Three years after its initial release, A Robot Named Fight! has implemented tons of new features for players to enjoy. From shrines to traversal items, there is a lot waiting for new players to discover in this indie roguelike adventure. Don’t let the Megabeast win! Make sure you’re properly prepared to take down the meat threat with this beginners guide to fighting in A Robot Named Fight!.
This guide will cover most of the basic necessities to starting out with the game, including detailed explanations of what to expect and what’s included. Various secrets hidden within the game will not be covered here, as this is more for first-time players. Don’t let this stop you from reading if you have yet to dive into the new update, though; there could be new material that has yet to be uncovered!
For a more general overview, be sure to read our (albeit old) A Robot Named Fight! review. If you’re all caught up, be sure to also check out the Boss guide.
Achievements
Look at all of those nifty badges!
We’ve barely made it into the article and already I bring up achievements? Indeed, as they serve a crucial role in one’s experience playing this game. It’s one thing to travel through an entire map in one life with a base set of items, but where’s the replayability in that? The more you uncover, the more you can earn! As you play through your first few runs, you’ll trigger achievements that expand the game’s item list for you to discover in subsequent runs. Not all are clear-cut, but by checking the achievement list, you can go into runs with the purpose of unlocking as much as you can for the future.
Something to note is that with three years’ worth of development and updates, there is quite a bit to unlock. One will likely have to spend a considerable amount of time trying to uncover everything. Don’t stress the fine print too much if that isn’t your preferred play style. Many achievements tend to come naturally, so try to have fun with whatever intention!
Revenant Stations
Safe within my little capsule.
Roguelikes can be pretty hard. Expecting a player to go through an entire journey without dying once can be daunting, especially with a game one’s playing for the first time. In A Robot Named Fight!, beginners are actually encouraged to die for the first time—doing so unlocks Revenant Stations.
These convenient tubes serve as save points for Fight Smith’s journey through each run. Players can encounter up to three for normal runs in each area following the first. These stations ensure that if the player dies at any point during the run, they will be transported back and escape the horrid fate of starting over completely. However, be warned that these are one-time revivals. Should you die twice after accessing only one Revenant Station, you will end up having to restart your run. These stations also don’t fully restore your health or move from their current location. Should you die in one area past the place where the station was accessed, you’ll have to fight your way back to where you were.
Traversing the Map
That’s a big map.
Now that I’ve (hopefully) inspired confidence in giving the game a try through mercy tactics, I’ll discuss the journey through each run. With every new game, one will be required to journey through four separate areas, all connected together in a specific order. The first, second, and third areas have a random chance to be one of two different settings (upon unlocking them), while the fourth area is always the same (for now). Seeing as this is a roguelike, everything about the map, its inhabitants, its item drops, and whatever else are entirely randomized for each run. It is almost impossible to play the same run twice.
As A Robot Named Fight! is heavily inspired by Super Metroid and other titles within the Metroidvania genre, the gameplay style is very similar. One must shoot their way through doors which lead them to individual rooms full of goodies and baddies. Platforming skills are also good to have throughout the adventure.
On average, each area should take roughly the same amount of time to traverse outside the first one, as it’s normally the least spacious. However, the randomized aspect changes this from time to time, so going through a complete run blind would take roughly an hour in time, perhaps a little more.
Of the settings available, the Forest Slums, Coolant Sewers, and Crystal Mines are alternates to areas 1, 2, and 3, respectively, that need to be unlocked before they can appear. These settings are a tad more complex than their counterparts, as they were all added in subsequent updates past the original release date.
Pickups
Hearts and scrap and… what is that blue thing?
Probably the most basic aspect of this beginners guide, pickups in A Robot Named Fight! are almost self-explanatory. When you fight baddies in every room, destroying them provides a chance to have them drop items beneficial to the player. These come in the form of green hearts (health), yellow circles (energy; not pictured), scrap, and as of this latest update, temporary stat boosts. Each has a use to the player, whether for survival or trade-in purposes.
