Shieldbot Factory

The Shieldbot Factory is a factory that produces tough robots.

Shieldbot Factory (factoryshield)
Produces Tough Robots, Builds at 10 m/s
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Stats
Cost	800
Hit Points	4000
Vision Radius (elmo)	273
Abilities
Construction Build Power 10
Weapons
None

Description

The Shield Bot Factory is tough yet flexible. Its units are built to take the pain and dish it back out, without compromising mobility. Clever use of unit combos is well rewarded. Key units: Bandit, Thug, Outlaw, Rogue, Racketeer

The Shieldbot Factory builds:

• Convict   Shielded Construction Bot
• Dirtbag   Box of Dirt
• Bandit   Medium-Light Raider Bot
• Rogue   Skirmisher Bot (Indirect Fire)
• Thug   Shielded Assault Bot
• Outlaw   Riot Bot
• Felon   Shielded Riot/Skirmisher Bot
• Racketeer   Disarming Artillery
• Vandal   Anti-Air Bot
• Snitch   Cloakable Crawling Bomb
• Aspis   Area Shield Walker

Tactics and Strategy

The Shield Bot Factory's greatest strengths are its versatility and its eponymous shields, which protect its units from lasting harm. The Convict, Thug, Felon and Aspis provide shield cover to each other and other units, meaning that the Shield Bots will generally come out ahead in shorter fights. The Bandit and Racketeer are flexible units, capable of contributing strongly in almost any situation. The Shield player should focus on taking fights when their shields are strong, and retreating when their shields are weak, to minimise casualties and build up a strong force.

The Shield factory's greatest weakness is its lack of artillery. Furthermore, the resilience of its units generally relies on its shields, and if the enemy has a way around or through those shields the Shield Bots can be in a lot of trouble. The Rovers and Heavy Tanks cover both of these weaknesses. Almost every other factory in the game benefits greatly from the protective power of shields, so Shield Bots can be used effectively in almost any factory combination.

Example Unit Compositions

Disarm enemy units with Racketeers, then send Bandits in to slay the helpless opposition quickly.

Protect your other units from cloaked attackers by brining a Outlaw along.

Protect your units or those of your allies with the shields of Convicts and Thugs. For offense, add a Felon to draw on the combined shield strength. Later on, add an Aspis to the group for greater protection against area-of-effect attacks from range.

Rogues contribute significant ranged DPS, but they are not tough and their rockets are slow. Protect them with Thugs and/or Outlaws.

Snitches are innately strong in defence, but to attack they need some help getting close enough to the enemy. Charons or an Iris can be useful here.

Outlaws can damage enemies through solid ground. Change the terrain with Convicts or Dirtbags to fully exploit this.

The skirmishers and artillery of other factories such as the Badger, Scalpel and Recluse are much harder to defeat if an Aspis or two protects them from long-range threats.

Beating Shield Bots

It's better to circumvent enemy shields rather than defeating them directly. Raiders and assault units can simply run through the shields. High-power attacks like those of the Phantom can penetrate some shields.

At the very least, try to deplete the enemy shields before the fight with artillery at long range. The Shield Bots do not have an artillery unit to shoot back with, although they can switch to another factory easily enough.

Gauss or flame attacks deal bonus damage to Shields as well.

Avoid reliance on a small number of high-value units, since these will be neutralised quickly by Racketeers. At the very least, maintain an escort force of less costly units which can protect your big units while they retreat and rearm.

If your opponent has a tightly-packed shieldball, consider an area-of-effect attack which can penetrate the shields such as Snitches, a Skuttle, a Thunderbird or a Likho. A truly humongous ball might call for an Ultimatum or a Shockley.

A Jack will make short work of many Thugs, as Jacks penetrate their shields and have high DPS. This is important as the Thug is the meat of most shield balls.