In other languages: Čeština Deutsch Español Français Nederlands Polski Русский Українська 简体中文

Enemies: Difference between revisions

From Official Factorio Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(→‎Biters: correction)
(→‎Nests: removed inaccurate sentence)
(39 intermediate revisions by 18 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Languages}}
{{Languages}}
'''Enemies''' are creatures that want to harm the player. They normally come from spawners and begin on the enemy [[Lua/Force|force]]. There are three types of enemies: Biters, Spitters and Worms. Each of these types comes in three stages of growth and thus strength.
'''Enemies''' (also commonly called '''biters''') are creatures that want to 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 (or three in case of Worms) stages of growth and thus strength.
 
== Achievements ==
Enemies are directly connected to the following achievements:
{{Achievement|it-stinks-and-they-dont-like-it}}
{{Achievement|steamrolled}}


==Creatures==
==Creatures==
===Biters===
===Biters===
Biters are one of two main antagonists in the game. They are the native inhabitants of the extraterrestrial world and commonly live peacefully with worms and spitters.
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 arthropods living in organic nests. They come in four sizes: small, medium, big and behemoth. In the beginning of each freeplay game there will only be the small ones, with increasing [[pollution]] they will become bigger, related to the enemy's [[#Evolution|evolution]].
Biters are attracted by and enraged by pollution and will attempt to destroy its sources. They prefer to attack the player character, [[turret]]s and [[logistic robot]]s and will stop searching for pollution if they can see and attack any of those.
Biters deal physical damage.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
Line 16: Line 18:
| Weakest of biters, can be easily killed with a pistol.
| Weakest of biters, can be easily killed with a pistol.
* Health: 15
* Health: 15
* Damage: 6
* Damage: 7
* Attack Speed: 1.7 /s
* Damage Type: Physical
* Range: 0.5
|-
|-
| [[File:MediumBiter-anim.gif]] || Medium Biter
| [[File:MediumBiter-anim.gif]] || Medium Biter
Line 22: Line 27:
* Health: 75
* Health: 75
* Damage: 15
* Damage: 15
* Attack Speed: 1.7 /s
* Damage Type: Physical
* Range: 1.0


Resistances:
[[Damage#Resistance|Resistances]]:
*Explosion 0/10%
*Explosion: 0/10%
*Physical 4/0%
*Physical: 4/10%
|-
|-
| [[File:BigBiter-anim.gif]] || Big Biter
| [[File:BigBiter-anim.gif]] || Big Biter
| Very resistant and dangerous, nearly immune to gunfire. Can attack through walls and hit objects directly behind them.
| Dangerous, resistant to small arms. Can attack through walls, hitting objects directly behind them.
* Health: 375
* Health: 375
* Damage: 30
* Damage: 30
* Attack Speed: 1.7 /s
* Damage Type: Physical
* Range: 1.5


Resistances:
Resistances:
*Explosion 0/10%
*Explosion: 0/10%
*Physical 8/0%
*Physical: 8/10%
|-
|-
| [[File:BehemothBiter-anim.gif]] || Behemoth Biter
| [[File:BehemothBiter-anim.gif]] || Behemoth Biter
| Very resistant and dangerous, nearly immune to gunfire. Can attack through walls and hit 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.
* Health: 5000
* Health: 3000
* Damage: 100
* Damage: 90
* Attack Speed: 1.2 /s
* Damage Type: Physical
* Range: 1.5


Resistances:
Resistances:
*Explosion 10/20%
*Explosion: 12/10%
*Physical 8/20%
*Physical: 12/10%


|}
|}
====Combat====
The biter class enemy will likely be the most common threat to a player's factory. While any attack can catch an undefended factory off guard, most players will be able to handle attacks from small biters with relative ease. Medium biters often pose a much greater threat though and is still dwarfed by the big biters. They can however be managed with enough static defense.
Biters come fairly early to attack a factory that puts off much pollution, as pollution will attract an attack. Once the pollution reaches a nest, the player can expect biters to be showing up shortly. The attack group will be focused on destroying the source of the pollution, but will change targets as soon as one appears of higher priority, such as the player or static defense. Biters also have the ability to navigate around obstacles to find holes in the defense. This can be used to partially control the movement of the biters allowing turrets longer to damage them, but requires the "bait" of this trap be left open. Biters aren't always willing to fall for the bait. Some biters will choose the most direct route and will attack the walls of the trap regardless making them less predictable and more dangerous.


