Drops are Zwift’s virtual currency used in the Drop Shop to purchase frames and wheels. Generally, you earn Drops by putting in work (Drops=drops of sweat). But there are some things you can do to earn more Drops without putting in more sweat!
Read all about how Drops work >
One way to earn more Drops is by taking advantage of Zwift’s Drops Multiplier game for RoboPacers. Here’s how it works.
Stay Near Your RoboPacer
The whole point of the Drops Multiplier game is to encourage riders to group up around the RoboPacers. It does this by increasing your Drops accumulation rate as you stay near the RoboPacer.
There is a “bubble” around the RoboPacer, and if you’re within that bubble, the Drops Multiplier will keep increasing until it hits its max level of x2.5. The size of this bubble depends on the size of the group around the RoboPacer. Larger groups have larger bubbles since staying near the RoboPacer in a large group is more difficult.
As long as you’re close enough to the RoboPacer, you’re good! But if you’re too far ahead, a message will display: “LET [pacer name] CATCH UP”. Go even further ahead and that message will disappear. This is the danger zone! At this point you need to ease off the power in order to return to the group. Going further away will eventually cause your entire Drops Multiplier game to disappear/reset.
It works the same if you drop off the back. Stay close enough to the RoboPacer and all is well. But if the RoboPacer gets far enough ahead you’ll see a message: “CATCH UP TO [pacer name]”. Keep dropping back and that message will disappear. Drop further off and your Drops Multiplier game will disappear/reset.
Here’s what it looks like to get close to the RoboPacer, then move so far away that the game resets:
Note: if you use Zwift’s teleportation feature to jump from one RoboPacer to another, your Drops Multiplier will be reset with each jump.
How Drops Multiply
What’s the reward for staying close to the RoboPacer? More Drops, of course!
When the game begins, you aren’t receiving any boost in your accumulation of Drops. You must first stay close to the RoboPacer for 5 minutes (you’ll see the blue progress bar filling up). Once the progress bar fills up, the multiplier value to the right of the bar will change from “x1.0” to “x1.2”. This means you’re receiving 20% more Drops than you would on a standard ride.
Stay close to your RoboPacer for another 5 minutes, and the progress bar will fill up. You’ll be upgraded to x1.4, x1.6, x1.8, x2.0, then x2.5.
You will then stay at x2.5 as long as you remain near the RoboPacer.
Practice Makes Perfect
Maintaining a good position in the virtual peloton takes some practice since the pack is constantly churning around us and we don’t have brakes to slow when needed. So the Drops Multiplier game is an excellent training tool if you’re new to group rides and races on Zwift!
If you feel like you’re constantly dropping off the back or flying off the front, just keep practicing. You’ll learn to modulate your power to stay close to the RoboPacer, and eventually it will become second nature. We promise!
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