Pocket Voltar - A Medic's Guide to the Universe (v1.5)

Greetings, carbon based life-form! You have done well to choose Voltar as your awesomenaut. But do you know what it takes to be a good medic? If you're interested in finding out the basics behind Voltar, along with some tips and tricks to keep you ahead of the competition, come take a look inside the "Pocket Voltar" guide!

Introduction

"You are no match...for my intellect."
Hello there, carbon based life-form. I'm glad to see you have decided to dedicate some of your precious time to read this guide! In this guide I'll go over everything you need to know about Voltar the Omniscient, from basic stats through skills to some suggested builds.

What you should know before reading this guide:

• Before even thinking about playing as Voltar, you should have an intermediate understanding of the game's mechanics, maps and characters. Even though Voltar is unlocked at level 5, he is actually a pretty complex character to master due to his lack of escape skills and relatively lacking offensive abilities.
  
• This guide will (try to) encompass everything you should know about Voltar. However some things are learned and experienced only during actual gameplay against other people, so I might miss out on some things. No worries, I'll update the guide as often as I can to keep it up to date.

Ready to find out more about the under-appreciated power-player that is Voltar? Then let's learn about the stats of the character.
(You can see the update log here)[dl.dropbox.com]

Voltar the Omniscient

"I am the brain of the operation."

So now that you've played some Awesomenauts online and fought against all of the characters in all of the maps, experiencing some awesome victories and tragic defeats, you are ready to lay your hands on what's (left of) Voltar's magnificent being.

First, some stats:

• Health: 135 (Up to 165HP without health items)
  Voltar's health is relatively low, ranking in 3rd from the bottom. Sheriff Lonestar and Raelynn both have the same amount of health points. Because his main attack does not cause damage, he is actually much more vulnerable than any other awesomenaut.
  
• Movement Speed: 7.2
  Voltar's speed is clocked in at an slightly below average 7.2, the same as Clunk's speed.
  
• Attack Range: Short
  Voltar's main attacks are quite short in range, shorter than Froggy G's squirt gun. However they can be increased a little with an upgrade.
  
• Role: Healer
  Pretty obvious, isn't it?
  
• Type: Carry, Support
  Early game Voltar isn't all that amazing, but as he gains Solar and levels up he becomes a valuable force that can literally figuratively turn the match upside down.

So as we can see, Voltar is quite the squishy little thing. Without proper protection, he can get into serious trouble very quickly. Let's see some other interesting points about Voltar:

Pros:

• Best healer in this game, perhaps even the only proper one. Yuri can go shove a banana up his ass jetpack.
  
• You know how the heavy and the medic from TF2 make quite a menacing force? Voltar can do the same with pretty much any other tanky character, and even fighter ones like Froggy G or Gnaw.
  
• Voltar's healing wave and healbot can keep droids against an enemy turret for dozens of seconds and even more if the two are upgraded properly.
  
• Having Voltar to back up the other two awesomenauts in your team means that they don't have to waste time trying to get health packs, teleporting back to base or running away from a fight. A team-fight's outcome can dramatically change if any side has Voltar and how well he performs.
  
• No one earns Solar as fast as Voltar does. In a good match you can quite easily get to level 40 or higher.

Cons:

• Squishy, slow and has no escape skills. If you're caught in a blender, you're probably not going to live long enough to tell your friends about it.
  
• If your teammates are crap, you will be too. It's frustrating and aggravating, but it's true.
  
• Voltar has a very low offensive output in the beginning of the game, making him an easy target and not as useful as in the end-game.
  
• While Voltar earns Solar quite quickly, his items are often expensive.

Ok, now we know enough about Voltar in general, let's dive into what makes him so special (and useful): his skills.

Abilities - Part 1 (Suicide Drones)

"Hah! I build droids smarter than you!"

Much like every other awesomenuat, Voltar has 4 abilities: 2 unique skills, 1 main attack and 1 jump.
Let's start by learning more about the first unique skill in Voltar's arsenal: the Suicide Drones.

