Various Stock Tips

[Sage]

Here are some sources of information you can count on when it comes to Stock building.

Beetlebros - This is basically effective bot building 101.
http://beetlebros.gametechmods.com/ra2techs.htm

Sage's Tutorials - This is a set of five video tutorials that will help you monumentally.
https://gametechmods.com/forums/index.php/topic,4512.0.html

ADC - That stands for Absolute Destruction Capabilities.  It's a way of rating how much damage a certain setup does.  Check out the wiki page, it will tell you what types of bots you can make and what they do.
https://gametechmods.com/RA2wiki/index.php?title=ADC

Starcore AI - This is an AI pack that replaces the original AI opponents with far more difficult ones.  It may be a bit overwhelming to fight them at first, but you can draw some great information from the designs. Start out at V1 and then progress to the higher levels as you get better. Once you have beaten even the best of Starcore V3, ask around for the V4 Alpha, Pysc AI, Inf AI, or Restocked.
http://www.starcore.gametechmods.com/

Also, anything someone with a PURPLE or ORANGE name says is usually advice you can count on.

[Sparkey98]

STOCK

1. CHASSIS

-Invertibility-  Make sure your chassis is not too tall in case it could tip over, or that in the event it was inverted that the wheels would still touch the ground. If it's not invertible even with slipperbottoms, rebuild the chassis or give it a self-righting mechanism.
-Self Righting- If you can't make your robot invertible because of things on the top of it, you should try to find a way to use your motors or bursts to flip it back up. If you can't you better hope your bot has amazing wedges and is sturdy enough to not flip over.
-Empty Space- Make sure to always minimize the amount of empty space in your bot. Do not build a big chassis and throw rand parts in it, design it around the parts.
-Big Target- We all appreciate a cool-looking chassis, but if it has a large front end that can easily be attacked, that means it has a greater chance of being KOed.

2. POWER

-Underpowered- Make sure your bot is not too underpowered. Pinks are discouraged in both MWs and HWs, and Nifties are discouraged in HWs.
-Overpowered- A general scale for battery power is this: 1 Supervolt's good for 4 HP-Zteks, a Nifty's good for 2 HP-Zteks, and a pink is good for one HP-Ztek.

3. DRIVE

-Picking the right motors-  There are specific motors you want and don't want to use for each weight class. Anything other than HP-Zteks are generally discouraged for use in HWs.
-Amount of motors- If your bot seems like it needs a lot of motors, that usually means it could use less of a larger motor. Don't put two zteks on a Heavyweight when you can add two HP-zteks

4. WEAPONRY

-Good weapons for spinners- The weapons most commonly used (because they're the best) are maces, Razor blades and Iron spikes. Try to avoid sledge hammers and battle axes (the latter's excellent for armor, though).
-Good weapons for popups and rammers- Usually the best bet for a rammer is Iron spikes, and razors for popups.

5. IMPROVING

-Rebuilding- If you're given advice on how to make a bot better, work on that bot before posting others
-Following advice- Make sure you listened to an followed the advice you were given. Check Life Robot Arena 2 and Sypher878s showcases on what not to do.

6. CROPPING

-editing- When you upload a picture of a bot, don't post the bot lab. We all know what it looks like, edit it so it only shows the bot, weight, and optionally, the name

7. ARMOR

-Casters- Add casters only to locations where opponents will most likely hit you. Placing casters at the back will do you no good.
-Returning damage- Having a strong offense can serve as your defense. But if your weapon setup's specialized, adding armor like snowplows, ramplates, battle axes or EMERGENCY wedges can make your bot more durable.
-Amount- Too much armor can render your bot useless as it has no way of dealing damage. Don't overdo your defense, though you can always go overkill on the offense. :P

[Sparkey98]

Ohhhh the threads were merged alright.

[Hercules]

Thats great!!!!!!!!  U ARE A GOD Sage, Sparkey u too
But i cant get screenshots of my bots

[Mr. AS]

Thats great!!!!!!!!  U ARE A GOD Sage
But i cant get screenshots of my bots

F11

[Sage]

Thats great!!!!!!!!  U ARE A GOD Sage
But i cant get screenshots of my bots

You're welcome! and thanks :D

[Hercules]

Thanks ( i was presing F12)
Hope you guys see my showcase

[NeighImACarrot]

Thanks for the tips they really helped me start building robots that aren't completely terrible

[RA2014]

I always use Beetlebros tips for my A.I. pack I'm working on.