Rover Assembly

The Rover Assembly is a factory that produces wheeled vehicles.

Light Vehicle Factory (factoryveh)
Produces Wheeled Vehicles, Builds at 10 m/s
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Stats
Cost	600
Hit Points	4000
Energy (E/s)	0.3
Vision Radius (elmo)	273
Abilities
Construction Build Power 10
Weapons
None

Description

A traditional favourite, the Vehicle Plant 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, Leveler, Slasher

The Light Vehicle Factory builds:

• Mason
• Dart
• Scorcher
• Slasher
• Leveler
• Ravager
• Dominatrix
• Wolverine
• Impaler
• Crasher

Tactics and Strategy

The Light Vehicle factory is the most versatile of the flat-terrain factories. The Dart, Scorcher, Leveller 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 Slasher, Wolverine and Impaler punish your opponent from a safe distance.

The greatest weakness of the Light Vehicle factory is its lacklustre heavy and utility options; all of the main Vehicle combat units are cheap but not exceptionally strong individually, and if a frontal assault with Scorchers won't work the Vehicles don't have another good solution to opposing heavies. If you combine Vehicles with the raw strength of Heavy Tanks or the utility of Shield Bots, the Vehicle factory'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 Levellers 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 Slasher, Dominatrix, Wolverine and Impaler with combat units like the Leveller, static defences, or shields.

Conceal your mobile strike force with an Eraser 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 Wyvern, then follow up with a Scorcher attack, striking where and when the enemy is weak.

Beating Light Vehicles

Of all the factories in Zero-K, the Light Vehicle factory 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 Defenders and Lotuses. Make sure you are protected from Scorchers by defences and your own raiders, while at the same time pressuring the Vehicle 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 Levellers. 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 Light Vehicle player - they can run around (or through!) with Scorchers and Ravagers, or clean up defences swiftly with Impalers and Wolverines. The Gauss turret is more resistant to the Vehicle artillery while it is closed and can buy you some time, but you will eventually need to fight the Vehicles directly with a mobile army. The best way to engage Wolverines 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 Catapult is also possible.