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Includes all Ground units & Striders.




Introduction



This guide is current for ZK stable version 1.2.4.11.

Setokaiva here, from the game Zero-K and from the zero-k.info site. I have taken up writing a series of detailed overviews about specific units and structures, this page is dedicated to housing these guides for easy viewing. Credit goes to KingRaptor for putting in the initial unit pictures which also showed me how to put in the rest!

This guide has been split into two parts because an earlier error stemming from having everything packed into one wiki entry made it unreadable. This guide contains info on all Ground units, including Striders; the new entry, simply known as Specific Unit Guides 2, contains data on all Air, Sea & Special units/structures. You can find it here for quick reference;

Land Units & Striders

* Link to Wiki *

http://code.google.com/p/zero-k/wiki/SpecificUnitGuides

Air, Sea & Special Units

* Link to Manual *
http://zero-k.info/Wiki/SpecificUnitGuides_2

* Link to Wiki *
http://code.google.com/p/zero-k/wiki/SpecificUnitGuides_2

Structures & Statics

* Link to Manual *
http://zero-k.info/Wiki/StructuresAndStatics

* Link to Wiki *
http://code.google.com/p/zero-k/wiki/StructuresAndStatics

Counter/advanced tactical by HeadHunter.

Table of Contents




<wiki:comment> ^ This inserts the table of contents.</wiki:comment>

Details



This is a simple run-down list. I first list the details of the Factory, then the specific units within that factory along with their stats. Some units have special stats while others do not.

Metal This is the resource cost of building a unit, in both metal and energy.
Reclaim This is how much metal a unit's 'corpse' contains that can be reclaimed. This is shaved in half in the event the wreck is destroyed, turning into a shapeless pile of metal slag.
HP The health point total of a unit.
Speed The speed of a unit. For ground units, this can be drastically reduced if attempting to maneuver through difficult terrain such as high ramps.
Decloak Radius This is used for any cloak-capable unit. It is the minimum distance in which an enemy unit must enter or otherwise be brought within to cause the unit to break cloak. Different units have differing Decloak Radius; Sniper bots are somewhat easy to spot, while you have to pretty much be on top of them to spot an Infiltrator or Flea.
Resource Production Constructor units produce a tiny amount of resources each; the specified value denotes how much metal and energy they make per second.
Mass/Weight How susceptible a unit is to knockback effects, like from impulse weapons or Newton graviton rays. Also affects what units can and can't be transported by Valkyries and/or Surfboards. Higher values mean a unit is harder to move by impulse factors.
Build Power How fast a unit or structure can build things. Each unit of build power equates to 1 metal/energy used per second.
Morphs to: This indicates what unit(s) that a given unit can Morph into when it reaches Experience level 3 from getting enough kills in combat, and how long, in seconds, the morph will take.
AoE The Area of Effect that a unit's weapons will cover in a radius around the impact point of their attack.

----------------


Cloaky Bots


<br>

A link to a guide on Cloaking:
http://zero-k.info/Wiki/Cloak

Cloaky Bots are some of the most well-balanced and versatile units in the game, which is why they are such a good pick for beginners -- you get to play around with every kind of unit from raiders and riots to assaults and artillery. But that doesn't mean it is a noob factory, oh no... A pro using Cloaky is the last thing you want to see on the front lines. You literally can't leave any part of your line open, otherwise you could be infiltrated by anything from commando squads of deadly blade-wielding Scythes, to cloaking constructor bots putting defense and terraform right in your backyard, to an entire army of any unit in the game all cloaked by one Eraser.

With all this emphasis on stealth and guile, you would expect this fac to fall short in terms of durability and power. You would be somewhat correct; most of their assault units have low HP and speed (particularly the Warrior and Zeus), and they usually have to work in tandem with other units to be truly effective. Nevertheless, they are the cheapest factory available, so they can easily field all these units at once provided the one using them is keen enough to not get them all killed. They have an answer for nearly every situation, and their superior cloaking capabilities and cheapness will last them well from early game through late game. So without further ado, let's take a look.

----------------


Conjurer


<br>
http://zero-k.info/Static/UnitGuide#unit-Conjurer
Class Cloaking Constructor Bot
Metal 140Reclaim56
HP
Speed 1.9Max Slope18Max Water Depth22
Size 2Mass123
Resource Production 0.5
Build Range 90
Sight Range 375
Jamming Range 256
Decloak Radius 75

The Conjurer (aka. Rector) is a unit that is rarely used to its fullest potential, largely because it is a constructor; people tend to keep them back to help around the base and for standard expansion efforts. And while this is common and acceptable for most situations, Conjurers do have certain capabilities that make them ideal for black-ops and other special uses, and should not be neglected.

The first and most obvious is their own personal cloak, a feature that no other constructor can boast of besides the Athena, which is essentially a flying Conjurer. This allows them to remain undetected for the purposes of infiltration & avoiding fire from enemy units, slipping in right under enemy defenses.

The second and most overlooked is their short-ranged passive radar jammer. A Conjurer can effectively mask your armies movements so long as it stays within range, which is a powerful bonus at any stage of the game. This also allows them to decloak to build, assist, reclaim & repair without giving away their position with a radar dot. It can even jam buildings, as well, though their radar dot will remain if they were ever discovered by a units optical sensors.

These two abilities combined make possible some rather interesting — and effective — tactics. A handful of them are listed below.

* Combos/Strategies *
Cloaky Bots Conjurers are essential to have both early on and mid-game; they can hide your troops, repair, reclaim wreckage, set up defense, and more.
Hidden Radar Outpost This strategy involves the use of the Conjurer's radar jammer. Take one Conjurer, send him to an obscure location on the battlefield that is not likely to be scouted, and build a radar tower there. Keep the Conjurer on guard order on that tower. The radar will then detect enemy units for you, and the enemy will never know that it's there because the Conjurer's jamming field renders their own radar useless.
Hidden Combat Engineers A team of cloaked Conjurers can operate almost with impunity, throwing up defenses and strategically-placed terraforming in areas without the enemy ever knowing what's going on.
Jammed Raids/Assaults Through tactical use of the Conjurer's jammer, you can maneuver small forces into place without the enemy knowing about it through their radar. This is especially useful when you want to make a raid, because most people rely heavily on radar and mobile forces to stop raids; gather up a squad of Glaives under a Conjurer's jammer, and the enemy will never see them coming until they're already shooting up his base. The Conjurer, being cloaked, can retreat or reposition as necessary without risk.
* Counters *
Scouts/Raiders Sweeping and patrolling for cloakers is the classic response and a solid choice.

----------------


Glaive


<br>
Class Light raider bot
Metal 65Reclaim 26
HP 200Regeneration20 HP/sTime to regen<br> (out of combat)5s
Mass/Weight 79Size2
Speed 3.8
Max slope 18Max water depth22
Sight Range 500
Morphs to:<br> * Warrior * (10s)<br> * Scythe * (10s)
* Pulse MG *
Damage 12.16 x3 (36.48)DPS118
AoE 8
Reloadtime 0.1
Range 185

The iconic Glaive is the cheapest source of raw damage around. They are fast, light raider bots that can rip almost anything apart in seconds -- provided that you have enough of them, and they aren't going up against even marginal-grade AoE weaponry. Their HP is extremely low, effectively making them glass cannons; this means that you must be very careful about how and when you use them, as the cost and losses you incur can add up rather quickly. They are best used to raid enemy economy, as a rapid response force against other raiders, and to defeat vulnerable enemy units like skirmishers and artillery.

Glaives don't have nearly enough durability to act as a shock trooper squad, so do not send them charging into enemy lines; often, you'll be lucky if all you lose is half of them. Only make a serious attack when you are certain you can overwhelm the enemy through sheer numbers, and even then make sure that you're not just going to take more losses than it's worth. They can be picked off easily at range with missiles and lasers, or slaughtered with AoE fire, so it is best to combine them with other units to deal with these threats.

* Effective *
vs. Inaccurate Raiders can jink around to avoid enemy fire when given a Fight order, making them perfect for closing in on light artillery and most skirmishers. They can actually pick off a few heavy tanks this way, too.
vs. Economy The classic role of the Raider is to weaken enemy logistics, and the Glaive does this job quite well; though they are quite weak to defense. Also, they tend to die to factory and wind explosions very easily, so don't leave them near damaged buildings.
* Combos/Strategies *
Tick Ticks are essential to use with Glaives. The Ticks can stun enemy units, making them sitting ducks for the raiders to pick off. The Glaive's insane DPS can be directly applied to stunned units without worries about taking casualties, allowing you an immense degree of killing efficiency.
Eraser Cloaked raiders can get right next to their enemies for maximum damage without being picked off. Twenty Glaives materializing out of thin air right next to your enemy's back line is sure to cause havoc.
* Counters *
Other raiders All other raiders can engage the Glaive on equal footing if not completely outclass them. Bandits are a good counter with their HP and range, but Glaives still beat them in a stand-up fight. The key to defeating Glaives is to out-range them, and not allow them to field their deadly weapons.
Defense LLT/Defenders will deal with small amounts of Glaives at a time, and exponentially more with a more solid line. Switch to Stardusts if your enemy is using big armies of them.
Riot Weapons All forms of AoE fire will decimate Glaives due to their low HP. Make as many as you need and sprinkle them liberally in a screening formation around your army and assets.
Tick/Roach Glaives tend to be used in large packs, making them perfect targets for EMP or explosive crawling bombs.

----------------


Rocko


<br>
Class Skirmisher Bot (Direct-fire)
Metal 90Reclaim 36
HP 450
Mass/Weight 109
Speed 2.2Max slope18Max water depth20
Mass/Weight 109Size2
Sight Range 523
Morphs to:<br> * Recluse * (20s)
* Rocket *
Damage 180
AoE 48
Reloadtime 3.8
Range 455

Rockos are the basic skirmisher unit for the Cloaky bots, offering mid-ranged fire support via a small rocket launcher. They excel at kiting slower units, using their speed and range to stay out of harms way whilst pounding on them. Outrageously cheap, they are very good in the early stages of the game, and can defeat most slow unit rushes like Zeus or Thugs given enough time. They are also somewhat quick around the battlefield.

In combat, they're effective against most static defenses, including HLT if micro'd right (duck in with about a dozen, fire a salvo and get out of range). Combined with an Eraser or at least a jamming field from a Conjurer, 7-8 Rockos can pick off a HLT while losing only one, even if there is an army of constructors waiting to repair it. This makes them supremely good for surprise pushes with Glaives and Ticks, and somewhat okay against heavy units as well.

* Effective *
vs. Slow Ground Rockos are perfect for kiting slow and ponderous assault and riot units. In numbers they can kill stuff like Sumo as well, just keep them spread to dodge its jumps.
vs. Static Defense Rockos have huge alpha damage when in line formation. Get about 10-12 of them and even Stingers don't stand a chance (when alone, anyway). Don't even think about throwing them against a Doomsday Machine, though; they will get COMPLETELY annihilated.
* Combos/Strategies *
Double-line Rocko works well in double line formation, preferably when they cannot be flanked. Front line should be pure Rocko, back line is anti-swarm and AA. In Cloaky lab, anti-swarm is warrior (decent hp, cheap, 1 warrior covers 3-4 rockos). You have to keep Warriors BEHIND Rockos. When Raiders attack, Rockos will auto-skirm behind the Warriors, who in turn will tend to the raiders. Keep a few Gremlins around as scouts and AA, as well.
* Counters *
Raiders All raiders can run them down easily and slaughter them outright. HOWEVER, 10-15 Rockos can create a wall of rockets that WILL hit your raiders, decimating their numbers significantly regardless of whether or not they try and dodge.
Air Rockos are not very effective at taking down air units, making gunships and planes effective counters.
Heavy tanks and Ravagers They have the HP to survive Rocko fire, the speed to get close quickly enough, and the damage to kill them in short order. Just don't be reckless.

----------------


Hammer


<br>
Class Light Artillery/Skirmisher Bot
Metal 130Reclaim 52
HP 350
Speed 1.72Max slope18Max water depth22
Mass/Weight 114Size2
Sight Range 660
* Light Plasma Cannon *
Damage 150
AoE 16
Reloadtime 6
Range 840

Hammers are inexpensive artillery units designed to deal damage at long range, supporting their friends in the field by removing defensive structures and harassing mobile units from a distance. They do their job quite well, though they're about as durable as a Defender so they really can't stand up to any kind of stress.

They work remarkably well as an artillery unit on the offense because they can turn around and walk the other way very easily, avoiding most forms of enemy reprisal, so with proper management they are simple to use and protect. They have noticeably lower range than most other artillery units, but that doesn't pose a serious problem most of the time. Don't make too many just because you feel like it; the strength of Cloaky bots is in combined arms, and too many Hammers means not enough support, which very quickly equals dead units on your part.

(Trivia: On the chest portion of the Hammer, it reads 'KnightCorp Milo-2'. I wonder what that means?) // It means the model was made by MidKnight

* Effective *
vs. Defense Outranges defense structures up to HLTs; a nice, efficient counter to light/medium porc. Can be massively annoying on a hilly map, as they get an insane range bonus on the hills, allowing them to harass large areas.
* Combos/Strategies *
Anything vs. Defense Hammers can remove troublesome defense structures from the path of your other forces, making them indispensable when the enemy is porcing even mildly.
Shield bots As shield bots lack any sort of artillery (besides Racketeers), sending a few Hammers to an ally who is going shields can be very helpful. Shielded bots can easily protect these fragile units in turn, while the Hammers can harass the enemy from relative safety.
Support for Defense Crawl A defense crawl is when you build numerous defense structures, usually Defenders, to 'crawl' forward in an attempt to gain ground. Hammers provide reliable fire support to deal with opposing defenses and hardpoints, and make for a very powerful counter against an enemy's defense crawl.
* Counters *
Raiders The classic response. Glaives, Bandits and any other raider can overrun them with ease and slaughter them up close if they're unescorted.
Firewalker A generic counter for cloaky bots. Supremely effective on hammers. Just watch out for any snipers...
Pop-up turret A closed Razor or any other pop-up turret can keep those hammers firing at it forever (assuming it is repaired continuously), instead of taking out useful targets. Even a closed solar generator can work just fine for a while.
Phoenix Napalm bombers work amazingly well at wiping out packs of Hammers. Keep 3-4 of them around to suppress any Cloaky bot player who doesn't yet have adequate AA.
Roach Roaches can be used very effectively against undefended hammer packs (they can never hit it).
Shields Like most artillery, Hammers have very low DPS. Shields can sustain hammer fire almost indefinitely, but at a cost.

----------------


Warrior


<br>
Class Riot Bot
Metal 220Reclaim 88
HP 880
Speed 1.71Max slope18Max water depth22
Mass/Weight 165Size2
Sight Range 330
Morphs to:<br> * Zeus * (20s)
* Heavy Pulse MG *
Damage 39.1 x3 (117.3)DPS226
AoE 96
Reloadtime 0.52
Range 270

Warriors are the first unit from the Cloaky Bot factory really meant for frontal combat, since most everything else is skirmishers, artillery & raiders, etc. Well, until you get to the Zeus, that is.

The thing you have to understand is this: Warriors are not meant to serve in a damage-absorption role. That's for the Zeus. These bots are here to act as an anti-swarm screen to stop raiders from tearing your Rockos, Hammers and other vulnerable units to ribbons. On their own, they're susceptible to skirmishers and airstrikes (though they can fire at Gunships to decent effect). Do not mass them as though that will win you the game, though, because they're very easy to counter.

Down to the good stuff. They have a decent attack range, as well as movement speed for keeping step with the rest of your guys, and their damage is completely no-nonsense; we're talking Stardust-level firepower here, though on a smaller scale. Most light units that get within range will be quickly destroyed.

Advice? Keep Conjurers with you for reclaim and repair. Depending on enemy composition, you may want to include Ticks in your strategy to stun enemy units for easy killing. Do NOT treat them like a frontline unit; that is the Zeus' job. Warriors are strictly meant as a shield for your weaker ranged units, so please, use them responsibly.

* Effective *
vs. Swarmers As a Riot Bot, Warriors are pretty much built to handle clusters of units; in particular weaker ones like raiders and scouts. A few of these will demolish whole platoons of Glaives or Bandits, especially if walking away from them while firing (to make best use of Warrior's superior range).
vs. Low-fliers Some gunships might not want to hang around these bad boys; their EMG's can be devastating as flex-AA. Those who use gunships would be wise to stay out of range.
* Combos/Strategies *
Rocko/Hammer Warriors provide the efficient anti-swarm screening that the weaker, less accurate units in the Cloaky lab need to survive raider attacks. Do not neglect them. Your composition should include at least 1 Warrior for every 4 Rockos/Hammers for maximum coverage.
* Counters *
Skirmishers/Mid- to long-range Any kind of kite-capable unit will give Warriors a hard time.
Assaults Warriors have the damage, but they don't have the survivability. Any decent assault unit will make scrap of Warriors in a straight-up brawl.

----------------


Zeus


<br>
Class Assault/Battle Walker
Metal 350Reclaim 140
HP 2400
Speed 1.7Max slope18Max water depth22
Mass/Weight 248Size2
Sight Range 325
Morphs to:<br> * Crabe * (20s)
* Lightning Gun *
Damage 240 + 600 (EMP)
AoE 8
Max stun time 1
Reloadtime 2.2
Range 280

The Zeus is the Cloaky Bot Factory's heavy assault unit. They are slow and ponderous walkers, but are more than a match for most units with their unique weapon -- the lightning gun. It inflicts mostly paralyze damage, allowing it to stun any enemies it does not kill outright within a few shots. They are an essential frontline unit, having the durability that the Warrior lacks.