===Spitters===
===Spitters===
Spitters are much like Biters. The only difference, besides their appearance, is that they only have got a ranged attack. They spit at any opponents (e.g. players) with an acid projectile that can neither be dodged nor deal damage to anything else than the original target. Commonly the acid resistance of any buildings (like a [[turret]]) and [[armor]] is much less than its physical resistance. Because of this Spitters deal more average damage than Biters. Their behavior and sizes are very similar to the Biter ones, except their health and resistances.
'''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. The attack is unavoidable and always hits the intended target. It is also acid-based, and because most entities of the game have a much lower resistance to acid than other damage types (including [[turret]]s and [[armor]]), Spitters are effectively more potent against the player and his 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.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
Line 63: Line 72:
* Health: 10
* Health: 10
* Damage: 10
* Damage: 10
* Attack Speed: 0.46 /s
* Damage Type: Acid
* Range: 13
|-
|-
| [[File:MediumSpitter.png]] || Medium Spitter
| [[File:MediumSpitter.jpg|200x200px]] || Medium Spitter
| Stronger and slower than the smaller version. Can pose a problem for and even kill weaker players. Attacks at range, making it dangerous for [[turret]]s.
| Stronger and slower than the smaller version. Can pose a problem for and even kill weaker players.
* Health: 50
* Health: 50
* Damage: 20
* Damage: 20
* Attack Speed: 0.46 /s
* Damage Type: Acid
* Range: 14


Resistances:
Resistances:
*Explosion 0/10%
*Explosion: 0/10%
|-
|-
| [[File:BigSpitter.png]] || Big Spitter
| [[File:BigSpitter.png]] || Big Spitter
| The bulkiest of the spitters and so can take the most damage. Attacks at range, making it dangerous for [[turret]]s and the player.
| An even bulkier spitter and so can take more damage.
* Health: 200
* Health: 200
* Damage: 30
* Damage: 30
* Attack Speed: 0.46 /s
* Damage Type: Acid
* Range: 15


Resistances:
Resistances:
*Explosion 0/30%
*Explosion: 0/15%
|-
|-
| [[File:BehemothSpitter.png]] || Behemoth Spitter
| [[File:BehemothSpitter.jpg|200x200px]] || Behemoth Spitter
| The even more bulkiest of the spitters and so can take the most damage. Attacks at range, making it dangerous for [[turret]]s and the player.
| The bulkiest of the spitters and so can take even more damage.
* Health: 2000
* Health: 1500
* Damage: 50
* Damage: 50
* Attack Speed: 0.46 /s
* Damage Type: Acid
* Range: 16


Resistances:
Resistances:
*Explosion 0/35%
*Explosion: 0/30%
|}
|}


===Worms===  
===Worms===
The Worms are natural allies of Biters and Spitters and will attack you if you get close enough. They act like static [[turret]]s and will not follow you, but due to much greater range, in comparison to other enemies, will be able to inflict damage with out leaving the nest. However, their static nature does render them more vulnerable to certain attacks.


Like any other enemy, worms come in 3 sizes, their power increasing with size. Unlike Biters and Spitters, Big and Medium Worms can be created directly after start of a new game, and will not always spawn near spawners. Their appearance is not dependent on time. (see http://www.factorioforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=6454)
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 [[turret]]s and will not follow attackers. They rely on high damage and great range 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.


