The Complete Guide to Rollerbeetle Racing :)

So its finally here! The first offical racing mini-game in Guildwars! YAHOO!



Basic Info:
The Rollerbeetle Racing Arena can be accessed from Shing Jea, Kamadan, and Lion’s Arch by talking to the “Rollerbeetle Trainer” NPC.
Once inside the arena there are many NPCs that you can talk to about Rollerbeetle Racing. The most noteable NPCs are:

Kokusai [Beetle Designs]: For 100gold, you can change the main design of your beetle. The possible options are Plain, Racing Stripe, Flames, Peace Love and Harmony, Tiger Stripes, Wing, and Eyeball. Note that this does not change the color of your beetle. The color of your beetle is randomly choosen when you load into the arena or into a race. The random colors include: green, blue, cyan, yellow, purple/pink, and red.

Eldrid the Ancient [Records]: This NPC lists all the daily, monthly, and quarterly records.

Little Jack [Rewards]: This NPC currently does nothing. (That I am aware of). However, odds are this will be the way that those who are in the Top 100 claim their prize for the weekend.
Rollerbeetle Master [Rollerbeetle Racing]: Takes you back to the city you entered from.


Skills

The normal skillbar is replaced with the fixed skillset below:
1. Rollerbeetle Dash: For 5 seconds you move extremely fast.
2. Harden Shell: For 4 seconds, you can not be knockdown.
3. Ram: Skill, For 2 seconds, all adjacent foes are knocked down.
4. Distracting Lunge: All of target Rollerbeetle's Skills are temporarily disabled for 5 seconds.
5. Spit Rocks: You spit (3) rocks at target Rollerbeetle. If they hit, that target is knocked down.
6. Rollerbeetle Echo: For 20 seconds, this Skill is replaced with the next skill that you use. Rollerbeetle Echo acts as this skill for 30 seconds.
7. Rollerbeetle Blast: Target Rollerbeetle is knocked down.
8. Super Rollerbeetle: For 10 seconds, you move extremely fast and can not be knocked down.

Skill Notes:
-To use the skill Spit Rock, you must be able to see your target. If not you will get the obstructed message and your attack will have missed.
-If you use Rollerbeetle Echo and run over an additional box, there is a chance that you may randomly get Echo again. However, Echo will not be refreshed. Also if you have used Echo completely and run over another box or enter a checkpoint, the Echo'd skill will not recharge. (This will require some further testing to double check.)


Racing Basics:

-In the race, you compete against 5 other players until everyone finished or time runs out. The time limit on the match is 3 minutes.
- Each player starts out with 600,000 points and the points decrease by 1,000 every second.
-At the start of the race, everyone has the skills Rollerbeetle Dash, Harden Shell, and Ram available. Once these 3 skills have been used, they will not be recharged until the next checkpoint.
-Overall there are 7 check points during the course of the race.
-During the race there are boxes marked with a (?). Running over these boxes randomly unlock one of the other 5 skills for a one time use. After the box has been run over, the box will re-spawn approximately a second later. Note: If you hit already have one of the extra 5 skills and run over another box and nothing happens, its not a glitch. What happened was that the box randomly gave you the same skill you already had. (No, sadly you don’t get to use it twice).

Map and Box locations


The Starting Gates


Race Path: The Main route is marked in red. The green paths denote alternate paths, usually to a bonus box. The blue bars signify where the path crosses itself.


Box Locations: I have marked the locations of 19 boxes that I have found on the map. (If i have missed one, please do share. )

Rewards:

First place recieves 7 Tokens.
Second place recieves 5 Tokens.
Third place recieves 3 Tokens.
Fourth place recieves 2 Tokens.
Each other Player will recieve one Lunar Token if they reach the end of the track.

Gamer points are also rewarded for each race. The amount of Gamer points earned is equaled to the amount of Lunar Tokens won.

Sadly, Winning more than 10 in a row does not give glad points or anything special. (I did this easily )
However, you do earn Balthazar faction for Consecutive Wins and your, by default, Flawless Victory.

