Robots

“

I am ready to fight robots. Click to listen — The Heavy

”

Gray Mann's mechanical army. Pictured here from left to right are robot Demomen, Soldiers, Pyros, Medics, Heavies, Snipers, Scouts, and Spies.

Robots are the enemies fought in Mann vs. Machine, during missions. They were created by Gray Mann in order to destroy Mann Co. and everything they created.

Gameplay

Regular robots function nearly identically to the players, being operated by bots, whilst special robots exist that use non-Stock weapons, and other forms of robots exist with abilities and directives that no class normally possesses. Unlike players, robots can notably be sapped, temporarily disabling them often in groups, or in the case of giant robots, slowing them. As noted by Miss Pauling, they run on money, and they drop it when destroyed, allowing players to use that money to upgrade their weapons or buy a Power Up Canteen. Robots follow a set path to the bomb hole, marked by glowing blue arrows before each wave, though they may stray off that path if the bomb carrier is pushed away or to pursue a player. Robots will occasionally taunt after killing a player, and the bomb carrier will always taunt to receive its buff. Robots have an infinite supply of ammo and do not drop their weapons as pickups on death.

One robot per wave will enter the field armed with a bomb. The primary directive of the robots is to transport this bomb to the hatch at the end of the map, and the Defenders must stop them. After the bomb is dropped, another robot can pick it up. Any robot can carry the bomb, excluding the Sentry Buster and the Tank (although the Tank carries a separate bomb). Spies and Snipers won't actively try to pick up the bomb, but will if forced on to it via knockback. Carrying a bomb will slow a robot to about half speed, except Giant Robots. After all robots in a wave are killed, the wave is completed, while if the bomb is transported to the hatch and detonated, the wave is lost.

Robots have rudimentary behaviour. Their main objective is to either pick up the bomb and follow the preset path to the bomb hatch, or escort whichever robot is already doing so. On the whole, they do not take alternate routes to the bomb unless the sub-wave is programmed to flank, or the bomb has been dropped in a location off the main path. Robots generally do not care about destroying Dispensers and Teleporters if they are not in the way. They are also completely oblivious to cloaked and disguised Spies: they ignore flickering cloaks, collisions with "teammates", uncloaking noises, and possible Dead Ringers. They can detect if a nearby teammate has been backstabbed, but not with regularity. They do however always notice when a Spy is on fire.

Robots receive certain buffs after a period of time carrying the bomb, with new buffs stacking with the previous ones. A graphic on the HUD indicates which stage the bomb carrier is on and how long until it receives the next buff. Upon receiving a buff, the robot carrying the bomb will taunt with an accompanying sound cue, and surrounding robots will halt to wait for the carrier. The defending team can and should use this as a window of opportunity to kill the bomb carrier, especially if the robot is getting the third upgrade. These buffs will not occur if the bomb carrier is a Giant, though the HUD graphic shows a full meter.

Stages	Upgrades
First stage	Defensive buff, shared with all nearby robots
Second stage	Health regeneration
Final stage	Full crits all the time

Robots are all designed off of each of the mercenaries employed under Blutarch and Redmond Mann, excluding the Engineer, and share their basic abilities. Regular robots are equipped with the stock loadout of the classes. Über Medics are not noted as regular robots, despite the fact that they use their Stock weapons.

Machine	Equipped with	Abilities/Notes	Health
Scout	Scattergun Bonk! Atomic Punch Bat	Runs faster than other robots (133% speed). Attacks in groups. Can use Bat or Scattergun, but only one. Cannot switch weapons. On more advanced missions Scouts with Bonk! Atomic Punch will appear.	125
Soldier	Rocket Launcher	Can fire rockets. Runs slower than the majority of robots (80% speed). Attacks in groups.	200
Pyro	Flame Thrower	Uses Flame Thrower to attack up close. Can deal afterburn damage with flames that have made contact with players. Can airblast rockets back at players, including Sentry Gun rockets.	175
Demoman	Grenade Launcher	Uses Grenade Launcher to kill multiple enemies from a distance. Runs slightly slower than other robots (93% speed).	175
Heavy	Minigun	Uses Minigun to deal large amount of damage to nearby players. Runs slower than all robots (77% speed).	300
Sniper	Sniper Rifle Kukri	Uses Sniper Rifle to deal damage which deal a large amount of damage and possibly an instant kill, to players. Uses Kukri to deal damage to nearby players. Sniper Rifle emits a laser to give away the Sniper's position. Support role only. A notification is always shown when a Sniper enters the map.	125
Spy	Revolver Sapper Knife Disguise Kit Invisibility Watch	Spawns from the players' side of the map. Disguises as players to fool them. Backstabs players from behind, usually while disguised. Cloaks with the Invisibility Watch to avoid detection. Saps Engineer buildings with the Sapper. Uses the Revolver to shoot at players when discovered. Support role only. A notification is always shown when a Spy enters the map, and its entrance is announced by the Administrator. Killing one results in being notified of how many Spies are left.	125