Worms deal acid damage.
Worms come in 3 sizes, their power increasing with size. Unlike Biters and Spitters, Big and Medium Worms are not influenced by the evolution factor, they can spawn at any size right from the beginning. They are not restricted to spawning close to [[Enemies#Spawners|nests]], either. The number and size of Worms spawning is instead influenced by the distance from the player's initial spawn point. The further away the player goes from the starting area, the more numerous and stronger the Worms become.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
Line 101: Line 121:
|-
|-
| [[File:SmallWorm.png]] || Small Worm
| [[File:SmallWorm.png]] || Small Worm
| A weak worm. Still not easy to kill though.
| A weak worm. It is still capable of killing the player unless it is targeted as priority.
* Health: 200
* Health: 200
* Damage: 10
* Damage: 25
* Attack Speed: 0.91 /s
* Damage Type: Acid
* Range: 21
|-
|-
| [[File:MediumWorm.png]] || Medium Worm
| [[File:MediumWorm.png]] || Medium Worm
| Medium worms are very dangerous to even more advanced players. They should be handled with care.
| Medium worms are dangerous to even more advanced players. They should be handled with care.
* Health: 350
* Health: 400
* Damage: 30
* Damage: 40
* Attack Speed: 0.65 /s
* Damage Type: Acid
* Range: 25


Resistances:
Resistances:
*Explosion: 5/15%
*Explosion: 5/15%
*Physical: 4/0%
*Physical: 5/0%
*Fire: 2/50%
|-
|-
| [[File:BigWorm.png]] || Big Worm
| [[File:BigWorm.png]] || Big Worm
| Big worms are the most powerful enemy in factorio. They deal a high damage and are almost immune to common gunfire of any sort.
| Big worms are not as much more dangerous as resilient. They are almost immune to common gunfire of any sort.
* Health: 500
* Health: 750
* Damage: 60
* Damage: 50
* Attack Speed: 0.65 /s
* Damage Type: Acid
* Range: 26


Resistances:
Resistances:
*Explosion: 10/30%
*Explosion: 10/30%
*Physical: 8/0%
*Physical: 10/0%
*Fire: 3/70%
 
|}
|}
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
Line 131: Line 163:
|}
|}


==Spawners==
==Nests==
 
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 evolve the enemies they spawn, which may also result in an attack.
 
The Nests are highly resistant to fire and otherwise generally more resilient than a Medium Worm.
 
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|-
Line 142: Line 179:
Resistances:
Resistances:
*Explosion: 5/15%
*Explosion: 5/15%
*Physical: 2/0%
*Physical: 2/15%
*Fire: 3/60%
|-
|-
| [[File:Spitternest.gif]] || Spitter's Nest
| [[File:Spitternest.gif]] || Spitter's Nest
Line 150: Line 188:
Resistances:
Resistances:
*Explosion: 5/15%
*Explosion: 5/15%
*Physical: 2/0%
*Physical: 2/15%
*Fire: 3/60%
|}
|}


===Evolution===
===Expansions===
The game evolution factor is a global variable that determines what kind of biters will be spawned. You can check the variable in the dev console:
Every 4-60 minutes, a group of 5-20 biters will leave their base to create a new base. This group will search for a suitable spot that's 3-7 chunks away from existing bases.
game.player.print(game.evolution_factor)
Once they have found a suitable spot, the group dies and forms a new base. This new base will at first be very small (about one nest and a few worms), but will grow as time passes.
 
==Defense==
Biters will only aggressively engage the player's factory if the pollution cloud of the factory reaches a nest. The Nests consume pollution to develop the biters and produce additional ones before sending them to destroy the nearest source of pollution that they consume. The biters then proceed to their target over the shortest path possible, accounting for terrain, but not for player entities that could pose an obstacle (like [[Stone wall|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 the player, [[turret]]s or [[radar]]s, 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==
[[File:Evolution Biters.png|thumb|right|400px|Spawn chances of biters from biter spawners by evolution factor.]]
[[File:Evolution Spitters.png|thumb|right|400px|Spawn chances of spitters from spitter spawners by evolution factor.]]
[[File:Evolution Weights.png|thumb|right|400px|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:


It goes from 0 (not evolved at all) to 1 (maximal evolution). At the moment the evolution factor can only increase. This evolution factor is increased by three kinds of events:
  /evolution
 
It goes from 0 (not evolved at all) to 1 (maximal evolution). At the moment the evolution factor can only increase.
 
