Quell

Quell is a tier 4 airborne support unit that fires long-range homing missiles at ground targets and suppresses repair effects on enemy structures. It upgrades from Elude and is built using beryllium components; it is an Erekir-exclusive unit and one of the few units that spawn secondary missile units from their projectiles. Quell’s role is primarily artillery and logistic support rather than direct dogfighting, because its weapons cannot hit air units and its missiles count as units that can absorb incoming projectiles.

Quell’s main attack is a two-shot weapon that fires physical projectiles which, on despawn or on impact, fragment into a missile unit. The initial projectile deals 52 damage and cannot target air. The spawned missile unit deals 52.5 damage and itself spawns a fragile area-effect projectile on fragging that deals 110 area damage; that final frag deals area damage in a roughly 3.1-tile radius. The frag projectile travels at about 32.25 tiles/sec and the missile unit has about 45 health. Quell’s effective weapon range is long (historically adjusted to about 44–45 blocks), allowing it to bombard enemy installations from safe distances while its missiles act as moving shields, intercepting enemy projectiles.

Quell is inexpensive for its tier and excels at ground bombardment and base suppression. Its missiles being treated as units gives two practical effects: they absorb enemy projectiles (protecting Quell and nearby ground units) and they suppress repair towers and unit repair structures, preventing enemy bases from easily healing while under sustained bombardment. Because the weapon’s projectile only becomes a missile unit on despawn or impact, missiles typically spawn closer to their target, improving hit consistency against ground defenses.

Quell has notable counters and limitations. It cannot attack air units, so enemy Obviates, Averts, or dedicated air escorts neutralize Quell offensively. High-fire-rate turrets like Disperse can destroy the spawned missiles before they reach their targets; Disperse turrets firing from a single direction can completely block a Quell bombardment. On defense, Quells require strong anti-air support such as Disperse turrets or friendly Obviates/Averts to protect them from aerial threats. Lone Quells are vulnerable because their attack animations can draw turret fire onto themselves.

Quell is also useful for non-combat tasks: it can pick up blocks and units that the Core Unit cannot, and it can airlift T1–T3 ground units as well as Eludes and Tectas. This makes Quell useful for transporting units over walls and cliffs, moving payloads into position, or loading units onto payload systems for mass upgrades or recycling with Deconstructors. Keeping at least one Quell near base for logistics and rapid repositioning is often beneficial.

Practical points:

• Position Quells to exploit their long range and missile-as-shield behavior while protecting them from air threats.
• Use multi-angle attacks or distract turrets (for example by moving a Core Unit to bait) to get missiles past high-rate turrets like Disperse.
• Pair Quells with air escorts or ground escorts to cover their inability to hit air.
• Use Quells for transport and payload duties to airlift units over obstacles and to bulk-upgrade or recycle deployed units.
• In campaign maps where Quells appear (e.g., Karst, Origin), defending with Disperse lines or massed air units is an effective counter.