When to use the Vault

Competition Rules/Strategy
1

I haven’t seen much discussion on when to actually use the vault and it seems like it would be a good discussion. It would be a shame to see an alliance use Force 1 while already in control of their switch.

A quick rundown of the vault details:

  • With 3 human players, you’ll likely have 1 assigned to the vault with the other 2 at the portals.
  • Once a cube is in the vault it cannot be removed
  • A powerup can only be used once
  • Only one timed powerup can be in use at a time
  • If another powerup is used when one is already active it will be in a queue to start immediately after the previous one
  • the Previous point is for the opponent only. If Red uses a powerup then tries to activate another before 10s it will be IGNORED (Thanks Harkema)
  • Levitate can be used at any point and will still count at the end of the match
  • A cube does not have to be in the vault right away per 4.2 number 3 (Thanks McLeod for seeing that)

Powerups:

  • **Levitate **
  • grants climb to one robot - 45 total points max (15 if you already have 3 climbers) - Force 1
  • grants ownership of your switch for 10s - 15 total points max (keep in mind you may already have ownership or match time may run out) - Force 2
  • grants ownership of the scale for 10s - 30 total points max (10+10+(10 denied to opponent)) (Thanks Rangel) - **Force 3 **
  • grants ownership of both for 10s - 45 total points max (15+10+10+(10 denied to opponent)) - **Boost 1 **
  • double points for 10s while you own your switch - 25 points max - Boost 2
  • double points for 10s while you own the scale - 30 points max - **Boost 3 **
  • double points for 10s while you own both - 55 points max

Unless you are 100% sure you have 3 climbers, I would say get Levitate, but make that a second/third vault target.
Also, if you used a LVL 1/2 powerup already, ignore filling it till the other powerups are used/filled

Force is actually really nice early on as the match starts and you get a feel for how things are playing out. They have a switch killer? Force 1 gives you a buffer to figure a counter strategy. Or say your scale bot is getting hung up on something (happens a lot) Force 2 buys them time to reorient.

Boost will be big if you can own the switch and scale at the same time. I think some teams will try to get Boost 3 then once owned, ignore the cubes to have 3 bots push others away for 10 seconds. Here pushing will gain you the same points as cube placement and may be easier.

Has anyone thought about how/when they want to use their powerups?
I’m very interested to hear.

2

Do not put power cubes into the vault except just prior to hitting the button you have decided upon.
Keep cubes staged on the floor, maybe in tiers corresponding to what you want to do (1/2/3)

All your options remain open that way.
Otherwise, once you’ve committed a cube to the vault, you cannot change your mind.

3

Your calculations for boost and force power-ups are a little off. If you don’t own the scale and you use force, you are actually taking 10 points away from your opponent and getting 10 points for yourself for a net of 20 points. For boost, if you already own the switch and scale, you can’t really count that as 20 points each as you are already getting 10 for each if you didn’t use your boost.

Force 1 - grants ownership of your switch for 10s - 15 total points max
Force 2 - grants ownership of the scale for 10s - 30 total points max
Force 3 - grants ownership of both for 10s - 45 total points max
Boost 1 - double points for 10s while you own your switch - 15 points max
Boost 2 - double points for 10s while you own the scale - 20 points max
Boost 3 - double points for 10s while you own both - 35 points max

From what I understand, force 3 or levitate is worth the most points per cube depending on the situation but a single boost can be pretty good for just one cube.

4

Double edged sword with not placing cubes immediately in vault is the ‘missed’ 5pts per cube. Makes the in game score harder to decipher for your opponents, but it’s another thing for drive coaches to keep track of when coming up with in-match strategy.

5

Wouldn’t FORCE3 be **35 points **(20+15=35)? not 45
In essence same as BOOST3 IF you already maintain OWN on both

6

I’m counting force 3 as
3 cubes- 15 points
converting scale- 20 points(because you also take away 10 points from opponent)
converting switch- 10 points.

15+20+10=45 points

7

Note that this is only true for opposing alliance power-up activation. If Red presses their boost, Blue can queue during the power-up, Red cannot.

I agree with Mark, cubes should almost always be staged before placing.

If all 9 cubes are utilized, a maximum scoring outcome is 115 points.
45 points for cubes
30 points for LEVITATE Power-up
20 points max for BOOST (10 bonus for Switch and Scale)
20 points max for FORCE

Value per cube: 12.77 Points.

Alternatively, if you deliver 6 cubes to your vault, your max score is 80 Points. 3 can go to the levitate, and the remaining 3 can be used in any combo of FORCE or BOOST.

30 points for cubes
30 points for LEVITATE Bonus
20 points max for either BOOST or FORCE

Value per cube: 13.33 Points.

The follow up question would be could the time spent moving 3 more cubes into the vault for a 35 point bonus be better spent elsewhere?

