Sawbot

Sawbots are basically spinners.

But contrarily to classical HS/VS or drums that features bars/discs/tribars, a sawbot's weapon is just (as the name implies) a saw or circular weapon (single component) attached to a motor. Middleweight and especially heavyweights can have multiple saws.

Ninja, BOT-204 (and their DSL counterparts) and Spinner from the West are sawbots, but Ripblade isn't one because it has teeth on a disc, and this applies to both DSL and Stock.

Sawbots doesn't carry as much as kinetic energy as other spinners, so they do less damage per hit than classical bar/disc spinners and have generally more fragile weapons, but they do continuous damage, have lighter weapons, and their weapons can't generally be stopped . Also, if it loses one of it's saws, a sawbot won't wobble like a normal spinner would.

Stock

Forget about building a sawbot in Stock.

Sawbots absolutely suck in Stock RA2. First they do low damage, second their weapons can be knocked off very easily. See Spinner from the West.

DSL

If built well, a sawbot can be a fearsome opponent.

Generally, vertical sawbots are better than horizontal ones - but it's a matter of taste, you should try building both and feel the difference.

Your sawbot can be either damage-orientated (use classic sawblades or Backlash discs) or strength-orientated (best choice is WhirlWep discs but you can also use chewblade saws). Damage-orientated sawbots are extremely powerful but have vulnerable weapons, and vice versa for strength-orientated ones.

As all the saw-like components are all lighter than 50 kg, you shouldn't use very powerful motors. A Perm 132 is too much excepted for the REALLY heavy saw designs, like two heavy replica discs or many chewblades in a drumlike design.

A TWM3R is a good choice for any classic sawblade, but for heavier discs like the replica discs you'd be better off with stronger motors, especially since the disc CAN be stopped if the disc isn't perfectly circular (toothed weapon) or if the motor is really too weak for the weapon.

PROS:

• Damage is constant. The sawbot will accumulate points as long as the blade is in contact with the opponents chassis.
• Blade is very difficult to stop when it contacts, much like a grinding drum weapon. A normal sawblade is impossible to stop.
• Blades are only one piece, so bot doesn't spin out of control when it breaks off the bot.
• Great gut-rippers

CONS:

• Weapons are fragile. Very.
• Can't punt the opponent like VS do
• Self-righting is tricky