 or 32 hours for King Idiot to get fitted for his new tux. It let the guy ahead of him jump forward in experience to a point I can't even dream of catching up to.

DISCHARGE wrote:It seems to me certain armors work better or worse against varying attacks.
The more expensive the armor doesn't seem to always be better.
It's probably just all in my head.

From the explination Ive heard, this is down to the way damage is calculated in this version, which uses random percentages instead of fixed values.

how to gain exp qiuckly

dozier5806 wrote:how to gain exp qiuckly

At Level 0 opt for a combination of Speed and Avoid so you get 50xp and 50 energon each time you avoid. make your first upgrade Avoid and when you get 6k xp you can set up 2 speed 2 avoid and in the arena you'll get around 250xp and 250 energon whether you win or lose. The missions are riskier, you might be able to rake in 400-500xp in one mission and then get nothing in the next.

At Level 1 the xp whoring opportunities change dramatically and you also need to watch your energon levels much more. I'm still experimenting with some setups here but I find that it's much more about having a good setup for the mission - low level 1's should avoid the arena as you'll tend to get slaughtered.
Build type
Brawler/Rammer - high Str, Speed, some Courage, maybe Ram.
Speeder - very High Speed, some Courage some Firepower & decent weapon
Suicidal Strafer - high Courage, some Firepower High Strafe & decent weapon
Avoiders - high Speed, high Avoid - no Courage.

Brawler/Rammer - level 1 missions 4v4
Speeder - Will do well in many missions - tends to be relatively consistent
Suicidal Strafer level 1-10 missions and hope for a hit on a very high level opponent for 1k xp or more - You will get shutout often.
Avoider - go against smae level opponents.

There will be many more opinions out there and those are just a few of mine. The very best advice it to play the game and find out what works for you.

thanks

Is it possible to have two teams if they're both on the same side?

If it is, I'm gonna make a tribute to NASA... The Six Sensational Sisters of Space! Six femmes named after America's Space Shuttles (including the two that were destroyed... and the prototype), who can form a gestalt.

Their names are Columbia, Atlantis, Discovery, Endeavour, Challenger and Enterprise. They combine to form Stellaris.