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Enemies: Difference between revisions

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(Updated advanced graphs to use quadratic equation for pollution production, updated notes.)
(→‎Demolishers: Add segment/tail resistances)
 
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{{Languages}}
{{Languages}}
[[File:biter_intro.png|175px|right]]'''Enemies''' (also commonly called '''Biters''') are creatures that want to [[Damage|harm]] the [[player]]. They are the native inhabitants of the extraterrestrial world in the form of arthropods living in organic nests, coexisting with each other peacefully. They are encountered in three species: Biters, spitters and worms. The species are further distinguished in four stages of growth, and thus strength. Enemies and nests show up on the map as red dots. Much like the player, enemies can slowly regain lost health.
{{Stub}}
[[File:biter_intro.png|175px|right]]'''Enemies''' are creatures that want to [[Damage|harm]] the [[player]]. They are the native inhabitants of the extraterrestrial worlds on which the player is operating. Enemies show up on the map as red dots.
 
On [[Nauvis]], the enemies are arthropods which live in organic nests. They are encountered in three species: Biters, Spitters, and Worms (though the nickname "Biters" is often used collectively for all of them).
 
More enemies can be encountered on other planets with the [[Space Age]] expansion. On the planet [[Gleba]]{{SA}}, there are three types: Wrigglers, Strafers, and Stompers. On the planet [[Vulcanus]]{{SA}}, there are the Demolishers.
 
Each species comes in a range of sizes, where larger specimens have more health and do more damage.  


== Achievements ==
== Achievements ==
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{{Achievement|it-stinks-and-they-dont-like-it}}
{{Achievement|it-stinks-and-they-dont-like-it}}
{{Achievement|steamrolled}}
{{Achievement|steamrolled}}
{{Achievement|art-of-siege}}
{{Achievement|keeping-your-hands-clean}}
{{Achievement|it-stinks-and-they-do-like-it}}
{{Achievement|get-off-my-lawn}}
{{Achievement|if-it-bleeds}}
{{Achievement|we-need-bigger-guns}}
{{Achievement|Size-doesnt-matter}}


==Creatures==
==Creatures==
===Biters===
===Biters===
Biters are one of two main antagonists in the game. They come in four sizes: small, medium, big and behemoth. In the beginning of a game, there will only be the small ones. With increasing [[pollution]], they will become bigger, related to the enemy's [[#Evolution|evolution]]. As common sense may suggest, their method of attack is a straightforward charge to "bite" things.
Biters are one of two main antagonists in the base game. They come in four sizes: small, medium, big and behemoth. In the beginning of a game, there will only be the small ones. With increasing [[pollution]], they will become bigger, related to the enemy's [[#Evolution|evolution]]. As common sense may suggest, their method of attack is a straightforward charge to "bite" things.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
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| [[File:small_biter.png|center]] || Small Biter
| [[File:small_biter.png|center]] || Small Biter
| Weakest of biters, can be easily killed with a pistol.
| Weakest of biters, can be easily killed with a pistol.
* Planet: Nauvis
* Health: 15
* Health: 15
* Damage: 7 Physical
* Damage: 7 Physical
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| [[File:medium_biter.png|center]] || Medium Biter
| [[File:medium_biter.png|center]] || Medium Biter
| Stronger and slightly faster than the small biter. Can pose a problem for and even kill weaker players.
| Stronger and slightly faster than the small biter. Can pose a problem for and even kill weaker players.
* Planet: Nauvis
* Health: 75
* Health: 75
* Damage: 15 Physical
* Damage: 15 Physical
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| [[File:big_biter.png|center]] || Big Biter
| [[File:big_biter.png|center]] || Big Biter
| Dangerous, resistant to small arms. Can attack through walls, hitting objects directly behind them.
| Dangerous, resistant to small arms. Can attack through walls, hitting objects directly behind them.
* Planet: Nauvis
* Health: 375
* Health: 375
* Damage: 30 Physical
* Damage: 30 Physical
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| [[File:behemoth_biter.png|center]] || Behemoth Biter
| [[File:behemoth_biter.png|center]] || Behemoth Biter
| Extremely durable and nearly immune to small arms, except for the strongest ordnance. Can attack through walls, hitting objects directly behind them.
| Extremely durable and nearly immune to small arms, except for the strongest ordnance. Can attack through walls, hitting objects directly behind them.
* Planet: Nauvis
* Health: 3000
* Health: 3000
* Damage: 90 Physical
* Damage: 90 Physical
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===Spitters===
===Spitters===
'''Spitters''' are much like [[Enemies#Biters|biters]] and only appear slightly later on in the game as the evolution factor increases. Their main difference from biters is their ranged attack. Using predictive aiming, they spit a stream of acid at enemies which leaves behind a puddle of acid where it hits the ground. Due to the spitters' predictive aiming, the acid stream can be dodged by suddenly changing walking directions or standing still.[https://factorio.com/blog/post/fff-279] Both the stream and the puddle of acid deal damage of time and slow down players and vehicles. Most entities of the game have a much lower resistance to acid than other damage types (including [[turret]]s and [[armor]]), so spitters are effectively more potent against the player and their factories. Their behaviour and size classification are the same as with biters, but their health is universally lower and they are resistant exclusively against explosives, with no physical resistance.
'''Spitters''' are much like [[Enemies#Biters|biters]] and only appear slightly later on in the game as the evolution factor increases. Their main difference from biters is their ranged attack. Using predictive aiming, they spit a stream of acid at enemies which leaves behind a puddle of acid where it hits the ground. Due to the spitters' predictive aiming, the acid stream can be dodged by suddenly changing walking directions or standing still.[https://factorio.com/blog/post/fff-279] Both the stream and the puddle of acid deal damage of time and slow down players and vehicles. Most entities of the game have a much lower resistance to acid than other damage types (including [[turret]]s and [[armor]]), so spitters are effectively more potent against the player and their factories. Their behavior and size classification are the same as with biters, but their health is universally lower and they are resistant exclusively against explosives, with no physical resistance.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
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| [[File:small_spitter.png|center]] || Small Spitter
| [[File:small_spitter.png|center]] || Small Spitter
| Weakest of spitters. Easy to kill with any weapon, but attacks at range.
| Weakest of spitters. Easy to kill with any weapon, but attacks at range.
* Planet: Nauvis
* Health: 10
* Health: 10
* Range: 13
* Range: 13
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| [[File:medium_spitter.png|center]] || Medium Spitter
| [[File:medium_spitter.png|center]] || Medium Spitter
| Stronger and slower than the smaller version. Can pose a problem for and even kill weaker players.
| Stronger and slower than the smaller version. Can pose a problem for and even kill weaker players.
* Planet: Nauvis
* Health: 50
* Health: 50
* Range: 14
* Range: 14
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| [[File:big_spitter.png|center]] || Big Spitter
| [[File:big_spitter.png|center]] || Big Spitter
| An even bulkier spitter and so can take more damage.
| An even bulkier spitter and so can take more damage.
* Planet: Nauvis
* Health: 200
* Health: 200
* Range: 15
* Range: 15
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| [[File:behemoth_spitter.png|center]] || Behemoth Spitter
| [[File:behemoth_spitter.png|center]] || Behemoth Spitter
| The bulkiest of the spitters and so can take even more damage.
| The bulkiest of the spitters and so can take even more damage.
* Planet: Nauvis
* Health: 1500
* Health: 1500
* Range: 16
* Range: 16
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Resistances:
Resistances:
*Acid: 0/100%
*Explosion: 10/30%
*Explosion: 10/30%
*Fire: 3/70%
*Fire: 3/70%
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|}
|}


==Nests==
===Wrigglers===
Wrigglers are the biter equivalents to the planet Gleba, as they are standard melee enemies. True to their name, they flail and squirm their digits to move around and attack. Much like how biters and spitters spawn from nests, wrigglers spawn from egg rafts. Destroying egg rafts will spawn a group of more premature wrigglers, which are wrigglers that slowly lose health over time until they die. Strafers can fire flying versions of premature wrigglers at their target. Killing strafers and stompers can summon even more premature wrigglers.
 
