Quad

The Quad is a Tier 4 aerial support unit that drops plasma bombs onto ground targets, repairs allied structures with those bombs, and can carry and deploy medium-sized ground units or blocks. It appears in later attack waves on campaign attack sectors and is commonly used in PvP and custom attack maps for harassment, construction behind enemy lines, and concentrated bombing of soft infrastructure such as conveyors and factories. The Quad cannot hit air targets and specializes in interacting with ground buildings, units, and item-carrying duties rather than direct anti-air combat.

Quads fire bombs with an area effect that deals 220 area damage (after adjustments in updates) within roughly 10 tiles of explosion diameter; the unit detects targets at 17 blocks range while bombs themselves have a 10-tile diameter. Bombs also heal allied structures within their area by a percentage when the Quad is in repair/assist mode (the weapon grants a 15% repair effect on applicable structures). The Quad has high mobility for Tier 4 units and a large item/payload capacity, enabling it to ferry resources, turrets, reactors, vaults, or individual ground units into enemy territory. It shares the lowest HP among Tier 4 units alongside the Quell but maintains the highest speed of Tier 4s.

• Quads must be destroyed quickly when attacking your base: their bombs bypass walls and can destroy conveyors and other infrastructure directly, so they can be devastating if left unchecked. Scatter turrets are ineffective due to the Quad's high armor.
• Effective counters include Swarmers, Cyclones, Spectres, and especially Fuses for value-based defense. Antumbras can attack Quads without retaliation and use their large size to slow them; Force Projectors completely nullify bomb damage and serve as a hard counter.
• In PvP, Quads can bypass choke points and build Repair Points outside no-build zones to regenerate. Rushing Plastanium and Phase Fabric to field your own Quads is an effective strategy; perimeter Fuses and Surge Alloy for Foreshadow defenses also limit Tier 4 incursions.
• Offensive uses exploit the Quad's building and carrying abilities: it can pick up a running Thorium Reactor (or a Vault full of Blast Compound, or Liquid Tanks full of Oil) and drop them for catastrophic explosions that can wipe a large portion of its own health but devastate enemy defenses or the Core. Carrying a turret or Vault allows on-site construction and supply of forward positions. These actions are restricted by construction exclusion zones—deployment and building are only possible outside such zones.
• For direct Core assaults, ferrying a single Tier 4 ground unit or several lower-tier units behind enemy lines is common. A Quad can often reach the Core before defenses destroy it; deliberately crashing a payload-loaded Quad directly over the Core can deal severe crash/bomb damage and often finish the Core.
• When ordered to repair or rebuild, Quads fly in passes similar to Horizons: they circle and weave around targets, dropping repair bombs while absorbing enemy fire. Their repair throughput is useful for area-sustain but is less consistent and generally inferior to deploying multiple Poly or Mega units for sustained repairs.
• Payload mechanics and updates: the Quad’s item capacity and speed have changed across versions (item capacity was increased to 150 then later adjusted; speed has been tuned several times). Bomb damage radius and detection range were adjusted in later updates to reduce area damage and clarify detection vs projectile diameter. Quads gained the ability to be ordered to repair, rebuild, and assist from command mode and will automatically target detected enemies.

The Quad is named after the Latin prefix quad- and is likely derived from earlier player upgrade ships such as the Trident. Its design emphasizes rapid, flexible ground-focused support—combining construction, resource transport, repair, and explosive disruption—making it a uniquely versatile but high-priority target in most defensive situations.