Special Robots

A number of Special Robots also exist, which each possess unique abilities belonging to unlockable weapons rather than the Stock weapons that most robots use and have a customized name. Each special robot also has the advantages and disadvantages of the original classes it is based off of, unless noted.

Machine	Based on	Equipped with	Abilities/Notes	Health
Minor League Scout	Scout	Sandman Batter's Helmet	Uses baseballs to temporarily stun players.	125
Buff Soldier	Soldier	Buff Banner	Will start with full rage and buff immediately.	200
Demoknight	Demoman	Eyelander Chargin' Targe	Can cover large distances very quickly by charging. Has longer melee range. Upon killing, receives 3 seconds of guaranteed critical hits.	175
Steel Gauntlet	Heavy	Fists of Steel	Resistant to ranged damage. Weak to melee damage. Attacks only with melee.	900
Heavyweight Champ		Killing Gloves of Boxing Pugilist's Protector	Upon killing, receives 5 seconds of guaranteed critical hits. Attacks in groups. Attacks only with melee.	300
		Gloves of Running Urgently Pugilist's Protector	Runs faster than other Heavy robots, at 99.67% speed. All damage taken is in the form of mini-crits. Attacks alongside Heavyweight Champs, in smaller quantities. Attacks only with melee.
Heavy Mittens		Holiday Punch	Runs faster than other Heavy robots, at 100.1% speed. Attacks alongside Heavyweight Champs, in smaller quantities. Permanently critboosted, forcing players to laugh helplessly on a hit. Attacks only with melee.	60
Quick-Fix Medic	Medic	Quick-Fix Syringe Gun	Heals other robots. Heals quicker than with the normal Medi Gun. Cannot use ÜberCharge. When separated from its healing target, it will pull out a Syringe Gun and fire at players.	150
Über Medic		Medi Gun Syringe Gun	Can heal other robots, building up ÜberCharge at a far faster rate. Can ÜberCharge, or make a robot and itself invincible for a limited period of time, when the ÜberCharge meter is filled. When separated from its healing target, it will pull out a Syringe Gun and fire at players.	150
Bowman	Sniper	Huntsman	Can fire arrows that quickly charge to do more damage and deal large amounts of damage in headshots. Inaccurate from a distance. Can appear in a primary role, unlike other Sniper robots.	125
Sydney Sniper		Sydney Sleeper	Shoots Jarate-coated darts, which covers the player in Jarate, making all damage taken from enemies to be a mini-crit. Cannot headshot.
Razorback Sniper		Razorback	Shares the same attributes from normal Sniper bot, but cannot be backstabbed.

Sentry Buster

The Sentry Buster is the only robot not to resemble a class, as it is literally a bomb on legs. It is never predetermined to spawn during a wave, and only spawns if an Engineer is doing significant damage with his Sentry Gun to the robot horde. Its arrival is announced by a theme, a HUD notification, and by the Administrator. If the team has multiple Engineers with Sentry Guns, a Sentry Buster can spawn for each problematic Sentry Gun.

Machine	Based on	Notes	Health
Sentry Buster	Demoman	Detects Sentry Guns that are dealing significant damage to the horde and runs at the offending Sentry Gun, exploding two seconds after deploying. Cannot carry bombs like ordinary robots. Cannot be backstabbed or headshotted. Will always explode: either upon reaching the Sentry or the Engineer hauling it or upon running out of health.	2500

Giant Robots

Giant Robots are notably larger than other robots. They can only be slowed by a Sapper rather than destroyed by it, and they cannot be killed at full health by a backstab unless the knife is fully upgraded. They sport significantly more health than other robots, but move at half-speed. Unlike regular robots, they are not slowed at all while carrying the bomb. Their presence in a wave is noted by a red background behind their class symbol in the pre-wave overhead. Giant Robots that carry the bomb do not receive buffs for it.