Their biggest flaw is obviously their speed. They can turn around and respond quickly enough to move in formation efficiently, but trudging across long distances with them is just asking to get picked off by skirmishers or airstrikes. They need the assistance of other units to deal with what they have trouble with, but that shouldn't be a problem since Cloaky bots have an efficient answer for nearly any circumstance.

The Zeus can easily form the backbone of any major push, which makes them popular first targets for enemies. Make sure to keep cons around to give them repairs both in and out of combat, and keep them supported by other units at all times. With the right situation and combined-arms force, Zeuses can utterly destroy almost anything your enemy throws at you.

* Effective *
vs. Raiders The Zeus, having a weapon that hits instantly, can accurately target most raiders and deal with them efficiently. They can still miss against fast moving targets, though.
vs. Medium ground The Zeus is built for heavy combat, and can effectively tangle with many units around its weight class.
vs. Defense They can shrug off heavy damage as they trudge toward defense lines to field their lightning gun. However, they tend to die badly when going up against more than one HLT.
vs. Banshees The Zeus can stun and deal heavy damage to Banshee gunships should they try their luck, although you'll still want to keep Gremlins around for reliability's sake.
vs. Jumpjet/Specialist bots Zeuses can trash Pyros, zap Puppies with their lightning guns before they get in range, and deal with Jacks without too much trouble (as long as you have enough of them).
* Combos/Strategies *
Constructors Always keep some in the field to repair damaged Zeuses.
Valkyries Valkyrie light transports can, miraculously, carry the heavy Zeus walker into battle. Notably, this can allow you to deploy lightning-fast (see what I did there? ^^) heavy support for your Glaives when they go on raids, allowing you to stomp outposts and bases flat.
Cloaky bots The Zeus forms a potent frontline unit and shield for all units in its home factory.
Cloaked AA A typical response to a Zeus pack is bombing. A pack of cloaked Gremlins nearby can surprise an air player and turn those sleek bombers into scrap metal.
Jamming/Cloak-ball If you pair up Conjurers or Erasers with Zeus, they can sneak up on enemies without being noticed. Proper response to assaults of that caliber is necessary for survival, and cloaking can ensure your enemy doesn't have the time he needs for that. It can also force a knee-jerk response, which, if you are ready for it, will allow you to bait your enemy into attacking, and so be able to ambush him to deadly effect with other forces.
* Counters *
Bombers They make a tempting target for bombers since they're slow and can't shoot back easily. Watch out for Gremlins, though.
Skirmishers All varieties of skirmisher are effective, but be sure to put them on a fight order so they don't get zapped because they got too close on accident.
Crawling Bombs As any slow assault unit, the Zeus can be predictable, so putting a few ticks/roaches in the ground can create a decent trap for them. Be sure to have units ready to follow up afterwards.

----------------


Tick


<br>
Class All-Terrain EMP Crawling Bomb
Metal 120
HP 50
Speed 4.2Max slope 72Max water depth 15
Mass/Weight 82Size1
Sight Range 160
Decloak Radius 75
* EMP Bomb * (Self-destruct/Death weapon)
Damage 2000 (EMP)
Max stun time 16
AoE 352

A tiny all-terrain crawling bomb with a strong EMP charge, the Tick is the unit of choice for when enemies are bunching up into tight, juicy packs ready for AoE nukage. A single tick, if it managed to get into a shieldball, would shut the entire thing down (or at least most of it) at a stroke -- that is how powerful this little beauty is, regardless of the fact that alot of its damage is heavily divided throughout its AoE.

Like anything, though, it is not without its drawbacks. Ticks pop like a soap bubble when shot, so any kind of tracking weaponry or denial-of-area ordnance (especially the Firewalker) can shut them down hard. To deal with this, the Tick is equipped with a simple no-charge cloaking device that automatically activates when the unit is stationary. This design has lended itself to the classic role of mobile landmines, allowing you to surprise enemies by laying Ticks directly in the path of advancing groups and run them into their ranks at the last possible second.

Unless they are shot first, Ticks need to be detonated manually with the Self-Destruct command (Ctrl+D) to go off. It's important not to forget this fact, as enemy units might scatter and run before the Tick explodes, mitigating the effects of the EMP. Just please, for the love of bacon, do NOT keep these anywhere NEAR your own forces. It is very embarrassing (and catastrophic) to have a friendly fire accident with them involved.

* Effective *
vs. Raider packs Ticks can easily keep up with any raider with their overland speed, and their all-terrain capability means nothing can block them except water. Use them as traps to stun whole groups of raiders at a time, making them sitting ducks for the rest of your forces.
vs. Shield bots EMP damage wrecks shields, and shutting down the shield-emitting unit shuts down the shield as well. Since Shield Bots are almost always bunched up, a tick in just the right place can stun the *entire ball* in one go, or at least a large chunk of it. Can you say 'sitting ducks'? :3
* Combos/Strategies *
Eraser Tick + Eraser (mobile cloak generator) is so massively overpowered that it is almost asking to be used. A cloaked tick can run right into an enemy group and stun it *all.*
Conjurer/Other jammer Once mid-game rolls around, your enemy is likely to have radar coverage over most of his side of the map. This can make it difficult to plant Ticks properly, because your enemy will notice the moment they cloak (their radar dot will drop off the grid). Putting them under a jamming field avoids this problem, letting you set up traps right under his nose.
Glaive Glaives are the cheapest source of damage in the game. They make short work of stunned units, allowing you a very efficient killer combo.
* Counters *
Wolverine Shoot ground to create fields of tiny units. Hard counter for cloaked units in general. Also kills raiders that might be tagging along closeby.
Your own ticks A cloaked tick in landmine mode could detonate in proximity, stunning enemy ticks and potentially disabling the Eraser/Conjurer too (if they brought one).
Flea/Dart So cheap that you can spam them all over the place to screen for ticks.

----------------


Gremlin


<br>
Class Anti-air bot
Metal 150Reclaim 60
HP 550
Speed 2.9Max slope18Max water depth22
Mass/Weight 117Size2
Sight Range 660
Cloaking cost, static 0.1Cloaking cost, mobile 0.5
Decloak Radius 75
Morphs to:<br> * Archangel * (20s)
* Anti-Air Laser *
Damage 18.73DPS62
AoE 12
Reloadtime 0.3
Range 700

The Gremlin (aka. Jethro) is a reliable dedicated AA unit, though fairly expensive for the damage it deals. Its trump card lies with its energy-efficient personal cloaking device, which lets it set ambushes for enemy air, and also act as an invisible scout and spy unit.

That last capacity is actually one of the Cloaky lab's most potent strategies. Gremlins have a whole 660 sight range, and their cloak is dirt cheap as compared to Scythes and Sharpshooters. This makes them ideal to set as sentries to get an optical fix on enemy movements; though they will feed your enemy reclaim if they are discovered, so be careful.

Making lots of these can be very costly, so keep an eye on your resources. Due to their low initial damage, you will need around 4-6 of these to kill a bomber before it drops its payload, but the most you can usually hope for is destroying them before they can retreat. You will get more mileage out of Gremlins against gunships, however, since they usually have to stick around to deal their damage. Make just enough to deal with whatever threats you are facing, and be sure not to leave them in the open for enemy raiders. Gremlins are quite fast for anti-air, allowing for a quick (and due to cloak, unexpected) response to airborne threats.

* Effective *
vs. Air Whilst only good against heavier gunships and bombers en masse, they can take down the lighter stuff with ease. Laying ambushes for enemy air is a VERY effective tactic, so make sure to master the use of their cloaking device.
* Combos/Strategies *
Scouting/Spying Gremlins are perfect for this. Keep them cloaked, hold-fired (if they have air), and use them early and often for intelligence gathering.
* Counters *
Scouts Just sweep around and you'll find them.
Wolverine These light vehicle artillery can sprinkle mines around the landscape, which are the bane of any cloak-capable unit.

----------------


Scythe


<br>
Class Cloaking Raider Bot
Metal 250Reclaim 100
HP 800Regeneration20 HP/sTime to regen (out of combat)10
Speed 3.0Max slope18Max water depth22
Mass/Weight 169Size2
Sight Range 425
Cloaking cost, static 0.2Cloaking cost, mobile 1
Decloak Radius 75
* Blade *
Damage 200
AoE 8
Reloadtime 1.4
Range 100

If you're a fan of the Dark Templar unit from Starcraft, then rejoice, for you have just found the holy grail. Scythes are the cutting edge (pun fully intended) of stealth strike capability. They are relatively cheap, fast and have a very low energy upkeep for their personal cloak, making them excellent scouts, spies & raiders. They are one of only two units (Jack being the second) that have a melee attack as opposed to a traditional ranged one. One Scythe can knock out an LLT and any surrounding mexes; four or five of them can knock out a factory and its nanoturrets before any reasonable defense can be mustered.

Proper use of Scythes involves a lot of surprise. Keep your little commando squad cloaked and set them to hold fire so they don't end up blowing their cover too early; it wouldn't do for 250 metal apiece to go down the drain. Try to keep your enemies' attention focused elsewhere, and try to create openings that you can squeeze a pack of Scythes into and go right for their most vulnerable and important structures; factories, fusions, geos, singularities, nanoturrets, energy pylons, aircraft rearming pads, constructors, and, of course, mexes. When attacking anything highly explosive (like a Fusion gen), try to pull all but one of your Scythes away and just let one stab it for the kill; I'm sure you'd rather not have your whole group get nailed by the explosion, right? And this allows you to conserve the rest of them to attack other targets of opportunity. The Scythe is an amazingly powerful and versatile unit, so take care of them and they will serve you well.

Also, it is a good idea to deploy a few scythes in the enemy base as spies, and wait for him to build that %super expensive unit name% before actually attacking. * (USE HOLD FIRE!!) * Using 5 scythes to pick off a factory is barely cost effective, but killing a singularity reactor/mohogeo/antinuke... now that is a totally different story! We are talking 2500-3000 metal in one unit, and then you also get the resulting nuclear explosion right in the enemy base.

* Effective *
vs. Economy Commando squads of cloaked Scythes can cause massive damage to enemy infrastructure.
vs. Anti-Nukes Taking out enemy antinuke deep in the enemy lines is best done with 5-6 scythes and infiltrator. Get a few Gremlins along to provide scouting. 1-2 Skuttles can add extra spice if deployed into enemy grid structures like pylons and detonated at the same time.
* Counters *
Terraform A terra-wall around your eco is hard-counter for scythes, but it also tells your enemy that there is something valuable there and just asks for bombers/tacnuke/skuttle.
Gunships All forms of Gunship are capable of staying right on top of Scythes, evading their melee attack and picking them off with ease. Gremlins can be a nasty surprise for them, though.
Wolverine Shoot ground to create fields of tiny units. Hard counter for cloaked units in general. Also kills raiders/light vehicles/cons etc.
Fleas/Puppies Are generally a massive pain, especially for cloakies.
Defense You will need plenty of LLTs/Defenders or other things to stop any serious Scythe attack, but when your options are limited, it's sometimes best to spam LLT's *EVERYWHERE.*

----------------


Sharpshooter


<br>
Class Sniper Walker (Skirmish/Anti-Heavy)
Metal 750Reclaim 300
HP 560
Speed 1.7Max slope18Max water depth22
Mass/Weight 245Size2
Sight Range 400
Cloaking cost, static 1Cloaking cost, mobile 5
Decloak radius 155
* Pulsed Particle Projector *
Damage 1500
AoE 16
Reloadtime 15.0
Range 700

Arguably the most recognizable and feared unit in its particular factory, the Sharpshooter brings mid-ranged fire support to the field with it's powerful energy rifle which can pick off most units in one shot *whilst maintaining cloak.* Their low speed and weak health make them very easy to destroy, provided the enemy can locate them; typically this involves sweeping the area where your opponent believes your Sharpshooters to be with cheap raiders/scouts. Their rifle makes a very distinct noise when fired and the visible round can betray their position to an observant opponent, so be careful. When using Sharpshooters, make sure to deploy them in a wide skirmish line, both so they don't all get destroyed if one is discovered, and so they don't end up pulling an Uncle Fester (shooting each other in the back, which will happen very often if you bunch them up).

Sniper bots carry a very unique cloaking module that not only lets them move whilst staying invisible, it also lets them fire without breaking cloak as well. This can lead to a lot of frustration (and dead units) on your enemies' part, especially if they aren't quite prepared for it yet. A good way to stop them is to use Gnats or Blastwings, which are far too small to hit accurately and will nail Sharpshooters to the wall by paralyzing them/suiciding on them for lethal damage. I don't recommend using bombers or even heavy gunships like the Black Dawn; the flat, large profile of these units makes them remarkably easy for sniper bots to hit, to the point where it looks like a duck hunt in the countryside; In fact, I consider them a viable option to defend against bombers, since the plane player will NEVER expect something like that to happen...

"All callsigns report in, beginning our run soon on enemy econ... those defenders wont even scratch us-- kREElemm-BOOOM!
[Bomber 2] "WHAT THE FUU--" kREE-BOOM!
[Bomber 3] "BREAK OFF, BREAK OFF!! NOOOO—" kREElemm-BOOM!

Of course I realize there are probably more cost-effective solutions, but it's still extremely satisfying to watch sniper bots picking off Bombers in one shot.

Scythes are very effective when used with snipers. They can spot for snipers (The snipers LoS is 400, range 700), can clean up small numbers of raiders and scouts and let the snipers retreat, as well as finish off isolated targets. Their high HP, high RoF and low decloak radius is the exact opposite of the sniper and the perfect complement. *Credit: SaktothIVL*

Interestingly, despite the apparent size of this unit, it can be carried by the basic Valkyrie air transport.

To use Sniper Bots effectively, you have to be a very observant and responsible commander, because they are massive investments of time and resources, and continue to put a light drain on your energy supplies as long as they are being fielded. You've got to make sure you can properly support them with other units and give them a safe place to retreat to when things go sour; Never, ever, EVER send them alone on raids into your opponent's base, because this is just giving him a substantial amount of reclaim while you'll be out 750 metal. They are a powerful unit, but like so many powerful units they can be shut down hard by just using the proper units/tactics. Don't build too many snipers, either, because once your opponent wises up and starts sweeping the area with scouts you'll be stuck out in the open with no support to back you up and will likely lose them all. Treat them carefully and with the greatest respect whether you are the one behind the scope, or the one in the sights.

* Effective *
vs. Assets Snipers are perfect to knock out important & expensive units like capture cars and artillery pieces. Wait for a clear shot, and take it.
vs. Statics They can also outrange and pick off defensive emplacements and any attendant structures like nanoturrets, giving absolutely no time for them to be repaired.
* Counters *
Wolverine Shoot ground to create fields of tiny units. Hard counter for cloaked units in general. Also kills raiders.
Raiders Are generally a massive pain, especially for cloakies.
Ticks/Roaches Mines have HUGE AOE and even if the snipers have escort will likely graze them, disabling their cloak. Also you can lure snipers into minefield and enjoy them blowing sky-high!

----------------


Eraser


<br>
Class Cloaker/Jammer Walker
Metal 600Reclaim 240
HP 600
Speed 1.9Max slope18Max water depth5000
Mass/Weight 196Size2
Energy cost (jamming) 1.5Energy cost (cloaking field) 15
Sight range 400
Jamming range 550Cloaking field range 400
Decloak radius 100
Morphs to:<br> * Sneaky Pete * (30s)

This unit is capable of cloaking entire armies from both optical and radar sensors, allowing you numerous tactical options; not the least of which is sneaking right past defenses to attack the main enemy base.

Used properly, the Eraser can quickly become an essential asset to any serious Cloaky Bots player -- DO NOT underestimate them. For only 600 metal and 15 energy a tick you can dominate the tactical level of combat with ease. Try using an Eraser to cloak a group of Ticks and Glaives; use the Ticks to run into packs of enemies or statics, then have the Raiders immediately charge after to kill the helpless enemies. They won't be able to stop it because the ticks won't decloak until within 75 range of a unit -- and by then it's too late. You can bring down entire porc balls with this strategy.

* Combos/Strategies *
Crawling Bombs This is an evil combo. Normally, Ticks and Roaches decloak when they move; if they are assisted by an Eraser, however, they can run under cloak all the time, straight into enemy ranks. They'll never see it coming until its too late.
Assaults/Riots These units' main weakness is that they are vulnerable while closing distance due to short range and low speed. Cloak helps alleviate this.
* Counters *
Scouts Regularly patrolling for cloakers will prevent most from infiltrating your base, and sweeping areas with lots of scouts can find groups.

----------------


Shield Bots


<br>

A link to a guide on Shields:
http://zero-k.info/Wiki/Shields

If durability coupled with versatility is what you need, and you're not worried about sacrificing some speed, then look no further than Shield Bots. While they may have only moderate durability, they are the only units in the game that carry energy shields -- these block nearly any attack, as long as it's not melee, gauss, or fire-based. Shields basically act as a second layer of HP your enemies need to chew through to do any real damage to your units, and they rapidly regenerate over time which can be greatly enhanced by linking your shields together, which is as simple as putting as many shield-bearing units in a group as possible.

The Shield bot factory has a large variety of units and fills every basic role in the book from Raider up to Artillery, and most of them are equipped with a shield. You will have everything from EMP-tipped cruise missile walkers, to skirmisher bots that discharge their own shield energy as a weapon, to powerful crawling bombs that can blast packs of units apart, and cheap jumping bots that can create obstructions for enemy units, just to name a few. So let's take a look, shall we?

