Super Robot fans rejoice! Super Robot Wars 30 recently received its first expansion pack this April bringing in an extra chapter and a number of new mechs to pilot through the galaxy.

Here’s a quick look at what’s on offer and how it can improve your Giant Robot Experience.

The New Content

Within the Super Robot Wars 30 DLC, Set 1 gives us the Mission: Expansion Pack Purchase but Set 2 is where the real meat (or rather metal) of the content is. A large number of new missions, a new difficulty mode for those that want a real battle, and 10 brand new playable units from across the Super Robot Pantheon.

The new difficulty mode is especially important. The Super Robot Wars games tends to be more about the spectacle than pure strategy. They’re meant to show off how cool the various robots are with their flashy animations. A new difficulty mode allows each robot to level up even further, perform even cooler attacks, and still face a challenge, therefore giving the game an even greater lifespan.

We plan to give you a more in-depth look at some of these mechanical monsters but first, I should note that the latest update for the game offers free missions where you can try out all the new robos, albeit with their movepools limited to their basic weapons. We highly recommend you play through this free mission before you purchase the expansion back and get a feel for the new units and if you like them or not.

The Missions

Your average mission in the Super Robot Wars 30 Expansion Pack will allow you to put around 14 units on the field. While that may sound like a lot, with the high amount of cool mechs in the game, it’s actually a fairly low number and you likely won’t be able to bring out all your favorites.

I suppose that is is the way of strategy games though, you can never have all your favorite units so you have to really think about who you need for the battle ahead. A good idea is to try and focus on mechs that allow for multiple pilots, this means that you can have more choices for spirit abilities to further buff your units.

Every mission chain you complete will also give at least one power part. Each robot will have a number of slots to equip power parts and adding one on will increase that stats in certain ways. Usually, mechs with more slots have more potential to become stronger. 

One feature I found particularly interesting is that most of the DLCs pilots will have conversations outside of the DLC missions, giving them a lot more personality and making them feel more integrated with the rest of the cast. 

The Super Robots

We come to the most important part of the Super Robot Wars 30 Expansion Pack, the new Super Robots. To put it simply, the expansion gives us some of the best units in the game that are more than worthy of being part of your army.

Let’s take a look at each of the new robots and determine if they are worth the extra price.

Getter Robo (DLC)

Pilots – Ryoma, Hayato, Benkei

This Getter Robo is specifically the Getter Robo from ‘Getter Robo Devolution: The Last 3 Minutes of the Universe’. This is a manga that acts as a re-imagining of the original 1974 Getter Robo anime. The robot more or less acts as a much-needed stand-in for the popular unit Shin Getter Robo.

Many fans were disappointed that Shin Getter didn’t appear in the base game, making this new DLC the most notable addition to the Super Robot Wars 30 roster from the expansion pack. For the sake of clarity, I’ll be referring to this mech as ‘DLC Getter Robo’, and the other Getter that was in the base game as ‘Base Game Getter Robo’.

And you’ll want to learn the difference as DLC Getter Robo is one of the most OP units in the game. This is largely due to the fact that it has three main pilots. Three main pilots can all learn skills like SP recovery, and all have great Ace Bonuses. Their G Ace Bonus will also allow their unit to have 75% of total max SP during the start of a mission as opposed to just 50%, making your unit stronger with every level you get.

The DLC Getter Robo can transform into three different forms before entering combat. The most notable of these is Getter 2 which has a bonus evasion buff once you gain 130+ morale. The 1st level of custom bonus also grants the ability for the DLC Getter to transform after an attack.

Compared to the Base Game Getter, which transforms partially in the form of an attack, the DLC Getter actually lets you transform the whole unit, which means each of the pilots can actually behave as the main pilot. This also means if you want to max out the pilot stats and abilities you’ll need to do it three times for this unit in order to use all of them. It is very much worth it though.

The new DLC missions also show us some interesting conversations between the Getter pilots, and yes the new attack animations from the DLC getter Robo are pretty amazing.

Getter 1 pretty much drops the sun on its enemies, the animators did a great job at emphasizing just how big that ball of light is and you can feel it carrying that weight before slamming it down.

Here are further stats for Getter Robo:

Shinkalion

Pilots – Hayato, Hokuto, Shashot

Charging ahead is the bullet train inspired Shinkalion from ‘Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion’.

Throughout the mission, Shinkalion E5 Hayabusa MkII will turn into Shinkalion E5 Hayabusa MkII OX ALFA-X. To be honest, I thought we would get two different Shinkalion mechs and they would combine to form the ALFA-X, but instead, the game just upgrades us to ALFA-X. Here, the pilot Hayato gets his dad Hokuto as a sub pilot. 

Hayato comes with a unique pilot skill called ‘Shinkalion Compatibility’. This skill will grant buffs based on your morale.

• At 130+ Morale, – 20% Damage taken
• at 150+ Morale, + 20% Damage dealt
• at 170+ Morale, + 30 sight/mobility, + 20 critical rate

As long as a robot has multiple pilots it’s going to be slightly OP due to the amount of spirit it can use. Plus with Shashot, the robot also has access to Analyze (which increases the damage taken by one enemy by 10%). Disrupt and Resupply are also great supporting spirits. Overall Shinkalion can provide support while also bringing firepower to the field.

