Cloakbot Factory

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The Cloakbot Factory is a factory that produces cloaked mobile bots.

Cloakbot Factory
(factorycloak)
Produces Cloaked, Mobile Robots
factorycloak.pngfackbot
Stats
Cost 700
Hit Points 4000
Vision Radius (elmo) 273
Abilities
Construction
Build Power 10
Weapons
None

Description

Emphasizing guile over brute force, the Cloakbot Factory makes good use of stealth, mobility and EMP weapons to strike at the enemy's weak points.

The Cloakbot Factory builds:

  • cloakcon.png Conjurer   Cloaked Construction Bot
  • cloakraid.png Glaive   Light Raider Bot
  • cloakheavyraid.png Scythe   Cloaked Melee Raider Bot
  • cloakskirm.png Ronin   Skirmisher Bot (Direct-Fire)
  • cloakriot.png Reaver   Riot Bot
  • cloakassault.png Knight   Lightning Assault Bot
  • cloakarty.png Sling   Light Artillery Bot
  • cloaksnipe.png Phantom   Cloaked Skirmish/Anti-Heavy Artillery Bot
  • cloakaa.png Gremlin   Cloaked Anti-Air Bot
  • cloakbomb.png Imp   All Terrain EMP Bomb (Cloakable)
  • cloakjammer.png Iris   Area Cloaker/Jammer Walker

Tactics and Strategy

Compared to units from other factories Cloakbots tend to be faster and cheaper, but have lower health and range. The specialist Imp, Scythe, Phantom, Gremlin and Iris units are cloaked (or in the latter case provide a cloaking field), allowing for more stealthy strategies. Cloakbots should use their mobility and stealth to attack only where and when they have the advantage.

Owing to its lack of tough, high-weight units, Cloakbots tends to become weaker as a factory used on its own in the late-game. Nevertheless, in combination with the raw strength of a different factory like Amphibious Bots, Heavy Tanks or Striders, the utility and subtlety of the Cloakbots remains very powerful.

Example Unit Combinations

Lay traps for groups of enemy units with Imps or Knights, then use Glaives to quickly destroy the stunned enemies.

Engage an enemy at long range with Ronins or Slings, while protecting them from faster units with Glaives or Reavers.

Use an Iris in combination with units that inflict lots of damage but are slow, flimsy or short-ranged like Reavers, Snitches, Scalpels or Scallops.

Alternatively, use Charons to drop your Reavers near to vulnerable enemy units or structures.

Have some escort units standing by to protect your Phantoms if the enemy tries to find them.

Beating Cloakbots

In the early game, don't move your raiders in a tight group, or they may all be stunned by a Imp (ie spread your units out using line move).

Make sure you are protecting your Commander and your infrastructure from Scythes. If you spot one get a few raiders standing by to deal with any cloaked threat that appears. If you are active on the map, you might be able to notice that your enemy has less units than expected, and this might indicate they were building something else, like scythes.

Try to avoid units which Phantom can kill efficiently. Instead, use units which are too strong for a Phantom to kill in one or two hits, or units which are too cheap and spammable for the Phantom to kill fast enough.

In general, try to avoid a large dependence on static defences, since these will be dealt with easily by Slings and Phantoms. Instead, try to force a direct fight between your army and theirs. Unless you charge directly into Reavers, your army probably outclasses a Cloakbot army in such a fight.