Giant Robot versions exist of the Scout, Soldier, Pyro, Demoman, and Heavy. Multiple Giant Robots can occur in a single wave, either of the same class or not.

Machine	Based on	Equipped with	Abilities	Health
Major League Scout	Scout	Sandman Batter's Helmet Essential Accessories	Can use the Sandman's stun ability. Moves faster than most giant robots (67% speed), but still at reduced speed.	1600
Super Scout		Holy Mackerel Bonk Boy	Moves at nearly double the speed of a normal Scout.	1600
Giant Rapid Fire Soldier	Soldier	Rocket Launcher	Can fire rockets at a faster rate than regular Soldiers.	3300
Giant Charged Soldier		Original	Rockets fired are always critical hits. Rockets travel 50% slower.	3800
Giant Pyro	Pyro	Flamethrower	Can, and will whenever possible, airblast incoming projectiles.	3000
		Detonator Old Guadalajara	Shoots deadly accurate shots with the Flare Gun.	3000
Giant Rapid Fire Demoman	Demoman	Grenade Launcher	Fires grenades at a significantly faster rate than a regular Grenade Launcher.	3300
Giant Deflector Heavy	Heavy	Deflector	Can shoot down projectiles such as rockets and grenades.	5000

Tank

Noted as "???" in the official Mann vs. Machine update page, the tank is a rare enemy that usually appears for one or two waves per mission, rarely more than once in one wave. It has a large amount of health, but no attack method, yet can kill players via crushing between walls or props while turning. It does, however, carry a bomb, and it cannot be stopped by any means other than its destruction.

Related achievements

Mann vs. Machievements

.executioner In a single wave, kill 15 bomb-carrying robots in a row before they level up. Balls-E Destroy the tank during the final seconds of the bomb being deployed. Ctrl + Assault + Delete Destroy a sentry buster before it reaches its target. Clockwork Carnage Destroy two tanks within 5 seconds of each other. Clockwork Conqueror Destroy a tank within 20 seconds of its arrival. Do Androids Dream? As a Scout, use the Sandman to mark 15 robots for death in a single wave. German Engineering Use a canteen charged with 'ÜberCharge' to destroy 15 robots. Ghost in the Machine Use a canteen charged with 'Teleport to Spawn' and then kill the bomb carrier within 5 seconds. Heavy Mettle During a wave, use rage as a Heavy to push a robot about to deliver the bomb.

Kritical Terror Use a canteen charged with 'Crit Boost' to destroy a giant robot. Metal Massacre Destroy 1,000,000 robots. Negative Charge Kill 5 Medics that are ready to deploy an ÜberCharge in a wave. Real Steal As an Engineer, escape with your sentry as a sentry buster is about to detonate. Silicon Slaughter Destroy 100,000 robots. Sly Voltage As a Spy, sap 10 robots at once. Spam Blocker During a wave, defend the hatch 10 times from robots about to deliver a bomb. Spark Plugger As a Sniper, kill 4 enemies simultaneously.

Gallery

• 

  Giant Robots, seen on the Mann vs. Machine Day 1: Machines page.

• 

  A diagram of a robotic Scout, seen in the Engineer Update.

Trivia

• Unlike the regular classes, who face the direction they're aiming and walk sideways or backwards, most robots are split across the waist so that their top half is facing the way they're aiming but their bottom half is facing the way they're moving.
• All robots have voice lines, robotic versions of the voice lines used by the class they are modeled on. All lack facial animations while doing so, save the Heavy Robot whose jaw moves up and down.
  • All voice lines are available in robotic form, despite many of them being impossible to hear (e.g. lines relating to capping points or Payload carts).
• Giant robots use different models with slightly skewed proportions (most notably a smaller head and larger torso) and more detail to make up for their larger size. It appears the models themselves are the same size as the normal robots' but are scaled up in-game.
  • They also have separate, more heavily-distorted voice lines, which are notably deeper and more mechanical-sounding than their human-sized counterparts.

External links

• Mann vs. Machine Day 1 - The Machines