Game River released Mechabellum out of Early Access on 26 September 2024 with Dreamhaven publishing. It is an auto-battler played entirely between rounds: you spend supply on units, place them on a grid, buy tech upgrades and draft reinforcement cards, then watch the battle resolve without touching anything. Around 29 units exist, and almost every one of them is the answer to some other one, so reading your opponent's board matters more than any single strong unit.
This guide covers everything you need: core mechanics, the best builds, equipment worth investing in, location progression, and the tips that actually make a difference.
Core Mechanics
Round-based deployment on a grid
Each round you spend supply on new units and reposition existing ones, then the battle plays out on its own. Units that survive carry over, so a good early placement compounds while a bad one keeps losing the same fight repeatedly.
Unit tech upgrades
Every unit has its own upgrade options bought individually, so an Arclight can take Anti-Air to cover your sky problem or Armor to survive longer against light attackers. Upgrades apply to every copy of that unit you own, which is why concentrating on a few unit types beats spreading thin.
Reinforcement card drafts
Between rounds you pick from cards sorted into levels, from cheap level 0 options like Elite Marksman and Assault Fang up to level 3 cards like Nuke, Lightning Storm and Mustang Production Line. The usual advice is to skip anything below rare rarity unless it directly fixes your board.
Starting specialist selection
You choose one specialist from a pool of four at the start, and most hand you either extra supply or a free unit. Taking the free unit, especially a rare one, generally outperforms taking supply because it sets your opening board a round ahead.
Counter reading between rounds
You see the enemy board before committing your next purchase, and almost every unit is hard countered by something. Crawlers flood cheap melee that giants struggle to clear, Vulcan splash erases those Crawlers, Melting Point burns through giants, and Marksman range punishes anything slow, so the loop is watch, identify, answer.
For a deeper dive into how these systems interact, see our Mechabellum combat guide.
Builds Overview
| Build | Tier | Playstyle | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chaff swarm | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Anti-air | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Artillery | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Giant | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Air | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
For full build breakdowns with gear and stat priorities, see our Mechabellum builds guide. For rankings, check the tier list.
Equipment Guide
| Equipment | Why It Matters | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Crawler | The cheapest melee swarm unit and consistently rated one of the strongest in the game. | Overwhelming giants and expensive single-target units with raw count |
| Fang | Cheap ranged light bots that form a wide firing line. | Holding a ranged front line cheaply, especially with Portable Shield |
| Arclight | A medium ground unit whose value comes from its upgrade choices rather than its base statistics. | Flexible mid-cost coverage when you do not yet know what the opponent is building |
| Marksman | A long-range single-target sniper that outranges most of what it shoots at. | Killing slow expensive giants from outside their engagement range |
| Fortress | A top-tier giant that absorbs a great deal of punishment while contributing steady damage. | Anchoring the centre of your board and forcing the opponent to answer it |
Crawler: The cheapest melee swarm unit and consistently rated one of the strongest in the game. Numbers beat single-target damage, so Crawlers force opponents into buying splash units they would rather have skipped.
Fang: Cheap ranged light bots that form a wide firing line. The Portable Shield card gives each one a shield absorbing damage equal to its own health, which turns a fragile line into a genuine wall.
Arclight: A medium ground unit whose value comes from its upgrade choices rather than its base statistics. Anti-Air lets it cover your sky problem without buying a dedicated unit, while Armor keeps it alive against light attackers.
Marksman: A long-range single-target sniper that outranges most of what it shoots at. Fragile enough that it needs a screen, and rewarded heavily by the Elite Marksman, Smart Marksman and Extended Range Marksman cards.
Fortress: A top-tier giant that absorbs a great deal of punishment while contributing steady damage. Improved Fortress, Extended Range Fortress and Assault Fortress cards each push it in a different direction.
Full breakdowns in our Mechabellum weapons guide.
Location Progression
| Location | Level Range | Key Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| 1v1 Ranked | Full matches, typically eight to twelve rounds | Ladder rating and the fastest exposure to real counter play |
| 2v2 Team Battle | Full matches with a partner | Coverage splits that are impossible in a solo game |
| Free For All | Multiplayer lobbies | Practice at building boards that answer several different threats at once |
| Solo Survival | Escalating waves in a single run | Safe experimentation with unit tech and card drafts |
| Rift Mode | Rotating rule sets | Forced variety that exposes the gaps in your default build |
1v1 Ranked: The main competitive mode and where the counter-reading loop matters most. Practising against the Insane bot first is genuinely more useful than low-rating ladder games, because weak opponents punish none of your mistakes.