----------------


Convict


<br>
Class Construction/Shield Support Bot
Metal 140Reclaim56
Mass/Weight 132
HP 650
Speed 2Max Slope18Max Water Depth22
Resource production 0.15
Build power 5Build range90
Sight Range 375
* Energy Shield *
Max Strength 900Initial Strength600
Regen 9
Radius 80

----------------


Bandit


<br>
Class Medium-Light Raider Bot
Metal 75Reclaim 30
HP 250
Mass/Weight 88
Speed 3.15Max slope18Max water depth22
Sight Range 500
Morphs to:<br> * Outlaw * (10s)<br> * Pyro * (10s)
* Laser Blaster *
Damage 9.77DPS98
AoE 8
Reloadtime 0.1
Range 245

A common and popular Raider bot that trades a little speed and firepower from its brother the Glaive in favor of more HP and range. This commonly causes them to be looked upon as the 'heavy infantry' of the common Raider class units, but they are still brittle as glass and will fall easily to any form of decent resistance.

A Shield bot player needs Bandits, because without them they would have no rapid-response capability and next to no decent scouts, to say nothing of raiders. Bandits are needed to run intercept duties against enemy raiders, as Felons and Outlaws are far too easily outmaneuvered to cover everything. One thing the Bandit user needs to be aware of is that these can get very expensive; it's important not to make too many, because at 80 a pop, if you suddenly lose the raider battle or your enemy made counters of some sort, you're going to find yourself in a very poor position. Don't rely on them too much, instead focus on narrowing the playing field and subsequently your enemies range of movement by taking as much ground as possible and fortifying it with anti-swarm. Your own raiders can harass the enemy to death once properly supported.

* Effective *
vs. Raiders Bandits can effectively scrap with most Raiders; they usually out-perform Glaives.
vs. Jack Can kite the Jack and avoid its melee attack very well.
vs. Skirmishers/Artillery Perfect for overrunning vulnerable targets.
* Counters *
Riot Weapons Riot or AoE fire will decimate groups of Bandits easily.
Stun Unlike Glaives, bandits can not dodge EMP weapons like Panthers or Zeus.

----------------


Dirtbag


<br>
Class Box of Dirt
Metal 30
HP 650
Speed 2.5
Can Jump
Sight Range 350
Raise Terrain effect 28
* Headbutt *
Damage 36
Reloadtime 2
Range 50

aka. Dirtbox, or Clogger. These are certainly a curious unit; forgoing any sort of armament save a low damage melee attack, they are simply an expendable meatshield that raises the terrain sharply where it is killed. This ability is unique to Dirtbags and gives several interesting tactical possibilities; most often, you will see Dirtbags jumping en masse in front of or around unit(s), then self-detonating to surround said unit(s) with terrain, which usually results in prohibiting their movement, especially in the case of vehicles and tanks with a much lower sheer height tolerance than bots. It's very satisfying when this ploy works, and leaves the unit stranded and helpless for further attack, or perhaps capture by a Dominatrix. Dirtbags are decent scouts due to low cost and can harass naked expansions using headbutt.

* Effective *
vs. Vehicles/Tanks As mentioned above, non-walkers have a much lower tolerance for steep terrain, and are more vulnerable to terraforming; prime target for Dirtbags.
vs. Factories A particularly annoying tactic is to use Dirtbags and jump right in front of your enemies' factory doors; this prevents newly created units from moving and stalls further production.
as Bait & Meatshield Dirtbags can absorb a lot of damage that might otherwise hit your valuable units; try using them early on to soak up missiles from Defenders. They can also force Felons to severely drain their shield stores on throwaway units.
As a Scout Being fairly quick and able to jump, these can be mass-produced and strung out to provide intel and harass naked expansion.
* Combos/Strategies *
Trap & Eliminate Dirtbags are very effective at rendering most units helpless, making them sitting ducks for the rest of your army.
* Counters *
Air Terrain does not affect gunships or planes. Killing Dirtbags on their way to the front is optimal, as this stops them from being useful.
Terraforming Dead dirtbags tend to clog up the field and prevent passage. Use of terraforming with constructors is often required to restore vital areas of terrain.

----------------


Rogue


<br>
Class Skirmisher Bot (indirect-fire)
Metal 120Reclaim 48
HP 570
Mass/Weight 124
Speed 1.95Max slope18Max water depth22
Sight Range 583
Morphs to:<br> * Moderator * (15s)
* Heavy Rocket *
Damage 280
AoE 75
Reloadtime 7
Range 530

Despite being the second cheapest skirmisher, in the game I don't see Rogues very much; I think it has something to do with people preferring Thugs and Bandits. Still, they give good service in the mid-range category, allowing you to effectively deal with enemy riots, statics and the like without risking the rest of your units.

Their rockets arc up high, allowing them to shoot over obstacles; however, this also means that swarmers can have a field day dodging them, whereas with Rockos the straight-line nature of their projectiles allowed them to hit raiders on more than just luck.

However, Rogues do have a fairly high AoE rating so there's something you could try; press A (Attack) and left-click to draw a line and designate where they should fire. Each Rogue in the group will fire at an equal point along that line, so try and draw a line with multiple 'ranks' to cover a good portion of ground. Note that you should have Hold Fire on for this, otherwise they'll just waste shots trying to hit the moving raiders one-by-one. (This should also be good for clearing out Wolverines' mines.)

* Effective *
vs. Riot/Assault The Shield Bots skirmisher is a very affordable countermeasure to slow riots like Warriors and Outlaws.
vs. Statics The high range of the Rogue allows it to duck in and fire at LLT's/Defenders and retreat before taking too much damage.
* Counters *
Swarmers Rogues can't hit Raiders without micro to hit them with AoE, and even then it's gimpy.

----------------


Thug


<br>
Class Shielded Assault Bot
Metal 180Reclaim 72
HP 960
Mass/Weight 147
Speed 1.925Max slope18Max water depth22
Sight range 420
Morphs to:<br> * Jack * (20s)
* Light Plasma Cannon *
Damage 170
AoE 36
Reloadtime 4
Range 280
* Energy Shield *
Max Strength 1250Initial Strength850
Regen 16
Radius 80

Thugs are your basic frontline assault shieldbot. They make up for their underwhelming HP with their energy shield, which blocks the majority of enemy attacks and can link to other nearby units to improve its regeneration rate. The downside is that this makes them such massive targets that even inaccurate units literally cannot miss, and their reliance on their shields makes them easy to defeat with the right resources. Still, Thugs are the meat and potatoes of any successful shield ball, so you will want plenty of them.

* Effective *
vs. Defense Groups of Thugs can shrug off damage from most forms of porc and assault defensive lines directly. Avoid Faradays and Gauss, though.
In general purpose Thugs are hard to match for their durability, especially in significant numbers, and can put up a good fight against most units in their weight class with their cannons.
* Combos/Strategies *
Shield ball Thugs are absolutely essential to a Shield ball as they are the primary shield-bearing frontline unit. Without them you will have a lot of trouble with your shields durability.
* Counters *
Skirmishers/Artillery Whilst most Assault and other slow units have always been vulnerable to skirms, the threat is now extended to include Artillery units due to the greatly enlarged target profile.
Crawling bombs Roaches and Ticks are hard counters to most Shield bots in general, as they can lay undetected until its too late, then wipe out or disable massive chunks of the Shield ball.
EMP and Disarm All units equipped with such weapons pose a big problem to shielded units as they can do severe damage. One pass from a Thunderbird bomber, or a single Shockley missile can knock out an entire Shield ball.

----------------


Outlaw


<br>
Class Riot Bot
Metal 250Reclaim 100
HP 1050
Mass/Weight 177
Speed 1.9Max slope18Max water depth22
Sight Range 347
Morphs to:<br> * Jack * (20s)
* Disruptor Pulser *
Damage 20 + 75 Slow
Reloadtime 0.95
Range/AoE 300

The Outlaw is a curious unit by most standards. Instead of firing lasers or projectiles, it emits waves of energy that expand outwards to hit any and all enemy units within range, inflicting slow damage as well as normal damage. This makes them exceedingly effective anti-swarm units, though they are still quite vulnerable against most units heavier than a raider or all varieties of skirmisher. Your own units are thankfully immune to your Outlaws.

They are often used to protect other Shield bots from the threat of raiders, Banshees and other fast-moving enemies. Also, they can be turned 'On' in their unit states bar which causes them to continuously fire waves; this is very good for sweeping an area for cloaked mines, normally a very grave threat to Shield bots.

* Effective *
vs. Swarms Outlaws can utterly crush groups of raiders and scouts with their pulser. In fact they might be a bit too effective, and end up destroying the wrecks as well. xD
In a knife fight These units are specialized to get up close for maximum effectiveness; anything that gets close is both heavily damaged AND slowed, so use them anytime your enemy likes to close range, but keep them supported as they tend to die quick.
* Combos/Strategies *
Shield bots They are an essential unit to protect your army if your enemy is swarming you with lots of raiders or cloakers. The shields also protect the Outlaws from skirmishers and the like.
Utilize high ground Any time you can fight from high ground, do it - you will often get a range bonus to plasma-equipped units (i.e, Thugs), whilst enemies get a range malus and if they try and go uphill they are slowed down drastically. Trying to fight Outlaws uphill, with their already considerable slowing effect, is nothing short of suicide.
Buried Outlaws Using Terraforming (The Raise command is easiest), a tactically minded player can lower the terrain an Outlaw stands upon, thus putting him in a protective hole which stops him from being attacked directly by anything short of top-down missiles or bombs. Buried outlaws can still fire through the ground with their pulser, thus making them INCREDIBLE for area denial.
* Counters *
Skirmishers Like any Riot unit, Outlaws can be kited mercilessly by all types of skirmisher. Be ready.
Ticks Surprisingly, tick lives long enough to approach up to two outlaws before dying. This makes them super sweet surprise to your enemy early on. While outlaws are stunned, get some glaives to kill them.
Sharpshooter Outlaw is a perfect target for snipers
Heavy tanks Outlaws deal little direct damage, limiting their usefulness against tanks and other high-HP units. However, a micro'd outlaw + 3 thugs are known to kill a reaper, making 3x cost.

----------------


Roach


<br>
Class Crawling Bomb
Metal 160
HP 60
Mass/Weight 105
Speed 4Max slope18Max water depth15
Sight Range 240
Decloak Radius 75
* Fusion Bomb * (Self-destruct/death weapon)
Damage 1200
AoE 384

Almost every factory has its oddball units, or units that lack the signature weaponry and equipment of the ones most popular among the rest in favor of carrying specialized payloads. The Roach is one such unit. Instead of carrying a cannon or rocket or shield gun or indeed a shield in general, the Roach is a classic crawling bomb with a very potent explosive charge; if this manages to get into a group of enemy units you can score tons of kills for only 160 metal. *("Do you like, Commander? I thought perhaps you might like to play rough in battle." ~ Russian adjutant in Red Alert 2)* However, they are easy to destroy if your enemy has Defenders, Slashers or any sort of accurate weaponry, especially when they try to run across open ground, even with their impressive speed. To counter this shortcoming they can cloak when stationary, allowing you to use these as landmines, much like the Terran Spider Mines from the Starcraft series.

And boy does it pack a kick. Whilst the maximum damage potential of 1200 may not seem like much, when placed at the right locations and used wisely (i.e, not charging them into missile towers/LLT's), they can easily blow tight groups of enemy units to kingdom come. These skittering little beauties are effective against almost all ground-based targets (and also low-flying gunships like banshee), provided they are armed with inaccurate weaponry and preferably not supported. Since Roaches can easily make cost against most low- to mid-tier units, they should quickly become one of your favorite units, so learn how to use them properly.

Deploying them like landmines is a good tactic, allowing you to lay deadly ambushes and cover overland approaches. Unfortunately most players get wise to you quick and sweep areas with scouts and raiders, but there are still plenty of ways you can make cost. Try planting them in the middle of wreckage fields or near unclaimed metal spots to kill constructors, or setting Defenders and LLT's in random spots and keeping roaches near; that way when an opponent sends way more than one raider or better yet heavier units to kill the defense, they will blunder straight into your Roaches.

* Effective *
vs. Jumpjet/Specialists Takes advantage of peoples tendency to pack Pyros and Puppies together; kills efficiently. Also Pyros do not have enough alpha damage to kill them before it's too late.
vs. Hovers Due to the high cost and low HP of Hovers, they are one of the favorite targets of the death-dealing Roach. Just watch out for closed Halberds.
vs. Shield Bots Give those Shield Bots some tough love by planting these in the path of enemy shield balls!
vs. Light Vehicles The traditional target of the Roach, they kill Scorcher masses and Ravager pushes dead. Watch out for Darts/Slashers/Wolverines.
* Combos/Strategies *
Eraser Cloak the bombs and you can move them around with impunity. Let's you charge hordes of them straight into enemy ranks.
Dirtbag Cheap high-HP Dirtbags provide the necessary shielding for Roach to get to the target. Dirtbags allow roaches to approach slashers easily. Even if they die, the mound they leave behind also blocks firing giving roach more chances.
* Counters *
Defender/Slasher The perfect defense against crawling bombs; wander into range and you can kiss that 160 metal goodbye.
Scouts They find where you hid the bombs and trip your carefully laid traps. Watch for this and run as necessary.
Wolverine If you can block a chokepoint with mines roaches would not be able to approach, even cloaked.
Firewalker Random Firewalker shots deny passage to roaches thus discouraging their use.

----------------


Vandal


<br>
Class AA Bot
Metal 90Reclaim 36
Mass/Weight 50
HP 650
Speed 2.7Max Slope18Max Water Depth22
Sight Range 660
Morphs to:<br> * Archangel * (20s)
* Homing Missiles *
Damage 72
AoE 48
Reloadtime 2.0
Range 880

Vandals exemplify the 'death-by-numbers' archetype very well, coming in at only 90 metal a unit and able to lay down a withering barrage of surface-to-air missiles when stacked in groups. They are also remarkably fast and maneuverable, and possess more than enough HP to survive some poking if they are attacked. One major difference from some other AA units is that their missiles pack a considerable AoE factor, which allows them to inflict greater damage on tight packs of gunships or other aircraft; they are the bane of Gnats and light drone craft.

However, they need to be gathered in significant numbers before they get the damage capability to destroy airplanes before they can can run away, let alone complete their pass.

* Effective *
vs. Planes They are extremely deadly vs. planes when stacked in the right numbers, but only then.
vs. Gunships Since Gunships usually have to stick around in battle to get the most out of their weapons (with some exceptions), the Vandal's high rate of fire and decent damage will allow it to fight back effectively.
* Combos/Strategies *
Shield Bots Make sure you produce enough to keep your forces relatively safe from air attack. However, don't expect them to stop a Black Dawn from annihilating your shield ball unless you've got a LOT of them.

----------------


Racketeer


<br>
Class Disarming Artillery
Metal 350Reclaim 140
HP 950
Mass/Weight 248
Speed 1.8Max slope18Max water depth22
Sight Range 325
Morphs to:<br> * Firewalker * (20s)
* Disarm Cruise Missile * (tracking)
Damage 1500 (Disarm)
AoE 24
Max disarm time 8
Reloadtime 5
Range 940

First off, you'll probably misinterpret the name as 'Rocketeer'. I definitely did the first time. It still fits, regardless, as it does fire rockets (or at least cruise missiles). The Racketeer is a very useful support unit, capable of firing powerful disarming warheads long distances to disable the weapons of static targets and pound shields to vapor. They have a surprisingly fast firing rate, to the point where it might get annoying to keep hearing them shoot, but get used to it.

* Effective *
vs. Statics Easily disables any defensive structure, rendering them useless against your other forces.
vs. Shield balls Racketeers do plenty of damage to shields with their Disarm effect, allowing you to whittle down their charge levels quickly from a distance, and also disable the generators if any missiles get through.
* Counters *
Cheap/disposable units Can draw fire from the Racketeers, forcing enemy to micro-manage them to hit the targets that actually matter.

----------------


Felon


<br>
Class Shielded Fire Support Bot
Metal 620Reclaim 248
HP 1400
Speed 1.5Max slope18Max water depth22
Sight Range 520
* Shield Gun *
Damage 108.4DPS 667
AoE 8
Reloadtime 0.15
Range 430
* Energy Shield *
Max Strength 1200Initial strength800
Regen 18
Radius 120

Felons are often on the receiving end of a lot of controversy in Zero-K, mostly from those who are on the business end of this bad boy's shield gun. Felons are expensive yet extremely powerful, packing a special weapon that drains charge directly from its shield and any shields it is linked to to fire, which can melt most common units in under a second. Their main weakness lies in the fact that they are completely dependent upon Shields; all of that power comes directly out of the shield pools of the Felon and every shield-equipped unit linked to it. This means that if you fire continuously for too long you will drain your entire shield ball dry, making you very vulnerable against further threats. Sadly, this is not much of a weakness, as almost any unit will be dead before the Felon finishes discharging its entire energy stores.

Felons are effective against everything, as long as they can shoot at it in a straight line and it's not hiding underwater. Felons are the classic 'Death Ball' unit in Zero-K; once you start hitting critical mass, your enemy will need to resort to special measures just to counter your Felons. They are extremely vulnerable to Ticks & Roaches; just one, if it can get into your shieldball, will kill or disable all your units and their shields all at once. Some people build a Missile Silo and keep a Shockley EMP Missile handy; one of these on a direct hit will not only bring down any kind of shield, it will also stun all the units under said shields, Aspis walkers be damned. Since you need to keep Shield bots packed together very tightly to be effective, any kind of crawling bomb or good-sized AoE weapon can knock them out with ease.