8

The way that seems to make the most sense to me is to only skip out on levitate if you know both your alliance members, including yourself, can lift (this really only seems like a playoff situation, I don’t think too many teams would risk this in quals when they haven’t specifically chosen their teams). Force, because it switches the ownership, seems to be a good power-up to use when you are behind. It stops the opposing alliance from gaining points from something and gives them to you instead. Boost presents itself as something to use to get ahead. Obviously you have to own the switch or the scale to get the points from it, but if you are just barely ahead and owning one or both, it seems like a great way to broaden the point gap. It could also, however, be good if you’re behind and you gain ownership of one or both, then it would be a big help to close that gap.

9

Per Update 2, you cannot queue a power-up while your own power-up is active.

Now, if you have a strong, dedicated exchange robot, it will make it very easy to decide to activate a power-up when needed and have enough cubes to do so. It will depend heavily on which 6 robots are in the match.

Force
-Level 1 is really only useful if you’re facing an Everybot style robot bombarding your switch with cubes. It gives you time to counteract them.

-Level 2 is useful if you’re spending a lot of the match fighting over the scale. It’s essentially a 20 point button (gain 10, deny 10), with a 10-second window to gain ownership.

-Level 3 is a bit tricky. Unless you have that exchange bot I mentioned earlier that just cycles a lot of cubes in quickly early in the match, using this Force will require you to take time from your match plan to put the required cubes in the exchange. If you’re in a situation where you need to Force the switch and scale, you’re in deep water as it is.

Boost
-Level 1 will probably be most common. Because the switch is close to you, it’s the easiest to keep ownership of, guaranteeing the most point potential.

-Level 2 could also counter an Everybot strategy since no point are actually gained by that robot. This assumes you can gain solid control of the scale. Otherwise, it may be more worth it to make sure your switch gets Boosted.

-Level 3 has similar comments to the Level 3 Force. It’s a good way to extend a lead assuming you already have those cubes early.

Levitate
-There are a few ways this could play out. If you know you’ll be getting less than 3 climbs, you could book it for Levitate right away for a free 45 points (vault + climb). You could also use it as a safeguard in case a partner fails to climb near the end of the match.

Of course, even without power-ups, filling the vault is 45 points. That can be a valuable asset in an situation.

10

Not necessarily. This may be used more higher up if two alliances are evenly matched and everything is close. Those switches and scale could be bouncing all game. In that case Force 3 may gain more than Boost 3.

11

Get two cubes fast, set by vault.

If we lose the scale but can get it back, two-cube Force and use that time to ready the counter. (This may be in the form of getting cubes to a partner in the null territory that can do the job.) I really freakin’ hope we won’t have to three-cube Force, but that’ll be an option with one more cube.

If we lose the scale and can’t get it back (say, bad partner draw), firm up our switch and boost on one. Then make sure our vault is full for the five-point scores, focus on shutting down their switch, and get the end game tight.

If we’re winning, boost on two or three as appropriate.

Leave enough time to finish with three in Levitate.

Depending on resources, fill out the rest of the vault as long as it won’t meaningfully hamper control of things on the field.

12

Piling cubes may be a good strategy. If none of the power ups are used (except maybe levitate), then the remaining cubes can be placed in Vault during the endgame for the points.

13

This is the correct way of thinking about it. Gives you 35 points total max, but it is a 45 point max SHIFT in score.

14

My point is that is this game there is a lot to keep track of during the ~2 minute match. By all means, it is a great strategy if the drivers and coaches can monitor everything and communicate that to drivers and human operators.

For as many pros I come up with for just placing them in the vault immediately, I can come up with just as many cons. Teams that are going to succeed at this game are going to have coaches with great awareness, and an ability to communicate changing strategies on the fly.

15

Also, note that the EXCHANGE is an EXCHANGE. While it does not start with any powercubes, it may be used to lift powercubes from the floor to a PORTAL altitude, at the other end of the field. An EVERYBOT a la team 118 cannot pick up cubes from the floor and place them directly into a switch. However, it can push cubes into an exchange, then accept them back with some altitude, and place them into a switch. I don’t expect this to be used for a large amount of cubes, but this is a highly nonlinear game where the right cube at the right time can be worth many points.

16

Id say a decent time is after auto to close a point gap.

17

That would only be temporary though, because the opposing alliance can use that power up as well. A lost lead in auto cannot be made up elsewhere in the game unless you also deny the opposing alliance points.

18

So are you saying no but yes cause my dyslexia is having a hard time with this. Im not saying the use of a power up Im saying the flat points from vault could make up for a flat point difference out auto.

19

What I am saying is that the points earned in autonomous cannot be earned elsewhere in the match. If you are placing cubes in your vault right after auto, you could be artificially closing the point gap. However, there is nothing stopping the opposing alliance from also placing cubes and bringing the point gap back.

20

This is the way I have been viewing the Vault for game analysis. Points per cube can help you decide whether it makes more sense to fill the vault or buff a scale/switch to maintain ownership. It looks like the most valuable Vault actions at 15 pts/cube are:

Levitate 3
Boost 1 (if you own your switch)
Force 1 (if you don’t own your switch)
Force 2 (if you don’t own the scale)
Force 3 (if you don’t own your switch or the scale. Ouch)