Adrenaline: to most people, a rush that they seek when skydiving, snowboarding, or some other dangerous activity, but to one man in particular, a prized CAD creation. In his own words, StarlessSoldier admits that Adrenaline is a prize in its own right:
"I've had several designs that have meant alot to me, like Copperhead and SWAT, but Adrenaline's been around the longest and consumed more of my time than probably all of my current bots put together."
Adrenaline appeared on the scene during Custom Fantasy Robotic Combat 2. When competitors saw this creation of Team Omegaforce, there was a certain familiarity about it:
"The first Battlebots fight I ever saw involved Don Hudson's HW robot, Tazbot. I thought Taz was the coolest thing I'd ever seen, and it quickly became my favorite robot. In [Shadywhtboy22's] old FBB tournaments, I used Tazbot as my HW. I was quickly amazed at how many strategies Tazbot's unique design could facilitate. After season 1 of CFBB I found myself looking for a way to incorporate this design into a Custom bot.... As for the weapon, I wanted a flipper bot at the time, and I didn't want to totally copy Taz, so instead of a lifter/thwack arm I used a flipper.
And incorporate he did.
The original intent was to copy Tazbot in many ways, but it wasn't easy, or completely possible, at the time, at least.
"My CAD abilities at the time actually hindered it's similarities. I couldn't build the main chassis right, so instead of Tazbot's signature "feet" the outer armor consisted of a front and rear shield. Both shields were made more offensively effective via the "sawtooth" design that is now a staple of every Adrenaline build.
That "sawtooth" design proved to be a moment of accidental genius for Team Omegaforce. With sharp angles at the top that could hold opponents, what served as shock absorbers for the original source of inspiration became a useful and formidable inactive weapon for Adrenaline, across its many design changes.
Having roleplayed with Tazbot previously, adapting the fighting style for Adrenaline was a painless transition, but what looks so formidable has not often been able to prove itself in battle.
"My biggest downfall with the bot was the turbulent timing of using it. I missed most of my RP's and forfeited multiple times....I guess that's one reason I've kept the bot around for so long. I've never got to draw on its true potential."
With StarlessSoldier's busy life, Adrenaline gathered more dust than dents, even with a more aggressive design.
But with the revival of the Advanced Robot Combat leagues, Adrenaline is back, and looking for a chance to live up to its long-established hype, despite the current busy life inherent in the military service of StarlessSoldier. With a new axe, Adrenaline means business.
"I not only think it's a better weapon for the purpose, but also ... it helps symbolize Adrenaline's evolution into a new creation independent from its Tazbot roots. I think the current version reflects only the basic concept of the design. This new of course has 4 wheels for the first time, and not cambered or exposed. The chassis is lower and more streamlined and the armor is more purpose built and unique. As far as totally redesigning I think it has hit a peak. What I want now is to see where its weaknesses in battle are and improve directly on those."
The chance to see where the weaknesses lie may in fact come from a bot that looks strikingly similar, at least in inspiration, to Adrenaline. Wrath Of Draco: a heavyweight bot from Team Gemini that has succeeded where a busy Adrenaline hasn't: a championship title. Nonetheless, StarlessSoldier looks optimistically, and even eagerly, to the new season. And even though Wrath Of Draco isn't registered for ARC Revolution, StarlessSoldier would enjoy a confrontation with Wrath Of Draco.
"I'm actually a fan, I think he did an excellent job of putting his own spin on the concept, and kept it good looking as well. I think he went with a more streamlined and clean approach. It's got a menacingly low front wedge and the angle of the plow on the back makes trying to fight it at all difficult. He also seemed to go more in the direction of a powerful weapon, whereas Adrenaline's weapon is merely there to provide damage scoring abilities. [Area51Escapee] has always been a fierce competitor and just like any of our matches (Inergalactic VS. X-combat, Solar Smash VS. X-Dragon) it can be anybody's game."
Along with the constant evolution and incorporation of Tazbot's original design, there is one more element of pride held in Adrenaline: its sense of realism.
"If I can easily critique my designs as such I won't use them... I try to make all my designs real world capable and I think Adrenaline could be built. Although it doesn't seem like it, it's not a very complicated design."
Maybe not complicated, but unique. So unique, despite its roots, that it now has a post-season award named after it: the Adrenaline Award recognizes creative and novel designs in a fighting robot. Living up to its own award, Adrenaline will continue to try and be creative and novel in its own evolution. With a new axe, along with the standards of sawteeth feet, and the trademark lime-green paint job, Adrenaline stands once more at the precipice, ready to show what it can do.
"Adrenaline has been the standard for looking good and kicking ass for some time now, but I've yet to pull off a title. Hopefully this new version can succeed where others have failed."