This short guide was created to share what I know about movement in this game. I'll be talking about how to avoid damage, how to get around fast, and simply how to save yourself some time. Enjoy!

-EvilflameGMD (Escalation Standings #25)

Each of the four types of vehicles move at different speeds.


Walking speed is represented by a percentage of standard speed.

Car forms (Scouts) - 100%

Truck forms (Leader) - 95%

Tank/Jet forms (Soldier/Scientist) - 90%

As you can see, the robot mobilities of Scout characters are overall superior to the others. Soldier and Scientist characters come last, being slower by a whopping 10%. However, Jets compensate for this with their vehicle form.


Exact vehicle form speeds are unknown, however the scaling works as such:

Jets > Cars > Trucks >> Tanks

Once again, Tanks/Soldiers are dead last in terms of speed. Scientists, however, overtake Scouts in terms of boosting speed, making them the best in terms of long-distance travel.

Boosting speed is not the only factor that determines how mobile a vehicle is. This is also dependent on their secondary ability.

Jets- Jets possess the Barrel Roll ability. While it generally won't see much use, as the Jet form shouldn't be used for much more than fast travel, it can be used to dodge incoming fire while traversing the map. It also can be used as an emergency Dash, which will be elaborated on in a later section.

Cars- Cars are the most mobile ground vehicles, and also the smallest, making it easier to make tight turns. Their strafing and boost speeds are admirable. However, the Shift-Dash and Barrel Roll combo greatly enhance this form's mobility. It can be used to dodge out of the way or increase airtime, depending on when it is used. More advanced tactics will be mentioned later.

Trucks- Trucks, while still on the lower end of the mobility spectrum, are still much faster than tanks. Their ability is a Forward-Dash and Nitro combo. The Forward-Dash has few uses due to its limited range of motion, but the Nitro will make a truck become extremely fast, even bashing enemies in its path. However, this ability suffers from abysmal handling, so it is almost exclusively viable to straight paths.

Tanks- Tanks have extremely poor boosting and strafing mobility, and their U-Turn ability has no special use. Not much to say about this.

Using your Dash ability is an extremely obvious way to improve your movement. You can use it to cover ground fast, or duck behind cover. Easy.

However, you can use it simultaneously with a melee attack to make a swift and lethal approach to an enemy. This is useful for Holo-Brutes, as they won't be able to damage you, or for Machine Gunners, so they won't begin to back away.

Additionally, you can also use this ability to escape retaliation. Meleeing into a group of spiders won't always kill them all, and if you've taken damage recently, they will attack you and reset your regeneration delay. Dashing away from the crowd after an attack will prevent this from happening. You can also do this with Cloakers, by attacking them and dashing to the side to avoid the discharge of their Plasma Cannon. It's extremely important to do this, as their attack can do up to a bar and a half of damage.

Staying in the air by hopping repeatedly like a bunny is surprisingly useful.

Firstly, this makes you a harder target for ranged opponents. Unlike your weapons, AI weapons are not all Hitscan, meaning that the game does have to account for some of their bullet times rather than having an instantaneous hit. At close ranges, jumping around won't make much of a difference, but at longer distances, it becomes extremely hard for enemies to be able to target you.

Secondly, this will put you above melee enemies. You're safe from Holo-Brutes when you're above their heads, and this also applies to Spiders as well. This is especially useful around Brutes, as you may be dealing with Shotgunners and Titans and won't have time to dispose of it. Additionally, this will help prevent sneak attacks from behind by melee enemies.

Finally, stomping melee attacks have less recovery time than a standard one. This means that after you stomp on an enemy's head, this means it takes less time for you to be able to shoot your guns or melee again than with a normal attack.

Staying stationary is (in most cases) a bad idea. Strafing from side to side makes you a harder target for enemies to hit, while you are in control of the movement and can track enemies with your crosshair accordingly. This is particularly useful against large groups of enemies. There are exceptions to this rule, and I will mention them in later sections.

After you transform, it's noticeable that it takes a moment to begin boosting forward. Even then, it takes a moment to fully accelerate to full speed. You can take adjust for this as a Car or Truck

Wait a moment after transforming. Then, use your Shift-Dash a split second before boosting. You'll shoot forward at full speed. This way, you won't have to wait for your speed to pick up. This is especially effective mid-air, where accelerating is not nearly as easy.

Most characters don't have a Dash ability. However, as a Car or Jet, they have their vehicle abilities to rely on to save them if they really need it.

If you see a very dangerous projectile (or projectiles) coming your way, and you can't Dash away, you can transform and immediately Shift-Dash or Barrel Roll to the side. This is especially useful on Broken Hope Escalation, where there is plenty of cover to avoid rockets or Tank plasma. You won't always find yourself needing to use this, but it really can save your life when it matters.

You can also use this when you're stunned by a Brute. To escape him and the other enemies, you can use your Dash and Barrel Roll to move quicker than walking or drifting.