=== Methods of increasing ===
 
The evolution factor is increased by three kinds of events:


* The passage of time very slightly increases the evolution factor.
* The passage of time very slightly increases the evolution factor.
* The global [[Pollution Production]] increases the evolution factor.
* The global [[Pollution|pollution production]] increases the evolution factor.
* Destroying the enemy spawners significantly increases the evolution factor.
* Destroying [[Enemies#Nests|nests]] significantly increases the evolution factor.


All these values are set in game.map_settings. There they can also be changed / modded.  
All these values are set in <code>game.map_settings.enemy_evolution</code>. From there they can be changed or modded.


Current (0.12.4) default settings are:
The default settings are:


-- percentual increase in the evolution factor per tick.
{| class="wikitable"
game.player.print(game.map_settings.enemy_evolution.time_factor
!Source per
!Variable in <code>enemy_evolution</code>
!Percent increase
|-
| [[Game-second|Second]] || <code>time_factor</code> || 0.0004%
|-
| 1000 Pollution Units || <code>pollution_factor</code> || 0.0015%
|-
| Destroyed enemy spawner || <code>destroy_factor</code> || 0.2%
|}
 
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.
e.g. : 15 burner mining drills produce 150 pollution per second, raising the evolution factor by 0.00000225 per tick.
 
The percentages are applied on the base of <code>1 - current_evolution_factor</code>. So for instance destroying enemy spawners in the beginning of the game results in increase of evolution factor by 0.005 (half a percent) while doing this when the evolution factor is 0.5 the increase is only 0.0025 (quarter a percent).
 
Besides choosing what kind of biter will be spawned the evolution 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) ticks.
 
=== Spawn chances by evolution factor ===
 
The probability charts show the chances of each type of biter/spitter for each spawner at all evolution levels.
 
<div id="evoChecker"></div>
 
== History ==


0.000004
{{history|0.15.0|
* Increased the damage, range, and health of worms.
* Decreased health and resist of Behemoth biters.}}


-- percentual increase in the evolution factor for 1000 Pollution Units
{{history|0.13.10|
game.player.print(game.map_settings.enemy_evolution.pollution_factor)
* Biters and other units won't become aggressive as a result of friendly-fire.}}


0.000015
{{history|0.13.0|
* Big and behemoth enemies now spawn 50% slower.}}


-- percentual increase in the evolution factor for every destroyed enemy spawner
{{history|0.12.26|
game.player.print(game.map_settings.enemy_evolution.destroy_factor)
* Running biters over with a vehicle will now anger them in peaceful mode.}}


0.002
{{history|0.12.0|
* Updated sounds for enemies.}}


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


Pollution production is the total pollution produced by [[Pollution_Production#Polluters|buildings]] per tick, not the pollution spreading on the map, so it is not reduced by trees or other absorbers.
{{history|0.11.6|
e.g. : 15 burner mining drills produce 150 pollution per second, raising the evolution factor by 0,00000225 per tick.
* Range of spitters is now 15, less than turrets.}}


The percentages are applied on the base of (1 - current_evolution_factor). So for instance destroying the enemy spawner in the beginning of the game results in increase of evolution factor by 0.005 (half a percent) while doing this when the evolution factor is 0.5 the increase is only 0.0025 (quarter a percent).
{{history|0.11.0|
* Spitters added.
* Drawing of enemies optimised, so adding new colors does not impact VRAM.
* Blood splashes on death are now procedural.}}


