Touring the Scrapyard with Maxx

Well well well, look at this. Wouldn’t have expected a new face like yours down here. Welcome to "our" Metrix.

If you came here in search of the shiniest tech those corpos keep pumping out every day, you are in the wrong place. None of that new Teklo crap down here, should have searched at the Needle instead of looking for a needle down here - or do you see something shine in all this rust?

Get on, don’t let me keep you from the Metrix everyone wants to gawk at. Go on, blind yourself on those neon lights so you don’t have to see this misery down here.

Oh you've seen 'em already? Seen 'em for what they really are? You wanna join us?

Well now, that's different, ain't it? About time I introduce myself then. The name's Maxx, just a humble and upstanding citizen of the “City of Wonder“, at your service.

What a joke, am I right?

I mean look at all these scraps that our beloved 'Iron Assembly' - or what those wannabe royalties call themselves - have dumped at us - pardon me, I meant 'blessed us with!'

This is what it means for us if they talk about some bright future; after all, that old rusty future from yesterday has to go somewhere, and what place would be a better fit than our home! No one important to complain, am I right?

You see that ad there? Capitalism's ruining humanity. Seen their latest pitch? "More than Human"? Don’t make me laugh. How about trying to be human first? You ask me, this city could do with some more humanity. You figure that out, then you can think about those next steps later.

Like that treacherous princess, off playing with the newest toys while sitting high up in her Needle. Values machines more than real people, could you believe that?

Well we aren’t like those above. No polished smiles while lying about some great tomorrow that will definitely come - just not for everyone, but that’s the fine print, isn't it?

We know we have to get it ourselves, and we're willing to fight for it. That's the difference - while we're ready to get our hands dirty, those above will do everything to keep theirs clean. And there's always someone willing to clean up their mess for ‘em.

But enough about all of those ramblings of mine. You know all that already, else you wouldn't be here. Well you came all this way and let me chew your ear off, so let me repay you with a guided tour of all the 'wonders' you could find down here in the sparkliest dirt in all of Rathe!

My gear? You have good taste!

A good citizen's gotta be ready for anything, so I keep my trusty Banksy on hand. A quick crank on one of Metrix's standard issue Hyper Drivers, and you'd be surprised what they can do. Plus it never hurts to have a blunt instrument in a scrap. If the enforcers get too friendly, aquaint 'em with ol’ Banksy!

Most days, I'll wear those Cogwerx Base  Arms I 'borrowed' for the extra punch on one of my swings. Lets Banksy pack a bigger punch, especially if they dare to block it. Then there is the occasional brawl where speed isn’t everything; I slip on a Galvanic Bender for that, a present some princess 'graciously' left here for us.

Say about Teklo what you want, but I have to admit this Foundry Heart someone dumped here for a shiny new evo can take some hits - and we might as well use them to blow off some stream when going for Maximum Velocity. Can’t resent anyone for wanting to hit me while I wear Teklo's gear, but that's why it blocks a lot.

Since we want to go fast, don’t forget your Hyper-X3. If you're trying to be faster than some of those bright lights or just want to outlast some hammer swinging dunce, trust me, this one can take some hits and still works just fine once you plug in a few drivers.

The kicks are nothing fancy, just some solid Achilles Accelerators. Can’t let the enforcers catch me after a swing with Banksy, am I right? Hey, and bonus, they can guard against those arcane types who wander through here sometimes. If I see them coming, I'll break out a Viziertronic Model i, helps if you can see those spells before they hit you.

When we've got the choice, we wanna go faster over stronger. Boosting through the streets, cranking some drivers, bashing some heads. That’s the life! But you need to have strength to fall back on too.

Try to keep up your drivers or you might run out of fuel before you can Jump Start or Rev Up. It’s always worth Re-Charging or cranking out some new ones, maybe even use some spares I brought along the way.

But don’t worry that you might get too fast for those, they'll still power up your Dumpster Dives or Sprocket Rockets alongside your Hyper-X3. So don’t hesitate to set up some drivers on top with a Dive Through Data or Data Link for additional boosts. Maybe even a Big Bertha or Crankshaft to keep your current drivers running, if that’s more to your liking.

Another way to use your drive power is to fuel that Evo Face Breaker that was definitely bought fair and square.
The last guy who threw fists at it learned where it got the name real quick. Drivers are just good for everything, best thing that ever came off a Metrix assembly line.

Not as shiny as those new evos, but when it comes down to strength, I'm not too proud to fall back on that old Nitro Mechanoid the princess dumped here. Fuel it with some High Octane - maybe even double down on it - and you have something that can crack even the hardest armors. Not even those crusty old Guardians can block this thing, and if they somehow outlast it you can still hop on your bike and overpower your Moonshot with some Drivers to show them who owns these streets.

So I showed you my stuff, now let’s talk more about how to use it.

Some of my stronger moves take more Driver power or a bit of prep, so I like to keep a smaller hit in my arsenal, something I can boost with that doesn't take a lot of resources; off the back of that, I'm looking to collect Drivers whenever you can.

One of my big plays- and it doesn't take a lot of setup- is to boost three small hits, crank out a Driver fueled to the blue, and tapping into that relic of a Heart; then we go Max V and finish off by kickin' the Accelerator to swing Banksy for the insult to injury. One of my guys once clocked that impact at 25 damage - but I've never been much for stats. And with more Drivers, you could burn through more fuel and throw some stronger hits.

My fallback rhythm is a fuel-sipping boost, tap into one Driver and make another, then let Banksy close the deal. This only plays half my hand, so I've got something left in me to protect myself with- or I can use these moves as a springboard to combo off from. Really, I'm just reading the room and making the most of my opportunities. We got lots of options, so switch it up so your opponent won’t see what's coming! Living on these streets, you learn to stay flexible.

Managing your resources is important - a lesson someone ought ta teach those big brains in the high towers - so we're watching what we've got available now, what we can get out of our Drivers, and the reserves we know we got coming up. Every card in the deck matters, if ya follow.

Leaving already? What a shame, I was starting to like you. Well, hope your little day trip opened some eyes. And if you want to join us, feel free to stay, but thats your choice. Nothing here forcing you to do this or that.

But think about it. Smashing those lights up there so we could see some stars again. Now that sounds bright to me!

So what do you say?

You in?