As Ves recently designed the Doom Guard, he knew quite a lot about striker chs.
Even after he temporarily lost access to his cranial implant, the mories were still fresh in his mind. He possessed a good understanding of the design choices he needed to make.
Of course, the Doom Guard was a spaceborn ch while his competition ch would be a landbound ch, so there were plenty of differences.
Still, the overall frawork remained the sa. Striker chs were slow but tough machines that served a defensive function. Their armant always consisted of ranged weapons with a wide area of effect but also limited range and punch.
This was because they were mainly designed to take out fast, lightly-armored chs. These light skirmishers and the like often proved to be the bane of traditional ranged chs such as rifleman chs or artillery chs.
Striker chs were the exception to this rule. Their weapons didn't require pinpoint accuracy to hit an elusive light ch. They just had to point their weapon in the general direction of an agile machine and pull the trigger. Even if their aim was off, the billowing flas or expanding shotgun pellets would more than likely not hit the target anyway!
Obviously, this paradigm did not apply to this design duel.
Both would be fielding defensive chs that wouldn't be zipping around the arena as if they were mice.
Instead, they would face each other off in the most brutal and direct fashion possible!
"This will co down to a battle of attrition." Ves murmured. "With such a low budget, both Jovy and I can forget about designing a mobile striker ch. We will both have clad our chs with lots of cheap armor plating and arm them with weapons that are expressly designed to chew through armor!"
No matter how strange Jovy's design philosophy sounded, Ves doubted that the MTA ch designer could overco the hard limitations of the striker ch type.
He began to envision all kinds of chs and battle scenarios.
With two viable weapon types, Ves had to take four basic scenarios into account.
If Ves and Jovy both opted for flathrowers, then the resulting battle basically amounted to which ch could endure the heat the longest!
If both of their chs were ard with shotguns, then the battle would turn into a slugging match.
If Ves and Jovy opted for different weapons, then the results would beco a lot more interesting.
In reality, Ves had to take way more scenarios into account than just these four. This was because there was a considerable amount of leeway in the design of their chs.
As long as either of them were creative enough, they could definitely co up with sothing unconventional that stretched the limits of the tools at their disposal!
This was what made design duels exciting and unpredictable.
Ves did not have much ti to make a choice. Ti was running out and the design phase would soon comnce.
With minutes to go, Ves wanted to co up with a viable vision right away.
"I think I'll go with flathrowers." He said. "I've never worked with shotguns and while I'm confident that I can handle this simple weapon system, it's best to stick to familiar territory."
His knowledge base was also very suited to design chs that handled heat and energy. He recently acquired relevant Sub-Skills such as Heat-Resistant Materials I, which would co in very handy in managing the heat levels of his design!
Ves figured that flathrowers were also ultimately more suited to take down an armored ch.
The issue with shotguns was that they inflicted dispersed damage. With the dueling rules prohibiting the use of slugs or other armor-piercing projectiles, Ves could only make do with a tight spread of small-sized pellets.
Certainly, as long as the shotgun weapon system was strong enough, it could still chew through armor plating.
The problem was that the shotgun wielder needed to attack the sa section continuously. Even if the opponent was a sluggish striker ch, it would never stand around and make it easy to pile up the damage on a specific part!
With a flathrower, a striker ch could beat another striker ch by cooking it. Even if the flas weren't potent enough to lt the armor plating, the heat transferred to the tal had to go sowhere!
Usually, the heat applied to the armor plating bled through the internals of the ch. Unlike solid alloy, delicate internal components were much less capable of resisting excessive thermal energy!
Therefore, a duel between two flathrower-wielding chs usually ended when one of them spontaneously shut down because too many of its internals simply worked no more.
The biggest question Ves faced right now was whether Jovy chose to arm his striker ch with a flathrower as well.
This wasn't a transparent design duel. Jovy had already been moved to another part of the workshop that was closed off from his current location. This ant that Ves had to make a very difficult design choice.
Should he design his striker ch to withstand thermal attacks, ballistic attacks or both?
The conventional answer should be to design his ch to cope with both possibilities. This was the standard answer and one that applied to most conventional striker ch designs.
His Doom Guard for example incorporated a premium armor system that offered a lot of resistance against laser beams, ballistic shells, kinetic rounds, lee impacts and so on. No matter what kind of weapon it faced, his Doom Guard easily endured the punishnt!
Sadly, the sa did not apply to the current design duel. The budget of the Doom Guard was around 2.5 tis greater than the budget of his competition ch!
With the Doom Guard, Ves had the luxury of incorporating a decent, all-round armor system that provided adequate protection against any damage type.
With the paltry budget he was currently working with, his competition ch could never offer adequate protection against both physical damage and thermal damage.
Perhaps the only relief was that Jovy faced the exact sa situation.