Cars have an interesting ability to do a Barrel Roll if they're boosting. While not particularly useful when grounded, it has incredible potential while in the air.

Firstly, they can use it to increase their airtime. If you want to get across the map in an aerial fashion, boosting, jumping, and rolling will take you quite far. Just make sure not to crash into anything.

More advanced users will abuse this to heighten their velocity with careful timing and angling. Boost forward, and when at max speed, turn approximately 90 degrees in either direction and Barrel Roll yourself towards the direction you were originally headed. This moves you much faster than a normal boost would, and it's extremely useful to get through hazardous areas quickly. You can even chain multiple Barrel Rolls together to keep going.

Suppose you want to move very quickly while still being able to melee or use a Shockwave, or maybe throw a grenade. Luckily, it's a very easy process. Simply boost to your maximum speed, transform, and double jump. Keep jumping instantly as you touch the floor, and you'll experience almost no friction. You can therefore make a very intimidating approach to your target as you prepare whatever lethal atrocity you have planned.

The Dash ability has more uses than previously mentioned. However, they are more situational and may require practice.

Dashing decreases your weapon accuracy just as badly as jumping does (increases spread by 100%). However, Dashing towards your enemy with an EMP Shotgun while aiming at their head will seemingly increase the damage they take. This is apparently more effective than a normal shot to the head, and can even one-tap Shotgunners when at the difficulty cap.

Dashing can also cancel your flinch after a hard fall. Your flinch renders you immobile, unable to melee or use weapons for almost a whole second. Dashing before you hit the floor will negate this flinch, and get you moving in no time.

Warcry is another invasive animation, which has a very similar effect to the aforementioned flinch. Once again, Dash can counter this.

Whirlwind is a powerful ability, and using Dash to travel from target to target can help you get more kills during its duration. This also works on enemies who back away to try to escape your wrath.

A rather unknown bug for this game is the Triple Jump, which allows you to jump far higher than you normally would be able to. This is extremely effective for Car forms, and does not work at all for Jets.

After your normal double jump, if you press F and Space at the same time, you will turn into your vehicle and perform a vehicle jump simultaneously. If done shortly after your second jump, the velocity combines to go even higher. However, the timing is extremely precise, making this a hard skill to learn.

Things can get very hectic when playing Escalation, and it's very important to know exactly how to avoid as much damage as possible.

Firstly, use your vehicle form. Most characters have smaller hitboxes when in vehicle form and are therefore harder to hit. The strafing mobility of vehicles is also very good, so you can fire back at enemies while staying on your toes at the same time.

Secondly, if you're a Jet and you need health, transform and stay low. This will partially sink your hitbox into the floor and reduce your chances of being damaged. This also practically guarantees that you will not have a glitch when trying to buy health.

Thirdly, stay mobile. Jumping around is very useful for this. Strafing, bunny hopping, or even just running around makes you harder to hit. This is especially important when Shotgunners, Titans, and Brutes come out to play. They hit hard, and avoiding their attacks is essential to survival.

Lastly, don't get cornered. This is an extremely easy mistake to make, as you most likely won't expect it to happen. Unless you're a Cloaking character, you want at minimum 2 escape routes in case things go awry. 3 routes makes your chances of survival even greater. If you do choose a position that is hard to escape, make sure it is easily defendable and has large amounts of cover. (Safely) Rotate to another part of the map if you begin to feel overwhelmed.

It's also important to choose your position wisely when engaging in firefights.

As I mentioned before, make sure you have quick access to escape routes or health dispensers if you're planning on staying somewhere for a while.

When you're engaging dangerous enemies like Shotgunners or Titans, shoot around corners that caters to your third person view. This will cover most of your body but allows you to still shoot at them. However, if a Titan draws near, unless you are certain that you can finish him quickly, it's important to retreat before he reaches around the corner and demolishes you.

Standing your ground is a surprisingly effective tactic that most would feel is counter-intuitive. While not advisable in every situation, being unreactive to certain situations may grant you an easy kill. When attacking a Shotgunner, standing your ground and maintaining fire will severely limit their fire rate and result in a lot less damage to you than a normal pursuit. Similarly, standing by to let a Brute pass will work very frequently in Multiplayer. After he waltzes past, you have easy access to his back. This even works against Titans. Their advance is much slower and passive if you refuse to run from them, letting you hold more turf than if you continued to retreat.

Hold elevated entry ramps. Standing above your enemies grants you a huge advantage over them. They have a very hard time shooting smaller characters up ramps, meaning that you have a chance to hit a lot of free damage as they try to approach.

I hope this guide helps your skill in War for Cybertron. Though it is slightly random, it contains a lot of insight that really helps a game go smooth. Please, leave feedback in the comments if you have any.

-EvilflameGMD (Escalation Standings #25)