The wrigglers that spawn from the corpses of strafers and stompers will match the size of the larger enemy that was killed. For example, killing a small strafer or stomper will spawn small premature wriggers, while killing a medium strafer or stomper will spawn medium premature wrigglers.
 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Picture !! Name !! Info
|-
| [[File:wriggler_small.png|center]] || Small Wriggler
| The weakest and smallest of all wrigglers.
* Planet: Gleba
* Health: 100
* Damage: 3.75 Physical + 3.75 Poison
* Range: 1.1
* Speed: 34.6km/h


The spawn points of biters and spitters. While nests themselves are generally defenseless, the enemies they release over time effectively serve as a form of guards to distract the player and any nearby turrets, and are often accompanied by worms. Nests exposed to pollution will use it to send enemies to join attacks. Enemies not engaged in combat may seek out the nearest nest for protection.
Resistances:
*Laser: 50%
|-
| [[File:wriggler_medium.png|center]] || Medium Wriggler
| Slightly stronger and faster than small wrigglers, and can still pose a threat for weaker players.
* Planet: Gleba
* Health: 150
* Damage: 5 Physical + 5 Poison
* Range: 1.4
* Speed: 38.9km/h


The nests are highly resistant to fire and otherwise generally more resilient than a medium worm.
Resistances:
*Laser: 50%
|-
| [[File:wriggler_big.png|center]] || Big Wriggler
| The strongest and fastest of all wrigglers.
* Planet: Gleba
* Health: 250
* Damage: 8 Physical + 8 Poison
* Range: 1.8
* Speed: 43.2km/h
 
Resistances:
*Laser: 50%
|}
 
===Strafers===
Native to the planet Gleba, strafers are large yet scrawny five-legged pentapod creatures with the unique behavior of constantly circling around players while attacking them, rather than making a beeline straight for the player, unlike any other type of enemy in the game. They will fire flying premature wrigglers toward the player, essentially adding more enemies to the fight.
 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Picture !! Name !! Info
|-
| [[File:strafer_small.png|center]] || Small Strafer
| The weakest and smallest of all strafers.
* Planet: Gleba
* Health: 800
* Shooting speed: 0.5/s
* Range: 22.0
* Speed: 62.2km/h
 
Projectile:
*Range: 110
*Area of effect: 1
**Damage: 67.5 Explosive
 
Resistances:
*Laser: 50%
*Physical: 2/10%
|-
| [[File:strafer_medium.png|center]] || Medium Strafer
| Slightly stronger and faster than the small strafer.
* Planet: Gleba
* Health: 1400
* Shooting speed: 0.5/s
* Range: 25.0
* Speed: 77.8km/h
 
Projectile:
*Range: 125
*Area of effect: 1
**Damage: 90 Explosive
 
Resistances:
*Laser: 50%
*Physical: 2/10%
|-
| [[File:strafer_big.png|center]] || Big Strafer
| Strongest, fastest and most resilient of strafers.
* Planet: Gleba
* Health: 2400
* Shooting speed: 0.5/s
* Range: 28.0
* Speed: 98.3km/h
 
Projectile:
*Range: 140
*Area of effect: 1
**Damage: 144 Explosive
 
Resistances:
*Laser: 50%
*Physical: 2/10%
|}
 
===Stompers===
Native to the planet Gleba, stompers are extremely large, five-legged pentapod creatures with limbs that look similar to a starfish, and seem to have natural, jagged exoskeleton armor that provides high resistances to many types of damage. They are very powerful melee enemies that use their brute force to attack players by simply stomping toward them. Their large size and high damage can destroy buildings instantly. They will spawn premature wrigglers upon death.
 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Picture !! Name !! Info
|-
| [[File:stomper_small.png|center]] || Small Stomper
| The weakest and smallest of all stompers, but still powerful.
* Planet: Gleba
* Health: 3500
* Range: 5.8
* Speed: 43.0km/h
 
Acid splash:
*Lifetime: 32 seconds
*Applied effects (on contact):
**Duration: 2 seconds
**Movement speed: 60% speed
**Vehicle speed: 30% speed
*Damage (on contact): 1.5/s Acid
*Area of effect size: 1.58
**Damage: 0.5 Acid
 
Resistances:
*Impact: 80%
*Laser: 80%
*Physical: 2/50%
|-
| [[File:stomper_medium.png|center]] || Medium Stomper
| Larger and more dangerous version of a stomper.
* Planet: Gleba
* Health: 8000
* Range: 7.8
* Speed: 54.1km/h
 
Acid splash:
*Lifetime: 32 seconds
*Applied effects (on contact):
**Duration: 2 seconds
**Movement speed: 60% speed
**Vehicle speed: 30% speed
*Damage (on contact): 6/s Acid
*Area of effect size: 2.1
**Damage: 1 Acid
 
Resistances:
*Impact: 80%
*Laser: 80%
*Physical: 2/50%
|-
| [[File:stomper_big.png|center]] || Big Stomper
| Larger, fastest and most dangerously aggressive version of a stomper.
* Planet: Gleba
* Health: 15000
* Range: 10.4
* Speed: 68.5km/h
 
Acid splash:
*Lifetime: 32 seconds
*Applied effects (on contact):
**Duration: 2 seconds
**Movement speed: 60% speed
**Vehicle speed: 30% speed
*Damage (on contact): 15.36/s Acid
*Area of effect size: 2.8
**Damage: 1.6 Acid
 
Resistances:
*Impact: 80%
*Laser: 80%
*Physical: 2/50%
|}
 
=== Demolishers ===
Native to the planet Vulcanus, demolishers are horrendously large worm-like creatures that roam across the land and lava. Each individual demolisher patrols a defined territory, and building structures in their territory will disturb them and cause them to attack.
 
Demolishers have three types of offense. On physical contact they do high damage to the player, and instantly destroy buildings and cliffs. They release a smoke cloud that slows the player and damages any nearby bots. And at range, they cause explosions to erupt from the ground, Due to their high damage resistances and extremely fast health regeneration, killing them requires advanced and upgraded weaponry, or massive quantities of bullets.
 