2v2 Team Battle: Two players share a front against another pair, which changes what units are worth buying. Coordinating so one player covers air while the other covers chaff beats both players building the same board.
Free For All: Multiple players competing at once, where committing everything into one opponent leaves you exposed to the rest. Board efficiency matters more here than any single strong matchup.
Solo Survival: A single-player run against escalating waves, and the best place to learn what each unit and tech upgrade actually does without a human opponent punishing the experiment. A co-op version also exists.
Rift Mode: A mode with rotating rule sets, which shakes up what is strong from one rotation to the next. Good for breaking habits, because a build that always works in ranked frequently falls apart under a different rule set.
See our maps & locations guide for detailed area breakdowns and our walkthrough for the optimal progression path.
Tips That Actually Matter
- Look at the enemy board before you spend a single point of supply. You get to see what they fielded, and almost every unit in the game has a clean answer, so buying blind throws away the mode's central advantage.
- Take the starting specialist that hands you a free unit rather than extra supply, particularly if the unit is rare. A unit on the board from round one compounds across the whole match in a way that a supply cushion does not.
- Concentrate tech upgrades on two or three unit types instead of buying one for everything. Upgrades apply to every copy of that unit you own, so twelve upgraded Fangs beat four upgraded units of four different kinds.
- Send fast or air units to the flank positions early. They stand a real chance of destroying the enemy control towers, which hands you an advantage at the start of the following round.
- Skip reinforcement cards below rare rarity unless one directly fixes a hole in your board. A cheap common card that does not answer what just killed you is worse than saving the pick.
- Spread Crawlers and other swarm units rather than clumping them. Splash units like Vulcan clear tight formations in one pass, and simple spacing halves the damage that swarms take.
- Buy anti-air before you need it, not after. Air pushes with Wasp and Overlord are fast to assemble, and a board with no Mustang, Typhoon or Anti-Air Arclight loses to them in a single round.
- Melting Point is for giants and nothing else. Sending it against a Crawler flood wastes an expensive unit on targets that die to any splash source, so pair it with something that clears numbers.
- Learn the Insane bot before grinding ranked. It plays a consistent game that teaches you counters, while low-rating human opponents make chaotic decisions that reward the wrong habits.
- Reposition surviving units between rounds rather than only adding new ones. A Marksman line that survived but never fired is a placement problem, and moving it costs nothing compared with buying replacements.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Buying units without looking at what the opponent fielded, when the whole mode is built on answering their board.
- Spreading tech upgrades thinly across six unit types instead of concentrating them on two or three.
- Clumping swarm units tightly, where a single Vulcan or other splash source clears the entire group in one pass.
- Sending Melting Point into cheap swarms instead of saving it for the enemy giants it is designed to kill.
- Ignoring the flank control towers entirely and losing the round-start advantage every single round.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you control units during the battle?
No. Everything is decided between rounds through purchases, placement, tech upgrades and card drafts, and the fight then resolves on its own. It rewards planning rather than reaction speed.
How many units are in the game?
Around 29, including Crawler, Fang, Arclight, Marksman, Mustang, Steel Ball, Sledgehammer, Stormcaller, Rhino, Hacker, Phoenix, Wasp, Wraith, Vulcan, Melting Point, Fortress, War Factory, Overlord, Sabertooth, Typhoon, Fire Badger, Scorpion, Tarantula, Sandworm, Farseer, Raiden, Abyss, Phantom Ray and Hound.
Which units should a beginner build around?
Crawler, Fortress, War Factory, Fire Badger and Overlord sit at the top of community tier lists because they work in the widest range of situations. That does not make the rest bad, only more situational.
What is the difference between tech upgrades and reinforcement cards?
Tech upgrades are bought for a specific unit type and apply to every copy you own, such as Anti-Air on Arclight. Reinforcement cards are drafted between rounds from levelled pools, running from Elite Fang at level 0 up to Nuke and Lightning Storm at level 3.
What modes are there besides ranked?
2v2 team battles, free-for-all lobbies, Solo Survival and Co-op Survival against waves, Rift Mode with rotating rule sets, and weekly in-game tournaments.
More Mechabellum Guides
- Mechabellum Best Builds
- Mechabellum Tier List
- Mechabellum Walkthrough
- Mechabellum Beginner's Guide
- Mechabellum Tips & Tricks
- Mechabellum Weapons Guide
- Mechabellum Combat Guide
- Mechabellum Boss Guide
- Mechabellum Maps & Locations
- Mechabellum Crafting Guide
- Mechabellum Classes & Characters
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