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Guide 03 · Tactics

How to pick a route that is harder to cut

Short answer

Rivals cut rails with the pulse tool, which reaches only 6 m along the ground, stops at the first wall or ledge and never hits another level. Rails in your start zone and within 1.6 m of the active receiver can’t be cut at all. So keep the exposed stretch in between short and awkward to shoot — along walls, on another level, away from the contested middle — and give it a backup branch, so one cut doesn’t stop your deliveries.

DiagramSafe ends, exposed middleA route from your generator to the active receiver. The first part lies in your start zone (radius 4.5 m) and can’t be broken. The last part lies within 1.6 m of the receiver and can’t be broken by anyone. The stretch in between is exposed: a rival courier with the pulse tool can cut it from up to 6 m away.start zone · r 4.5 mreach 6 mexposed stretchActivereceiverguard · 1.6 mYourgenerator
  • can’t be cut
  • exposed stretch
  • rival’s reach
Both ends of your route are safe. The fight is over the stretch in between — make it short, covered and doubled.
Applies to version 1.0describes the current gameUpdated:

01 / Already safe

Where a rail can’t be cut

  • r 4.5 m

    Your start zone

    Your own rail whose middle lies inside your start zone — the circle in your team colour around your base, 4.5 m in radius — can’t be broken. Rivals can’t hit you there either.

  • 1.6 m

    Right at the active receiver

    Rails of both teams whose middle is within 1.6 m of the active receiver can’t be broken. Look for the ring of shields around the receiver and the white collars on protected rails. The ring moves with the active receiver every round. Instead of a cut, the shooter sees the message Rails at the receiver are protected.

  • 3 s

    Under your Insulator

    The Insulator module shields one piece of your rail for 3 s (cooldown 12 s, aim up to 6 m). It never wastes itself on rail that is already safe — inside the guard ring or your own start zone.

In-game screenshot of the tutorial, step 5 of 7, “Break the enemy rail”: a rail runs to a receiver surrounded by a ring of shields; the card says “Rails right at the receiver are protected and can’t be broken”.
In-game screenshot · iPhone · tutorial, development build, 3 Oct 2026Tutorial, step 5 of 7: the ring of shields marks the protected zone. The card spells it out — “Rails right at the receiver are protected and can’t be broken”.Open the full frame

02 / The threat

How far a cut reaches

The wave of a shot stops at its first hit, so one shot breaks at most one piece. Then the tool reloads for 1.2 s.

Diagram
  • A rival fires to the right; an amber rail is 3 m away. The wave reaches it and cuts it.6 m

    cutIn reach

    Exposed rail closer than 6 m breaks.

  • A wall stands 2 m from the rival. The wave stops at the wall; the rail 4 m away is safe.6 m

    safeBehind a wall

    The wave stops at the first wall or ledge.

  • The rail lies on a raised deck 4 m away. The wave runs along the ground beneath it and misses the rail.6 m

    safeOn another level

    The wave never changes level: a rail up on a deck is out of reach.

  • The rail is 7 m from the rival. The wave fades at 6 m, short of it.6 m

    safeBeyond 6 m

    The wave goes no further.

The same shooter, four rails: only the exposed one in reach breaks.

03 / The choice

Choose the route

  1. Shorten the exposed stretch, not just the route

    What matters is the part outside both safe zones. A slightly longer route that spends less time in the open is often the better one.

  2. Hug walls and edges

    A wave stops at the first wall. Rail laid along a wall can’t be reached from its far side, so there are fewer places to shoot from.

  3. Use another level

    Where an arena has raised decks, rail up there is out of reach from the ground; decks are entered by their ramps.

  4. Stay out of the crowd

    The middle of the arena is where both teams meet. A side route meets fewer shooters — at the price of a few extra metres.

Diagram · real numbers
Shortest rail to the same receiver with the bridge open and without it (game’s arena tool). Each extra metre costs 1 resource and adds 1/8 s to every pulse’s trip.

On each arena

  • Coil Garden

    An open arena: central receiver, two flank routes and a bridge.

    In-game arena description

    In round 1 the bridge shortens the route to the central receiver from 27.6 m to 22.5 m — while someone keeps it powered. The two flank routes are always there.

  • Weaving Yard

    Levels and ramps: routes cross over each other without connecting.

