Naryar's DSL tips

What you should know

• DSL is made and supposed to be realistic. DSL tournaments use the realistic rule (no stacking, no overlapping). And you risk being criticized if you showcase unrealistic DSL bots.

• Several motors are more suited for drive. These are Copals, Astroflights, Slimbodies, Drive magmotors (including TWM3's), NPCs (all of them) and drive E-teks.

• In DSL 2.1, all weapons are balanced, unlike Stock. DP is how powerful the weapon is, and hitpoints is how tough the weapon is. Choose what is appropriate: do you want your bot to be more damaging or more defensive ?

What you shouldn't do

• Using DSA. Even 1mm Plastic is better. Keep DSA for Stock.

• Empty space. Same applies for Stock.

• Using weapon motors for drive.

• Classic tribars aren't that effective in DSL. If you want to use a tribar, take the Whyachi one.

What you should do

• For VS or HS, using few durable weapons is better than using many weak weapons, because if you lose even one small weapon you will start to Mauler dance. This can be applied to other bots, but not Hammers or Popups.

• Look for the total output of your bot (add all the amps provided by batteries) and the total output (add all the amps drained for motors). You can generally underpower slightly (output being superior to input) your bot, but not if it uses burst motors and not more than 50%.

• Wedges are a good idea on most bots. You may use any wedge you mant, but some wedges are better than others - just experiment.

• Currently, wheels are unbalanced. If you need a fast bot, use the grippy wheels you can (basically, Tornado, Vladiator, Techno Destructo, Wheely Big Cheese, Hypnodisc and Overkill ones). Grippy wheels make your bot faster and don't consume any more energy.

• External defense is generally better than heavy chassis armor.

Last thing

As you can see, DSL provides for WAY more building variety and less restrictions than Stock, and you can build good bots with your own personal building style, but unlike Stock you have nearly no tutorials.

Just build, try and gain experience. You'll be a decent (or even good) DSL builder quickly.