The Energon Pub

by **Primal Prime** » Thu Jan 15, 2026 6:24 am

Question about alt modes. How often do they rotate? And which day do they rotate?

News Credits: 7 · by **Dragonslayer** » Thu Jan 15, 2026 8:26 am

Unless things have changed, my understanding is the rotator is broken. To what degree I don't remember.

by **ThunderThruster** » Thu Jan 15, 2026 9:44 am

Is it worth doing away with the rotation, and just have all the alts available at all times?

by **Primal Prime** » Thu Jan 15, 2026 11:02 am

ThunderThruster wrote:Is it worth doing away with the rotation, and just have all the alts available at all times?

If possible that would make more sense considering the amount of people online these days

News Credits: 34 · by **Glyph** » Thu Jan 15, 2026 2:13 pm

Primal Prime wrote:Question about alt modes. How often do they rotate? And which day do they rotate?

As far as I can tell, there's something that happens with the rotation - some non-core alts do get a short availability period added from time to time - but it's not clear to me exactly what and when. I'm looking into options for doing a more active rotation via the dashboard, since I can't affect the actual code in any way.

Red Sentinel wrote:Referencing the August statement, are more alt modes going to be released or brought back?

Yes, definitely planning to rotate some classic alts and add more (there's been a lot of new toy photography since the last set...). The armour bug and instability last year took the wind out of the sails a bit, but looking to get back onto things now that it's actually feasible to reset characters.

Any classic alts people would like to see return? Suggestions for new ones you'd really like to use for your bots?

ThunderThruster wrote:Is it worth doing away with the rotation, and just have all the alts available at all times?

I... don't know how I feel about that. I see the argument, but also think it takes away one of the few "gamey" customisations we still have - if everyone can just get whatever alt they want at any time, there's no rarity/prestige nor angle to offer alts as prizes, etc. (Plus, there's over a thousand altmode images defined in the DB already! That would be a very large alt selection page!)

Let me see what I can do with the dashboard, but in the meantime please do shout out any requests you might have.

Like steve2275 on Facebook · by **steve2275** » Thu Jan 15, 2026 5:40 pm

i like that the buy icon is blue

by **ThunderThruster** » Fri Jan 16, 2026 7:11 am

Glyph wrote:
ThunderThruster wrote:Is it worth doing away with the rotation, and just have all the alts available at all times?
I... don't know how I feel about that. I see the argument, but also think it takes away one of the few "gamey" customisations we still have - if everyone can just get whatever alt they want at any time, there's no rarity/prestige nor angle to offer alts as prizes, etc. (Plus, there's over a thousand altmode images defined in the DB already! That would be a very large alt selection page!)

Let me see what I can do with the dashboard, but in the meantime please do shout out any requests you might have.

I get why the rotation is in place, and if it were working as intended I don't think there'd be any problems outside the usual gripes of waiting for a desired alt to come up in the cycle.
As it is, it's be (semi)broken for a long while [some rotations are working, some aren't], so it's a lot to ask you to manually cycle the rotation at what ever frequency you intend to do it at. Primus forbid anything that happens to you, directly or indirectly, that prevents you from being able to trigger the rotation. This isn't the same as having someone periodically restocking the weapons cache, it's a far more integral part of the game and we shouldn't be reliant on you (or anyone else) to perform it.

by **Red Sentinel** » Fri Jan 16, 2026 12:07 pm

If possible, here are some suggestions:
- Bring back the Cybertron Defense Team alt mode of Scattershot as either a tank or repair tank
- Maybe add the Windblade double-rotor plane
- Move the 2005 Cybertron Optimus to Repair Tank (in flight mode he did do more strafing than ramming...)
- Bayverse Sentinel Prime Fire Truck to Heavy Rescue Vehicles
- Weapons: Skyboom Shield,
- Gadgets:

Matrix of Leadership (???)

Just a few thoughts :-?

by **Light Metal** » Sat Jan 17, 2026 8:24 pm

Am I able to request an alt that I want? I'd like to change Nightscope to the Owl/Bat Fuzor. It's in the Opportunistic Air Animal class and its number is 893.

by **Primal Prime** » Mon Jan 19, 2026 2:33 pm

Glyph wrote:Yes, definitely planning to rotate some classic alts and add more (there's been a lot of new toy photography since the last set...). The armour bug and instability last year took the wind out of the sails a bit, but looking to get back onto things now that it's actually feasible to reset characters.

Any chance to get "54

Futuristic Fighter Jet - (Common)" Optimal Optimus / Primal Prime jet mode? For my Primal Prime bot

You said there were other new alts too. Any other Optimal/Primal Prime alts?

My team is pretty much Maximals at this point. Most of the alts I want is just a matter of time to have them rotated in. Thanks.

by **IcyJuggernog** » Tue Jan 20, 2026 1:42 am

Hi all,

Hope this is the right place to ask, I used to play this game back when I was in middle school and had a blast getting my butt kicked and grinding for upgrades, blowing tons of my hard-earned energon in the Battle Beasts gambling.