Once killed, they leave behind remains similar to that of black volcanic rock, which contain [[tungsten ore]].
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Picture !! Name !! Info
|-
| [[File:demolisher_small.png|center]] || Small Demolisher
| The weakest and smallest of demolishers, but still very destructive.
* Planet: Vulcanus
* Health: 30000
* Regeneration: 2400/s
 
Resistances:
*Electric: 20/20%
*Explosion: 60% (head), 99% (body)
*Fire: 100%
*Impact: 100%
*Laser: 100%
*Physical: 50% (head), 5/50% (body)
*Poison: 10% (head), 50% (body)
|-
| [[File:demolisher_medium.png|center]] || Medium Demolisher
| Larger and more dangerous version of a demolisher.
* Planet: Vulcanus
* Health: 100000
* Regeneration: 7800/s
 
Resistances:
*Electric: 20/20%
*Explosion: 60% (head), 99% (body)
*Fire: 100%
*Impact: 100%
*Laser: 100%
*Physical: 50% (head), 5/50% (body)
*Poison: 10% (head), 50% (body)
|-
| [[File:demolisher_big.png|center]] || Big Demolisher
| The largest and most dangerous creature in the game.
* Planet: Vulcanus
* Health: 300000
* Regeneration: 24000/s
 
Resistances:
*Electric: 20/20%
*Explosion: 60% (head), 99% (body)
*Fire: 100%
*Impact: 100%
*Laser: 100%
*Physical: 50% (head), 5/50% (body)
*Poison: 10% (head), 50% (body)
|}
 
=== Nests ===
Nests in the wild will have their max health increase with evolution factor exponentially, up to 10 times their starting health.
 
Biter and spitter nests can be captured by firing a [[capture bot rocket]] from a [[rocket launcher]] at a nest. After the nest is captured, it must be given [[bioflux]] to maintain and continuously create [[biter egg]]s. If the nest is not maintained, it will slowly lose 1 health per second, but when fed, it will gain 1 health per second.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
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! Picture !! Name !! Description
! Picture !! Name !! Description
|-
|-
| [[File:biter_nest.png]] || Biter's nest
| [[File:biter_nest.png|center]] || Biter's nest
|
|
* Health: 350
* Planet: Nauvis
* Health: 350 (additional health from evolution)


Resistances:
Resistances:
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*Physical: 2/15%
*Physical: 2/15%
|-
|-
| [[File:spitter_nest.png]] || Spitter's nest
| [[File:spitter_nest.png|center]] || Spitter's nest
|
|
* Health: 350
* Planet: Nauvis
* Health: 350 (additional health from evolution)


Resistances:
Resistances:
*Explosion: 5/15%
*Explosion: 5/15%
*Fire: 3/60%
*Physical: 2/15%
|-
| [[File:egg_raft.png|center]] || Egg raft
|
* Planet: Gleba
* Spawns a horde of premature wrigglers when destroyed.
* Health: 500 (additional health from evolution)
|-
| [[File:egg_raft_small.png|center]] || Small egg raft
|
* Planet: Gleba
* Spawns a horde of premature wrigglers when destroyed.
* Health: 100 (additional health from evolution)
Resistances:
*Explosive: 5/15%
*Fire: 3/60%
*Fire: 3/60%
*Physical: 2/15%
*Physical: 2/15%
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   /evolution
   /evolution


The evolution factor goes from 0 (not evolved at all) to 1 (maximal evolution). At the moment the evolution factor can only increase.
The evolution factor goes from 0 (not evolved at all) to 1 (maximal evolution). The evolution factor can only increase.
 
This command also provides percentages for the three sources; each one is the percent of the (unsquashed) total evolution that is contributed by that source.


Besides choosing what kind of biter will be spawned, the evolution factor also influences the spawning interval. This interval (<code>spawning_cooldown</code> in the <code>enemy-spawner</code> definition) is interpolated between 360 (0 evolution) and 150 (1 evolution) game ticks (= 6 to 2.5 seconds).
Besides choosing what kind of biter will be spawned, the evolution factor also influences the spawning interval. This interval (<code>spawning_cooldown</code> in the <code>enemy-spawner</code> definition) is interpolated between 360 (0 evolution) and 150 (1 evolution) game ticks (= 6 to 2.5 seconds).
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* The global [[Pollution|pollution production]] increases the evolution factor.
* The global [[Pollution|pollution production]] increases the evolution factor.
* Destroying [[Enemies#Nests|nests]] significantly increases the evolution factor.
* Destroying [[Enemies#Nests|nests]] significantly increases the evolution factor.
All these values are set in <code>game.map_settings.enemy_evolution</code>. From there they can be changed or modded.


The default settings are:
The default settings are:
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!Source per
!Source per
!Variable in <code>enemy_evolution</code>
!Variable in <code>enemy_evolution</code>
!Percent increase
!Evolution increase
!Pollution equivalent
|-
|-
| [[Time#Seconds|Second]] || <code>time_factor</code> || 0.0004%
| [[Time#Seconds|Second]] || <code>time_factor</code> || 0.000004 || 267/minute
|-
|-
| 1 Pollution unit || <code>pollution_factor</code> || 0.00009%
| Destroyed enemy spawner || <code>destroy_factor</code> || 0.002 || 2222
|-
|-
| Destroyed enemy spawner || <code>destroy_factor</code> || 0.2%
| 1 Pollution unit || <code>pollution_factor</code> || 0.0000009 || 1
|}
|}


Pollution production is the total pollution produced by [[Pollution#Polluters|buildings]] per tick, not the pollution spreading on the map, so it is not reduced by trees or other absorbers.
These values can be set during [[Map_generator#Enemy|world generation]]: the values in the dialog box are multiplied by 10^-7 for time and pollution, and 10^-5 for spawner destruction. In game, they can be found in <code>game.map_settings.enemy_evolution</code>, though checking or modifying them is considered using cheats.
e.g. : 10 boilers produce 300 pollution in one minute, raising the evolution factor by around 0.027%.
 
Pollution production is the total pollution produced by [[Pollution#Polluters|buildings]], not the pollution spreading on the map, so it is not reduced by trees or other absorbers.
e.g. : 10 boilers produce 300 pollution in one minute, raising the evolution factor by around 0.00027 in that minute.
 
After totaling up all the evolution from these sources, this quantity is squashed to fit in the range <code>[0, 1)</code> by applying <code>evolution_factor = total_evolution / (1 + total_evolution)</code>.


The percentages are applied on the base of <code>(1 - current_evolution_factor)²</code>. So for instance destroying enemy spawners in the beginning of the game results in increase of evolution factor by 0.002 (0.2%) while doing this when the evolution factor is 0.5 the increase is only 0.0005 (0.05%).
Equivalently, marginal increases in evolution are reduced by multiplying the increase by <code>(1 - evolution_factor)²</code>. So for instance destroying enemy spawners in the beginning of the game results in increase of evolution factor by 0.002 while doing this when the evolution factor is 0.5 the increase is only 0.0005.


