Commander
Warning: portions of this page are out of date
The commander system was substantially revamped in winter 2016. This page has only partially been updated to the new system.
Commander intro
Your commander can be configured with a variety of modules to suit your play-style.
After the update, modules are added only at the game and are all unlocked, and you do not need to level up to get any modules.
To keep the game balanced commander modules cost metal ingame and are not all applied at the start of the game. Commanders start at level 1 with a free peashooter and no modules but they can morph an unlimited number of times (but you'll eventually run out of modules after which it is pointless to morph). At Morph 1 (Level 2), commanders gain a single weapon. At morph 3 commanders gain a second weapon which can either be a second regular weapon or a special weapon. If a weapon slot is left empty the commander will be given a free peashooter in its place. Some weapons will replace any other weapons (e.g I get shock rifle, it will replace the first weapon I got)
Each morph level gives a commander more health, more modules or weapons. Morphs have a base cost and additional cost based on the value of the modules or weapons that it will gain when the morph is complete. You can pre-configure your commander buildouts only through level 6 but you can upgrade any number of times in-game.
Unlike regular units, your commander is not disabled while morphing.
Modules and weapons
Number of slots per level
Commanders start at level 1. The number of modules and weapons increases with levels.
Commander level | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | + |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Base cost | - | 25 | 100 | 600 | 200 | +100 |
Total Weapon slots | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | +0 |
Total Module slots | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | +3 |
Equipping weapons and modules costs additional metal.
Module types
Modules have cyan names in the unlock list, although their icon color depends on their nature. They fall into four categories.
Stackable
These modules are able to stacked as many times as they allow, 8x for some and 10x for drones. Stacking them repeatedly will create a powerful commander, even though their bonuses as quite minor. (10% range/damage/speed for those modules) These are cyan. This type of module is the one that should be used the most, and because of their versatility, it is useful if you intend on getting commanders which do many things, or a single buff commander that is fast, invisible and deals lots of damage. Some of these modules will subtract speed or HP, and should be used with caution as too much will leave the commander a sitting duck. Modules: Advanced targeting system +10% range for all weapons.-2.5% speed. Damage booster +10% damage for all weapons. High density plating +1600 HP,-10% speed. Requires Ablative armor plates. Ablative armor plates +600 HP Companion drone +Weak attack drone Battle drone +Upgraded drone, requires Companion drone first. Carrepairer's nanolathe +5 Buildpower. High power servos +10% speed. Autorepair system +10HP/sec -100 HP
Support
Support modules are not stackable. They can provide large expensive bonuses such as a shield, cloaking, jamming or a cloaker. There are also cheap ones such as resurrect and inbuilt radar or an area shield/cloak. These are cyan as well.
Weapon Boosters
These modules are expensive but give a large bonus to a few specific weapons but can only be applied once. They are a space effective way to spend a module slot but make sure you have the weapon that they affect. They are purple.
Weapon types
There are 2 types of weapon, special and normal. Both weapon types are affected by the stackable range and damage modules. Weapon names are in red.
Normal
These are auto-targetting normal weapons that behave the same was as any other unit. They can be affected by weapon boosters and weapon converters given that it is the right weapon. They are all affected by stackable modules. They are red.
Name | Range | Reload time | Damage | DPS | Commander | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beam Laser | 330 | 150 | Strike Guardian Recon Engineer |
|||
Flame thrower | 270 | 0.16 | 10 | 60 | Guardian Recon |
Sets units on fire for 15s(15 DPS) pierces units Does more damage against larger units |
Heatray | 300 | 0.1 | 45 | 450 | Guardian | Damage falls off with range |
Machine Gun | 285 | 0.16 | 30 | 180 | Strike Guardian Recon |
|
Light particle beam | 310 | 0.34 | 55 | 165 | Strike Recon Engineer |
|
Lightning Rifle | 300 | 1.66 | 220+550 | 132+330 | Strike Recon Engineer |
EMP duration: 1s |
Missile launcher | 415 | 1 | 80 | 80 | Strike Engineer |
Homing |
Riot cannon | 275 | 2 | 220.2 | 110.1 | Guardian | |
Shotgun | 290 | 2 | 32x12 (384) | 192 | Strike Recon Engineer |
|
Rocket launcher | 430 | 3 | 360 | 120 | Guardian | Not homing |
Pea Shooter | 300 | .1 | 12 | 120 | Strike Guardian Recon Engineer |
Default weapon |
Special
Special weapons have a long reload time and must be manually aimed with the 'D' key. They are only affected by stackable modules. They are orange and can only be put on the level 4 weapon slot.
