Locus

Locus is an early-game ground unit with high durability for its tier and a straightforward, aggressive attack pattern. It is designed to close in on targets and steadily wear them down with a piercing hitscan weapon, making it effective both for attacking lightly defended bases and for defending choke points in the early game. Compared to the other units in its tier, it has much greater bulk, which lets it survive splash damage and keep firing while other light units would fall quickly.

Its weapon fires every 0.3 seconds for 36 damage, with piercing hitscan shots and an effective range of about 20 tiles. The attack does not rely on projectiles, so it is reliable against moving targets and performs well in dense fights. Its damage is enough to punish early enemy units and to pressure structures when several Loci attack together. Later updates increased its range slightly, slowed its firing rate from an earlier faster value, and improved how long it takes to drown in water by scaling that time with hit size.

In practice, Locus is most valuable when produced in numbers. Its low build time makes it quick to replace losses, so swarming with a pure Locus force is a strong early-game option against bases without a major defensive turret. Because its range is similar to Stell, it can contribute to assaults without needing to overcommit. Surrounding a target is especially important, since more units firing at once greatly increases damage and reduces the chance that the enemy can focus them down.

On defense, Locus works well as a cheap front line. Its armor and health let it absorb enemy fire while protecting more fragile backline attackers from piercing shots. It also has enough firing speed to help intercept unit missiles, which gives it extra value against swarms of faster or lighter enemies. Pre-positioning tanks around a choke point can create a strong kill zone that many enemies will struggle to push through.

Against Locus, splash damage and strong area control are the main answers. Groups of them can be handled effectively by turrets that hit clustered targets, while large walls stop them from simply walking through. They are also vulnerable to high-damage defensive setups that can punish them before they close distance. Mixed enemy compositions are harder to stop if they combine Locus with other ground units, because the Loci can soak damage while the rest advance behind them. Terrain that blocks movement can be used to split them up and reduce the effectiveness of their numbers.

• Locus has no special status immunities and no special ability.
• It can instantly destroy a power node on contact, which was added to prevent simple path-blocking by spamming nodes.
• In water, its drown time is longer than before and scales with its size, making it less fragile around shallow terrain than many smaller units.