Remembered this on a whim today and was thrilled to see it's still functional. How many people are still playing, is there any where average player counts are posted?

News Credits: 7 · by **Dragonslayer** » Wed Jan 21, 2026 9:23 am

IcyJuggernog wrote:Hi all,

Hope this is the right place to ask, I used to play this game back when I was in middle school and had a blast getting my butt kicked and grinding for upgrades, blowing tons of my hard-earned energon in the Battle Beasts gambling.

Remembered this on a whim today and was thrilled to see it's still functional. How many people are still playing, is there any where average player counts are posted?

Welcome back!

I'm not sure what the exact state of the player base is today, but I think others have tracked some of those stats in the past.

I've been keeping a running list of players I see during my missions when I'm deploying (typically between 0730-1730 US CST), so I'm mainly only seeing endgame players (Level 7+). From my observations, there are significantly more Autobot players active during that time than Decepticons.

I have no idea what's happening down in the lower levels. The only time I see anyone are the L10 1v20 missions, and so far that list consists of you and Glyph.

Website · by **Silver Wind** » Wed Jan 21, 2026 4:26 pm

IcyJuggernog wrote:Hi all,

Hope this is the right place to ask, I used to play this game back when I was in middle school and had a blast getting my butt kicked and grinding for upgrades, blowing tons of my hard-earned energon in the Battle Beasts gambling.

Remembered this on a whim today and was thrilled to see it's still functional. How many people are still playing, is there any where average player counts are posted?

It's from August 2025, but this thread should still be useful.

https://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/hmw-by-the-numbers-13-aug-2025-t122073.php

News Credits: 34 · by **Glyph** » Wed Jan 21, 2026 7:20 pm

Hi IcyJuggernog, good to have you back! The game's... quiet these days, it must be said, but there are still a few long-term players kicking around. In general you'll probably find the most opponents through the evening to night, US time - as a UK-based Autobot, I tend to find there are very few Decepticons around during my daytime.

Hope to see you on the battlefield!

by **IcyJuggernog** » Fri Jan 23, 2026 4:29 am

Thank you everyone for the responses, much appreciated.

So I have a question regarding Weapons that the FAQ/Help Section couldn't answer. I notice there are weapons (within the same firepower/skill reqs) that are more expensive, but do either the same or less damage than a cheaper weapon. Take, for example, the Null-Ray rifle vs the Hand-Mounted Laser. Both are starter weapons with no recharge required. The damage range for the Null-Ray is moderate to heavy, while the damage range on the laser is light to heavy. In theory, you would think the Null-Ray is the more expensive gun as it has a higher cumulative damage range. But for some reason the hand-mounted laser is $200 more.

Are there secret stats that are in play? Like DPS or something? Is a higher cost weapon just better since it costs more even if the stats look worse than a cheaper weapon?

by **sprockitz** » Fri Jan 23, 2026 1:59 pm

Welcome aboard icyjuggernog glad i could double your top bots xp with 1 strafe!

https://www.seibertron.com/heavymetalwa ... _id=398471

by **IcyJuggernog** » Fri Jan 23, 2026 2:12 pm

Thank you! I was so excited when I read that battle log man, I can't wait to spend that XP once he's out of the CR chamber 😂

Like steve2275 on Facebook · by **steve2275** » Mon Feb 02, 2026 6:06 pm

sprockitz wrote:Welcome aboard icyjuggernog glad i could double your top bots xp with 1 strafe!

https://www.seibertron.com/heavymetalwa ... _id=398471

not bad

by **IcyJuggernog** » Sat Feb 07, 2026 3:05 pm

To whoever is donating absurd amounts of Energon to me, thank you. I got like 200K one day and like a million again today. Can't wait to buy some cool stuff when my bots are leveled enough to use it lol.

Also, any thoughts on my previous post about secret weapon stats? It seems through nearly every tier of firepower/skill there are guns that do more damage and cost less than weapons in that exact same tier that do less damage and cost more. Is it just a result of weapons being added to the game over the years, going out of circulation, and then coming back into circulation amidst new weapons based around an altered economy?

Also, is there any history for how this game got started? Did something in particular inspire it? I've tried explaining it to a couple buddies as a "persistent, text-based auto-battler with light RPG elements".

News Credits: 7 · by **Dragonslayer** » Thu Feb 12, 2026 9:23 am

I know Bun did a lot of testing & data gathering to pull the curtain back on the weapon mechanics a while back. I'll try to go find that thread(s). IMO weapons have been a little weird for a long time. Despite the large amount of options, there are typically a handful of "meta" weapons that most players use. I remember when I first started playing the Battle Blades were pretty OP for a 3/2 weapon until they were nerfed to what they are now. I think the reason we have so many options is largely flavor. With the limitations of the game in its current state, there's only so much that can be done in terms of weapon variation.

As for history, I started playing when I joined the site in '06 and it had been going on before then. I know there was some stuff (generic) that went on before then, but I don't remember if anyone has recounted it before.

EDIT: Here's Bun's laboratory/results thread for way back-ish.