unit-nova

The Nova is a tier-3 flying combat/support unit that fires dual laser bolts which both damage enemy units and repair allied structures. It occupies a hybrid role between light attacker and battlefield support: its lasers deal modest damage while simultaneously restoring a small percentage of health to buildings, making it useful for hit-and-run harassment, repairing breached defenses, or reinforcing a push when paired with other forces. Novae must be produced using titanium and appear in sectors where titanium is obtainable.

Novas fire two LaserBolt bullets simultaneously at a combined cycle of 1.25 shots per second (0.8 s combined reload, 48 ticks). Each bolt deals 13 damage and each shot repairs 5% of a block’s health on hit. Their effective firing range is approximately 19–19.5 tiles, with projectile speed around 39 tiles/s and a projectile lifespan of 0.5 s (30 ticks). Movement speed was standardized in later builds to about 4.12 tiles/s. They are capable of flight and can boost to kite or chase targets.

In use, Novae are most effective when used to support other forces rather than as lone brawlers. Their strengths and common tactical notes:

• Their healing-on-hit makes them a cheap way to patch up structures compared with higher-cost support units, though they require titanium to manufacture. The 5% repair per hit can cumulatively sustain walls and turrets under light fire.
• Enemy AI often does not fully exploit the Nova’s boosting behavior; in PvE this can make them behave similarly to Dagger-class units despite greater mobility and range. As a result, their practical damage output may be lower than it appears from stats alone.
• Against swarms, splash or high-damage turrets such as Arc and Lancer remain effective counters; the Lancer’s high base damage can one-shot Novae and is a reliable hard counter.
• In PvP, coordinated Nova rushes can be dangerous in 1v1s because they can boost away to heal and accumulate advantage; defending players need both anti-ground and anti-air coverage. Cheap, fast units like Flares or Scatter-capable units can exploit scratches to finish Novae off.
• Novae can kite and counter lone enemy T3 units (Spiroct, Fortress, Quasar) thanks to moderate range and boosting. They were historically more valuable offensively when their range exceeded that of Lancers, but range nerfs in later versions shifted their primary role more toward defensive/support tasks.
• In command mode Novae can use the assist player and rebuild commands, making them the cheapest units able to assist in building; however, their slow build speed (30% build speed, the slowest of build-capable units) limits how effective they are as construction helpers.

Development notes and lineage: the Nova was added in Version 6.0 as a unit adaptation of the earlier Tau Mech (the player ship’s healing-laser upgrade). Over several builds its range and damage were reduced (range lowered in stages to ~19 tiles; damage from 14 → 13), speed units were standardized, the hard command cap was removed, and build/command options were adjusted. Novae share a firing sound with the Mega unit and are named after astronomical novae rather than supernovae.