League at a glance
What the Drone Fight League actually asks you to manage.
The Drone Fight League is a persistent franchise mode. The fights are autonomous, but the season around them is management-heavy: your choices determine which two drones fight, how damaged machines are handled, which mechanics work for you, how your franchise spends points, and how aggressively you participate in the share and factory economies.
Win league matches
Every regular-season victory earns 3 league points. The top 16 overall teams qualify for a four-round single-elimination postseason.
Keep drones available
Damage persists during the season. Repairing drones leave the active lineup and remain unavailable until their mechanic finishes the job.
Manage money
Rewards, mechanic salaries, factory spending, Team Shares, season profit, dividends, and valuation all connect into one franchise economy.
Watch the league evolve
AI teams repair, hire, invest, build factories, manufacture drones and sometimes fail financially. League News reports real events as they happen.
Create your franchise
Registration, roster lock, divisions and your starting staff.
The player franchise registration transaction costs 50,000 PTS.
Choose owned garage drones. Once the season is registered, those drones are locked to the active League season.
A new player team begins with one starter mechanic, you can employ up to two.
League structure
There are 32 teams split into four eight-team divisions: NEON, CHROME, CIRCUIT and VOID. Your franchise is assigned to a random division each new season; every division contains exactly eight teams.
Season & calendar
A full January-to-December competition cycle.
24 regular-season games
Round of 16
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Championship
The regular season consists of 24 games spread across 48 calendar weeks. The first 12 opponents are played twice, with the second leg reversing home and away. Each round is distributed across two weeks, which creates bye weeks and gives repairs and factory jobs time to progress.
12 opponents, twice each
Seven intra-division round-robin opponents plus five cross-division rounds form the first leg. The same fixtures are reversed for the second leg.
Weeks advance the world
During elapsed weeks, AI fixtures resolve, repairs tick, factory production advances, weekly League News closes, and the mechanic market refreshes.
Matches, formations & active lineups
You manage the team; the drones execute the fight.
Exactly two active drones
Every fight uses a 2v2 lineup. You must select exactly two available roster drones. A drone is unavailable if it is repairing or has been destroyed and not repaired.
How a match ends
A match can end when a team loses all team drones or when the 120-second limit expires. After full match time, a teams' remaining average HP percentage determines the winner; the higher value wins. A near-equal result is treated as a draw.
Five team formations
Left Slice
Drone 1 high-left; Drone 2 low-right.
Right Slice
Drone 1 high-right; Drone 2 low-left.
Center Bridge
High-center / low-center alignment.
Corner formations
Left Corner or Right Corner keeps both drones biased to one side.
Drone behavior programming
Your drones bring their programmable behavior into League combat.
Each League drone carries four behavior weights. Together they normalize to 100%, controlling how often the autonomous drone chooses each phase.
Attack weight
Prioritizes offensive firing and engagement.
Guard weight
Prioritizes projectile interception around the guarding drone.
Obstacle detection
Prioritizes hazard scanning and avoidance behavior.
HP detection
Prioritizes locating and moving toward health opportunities.
Persistent damage & repairs
The season is an endurance challenge, not a sequence of fresh exhibition fights.
| Condition | HP state | Base repair time before mechanic efficiency |
|---|---|---|
| READY | Above 75% | 0 weeks |
| DAMAGED | 50%-75% | 1 week |
| HEAVY DAMAGE | 25%-50% | 2 weeks |
| CRITICAL | 0%-25% | 3 weeks |
| DESTROYED | 0 HP | 4 weeks |
Repair duration
Each week, Workload Management and Mechanic skill affect whether a job successfully advances. Multiple simultaneous jobs on the same mechanic reduce that weekly progress chance. Restoration Quality then affects whether the drone is returned at full HP immediately when the timer reaches zero or needs an additional week.
Mechanics, contracts & traits
Your staff determines how efficiently damaged drones return—and what they may inherit.
Repair Speed
Major input into repair duration.
Restoration Quality
Helps determine whether the drone leaves the shop fully restored when repair time expires.