Tips and Tricks
-Roll around in the starting gate before the start of the race. This help generate a small amount of momentum to help your beetle get moving.
-To avoid getting knockdown at the start, put up Harden Shell as soon as you exit, or even a few seconds after, the starting gate. Also if your looking to get that holeshot, use Ram or Rollerbeetle Dash combined with Harden Shell, to put yourself in the front.
-Conserve your skills. Don't always use that Dash as soon as it recharges. Sometimes, its better to use your speed boosts at strategic times, like after a knockdown or at the bottom of a hill.
-Be wary of other players. The "c" button and "tab" are your friend. These buttons allow you target the other players to see what skills they use. For example, if someone is on your tail, target then to make sure they don't sneak up and use Ram while you don't have Harden Shell up.



I wanted to get this guide out ASAP, so I will be working on it and updating it as I go. As well, please feel free to submit any tips and trick that you have for better times.

Credit: Myself and GWaddit

Nice one. Sticky? ^^

By any chance is there a sort of Mario-esk attitude towards which skills you gain?

Like last place gets the 'Invincibility' Power Up whereas first place gets the bog standard ones?

Not that i am aware of. It seems pretty random as to what skill you get. There may be a percentage, but there is no easy way to calculate the percent chance to gain each skill. So basically its all random.

You might wanna add that at the start of the race each player starts out with 600,000 points and each second the score goes down 1,000 points.

you have to add that environmental effet caused by the water too

If you're not in the lead, instead using the wasd/arrows, try space-follow. You'll rubberband a lot less, take the fastest route (assuming the person ahead isn't driving off to the side). Just be ready to switch if you want to grab box, or you've caught up, or need to avoid another player.

Also, while it does not indicated it in the skill description, you get a speed boost from "Ram" as well.

Edited by Arkantos - Do not double post, use the edit button!

You should add that you get Error 7 half the time when loading the races.

Thank you GWaddit. I didn't know that. It makes sense but i never really thought about it. I'll add it in now. *thumbs up*

There's only one rule to Rollerbeetle Racing:

Hope that the other 5 racers suck more than you do.

Really. It's mostly a glorified game of luck in its currently implementation.

No, YOU have to be better then the other, it actually takes skill to play this game and strategy.

Mario Kart 64 anyone?

Yeah, this game actually takes skill to play.

Knoll, Mario Kart 64 is wtfpwn. Best game ever.

It's both skill in slowing your opponent, and the luck in getting those Super Rollerbeetle power-ups. I'm guessing that's the chief factor in getting a Top 100 score.

I think also coming up with a good racing line also helps, as you have to debate between deviating from a course some to get a power-up, or going for speed.

Most of all, and I'm sure many will agree, it comes down to luck; luck in getting a good holeshot, luck in being able to slow your rivals, and plenty of luck in putting enough distance to get out of others' attack range.

Another huge factor is lag... you have to watch it in corners especially, where a "racing line" will often result in you sticking to the wall or rubberbanding backwards.

While this appears to be correct, you can also "miss" a box due to lag. I have noticed several times now where running through a box does not register with the server or something (another result of lag I assume), and therefore results in no power-up. And I'm not talking about it giving you a skill you already have -- I have noticed this several times with the first box I take.

SOOOOOOOOOOOWWW.... the million dollar question now is: Why do we have a Monthly Record when this is just a 2-days in a year event?

Correct me if I am wrong, but I though Anet stated this race not to be permanent? Neway, just woke up from a long night work, so gotta try them beetleraces now. nice guide!

Also: People should stop kd'ing and start racing-> you'll all get higher points!

That is a very Good point Cain, will this be a permanent feature?

This is an excellent point. I wonder if this is how the very top of the top 100 got that many points - by somehow getting a bit of cooperation between all the players.

Reminds me of an old workplace team-building training exercise where they divide the employees into two teams and each round each team is asked to choose an option to gain points in the competition that can get them a leg up on the other team, or a neutral option. If both teams were to choose the "neutral" option, then all of the employees on both teams would benefit by making progress, whereas if they choose the competitive option, both teams fubar each other and no one makes progress. Of course the "no progress" option is usually the one taken when the choice is given, and that's the lesson of the exercise. It's the wrong choice. Really all of them are on the same team and it's better to cooperate for mutual benefit of everyone rather than "all drown together".

If only it was this simple, I got Superbeetle twice in the same runs, but got knocked down twice, so I still didn't get a high score... It's all a matter of chance, and the chance of getting 470K+ is very small.

I got 2 super beetles, no kds, and I was the only one that finished. Wanna know my score? 450k.