* Effective *
vs. Air Swats low-flying Gunships out of the sky like flies, and can even hit Bombers. Watch out for Thunderbirds!
vs. Light Burns raiders, skirmishers and other low-HP targets away like paper.
* Combos/Strategies *
Any shield unit Best with Thug & Aspis. The more shields you link to Felons, the faster they can shoot.
* Counters *
Razor / Halberd Thanks to their armor bonus, Felons will waste their entire shield stores trying to kill these targets.
Cloaking If they can't see you, they can't shoot you. Pair an Eraser with Crawling Bombs or a Sumo.
Firewalker Fire can hit behind shields, though it only spawns clouds if its shell lands on the ground.
Tremor Will pound shield balls to vapor from massive distances, depriving Felons of their charge.
Racketeers EMP missiles will deplete their shields whilst staying safely out of range.
Crawling Bombs Lay traps in their path to kill or disable Felons and any support units.
Sumo Loves to jump right into shield balls and squish everyone like bugs. Best used with cloaking. May die before landing to about 6-7 charged felons, so holdfire is suggested.

----------------


Aspis


<br>
Class Linkable Shield Walker
Metal 550Reclaim220
HP 700
Speed 2.05Max Slope18Max Water Depth5000
Sight Range 300
* Energy Shield *
Max Strength 3600
Regen 50
Energy required to regen 12
Radius 350

----------------


Spiderbots


<br>

Sleek, shiny and deadly, Spiderbots are produced by the dedicated Spider Factory. Whilst most of them are lacking in the armor department, they pack a good variety of powerful weaponry, equally good at close range engagements as mid-range ones. They are also all-terrain units, to which they owe their many legs that allow them to clamber up ANY wall or terrain obstruction, no matter how tall or sheer. They are supremely versatile and deadly, with a diverse arsenal of units ranging from the tiny crawling Flea scout bot to the rocket-armed all-terrain Recluse skirmisher to the armored heavy fire support Crabe walker.

----------------


Weaver


<br>
Class Construction Spider
Metal 200Reclaim 92
HP 750
Mass/Weight 155
Speed 1.8Max Slope72Max Water Depth22
Resource production 0.15
Build power 7.5Build range120
Sight Range 295

(Trivia: The Weaver appears to have two objects attached to its frame that look like flammable fuel tanks.)

----------------


Flea


<br>
Class Ultralight Scout Spider
Metal 20Reclaim 4
HP 40
Speed 4.8Max slope 72Max water depth15
Sight Range 560
Morphs to:<br> * Glaive * (10s)
* Micro-laser *
Damage 10.87DPS43
AoE 8
Reloadtime 0.25
Range 140

Hands-down the best land scout in the entire game, the Flea is proof that wonderful things do indeed come in small packages. Fleas are tiny four-legged scout bots that scurry across the landscape at a staggering 4.8 speed -- that's enough to compete with most conventional Gunships! When idle, Fleas burrow into the ground, effectively gaining self-cloak -- this means that for a mere 20 metal you can have a mobile security camera that can even scurry up steep cliffs. And if all that is still not enough for you, the Flea somehow manages to include a weapon with all this equipment -- a tiny little micro-laser that does just enough damage to kill mexes and winds before your enemy realizes what the hell is going on. The only problem is that most buildings tend to do damage to everything around them when they go boom, which is bad news for your poor 140 range Fleas, so don't pack them * too * tightly.

In the early game the Spider player is largely dependent on Fleas to hamper enemy expansion and provide intel; but due to how easy they are to kill, they must rely on defense and Venoms for anti-raider purposes against heavier units like Glaives and Bandits. Well-managed, Fleas can easily avoid enemy raiders and only occasionally run into defenses, forcing the enemy to devote much of their resources & attention to counter them, making them ideal to harass enemies while giving the Spider player precious time to build defense and expand. * Credit: cDGodde *

With their insane scouting and screening capabilities coupled with their self-cloak and small laser for harassing enemy econ, it's no wonder some people go Spider fac (or at least Athena) just to get their hands on some Fleas. They are perfect for sweeping an area for enemy Sniper bots or other cloaked nuisances, and can easily overwhelm most skirmishers/arty if they aren't being supported. They die by the dozens if thrown against anything that can reliably hit them, however, such as any kind of splash damage, Banshees or Rapiers, or pretty much any direct-fire unit from Glaives onward. Since those 20 metal costs can rack up quickly, its best not to needlessly waste your Fleas. Make plenty of them, keep large groups on hand, but don't throw them away.

To use Fleas effectively you have to know how to properly deploy them. They do best when spread out in a line formation, typically covering the entire breadth of the frontline or at least enough to prevent enemy Skuttles or other cloakers from sneaking past your lines to take out targets of opportunity. When moving or deploying Fleas, try holding down the Move button when issuing an order to trace a line; when you release the button all units in the currently selected group will take up equally spread positions along that line. This works perfectly for Fleas as you can quickly create a screen wherever and whenever you need it.

* Effective *
As early warning system Many people opt to leave Fleas in their cloaked state all over the map so they can send back data on enemy movements. This is a superb strategy and should be used as much as possible.
* Combos/Strategies *
Anything Fleas are so effective at gathering intel and sweeping for cloakers that they are a staple of many serious efforts. They combo well with nearly any unit or strategy.
* Counters *
Scouts Cloaked fleas can be found and mobile ones dealt with by sweeping them out with scouts of your own.
AoE Even being caught in the very outer ring of the simplest AoE weapon will destroy a Flea. Riot units and the like always slaughter them.
Tracking Weapons Missiles, like from Slashers or Defenders can pick off Fleas with ease and at great range.

----------------


Hermit


<br>
Class All-Terrain Assault Bot
Metal 160Reclaim 64
HP 1400Wreck HP 1500
Mass/Weight 175
Speed 1.7Max slope 72Max water depth22
Sight Range 420
* Light Plasma Cannon *
Damage 140
AoE 36
Reloadtime 2.6
Range 350

Easily the cheapest assault unit in the game, the Hermit (aka. Scarab) is relatively unimpressive on paper when it comes to stats, but is so inexpensive -- roughly only twice the cost of a standard raider -- that they can easily be massed to overwhelm the enemy with skittering death. Whilst not as common or popular a unit as the Recluse, Hermits can nonetheless make up the backbone of many Spider player's strategies.

* Effective *
vs. Defense Hermits work well for overrunning lighter emplacements like LLT's quickly, and in significant numbers can stand up to heavier ones as well. Stay far away from Stardusts, and HLT's 'till you have a good ball.
* Combos/Strategies *
Venom These stun the enemy, the Hermits fire from a safe distance without worry of getting stunned (Unlike Fleas).
Recluse Hermits are essential to use with these skirmisher spiders, as a shield to protect them from common threats and assist the advance.
* Counters *
Raiders Hermits are inaccurate and easily overrun, but make sure to jink 'cause they just might get a lucky hit.
Skirmishers Kiting them is very effective; just watch out for any Recluses that might be tagging along.
Light/Heavy Vehicles Both the wheeled and track variety boast high-speed, high-HP units that can terrorize packs of Hermits. Of course, that depends on whether they can catch them on open ground...
Air These bots are defenseless against gunships and bombers. Napalm works best as their HP isn't too hot (pun intended) and they have a tendency to group up.

----------------


Venom


<br>
Class Riot EMP Spider
Metal 200Reclaim 80
HP 750
Speed 2.7Max Slope72Max Water Depth22
Sight Range 440
* Electro-Stunner *
Damage 18 + 600 (EMP)
Max stun time 3
AoE 160
Reloadtime 1.8
Range 240

"Creepycrawliesthey'reallaroundme--AHHH!!!" ~ General enemy reaction

Venoms are a popular, relatively cheap, essential frontline Spiderbot. They move ridiculously fast for a Riot unit, making them even better at intercepting Raiders with their EMP stunner. While it deals no direct damage, Venoms are perfect for keeping enemies paralyzed long enough for your other units to finish them off. So perfect, in fact, that they are essential; most other units in this fac are so inaccurate or poor against fast units that they need this guy around to keep them still long enough to do any real damage. Skilled Venom use is the mark of a pro and is to be feared; they are ruthlessly efficient at stunning units, and with micro can even keep two units stunned rendering thEM HELPLESS BEFORE THE SWARM, AHAHAHaha... ahem.

Venoms are often the next thing off the production lines after the obligatory first few scouting Fleas. They are necessary for early offensive operations as they efficiently counter most other low-tier units. They work very well with Fleas; ordinarily the tiny scout bots can't hold a candle to anything bigger than them, but when stunned, Fleas can swarm all over them and pick them apart piece by piece with their tiny little laser AWW damn they're so cuuute!xD Venom + Flea is your trump card in the early game. Switch to Hermits once you start taking some real land to deal with the inevitable heavy units and defense lines, and throw in Weavers for repairs too; your Venoms are going to take a lot of hits.

One thing to really watch out for is their AoE; anything near the target is going to take a wad of EMP damage, so keep your own units back unless you want them to get stunned too. Your fleas in particular are in serious danger due to their short reach.

* Effective *
vs. Raiders/Scouts Two-legs bad, six-legs GOOD! Venoms are essential for protecting your Spider army from being overrun by raiders, since the remainder of the facs low-tier is quite inaccurate (with the exception of the Redback).
vs. Shields All forms of EMP drain shields like mad, and Venom is no exception.
* Combos/Strategies *
Spiderbots I'll say it again; YOU. NEED. THESE. Venoms hold the enemy still, giving your real killers plenty of time to deal the finishing blow.
* Counters *
Outnumber/Spread Out Venoms have very little actual damage. Though they can stun more than one unit at a time, if you're even using just Raiders you can kill them as long as you remain spread out; most Raiders outrun Venoms by a bit, just stay on them and don't cluster, and keep picking off any Fleas that might be around.
Defender/LLT Crawl The humble light defenses can put serious pressure on Venom and Flea efforts from a good distance, though you will find yourself stopping VERY quick when facing Hermits. Make more as appropriate; Venoms eat single turrets.
Outlaw Discourages use of venom and also limits their damage output.

----------------


Redback


<br>
Class Riot Spider
Metal 280Reclaim100
HP 900
Speed 1.7Size3Max slope72Max water depth22
Sight Range 660
* Auto Particle Beam *
Damage 60
Reloadtime 0.33
Range 300

In by popular demand, the Redback offers 100% precision direct-fire capability to the Spider factory, allowing you to melt the faces (or wheels) off enemy raiders should they dare try to get close to the rest of your forces. They make for a very effective screening line, as no swarmer will be able to get past without immediately being tagged with several volleys of lasgun-- ahem, I mean particle beam fire. (FOR THE EMPARAWWWR!!)

A word of warning: DO NOT use this as a primary assault unit, no matter how tempting it may be. It doesn't have nearly enough health to survive a serious scrape, and its range and speed make it below average at combat maneuvers. If you absolutely have to use it in a heavy combat situation, make sure to bring Aspis walkers to provide shield cover, or at least make sure they are not advancing too far ahead and never without plenty of support.

* Effective *
vs. Raiders/Scouts The Redback's weapon system is absolutely lethal vs. fast swarm-type units, as it pretty much cannot miss.
vs. Crawling Bombs The fact that its weapon has near-100% accuracy means it can target fast crawling bombs; however, the proximity at which they are likely to be detonated is generally still considered dangerous for Redbacks, so make sure to keep repair units handy.
* Combos/Strategies *
Recluse Works well as a shield for this heavy skirmish spider, acquitting itself very well in an anti-raider role to safeguard your back line.
Hermit Similar to above, Redbacks can peel off the fast units that might otherwise pose a problem for the humble Hermit assault walker.
* Counters *
Skirmishers Range is abysmal compared to other units in its weight class. Up to three skrimishers can be made for the price of one Redback (and even then leaving some change), so without support, Redbacks are toast in a mid-range battle.
Assault/Battle units Redbacks cannot hold a candle to real combat troops due to their inferior stats. Zeus, Ravager and other tough units will mop the floor with them due to their far superior health and damage ability.

----------------


Recluse


<br>
Class Skirmisher Spider (direct-fire)
Metal 300Reclaim 120
HP 650
Mass/Weight 171
Speed 1.6Max Slope72Max Water Depth22
Sight Range 594
* Rocket Volley *
Damage 405 (135 x3)
AoE 48
Reloadtime 4
Range 540

This advanced skirmisher spider is among the most popular (and most expensive) units in the game. Recluses fire three mid-ranged rockets in a single volley, which fan out in unpredictable patterns, meaning you aren't always likely to hit for full damage, but you typically do hit something. They are very versatile and powerful, crawling up any terrain obstacle and unleashing a withering barrage of rockets upon the opposition. Equally useful in defense and attack, the Recluse can easily become a part of any successful strategy.

Since they are extremely vulnerable and easy to overrun when unguarded, it's best to keep them near cliffs so they can use their terrain bonus, and near other units in general. Air raids are unforgiving, so try and make sure you have some AA as well. Typical use involves deploying them into a wide skirmish line, behind units or on cliffs; they can fire from nearly any angle thanks to their turret and arcing projectiles. They can kill Heavies if they have to, but most Assault classes can get within kill range easily and wipe you out -- Goliaths are bad news, as are Grizzlies thanks to that laser.

* Effective *
vs. Defense They outrange most statics comfortably, though you should stay far away from Stingers.
vs. Ground In general, Recluses are efficient vs. almost any ground unit, though it's kinda hard to hit raiders.
* Combos/Strategies *
Venom He can stun enemy units, making them easy targets for Recluse fire.
Hermit These assault bots are your bread and butter, and also form a potent force to protect Recluse packs.
* Counters *
Stinger HLT's outrange Recluses and will easily pick them off if they try to engage. Add more to taste, but watch out for especially large groups.
Phoenix Napalm bombers will roast packs of Recluses easily. Tarantulas may be a problem, though, so consider bombers suicide in that case.
Gunships Most Gunships can deal with Recluses efficiently, though you should stay away from Venoms and AA.
Snipers Sharpshooters can pick off Recluses one by one with little effort. Just watch out for any Fleas.
AoE Weapons Crabes or any other potent AoE weapon will have their limbs flying through the air in no time. Roasted Recluse by chef Firewalker especially recommended.
Pyros Although easily stunned by venom, Pyro jumping into a bunch of recluses has some chances of setting them all on fire, dealing a ton of damage.
Roach Is a massive concern for advancing spiders. Fleas are generally useless against shields (due to Outlaw), so you can be pretty safe deploying your Roaches.

----------------


Tarantula


<br>
Class Anti-Air Spider
Metal 400Reclaim 160
Mass/Weight 215
HP 1200
Speed 2.3Max Slope 72Max Water Depth22
Sight Range 660
* Missiles *
Damage 220
AoE 48
Reloadtime 1.9
Range 1000

----------------


Infiltrator


<br>
Class Spy, Anti-Heavy
Metal 280Reclaim 112
HP 270
Mass/Weight 130
Speed 2.55Max Slope 72Max Water Depth22
Sight Range 550
Cloaked energy cost, Standing 4Cloaked energy cost, Mobile 12
Decloak Radius 60
* Electro-Stunner *
Damage 8000 (EMP)
Reloadtime 35
Range 100

Hmm... remember when I said the Flea was hands-down the best land scout? It may have some decent competition here, though only because this unit can cloak while moving and has a smaller decloak radius. It's a very good spy, and due to it's tiny profile and decloak radius it can move almost straight through enemy defenses instead of just circling around the edges. This is not to say you should be careless with it, however, as it's quite an expensive unit for a scout and will leave a rather nice 112 metal wreck behind for your enemy to nom on. However, most people choose not to use it at a scout, instead relying on Fleas for all their intelligence needs -- and they may have a point there. But Infiltrators do have one thing Fleas do not; and that's a point-blank range EMP cannon that can stun a heavy tank in one shot*.

Infiltrators are useful as an assassin unit of sorts, as it can sneak up right next to pretty much anything and deliver it's charge. A unit stunned by an Infiltrator will be out for a LONG time -- like 25 seconds. This makes them wonderful counters for almost any heavy unit, as it only takes 2 to 3 of these to stun most conventional heavies like the Sumo or Goliath. It's speed allows it to keep up with these units, as well; sure seems like it's pretty much designed for locking down heavy tanks, hmm? Still, it can be hunted down rather easily with most scout and raider units, as they can spread out to cover a wide swathe of terrain. It's also next to useless if you haven't got enough real combat units to deal the killing blow to the stunned unit(s), or if he's got sufficient cover to protect them (Sharpshooters spring to mind).

* Effective *
vs. Defense Can insta-stun most defenses that would otherwise give you trouble (Stingers), and deal with Annihilators/DDM's the same way.
vs. Heavies Infiltrators can stun most high-HP units within 2 hits. Weaker heavies like Reapers take only one.
vs. early Banisher/Reaper Many heavy tank players try to rush one of these at the start; Infiltrators shut this down so effectively its almost cruel.
* Combos/Strategies *
Dominatrix Stun that reaper and capture it for ultimate trolling.
Venom Can keep the target stunned while you capture it.
Scythe packs Can work as infiltrator scout to find the singularities and disable local defenses.
Nuke/bombers Using air scouts tells your enemy that you are about to nuke/bomb, while using infiltrators allows for a surprise attack (it might take a while to scout stuff though).
* Counters *
Patrol A bunch of glaives/scouts on patrol causes alot of grief to Infiltrator users.
AoE Weapons Will likely kill unlucky spies.
Wolverine General counter for cloakies; spread mines across a wide area.
Nano frames Nano frames are incompleted units/buildings. Just start one and leave it unbuilt; they WILL decloak the spy, and cost you nothing. You can queue these up en-masse by holding down Q while placing buildings; the builder will start the nanoframe without finishing it.