Diagnostics
A mechanic capability of diagnostics and damage evaluation.
Workload Management
Improves the chance that assigned repair work advances each week, especially under multiple jobs.
Staff limits and contracts
A team can employ up to 2 mechanics. The weekly free-agent market contains 10 mechanics. Player negotiations can offer salary in 500-PTS increments and contracts from 1 to 3 seasons. Salary is the strongest acceptance factor; longer deals and higher team reputation also improve the acceptance chance.
Repair traits
Mechanics carry two strength traits, one weakness trait, and a specialist drone model. Every completed repair replaces the drone's previous temporary mechanic trait with a new roll. Higher mechanic skill can improve the probability of receiving a strength instead of the weakness. Repairs on drone models specialized by the mechanic, boosts the inherited traits on that drone.
Standings & playoffs
The path from Week 1 to the Championship.
Standings order
Teams are ranked by league points, then wins, then losses, then team name. A regular-season win is worth 3 points; a loss is worth 0.
Playoff field
The top 16 teams in the overall standings receive playoff seeds 1-16. The Round of 16 pairs the highest seeds against the lowest seeds, then the bracket advances through Quarterfinals, Semifinals and the Championship.
Team reputation
Reputation persists across seasons. Current-season performance layers on top of the carried baseline: wins add reputation, qualifying for the playoffs adds a bonus, and becoming champion adds another bonus. Reputation influences franchise valuation and mechanic negotiations.
Franchise finances & valuation
Your competitive season is a real business.
The player franchise uses the player's global points wallet as its operating treasury. AI teams keep their own persistent bank balances and begin with 500,000 PTS. Franchise income and expenses accumulate into season profit, which is closed at season end.
Season profit
Revenue minus expenses. Positive profit is the primary earnings input to official valuation.
Earnings-based value
From the share-market era onward, positive previous-season profit is multiplied by 5 and then by a reputation band.
Persistent franchise
Bank balance, valuation history, shares, facilities and franchise identity continue across seasons.
Drone Factory
Turn franchise capital and mechanic expertise into permanent roster assets.
| Factory level | Cost to reach level | Production bays | Parts cost | Permanent inheritance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | 2,000,000 PTS purchase | 1 | 70% profit margin | 1 mechanic trait |
| Level 2 | 3,000,000 PTS upgrade | 2 | 80% profit margin | 2 mechanic traits |
| Level 3 | 5,000,000 PTS upgrade | 3 | 90% profit margin | 2 guaranteed strength traits |
Manufacturing flow
Postseason rewards & awards
Competitive milestones pay; exceptional drones and mechanics earn honors.
| Player milestone | Reward |
|---|---|
| Playoff qualification | 200,000 PTS |
| Reach Quarterfinals | 400,000 PTS |
| Reach Semifinals | 600,000 PTS |
| Championship runner-up | 750,000 PTS |
| League Champion | 1,500,000 PTS |
| MVP | 150,000 PTS |
| Other individual awards | 125,000 PTS |
Playoff progression rewards are cumulative: reaching a later stage means the earlier milestone rewards have also been earned.
Season honors
MVP
Composite season impact using damage, KOs, intercepts, recovery, accuracy, matches and obstacle mistakes.
Damage Leader
Highest season damage dealt.
Top KO
Highest season knockout total.
Top Guard
Highest projectile interceptions.
Top Recovery
Highest HP recovered.
Sharpshooter
League shooting-performance honor.
Mechanic of the Year
Top mechanic honor from the completed season.
Champion
The franchise that survives the full playoff bracket.
The League also supports postseason negotiation opportunities involving award-winning rival drones. Player teams can make offers to buy award winning drones.
League News
A weekly publication built from events that actually happened.
Competition
Results, KOs, streaks, playoff rounds and the Championship.
Repairs
Drones entering repair, returning to service and inherited repair traits.
Staff movement
Signings, departures and AI staff upgrades.
Facilities
Purchases, upgrades and manufactured drones.
Market Watch
Primary and secondary ownership moves by player and AI franchises.