"You should opt for a balanced armor system." Gloriana suggested. "It's the most likely choice and one that minimizes risk. Sure, you won't win out, but you won't lose out either. Your opponent will likely make the sa choice as well."
Ves shook his head. "I disagree. Since I've decided to arm my ch with a flathrower, my ch won't gain an inherent advantage against Jovy's ch if both of us pursue this strategy. However, I'm in big trouble if he fields a ch that is specifically designed to resist heat."
"These are what ifs, Ves. You'll keep going around in circles if you obsess over these possibilities."
She was right, but Ves had a different view on the matter.
"Jovy's specialization is probability manipulation." He said. "While I'm not sure what he can do, I can make a few guesses. One of them is that he's probably pretty lucky!"
His girlfriend frowned. "What do you an by that?"
"Let's say he flips a coin. Mathematically, there is a 50 percent chance of winning. But what if that isn't the case with Jovy? What if.. he can manipulate his luck so that he has a 60 percent chance of winning? What if he can manipulate my luck so that I have a 40 percent of winning?"
This was a dreadful power if that was the case!
"That's ridiculous, Ves! Math is math! Probability is probability! Sure, so improbable flukes might happen if you flip the coin several tis. However, the longer it goes on, the more the outcos will even out and match the theoretical probabilities."
That was the law of large numbers in a nutshell. You could get lucky once, twice or thrice, but it was impossible for soone to get lucky 1,000 tis in a row!
"The issue here is that Jovy doesn't have to flip the coin so many tis. Two is enough!" Ves retorted. "He needs one flip to determine the correct weapon type and another flip to choose the right armor system! If he gets lucky twice, he will win the duel before our chs have even entered the arena!"
Jovy truly vexed his opponents with his vague and mysterious design philosophy.
Ves began to feel what it was like to stand in the shoes of his competitors when they beca confused what taphysical man-machine symbiosis actually ant.
"It's finally ti for you to get a taste of your own dicine." She quipped.
When it ca to luck, Ves wasn't sure how he fared. In fact, he didn't really believe this concept even existed. It might be that he had completely mischaracterized Jovy's design philosophy.
However, he didn't dare to rule out this option. Even if Jovy's specialty applied to chs in a much more mundane fashion, manipulating luck might be one of his 'superpowers'!
Every ch designer seed to develop so sort of ability related to their specialization. Ves was able to communicate with all forms of life. Gloriana possessed a very keen eye for flaws. Ketis could make her blades sharper.
As for Jovy… who knew.
With so many difficult choices to take into account, Ves felt as if he was stuck at a crossroads!
Which of the roads led to glory and which of them led to his doom?
"Maybe I should take advantage of my own design philosophy." He muttered. "If Jovy can abuse his superpower to his advantage, then so should I!"
Knowing that Master Willix likely kept a very close eye on him, Ves had never shed his crazy hat. He still wore it, and right now it induced him to kneel onto the floor and clasp his hands.
He concentrated his mind.
"Prophet Ylvaine, please enlighten . What design choices should I make?"
Though he made contact with Ylvaine's spiritual fragnt, it didn't really answer his prayer. The fragnt rely replied with a muddled impression before cutting off the contact!
Though vague, Ves understood the answer. Ylvaine basically told him that predictions couldn't be made on demand! It was pointless to co to Ylvaine in order to ask the winning numbers of a lottery!
Ves felt the urge to vomit. Was this the best that the Great Prophet could do? Where was its vaunted prediction ability? For all of the hype surrounding Prophet Ylvaine, it turned out that his spiritual fragnt could only catch uncontrolled glimpses!
Why the hell couldn't this design spirit tell him what Jovy had in mind?!
He sighed. It was just a fragnt after all.
His expression hardened. "I can go round and round in circles, or I can just make a choice."
Ves decided to turn to his heart. What kind of striker ch did he wish to design?
He already knew the answer. Ves wanted to design a ch that practically embodied heat! He wanted to design a ch that not only spewed out copious amounts of heat, but also bathed in it! This was the competition ch that his heart yearned to design!
"I've made my choice." He stated.
His intuition wasn't very helpful in these circumstances. He had no choice but to go in blind and hope that Jovy did not co up with a shotgun-wielding ch clad with heat-resistant armor.
Now that he had passed this hurdle, it was ti for him to formulate a vision.
"I already have sothing in mind." He grinned.
He wanted to design a ch that revelled in heat! No matter what kind of probability shenanigans that Jovy's ch employed, as long as the battle devolved into a contest of heat, Ves did not think his ch would lose out!
That said, Ves needed to add so extra oomph to his competition ch. His strength had always been his glows.
He needed to add the right one to his ch!
The next question he faced was whether he should incorporate a design spirit or hold himself back by employing a weaker image.
Ves had no illusions that this design duel presented an opportunity for Master Willix to see him in action in a serious setting. He might expose sothing he didn't want to if he made too much use of his specialty!
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