Suicide Drones

• Cost: 135 Solar
  
• Spawn frequency: 4 seconds
  
• Amount: 2 drones
  
• Shot Damage: 4
  
• Explosion damage: 12
  
• Attack Speed: 48
  
• Health: 30
  
• Shot Range: 10

The suicide drones are Voltar's first unique skill. After purchasing it for 135 solar, a drone will automatically spawn next to Voltar every 4 seconds, up to 2 at a time. The drone will passively fly loosely around Voltar, firing against any viable target in range in a somewhat slow speed. When the skill is activated with the right mouse button, all of the drones will fly towards the cursor and will self-destruct, causing some damage.

• Tip! If you right click on an enemy awesomenaut, the drones will fly towards them.
  
• Note! While Voltar might be omniscient, his drones are not. They sometimes freeze in place or get stuck against walls, making suicide attacks fail at times. As of patch 1.15, the drones do not have collision. This means they shouldn't get stuck anymore!

Items:

(From now on, all items are described from left to right).
1. Drone Army (200 Solar): Increases the amount of drones you can create. (+1 per level)
Lvl 1: 3 drones. Lvl 2: 4 drones.
2. Dark Matter Shots (140 Solar): Makes drone shots and explosions blind enemies.
Lvl 1: +0.5 seconds of blinding effect.
3. Weapon Clip-on (190 Solar): Increases the damage of your drones' shots. (+2 per level)
Lvl 1: 6 damage. Lvl 2: 8 damage. Lvl 3: 10 damage.
4. Hyper Drive (210 Solar): Increases attack speed of drones. (+33% per level)
Lvl 1: +33% attack speed. Lvl 2: +66% attack speed.
5. Weaponised Hull (240 Solar): Improves drone explosion upon destruction.
Lvl 1: +6 Explosion damage.
6. Warpgate Overdrive (200 Solar): Reduces cooldown time on drone gateway and summons drones faster.
Lvl 1: 3 seconds spawn frequency.

The suicide drones are your main offensive weapon. Depending on how you upgrade them, they can cause immense damage over time, deliver high burst damage with self-destruct attacks and harass other players. It's often wise to buy this skill as your 1st or 2nd item. If you see an enemy with low health, don't be afraid to send your drones at them. It'll either kill them, cause them to flee or set up the kill for your team mates.

Now, let's move on to the next unique skill in Voltar's arsenal.

Abilities - Part 2 (Healbot)

"Techno-synaptic wave modulator at optimum frequence."

Moving on to Voltar's second unique skill: The Healbot.

Healbot

• Cost: 135 Solar
  
• Heal: 4HP/tick
  
• Attack Speed: 240
  
• Cooldown: 14s
  
• Time: 6s
  
• Health: 60HP
  
• Range: 8

The Healbot is Voltar's second unique skill. By pressing the middle mouse button, you will drop a small healbot at your current location. Once it's deployed, it will heal you and your allies in a large radius for 6 seconds. The healbot will disappear once it's destroyed or 6 seconds after deployment.

• Tip! The healbot combined with your healing wave (main attack) can hold an attack against an enemy turret for an extremely long period of time. If you can get a fellow awesomenaut to help you, you can bring down a turret in a matter of seconds, even if it has a lot of HP left.

Items:

1. Energy Drink (250 Solar): Increases the health and longevity of Healbot. (Health +10, Time +2 per level)
Lvl 1: 70 HP, 8 Second lifespan. Lvl 2: 80 HP, 10 Second lifespan.
2. Overheal Potion (210 Solar): Increases the healing power of the Healbot. (Heal +2 per level)
Lvl 1: Heal 6HP/tick. Lvl 2: Heal 8HP/tick.
3. Turret Add-on (230 Solar): Enables your Healbot to shoot at nearby enemies. (+2 Damage per level, attack speed: 200.
Lvl 1: Healbot now damages enemies for 2HP/tick. Lvl 2: 4HP/tick.
4. Hydraulic Sugar Dispenser (170 Solar): Reduces cooldown of Healbot. (-2 per level)
Lvl 1: 12s cooldown. Lvl 2: 10s cooldown.
5. Cortex Tank (175 Solar): Healbot will knock away enemies.
Lvl 1: Your healbot will emit a knockback wave when spawning and every several seconds. Enemies hit will be stunned for 0.1 seconds.
6. Healthpack Surprise (140 Solar): Healbot will spawn a healthpack after time-out.
Lvl 1: When the healbot disappears without being destroyed, it will drop a health pack.

