Rover Assembly

The Rover Assembly is a factory that produces light wheeled vehicles.

Rover Assembly (factoryveh)
Produces Light Wheeled Vehicles, Builds at 10 m/s
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Stats
Cost	700
Hit Points	4000
Energy (E/s)	0.3
Vision Radius (elmo)	273
Abilities
Construction Build Power 10
Weapons
None

Description

A traditional favourite, the Rover Assembly is the ideal blitzkrieg fac with its fast, highly aggressive units. Those units that lack speed make up for it with copious firepower. Key Units: Dart, Scorcher, Ravager, Ripper, Fencer

The Rover Assembly builds:

• Mason   Construction Rover
• Dart   Disruptor Raider/Scout Rover
• Scorcher   Raider Rover
• Fencer   Deployable Missile Rover
• Ripper   Riot Rover
• Ravager   Assault Rover
• Dominatrix   Capture Rover
• Badger   Artillery Minelayer Rover
• Impaler   Precision Artillery Rover
• Crasher   Fast Anti-Air Rover

Tactics and Strategy

The Rover Assembly is the most versatile of the flat-terrain factories. The Dart, Scorcher, Ripper and Ravager are fast and effective combat units which excel at rapid response and swift punishment of enemy weakness. When the game has slowed down and mobility is less important, the Fencer, Badger and Impaler punish your opponent from a safe distance.

The greatest weakness of the Rover Assembly is its lacklustre heavy and utility options; all of the main Rover combat units are cheap but not exceptionally strong individually, and if a frontal assault with Scorchers won't work the Rovers don't have another good solution to opposing heavies. If you combine Rovers with the raw strength of Heavy Tanks or the utility of Shield Bots, the Rover Assembly's combination of swift attacks and slow attrition will serve you very well.

Example Unit Combinations

Scout ahead of your Scorchers with the faster and cheaper Darts, so you can commit your Scorchers where they will inflict the most damage.

Escort your Ravagers with Rippers to deal with small and swift opponents. The Ravagers will be more effective against heavier units and static defence.

Protect your long-range units like Fencer, Dominatrix, Badger and Impaler with combat units like the Ripper, Scorcher, static defences, or shields.

Conceal your mobile strike force with an Iris so it can attack before your opponent has a chance to react.

Bomb your opponent's critical units or defences with Ravens, a Thunderbird or a Likho, then follow up with a Scorcher attack, striking where and when the enemy is weak.

Beating Rovers

Of all the factories in Zero-K, the Rover Assembly presents the greatest game-ending threat in the early game. Even a small number of Scorchers can kill a Commander or a Factory in an incredibly short time by using their Heat Rays at close range, and they will also make short work of isolated Pickets and Lotuses. Make sure you are protected from Scorchers by defences and your own raiders, while at the same time pressuring the Rover player so they cannot expand unhindered.

If your opponent is building up a large force of Ravagers, you will need to be prepared. They will not be deterred by light static defences, and if you build a denser concentration of defences in one spot the Ravagers will likely attack elsewhere. Raiders are capable of keeping up with Ravagers, but will be ineffective if the Ravagers are escorted by Ripper. Other assault units and some riots will hold their own in combat, but they are generally slower than Ravagers so good radar coverage to predict the Ravagers' attacks is required. Perhaps the best solution is to disable the Ravagers instead of trying to punch through their large HP pool directly; the Placeholder and Thunderbird are especially effective.

Over-reliance on static defences will be punished by a Rover player - they can run around (or through!) with Scorchers and Ravagers, or clean up defences swiftly with Impalers and Badgers. The Gauss turret is more resistant to the Rover artillery while it is closed and can buy you some time, but you will eventually need to fight the Rovers directly with a mobile army. The best way to engage Badgers is by flanking them, so that you don't have to run through their minefield and they cannot retreat effectively. Outranging them with heavier area-denial artillery like a Firewalker, Tremor or Merlin is also possible.