This also means that the evolution factor approaches 1 asymptotically - generally, increases past 0.9 or so are ''very'' slow and the number never actually reaches 1.0.
This also means that the evolution factor approaches 1 asymptotically - generally, increases past 0.9 or so are ''very'' slow and the number never actually reaches 1.0.
{| class="wikitable"
!Evolution factor
!Pollution equivalent
!Appearance
|-
| 10% || 123k ||
|-
| 20% || 278k || Medium Biter
|-
| 25% || 370k || Small Spitter
|-
| 30% || 476k ||
|-
| 40% || 741k || Medium Spitter
|-
| 50% || 1.111M || Big Biter, Big Spitter
|-
| 60% || 1.667M ||
|-
| 70% || 2.592M ||
|-
| 80% || 4.444M ||
|-
| 90% || 10M || Behemoth Biter, Behemoth Spitter
|-
| 95% || 21M ||
|-
| 99% || 110M ||
|}


=== Spawn chances by evolution factor ===
=== Spawn chances by evolution factor ===
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[[File:Evolution_factor_by_time.png|400px|thumb|right|1. Single-component evolution factor increase with time]]
[[File:Evolution_factor_by_time.png|400px|thumb|right|1. Single-component evolution factor increase with time]]
[[File:Evolution_factor_by_pollution.png|400px|thumb|right|2. Single-component evolution factor increase with pollution]]
[[File:Evolution_factor_by_spawners.png|400px|thumb|right|2. Single-component evolution factor increase with destroyed spawners]]
[[File:Evolution_factor_by_spawners.png|400px|thumb|right|3. Single-component evolution factor increase with destroyed spawners]]
[[File:Evolution_factor_by_pollution.png|400px|thumb|right|3. Single-component evolution factor increase with pollution]]


'''Notes'''
'''Notes'''
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* The calculation steps for time and spawner kills match those used by the game, so these charts should be accurate. The pollution chart assumes a pollution production of 1000 units per second, and due to the recursive nature of the chart values will slightly diverge at different pollution rates. The effect of this is negligible for any reasonable amount pollution production, however.
* The calculation steps for time and spawner kills match those used by the game, so these charts should be accurate. The pollution chart assumes a pollution production of 1000 units per second, and due to the recursive nature of the chart values will slightly diverge at different pollution rates. The effect of this is negligible for any reasonable amount pollution production, however.


*Given that the game reports the actual evolution factor (console: <code>/evolution</code>) whenever the player wishes, these charts are intended primarily to help estimate the impact of planned base expansions and similar activities on the evolution factor's future development.
* Given that the game reports the actual evolution factor (console: <code>/evolution</code>) whenever the player wishes, these charts are intended primarily to help estimate the impact of planned base expansions and similar activities on the evolution factor's future development.




Line 376: Line 682:
These charts (click to enlarge) represent the situation where each evolution factor component (time, pollution, destroyed spawners) is the ''only'' component contributing to the evolution factor in that entire game. They are therefore '''not realistic''', as in a typical game all three components will contribute, some at varying times and intensities.
These charts (click to enlarge) represent the situation where each evolution factor component (time, pollution, destroyed spawners) is the ''only'' component contributing to the evolution factor in that entire game. They are therefore '''not realistic''', as in a typical game all three components will contribute, some at varying times and intensities.


Because of how contributions to the evolution factor (hereinafter, EF) are calculated (multiplied by <code>(1 - current EF)</code>), it is '''not''' possible to simply add the values indicated by these charts for a game's time passed, pollution generated, and / or spawners destroyed so far to retrieve the total evolution factor.
Because of how contributions to the evolution factor (EF) are calculated (multiplied by <code>(1 - current EF)</code>), it is '''not''' possible to simply add the values indicated by these charts for a game's time passed, pollution generated, and / or spawners destroyed so far to retrieve the total evolution factor.


For example, if 20 hours have passed (single-component EF =~ 0.25), 10 million pollution units were released (single-component EF =~ 0.15), and 200 spawners were destroyed (single-component EF =~ 0.35), the actual evolution factor will '''not''' be (0.25 + 0.15 + 0.35 =) ~0.85.
For example, if 24 hours have passed (single-component EF =~ 0.25), 200,000 pollution units were released (single-component EF =~ 0.15), and 400 spawners were destroyed (single-component EF =~ 0.45), the actual evolution factor will '''not''' be (0.25 + 0.15 + 0.45 =) ~0.85.


However, the evolution factor will always be '''less''' than the sum of all individual components as indicated by these charts, and '''at least''' as high as the highest individual component. Thus, using the values from above, the EF will be ''at least'' 0.35 and ''less than'' 0.85. A smarter approach is required to compute the amount of pollution released.
However, the evolution factor will always be '''less''' than the sum of all individual components as indicated by these charts, and '''at least''' as high as the highest individual component. Thus, using the values from above, the EF will be ''at least'' 0.35 and ''less than'' 0.85. A smarter approach is required to compute the current evolution factor.


'''Individual components'''


'''Computation of actual evolution factor'''
The individual components of evolution can be approximated from <code>/evolution</code>:


The actual EF can be computed as follow :
Given the evolution factor, the unsquashed evolution is <code>unsquashed = evolution_factor / (1 - evolution_factor)</code>.  Multiply this by the percentage for a given component to get its approximate unsquashed contribution. Of course, total pollution and spawner kills can also be found on the [[Production_statistics|production statistics]] screen, and time passed can be found using the <code>/time</code> command, so it's not fully necessary.


<code> 1 - EF = (1 - E[t]) * (1 - E[p]) * (1 - E[s])</code>, where ''E[t]'', ''E[p]'', and ''E[s]'' are the single-component values from the pollution, time, and spawner charts, in that order.
The actual factors can be found in <code>game.forces.enemy.evolution_factor_by_time</code>, <code>...evolution_factor_by_killing_spawners</code>, and <code>...evolution_factor_by_pollution</code>, if you don't mind disabling achievements.


A key observation in understanding where this formula comes from is that each incremental change of the evolution factor is effectively a multiplication of <code>1 - EF</code> by a constant (depending on the nature of the change). For example, another way of saying that killing a biter nest augments evolution by 0.2% of <code>1 - EF</code>, is to say that killing a biter nest multiplies <code>1 - EF</code> by 0.998.
</div></div>


So, like multiplication, evolution is, barring rounding errors, associative and commutative. The commutativity means that the order in which you take evolution-increasing actions does not matter, and along with the associativity results in the formula above.
== Trivia ==
 
*Despite their drastically different origins, enemies from different planets will always act as allies against the player. They will even reside around each other's nests when not attacking players, even if the type of nest does not match that of the residing creature. Even demolishers will circle around nests without harming or destroying them. Since enemies only spawn on their respective planets, this is not normally seen in gameplay, unless these creatures are placed near each other in the [[map editor]].
That knowledge can also be applied to compute the above charts exactly, or to compute a component of evolution without having to refer to the chart at all. For example, pollution as a function of time only is <code>1 - 0.999996 ^ t</code> where t is the time in seconds.
 
For the values from above, we can deduce the evolution factor <code>1 - EF = (1 - 0.25) * (1 - 0.15) * (1 - 0.35) = 0.75 * 0.85 * 0.35 = 0.41</code>, which gives an evolution factor of <code>0.59</code>.
 
