The twelve BlitzVolley bots and career mode

Last updated: 28 September 2026

Twelve server-controlled opponents populate the solo game, in two tiers. The first six have a hand-written strategy, with an assumed strength and an exploitable weakness. The next six learned to play through training, over thousands of matches, each with a personality that shapes its game. Learning to beat each of them means learning a different part of the game.

Career mode

Career is played in three difficulties: easy, normal and expert. Each has its own line, where bots follow one another from weakest to strongest, based on their results measured by having them play each other. Beating a bot makes the next one playable and unlocks it at that difficulty in the Bots menu, to replay freely.

Each difficulty has its reward: on easy, the bot's look; on normal, its arena; on expert, its profile emblem, for the bots that have one. When a bot has no look or arena to give yet, it grants compotes instead. Career matches are first-to-11 and have no effect on your ELO: the rating shown next to each bot places its difficulty, it does not rate your account.

The second tier opens once the first tier's expert line is cleared. A boss, announced at the end of the line, will come later.

First tier: the six original bots

Ratings are estimated ELOs, rounded to 50. Naïf opens the line because he is the starter opponent, not because he is the weakest on normal.

Naïf: The Beginner

He follows the ball without guile. When it is on his side he stands just behind it and pushes it back; when it is on yours he returns to mid-court and waits. He predicts nothing, risks nothing and never smashes.

How to beat him: there is nothing particular to do, that is his job. Use him to drill your three touches and your angles, not to win quickly.

Kangou: The Jumper

He never stops bouncing: he chains a new jump on every landing. That gives him permanent vertical coverage and an unpredictable rhythm.

How to beat him: play low and fast. In the air he can no longer correct his horizontal position and he comes down on a timer he does not choose. A flat, driven ball played while he is at the peak of a jump is very hard for him to recover.

Pleutre: The Cautious

He computes where the ball will land, sets up behind that point, then drives forward through the contact: a genuine run-up, which gives his returns enough pace to clear the net cleanly. While the ball is on your side he hangs back, defensively.

How to beat him: he plays the predicted landing spot. Anything that breaks the prediction troubles him: heavy spin, balls driven into the side wall, short drop shots. And since he holds back, the net is his weak zone.

Fonceur: The Aggressive

He camps at the net and attacks early. He does not take the time to drop back under a high ball: he jumps and drives into it to smash. That early forward commitment is his whole game.

How to beat him: it is also his weakness, and a blunt one: deep balls sail over him. He is already at the net, committed forward; a ball lofted over his head to the back of his half is very often an outright point. Do not try to fight him at the net, he is better there than you.

Mur: The Wall

He holds the centre of his half and moves as little as possible. He predicts where the ball will land, gets there, and returns it with a standing contact: no run-up, no charge. He never dives and never smashes. His defence is almost impossible to break by force.

How to beat him: through placement, not power. Since he always returns high, soft balls, you have time to build. Alternate short and deep: he repositions correctly but slowly, and a drop shot just behind the net followed by a deep ball catches him out every time.

Filou: The Trickster

He is the last of the first tier, and the only one who deliberately changes plan mid-match. He reads the bounce like Pleutre, but switches roughly every second and a half between two styles: a powerful shot with a run-up, then a soft contact near the net. He varies spin and placement to wrong-foot you.

How to beat him: do not guess, watch. His two modes have visible tells: when he backs off to take his run-up, the ball is coming back fast and deep; when he stays standing near the net, it will drop short. Position on what you see, not on what you expect.

Second tier: the six trained bots

These six have no written strategy. They learned to play on their own, match after match, rewarded for winning points, and each for one particular way of winning them. Their game is not a fixed recipe: you do not beat them by repeating a flaw, but by understanding what drives them.

On normal, the weakest of them is already well above the strongest first-tier bot on expert.

Carabine: The Confident

A blonde bear from the far North. Carabine was rewarded for points won with spin: its balls turn and bend their path in the air.

How to approach it: do not judge a ball by its take-off but by its curve. Let it come down before committing: a ball that looks like it is flying out can dip into your half.

Grogros: The Grump

A prehistoric bear and a sore loser. The further behind he is, the harder he hits: his anger tracks the score gap, and it shows in his frown.

How to approach him: he is most dangerous when you are ahead. A lead is not managed by slowing down: expect heavier balls with every point you take.

Miror: The Reflection

It takes your look and plays in your arena. Miror was rewarded for copying its opponent's last special shot: your smash, your drop shot or your full blast comes back at you.

How to approach it: vary. A repeated shot teaches it the answer; a sequence that changes every point leaves it nothing to copy.

Catapulte: The Brute

A dark brown bear from the volcano. Catapulte was rewarded for hitting as hard as possible, and above all for smashes that get through: it looks for the high ball to drive down.

How to approach it: deny it high balls near the net. Flat, deep returns force it to defend instead of attacking.

Doudou: The Fearful

A blonde dog who is afraid of winning. The closer he gets to victory, the more nervous and cautious his game becomes. He does not throw points for all that: his faults cost him the point like anyone else's, and he remains the second strongest of the twelve.

How to approach him: do not count on his fear to win for you. Decisive points against him are played like any others: give nothing away.

Chien marron: The Fighter

A brown mountain dog for whom only winning matters. He was rewarded for no particular style: only for winning points, cleanly. He is the strongest of the twelve.

How to approach him: he has no tic to exploit. Everything the shot techniques guide teaches works against him: angles, spin, changes of pace.

Why play against bots

Beyond Career, the bots serve three purposes. They are available instantly, with no queue, which makes them the only way to warm up. The six original bots are perfectly reproducible, so if you want to drill the smash or the drop shot, they always do the same thing and you immediately see what your input changed. Finally, they fill the empty seats in tournaments, which lets a bracket start without waiting for eight human players.