As of 0.9.1 the biter spawning is done probabilistically based on the current evolution. Lets imagine a wheel - the "spawning wheel". We will be slicing that wheel as a cake. Small biters take the first 0.3 part of the wheel, medium ones the middle 0.3 part and big biters take the last 0.4. When a biter is about to be spawned the random point on the wheel is selected limited by the current evolution. So in theory while the evolution is below 0.3 there should be only small biters, then slowly medium ones will enter and in the end the big ones. The composition of the biter animation in the end should be 0.3-0.3-0.4. There is one more factor called the spawn_shift - this is a mechanism when the further away from the starting location the more the "rolling of the wheel" is shifted towards one. That means that if the shift is 0.2 for instance that at the time when evolution factor is 0.25 the result for spawning is actually 0.2 + 0.25 = 0.45 and a medium biter might be spawned.
{{history|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.}}


Besides choosing what kind of biter will be spawned the evolution also influences the spawning interval. As of 0.9.1 this interval (spawning_cooldown in the enemy-spawner definition) is interpolated between 360 (0 evolution) and 150 (1 evolution) ticks.
{{history|0.8.1|
* Further improvement to enemy AI.}}


All the values for the spawner (distribution of the biters based on evolution, the spawning shift, spawning_cooldown, etc.) can be modded from the data.
{{history|0.7.2|
* Biter AI improved.}}


==== Spawn chances by evolution factor ====
{{history|0.7.1|
{| class="wikitable" style="float:left; margin-right:1em"
* Peaceful mode added for freeplay.}}
! !!colspan="4"| Biter's Nest
 
|-
{{history|0.7.0|
!style="width:4em" | Factor
* Enemy creepers were replaced by small, medium and big biters.
!style="width:5em" |  Small Biter
* Enemy turrets were replaced by small, medium and big shooting worms.
!style="width:5em" | Medium Biter
* Enemies move and attack in groups.
!style="width:5em" |  Big Biter
* Enemies wander around their base when they have nothing to do.
!style="width:5em" |  Behemoth Biter
* Enemies call for help when attacked.
|-
* Enemies can create new bases.
|0 ||100,0% || || ||
* Enemies can now destroy all player creations they find.}}
|-
|0,05 ||100,0% || || ||
|-
|0,1 ||100,0% || || ||
|-
|0,15 ||100,0% || || ||
|-
|0,2 ||100,0% || || ||
|-
|0,25 ||100,0% || || ||
|-
|0,3 ||100,0% || || ||
|-
|0,35 ||75,0% ||25,0% || ||
|-
|0,4 ||56,3% ||43,8% || ||
|-
|0,45 ||41,7% ||58,3% || ||
|-
|0,5 ||30,0% ||70,0% || ||
|-
|0,55 ||20,5% ||79,5% || ||
|-
|0,6 ||12,5% ||87,5% || ||
|-
|0,65 ||6,7% ||77,8% ||15,6% ||
|-
|0,7 || ||66,7% ||33,3% ||
|-
|0,75 || ||50,0% ||50,0% ||
|-
|0,8 || ||33,3% ||66,7% ||
|-
|0,85 || ||28,6% ||71,4% ||
|-
|0,9 || ||25,0% ||75,0% ||
|-
|0,95 || ||22,2% ||77,8% ||
|-
|1 || ||12,5% ||50,0% ||37,5%
|}