----------------


Crabe


<br>
Class Heavy Riot/Skirmish Spider
Metal 1600Reclaim 640
HP 4000
Mass/Weight 445
Speed 1.35Max Slope 72Max Water Depth22
Sight Range 660
Morphs to:<br> * Scorpion * (45s)<br> * Catapult * (45s)
* Heavy Riot Cannon *
Damage 600
AoE 200
Reloadtime 4.0
Range 600

The Crabe (aka. Crab) is a heavy fire support unit that bridges the gap between Riot units and Skirmishers, whilst somehow maintaining its all-terrain ability AND gaining durability rivaling most heavy Assault units. It is viewed throughout the wide community as both an extremely powerful tactical unit and one of the biggest annoyances to face, as it is nearly impossible to dislodge without having the proper units. It's riot cannon is astounding; it has enough firepower and AoE to blast apart dense packs of enemy units with ease, whilst maintaining a menacing range of 600. Yes, when used correctly, the Crabe is truly a terror on the field. Accordingly, there are many things one needs to know before either using a Crabe or facing one in battle.

The first thing many people notice about this unit is that although it has an usually low amount of HP for a Heavy unit, it has a very interesting special ability which compensates for that immensely. When a Crabe is stationary, the main body bunkers down between layers of ablative armor plates on its legs, effectively cutting all damage dealt to it by a third. This raises the effective maximum HP of the unit to 12000 (thats 1/3 of a detriment btw...), provided it were to remain still to take all that damage. The really annoying part is that unlike all other units and structures in the game with a similar ability, the Crabe can *still shoot* while its curled up into armored form.

Thankfully (if you're on the receiving end), the Crabe is not without its weaknesses. The most obvious ones being that it's overland speed is exceedingly low, making it possible to simply outmaneuver, and that it must remain stationary to receive the armor bonus that makes it a worthwhile unit -- if you manage to catch one on the move, say with a bombing run, you can safely dispose of them before they become a serious problem. If not, and they are inevitably going to force you to fight them, there are still plenty of ways to fight back.

* Effective *
vs. Skirmishers Crabes outperform Skirmisher packs very handily; they've got plenty of range on them, AoE and devastating power. Pretty much dominates the mid-range sector.
vs. Statics Crabes work well for demolishing defense lines, particularly if you've got Weavers on standby to assist with repairs and remember to keep him bunkered down when possible.
vs. Raiders These heavy fire-support spiders smash Raider packs to oblivion and can take an amazing amount of punishment. Raiders will have to be mircoed rather well to have a chance.
* Counters *
Infiltrator/Thunderbird Catch him on the move with the stun/disarm, and you're golden.
Pillager/Impaler/Racketeer/Any long range Play your enemies' game and beat them at a distance. Might take a while though.
High-HP Heavies Tank through their cannon and get in its face (Watch out for Infiltrators!).
Air He can't afford many Tarantulas after that Crabe. Have fun.
Skuttle The classic response. Does a fair amount of damage even when armored; pops it like a soap bubble if mobile.
Outmaneuver If you can, force him to react to you by attacking elsewhere. Play for time.
Glaive An unsupported Crabe can be killed by 10-15 Glaives, but only on level ground. Let them circle around it.

----------------


Jumpjet/Specialist Bots


<br>

Units from this factory are specialized to do extremely well for specific tasks or carry special weaponry and equipment. They are generally very expensive, but some of the most advanced heavy weaponry available can be found here, so it's generally a solid choice.

Produced units range from tiny walking missiles that can rapidly multiply on their own, flamethrower bots with jetpacks, jumping assault melee walkers, disruptor beam support walkers and jumping cloaked anti-heavy bombs. Pretty much every unit in this factory has some sort of special ability or at least the capability to jump, giving them wonderful versatility.

----------------


Freaker


<br>
Class Jumpjet Constructor
Metal 240Reclaim96
HP 650Wreck HP750
Mass/Weight 159
Speed 2.25Max slope18Max water depth22
Resource production 0.2
Build power 7.5Build range120
Sight Range 375
* Slowbeam *
Damage 180
Reloadtime 2
Range 320

----------------


Puppy


<br>
Class Walking Missile
Metal 50
Mass/Weight 66
HP 80
Speed 3.5Max Slope18Max Water Depth15
Sight Range 425
* Legless Puppy * (suicide weapon)
Damage 410
AoE 40
Range 170

This oddball unit is essentially an expendable guided missile with legs. When it comes into range of a target it will 'die' and launch itself forward with deadly accuracy. Interestingly, if the missile hits land instead of an enemy it will become a Puppy again and can launch itself once more for another try. Missing in this manner does slightly damage the Puppy every time, though. These suicide drones also possess the unique ability to draw metal from unit wrecks by simply standing close; when it's 'Goo' meter is filled, a new Puppy is created next to the original one, allowing them to self-replicate Gray Goo style. This means that instead of reclaiming wrecks you can opt to have Puppies quickly eat them up to make more without a factory! Yay!

* Effective *
vs. Heavy Raiders Most people rush hard-hitting yet somewhat frail units like Pyros early. They can be hard to stop normally, but it only takes two hits for Puppies to bring one down and they're really fast and cheap.
vs. Ground Raiders go down easy, Skirmishers and Artillery take at most two, and many early Assaults can be brought down nicely by Puppies, then you can just eat the wrecks to make more. Avoid Riot/AoE units.
vs. Air Puppies are surprisingly good against air due to their accuracy and guided munitions; though most of them need to come down to their level, a dive-bombing Raven or low-flying gunship can be in for a nasty surprise.
* Counters *
Accurate/Guided weapons Killing them before they get close is essential, though it can be pretty difficult at times depending on the number of Puppies.
Reclaim Puppies replicate through wreckage; you can deny that - and get a nice income boost, too - by reclaiming the wrecks yourself.
AoE/Fire Puppies are never alone. Employ scorched earth tactics and wide-range AoE weapons to wipe out masses of the little buggers. Napalm bombers and Firewalkers work especially well for this.

----------------


Pyro


<br>
Class Raider/Riot Jumper
Metal 220Reclaim 88
HP 700
Mass/Weight 157
Speed 3Max Slope18Max Water Depth22
Can Jump
Sight Range 420
* Flamethrower *
Damage 8.5
AoE 64
Reloadtime 0.16
Afterburn Duration 10-15s
Afterburn DPS 15
Range 280

VERY few units are as deadly (or as annoying) as this one. Pyros are high-tech raider units equipped with jumpjets and high-speed leg servos for crossing difficult terrain, and excel at setting stuff on fire. Being immune to afterburn damage, Pyros are excellent at creating flaming inferno in the enemy ranks and getting out of there alive. In addition to their primary weapon, a vicious flamethrower, Pyros will explode upon death, setting any nearby units on fire as well. They are very volatile and powerful units, as well as quite expensive, so make good use of them.

Fire is a unique weapon, and among those who wield it the Pyro is pretty much supreme. The basics are simple; whenever flame weapons hit targets, those targets catch fire and suffer damage every second until a set period expires. Fire passes through targets (and terrain too, but that is a bug), inflicting damage to those behind it and also causing additional damage the larger the target unit is -- more size to get through means more hits. The combined damage of both the actual attack, passthrough and damage-over-time makes the Pyro a very dangerous unit with a long track record of destruction.

Pyros are very hard to combine with other units, as they WILL take friendly fire damage, and lots of it - even other Pyros in the pack will take direct flame damage, even though they are immune to the afterburn effect.

* Effective *
vs. Statics A single Pyro can trash a Factory in record time, even faster than Scorcher. As an added bonus factory can not build no matter where are you attacking from. Pyros are capable of defeating early Defenders and LLT's as well, but in doing so they will suffer losses.
vs. Skirmishers/Artillery Pyros excel at running down those pesky kiters; jump in the middle of a pack when you get the chance. Even if you lose them the explosion will often set the rest on fire.
vs. Light units A single Pyro can burn an unlimited number of fleas, a pack of Pyros will insta-kill most of the stuff like Darts, Glaives and Bandits.
vs. Cloakies Like most AOE units, Pyros are great at ruining the day of Snipers, Spies and Gremlins. Even if a Pyro dies, cloaky unit can not cloak as long as it is on fire giving you time to get another Pyro on him.
vs. Fire units Being nearly immune to fire damage, Pyros can easily walk through burning areas set aflame by Firewalker or Phoenix, when and where enemy least expects.
vs. Shields Fire is not stopped by shields => handles those pesky thugs with ease. Watch out for outlaws and felons though!
*Combos *
Heavy tanks Pyros are not a great combo unit, but it works okay with reapers and gollies to repel those pesky fleas and glaives. They will deal some friendly fire, but nowhere near what the enemy Glaives would do to you.
Sumo/Jack Pyros are good friends with Sumos and Jacks, since they can run around taking out the pesky skirmishers around your heavy-hitters.
* Counters *
EMP Stunned Pyros are completely helpless. Venoms, Ticks, Faradays and such are quite popular.
Gunships You need to be careful; Pyros have the range to hit low-fliers like Banshees. But a combined Gnat/Banshee or heavier attack can pose a very serious problem for Pyros.
Crawling Bombs Even though Pyros are somewhat frail and expensive, people tend to group them up. Ticks & Roaches will have a field day here and the former can follow them up cliffs.
Riot/Missiles High-damage, AoE Riot weapons and tracking missiles are very effective against Pyros. Banisher is just plain bad news for Pyro, even a bunch of defenders can be useful.
Newton Gravity turret can throw a Pyro off the cliff it tries to jump up before it deals any real damage. Very useful to defend that Annihilator that annoys your enemy so much.
Other Pyros Pyros are resistant to fire damage => okay at killing/engaging other Pyros

----------------


Moderator


<br>
Class Disruptor Beam Walker
Metal 300Reclaim 120
HP 450
Speed 1.9Max Slope18Max Water Depth22
Sight Range 660
* Disruptor Pulse Beam *
Damage 500 + 1500 (Slow)
AoE 32
Reloadtime 10
Range 420

Moderators are specialized fire support walkers armed with a 100% accurate disruptor beam that is so frontloaded with damage that it can cut through lighter units like a hot knife through butter, along with a powerful slowing factor that severely hampers any follow-up action from anything that survives the shot.

Slow damage fills a 'slow' bar on the enemy it hits; the % is the total reduction in movement & attack speed, which caps out at 50% and slowly decreases until the unit is back to full speed again. Slow damage also cuts resource production, and causes special abilities like Jump to take more time to reload. One important thing to note is that slow damage, just like capture and EMP damage, is relative to the unit's current HP; a Krow at 5000 HP will be in a lot of trouble against any kind of slowing unit, effectively taking 3.5x the slow damage. This can make for some very nasty surprises.
*Credit: Saktoth*

* Effective *
All heavies/<br>battle units Making them move and attack 50% slower pretty much renders them useless.
Air Moderators can give a nasty surprise to passing bombers, Avengers, or low-flying gunships.
Crawling bombs Instant hit, 100% accurate. The poor Ticks and Roaches have no chance.
* Counters *
A swarm of tiny units Will cause them to spread fire
Dirtbag Expendable meat shields that can absorb the alpha strike of Moderators, allowing Bandits and other units to attack while they're reloading.

----------------


Jack


<br>
Class Melee Assault Jumper
Metal 650Reclaim 260
HP 5000
Mass/Weight 362
Speed 1.81Max Slope18Max Water Depth22
Can Jump
Sight Range 350
Morphs to:<br> * Sumo * (20s)
* Spike *
Damage 300
Beam time (Must attack without<br> interruption to achieve full damage) 0.13
AoE 8
Reloadtime 1.0
Range 125

A 'special' walker if ever there was one, the Jack is a curious sight to behold; a walking 'can' with two legs, a square body, jumpjets on its underside and to crown all, a melee weapon instead of a gun -- it strikes nearby enemies with a rather large pointy spike mounted on its frame, making it one of the only two melee units currently in the game. It is a beast. Jacks are frontloaded with an incredible 5000 health, and while they are slow they can jump straight into the fray and begin leveling fortification lines and ripping apart almost any unit below its class in very short order. It is an imposing figure on the battlefield and a dreaded foe to face early on in a game.

Being a melee unit, they must obviously get right up next to their targets to do anything, meaning units faster than itself can maintain pace with it and kite it to death. Avoid fast skirmishers, packs of Bandits, anything with more range and speed than you is a big threat. Go straight after mexes, powerplants, defenses, coms, facs, anything valuable that your opponent needs; you should easily be able to reach it and knock it out. Jacks have several dangerous enemies and counters you will want to watch out for, never waste your energy needlessly against them.

* Effective *
vs. Statics Static emplacements and buildings alike can be rapidly demolished by Jacks.
vs. Commanders Jacks are quite infamous for killing coms, jumping onto them and beating them to death easily.
* Counters *
Bandit Has the range, firepower and speed to take out Jacks in numbers.
Zeus Ouch. You might get lucky, or you might get stunned; in which case you're as good as dead.
Moderator Slows the Jack down so much it becomes even easier to kite.
Infiltrator One tap from this and it won't matter what they send at you; you're screwed.
Dominatrix Capture car turns your 650 Metal investment into your demise.
Venom Follows you everywhere just out of your range and stuns you.
Virtually any Air unit that<br> doesn't fly low Can't hit them, they can hit you. 'nuff said.

----------------


Archangel


<br>
Class Heavy Anti-Air Jumper
Metal 550Reclaim220
HP 1500
Mass/Weight 236
Speed 2.017Max Slope18Max Water Depth22
Sight Range 660
* Anti-Air Laser Battery *
Damage 18.8
Reloadtime 0.1
DPS 188
Range 820
* Anti-Air Autocannon *
Damage 9
Reloadtime 0.1
DPS 90
Range 1040

----------------


Firewalker


<br>
Class Fire Support Walker (artillery/skirmish)
Metal 1200Reclaim 480
HP 1250Wreck HP630
Mass/Weight 347
Speed 1.9Max Slope18Max Water Depth22
Sight Range 660
* Napalm Mortar *
Damage 160 (80 x2)
AoE 256
Cloud Length 20s
Cloud DPS up to 20
Afterburn Length 2s
Afterburn DPS 15
Reloadtime 12
Range 900

The Jumpjet/Specialist factory has yet another surprise to show you -- the Firewalker. This pyromaniacs dream machine packs a twin napalm mortar that sets huge areas of ground on fire at terrifying distances, making it ideal for area denial and wiping out entire armies of light to medium units efficiently and safely. It represents a massive investment in time and metal and isn't particularly durable, but the firepower you get for your money is often well worth it.

A typical usage goes as thus; when a Firewalker attacks, it arcs twin fiery globes toward its target which create large clouds of flame, burning anyone and anything caught in them. If they hit a shield, tall/flying unit or terrain feature the cloud can spawn in midair. These clouds last for roughly 20 seconds before dissipating.

* Effective *
vs. Spiders Toasts Fleas, reveals spies, heavily damages everything else, generally awesome.
vs. Shield Bots Fire can hurt targets behind shields. Also takes care of Roaches and everything else nicely.
vs. Cloaky Bots Absolutely murders most units especially the dreaded cloaky combo, completely nullifies cloaking, destroys Ticks.
vs. Light Vehicles Works well against scorchers, darts, slashers, dominatrix and AA trucks. Denies repair on Ravagers.
vs. Jumpers Deny repair on that sumo, annihilate puppy/moderator swarms, generally awesome.
vs. Hovers Annihilate those low-hp hovers on land and sea, generally awesome. Just watch out for Penetrators
* Counters *
Pyro and Kodachi Well, obviously, they are almost immune to fire damage => Firewalkers are in deep trouble.
Bombers Ravens can readily destroy these expensive units.
Snipers Same deal, but cloaked... and guaranteed 1-shot on Firewalkers.

----------------


Skuttle


<br>
Class Cloakable Anti-Heavy Bomb
Metal 550
HP 320
Speed 1.5225
Can Jump
Sight Range 280
Cloak cost, Mobile 15Cloak cost, Stationary 5
Decloak Radius 150
* Fusion Bomb * (Self-destruct/death weapon)
Damage 8000
AoE 180

A timeless classic and a favorite of many savvy (and evil) commanders, the Skuttle is a unique crawling bomb with a very potent explosive charge, and the ability to better deliver it by being able to jump, and its own bonafide cloaking device which lets it move unseen. The tradeoff for all this is a substantial upscale of cost, and lack of speed and agility.

Skuttles are best used for taking out high-priority targets like heavy units, commanders, large defenses, artillery, and economic/logistical infrastructure (especially Fusions/Singularities). They are specifically designed to deliver the maximum amount of force in the least amount of space to a single target, so make sure they are as close as possible before using Ctrl + D to detonate them. The closer they are, the more damage they will deal; there isn't much that can withstand a Skuttle at point blank except heavy units and DDMs.

They're a fairly common sight in any serious game involving Jumpjets; they're pretty much a high-power tactical nuke that can cloak and has no delay from launch point to target. They are difficult to counter if you don't know what you're doing, but it's quite easy with the right units; common strategy includes creating screens of scout units, defender towers, and possibly nano-frames all around the map to reveal the cloaked Skuttle. Since these little guys pretty much have to get right up in your face to do much, if you can keep it at a distance and kill it before it gets that far you shouldn't have too much trouble. But many a unit can be utterly destroyed, leaving no wreck to resurrect, before you are able to mount a good and proper defense against them, so be very careful and always look for ways one of them might use to infiltrate you and hit something very important.

* Effective *
vs. Commanders Skuttles are a classic response to morphcoms or any commander on the frontlines; all it takes is one clean hit to wipe them off the map for good.
vs. Heavies A clean hit from this beast of a bomb will destroy lesser heavy units outright and put so much of a dent in the bigger ones they'll have to retreat.
vs. Statics Skuttles are a powerful porc-cracker, dramatically changing the tactical situation at a stroke if they manage to hit that Annihilator, DDM, Bertha or what-have-you.
vs. Shield Ball While it can be exceedingly difficult to land a Skuttle in the middle of one with a bunch of Outlaws and Felons around, a lucky hit can blow the whole thing sky-high.
* Counters *
Scouts The best way to defend against Skuttles is to sweep areas and establish screens with many cheap units. Fleas are perfect for this task; invest in a Spider factory or Athena.
Nanoframes A nanoframe is an incompleted unit or structure; if you start building something and don't finish it the nano frame remains on the terrain. These can and will decloak anything passing by, including Skuttles.