Ignoring health, as that is fairly obvious, the three other pickups include energy, scrap, and temporary stat boosts. The first is used for a variety of things, whether using energy weapons or sub-items. While not always essential, near the end of one’s run they will likely have enough in their arsenal where maintaining a good amount of energy will be beneficial, if not necessary. And unlike health, energy automatically regenerates slowly over time. The second, scrap, is used to haggle with allies to purchase additional items or to donate to shrines for fight benefits. One is capped to 99 scrap at any one time, but filling it up is not terribly time-consuming.
Finally, temporary stat boosts are new to the game’s most recent update, at least in terms of being droppable items. When defeating a champion, there is a very high chance that they will drop colored icons that, when collected, will boost the player’s individual stats for a few minutes. Players can collect more than one at a given time, meaning they can be temporarily boosted in multiple different skills at one time. These boosts can also be stacked if you encounter more of the same type of stat boosts, and the timer will also reset back to full length. Very nifty! Wait, what was that about champions?
Champions
One of these floaty bros are not like the others.
As you make your way through the run, you’ll likely encounter many champion-type enemies. These are advanced version of standard enemy types, many of which can be identified by a blue color. They’re a little harder to defeat than their normal counterparts, but the rewards are worth taking them out whenever possible.
Destroying champions can provide the player with temporary stat boosts and very occasionally colored scrap, which can be used for a variety of things. Many different enemy types can receive champion alternates; far more than in the past, anyway. Be warned, however, that if you see a champion and don’t defeat it before leaving the room, re-entering the room will (usually) revert it back to normal. Like with the random nature of the game, the appearance of a champion is entirely by chance.
Traversal Items
That thing looks pretty nifty! (Spoiler: It is.)
Traversal items are among the most important upgrades to your arsenal in any run in A Robot Named Fight!. These items enable you to progress further into each setting, as well as further into other settings. These items can range from “shells” (suits) that allow you to traverse dark rooms to weapons that allow you to open meat-shielded doorways. Not only do they give you fighting benefits, they make general navigation much easier.
In each run, one will encounter seven traversal items—one in the first area, and two in each subsequent area. Outside the first, each area has a specific condition, where as the first traversal item allows you to fight the boss of the current area, while the second allows one’s traversal into the next area. Although, all traversal items are not created equally, as some will be very handy against enemies while others are simply situational.
Upgrade Modules
Hey! That was in the blue circle in the other image!
Let’s talk about stats! Those coming this far with no context may be wonder what kind of stats one can even temporarily boost in A Robot Named Fight!. I’m here to tell you exactly how many: six. They are as follows:
- Health – How much health you have.
- Energy – How much energy you have.
- Damage – How powerful your shots are.
- Rate of Fire – How quickly you can shoot.
- Speed – How quickly you can move.
- Shot Speed – How fast your shots travel across the screen, as well as determining the range of various energy weapons.
Each attribute can be improved upon collecting one of these upgrade modules found throughout the run. While there is technically a cap to these stats, trying to reach it would take a very long time—being able to try would also take very specific conditions. For beginners, outside of traversal items and standard items, upgrade modules are also counted towards the total number of items found within a single run. By the end, it’s likely one will be much improved from their starting form.
Upgrade modules, as well as colored scrap, are usually hidden within the environment of individual rooms, necessitating the player to shoot specific spots to uncover them. Worry not though, as the map will mark these modules on the map with a big circle, signaling that there’s something hiding within.
Colored Scrap
It looks like a little robo-bug.
Like with upgrade modules, colored scrap are typically found within environments by shooting at certain spots to reveal them. Unlike upgrade modules, you can also find them by defeating champions (though rarely). Colored scrap are essentially more valuable scrap items which the player can use for a variety of things. Donate to shrines, buy some stuff through allies, or upgrade a certain Artifice Helm item.
These special scrap come in three different kinds: red, blue, and green. Their color doesn’t have any significance on their own, but allies will ask for certain color types for certain items, so it’s best to try and find (and hoard) all types until that point. Also like upgrade modules, they count towards the total number of items one can find within a single run.
Standard Items
Aura Bolts are very useful items that I think are very good.