This formula can also be used to estimate impact of future player activities on the EF: a set of actions that is known to bring the evolution factor of a world from 0 to EF(2) (eg using the above chart and formula) will bring it from EF(1) to <code>1 - (1-EF(1)) * (1-EF(2))</code>
 
For example, if the player planned to spend the next 20 hours building up their base, releasing 10 million pollution and destroying 200 spawners in the meantime (i.e., the same numbers as in the example above), and the EF at the start of this period were, say, 0.55, then the estimated EF at its end will be <code>1 - (1 - 0.55) * (1 - 0.59) = 0.81</code>.
</div></div>


== Gallery ==
== Gallery ==
Line 410: Line 709:
File:turret_wall_biters.png|Line of gun turrets defending against biters.
File:turret_wall_biters.png|Line of gun turrets defending against biters.
File:titlescreen_enemies.png|Enemies seen at the title screen.
File:titlescreen_enemies.png|Enemies seen at the title screen.
File:gleba_pentapods_preview.png|Pentapod enemies seen on Gleba.
File:Factorio_Space_Age_Player_Fighting_Stomper.png|A player fighting a stomper
File:demolisher_chases_player.png|A demolisher chases the player on Vulcanus.
</gallery>
</gallery>


== History ==
== History ==
{{history|2.0.7|
* Wrigglers, strafers, stompers and demolishers have been added with the [[Space Age]]{{SA}} expansion.}}
{{history|0.17.0|
{{history|0.17.0|
* Behemoth worm added.}}
* Behemoth worm added.}}
Line 436: Line 741:


{{history|0.11.17|
{{history|0.11.17|
* Items dropped by enemies([[alien artifact|*]]) are now collected automatically and from longer distances.}}
* Items dropped by enemies([[Archive:alien artifact|*]]) are now collected automatically and from longer distances.}}


{{history|0.11.6|
{{history|0.11.6|
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* [[Damage]]
* [[Damage]]
* [[Pollution]]
* [[Pollution]]
{{EnvironmentNav}}

Latest revision as of 13:18, 17 November 2024

No-building-material-icon.png
This article is a stub, and not comprehensive.
You can help this wiki by expanding it.
Biter intro.png

Enemies are creatures that want to harm the player. They are the native inhabitants of the extraterrestrial worlds on which the player is operating. Enemies show up on the map as red dots.

On Nauvis, the enemies are arthropods which live in organic nests. They are encountered in three species: Biters, Spitters, and Worms (though the nickname "Biters" is often used collectively for all of them).

More enemies can be encountered on other planets with the Space Age expansion. On the planet Gleba, there are three types: Wrigglers, Strafers, and Stompers. On the planet Vulcanus, there are the Demolishers.

Each species comes in a range of sizes, where larger specimens have more health and do more damage.

Achievements

Enemies are directly connected to the following achievements:

It-stinks-and-they-dont-like-it-achievement.png It stinks and they don't like it

Trigger an alien attack by pollution.

Steamrolled-achievement.png Steamrolled

Destroy 10 spawners by impact.

Art-of-siege-achievement.png Art of siege

Destroy an enemy structure using artillery.

Keeping-your-hands-clean-achievement.png Keeping your hands clean

Destroy your first enemy structure using artillery.

It-stinks-and-they-do-like-it-achievement.png It stinks and they do like it

Attract a group of pentapods using spores.

Get-off-my-lawn-achievement.png Get off my lawn

Disturb a demolisher by building on its territory.

If-it-bleeds-achievement.png If it bleeds, we can kill it

Kill a small demolisher.

We-need-bigger-guns-achievement.png We need bigger guns

Kill a medium demolisher.

Size-doesnt-matter-achievement.png Size doesn't matter

Kill a big demolisher.

Creatures

Biters

Biters are one of two main antagonists in the base game. They come in four sizes: small, medium, big and behemoth. In the beginning of a game, there will only be the small ones. With increasing pollution, they will become bigger, related to the enemy's evolution. As common sense may suggest, their method of attack is a straightforward charge to "bite" things.

Picture Name Info
Small biter.png
Small Biter Weakest of biters, can be easily killed with a pistol.
  • Planet: Nauvis
  • Health: 15
  • Damage: 7 Physical
  • Attack speed: 1.71/s
  • Speed: 43.2km/h
  • Range: 1
  • Pollution to join attack: 4
Medium biter.png
Medium Biter Stronger and slightly faster than the small biter. Can pose a problem for and even kill weaker players.
  • Planet: Nauvis
  • Health: 75
  • Damage: 15 Physical
  • Attack speed: 1.71/s
  • Speed: 51.8km/h
  • Range: 1
  • Pollution to join attack: 20

Resistances:

  • Explosion: 0/10%
  • Physical: 4/10%
Big biter.png
Big Biter Dangerous, resistant to small arms. Can attack through walls, hitting objects directly behind them.
  • Planet: Nauvis
  • Health: 375
  • Damage: 30 Physical
  • Attack speed: 1.71/s
  • Speed: 49.7km/h
  • Range: 2
  • Pollution to join attack: 80

Resistances:

  • Explosion: 0/10%
  • Physical: 8/10%
Behemoth biter.png
Behemoth Biter Extremely durable and nearly immune to small arms, except for the strongest ordnance. Can attack through walls, hitting objects directly behind them.
  • Planet: Nauvis
  • Health: 3000
  • Damage: 90 Physical
  • Attack speed: 1.2/s
  • Speed: 64.8km/h
  • Range: 2
  • Pollution to join attack: 400

Resistances:

  • Explosion: 12/10%
  • Physical: 12/10%

Spitters

Spitters are much like biters and only appear slightly later on in the game as the evolution factor increases. Their main difference from biters is their ranged attack. Using predictive aiming, they spit a stream of acid at enemies which leaves behind a puddle of acid where it hits the ground. Due to the spitters' predictive aiming, the acid stream can be dodged by suddenly changing walking directions or standing still.[1] Both the stream and the puddle of acid deal damage of time and slow down players and vehicles. Most entities of the game have a much lower resistance to acid than other damage types (including turrets and armor), so spitters are effectively more potent against the player and their factories. Their behavior and size classification are the same as with biters, but their health is universally lower and they are resistant exclusively against explosives, with no physical resistance.

Picture Name Info
Small spitter.png
Small Spitter Weakest of spitters. Easy to kill with any weapon, but attacks at range.
  • Planet: Nauvis
  • Health: 10
  • Range: 13
  • Pollution to join attack: 4
  • Speed: 40.0km/h

Acid projectile:

  • Attack speed: 0.6/s
  • Area of effect size: 1
  • Damage (on contact): 12 Acid

Acid puddle:

  • Lifetime: 32 seconds
  • Damage: 7.2 Acid/second
  • Applies effect (on contact):
    • Movement/vehicle speed modifier: 60%
    • Duration: 2 seconds
Medium spitter.png
Medium Spitter Stronger and slower than the smaller version. Can pose a problem for and even kill weaker players.
  • Planet: Nauvis
  • Health: 50
  • Range: 14
  • Pollution to join attack: 12
  • Speed: 35.6km/h

Acid projectile:

  • Attack speed: 0.6/s
  • Area of effect size: 1.25
  • Damage (on contact): 24 Acid

Acid puddle:

  • Lifetime: 32 seconds
  • Damage: 28.8 Acid/second
  • Applies effect (on contact):
    • Movement/vehicle speed modifier: 50%
    • Duration: 2 seconds

Resistances:

  • Explosion: 0/10%
Big spitter.png
Big Spitter An even bulkier spitter and so can take more damage.
  • Planet: Nauvis
  • Health: 200
  • Range: 15
  • Pollution to join attack: 30
  • Speed: 32.4km/h

Acid projectile:

  • Attack speed: 0.6/s
  • Area of effect size: 1.35
  • Damage (on contact): 36 Acid

Acid puddle:

  • Lifetime: 32 seconds
  • Damage: 130 Acid/second
  • Applies effect (on contact):
    • Movement/vehicle speed modifier: 40%
    • Duration: 2 seconds

Resistances:

  • Explosion: 0/15%
Behemoth spitter.png
Behemoth Spitter The bulkiest of the spitters and so can take even more damage.
  • Planet: Nauvis
  • Health: 1500
  • Range: 16
  • Pollution to join attack: 200
  • Speed: 32.4km/h

Acid projectile:

  • Attack speed: 0.6/s
  • Area of effect size: 1.75
  • Damage (on contact): 60 Acid

Acid puddle:

  • Lifetime: 32 seconds
  • Damage: 360 Acid/second
  • Applies effect (on contact):
    • Movement/vehicle speed modifier: 30%
    • Duration: 2 seconds

Resistances:

  • Explosion: 0/30%

Worms

The Worms are natural allies of biters and spitters and will attack the player if they get close enough with an attack similar to spitters'. They act like static turrets and will not follow attackers. They rely on high damage, great range and splash damage to keep the player away from the worms and the nests they protect, but either one of these advantages can be overcome. Unlike other enemies, they are also highly resistant to fire. They will spit acid at the player, which can also leave acidic puddles on the ground that can still damage players and vehicles, as well as slow them both down and leave a brief acidic, damaging effect for a few seconds. However, placed buildings and tiles are unaffected by the acid puddles, but still take damage normally by the acid projectile.

