Virtue Spire 4 Paintball Loader

by Doug Lamont

Virtue Paintball recently released its newest paintball masterpieces - the Virtue Ace paintball gun and Spire IV hopper! Here's everything you need to know about the hopper specifically:

     Aesthetically, the Spire IV is very similar to the Spire III. The new loader sports bigger lettering to more clearly see the Virtue brand name and is still compatible with the Virtue NTR speed feed.

     The new main operational feature is the first shot activation, where the drive cone will keep spinning until it senses resistance. It will feel resistance when the ball stack is full, which same technology featured on the Bunkerkings CTRL loader. This feeding system is more proactive, especially when paired with the Virtue Ace.

     As for Bluetooth pairing the Virtue Ace with the Spire IV, either item can be turned on first as long as they are near one another and they will pair. Note that it does NOT matter which one you turn on first, the marker or the hopper. When paired, the Virtue Spire 4 takes information from the eyes in the Ace paintball marker to know if there is paint in the breech. If there is none, the drive cone will continuously spin, regardless of stack pressure, until the eyes register a paintball. This essentially maximizes the amount of paint the Virtue Spire IV keeps in the stack, ready to shoot your next lane of paint.

     When paired with eyes on, no amount of knocking on the hopper will make it rotate or feed if the Virtue Ace eyes detect a ball in the breech, preventing false positives and keeping from agitating and potentially breaking brittle tournament paint. Similarly, even if your Spire IV is it paired at all, it still will not feed response to knocking on the hopper. In the case of not being paired wirelessly with a marker, the hopper will only agitate when a ball leaves the stack in the feedback.

     In the event the eyes on the Virtue Ace encounter an issue, such as a torn eye wire, the Spire IV hopper then communicates with the trigger on the Ace marker in a hybrid function between being fully paired and full unpaired. In this state, the hopper will only agitate when you pull the trigger or ramp the marker.

     The new Spire IV hopper also boasts improved idle performance is a battery-saving feature on the Virtue Spire IV. And yes, you can still use your N-Charge rechargeable battery pack with the Spire IV! The performance enhancements ensure that you don't lose any battery life in between points on long tournament days we all see at National Xball League (NXL) events and other regional paintball tournaments like the Mid South Xball League (MSXL) or West Coast Paintball Players League (WCPPL).

     The Virtue paintball app completely controls the Ace marker's settings following a triple-tap authentication while pairing the marker via Bluetooth with your phone. From here you can change any desired settings while the gun is on, including firing mode and rate of fire (ROF). You can still fire the marker in real-time as you change the settings and have the app open. 

     The available colors for the Virtue Ace and Spire IV are Black Emerald, Purple Amethyst, Emerald Navy, Blue Ice, Red Chrome, Black Chrome and Pitch Black. 

     Place your order for your new Virtue Ace paintball gun and Spire IV hopper today at Punishers Paintball!

***Based out of Mansfield, Ohio, Punishers Paintball is dedicated to delivering premium products and even higher quality customer service, every time. Growing paintball is our mission and we take pride as ambassadors to the sport.***