{| class="wikitable"
{{history|0.1.0|
! !!colspan="5"| Spitter's Nest
* Introduced, called 'creepers'}}
|-
!style="width:4em" | Factor
!style="width:5em" | Small Biter
!style="width:5em" | Small Spitter
!style="width:5em" | Medium Spitter
!style="width:5em" | Big Spitter
!style="width:5em" | Behemoth Spitter
|-
|0 ||100,0% || || || ||
|-
|0,05 ||100,0% || || || ||
|-
|0,1 ||100,0% || || || ||
|-
|0,15 ||100,0% || || || ||
|-
|0,2 ||100,0% || || || ||
|-
|0,25 ||100,0% || || || ||
|-
|0,3 ||41,7% ||58,3% || || ||
|-
|0,35 || ||100,0% || || ||
|-
|0,4 || ||100,0% || || ||
|-
|0,45 || ||100,0% || || ||
|-
|0,5 || ||100,0% || || ||
|-
|0,55 || ||75,0% ||25,0% || ||
|-
|0,6 || ||50,0% ||50,0% || ||
|-
|0,65 || ||21,4% ||64,3% ||14,3% ||
|-
|0,7 || || ||75,0% ||25,0% ||
|-
|0,75 || || ||62,5% ||37,5% ||
|-
|0,8 || || ||50,0% ||50,0% ||
|-
|0,85 || || ||37,5% ||62,5% ||
|-
|0,9 || || ||25,0% ||75,0% ||
|-
|0,95 || || ||22,2% ||77,8% ||
|-
|1 || || ||12,5% ||50,0% ||37,5%
|}


===Expansions===
== See also ==
Sometimes a small group of biters will leave their base to create a new base. This group will search for a suitable spot that's about 3 chunks away from existing biter bases and 3 chunks away from any of your buildings.
* [[Damage]]
Once they have found a suitable spot the group of biters dies and forms a new base. This new base will first be very small (about one spawner and a few worms) but will get some additional spawners within a small area as time passes. This base-wide expansion is somehow limited (the blog says something about 7, but that doesn't seem to match reality in some cases).
* [[Pollution]]

Revision as of 14:26, 8 June 2018

Enemies (also commonly called biters) are creatures that want to 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 (or three in case of Worms) stages of growth and thus strength.

Achievements

Enemies are directly connected to the following achievements:

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

Trigger an alien attack by pollution.

Steamrolled-achievement.png Steamrolled

Destroy 10 spawners by impact.

Creatures

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. As common sense may suggest, their method of attack is a straightforward charge to "bite" things.

Picture Name Info
File:SmallBiter-anim.gif Small Biter Weakest of biters, can be easily killed with a pistol.
  • Health: 15
  • Damage: 7
  • Attack Speed: 1.7 /s
  • Damage Type: Physical
  • Range: 0.5
File:MediumBiter-anim.gif Medium Biter Stronger and slower than the small biter. Can pose a problem for and even kill weaker players.
  • Health: 75
  • Damage: 15
  • Attack Speed: 1.7 /s
  • Damage Type: Physical
  • Range: 1.0

Resistances:

  • Explosion: 0/10%
  • Physical: 4/10%
File:BigBiter-anim.gif Big Biter Dangerous, resistant to small arms. Can attack through walls, hitting objects directly behind them.
  • Health: 375
  • Damage: 30
  • Attack Speed: 1.7 /s
  • Damage Type: Physical
  • Range: 1.5

Resistances:

  • Explosion: 0/10%
  • Physical: 8/10%
File:BehemothBiter-anim.gif Behemoth Biter Extremely durable and nearly immune to small arms, except for the strongest ordnance. Can attack through walls, hitting objects directly behind them.
  • Health: 3000
  • Damage: 90
  • Attack Speed: 1.2 /s
  • Damage Type: Physical
  • Range: 1.5

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. The attack is unavoidable and always hits the intended target. It is also acid-based, and because most entities of the game have a much lower resistance to acid than other damage types (including turrets and armor), Spitters are effectively more potent against the player and his 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.