Worms come in 4 sizes, their power increasing with size. Like biters and spitters, behemoth, big and medium worms spawning is influenced by the evolution factor. Worms are only created during enemy expansion when a certain evolution factor requirement is fulfilled. This is 0.3 for the medium worm, 0.5 for the big worm and 0.9 for the behemoth worm. Below these evolution factors, worms can only be created by the map generation. In map generation, the game restricts higher tier worms behind the distance from the starting point. The further away the player goes from the starting area, the stronger the worms become.

Picture Name Info
Small worm.png
Small Worm A weak worm. It is still capable of killing the player unless it is targeted as priority.
  • Health: 200
  • Range: 25

Acid projectile:

  • Attack speed: 0.66/s
  • Area of effect size: 1.4
  • Damage (on contact): 36 Acid

Acid puddle:

  • Lifetime: 32 seconds
  • Damage: 21.6 Acid/second
  • Applies effect (on contact):
    • Duration: 2 seconds
    • Movement/vehicle speed modifier: 60%
Medium worm.png
Medium Worm Medium worms are dangerous to even more advanced players. They should be handled with care.
  • Health: 400
  • Range: 30

Acid projectile:

  • Attack speed: 0.66/s
  • Area of effect size: 1.55
  • Damage (on contact): 48 Acid

Acid puddle:

  • Lifetime: 32 seconds
  • Damage: 57.6 Acid/second
  • Applies effect (on contact):
    • Duration: 2 seconds
    • Movement/vehicle speed modifier: 50%

Resistances:

  • Explosion: 5/15%
  • Fire: 2/50%
  • Physical: 5/0%
Big worm.png
Big Worm Big worms are not as much more dangerous as resilient. They are almost immune to common gunfire of any sort.
  • Health: 750
  • Range: 38

Acid projectile:

  • Attack speed: 0.66/s
  • Area of effect size: 1.75
  • Damage (on contact): 72 Acid

Acid puddle:

  • Lifetime: 32 seconds
  • Damage: 259 Acid/second
  • Applies effect (on contact):
    • Duration: 2 seconds
    • Movement/vehicle speed modifier: 40%

Resistances:

  • Explosion: 10/30%
  • Fire: 3/70%
  • Physical: 10/0%
Behemoth worm.png
Behemoth Worm Behemoth worms are the most dangerous of worms. They are just as resilient as Big worms, with much greater range.
  • Health: 750
  • Range: 48

Acid projectile:

  • Attack speed: 0.66/s
  • Area of effect size: 2
  • Damage (on contact): 96 Acid

Acid puddle:

  • Lifetime: 32 seconds
  • Damage: 691 Acid/second
  • Applies effect (on contact):
    • Duration: 2 seconds
    • Movement/vehicle speed modifier: 30%

Resistances:

  • Explosion: 10/30%
  • Fire: 3/70%
  • Physical: 10/0%
Picture Description
Worm.gif A worm's attack animation.

Wrigglers

Wrigglers are the biter equivalents to the planet Gleba, as they are standard melee enemies. True to their name, they flail and squirm their digits to move around and attack. Much like how biters and spitters spawn from nests, wrigglers spawn from egg rafts. Destroying egg rafts will spawn a group of more premature wrigglers, which are wrigglers that slowly lose health over time until they die. Strafers can fire flying versions of premature wrigglers at their target. Killing strafers and stompers can summon even more premature wrigglers.

The wrigglers that spawn from the corpses of strafers and stompers will match the size of the larger enemy that was killed. For example, killing a small strafer or stomper will spawn small premature wriggers, while killing a medium strafer or stomper will spawn medium premature wrigglers.

Picture Name Info
Wriggler small.png
Small Wriggler The weakest and smallest of all wrigglers.
  • Planet: Gleba
  • Health: 100
  • Damage: 3.75 Physical + 3.75 Poison
  • Range: 1.1
  • Speed: 34.6km/h

Resistances:

  • Laser: 50%
Wriggler medium.png
Medium Wriggler Slightly stronger and faster than small wrigglers, and can still pose a threat for weaker players.
  • Planet: Gleba
  • Health: 150
  • Damage: 5 Physical + 5 Poison
  • Range: 1.4
  • Speed: 38.9km/h

Resistances:

  • Laser: 50%
Wriggler big.png
Big Wriggler The strongest and fastest of all wrigglers.
  • Planet: Gleba
  • Health: 250
  • Damage: 8 Physical + 8 Poison
  • Range: 1.8
  • Speed: 43.2km/h

Resistances:

  • Laser: 50%

Strafers

Native to the planet Gleba, strafers are large yet scrawny five-legged pentapod creatures with the unique behavior of constantly circling around players while attacking them, rather than making a beeline straight for the player, unlike any other type of enemy in the game. They will fire flying premature wrigglers toward the player, essentially adding more enemies to the fight.

Picture Name Info
Strafer small.png
Small Strafer The weakest and smallest of all strafers.
  • Planet: Gleba
  • Health: 800
  • Shooting speed: 0.5/s
  • Range: 22.0
  • Speed: 62.2km/h

Projectile:

  • Range: 110
  • Area of effect: 1
    • Damage: 67.5 Explosive

Resistances:

  • Laser: 50%
  • Physical: 2/10%
Strafer medium.png
Medium Strafer Slightly stronger and faster than the small strafer.
  • Planet: Gleba
  • Health: 1400
  • Shooting speed: 0.5/s
  • Range: 25.0
  • Speed: 77.8km/h

Projectile:

  • Range: 125
  • Area of effect: 1
    • Damage: 90 Explosive

Resistances:

  • Laser: 50%
  • Physical: 2/10%
Strafer big.png
Big Strafer Strongest, fastest and most resilient of strafers.
  • Planet: Gleba
  • Health: 2400
  • Shooting speed: 0.5/s
  • Range: 28.0
  • Speed: 98.3km/h

Projectile:

  • Range: 140
  • Area of effect: 1
    • Damage: 144 Explosive

Resistances:

  • Laser: 50%
  • Physical: 2/10%

Stompers

Native to the planet Gleba, stompers are extremely large, five-legged pentapod creatures with limbs that look similar to a starfish, and seem to have natural, jagged exoskeleton armor that provides high resistances to many types of damage. They are very powerful melee enemies that use their brute force to attack players by simply stomping toward them. Their large size and high damage can destroy buildings instantly. They will spawn premature wrigglers upon death.