The healbot is one of the best support skills in the game. Depending on how you upgrade it, it can provide insane healing to you and your team-mates, keeping you in the fight longer. It can also be an effective area denial skill, as well as harrass enemies behind turrets.
Whenever you sense a team fight is starting or when you help your droids attack an enemy turret, don't be afraid to plop down a healbot. It often deters enemies, giving you and your team the edge in many possible situations.
Remember that the healbot's cooldown starts as soon as you use the skill, so it's actually much shorter than you might think.

• Tip! Remember that your healbot has health. You can place it in front of some droids and tank it for quick cash (Thanks Knotsie and Orth!)

We have the first two, unique skills covered, so lets move on to the next in our list: Healing wave, your main weapon.

Abilities - Part 3 (Healing Wave)

"Tactical advantage is mine!"

Next up: Healing Wave.

Healing Wave

• Heal: 2HP
  
• Max Heal: 9HP
  
• Attack Speed: 75
  
• Range: 4.8

The healing wave is your primary weapon. As the name implies, it's used to heal allies (drones and 'nauts). It has quite the short range, but it can be extended with an item. While your healing wave is no replacement for the health packs of critters, it can support your friends and droids in battle for long enough to get the upper hand quite often.
Because voltar has little to no offensive capabilites, the healing wave is your main source of income. Any allied unit you heal will give you some solar for every heal!

• Tip! As of patch 1.21, Healing Wave now has a charge up. After 2.2 seconds you will reach max charge.

Items:

1. Happy Thoughts (200 Solar): Increases the maximum healing power of healing wave. (+2 per level)
Lvl 1: +2 max heal. Lvl 2: +4 max heal. Lvl 3: +6 max heal.
2. Psychokinetic Repulsion (135 Solar): Adds a knockback effect to healing wave.
Lvl 1: Your healing wave now knocks back enemies when hit. Requires charge time of 0.8 seconds to take effect.
3. Psychothrust (155 Solar): Increases range of healing wave. (+1.6 per level)
Lvl 1: Range: 6.4. Lvl 2: Range: 8.0
4. Dreams of Greed (155 Solar): Gain more Solar for healing with healing wave.
Lvl 1: +10% solar/heal.
5. Twisted Nightmares (200 Solar): Increases healing over time of your healing wave.
Lvl 1: +15 Heal over time.
6. Euphoric Thoughts (380 Solar): Increases the maximum healing power of your healing wave.
Lvl 1: +6 max heal.

As you've probably noticed, the Healing Wave does not inflict damage. Your healing wave is your main source of income, so use it as often as you can. Depending on your build, you may want to buy Dreams of Greed early to maximize the amount of solar you earn as you play.
The healing wave's short range is quite troublesome, meaning you'll have to either buy Psychothrust to increase its range, or stick very close to your ally (Which leaves you vulnerable should they flee without letting you know).

Finally, we'll talk a little bit about Voltar's special jumping ability. Don't worry, right after that we'll talk about 2 suggested builds and learn how to properly play Voltar!

Abilities - Part 4 (Hover)

"Look! No hands!"

Last in our list of Voltarian abilities is Hover. Pressing W will make Voltar jump. While in the air, holding down W will allow Voltar to hover, making him descent much more slowly. This is very useful when trying to avoid long range enemy fire or when you want to go over a gap.

• Tip! You can use Hover as soon as you jump off a jump-pad to mislead enemies into jumping on it as well, giving you precious time to escape (Thanks Knotsie!)

Now that we know what Voltar can do, lets put it into good use in two different builds!

Build 1 - Assertive Support

"Don't do anything stupid without me!"
The assertive support build focuses more on Voltar's healing abilities than his offensive ones.