Picture Name Info
File:SmallSpitter.png Small Spitter Weakest of spitters. Easy to kill with any weapon, but attacks at range.
  • Health: 10
  • Damage: 10
  • Attack Speed: 0.46 /s
  • Damage Type: Acid
  • Range: 13
File:MediumSpitter.jpg Medium Spitter Stronger and slower than the smaller version. Can pose a problem for and even kill weaker players.
  • Health: 50
  • Damage: 20
  • Attack Speed: 0.46 /s
  • Damage Type: Acid
  • Range: 14

Resistances:

  • Explosion: 0/10%
File:BigSpitter.png Big Spitter An even bulkier spitter and so can take more damage.
  • Health: 200
  • Damage: 30
  • Attack Speed: 0.46 /s
  • Damage Type: Acid
  • Range: 15

Resistances:

  • Explosion: 0/15%
File:BehemothSpitter.jpg Behemoth Spitter The bulkiest of the spitters and so can take even more damage.
  • Health: 1500
  • Damage: 50
  • Attack Speed: 0.46 /s
  • Damage Type: Acid
  • Range: 16

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 and great range 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.

Worms come in 3 sizes, their power increasing with size. Unlike Biters and Spitters, Big and Medium Worms are not influenced by the evolution factor, they can spawn at any size right from the beginning. They are not restricted to spawning close to nests, either. The number and size of Worms spawning is instead influenced by the distance from the player's initial spawn point. The further away the player goes from the starting area, the more numerous and stronger the Worms become.

Picture Name Description
File:SmallWorm.png Small Worm A weak worm. It is still capable of killing the player unless it is targeted as priority.
  • Health: 200
  • Damage: 25
  • Attack Speed: 0.91 /s
  • Damage Type: Acid
  • Range: 21
File:MediumWorm.png Medium Worm Medium worms are dangerous to even more advanced players. They should be handled with care.
  • Health: 400
  • Damage: 40
  • Attack Speed: 0.65 /s
  • Damage Type: Acid
  • Range: 25

Resistances:

  • Explosion: 5/15%
  • Physical: 5/0%
  • Fire: 2/50%
File:BigWorm.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
  • Damage: 50
  • Attack Speed: 0.65 /s
  • Damage Type: Acid
  • Range: 26

Resistances:

  • Explosion: 10/30%
  • Physical: 10/0%
  • Fire: 3/70%
Picture Name
Worm.gif Worm's animation

Nests

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 evolve the enemies they spawn, which may also result in an attack.

The Nests are highly resistant to fire and otherwise generally more resilient than a Medium Worm.

Picture Name
File:Biternest-anim.gif Biter's Nest
  • Health: 350

Resistances:

  • Explosion: 5/15%
  • Physical: 2/15%
  • Fire: 3/60%
File:Spitternest.gif Spitter's Nest
  • Health: 350

Resistances:

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

Expansions

Every 4-60 minutes, a group of 5-20 biters will leave their base to create a new base. This group will search for a suitable spot that's 3-7 chunks away from existing bases. Once they have found a suitable spot, the group dies and forms a new base. This new base will at first be very small (about one nest and a few worms), but will grow as time passes.

Defense

Biters will only aggressively engage the player's factory if the pollution cloud of the factory reaches a nest. The Nests consume pollution to develop the biters and produce additional ones before sending them to destroy the nearest source of pollution that they consume. The biters then proceed 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 the player, turrets or radars, 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:

 /evolution

It goes from 0 (not evolved at all) to 1 (maximal evolution). At the moment the evolution factor can only increase.

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.

All these values are set in game.map_settings.enemy_evolution. From there they can be changed or modded.

The default settings are:

Source per Variable in enemy_evolution Percent increase
Second time_factor 0.0004%
1000 Pollution Units pollution_factor 0.0015%
Destroyed enemy spawner destroy_factor 0.2%

Pollution production is the total pollution produced by buildings per tick, not the pollution spreading on the map, so it is not reduced by trees or other absorbers. e.g. : 15 burner mining drills produce 150 pollution per second, raising the evolution factor by 0.00000225 per tick.

The percentages are applied on the base of 1 - current_evolution_factor. So for instance destroying enemy spawners in the beginning of the game results in increase of evolution factor by 0.005 (half a percent) while doing this when the evolution factor is 0.5 the increase is only 0.0025 (quarter a percent).

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

Spawn chances by evolution factor

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

History

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 0.7.2:
    • 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