unit-toxopid

Toxopid is a heavy, tier-5 ground combat unit that combines a short-range piercing laser with a long-range electric cluster cannon. It is a large eight-legged walker that can step over most terrain and is primarily used to break enemy ground forces and pressure bases with area-effect artillery. The unit appears on Serpulo and other maps where tier-5 factories are available; its design and name are derived from spider taxonomy (Toxopidae), reflected in its eight-legged model.

Its armament consists of two distinct weapons: a rapid short-range laser that deals 110 piercing damage per hit and fires in a two-shot burst, and a slow-firing ball/cluster cannon that launches explosive electric shells. The cluster shells deal direct damage and spawn fragments on detonation: the primary shot deals 50 damage plus 75 area damage in roughly a 10-tile radius, applies a Sapped status for about 10 seconds, and spawns multiple lightning strikes; the fragments deal additional area damage (about 40 area damage with 8.7 tile radius), also apply Sapped, have knockback, travel over blocks, and cannot hit air. Toxopid also has a leg stomp that damages nearby ground units (80 leg damage over ~7.4 tiles). Because the cannon’s projectiles and fragments travel over blocks and spawn clusters, they can bypass walls and hit inner base structures and conveyors.

Toxopid’s playstyle emphasizes crushing ground formations and crippling units with the Sapped debuff. The electric cannon makes it particularly effective against massed ground squads; however, its artillery cannot target air, so it is vulnerable to dedicated air counters. Producing Toxopids trades off with other late-game options: they are powerful situationally but are outclassed by some peers in specific roles (for example, Reign for anti-air, Zenith/Quad for raw efficiency, Corvus/Oct for specialized base attacks). Toxopid also has a small blind spot between its Fuse cannons that very small flyers can exploit in exceptional cases.

Tactical notes and interactions:

• The Sapped status inflicted by the cannon severely reduces enemy units’ offensive ability and makes them easier to finish off; this makes Toxopids excellent at wiping large ground blobs when supported or massed.
• Because the artillery fragments travel over blocks and explode, they can destroy conveyors and interior defenses; a Segment can absorb clusters but fragile logistics may still be damaged—keeping repair/build units like Poly and Mega nearby helps recover infrastructure.
• Toxopid’s cannon cannot hit air; keep air support (Antumbra, Eclipse) or other anti-air units near when facing mixed forces. A small group of Antumbras or a single Eclipse can often snipe a Toxopid before it reaches turrets, provided micro and positioning are favorable.
• Knockback is one of the few reliable ways to deter a Toxopid; powerful knockback weapons or turrets can keep it at bay while higher-damage options (Cyclone, Swarmer) finish it off.
• Toxopid can step over most terrain and has improved mobility measurements in later builds (speed represented as tiles/sec in updates). It can drown if all legs stand on deep water, but it drowns at a rate roughly 3× slower than a Dagger.
• Some build changes affected size, range, and item capacity over versions; notably its projectile count from Fuse cannons was reduced, and range/size recalculations modified its effective reach in past updates.
• Avoid sending ground-only reinforcements into its Sapped artillery zone; doing so is effectively suicidal. Use air units or high-damage ranged counters instead.

Decoration and trivia: Toxopid is the largest-legged unit on Serpulo (eight legs) and is sometimes nicknamed “big spooder” by players. Its taxonomy-inspired name echoes other spider-themed units such as Atrax and Arkyid.