Understanding Combat Mechanics

AI Arena's combat runs as a real-time simulation at 10 ticks per second. Every tick, each robot evaluates its state, selects an action, and the engine resolves movement, projectiles, terrain interactions, and damage simultaneously. This guide explains every system in detail.

Movement and Dashing#

Robots move across a 25×25 cell grid. Each move action advances the robot one cell in any cardinal direction.

Standard movement: 1 cell per action. Costs minimal energy but can be slow when repositioning under fire.

Dash: Moves multiple cells in a single action. Much faster repositioning, but has a cooldown that varies by chassis type — heavier chassis have longer dash cooldowns. Dashing also consumes more energy than standard movement.

Each chassis has distinct movement characteristics. A light chassis might have a 3-second dash cooldown and move speed bonus. A heavy chassis might have a 6-second cooldown but higher HP and damage reduction.

Your strategy document should account for your chassis's cooldown. A dash-heavy strategy only works if your chassis can support it.

The Missile System#

Missiles are your primary weapon. Understanding their physics is essential for accurate long-range fire.

Magazine: Each robot carries up to 5 missiles. Missiles reload 1 at a time, every 2 seconds. Your magazine size is the ceiling on burst fire — you cannot fire more than 5 before reloading.

Firing parameters: When your robot fires, it specifies three values:

• Velocity (3–8): Higher velocity means more damage but costs more energy. Lower velocity is cheaper but weaker.
• Angle (20–80°): Shallow angles fire fast and flat; steep angles fly slower but give better reach at range.
• Direction: Cardinal or diagonal direction of fire.

Range formula: Maximum range follows projectile physics:

R = v² × sin(2θ) / g

At 45°, range is maximized — roughly 15 cells at velocity 8. Lower angles have shorter range but faster flight time. Higher angles reach farther but take longer to land.

Damage: Damage is calculated from kinetic and gravitational energy at impact:

• Base damage = mass × velocity²
• Gravity bonus applies for high-angle shots (potential energy converted to kinetic)
• Distance bonus: up to +30% at maximum range
• Defense reduces incoming damage by 20%
• AOE: 3×3 explosion centered on impact, with damage falling off from the center cell

Wind#

Wind is a dynamic environmental variable that changes direction and speed at intervals during the match. It affects missile trajectories at the midpoint of their flight.

Key behaviors:

• Tailwind increases horizontal velocity; headwind slows it
• Crosswinds shift trajectories left or right
• Faster missiles (velocity 7–8) resist wind deflection better than slower ones
• Always call scan_wind before firing shots over 10 cells — uncompensated crosswind can miss by 2–3 cells at distance

Your strategy document should include a rule about checking wind for long shots. Robots that ignore wind have systematically poor long-range accuracy.

Energy and Overheat#

Every action costs energy. Energy regenerates continuously based on your fuel type. If energy hits zero, your robot overheats — it cannot take any action until the overheat cooldown completes.

Overheat is a match-losing condition in most situations. An overheated robot is completely vulnerable for the cooldown duration.

Managing energy well:

• Track your energy bar — keep it above 20% as a buffer
• High-velocity shots (7–8) are significantly more expensive than low-velocity ones
• Dashing costs more energy than walking
• Defense mode costs energy per second while active
• Scanning tools (scan_field, scan_wind) cost minimal energy but add up

Fuel type is your primary lever on energy sustainability. Higher-tier fuels regenerate faster and have higher capacity, allowing more aggressive action cadences without overheat risk.

Terrain#

The arena contains five terrain types that fundamentally change positioning strategy:

Walls: Permanent, impassable barriers that block both movement and missiles. Walls create corridors and chokepoints. Use them as cover when reloading or evading.

Pillars: Single-cell permanent obstacles. They block movement and missiles. Excellent for line-of-sight denial — move perpendicular to the opponent to put a pillar between you.

Debris: Destructible obstacles with 100 HP. They block movement and missiles but can be destroyed by missile fire. Use debris as temporary cover, but know your opponent can eliminate it. Destroying debris near your opponent removes their protection.

Hazards: Cells that deal 1.5 damage per second to any robot standing on them. They appear as glowing zones on the grid. Never linger on a hazard tile — always route around them unless absolutely necessary.

Dynamic obstacles: Some map configurations include obstacles that appear and disappear during the match. Check scan_field output to track their state before committing to a path.

Power Jars#

Power jars are bonus pickups that spawn every approximately 30 seconds and remain for 60 seconds before disappearing.

Activation: To activate a power jar, your robot must move adjacent to it and answer a trivia question correctly. The trivia is processed by the AI, so higher-tier agents answer more reliably.

Rewards: Power jars grant one of two bonuses:

• Energy overdrive: Faster energy regeneration for a limited duration — lets you fire more aggressively without overheat risk
• Missile surge: Faster magazine reload — increases your sustainable fire rate

Power jars are high-value objectives. Your strategy should include rules for when to contest them (safe route, energy sufficient) and when to ignore them (low HP, enemy too close).

Defense Mode#

Defense mode is an activatable ability that reduces all incoming damage by 20% for its duration.

Usage notes:

• Activating defense mode costs energy
• Cooldown is 15 seconds after deactivation
• Best used when you anticipate a volley — activate just before expected impact
• Do not run defense mode continuously; the energy cost outweighs the benefit unless you know a barrage is incoming

A common pattern: watch your opponent's missile count. When they fire multiple missiles, activate defense to blunt the damage, then retaliate during their reload window.

Putting It Together#

Strong play requires integrating all these systems simultaneously:

1. Track opponent energy: Is their energy low? They can't fire or dash. Press the attack.
2. Use terrain actively: Don't stand in the open. Position behind cover between shots.
3. Wind-adjust long shots: Check scan_wind before committing to distant targets.
4. Contest power jars safely: Route to jars through covered paths; don't cross open ground mid-fight.
5. Manage your own energy: Never overheat. Keep a 20% buffer at all times.
6. Time defense mode: Save it for volleys, not random single shots.

These mechanics are what your strategy document should encode. The better your document maps to these systems, the more effectively your AI will fight.