Aside from traversal items, other useful gadgets will occasionally appear during one’s time with A Robot Named Fight!. Also like traversal items, there are a large collection of things that can be added to one’s inventory, whether weapon upgrades, suit upgrades, or helmets. This is essentially the bread and butter of the game, and the randomized goodies that many look forward to.
Standard items can appear randomly in individual rooms like prizes, but can otherwise be purchased through allies or granted from shrines. They, too, count towards the total number of items one can get in one run. And in the most recent update, specific items that would be useless later in the game, such as maps for former areas or the Chrome Dome, will no longer appear in the later stages of the game. No more nasty tricks!
One’s number of standard items, like upgrade modules, is technically limited, though getting there is next to impossible. This ensures that if one perseveres enough through shrines and champion farming, they can be absolutely loaded in items by the end of the run. Fight would become little less than a destructive god.
Sub-items
This sub-item is a reference.
Technically, sub-items are like standard items, as they count towards the overall item count and upgrade Fight’s abilities. I decided to differentiate them simply because they are used in a different capacity. Shown in the bottom-left corner of the screen, sub-items generally come in the form of weapons, stat-boosting auras, or reality-bending gizmos. It takes a specific button to use them, and just about all sub-items require energy.
To speak personally for a spell, sub-items are oft-ignored utensils to Fight’s arsenal for me. Generally speaking, sub-items are more situational than other items, and I can count the number of sub-items on my fingers that I would be glad to get. That said, if you stumble upon the Celestial Charge sub-item, you use that and you do not look back. That is some seriously OP material.
Allies
Mega Attack, huh? Yeah, that sounds good.
Do you enjoy shopping? Allies are the place to go for all of your spending needs! If you take anything away from this beginners guide, it’s that allies are truly your best friends in A Robot Named Fight!.
Standard runs will see four different allies to encounter, each with specific items suited to their type. The Gun Smith (shown above) likes weapons; the Artificer likes general item upgrades; the Orb Smith likes orb-based items; the Traitor has completely random stuff (which you cannot see when purchasing). Every ally outside the Traitor, who will always appear in area 4, will be randomly placed in either areas 2 or 3. Two allies will always appear in either areas 2 or 3, even if on the very edge of them.
With all the regular and colored scrap you’ve accumulated through your run, these robotic allies will provide items that will help you along the way. Should you not have enough of any specific scrap, they will sit tight and wait for your return. Each ally only has three items to sell per run, however, so once you’ve bought them all, they’ve got nothing left for you.
Well, you could always talk to them, a feature introduced in the latest update. It’s not totally necessary to, and the most beginners would get out of it would be hints towards hidden secrets. Veterans would only be subject to the developer’s taste in humor. For example, one ally makes a “69” joke. Nice.
Shrines
Please excuse the wet atmosphere. I am currently underwater.
One could also consider shrines to be their best friends, but they occasionally hurt you, so maybe not. Shrines are useful in that by donating a certain number of scrap/colored scrap, they can reward you with a large assortment of benefits. Six shrines are possible to encounter within A Robot Named Fight!, with four (I believe) being possible for each run. Which ones you get is completely random, and like the allies, each has a set preference.
They are also the most complex things in the game, so strap in.
Each shrine is assigned with a holy number: 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9. What this holy number is (based on a polygon image when interacting with the shrine) will determine how you can reap the rewards effectively. Say you encounter Buluc Chabtan, shown above. His holy number is 8, so your number of donated scrap should be a number divisible by 8. If you give him 24 scrap, he will reward you with a temporary boost in rate of fire. If you give him 8 scrap and a colored scrap, he will reward you with a permanent increase in rate of fire. But if you give him, say, 5 scrap, he may either do nothing or, worse, curse you.
Each shrine works in the same fashion. Provide them a scrap donation divisible by their holy number and they will reward you. If not, there may be consequences. However, there are also certain distinctions to what you give them in terms of scrap and colored scrap. Going back to Buluc, if you give him 8 scrap and 3 colored scrap of any color, he will provide three permanent boosts to your rate of fire. If you have enough to keep going, you can repeat this process twice more. Had you hoarded all of your colored scrap, you can get a total of 9 permanent boosts to a certain attribute, which is awesome. Shrines will no longer be accessible after three donations… unless you have a certain sub-item.
