Week 0 is hit and miss when it comes to providing realistic strategic insights for how the game will actually play out. I can’t say I learned a lot about how Infinite Recharge will be played in weeks 1 or 2, but I did learn one thing that nobody seems to be talking about:
The Loading Zone is your friend!!!
I watched literally dozens of robots chase single Power Cells down for 15 seconds or more. Teams were spending a majority of their match just filling their hoppers a single time with Power Cells from the field. The problem was made worse when teams tried to intake from the Rendezvous…
Many teams built singulating intakes that work really well with one ball at a time near the center of their intake, but struggle under less ideal circumstances. Hardly any teams had an intake that I would classify as “touch it, own it”. Many teams also had robots that were pretty dang effective at scoring once they acquired the Power Cells. For the large number of teams that struggle to acquire Power Cells, but are effective with them once they’re controlled, the Loading Zone is your friend.
The Loading Zone provides an ideal situation for teams to acquire Power Cells. You’re protected, the Power Cells are single file, and they can be lined up with the center of your intake. You can also dump Power Cells directly into an open hopper if your robot is designed for it. The best part is that acquiring Power Cells from the Loading Zone will never go away as a game dynamic as the season moves along. You will always need to drain Power Cells from behind your alliance station wall to avoid accruing penalties. I believe there is a spot on Einstein for teams that primarily concentrate on loading from the human players.
There are drawbacks to the Loading Zone… there is only one of them to share between your 3 alliance members. This makes it a choke point for defense as well as a bottleneck in terms of cycling efficiency. You also need to cross the field to score (unless you’re shooting from the Control Panel). More than likely alliances generally won’t have more than two robots cycling directly from the Loading Zone. Getting in and out of the Loading Zone quickly will be a valuable skill for all teams.
If you are a team that has your shooter and indexer figured out, but you’re just slowed down by an ineffective intake, consider utilizing the Loading Zone.