When to use it:

• If your team consists of squishy characters.
  
• If your team consists of a tank that is easy to bring down (Pretty much any player that doesn't know how to play as a tank).
  
• If you play with friends who know what they're doing.
  
• If your team is getting pushed back hard early on.

Items:

Suicide Drones:

1. Drone Army: This item is always useful to have. By increasing the amount of droids you have, you can increase your damage output while still maintaining your support role in the group.
2. Weaponised Hull: Because this build focuses heavily on support capabilities, you may become an easy target if you're left alone. Having weaponised hull with at least 3 drones by your side allows you to inflict massive damage to your chaser, possibly getting them to back off you. You might even get an assist/kill out of it!
3. Warpgate Overdrive: Since blowing up your drones will be your main damage dealer, getting Warpgate Overdrive will help you make sure you'll be able to defend yourself better by getting your supply of drones 25% faster.

• A different option can be "Dark Matter Shots" instead. If you ever got blinded in this game (or any other MOBA game, really), you probably know why. We are afraid more of what we can't see than what we can, so if you manage to get far enough, your chaser might give up without even knowing that you only have ever so little HP left.

Healbot:

1. Energy Drink: As I've mentioned countless times already, this build is all about healing and supporting your fellow 'nauts and droids. The energy drink item will allow your healbot to stay in the battlefield longer and take more damage before going down, making it extremely useful when assaulting a tower.
2. Overheal Potion: Healing is all nice and well, but healing too slowly might not be enough to save you or your friends. This item will make each 'tick' (Heal rate = 60, that means 60 ticks per minute. In other words, the healbot will heal once every second) heal more, making the healbot that much more effective.
3. Hydraulic Sugar Dispenser: Every second without a healbot during an attack is a dangerous one, since in most cases you won't be able to support everyone at once. The HSD will make sure to minimize that vulnerable time.

• If you think your team is doing well, you can buy "Turret Add-on" instead. This will turn your healbot into a terrific area denial weapon. It can also help greatly when assaulting turrets as it makes enemy 'nauts back away while destroying any approaching droids.

Healing wave:

1. Dreams of Greed: Always a good choice. Try to buy it early in the game. As mentioned before, you will get solar for anything you heal with your healing wave, and since this particular build's items are quite expensive, you can use any increase in solar income you can get.
2. Happy Thoughts: I hope I don't need to repeat myself by this point. You are here to heal, so you might as well do it as good as you can.

• Alternatively you can go for Euphoric Thoughts. It's a little bit more expensive and has only one level, but it'll increase your healing by 4. If you want, you can go extreme and buy this ALONG with Happy Thoughts [13HP (+10 over time)heal per shot? Yes please!]

3. Psychothrust: This will allow you to move back a bit and, often, give you enough space between you and your target to avoid getting hit by any explosions hitting them. It'll also give you more of a head start should you need to run away from danger.

• As mentioned just one paragraph ago, you can go for Euphoric thoughts instead.
  
• You might also replace this item with "Psychokinetic Replusion", to give yourself some breathing room if you get chased. Note that you should NOT choose this item if you use "Dark Matter Shots" to blind your chasers. If you're close enough for your shots to push them back, you're close enough for them to continue chasing you.

Generic Items:

1. Space Air Max: Voltar is slow moving and can easily get hit repeatedly by chasing opponents while running away. This extra speed will come in handy in those situations, and it'll also allow you to get back in to the fray faster after buying items/dying.
2. Solar Tree: Get 2 solar instead of 1 every few seconds. It's terrific in long matches, so it's wise to buy it very early on.
From here you have two options, pick one that best suits your current situation and play style.
3. Power Pills Turbo: This will increase your health by up to 90 points, which is critical if you're having a hard time surviving or are facing hard hitting opponents.

Purchase order

Honestly, your purchase order should vary according to how the match unfolds. Getting pushed back? Upgrade your healbot and healing wave. You're right outside the enemy base? Get those droids to full capacity and wreak havoc upon anyone who steps outside safety.
However, here are some tips that might help you decide what to pick:

• Try getting Solar Tree, Dreams of Greed and Suicide Drones as early as you can. Yes, this is a support build, but your suicide drones are your only way to defend yourself against enemies, killing critters for HP and solar and who knows, you might get a lucky kill or two. Dreams of Greed and Solar Tree will net you some nice cash for you to spend later on in the game.
  