It’s a little weird watching a kid interact with his dad while they’re also a child, while still referring to him as dad. At the same time though, their attack animation is slick, despite starting with just being a beam, it gives the feeling of a fast-moving electric train running forward. Fast and efficient.

Majestic Prince: Genetic Awakening Red5

Pilots – Izuru, Toshikazu

By far the best-named mech in the lineup, the Majestic Prince hails from the manga/anime series of the same name. One version of Majestic Prince already appears in the base game as Blue 1 but it has now gotten a stronger attack with Blue 1: Full Burst Mode.

The expansion pack further adds another Majestic Mech called Red 5 which can be changed to Red 5+ via the Option Parts menu and the Rabbits (Blue 1, Purple 2, Rose 3, Gold 4, Black 6, and Red 5+) will have a new and improved combination attack. 

The animation for this one drags a little but it makes sense. Here we have five characters teaming up for one attack and watching them plan out the assault is really fun. I’ve never seen Majestic Prince but I still got a good sense of each team member’s personality which made the attack feel all the more exciting.

Dygenguar

Pilots – Sanger, Ratsel

An original mech from the SRW series. In this game, Dygenguar comes riding on a Trombe (Aussenseiter) horse mech. You’ll have Sanger as the main Pilot, and Ratsel as the sub pilot. Both pilots possess the spirit Valor, which causes the pilot’s mech to deal 200% damage during their next attack.

Compared to other robos you are getting, Dygenguar seems to draw the shorter end of the stick due to not having unique pilot skills, and having fewer sub pilots compared to other robos.

When your giant robot is riding a giant robot horse, you’re making a statement. Dygenguar’s attack animation is exactly what you think it will be, a fullmetal jousting match that feel powerful and destructive.

Ultimate Dancouga

Pilots – Shinobu, Sara, Masato, Ryo

Ultimate Dancouga from the ‘Dancouga: Super Beast Machine God’ series is one of the earliest robos in the series, first appearing all the way back on Super Robot Wars F for The Sega Saturn. The mech hasn’t been seen in a while either with its’ last appearance in a mainline game being Super Robot Wars GC on the Gamecube in 2004. 

With that in mind, it’s really nice to see one of the earliest mecha IPs in the series being updated with shiny new HD animations. 

The main pilot Shinobu comes with a unique pilot skill called ‘Wild Instinct’, which gives him a boost of 130+ Morale, + 20% Damage Dealt, and +20 to final accuracy.

Every pilot aboard the mech also has access to the skill Valor. From 130+ Morale onwards Dancouga can move twice per turn. With tons of Valor to use, pretty much an offensive powerhouse.

As for the animation, you gotta love that sword. Like Getter, there’s a sense of weight as they swing that slab of metal that really sells the impact and the slice. The splash of Japanese character also really sets the mood, like watching an old samurai movie, but with giant robots.

Scopedog

Pilot – Chirico

The first thing of note about Scopedog is the unique skills of its’ pilot Chirico:

• Abnormal Survivor – At under 30% HP, + 20 Acc, EVC, CQB, RNG, DEF and SKL
• Precision Strike – Deal 150% damage on a critical hit

Scopedog from Armored Trooper Votoms is one of the smaller robots that you get in the game (other than the Ultramen). This is an issue since smaller mechs will take extra damage from bigger units unless the pilot has the ‘ignore size’ skill.

With Scopedog’s HP and Armor, it’s not that great at taking damage. This means that it’s fairly impossible to trigger abnormal survivor at a higher difficulty without it getting one-shotted.

Its ability to deal more damage on critical hits is great, but since most of the weapon attacks require ammo, without the right support, Scopedog might run out of firepower pretty fast. It’s a glass cannon that’s too much glass and not enough cannon. Overall there are better robos in this DLC.

His attack animation also isn’t the most exciting, he just shoots forwards with his guns. Compared to the others it feels a little small-scale but I do think it fits the robot. Armored Trooper Votoms is meant to be a hard science fiction series with a more realistic take on mechs. As such, maybe the lack of big spectacle is appropriate, even if it’s less thrilling.

SRWX

Pilots – Ryuusei, Aya

One of the free robos you received if you pre-ordered the game and it comes with a new attack. Its SRX attack can become an SRX Full Burst.

The new attack can build to over 10k power if you fully upgrade the weapon. Also, the animation will end with a pretty obvious Banpresto logo silhouette. Once fully upgraded (with 20 upgrades) the attack power can go over 10,000.

The attack animation is simple but effective. I don’t know why but the finger missiles, combined with that green hue before it fires just make the barrage feel all the more destructive.

Looking at the current roster of robos in Super Robot Wars 30 with all the DLC from the Expansion Pack, I’m pretty happy with the selection we got. Without sounding greedy though, I feel there are a couple of odd omissions from the game, particularly with the Gundam representation. 

For example, why hasn’t Char gotten one of his more iconic mobile suits like Gelgoog or Sazabi? Why doesn’t Banagher get his Unicorn Gundam? And where is Judau and ZZ Gundam? These guys are pretty much staples of the SRW series but none of them are getting their signature robos. They are sleeping on perfectly good fanservice DLC money right here.

Regardless, this was our look at the Super Robot Wars 30 Expansion Pack DLC.  Have you gotten it, or plan on picking it up. If so which mech are you planning to use for your army?

Super Robot Wars 30 is available for PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

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