https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1A-NTbiG9rJEh9zIoTueiUh4xNLjw0iTkJu3P4Yrepxs/edit?usp=sharing

Tldr: This game is far deeper than it appears on first inspection. Don't feel like you need to understand the details of it to start running. As you do challenges and improve your pb these things will slowly start to make sense to you intuitively. To get started I would recommend playing through the game casually (quit without saving and load whenever you lose) and record your team and how many times you had to grind the previous arena to have the money for the next one. Then, with your paper next to you go through a few runs and try and get one where you only have one or a couple losses. At that point you can start thinking about trimming some grind from your plan and trying to do well with that team.

Alternatively, I have my strategy in the google sheet. Should you want to try it. I just don't think it's the best way to start. One of these days someone should make a beginner friendly route. That would be good to have I think.

The first part of the statistics page is my notes on all of the chassis, plating, and armor in the game. I also have scattered notes for challenges I'm working on and stuffs but I think the statistics are probably the most useful for someone. Still have to add in when each of them unlock.

The second page is my current build guide. I don't believe it's fully optimized but the key notes are:

1. buying maxed out bots for the first two missions is suboptimal. It makes you go into metalmash very under prepared or you have to replay chrometech which just isn't that efficient. Also, you almost always want to grind for money on as late of a mission as you can since it just straight up gives you more money.

2. three bots is optimal during certain parts of the run I believe. Especially when you can get away with an extra 5/4/0 bot to distract one of the opponent's bots for like 3-5 seconds letting you double team the other bot or when you don't need to upgrade plating so you can pump more of your weight into low micro threats that can sneak inside other bots minimum range like the Darsij "A101-1" (8 weight) and Torrika "KR-2" (10 weight)

3. there's a small section of the run where grinding is more efficient than the setup for one-shot strats because they are wildly inconsistent and slow. For the rest of the run you should only ever fight each battle once.

Random observations about how the game works: Manuel control is your friend. The bots base ai will get them killed in situations where with good play you can clutch a victory. Some fights are neigh impossible to be consistent and fast without having really good micro control over your bots. Also, this way you can keep your guns firing to keep your damage up throughout the run rather than letting your bots wander off halfway across the arena which saves time even if the win isn't in question. The challenges are really good for practicing your control skills. Although, if you're fighting the dragon take note that its weapon has the longest minimum range in the game. If your shield gets too close it will switch fire to your sword and chew through its health quickly.

Focus your fire, split enemy fire. The best scenario in bot arena for speedrunning is that all your bots are firing on the same bot while all the enemy's other bots are out of range. If you can make it so your bots are focusing fire while the enemy bots are firing on different targets that's also a good outcome. Sometimes in a speedrun due to rng and/or mistakes you need to accept suboptimal conditions to keep your bots firing just make sure you're still able to pick up the win. Slowing down for 5 seconds to regroup your low hp bots so they can attack at the same time is way better than rushing in and losing the fight.

Memorize and abuse range. If you have the range advantage you can just let the enemy bot follow you just outside their range and rack up damage without them being able to fire back (though they'll usually close some distance once you reach the end of the arena). If you have less range than them back off until they turn to close with you then plunge into the attack to minimize the time spent being shot without returning fire. You'll usually want to stay within your range in this situation because every time you separate they get more free shots against you.

Accuracy is a thing. Different weapons have different accuracies. The Kedron "SPKL-D4" (flare's weapon) is probably the best example. By all rights it should be the best early game weapon. If it could hit the broad side of a barn. While fighting enemies with a lower accuracy than yourself you should ensure to stay as close to your maximum range as you consistently can. You'll gain an advantage in the fight by just allowing the enemy to miss. The same is true in reverse. If you're using a Darsij "A101-1" (8 weight) it will serve you well to hug the enemy as tight as possible to avoid missing your shots.

If you lose a fight exist without saving then load your save from before the fight. It's weird and not really useful if anyone actually gets good at the game but I still find myself using it and it prevents the awful spirals where one lost battle costs you multiple minutes to get back to the fight.

Advanced nonsense: Range calculations are just a little bit weird. The point the game calculates your weapon as firing from is just ever so slightly offset from the point other bots try to shoot you at. This means it's just barely possible to slowly sneak closer to an enemy you're following and get a shot or two off without them being able to fire back. While this is difficult to do there are some non high level applications. For instance, if you believe you and your opponent are oneshots for each other make sure to turn straight towards them. Most of the time your enemy will be angled a bit and you'll get the first shot off winning the round (note these techniques only work with the same range as your opponent.

There's more I could go over but feel free to experiment, make your own routes, build your skills by taking on challenges, etc

ps: if you really want to get better at the game I recommend taking on the "underdogs" challenge. You must use exactly two bots. Try win each fight with as light of a team as you can manage (only items allowed are ones you would have already unlocked by that point in the campaign). This pushes you towards better micro and teambuilding since you have to try and squeeze out as much as you can from as little weight as possible.

Glass cannon: silly, but fun. Try to beat every fight in the game with only the lightest plating. The final hour with 5 bots is nonsense

Also, while doing challenges I recommend using a completed save file since that allows you to try out different builds much quicker than grinding for all the money in early fights. Whenever you need more money just use the meme post game component to beat the final hour again.