Picture Name Info
Stomper small.png
Small Stomper The weakest and smallest of all stompers, but still powerful.
  • Planet: Gleba
  • Health: 3500
  • Range: 5.8
  • Speed: 43.0km/h

Acid splash:

  • Lifetime: 32 seconds
  • Applied effects (on contact):
    • Duration: 2 seconds
    • Movement speed: 60% speed
    • Vehicle speed: 30% speed
  • Damage (on contact): 1.5/s Acid
  • Area of effect size: 1.58
    • Damage: 0.5 Acid

Resistances:

  • Impact: 80%
  • Laser: 80%
  • Physical: 2/50%
Stomper medium.png
Medium Stomper Larger and more dangerous version of a stomper.
  • Planet: Gleba
  • Health: 8000
  • Range: 7.8
  • Speed: 54.1km/h

Acid splash:

  • Lifetime: 32 seconds
  • Applied effects (on contact):
    • Duration: 2 seconds
    • Movement speed: 60% speed
    • Vehicle speed: 30% speed
  • Damage (on contact): 6/s Acid
  • Area of effect size: 2.1
    • Damage: 1 Acid

Resistances:

  • Impact: 80%
  • Laser: 80%
  • Physical: 2/50%
Stomper big.png
Big Stomper Larger, fastest and most dangerously aggressive version of a stomper.
  • Planet: Gleba
  • Health: 15000
  • Range: 10.4
  • Speed: 68.5km/h

Acid splash:

  • Lifetime: 32 seconds
  • Applied effects (on contact):
    • Duration: 2 seconds
    • Movement speed: 60% speed
    • Vehicle speed: 30% speed
  • Damage (on contact): 15.36/s Acid
  • Area of effect size: 2.8
    • Damage: 1.6 Acid

Resistances:

  • Impact: 80%
  • Laser: 80%
  • Physical: 2/50%

Demolishers

Native to the planet Vulcanus, demolishers are horrendously large worm-like creatures that roam across the land and lava. Each individual demolisher patrols a defined territory, and building structures in their territory will disturb them and cause them to attack.

Demolishers have three types of offense. On physical contact they do high damage to the player, and instantly destroy buildings and cliffs. They release a smoke cloud that slows the player and damages any nearby bots. And at range, they cause explosions to erupt from the ground, Due to their high damage resistances and extremely fast health regeneration, killing them requires advanced and upgraded weaponry, or massive quantities of bullets.

Once killed, they leave behind remains similar to that of black volcanic rock, which contain tungsten ore.

Picture Name Info
Demolisher small.png
Small Demolisher The weakest and smallest of demolishers, but still very destructive.
  • Planet: Vulcanus
  • Health: 30000
  • Regeneration: 2400/s

Resistances:

  • Electric: 20/20%
  • Explosion: 60% (head), 99% (body)
  • Fire: 100%
  • Impact: 100%
  • Laser: 100%
  • Physical: 50% (head), 5/50% (body)
  • Poison: 10% (head), 50% (body)
Demolisher medium.png
Medium Demolisher Larger and more dangerous version of a demolisher.
  • Planet: Vulcanus
  • Health: 100000
  • Regeneration: 7800/s

Resistances:

  • Electric: 20/20%
  • Explosion: 60% (head), 99% (body)
  • Fire: 100%
  • Impact: 100%
  • Laser: 100%
  • Physical: 50% (head), 5/50% (body)
  • Poison: 10% (head), 50% (body)
Demolisher big.png
Big Demolisher The largest and most dangerous creature in the game.
  • Planet: Vulcanus
  • Health: 300000
  • Regeneration: 24000/s

Resistances:

  • Electric: 20/20%
  • Explosion: 60% (head), 99% (body)
  • Fire: 100%
  • Impact: 100%
  • Laser: 100%
  • Physical: 50% (head), 5/50% (body)
  • Poison: 10% (head), 50% (body)

Nests

Nests in the wild will have their max health increase with evolution factor exponentially, up to 10 times their starting health.

Biter and spitter nests can be captured by firing a capture bot rocket from a rocket launcher at a nest. After the nest is captured, it must be given bioflux to maintain and continuously create biter eggs. If the nest is not maintained, it will slowly lose 1 health per second, but when fed, it will gain 1 health per second.

Picture Name Description
Biter nest.png
Biter's nest
  • Planet: Nauvis
  • Health: 350 (additional health from evolution)

Resistances:

  • Explosion: 5/15%
  • Fire: 3/60%
  • Physical: 2/15%
Spitter nest.png
Spitter's nest
  • Planet: Nauvis
  • Health: 350 (additional health from evolution)

Resistances:

  • Explosion: 5/15%
  • Fire: 3/60%
  • Physical: 2/15%
Egg raft.png
Egg raft
  • Planet: Gleba
  • Spawns a horde of premature wrigglers when destroyed.
  • Health: 500 (additional health from evolution)
Egg raft small.png
Small egg raft
  • Planet: Gleba
  • Spawns a horde of premature wrigglers when destroyed.
  • Health: 100 (additional health from evolution)

Resistances:

  • Explosive: 5/15%
  • Fire: 3/60%
  • Physical: 2/15%

Expansions

Every 4-60 minutes, a group of 5-20 biters/spitters will leave their base to create a new base which will consist of as many worms/nests as there are members in the group. This group will search for a suitable spot that's 3-7 chunks away from existing bases. The interval between enemy expansions is global, and the higher enemy evolution, the shorter the interval is on average. Furthermore, with higher evolution, the groups are bigger on average.

Once they have found a suitable spot, each biter/spitter in the group dies and forms a new nest or worm. Forming a new nest or worm will destroy anything that is in the way, which can include members of the expansion group. There is a delay between each member sacrificing itself for to create a worm/nest, so creating the new base from the expansion group can take quite a long time, depending on the group size. Medium worms are only formed if the current evolution is higher than 0.3, big worms only if the current evolution is higher than 0.5 and behemoth worms are only formed if current evolution is higher than 0.9. The game randomly chooses whether to form a new biter nest, spitter nest, small worm, or bigger worm if the evolution factor is high enough. [2]

Defense

"Kills" tab on the production statistics screen.

Nests spawn biters and spitters freely. However, biters and spitters will only aggressively engage the player's factory if the pollution cloud of the factory reaches a nest because pollution is consumed to send biters or spitters to join the next attack. Every 1 to 10 minutes (random) the mustered biters launch an attack. If not all biters have arrived at the rendezvous point by that time, they will wait up to an additional 2 minutes for stragglers. The attack then proceeds to their target over the shortest path possible, accounting for terrain, but not for player entities that could pose an obstacle (like walls).

If there is a clear path somewhere around those obstacles, the biters will attempt to go around. If there is no clear passage or a clear passage would mean deviating too far from the original course, the biters will attack whatever is in their way to go through. This can be exploited to an extent; creating mazes at regular intervals along a barrier can direct the biters through a gauntlet not dissimilar to tower defense.

However, if a biter comes in proximity of a military unit or structure, it will prioritize these and attempt to immediately attack them instead, again trying to reach the new target over the shortest possible path with no too great detours, if possible.

Evolution

Spawn chances of biters from biter spawners by evolution factor.
Spawn chances of spitters from spitter spawners by evolution factor.
Weight graph of both spawners by evolution factor. The values shown are primarily for indicating when certain types start and stop spawning, for actual chances refer to the tables or other charts.