• After buying the Healbot, try to get make it as effective as possible. I usually go for Overheal Potion, then Energy Drink, then whichever last item you picked.
  
• Remember, this is a support build. After getting the Suicide Droids, focus on improving your healbot and healing wave first (perhaps buy Droid Army somewhere mid-game to keep up with the opposition. Don't forget the generic items as well!).

Practical Examples:

• When attacking a turret, throw a healbot and keep healing your droids and fellow 'naut. With any luck your fellow awesomenaut will bring down the turret with your help (and the droids') faster than you can say "Extraterrestrial interplanetary scrap exchange company". (Take a look at the screenshot on the left!)
  
• After helping your friends in a teamfight with your healing wave and healbot, you can send your drones on a suicide misson to make sure the opponent doesn't escape and you get a nice sum of cash for those shiny new shoes you wanted to buy.

If you want to take a more active role in battle, you can try the more aggressive build suggested in the next chapter!

Build 2 - Aggressive Support

"I kill you... with my brain!"
Unlike the Assertive Voltar, the Aggressive Voltar relies less heavily on allies to deal damage (though they're still a major necessity from early to mid game) and can easily outnumber the other build in terms of sheer firepower. However, this comes at the expense of less powerful healing capabilities, which can be an issue if the team consists of squishy characters.

When to use it:

• If your team consists of fighter characters that are durable or have escape skills.
  
• If it looks like you're stuck in a stalemate.
  
• If you have at least 1 character who's a good turret wrecker (You might want to make sure they're actually aware that their character can bring down turrets relatively easily before investing in build-specific items)

Items:

Suicide Drones:

1. Drone Army: As explained previously, it's always good to have more drones around you, no matter how you choose to play. In this build in particular, it's actually a necessity!
2. Weapon Clip-on: This build is all about maximizing your damage output, so increasing the damage of each shot from the drones is a fairly obvious choice.
3. Hyper Drive: The faster they shoot, the more damage they do over a set amount of time. Makes sense, doesn't it?

• If after trying this build for a while you notice that you send your drones to suicide instead of using them passively, you can use the build written in the Assertive build chapter.

Healbot

1. Turret Add-on: Again, a pretty obvious choice. You'll be able to do some great damage to anyone who sticks around for too long thanks to your drones as well.
2. Energy Drink: The longer your healbot sticks around, the more damage it can potentially do.
3. Hydraulic Sugar Dispenser: The healbot has a pretty long cooldown, so try to cut it short if you can. Who knows, it might be enough to turn the tide of battle, and gives you a little bit more room for error, should you drop one by mistake.

• If healing becomes an issue, you can pick Overheal Potion instead.

Healing Wave:

1. Dreams of Greed: As previously explained, Voltar's skills are expensive. You can use any bit of solar you can get.
2. Happy Thoughts: In the end of the day, Voltar is a healer. Since you won't be putting much effort into healbot's healing capabilities, you might want to invest in your own.
3. Psychothrust: As explained in the previous build, this item will let you get some space between you and your allies and opposition. It can also be a life saver.

• Alternatively you can go for Euphoric Thoughts to maximize your healing wave capabilities.

Generic Items

These go much in the same way as the previous build. I have pasted them here for your convenience: 1. Space Air Max: Voltar is slow moving and can easily get hit repeatedly by chasing opponents while running away. This extra speed will come in handy in those situations, and it'll also allow you to get back in to the fray faster after buying items/dying.
2. Solar Tree: Get 2 solar instead of 1 every few seconds. It's terrific in long matches, so it's wise to buy it very early on.
From here you have two options, pick one that best suits your current situation and play style.
3. Power Pills Turbo: This will increase your health by up to 90 points, which is critical if you're having a hard time surviving or are facing hard hitting opponents.

