unit-anthicus

Anthicus is a medium siege mech in Mindustry notable for using spawned missile units as its primary attack. It belongs to the Merui line (units named after beetles) and is designed to overwhelm defenses by launching many short-lived missiles rather than relying solely on direct projectile damage. Anthicus is relatively fragile and is slowed while firing, so it functions best as part of coordinated assaults or as a long-range standoff unit that trades mobility and survivability for missile spam.

Its weapon fires two shots (2x) at a base rate of 0.46/sec per shot with 20° inaccuracy, and while firing the Anthicus suffers a self-inflicted Slow. Each shot spawns a missile unit that has 55 health, moves at 27.75 tiles/sec, lasts 1.5 seconds, and deals 140 area damage over roughly 3.1 tiles. Because the missiles are separate units, they can be targeted or intercepted independently of the Anthicus itself and can hit air targets (a property uniquely retained by Anthicus among similar units after build 142).

In practice Anthicus excels at producing a high volume of independent threats: a swarm of Anthicus can saturate defenses, force turrets to split fire, and overwhelm single-target or low-rate weapons. It pairs well with other long-range or area-focused units like Collaris (to push frontlines) and benefits from allies that can soak or distract high-rate enemy fire (for example, Locus or Vanquish acting as buffers). Its ability to bypass some anti-unit counters when missiles reach around structures makes it especially useful for breaking fortified layouts if left unchecked.

Counterplay and tactical notes:

• The spawned missiles have low health and short lifespans, so rapid-fire or piercing damage sources that chew through many small targets are effective counters. Examples that perform well include weapons/units that apply cyanogen Sublimate, frag splitoffs at high efficiency, Locus, and Tecta.
• Area-defense options like Disperse can handle many missiles approaching from a single angle but will not stop the Anthicus mech itself. Conversely, single powerful projectiles (Titan shots) can hurt the mech but struggle against masses of missiles.
• Cheap structures such as Ducts can be spammed to absorb missiles and stall, buying turrets time to acquire and damage the Anthicus mechs.
• Tungsten Breach placed and watered can work as a last-resort localized counter against small groups of Anthicus.
• Anthicus is slowed while firing, so focusing fire or using high-damage burst units against them while they’re firing increases kill reliability.
• In defensive roles, Anthicus missile spam is effective against ship armies and slow-firing heavy units (Precept, Vanquish, Conquer), since those platforms cannot keep up with the missile volume. However, Obviate-style attacks that excel against larger units can mitigate Anthicus when combined with other counters.

Design and trivia:

• Anthicus, along with Quell and Disrupt, are among the few units that spawn missile units; Anthicus is the only one that continued to hit air units after build 142.
• The name Anthicus comes from a genus of beetle, matching the Merui line’s insect-inspired naming.