The evolution factor is a global variable that determines what kind of biters will be spawned. You can check the variable in the dev console via the following command (does not disable achievements):

 /evolution

The evolution factor goes from 0 (not evolved at all) to 1 (maximal evolution). The evolution factor can only increase.

This command also provides percentages for the three sources; each one is the percent of the (unsquashed) total evolution that is contributed by that source.

Besides choosing what kind of biter will be spawned, the evolution factor also influences the spawning interval. This interval (spawning_cooldown in the enemy-spawner definition) is interpolated between 360 (0 evolution) and 150 (1 evolution) game ticks (= 6 to 2.5 seconds).

Methods of increasing

The evolution factor is increased by three kinds of events:

  • The passage of time very slightly increases the evolution factor.
  • The global pollution production increases the evolution factor.
  • Destroying nests significantly increases the evolution factor.

The default settings are:

Source per Variable in enemy_evolution Evolution increase Pollution equivalent
Second time_factor 0.000004 267/minute
Destroyed enemy spawner destroy_factor 0.002 2222
1 Pollution unit pollution_factor 0.0000009 1

These values can be set during world generation: the values in the dialog box are multiplied by 10^-7 for time and pollution, and 10^-5 for spawner destruction. In game, they can be found in game.map_settings.enemy_evolution, though checking or modifying them is considered using cheats.

Pollution production is the total pollution produced by buildings, not the pollution spreading on the map, so it is not reduced by trees or other absorbers. e.g. : 10 boilers produce 300 pollution in one minute, raising the evolution factor by around 0.00027 in that minute.

After totaling up all the evolution from these sources, this quantity is squashed to fit in the range [0, 1) by applying evolution_factor = total_evolution / (1 + total_evolution).

Equivalently, marginal increases in evolution are reduced by multiplying the increase by (1 - evolution_factor)². So for instance destroying enemy spawners in the beginning of the game results in increase of evolution factor by 0.002 while doing this when the evolution factor is 0.5 the increase is only 0.0005.

This also means that the evolution factor approaches 1 asymptotically - generally, increases past 0.9 or so are very slow and the number never actually reaches 1.0.

Evolution factor Pollution equivalent Appearance
10% 123k
20% 278k Medium Biter
25% 370k Small Spitter
30% 476k
40% 741k Medium Spitter
50% 1.111M Big Biter, Big Spitter
60% 1.667M
70% 2.592M
80% 4.444M
90% 10M Behemoth Biter, Behemoth Spitter
95% 21M
99% 110M

Spawn chances by evolution factor

The probability charts show the chances of each type of biter/spitter for each spawner at all evolution levels.

Advanced: Evolution factor components and computation

This section has charts plotting the individual evolution factor components and discusses possibilities for manually estimating the evolution factor.

1. Single-component evolution factor increase with time
2. Single-component evolution factor increase with destroyed spawners
3. Single-component evolution factor increase with pollution

Notes

  • Data from version 1.1.50.
  • All charts end at approximately an evolution factor of 0.90.
  • The calculation steps for time and spawner kills match those used by the game, so these charts should be accurate. The pollution chart assumes a pollution production of 1000 units per second, and due to the recursive nature of the chart values will slightly diverge at different pollution rates. The effect of this is negligible for any reasonable amount pollution production, however.
  • Given that the game reports the actual evolution factor (console: /evolution) whenever the player wishes, these charts are intended primarily to help estimate the impact of planned base expansions and similar activities on the evolution factor's future development.


Comments

These charts (click to enlarge) represent the situation where each evolution factor component (time, pollution, destroyed spawners) is the only component contributing to the evolution factor in that entire game. They are therefore not realistic, as in a typical game all three components will contribute, some at varying times and intensities.

Because of how contributions to the evolution factor (EF) are calculated (multiplied by (1 - current EF)), it is not possible to simply add the values indicated by these charts for a game's time passed, pollution generated, and / or spawners destroyed so far to retrieve the total evolution factor.

For example, if 24 hours have passed (single-component EF =~ 0.25), 200,000 pollution units were released (single-component EF =~ 0.15), and 400 spawners were destroyed (single-component EF =~ 0.45), the actual evolution factor will not be (0.25 + 0.15 + 0.45 =) ~0.85.

However, the evolution factor will always be less than the sum of all individual components as indicated by these charts, and at least as high as the highest individual component. Thus, using the values from above, the EF will be at least 0.35 and less than 0.85. A smarter approach is required to compute the current evolution factor.

Individual components

The individual components of evolution can be approximated from /evolution:

Given the evolution factor, the unsquashed evolution is unsquashed = evolution_factor / (1 - evolution_factor). Multiply this by the percentage for a given component to get its approximate unsquashed contribution. Of course, total pollution and spawner kills can also be found on the production statistics screen, and time passed can be found using the /time command, so it's not fully necessary.

The actual factors can be found in game.forces.enemy.evolution_factor_by_time, ...evolution_factor_by_killing_spawners, and ...evolution_factor_by_pollution, if you don't mind disabling achievements.

Trivia

  • Despite their drastically different origins, enemies from different planets will always act as allies against the player. They will even reside around each other's nests when not attacking players, even if the type of nest does not match that of the residing creature. Even demolishers will circle around nests without harming or destroying them. Since enemies only spawn on their respective planets, this is not normally seen in gameplay, unless these creatures are placed near each other in the map editor.

Gallery

History

  • 2.0.7:
    • Wrigglers, strafers, stompers and demolishers have been added with the Space Age expansion.
  • 0.15.0:
    • Increased the damage, range, and health of worms.
    • Decreased health and resist of Behemoth biters.
  • 0.13.10:
    • Biters and other units won't become aggressive as a result of friendly-fire.
  • 0.13.0:
    • Big and behemoth enemies now spawn 50% slower.
    • Changed the way evolution factor approaches the maximum (1).
      • The addition of evolution factor was changed from addition * (1 - evolution) to addition * (1 - evolution)^2
      • This means that the progress gets more slower towards the high values.
  • 0.12.26:
    • Running biters over with a vehicle will now anger them in peaceful mode.
  • 0.12.0:
    • Updated sounds for enemies.
  • 0.11.17:
    • Items dropped by enemies(*) are now collected automatically and from longer distances.
  • 0.11.6:
    • Range of spitters is now 15, less than turrets.
  • 0.11.0:
    • Spitters added.
    • Drawing of enemies optimised, so adding new colors does not impact VRAM.
    • Blood splashes on death are now procedural.
  • 0.9.0:
    • Turrets no longer search for enemies when none are near.
    • Biters can no longer destroy the shipwreck in the 3rd new hope campaign.
  • 0.8.1:
    • Further improvement to enemy AI.
  • 0.8.0:
    • Decreased the range of medium worm from 25 to 20.
  • 0.7.2:
    • Biter AI improved.
  • 0.7.1:
    • Peaceful mode added for freeplay.
  • 0.7.0:
    • Enemy creepers were replaced by small, medium and big biters.
    • Enemy turrets were replaced by small, medium and big shooting worms.
    • Enemies move and attack in groups.
    • Enemies wander around their base when they have nothing to do.
    • Enemies call for help when attacked.
    • Enemies can create new bases.
    • Enemies can now destroy all player creations they find.
  • 0.1.0:
    • Introduced, called 'creepers'

See also