Purchase order

Again, it's always wise to invest in the skills you need the most right now. If you need more healing power, go for your healing wave. If not, check out these tips:

• As always, try to get your Solar Tree, Dreams of Greed and Suicide Drones up and running as fast as you can.
  
• This time, after purchasing the healbot, put all your efforts into the drones and healing wave. Try to buy the healbot's Turret Add-on sometime midgame, or when your team is making a push.
  
• Aggressive as this build may be, you are still the team's healer. Never forget that.

Practical Examples:

• The combined firepower of your drones, another awesomenaut, droids and your healing wave make for a near unstoppable force. See that image over there to the right? A minute or so after it was taken, we killed 2 enemy 'nauts and destroyed a near full HP turret. Wadd'ya say about that?
  
• If you notice the enemy 'nauts are dead or not protecting their turrets, you can make a great push on any lane and cause some serious damage to the turret by keeping your droids alive. Don't be afraid to press 2 on your keyboard to call for help!

We are almost done! Just some final extra tips and you'll be free to go kick butt (psychokinetically, of course) as Voltar!

Extra Tips

"I require more and more"

1. Remember - Voltar is a support character. Say this sentence out loud 5 times so it can sink into the back of your head. You are pretty much worthless without your fellow 'nauts, even if you go for the aggressive build.
2. Continuing from the previous point, Voltar benefits the most when he sticks around with at least one fellow awesomenaut. A nice way to understand why is looking at it the other way - what would YOU do if you saw an enemy being backed up by Voltar?
3. You'd probably think "Oh, that's easy! Kill the medic[tvtropes.org]". Well done! That's a great idea. But guess what - if you think about it, so can the enemy, so make sure you're near an ally as often as you can. If you have to go your separate ways, make sure you can make it to safety as quickly as you can should the need arise.
4. You've probably noticed I pretty much repeated the same thing in 3 different ways. That's because I've seen way too many Voltars who don't follow this rule and end up doing more bad than good for their team. I can't stress this enough: Stick together with at least one more 'naut!
5. Your healing capabilities get really amazing late-game, so don't be afraid to encourage your friends to push, even if the enemy is at the gate (I've actually managed to turn around a game like that - from having all of our turrets down and the enemy in our base to actually winning the game!)
6. The healbot is great in nearly any situation that involves the enemy somehow - from area denial to dealing damage in a large area in a team fight. If you see an enemy heading your way, drop it and watch them run away in fear.
7. Try to buy at least one "Droid Army" upgrade early. The extra firepower is more useful than you might think.
8. If you can come up with a better reason to let go of your LMB than using a skill or running away, you have my permission to do so. Else, don't even think about it. Anything you heal with your healing wave will net you cash. So why the heck not?
9. Don't underestimate harassment - Most people don't know when to run, and just when they think they can get the kill on you for running away, a friendly 'naut can come and finish what you started.
10. That being said, don't live too dangerously. If the enemy is a heavy duty tank or a quick moving brawler, you might want to have your friends initiate the fight.

Epilogue

"I shall remake myself, I have the technology!"

I'd like to thank you again for reading this guide. Hopefully it helped you learn a thing or two about how to play as Voltar (or against him). I've put quite a lot of effort into making this guide, so if you find it useful, why not rate it and leave a comment? I'll happily reply to any comment - positive, negative and even just plain trolling (lolno).

Obviously, if I'll learn anything new in the future, be it from the comment's section or through gameplay experience, I'll be sure to update this guide.

Also, a huge thank you to everyone who voted on this guide (or will). Thanks to you this guide is the first awesomenauts guide on steam to reach the 5 star rating!

See you next time!
-Creepy pie (AKA Jono00)

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[thazine]

Ofend me on profile pls

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[Bloojay]

Madre De Dios thats a lot of words.

[Dicur3x]

Not actual now.

[Mr.Tonguesoff(Not A Furry)]

Well it is outdated if you read the damn title!

[DJ Spicy Deluxe]

this is so outdated...though i do know what all this stuff is since i have the PS3 version which is less updated then the version talked about here!

[Waleed]

super outdated