Franchise business
Season financial closes, valuation movement and bankruptcy/expansion stories.
Importance scale
| Level | Meaning | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Routine | Normal fixture / brief |
| 2 | Minor | Repair movement, ordinary financial close |
| 3 | Notable | KO/streak match, mechanic signing, ordinary share purchase, manufactured drone, season award |
| 4 | Major | Playoff game, factory purchase/upgrade, major share stake, major valuation move |
| 5 | Historic | Championship, champion declaration, bankruptcy/replacement franchise |
The off-season
The competition resets; the franchise does not.
- Season profit and official valuation are closed.
- Dividends are calculated from the profit pool.
- Player season rewards are prepared and paid authoritatively.
- Mechanic payroll is settled.
- Mechanic contracts can expire and require renewal decisions.
- AI teams may hire or replace mechanics.
- AI teams can invest in factories and upgrades.
- AI factory programs can produce replacement/roster drones.
- AI share investment activity can reshape ownership.
- Bankrupt AI franchises can be retired and replaced by expansion teams.
- Reputation carries forward as the new baseline.
- Wins, losses, points, playoff state and seasonal drone statistics reset.
- Drone HP returns to full and repair state is cleared.
- A special League News Off-Season Report captures major moves.
Practical season strategy
How the systems fit together when you are trying to win.
Protect roster depth
Do not overuse the same two drones if your registered roster gives you alternatives. A healthy bench is insurance against a multi-week repair bottleneck.
Balance speed and workload
A fast mechanic is valuable, but two simultaneous repairs can punish weekly progress. A second competent mechanic can matter more than one elite mechanic handling everything.
Preserve operational cash
A factory is powerful but expensive. Do not ignore mechanic salaries, share opportunities, and the parts cost of actually using the facility after purchase.
Arrive healthy
Weeks 49-52 leave little margin for a damaged two-drone core. Late-season repair decisions should consider not only the next fixture but whether your best lineup will be available for the postseason.
Program to strengths
A strong guard drone benefits from guard emphasis; an accurate attacker benefits from attack emphasis. Use the weights to amplify the drone rather than forcing every drone into the same role.
Read League News
News can reveal that a rival is repairing a key drone, buying a factory, changing staff, building ownership positions or suffering financial stress—context the standings alone do not show.
Quick reference
The numbers worth remembering.
| System | v90 rule / limit |
|---|---|
| League size | 32 teams, 4 divisions, 8 teams per division |
| Registration | 50,000 PTS |
| Player roster | 3-8 drones |
| Active lineup | Exactly 2 drones |
| Regular season | 24 games across Weeks 1-48 |
| Match time | 120 seconds |
| Win / loss points | 3 / 0 |
| Playoffs | Top 16 overall; Weeks 49-52 |
| Mechanics | Maximum 2 per team |
| Mechanic contracts | 1-3 seasons |
| Share market | Unlocks Season 2 |
| Total shares | 100 per franchise |
| Maximum outside ownership | 50 shares total |
| Maximum one outside owner | 40 shares |
| Dividend pool | 50% of positive previous-season profit |
| Valuation floor | 50,000 PTS |
| Earnings multiple | 5.0× before reputation multiplier |
| AI starting bank | 500,000 PTS |
| Factory purchase | 2,000,000 PTS |
| Factory Level 2 | 3,000,000 PTS upgrade |
| Factory Level 3 | 5,000,000 PTS upgrade |
| Factory slots | 1 / 2 / 3 by level |
| Factory parts multiplier | 30% / 20% / 10% of generated market price |
| Factory build window | 8-16 weeks |
| League News history | Newest 4 weekly issues + off-season report |
What to check before advancing a week
- Your active lineup still contains two available drones.
- No critical drone should be fighting only because you forgot to open Repairs.
- Repair workload is distributed sensibly across your mechanics.
- Any mechanic contract or inbox action requiring attention is resolved.
- Your factory bays and production assignments are intentional.
- You have enough PTS for planned commitments.
- Check standings for playoff pressure and seeding.
- Read the newest League News issue for rival-team developments.