Sprinter Legs


 * Note: don't confused this with Mech Legs.

"A light sprinter leg with improved jumping capability."

- In-game description

Sprinter legs are movement parts in Robocraft. They are used to create humanoid or biomorphic robots. They're similar to mech legs, but jump higher and run faster too. However, those benefits come at a price.

Overview
Pros:
 * Can jump very high.
 * Can sprint very fast.
 * Have two jumping modes to choose from in different situation (Explained in the "Jumping" section)
 * Can strafe.
 * A single leg can still leave you mobile.
 * Hard to get into an angle where it must be flipped.
 * Can crouch to hide behind rocks (although not very deep).

Cons:
 * There's no standard sprinter legs and to new players, it will be a bit too expensive.
 * High CPU cost.
 * Needs a large cube area.
 * If in an angle where it must be flipped, the easiest way to do so is to rectify the bot.
 * Low stability.
 * Lower base health than mech legs.

Placement
Sprinter legs can be placed on the bottom surface of a robot. Same as mech legs, only a single leg is required for stability but for sprinter leg it is highly recommended putting at least two or even three on your bot. Reason being that bots having mech Legs has a high chance of getting its movement disabled as experienced foes often prioritize on hitting the legs adding to that it's also too large to prevent it from getting hit. And that is just for mech legs but for sprinter legs which have less base health, it is highly recommended not to take the risk.

Movement
Unlike other movement cubes, sprinter legs do not significantly increase their ground speed with the use of thrusters, much like mech legs.

Jumping
Pressing the SPACE (or another, custom choosed) key can have the bot jump into the air.

While airborne, sprinter legs have a self-righting effect too that keeps a robot legs-down so that a robot lands on it's feet, but it's weaker than mech legs, this also is one of reasons why sprinter legs have lower stability.

If you jump and do not release the SPACE(/custom) key, your sprinter legs will stay in a stowed position and will not grip the surface when you land.

So far, it seems that there's not difference between mech legs and sprinter legs. The biggest difference so far is the features mentioned in the "Pros" -- the strategic of jumping. If you just stand, then press SPACE, it will still be same. But, that's why it called "sprinter" legs, if you're running forward, then you press SPACE, you will see a white flame eject from the calf of your sprinter legs, like a pulse. You're jumping forward, instead of jump up. Of course, it's at the cost of something too. One is: you can jump so far and fast forward, but the height will slightly decrease. Then another is much more important: there will be a short period after you landed that you will freeze, unable to move. The period absolutely is very short but it will be deadly in some situation, everything needed is your spot reaction. For a basic example, it will be useful when capturing point in Battle Arena or League Arena mode.

Crouching
Pressing the SHIFT(/custom) key will cause a bot to crouch down, how well a robot can crouch depends on how much structure the bot has below the attachment points off its sprinter legs.

Mechs can still move whilst crouching, though at a reduced speed. This gives them a smaller profile, allowing them to duck down below rocks or barriers, and can offset the fact that most designs will have taller profiles than most Cruisers, Tanks, and low-flying Hovercraft designs.

Stowing
When airborne, tipped, flipped, or any other situation where sprinter legs cannot grab a surface to attach to, they fold up into a stowed position. This can slightly reduce the profile of a robot and makes a legged jumper a slightly smaller target.

Stowed sprinter legs are easier to roll and tip over when righting, but are still significantly impede the righting of a robot. If the jump key is pressed and held down without releasing, the bot's legs will remain in a stowed position till the jump key is released.

Poor Maneuverability
Combining mech legs with other movement cubes can modify the steering behavior of mech legs in ways that make a robot difficult to control (but adding Hover Blades is a good way if using Thrusters).

Features

 * It seems that unlike mech legs, sprinter legs do not grip surfaces.
 * When jumping from a cliff face, sprinter legs will aim to self-right during the fall, same as mech legs. Unfortunately, we mentioned it in the "Jumping" section. It means that you still "stand a chance" to land on your head, or back, or something etc.
 * When overburdened, sprinter legs have a slower top speed, have a lower ride height, and do not jump as high.
 * More legs can be used to increase weight bearing capacity, same as mech legs again. Though sprinter legs are not aimed for weight bearing but two legs are still better than one.
 * Just like with mech legs, having only one leg makes you move at reduced speeds (currently 75%).

Additional Statistics

 * All sprinter legs have a 945 Base Health/CPU relationship

Trivia

 * Mech legs were released on 22/10/2015 as a part of the League of Mechs update.
 * Sprinter legs were released on 29/09/2016.
 * Carbon 6 Hermes Sprinter Leg were added on 13/04/2017.