----------------


Sumo



Class Jumping Assault/Riot Walker
Metal 2000Reclaim 800
Mass/Weight 621Size4
HP 12500
Speed 1.15Max Slope18Max Water Depth22
Can Jump
Sight Range 480
Morphs to:<br> * Dante * (45s)
* Gravity Gun * x2
Damage 0 x6
Reloadtime 0.20
Range 460
* Sumo Landing *
Damage 1000
AoE 340
Reloadtime 15

This monster of a heavy unit is easily one of the most intimidating things to ever grace the battlefield. It uses its twin disruptor beams to pick off units unlucky enough to get close, whilst also having the ability to jump straight into groups of enemies and scatter them like bowling pins. Its enormous offensive capabilities more than make up for its slow speed and high cost, so it is a high favorite of many players.

The real treat here is undoubtedly its jump ability. Unique among its factory for being a literal jump rather than a jet-assisted leap, Sumos can leap into the air and come crashing down straight into enemy ranks. This has the effect of causing a rather large explosion-like effect with a high impulse factor, knocking away anything at the point of impact and often sending it flying several meters. Any units that survive this attack are usually weakened enough to be finished off by the Sumo's twin disruptor beams.

However, its speed creates a rather large problem for the owner of a Sumo, as it can easily be defeated in a cost-effective manner by the heavy use of even rudimentary skirmishers or anything that can reliably stay out of its reach. Controlling your enemy also becomes even more of a necessity, because Sumos can be countered rather easily if your enemy has resources to spare and enough terrain to maneuver around. Don't give your enemy that chance. Make the Sumo's first entrance count, and make sure you deliver a crushing, decisive blow.

* Effective *
vs. Battle units Sumos can TRASH nearly all kinds of direct-fire units that rely on getting close.
vs. Statics They can also shrug off heavy damage and obliterate entire defense lines with minimal effort. Avoid heavy defenses like Annihilators and DDM's like the plague, though.
* Combos/Strategies *
Moderator Slowing down enemy units allows the Sumo to squash them like bugs even easier, and even lets it catch up to ones it might miss otherwise.
Cloaking Sumo's work well with an Eraser; it lets them walk up to large groups of enemy units without being noticed and squash them with its jump. Set it to holdfire so as to not be detected early.
Vindicator Acquiring a heavy lift transport from the Gunship lab can enable you to carry the Sumo around the map with ease. They can cause untold damage if set to run rampant behind enemy lines where no one expects them.
* Counters *
Heavy Gunships/Bombers While the Sumo has some flex-AA capability vs. low-fliers, heavier ones like Brawlers work great against them.
Infiltrator An effective response to nearly all Heavies, spies take only 2 shots to completely disable a Sumo, making it a sitting duck for even FLEAS, fer cripesake.
Skirmishers Most varieties of Skirmisher work well for kiting this monster, though you will still enter its range briefly once it inevitably jumps in your general direction.
Moderator Slowbeam walkers can reduce the Sumo's already poor speed by half, which not only raises the reload time on its beams, but doubles the recharge time for its jump.

----------------


Light Vehicles


<br>

Wheeled vehicles trade raw firepower for armor and speed, and they can still hold their own through many scraps. The LV's are relatively cheap and easy to use, and fulfill all central roles as well as some curveballs. Heat-ray equipped buggies, rapid-fire missile trucks, artillery minelayers and light assault tanks are all yours to command.

Vehicles are almost always a good choice for maps where there's alot of flat or semi-flat terrain; no type of vehicle or tank can go up or down terrain that is more than 6 elmos sheer of the units own level. This is in contrast to most other units like bots, whose sheer limit is 18. They also move much slower uphill. So don't build light vehicles on hilly maps; make something else like Spiders instead.

----------------


Mason


<br>
Class Construction Vehicle
Metal 140Reclaim56
HP 900
Mass/Weight 147
Speed 2.4Max Slope6Max Water Depth22
Resource production 0.1
Build power 5Build range180
Sight Range 255

----------------


Dart


<br>
Class Raider/Scout Vehicle
Metal 40Reclaim16
HP 120
Mass/Weight 61
Speed 5.09Max Slope6Max Water Depth22
Sight Range 580
Morphs to:<br> * Scorcher * (10s)
* Laser *
Damage 55
Reloadtime 1
Range 180

While somewhat unassuming at first, the Dart (aka. Bike, Motorbike) can quickly become a unit of choice for a number of reasons; chief among them being that it is THE fastest land unit in the game, period. Surprisingly its laser makes it somewhat potent as a raider vehicle as well as a scout, well able to raid undefended economy and harass enemies. They are also an effective and cheap solution for sweeping an area for dug-in fleas, crawling bombs and cloaked units which might otherwise cause you trouble. As a vehicle, though, it does still have trouble with rough terrain, so make sure you have plenty of flat ground before making too many.

So the real question is; why make these instead of Scorchers? After all, Scorchers do have way more DPS and enough speed to defeat most low-tier enemies. Some have written to me that they find Darts a much better counter to certain enemies in the early game, namely Panthers in the inevitable Cars vs. Tanks fights; Panthers compete far too well with Scorchers, with enough DPS, the perfect anti-raider gun and speed to match, allowing them to retreat if they get into trouble. Darts can swarm units that might otherwise give Scorchers a hard time, they never miss, and you get three motorbikes for the price of one buggy with 10 metal as change. They are ridiculously cheap, and can actually form an effective combat unit when packed together densely.

Of course, like almost any raider or scout, they have the same vulnerabilities; tracking missiles, accurate fire and AoE weapons. The name of the game is 'Outmaneuver'; bikes have more speed than any unit in the game bar none, so use it. Look for a way to evade the plodders and defenses and hit where it really matters, whilst your real combat vehicles handle them. Another good use for Darts is against slow reloaders, like Scalpels, Kodachi's and even Banishers; you will need to micro a ton to avoid losing your entire group in one shot, but when spread properly your blazing speed and reliable guns will let you bring down these alpha-strike reliant units quickly and without too much fuss. Plus, it's just so immensely satisfying!

* Effective *
vs. Alpha-strike A skilled Dart user can send in one unit to absorb the attack, then have the rest charge in for the kill. You can even outright dodge some of these, like with Scalpels for their slow rockets.
vs. Scouts/Raiders Darts outclass even Fleas in the speed department, and can tussle with lighter raiders through virtue of sheer numbers and speed. I've heard that they can kill Glaives without taking losses in a run-by if you have enough of them.
vs. Economy Bikes are wonderful for sneaking in the back door and striking undefended economy and windfarms.
* Combos/Strategies *
Light Vehicles Darts are essential cheap units to sweep the area ahead of your advance and make sure you don't get surprised; having an entire Scorcher clump run into a Roach or Stardust is quite costly.
* Counters *
Defenders/LLT's Basic defenses clean up Darts quite efficiently and cover plenty of area. Try and find a chokepoint or combine with a little Terraforming.
Anti-Raider Classic responses like tracking missiles, other fast units, AoE weapons and air units work well against bikes.

----------------


Scorcher


<br>
Class Raider Vehicle
Metal 130Reclaim 52
HP 420
Speed 3.7
Sight Range 400
Morphs to:<br> * Ravager * (10s)<br> * Kodachi * (10s)
* Heat Ray *
Damage 31.4DPS314
AoE 20
Reloadtime 0.1
Range 270

First off, don't be fooled by that ridiculously high DPS. The Scorcher's weapon is a Heat Ray, which loses significant amounts of its damage the further away the target is. Anyways, Scorchers are the Light Vehicle factories Raider, and boy do they kick ass. As fast as a Glaive but with over twice the health and a better gun with more range, they should form a staple of your army any time you use LV's. Like any vehicle, though, they can't drive over steep terrain, and as a Raider are very vulnerable to riot units and accurate weaponry. They will, however, completely trash light defenses and outclass virtually every other Raider on the field.

* Effective *
vs. Light Ground Scorchers can run down and quickly slaughter weak ground units easily.
vs. Commanders Unless they've got a Shotgun or Heavy Machine Gun, Scorchers can kill these popular targets almost with impunity.
vs. Factories 4 Scorchers will annihilate a factory in about 8 seconds at point blank.
vs. Windfarms 5-6 Scorchers can annihilate a windfarm like it was not even there while just driving by.
* Counters *
Riot Weapons All forms of Riot unit can defeat Scorchers with deadly efficiency.
Stardust Chews up and spits out Scorchers by the dozens.
Crawling Bombs Since Scorchers normally have to operate in tight packs to be really effective, using mines and crawling bombs works ridiculously well.

----------------


Wolverine


<br>
Class Artillery Minelayer Vehicle
Metal 260Reclaim 104
HP 450
Speed 2.5
Sight Range 660
* Light Mine Artillery *
Damage 220 (20 for the shot, 200 for the actual mine)
Reloadtime 5
Range 800

*Claw Mine*

HP 40
Lifespan 30s
Permanent Cloak
Decloak Radius 75
* Bomblet * (suicide weapon, tracking)
Damage 200 (40 x5)
Range 115

A very interesting unit from the Light Vehicle Factory, the Wolverine is an inexpensive, fast-firing saturation artillery unit. It fires Claw mines which embed themselves in any terrain they land on, including floating on top of water. The shot itself deals only minute damage, but the actual mine deals quite a bit and in a way that makes up for the wild saturation spread of the shots. When an enemy unit comes within range of the mine, it will split into several bomblets which quickly fly to their target and explode. The strength of this unit lies in its ability to lay large minefields in any kind of terrain, creating a deadly hazard for low-end units; skirmishers walking over these are toast. If they can't lay their minefields beforehand Wolverines are still somewhat effective provided their shots land within 115 range of an enemy. A mine that impacts a shield will automatically explode dealing its full damage without needing to land and deploy its bomblets.

Their good speed allows them to keep up with the rest of your vehicles, though they should never be left unsupported as their low HP makes them a prime target for raiders or basically anything that can get close. They are a phenomenal defensive unit so consider building several to saturate potential access points. Since a deployed mine counts as a unit, it also works well against cloaking enemies by revealing any that come close. Makes them great against Sharpshooters especially.

There's an easy way to set up epic minefields with minimal micro. First, select your Wolverines. Then hit A (Attack), hold down the Alt key and draw a line with your mouse along the ground. This will cause each individual Wolverine to attack a position along that line equally, allowing you to lay a 'wall' of mines. Better yet, hold down Alt + Shift and draw several lines of attack, each at different locations; this will cause the Wolverines to fire at each spot in sequence. You can use this to advance your minelayers forward whilst laying mines between them and the enemy, so that if they advance beyond their fortifications they now need to step on dozens of mines before they even get to your minelayers. Another trick I discovered is that if you turn on the Repeat state on your Minelayers, they will loop this sequence of laying mines so that once they hit the last line in the chain they will start back at the first -- otherwise they'll stop at the last line and keep firing at that one, which may or may not be what you want. All this is very good information to take into consideration whenever you're using Wolverines.
*Credit: Skasi, Antelope*

Wolverines are, however, completely defenseless against air attack and are a bit slow on the retreat, making them easy to kill even though they can admirably cover their rear with mines. You may want to stop using these once your opponent is getting heavier units or shields as the bomblets cease to be effective very quickly.

All this in consideration, the Wolverine can be a very useful strategic unit and will easily make cost as long as you can rely on units to blunder into your mines. It remains an effective light artillery unit even when not laying mines, however you will want to be very careful with them because packs can be quite expensive and you need several to make high-density minefields, so stay resourceful and don't rely on these alone to win battles for you. Happy minelaying!

* Effective *
vs. Cloakies Wolverines can plant huge fields of 'units' which can independently reveal cloaked units which blunder across them and deal a fair bit of damage. Good for countering crawling bombs, skuttles and the like.
vs. Statics They can also fill the more classic role of Artillery, shelling static emplacements from a fair distance away.
vs. Ground No unit likes to blunder headlong into a minefield; high-density fields can wear down a generous amount of health without you having to risk anything.
* Counters *
Air Wolverines are quite frail and vulnerable to quick Gunship attacks or Phoenix napalm strikes. Beware of any AA protecting them.
Firewalker The clouds of fire created by this monster can both roast groups of minelayers, and clear areas of the deadly ordnance quickly.
AoE Sweeping Should you need to clear a potential minefield, take whatever AoE-equipped units you have, press ALT and draw lines in front of your advance; this will cause them to fire along that line, any mines hit will be cleared promptly and efficiently.

----------------


Slasher


<br>
Class Ranged Support/AA Truck
Metal 140Reclaim 50
HP 560
Speed 2.8
Sight Range 660
Morphs to:<br> * Copperhead * (20s)
* Homing Missiles *
Damage 40
AoE 48
Reloadtime 0.75
Range 600

An interesting and inexpensive unit from the Light Vehicle Factory, the Slasher is a hybrid skirmisher/support/AA truck with tracking missiles. It is different from other skirmishers in that it cannot fire while moving, which means you must carefully pick and choose where you deploy them -- it's very easy for pretty much any unit to destroy them once they're stationary. Due to their tracking missiles and long range they are perfect for dealing with scouts, crawling bombs, blastwings, gnats and other units that people like to gather in swarms and throw at you en masse. You'll want to keep these at maximum range as much as possible because once your enemy closes in it doesn't take long for them to die, though.

All told the Slasher is a cheap and reliable unit, as long as you keep it well-supported and don't throw them at odds they have no chance of beating they are quite an asset. Ever since they received the performance buff from the patch they are now a much more used unit. Slashers now deal significantly more damage from what they did before (45 from 34 or so), which is such a massive buff that they now not only scrap light units but when gathered in significant groups -- which is easy given their inexpensiveness -- they can lay down a withering barrage of fire to discourage most medium to heavy units, as well as most common bombers and gunships. Not to mention the fact that the Slashers don't even have to be in line formation to shoot upward, so all of them can fire at once vs. air. Their all-rounded nature and excellent weapons system together with their long range makes them an ideal response to almost any conventional threat.

They do have several glaring weaknesses, however. The first and most obvious one is that they must be completely stationary before they can shoot at all, which makes them sitting ducks for sniper bots, penetrators, artillery, hell even CRUISE MISSILES fer cripesake. The problem is that since their projectile travels in a straight line -- barring the movement patterns of their target -- they can be blocked by any sort of terrain feature between them and the enemy, which can be anything from a terrain feature to a rock to a unit wreck. This makes it easy to evade Slasher fire by simply keeping your head down, so to speak, and you can also take advantage of this by crossing their T (attacking the edges of their line from the top or bottom instead of the front), meaning they will be blocked by their own units. The third is tied to the first, in that they have a VERY low amount of HP -- you would expect this from a Skirmisher, but most Skirmishers don't have to stop to fire like the Slasher does.

* Effective *
vs. Raiders Slashers can defeat most kinds of Raiders when used right, though once they close the distance it's over.
vs. Gunships Most types of Gunship can be brought down quickly by sustained Slasher fire.
As fire support Slashers can put a lot of rounds downrange, so to speak, so they make for a powerful source of DPS against almost anything under the right conditions.
* Combos/Strategies *
Light Vehicles Slashers make a perfect all-round killer and support unit for the rest of your guys.
* Counters *
Artillery The fact that they have to stop to fire means you get lots of free shots.
Fast Assaults Like Assault tanks. If you can survive some Slasher fire and get close you can kill them pretty easy.

----------------


Leveler


<br>
Class Riot Vehicle
Metal 240Reclaim 96
HP 1100
Mass/Weight 180Size3
Speed 2Max Slope6Max Water Depth22
Sight Range 347
Morphs to:<br> * Banisher * (20s)
* Impulse Cannon *
Damage 220
AoE 144
Reloadtime 1.8
Range 290

The Leveler looks like someone took a howitzer cannon and slapped it on a vehicle chassis and said "Good enough". This six-wheeled terror's main gun has a much higher muzzle velocity than it's brother, the Ravager, allowing it to very effectively defeat raiders and other fast units, as well as giving it some flex-AA capability against low-flying gunships. Strangely, even though its straight-up firepower is roughly comparable to the Ravager's, its shots pack so much of a punch that they also lower the ground slightly where they hit -- hence the name, Leveler.

It also has a tendency to knock units away from the blast radius a short distance due to its weapon's impulse factor, though it does little more than shake bigger tanks and such around a bit. They are far less versatile than the Ravager when it comes to speed and armor, so be ever mindful of the enemy's capabilities -- if you see skirmishers, run, or bring faster units along. They also don't really stand up against true assault units very well.

* Effective *
vs. Swarmers They completely decimate packs of raiders and scouts with their AoE and high damage.
vs. Light Defense Defenders & LLT's don't stand a chance except in high concentrations.
* Combos/Strategies *
Mason If you're going to be using these regularly, make sure to bring constructors along like the Mason to repair them since they WILL be taking hits.
Slasher/Wolverine They can work well with the LV fac's weaker units by efficiently dealing with any units that might try to swarm you.
* Counters *
Assaults Levelers don't stack up well against heavier hardware.
Skirmishers Most can outrun the Leveler and kite it easily.
Air Whilst early Gunships won't want to try, Bombers and heavier fliers can rip Levelers apart with relative impunity.