Name | Range | Reload time | Damage | DPS | Commander | Special Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cluster bomb | 360 | 30 | 300x8 (2400) | 80 | Guardian Recon |
Bomblets spread (like a shotgun) |
Concussion shell | 450 | 25 | 750 | 30 | Recon | Has Impulse (Tosses some units) |
Disintigrator | 200 | 30 | 1400 | 46.67 | Strike Guardian |
Damage varies on unit size |
Disrupter bomb | 450 | 25 | 350+2100 | 14+84 | Strike Recon Engineer |
Has large AOE (512) |
Hellfire grenade | 450 | 25 | 200 | 8 | Guardian Recon |
Sets an area on fire (45s,40dps+3s burning) |
Multistunner | 360 | 25 | 550/800 x 16 (8800/12800) | 352/512 | Strike Recon Engineer |
Affected by flux amplifier. Max EMP time: 8s [upgraded: 12s] |
SLAM | 700 | 30 | 1512 | 50.4 | Guardian | High vertical arc |
Key: EMP Damage, Slow Damage
Commander Chassis
There are 4 types of commander chassis to choose for a battle.
You can configure custom commanders based on these chassis on your user page; you must be logged in to the Zero-K website and go to: https://zero-k.info/My/Commanders. These custom commanders may be selected at the beginning of the game in multiplayer matches. You will still need to upgrade them as usual, but the upgrade options are filled in to your preferences.
Common attributes
The commander you start the game with produces 4 metal and 6 energy per second. Additional commanders produced from the Strider Hub produce 0.4 metal and 0.4 energy per second. They all provide a sight distance of 500 and a sonar of 300. Chassis other than the Engineer Commander have 10 build power and 120 build range and the Engineer commander has 12 build power and 250 build range.
Chassis list
Note that attributes on level 1 and level 2 are equal. Morphing to level 2 provides no bonus other than the weapon and module slot.
Strike Commander
- All rounder
- Decent health and speed
- Can use the most weapon types
- Auto-regen bonus
Base Attributes | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 | Level 5 |
---|---|---|---|---|
HP: 2500 Speed: 40.5 Autoheal: 5 |
HP: 3000 Autoheal: 12.5 |
HP: 4000 Autoheal: 20 |
HP: 5000 Autoheal: 27.5 |
HP: 6000 Autoheal: 35 |
Guardian Commander
- Best HP
- Medium speed
- Gains more HP from increased levels than other chasis do
- Able to use most non-exotic weapons
Base Attributes | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 | Level 5 |
---|---|---|---|---|
HP: 3000 Speed: 40 |
HP: 3800 |
HP: 4900 |
HP: 6000 |
HP: 7200 |
Recon Commander
- Lowest HP
- Highest Speed (for a commander)
- Jumpjets
- Uses light weapons
Base Attributes | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 | Level 5 |
---|---|---|---|---|
HP: 1600 Speed: 43.5 Can Jump |
HP: 2100 | HP: 2600 | HP: 3100 | HP: 3600 |
Engineer Commander
- Lowest speed
- Low HP
- Gains buildpower with levels
- Increased build range (250 compared to 120 for others)
- Fewer direct damage weapons
Base Attributes | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 | Level 5 |
---|---|---|---|---|
HP: 2000 Speed: 36 Build Power: 12 |
HP: 2500 Build Power: 14 |
HP: 3000 Build Power: 16 |
HP: 3700 Build Power: 18 |
HP: 4500 Build Power: 20 |
Exact effects of attribute modifiers
Attribute modifiers are applied in this order:
- Commander Chassis absolute statistics
- Percentage modifiers both from modules and chassis
- Absolute modifiers
Percentage modifiers from commanders and stackable modules are additive, not cumulative. Five +10% speed modules multiply a commander's speed by 1.5 instead of by 1.1^5 = 1.61.
Percentage modifiers from weapon boosters and converters are cumulative and applied before other percentage modifiers. Think of them as changing the intrinsic stats of the weapon, rather than adding a bonus.