If that weren’t enough, shrines can also provide you with random items. What if you didn’t want permanent boosts to your attributes and instead wanted to roll for items? That’s possible, though at the potential cost of a lot more scrap. Continuing with Buluc, should you give him 24 scrap and any colored scrap, he will reward you with a specific item among a list of pre-determined items. So long as you provide the number of scrap in line with their holy number multiplied by two or more, this should always occur. Though I wouldn’t advise donating more than one colored scrap with it. Each shrine can provide you with other items not generally possible with others, so experimentation is key.
For a more in-depth look at what each shrine can provide, feel free to check the ARNF Wiki.
Teleportation Rooms
Look, Ma! No hands!
Given the map you will be traveling through is large enough to last an hour, wouldn’t it be nice to have some shortcuts? The developer thought the same, so he added teleportation rooms to each area outside the first. Simply by accessing the room, the teleportation spot registers and, when encountering another, one can teleport between them. Sounds simple, right? That’s because it is… what? There’s no catch.
One can teleport between areas as much as they want, though where the rooms appear in each setting is completely random, like most of the game. Sometimes the rooms are relatively far, sometimes pretty close. The latter scenario isn’t ideal, but it happens.
Trade Shrines
A soul for a soul.
Now these nifty contraptions are new to A Robot Named Fight!, appearing with the newest update. Their purpose is pretty clear-cut: you give it one thing, it gives you another. Shown in the image above, it offers a health module in return for a speed module. Therefore, you get a little more HP, but lose a little speed. It’s up to your play style to decide whether this was worth it (it totally is).
From the runs I’ve done so far, it seems these shrines appear once in every area past the first, and sometimes more than once. What can be traded seems restricted to modules and colored scrap. Some shrines won’t even tell you what you’ll receive by trading, simply showcasing a big question mark. I suppose the thrill of gambling is strong in this game.
Oh, and once you accept the trade, it can’t be undone. Probably good to note.
Bosses
I’M READY.
Once per area, a boss lies in wait for you to enter its room. There are tons of bosses to encounter throughout one’s run; as expected, which one is totally random. For your first few runs, you’ll encounter only bosses present from the base game, which includes a total of 13. Area 1 will randomly select one of four bosses, while the other three areas will have one of three choices. Needless to say, there is a lot to uncover.
In each case outside area 1, the boss serves as the test before receiving the next traversal item. And one can only access the boss after collecting one traversal item from the area, in all cases. Once there, it’s pretty self-explanatory: kill the thing or be killed.
One thing to note for those a little further in, the bosses present in the new areas are a bit tougher than in previous areas. Each newer area features a little overlap in terms of boss type, but they all include new bosses that take a little more skill to defeat. And as general game logic dictates, each boss tends to get a little harder as the areas progress, up until…
The Megabeast
MAYBE I’M NOT READY.
This big whopper of a boss is the threat to the story behind A Robot Named Fight!. The final test in your first run, this hulking behemoth will throw tons of stuff at you at once, so be prepared. An amalgamation of all the stuff you’ve encountered on your trek there, the Megabeast will use its near limitless utensils to its advantage.
The Megabeast will have many different “pockets” of flesh to attack in its outer layer. Depending on one’s weaponry, some places will not be accessible immediately, at least until you destroy other portions. Its health will be a sizeable combination of all of its outer flesh, so the more you take out, the closer it will be to death. Destroying individual pockets will also prevent the Megabeast from attacking with those spots.
For beginners, the most I can say with this guide is to try and clear away everything in your path. Enemies will rain down and attack—destroy them if they get too pesky. A long battle of attrition is how this will unfold, so keep the path clear and your gun pointed upward. And hopefully you took advantage of allies and shrines prior to combat.
That will just about do it! Is there anything about this A Robot Named Fight! beginners guide that seems unclear, unfinished? Let us know in the comments below!
A Robot Named Fight! can be purchased via Steam and Nintendo Switch.