----------------


Ravager


<br>
Class Assault Vehicle
Metal 250Reclaim 100
HP 1850
Mass/Weight 125Size3
Speed 2.95Max Slope6Max Water Depth22
Sight Range 385
Morphs to:<br> * Reaper * (20s)
* Light Plasma Cannon *
Damage 210
AoE 32
Reloadtime 2
Range 320

The Ravager is the Assault vehicle of choice for the Light Vehicle Factory. Possessing remarkable durability, speed and firepower for its cost, it is a very useful unit that works best in groups. Ravagers are difficult to stop early on as they will easily stand up to most other equivalent units in their price range and even a few above it, and can easily roll through most basic defenses (except Stardusts and Faradays) to ravage (pun intended) the heart of your enemies' infrastructure.

Of course, like any unit they have their ups and their downs. Despite the initial price of 250 not looking like much, remember I said these work best in groups ? Any large group of Ravagers will cost 250 apiece, quite a lot considering you could probably get a more appropriate assault unit for your money; ex. 1 Reaper for 3 1/2 Ravagers. However, very few other Assault units even come close to what these babies have; Speed. Ravager assault vehicles clock in at an impressive 2.95 overland speed, enough to compete with most conventional raiders and more than enough to weave around avoiding shots while running down slower enemy units and exploiting a weak spot. Their speed is their biggest asset, because even though they have good health they can still be brought down reliably if your enemy knows what he's doing. They will get utterly thrashed if thrown against other enemy heavy units; like, say, a Sumo or Goliath.

The best strategies for Ravager use involve circling a target at the edge of your range to minimize exposure to enemy fire and reduce damage to your squad, using micromanagement to dodge enemy fire and peeling damaged units off as necessary for repairs, and knowing precisely when to toggle between a deadly rapid-response force to trawling through your enemies' defensive line to get to their infrastructure. They are a very valuable unit, make sure you build as many as you need and don't lose them, because they represent a substantial investment of your time and resources. All in all, though, they are a fun unit to use, and an essential part of any working Light Vehicles strategy.

* Effective *
vs. Statics Ravager swarms can weather most defense fire and take down the offending turrets with minimal losses.
vs. Light/Medium Ground Ravager tanks are a solid battle unit to use against most of the low-tier stuff you're likely to see. Remember to retreat for repairs often.
* Combos/Strategies *
Dart Motorbikes are essential companions to the Ravager; they can provide you with intel, sweep areas for mines and crawling bombs and intercept some lighter units.
Slasher Missile trucks can lay down a steady stream of fire to wipe out Raiders/Scouts which Ravagers may otherwise have trouble hitting, and provide medium fire support and flex-AA.
* Counters *
Raiders These tussles tend to get a bit messy; most of the time Raiders can beat Ravagers cost-for-cost thanks to their speed and damage potential for chewing through their health, but sometimes Ravagers get lucky with their shots. They are no slouches themselves, either.
Air Ravagers haven't a prayer against determined Gunship or Bomber efforts. Could be difficult if they brought Crashers, Levelers or Slashers with them, but otherwise, go for it.
Crawling Bombs Most people tend to use Ravagers in groups. Skillful application of Ticks and Roaches removes this threat quickly.

----------------


Crasher


<br>
Class Fast AA Vehicle
Metal 260Reclaim104
Mass/Weight 242
HP 900
Speed 3.7Max Slope6Max Water Depth22
Sight Range 660
* Heavy Missile *
Damage 320
AoE 32
Reloadtime 4
Range 730

----------------


Dominatrix


<br>
Class Capture Vehicle
Metal 420Reclaim 168
HP 820
Speed 2.2
Sight Range 550
* Capture Ray *
Damage 10
Reloadtime 0.1
DPS 100
Range 450

Also known as the 'capture car', Dominatrix are a strange and unique unit for the LV's. It is also one of the best choices if you want your enemy annoyed as much as possible. Rather than carry a traditional weapons system, they instead fire a 'capture ray' at their targets; the HP of the unit being targeted is treated as the amount of resistance a unit can put up against being converted. A unit receives the base amount of 'capture damage' when it is at full health, but if the unit is wounded they take exponentially more from the Dom, on the way to about 300% additional capture damage at 0 health. Also, multiple Dominatrix can work together to capture a single unit, though only one becomes the controller. After taking control of a unit, the Dominatrix cannot fire its ray again for 8 seconds. If a Dominatrix is destroyed all units it controls are freed and join the side of the original owner.

A savvy Commander should instantly realize the potential tactical advantages of this unit. Rather than destroying an enemy and turning it into a useless wreck by reducing its HP to 0, a Dominatrix does not simply remove the unit from the equation, but instead adds it to yours. Captured units and structures can immediately turn around and use their weapons against their former allies, giving you additional fire support in the middle of a battle. Capture cars can give you an enormous coup if you combine them with EMP; those units keep the enemies stunned, whilst the Doms convert them to your side without fear of reprisal. Against powerful units like the Goliath or Sumo, which most people tend to send straight ahead, this gives you a massive advantage as you can immediately turn that 2000+ metal worth of unit around and have it trash the enemies lines.

Of course, such a massively powerful unit does come with disadvantages. Most players actively hunt down capture cars, using heavy bombing runs, snipers and more to deprive you of them. Remember, the second a Dominatrix is destroyed, all the units it was controlling (indicated by a white line from the car to the unit) immediately switch sides. This can be a very unpleasant experience even at the best of times, so they are a unit you want to take the utmost care to protect. It's also worth noting that since the beam shoots in a straight line, it can be easily blocked by wrecks, terrain features and other units. This doesn't pose a problem against air units, though, so capture cars are very deadly to gunships. If you ever find yourself fighting Doms, go in hard or not at all; don't send one or two Scorchers at a time, send half a dozen. Don't send anything slower than the capture car (2.2), as it will simply kite and capture you at will. Focus entirely on the Dominatrix, because as soon as it is taken down (and it will be in short order) you will get your units back. Be mindful of the high cost and make sure you can adequately cover them when fielding these.

Capture cars are also your best friends in FFA games. Assuming you are about to kill a player, their BASE might still be largely intact. Drive a few capture cars in there and get an instant boost to your production. To prevent capture car from being destroyed, hide it underwater in by making a hole with terraform under it. remark the enemy whose base you are capturing WILL BE VERY ANGRY.

* Effective *
vs. Slow units Units that can't effectively fire back or chase down the Dominatrix are easy prey for capture.
vs. Gunships Capture cars will nab low-fliers with ease, including Black Dawns if they come too close; its alot easier once they've been worn down by other fire, too. Not to be relied upon as a counter, but you get the idea.
* Counters *
Swarmers Overwhelm it's unit capture limit with large numbers of scouts and raiders.
Sharpshooter Snipers eat these things for breakfast.
Bombers Phoenixes and Ravens knock these out pretty quickly.

----------------


Impaler


<br>
Class Kinetic Missile Artillery
Metal 700Reclaim 280
Mass/Weight 400
HP 1100
Speed 2.3Max Slope6Max Water Depth22
Sight Range 660
* Kinetic Missile *
Damage 800
AoE 24
Launch time 2
Reloadtime 10.0
Range 1500

A mobile cruise missile launcher, this truck fires powerful light cruise missiles at very long ranges to harass and destroy stationary enemy targets -- keep in mind that it is not like traditional plasma artillery units, it is useless against anything that moves. But if your enemy is heavily porcing or relying on certain structures, you can use this to strike from a very safe distance and deal with anything that would normally pose a problem for your other assault vehicles.

The Impaler is also good for countering certain stationary enemy units, such as the Tremor; since the Impaler comfortably outranges the Tremor and it is very easy to see where it is firing from, you can fire missiles at it and either discourage it or bring it down outright. Plus, the fact that it fires vertically makes it difficult to use terraforming to protect the Tremor. Impalers are also a viable counter against Crabes because the Crabe has to remain stationary for it to receive it's ungodly armor bonus; can you say 'sitting duck'?

I don't need to tell you that the Impaler is extremely easy to bring down once your enemies close range; always keep these well covered by other units to prevent enemy raiders and air from sneaking past your line and forcing you to watch as 700 metal becomes so much junk -- you'll especially want to be on the lookout for Ravens, as Slashers aren't a definite counter against them before then can drop their bomb and one good shot will take out an Impaler. You're not likely to even need these at all if you aren't coming up against enemy defenses or units that you could shoot from a safe position, but most people do porc and build at least HLT's so these almost always have a use. They are viable against mobile units only if EMP is used first.

* Effective *
vs. Statics Impalers smash all forms of static defense into dust with minimal risk or effort. Their massive range lets you pick and choose your targets, as well.
* Counters *
Swarmers Impalers are extremely vulnerable to attack by fast raiders and scouts. Keep them well guarded.
Air Sudden Banshee attacks or Raven precision strikes will turn that 700 metal investment into a 280 metal wreck. Don't let that happen if you can avoid it.

----------------


Heavy Tanks


<br>

When things just won't die, when enemy defenses are heaviest, when you feel you just need that decisive push of heavy tanks straight up the middle supported by powerful riots, AA and artillery, there is the Heavy Tank factory. Nothing gets the job done quite like good ol' classic and beloved rolling thunder, which now comes in many flavors; standoff heavy artillery, fast raiders equipped with everything from napalm grenades to lightning guns, assault tanks with sickeningly high HP and mobile missile platforms that can blast entire groups of enemies apart in one shot.

A cardinal difference between Hovers, LV's and Tanks over other ground units is propulsion; due to their lack of legs, navigating rough terrain is significantly more difficult. Therefore, they cannot cross sheer terrain of 6 elmos or more, compared to most legged bots which can go up to 18.

----------------


Welder


<br>
Class Armed Construction Tank
Metal 250Reclaim 100
HP 1900
Mass/Weight 213
Speed 2.1Max Slope6Max Water Depth22
Resource production 0.2
Build power 7.5Build range120
Sight Range 255
* Mini Laser *
Damage 10.3
Reloadtime 0.23
Range 220

Someone got tired of their constructors always being picked off by raiders & scouts and decided to slap a laser tower on a construction tank. The weapon isn't terribly impressive, but it does fend off the odd unit that would otherwise easily kill a normal constructor. Its HP and high BP (Build Power) make it ideal to use on the frontline, as well.

Concerns to be aware of; the sheer amount of resources you will shell out for each of these things means you should never try to mass them up. Make only a few, and keep them well-protected; it may be worth it to go Cloaky bots on the side so you can get Conjurers, that way you can have cheap constructors * and * jamming fields on the go. If you need extra BP to aid a defensive line or assist factories and such, stick with Caretakers; it's what they're there for.

----------------


Kodachi


<br>
Class Raider Tank
Metal 180Reclaim 72
HP 750
Speed 3.65
Sight Range 520
* Flame Bomb *
Damage 120 (Initial)
Cloud Length 13s
Cloud DPS up to 20
Afterburn Length 7-10s
Afterburn DPS 15
AoE 96
Reloadtime 6
Range 225

Though it is the cheapest unit in the Heavy factory's lineup and classed as a raider, it can be a bit wonky to control at times due to its unique weaponry. Instead of a typical gun or laser like most raiders have, the Kodachi employs a grenade launcher which can set small areas of ground on fire; sort of like a mini-Phoenix napalm bomb. This makes it devastating against static emplacements and groups of units where it can spread the blaze quickly, but less effective against scattered concentrations of enemies and armored/heavy targets that can just shrug it off.

Because its weapon doesn't necessarily have to directly hit the enemy to do damage, you can fire it in front of advancing enemies -- in particular shielded ones -- to light them ablaze while the Kodachi slips away with its impressive overland speed. It can compete with weaker raiders and scouts, and is ruthlessly effective against groups of Puppies which typically pose a problem for other tanks. Its hefty reload time, however, limits its viability in a brawl, restricting it to hit-and-run tactics.

(Trivia: Kodachi is Japanese, and literally translates to 'short sword'.)

----------------


Panther


<br>
Class Lightning assault/raider tank
Metal 300Reclaim 120
HP 980
Speed 3.4Max slope6Max water depth22
Mass/Weight 198Size3
Sight Range 450
* Lightning Gun *
Damage 220 + 500 (EMP)
Max stun time 1
Reloadtime 3
Range 250
* EMP Explosion * (death)
Damage 600 (EMP)
AoE 320

Arguably the fastest (and most expensive) land raider unit in the field, Panthers are high-tech hybrids of both assault and raiders, trading the Glaive and Bandit's pure damage for a lightning gun (kinda like a scaled-down Zeus) which can shred most light- to medium-weight units and deals a hefty amount of paralyze damage as well. They are an essential unit for the Heavy Tank factory, offering potent rapid response and raiding capabilities -- but at an exorbitant cost.

Their blistering speed coupled with their high HP for a raider means they can easily deal with light defenses, or simply run straight through and go right for the core of the enemy economy. While they may be tough enough to survive a decent scrap, they are not to be thrown around like a real assault unit, so instead use their speed to weave in and out of range, sting opponents with the lightning gun, and retreat for repairs. Heavy engagements should be left to the real battle tanks.

* Effective *
vs. Raiders Panthers outclass most other raiders comfortably, though they are out-damaged in a pitch battle.
vs. Slow Ground Panthers excel at running down skirmishers, artillery and other slow units. They can even pick stray reapers/banishers
vs. Economy These guys are perfect for running straight through light defense and hitting those fusions.
* Combos/Strategies *
Anything lonely The EMP effect of the Panthers weapon may be weak, but can still slow things down for other units to hit them. Give'em some love!
* Counters *
EMP Panthers are useless if they can't move. Faradays, Thunderbirds and the like can ruin their day.
Crawling Bombs Ticks and Roaches work well against Panthers and will wipe out whole packs of them efficiently.
Assaults/Riots Heavier troops can punish most Panther attacks hard unless they get lucky somehow.

----------------


Reaper


<br>
Class Assault Tank
Metal 850Reclaim 340
HP 6800
Speed 2.45Max slope6Max water depth22
Mass/Weight 430Size4
Sight Range 506
Morphs to:<br> * Goliath * (20s)
* Medium Plasma Cannon *
Damage 640 (320 x2)
AoE 32
Reloadtime 4
Range 360

NOW we're talking! This is the MBT (Main Battle Tank) of the game, a rolling anti-ground trawler with powerful dual cannons and plenty of armor. It is a very fun unit, and practical, too, with a fair overland speed and heaps of HP to tank through enemy fire and still come out wanting more. And we haven't even gotten to the best stuff yet! Oh, but I promised I would give you a look at the Reaper first, so here we go...

Reapers are capable of trashing most units and defenses -- including HLT's -- within range. It can usually win most engagements and/or force the enemy to fall back through sheer virtue of the power of its cannon and strength of its armor, though you will want to keep it adequately covered, because Reapers really don't like getting surrounded. Or stunned. Or skuttled. Or mauled by gunships. They are far less versatile than their smaller cousin, the Ravager, and while they have taken on new strengths they have indeed taken on new weaknesses as well. Their speed has suffered somewhat, though it remains enough to let it engage in offensive operations and maneuver around the battlefield. Its cannon has changed, too; now instead of firing a single shell like the Ravager, it fires two shells in one attack, the second coming 0.2 seconds after the first. It's possible to miss and deal only half your damage, or worse, not hit at all, depending on what you are up against.

* Effective *
vs. Assault/Battle units Reapers can throw down with the best of them, including Heavy units when gathered in force. It is most effective against mid-weight units, like Zeus, Thug and Hermit.
vs. Defenses Reapers have more than enough health to survive large amounts of fire, so they are great for demolishing defensive lines and clearing the way for the rest of your forces.
* Counters *
Roach Gathered in force, Roaches pose a serious threat to Reapers due to their small profile and fast speed. They can also deal with the packs of constructors and support units that often accompany the Reapers.
Gunships Whilst Reapers have enough health to shrug off most bomber attacks, Gunships have the persistent damage capability to seriously threaten them. Just watch out for any Copperheads (Flak Tanks).

----------------


Banisher


<br>
Class Heavy riot/support tank
Metal 780Reclaim 312
HP 1650
Speed 2.3Max slope6Max water depth22
Mass/Weight 291Size4
Sight Range 660
* Heavy Missile *
Damage 650
AoE 160
Reloadtime 4
Range 430

These are the 'mobile missile platforms' I mentioned earlier. The Banisher is classified as a Riot unit, though it's weapon system is decidedly multi-role -- a tracking missile with heavy damage and a large AoE. It can attack both air and ground targets (and be very effective either way), making it a great choice when your enemy is using mixed forces. It is remarkably mobile for its class and equipment and can wipe out almost anything within range quickly and easily. It is, however, mostly reliant on its alpha-strike, though it's reload time is above average, and it has a somewhat small pool of health points to fall back on. It's also very, very expensive.

All told, the Banisher is quite effective in nearly any situation. Most heavy tank starters tend to build a Banisher first thing because these monsters are very hard to stop if you're not prepared; their speed allows them to compete with most units of their class, their range will slaughter skirmishers and their insanely powerful missile will easily scrap anything below 660 health in one go. Their reloadtime isn't that bad at all, either, so it's very difficult to find openings to send in Raiders; you're likely to just be wasting money. Typically if someone sees you've built or are building a Banisher they will try and take it out via an air raid (Heavy tanks are notoriously vulnerable to bombers), make an HLT at a chokepoint which can deal with them quickly, set crawling bombs, or roll out a posse of Ravagers just to name a few. Banishers may be multi-role, but they certainly aren't all-powerful, and they cost a sickening 780 metal; you'd better make sure this thing pulls its weight and that you aren't careless with it, because it is a very significant investment.