    In-game arena description

    No bridges here. Rail on the raised decks can’t be hit from the ground; the raised routes are anywhere from slightly to much longer than the direct ground-level route.

  • Cloud Wharf

    Two bridges and an always-open safe route.

    In-game arena description

    Round 1 opens with a choice: about 29.5 m over a bridge, or 33.8 m along the always-open safe route — longer, but there is no bridge to lose.

04 / Redundancy

Build a backup

The pulse always takes the shortest powered path and can switch to another one at a junction when the way ahead is cut. So a second branch keeps deliveries flowing while the first is being repaired. The loading-screen tip puts it simply: A backup route keeps deliveries flowing when the main one is cut.

DiagramA backup branch keeps the pulse movingYour generator feeds a junction. From there the main route runs straight to the active receiver and a backup branch curves round. The main route is cut. The pulse switches to the backup branch at the junction and still reaches the receiver.cutmain routepulsebackupjunction+1
Main route cut? At the junction the pulse takes the next shortest powered path.
  • A backup doesn’t raise the rate: still one pulse every 3 s.
  • A backup uses resource (1 per metre) and counts towards your 80 m cap — share the job: one courier holds the main route, another lays the backup.
  • Fork early — ideally inside your start zone — so the whole exposed stretch is doubled. A fork just before the receiver leaves the shared part in front of it as a single weak spot.
  • Practise it in the challenge “Backup route”: Deliver 3 pulses while a bot keeps cutting your main rail.

05 / Damage control

When it gets cut anyway

  • 1 s

    Re-lay after the sparks

    The gap is locked while it sparks. The challenge “Repair” has the routine: Wait for the sparking gap to settle, then ride over it.

  • 4 m

    Patch it with the Jumper

    The Jumper restores a stretch of up to 4 m cut within the last 6 s, for 4 s (reach 8 m, cooldown 12 s). It works after the sparks settle and costs 1 per metre. Ride over the patch with laying on to make it permanent.

  • 12 s

    Save the energy

    A pulse on the cut stretch drops as a spark. Grab it before a rival does and stay in the receiver ring for 0.4 s — it’s still your point if you deliver it.

VELTRAIL 1.0.0 · build 1

Where the numbers come from

Every number on this page is read from the data files of VELTRAIL 1.0 (build 1). When an update changes the balance, the page changes with it.

Last compared with the game’s files:

Show the table
WhatValueSource
Pulse tool reach6 mGame balance databalance.json · tool.range
Pulse tool reload1.2 sGame balance databalance.json · tool.cooldown_s
Protected zone around the active receiver1.6 mGame balance databalance.json · rule_options.receiver_guard_m
Start zone radius4.5 mArena layouts (the same on all three arenas)arenas/*.json · base_zones.<team>.radius
Insulator: shield time3 sModule datamodules.json · modules[id=insulator].duration_s
Insulator: cooldown12 sModule datamodules.json · modules[id=insulator].cooldown_s
Insulator: reach6 mModule datamodules.json · modules[id=insulator].range
New rail, per metre1 per metreGame balance databalance.json · rail.cost_new_per_m
Pulse speed8 m/⁠sGame balance databalance.json · pulse.speed
Generator beat (one pulse per…)3 sGame balance databalance.json · pulse.emission_period_s
Active rail per player80 mGame balance databalance.json · rail.player_cap_m
Bridge closing warning3 sGame balance databalance.json · bridge.closing_warn_s
Sparking gap after a cut1 sGame balance databalance.json · rail.break_lock_s
Jumper: longest stretch4 mModule datamodules.json · modules[id=jumper].max_length
Jumper: works on cuts younger than6 sModule datamodules.json · modules[id=jumper].recent_window_s
Jumper: repair lasts4 sModule datamodules.json · modules[id=jumper].duration_s
Jumper: reach8 mModule datamodules.json · modules[id=jumper].range
Jumper: cooldown12 sModule datamodules.json · modules[id=jumper].cooldown_s
Spark, total life12 sGame balance databalance.json · spark.total_life_s
Hand delivery: time inside the receiver ring0.4 sGame balance databalance.json · spark.delivery_hold_s
Coil Garden, round 1: bridge open / the way round22.52 / 27.56 mMeasured with the game’s own arena tool on the version 1.0 arena layouts
Cloud Wharf, round 1: bridge open / the way round29.54 / 33.79 mMeasured with the game’s own arena tool on the version 1.0 arena layouts