Sit & Spinner

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Real Life Examples: Gold Digger, Mjölnir, Spaz, Flexo

Game Examples: Arc Pounder, Tailwhip

A sit and spinner (often shortened to SnS) is a bot that relies on it's drive to spin on itself, therefore putting it's weapons in movement, and wait for the other opponent to ram it, hopefully deflecting the opponent off-course and avoiding pinning, as well as inflicting damage. They often have more than one heavy weapon head (Pillar of Fire, Haymaker), or plenty of weapons attached to the chassis (Jupiter).

There are several subtypes of SnS.

Thwacker

Thwackers are simply SnS with only one head of weapons. Arc Pounder is a good example. They often have more weapons than a regular SnS would, but have more difficulty sweeping other robots away.

Trinity Thwacker

Similar to a thwacker, but has its weapons on long pneumatic piston. It uses the Trinity Glitch increase the thwacker's range and damage.

A good example of this design, built by Clickbeetle:

File:Emp23xk.gif

Sweeps robots away more easily than a Thwacker, but weight must be used on the piston.

Flail SnS

The most common type of SnS built in DSL today, these tend to use flails and razors to improve damage, resiliency and sweeping potential, but as a result they tend to be more havok-prone and more vulnerable to piercing weapons. It's also possible to build a very effective Flail SnS in stock, although few builders have done so.

Trinity SnS

Trinity SnS are to stock as flail SnS are to DSL. Likely one of the most common type of SnS built in Stock today. Trinity SnS use pneumatic pistons rather than long extenders. When you have reached maximum spin speed, fire the pistons.

You can now rest and watch the mayhem. The bot will continue spinning even if you let loose of the controls, it will even spin faster with the piston's axles going out of their body, allowing for more reach and more speed. The damage at this point is particularly impressive, but you can't control your bot at all - it will keep sit-and-spinning whatever you do.

The only thing that can make a Trinity SnS stop spinning is if you press your controls opposite to the direction the SnS is spinning. This makes it less controllable than a Trinity Thwacker. They also have less weapons because of the pistons weight.

SnSnS

Another very commonly built SnS type in Stock and DSL alike. These are essentially HS that act as a SnS. Any motor is acceptable, but obviously faster motors preform the best at sweeping opponents away. Suffer the same problems as a trinity SnS (weight spent on motors, lowered weapon count), along with the need for more battery power to support the extra motors. However, the time needed to spin up is reduced, meaning better performance against wedged robots. Good examples of this robot type include the V4 version of Whirlpool, and in DSL, Epicycle.

Pros&Cons

PROS:

  • Generally high damage.
  • Powerful drive, though how fast it drives depends of how you AI it
  • Simple design, just like rammers: most of the weight can be used on drive or weapons.
  • Good sweeping potential.

CONS:

  • Tends to be unstable (mainly Trinity SnS).
  • Fragile if not directly attacking the weapons
  • Tends to drive towards the opponent very slowly, if at all. Can get immobilized more easily than other types.
  • Highly dependent on drive.
  • Sometimes vulnerable to gut-ripping tactics.
  • No opponent control ability to speak of, apart from sweeping