* Effective *
vs. Air Banishers make quite acceptable flex-AA with their heavy tracking missiles.
vs. Light/Medium Ground They're starting to look a bit too flexible to be just a riot platform. Banishers excel at cleaning up Raiders, Skirmishers and other lighter units, as well as punishing slow Assaults and Riots.
* Counters *
Bait Force them to waste their shot on a bait Scout/Raider and you've already won; as long as you can capitalize on their weakness by attacking immediately afterward.
Heavies Having a unit that can actually take punishment from the Banisher is good, and can also threaten the b@$*ard away.
Crawling Bombs Laying Roaches and Ticks as traps for the Banisher is a good ploy; just make sure your enemy doesn't see them, or they could attack ground and clean them up.

----------------


Pillager


<br>
Class General-purpose artillery
Metal 700Reclaim 280
HP 840
Speed 2.7
Mass/Weight 250Size3
Sight Range 660
Morphs to:<br> * Tremor * (20s)
* Plasma Artillery *
Damage 600
AoE 96
Reloadtime 7
Range 1180

Expensive, powerful, and quite vulnerable, the Pillager pretty much sets the standard for heavy-hitting artillery. It's far faster than most lighter artillery units like the Hammer, allowing it to respond quickly and retreat from everything short of vehicles, tanks, air and raiders should it need to displace. It is perfect for long-distance removal of enemy defenses before a tank assault, and punishing skirmish lines, enemy artillery and slower heavies.

You don't make this unless it's necessary, though. Pillagers are good, but if the opposition you are up against is something Reapers can take care of, you should make them instead; these guys are for getting rid of porc, in particular lots of Stingers or DDM's (Doomsday Machines). Avoid them if your enemy is particularly heavy on air or raiders, stick with heavier tanks and support with a flak tank or two. These are somewhat situational merely by virtue of their cost. If you need to smash a particularly heavy porc you might be better off buying a Tremor or Goliath, anyway.

* Effective *
vs. Statics Heavy statics in your way? Use this to target them, and make sure to pick off anything that tries to repair.
vs. Slow units Surprisingly, this unit is actually decent at kiting due to its massive range and very good overland speed.
* Counters *
Anti-Assets Snipers, cloakers, anything specialized in surgical strikes to take out valuable targets.
Swarmers Pillagers are very vulnerable to being overrun by scouts or raiders, especially since anything capable of effectively targeting and quickly destroying them is very expensive.

----------------


Tremor


<br>
Class Heavy saturation artillery tank
Metal 1500Reclaim 600
HP 2045
Speed 1.7Max slope6Max water depth22
Mass/Weight 392Size4
Sight Range 660
* Rapid-Fire Plasma Artillery *
Damage 135
AoE 160
Reloadtime 0.36
Range 1300

Legend has it that the Creators gave us the secrets of the Tremor so that we might finally be able to answer a question that has plagued our greatest minds for so many years -- How to crack a defense line and smash a mass so efficiently that your enemies will cry for mercy.

The Tremor is an extremely powerful rapid-fire heavy saturation artillery piece. It spews out an amazing number of shells which fill the air and fall back down with devastating force, allowing you to lay waste to a wide swath of terrain and any enemy units or defenses that happen to be standing on it in short order. While less effective when your enemy only has a few assets in the area, its power is truly realized when firing at dense clusters of enemy units & structures, as you are more likely to connect with each shot. Really it is only a matter of time once you light this candle until either your enemies come for it -- and hard -- or they are crushed without mercy beneath the rain of death.

Make sure you fire the Tremor at the greatest concentration of enemies so that they can feel all the love that is packed into each and every shot. Tremors love to fire at shields as not one shell has a chance of hitting the ground, allowing it to fire a sustained barrage that is almost certain to bring down any shielded defense.

Tremors do have their drawbacks, however; whilst one would expect a unit from the Heavy Tank factory to be expensive this one is especially so, which makes it a very valuable piece that you should do everything in your power to protect. I recommend keeping transports handy to haul these around to hotzones quickly, you should always be keeping them firing at something. Don't forget that the Tremor's shells can also lower terrain a bit with each and every shot, so you can pretty much deny access to an area for vehicles if you shoot at it long enough. Note that the Tremor is not a licensed terraforming device, and such efforts may yield imprecise and generally unpleasing results, depending on the users views of giant smoldering wastelands filled with craters. You may want to keep your constructors handy to level the ground for further advance with tanks.

* Effective *
vs. Large Groups In the mid to late game, when army sizes begin to grow rapidly and people are porcing up, Tremors really shine. They can keep enemy operations suppressed with ease and destroy many lighter units.
vs. Porc All it takes is time; a Tremor firing at porc will inevitably demolish it. Cloaking, shields, defenses, all will be crushed.
* Counters *
Precision bombers Precision bombers are perfect for sniping Tremors, though you will have to locate them first since they fire from so far away.
Overrun them Just weather the storm, charge through its fire and attack it head on. You will have to deal with its cover, of course, so make sure you're ready for that.

----------------


Copperhead


<br>
Class Flak tank
Metal 550Reclaim220
HP 1200
Speed 3.2Max Slope6Max Water Depth22
Mass/Weight 242Size3
Sight Range 660
* Flak Cannon *
Damage 81.5
AoE 64
Reloadtime 0.4
Range 900

----------------


Goliath


<br>
Class Very heavy tank buster
Metal 2200Reclaim 880
HP 12000
Speed 2.05Max slope6Max water depth22
Mass/Weight 613Size4
Sight Range 540
* Tankbuster Cannon *
Damage 1000
AoE 32
Reloadtime 3.5
Range 450
* Slowing Beam *
Damage 200
Reloadtime 1.0
Range 350
* Explosion * (Death)
Damage 350
AoE 120

The good ol' Golly is back! The heaviest tank on the field, Goliaths carry a ground-shaking main gun that can blast lesser tanks into oblivion, as well as a slowing beam mounted on top (used to be a flamethrower). They are arguably the most classic and recognized Assault class in the game, as well as one of the most powerful. When you want something done properly, who ya gonna call? TANKBUSTERS!!

But all that aside lets take a deeper look at this baby. It has a scary amount of speed for an Assault unit, so it is no slouch -- and it has more than enough armor, so it is no flower, either. It can't roll over steep terrain 'cause its a vehicle, though, but it can use its main gun to put holes in low walls. They are terrific for chasing down slower Assaults that try to run and killing them at sick range with their cannon -- that Skirmisher icon appears to have been well-earned. It's nearly impossible to do anything to it with most Skirmisher units. However, the changeover from a flamethrower to a slowing beam has made a double mark; not only is it more able to chase things down and fight in general, but the lack of a raider cooker makes it quite vulnerable to such (cannon notwithstanding), so don't leave it unguarded.

Always keep constructors in the field to repair your Goliaths -- they may love a good scrap, but they are a magnet for heavy fire, and will need lots of mommy kisses to make it better after a serious tussle. So take good care of them, 'kay?

* Effective *
vs. Statics Unless they have a DDM or Annihilator, no chance whatsoever. Goliaths will steamroll right through.
vs. Light Skirmishers and weak units are not even food. They are mulch.
vs. Heavy Goliaths are more than a match for any heavy unit on the field, especially with their new slowbeam.
* Counters *
Air Problem. No defense against air, and Copperheads aren't cheap, so be careful when sending him out.
Raiders Somewhat. You will take casualties from that cannon, but Glaives and Bandits can screw up their paint job and then some.
DDM/Annihilator Heavy defenses pose a problem for any Assault units, Goliath being no exception. Clear them out first.
Heavy Units Heavies are about the only thing capable of standing up to that much punishment, but they still need support.
Infiltrator Two of these will bring your blitzkrieg to a screeching halt. Be careful.
Terraforming All it takes is a wall or a ditch and you can't move any further. Most people don't use it, though.
Reapers A large enough pack of reapers can usually beat a goliath rather easily, especially if supported.
Dirtbags A unit of choice! Just clog the hell around that golly. 200 metal worth of dirtbags is guaranteed to make it stuck.
Felons en'masse About 5 fully-charged felons can nearly insta-kill a golly.

----------------


Striders


<br>

These are the largest, most advanced heavy weapons platforms in existence. Most of them dwarf all other units in size by several factors, to say nothing of their sheer, awe-inspiring killing power. Though they represent enormous amounts of time and resources, you always get what you pay for; heavy firepower to crack heavy resistance.

These unique units are produced by the Strider Hub, itself a unique device; rather than a traditional factory or gantry setup, the Strider Hub can start a nanoframe of a strider on any pathable terrain, then move onto other projects. Strider Hubs also work like an armored Caretaker, and are capable of all basic engineering jobs.

----------------


Ultimatum


<br>
Class Disintegrator walker (Anti-strider)
Metal 2000Reclaim 800
HP 2000
Speed 1.45Max slope18Max water depth5000
Sight Range 500
Cloak Cost, stationary 8Cloak Cost, mobile 24
Decloak Radius 100
* Disintegrator *
Damage 1200
AoE 48
Reloadtime 1.5
Range 250
* Explosion * (Death)
Damage 1270
AoE 520

First off, don't be fooled by the damage only saying 1200. What a Disintegrator actually is is a projectile that flies through everything in its path, dealing massive damage should it make contact. The Ultimatum can demolish a common heavy unit in one or two shots, and make quick work of heavier striders as well. They have the highest total damage potential *in the game,* bar none.

* Effective *
vs. Heavies/Striders
vs. Statics
vs. Everything
* Counters *
Air
Swarmers
Focus Fire

----------------


Scorpion


<br>
Class Heavy ranged support/battle spider
Metal 3000Reclaim1200
HP 12000
Speed 1.3Max slope72Max water depth22
Sight Range 440
Cloaking energy cost, static2Cloaking energy cost, mobile10
Decloak Radius 150
* Lightning Gun *
Damage 360 + 1080 (EMP)
Max stun time 3
Reloadtime 2
Range 470
* Multi-Stunner (Manual) *
Damage 20000 (EMP)
Max stun time 3
AoE 160
Reloadtime 30
Range 470
* Auto Particle Beam * x2
Damage 60DPS182
Reloadtime 0.33
Range 420
* Explosion * (death)
Damage 1000
AoE 256

The Scorpion is a commonly seen unit in the late-game and a popular choice of strider. They are the ultimate spiderbot, a sleek, death-dealing weapon equipped with both a lightning gun embedded into its stinger, and a pair of matched auto particle beams in its claws. It excels at chewing apart light to medium units and some heavies, made even easier by its ability to self-cloak, which, coupled with its all-terrain movement, allows you to pick your battles with ease and attack where defenses are weakest.

Scorpions can overcharge their lightning stinger for an attack known as Multi-Stunner, which sprays a massive cone of lightning bolts over a small area, reducing shields to vapor in seconds and stunning virtually everything caught in it. It can render most Heavies helpless in only one shot, but it takes a while to reload so use it wisely.

Whilst the Scorpion is a well-rounded unit in most respects, it does have several glaring weaknesses. It can't torso-twist like conventional walkers, meaning it has to turn its entire frame around to be able to target anything directly behind it. The particle beams in its claws can cover a wide area to its front, and the stinger can cover the sides, but if enemy units sneak up on your six you could be in trouble.

* Effective *
vs. Light/Medium Scorpions can comfortably deal with most low-tier units without hassle.
vs. Heavy With their multi-stunner, high DPS and cloak, a single Scorpion can take a heavy by surprise and chew it up at its leisure.
* Counters *
Raiders You will need a *lot*, but enough Raiders can swarm the Scorpion, get into its blind spot and wear its health down quickly.
Recluse These spiders can follow the Scorpion across tough terrain and outrange him comfortably with their rockets.
Ultimatum The general cure to a Strider problem. One or two shots from this and that Scorpion is toast.
EMP Give them a taste of their own medicine. Stunned Scorpions, usually by either a well-aimed Thunderbird run or Infiltrators, are sitting ducks.

----------------


Dante


<br>
Class Assault/riot strider
Metal 3500Reclaim 1800
HP 11000
Speed 1.75Max slope18Max water depth22
Mass/Weight 716Size4
Sight Range 660
Morphs to:<br> * Bantha * (90s)
* Napalm Rockets *
Damage 240 (120 x2)
AoE 228
Reloadtime 2
Range 460
* Heat Ray *
Damage 98 (49 x2)
Reloadtime 0.1
DPS 980
Range 430
* Napalm Rocket Salvo * (manual-fire)
Damage 2400 (120 x20)
AoE 228
Reloadtime 20
Range 460 (Variable)
* Flamethrower *
Damage 12 (Variable)
AoE 96
Reloadtime 0.16
Range 340
* Explosion * (death)
Damage 1000
AoE 256

I'm only going to say this once... DO. NOT. GET CLOSE. This brutal machine brings fire and death to the battlefield with heat rays, a flamethrower, and a full complement of napalm rockets which it can even launch manually in a massive salvo. The Dante is a very worthy Assault/Riot strider and should be treated with the utmost respect.

Oh, but I simply must cease with the posthumous praise and get to the facts... The Dante is approaching the limit of justifiable cost for a unit at a massive 3500, which is nearly the full price of two brand-new heavies. With that in mind, I hope you understand that all that metal is going into only one unit -- and being a moderately slow assault at that, it's not hard to figure out how easily it could be countered. So please for pity's sake save it for big games with ludicrous amounts of metal intake for your side, and make sure you guard it well.

When used effectively, though, Dante's simply dominate. They are kings of CQB (Close Quarters Combat), able to massacre legions of lighter and medium units with ease and give most heavies a serious headache. It was built to provide maximum upfront damage so this is not surprising. If used on the frontlines, remember to keep it screened as thoroughly as possible and constantly repaired so it can stay in the fight.

* Effective *
Up close The Dante will ANNIHILATE enemies in close combat, so get it into knife-fights as much as humanly possible.
vs. Heavies/Battle units This thing was built for heavy combat. Any heavyweight it goes up against is in for one hell of a fight, to say nothing of mid-level tusslers.
vs. Gunships Dantes can defend themselves very adequately against low-fliers; Brawlers can remain out of their reach, but anything that gets close will quickly be cooked by the Dante's heat rays.
* Combos/Strategies *
Vindicator Definitely procure a VTOL heavy lift transport to carry this thing around. It can be used to carry it to the frontlines where it is needed the most, and airlift it out should it need repairs or become stunned or trapped.
Cloaking Get an Eraser to tag along with your Dante; it's just too good to pass up! Without being able to find where it is the Dante can get as close as it f`***`ing wants to field its deadly weapons.
* Counters *
EMP Stunning this monster first takes the hard part out of the engagement; now its just a matter of digging through its HP. Infiltrators and Thunderbirds are most popular for this job.
Moderator Slowbeam walkers can pretty much have their way with the Dante, handicapping him by 50% allows other units a much easier time.
Bombers Preferably Ravens and Wyverns. Can strike the Dante effectively and without fear of reprisal.
Anti-Heavy That's what they're there for, right? Get busy with them Skuttles, Tachyon accelerators, DDM's, Sharpshooters and such.

----------------


Catapult


<br>
Class MLRS artillery strider
Metal 3500
Reclaim 1400 Wreck HP 4500
HP 4000
Speed 1.8
Sight Range 660
* Long-Range Rocket Battery *
Damage 8800 (220 x40)
AoE 128
Reloadtime 30.0
Range 1450

The Catapult is pretty much the Black Dawn on roids. The rocket barrage can easily lay waste to large armies of units; unfortunately, most people don't USE such large armies of units, or if they do they use Reapers or some other kind of heavy. They also work good for smashing static defense lines.

* Effective *
vs. Groups
vs. Statics
* Counters *
Air
Swarmers

----------------


Funnelweb


<br>
Class Very heavy support spider
Metal 4500Reclaim1800
HP 11000
Speed 1.5Max slope18Max water depth22
Size 4Mass/Weight1848
Sight Range 650
* Pulse MG *
Damage 68.04 (11.34 x6)DPS222
Reloadtime 0.31
Range 220
* Attractive Gravity *
Impulse Factor -140 (x12)
Reloadtime 0.2
Range 400
* Energy Shield *
Strength 3600
Regen 50
Energy to Regen 27
Radius 350
* Explosion * (death)
Damage 1270
AoE 520

----------------


Bantha


<br>
Class Ranged Support Strider
Metal 10500
Reclaim 4800
HP 36000
Mass/Weight 1387Size4
Speed 1.72
Sight Range 720
* Tachyon Accelerator *
Damage 3000
Reloadtime 10
Range 950
* Lightning Cannon x2 *
Damage 320 + 960 (EMP)
Max stun time 1
Reloadtime 1
Range 465
* EMP Missiles * (manual-fire, tracking)
Damage 15000 (EMP)
Max stun time 20
Reloadtime 30
Range 1200

The Bantha is pretty much built to counter heavies, though it does well against common battle units too. It works better against single targets; Bantha does not like to be swarmed. They also don't like air units, even though their lightning cannons are somewhat effective vs. Gunships.

* Effective *
vs. Heavies Banthas are pretty much designed for getting rid of other heavy units with their tachyon accelerator and other tools of destruction.
* Counters *
Air Try EMP bombers; you'll need three to stun one at full health, but it'll work. Just try and time it with your allies so they can swoop in and kill it.

----------------


Detriment


<br>
Class/Role Ultimate Assault Strider
Metal 24000Reclaim9600
HP 85800Regeneration30 HP/s
Speed 1.2Max slope37
Amphibious (Seafloor)
Size 6Mass/Weight2233
Sight Range 910
* Gauss Battery * x2
Damage 480 (160 x3)
AoE 16
Reloadtime 1.2
Range 600
* Anti-Air Laser Battery *
Damage 22.5
AoE 12
Reloadtime 0.1
Range 820
* Medium-Range Missiles * (top-down)
Damage 850
AoE 160
Reloadtime 1.55
Range 925
* High-Energy Laserbeam *
Damage 1800 (300 x 6)
AoE 14
Reloadtime 6
Range 600
* Nuclear Explosion * (death)
Damage 9500
AoE 1280