Cortex

Defenses

Switch to Armada

Light Mine

T2
T3
Amphibious
Light Mine
cloak, stealth
Metal
5
Energy
270
Health
11
Speed
0
Damage
445
Buildpower
0
Weapons

The Light Mine is a land mine designed to damage or destroy lightly armored units including vehicles and bots.

Use them on your front line to prevent early pushes.

Land mines will explode if a unit drives over/steps on them, and can be cloaked automatically or manually. They will also damage other units in range.

How to use this unit

Dragon's Teeth

T2
T3
Amphibious
Fortification
Metal
8
Energy
0
Health
2800
Speed
0
Damage
0
Buildpower
0
Weapons

The Dragon’s Teeth are basic defensive walls that block most Tech 1 units and low-altitude projectiles.

Use them to funnel enemies into a choke point or to block a path.

They can also be used to help protect your laser towers and will take quite a beating before they break.

How to use this unit

Shark's Teeth

T2
T3
Amphibious
Naval Fortification
Metal
15
Energy
0
Health
4450
Speed
0
Damage
0
Buildpower
0
Weapons

The Shark’s Teeth are basic defensive walls that block most Tech 1 naval units and low-altitude projectiles.

Use them to funnel enemy ships into a choke point or to block a path.

They can also be used to help protect your laser towers and will take quite a beating before they break.

How to use this unit

Medium Mine

T2
T3
Amphibious
Medium Mine
cloak, stealth
Metal
16
Energy
1050
Health
11
Speed
0
Damage
1110
Buildpower
0
Weapons

Medium Mines are for killing tougher enemies than light mines, such as heavier bots or medium tanks. Their larger AoE (125) also punishes enemies near the blast, though medium mines' damage falloff with range is worse than heavy mines.

Use them on your front line to prevent early pushes.

Beware—medium mines chain explode if built too close to each other! They also inflict terrible friendly fire damage!

How to use this unit

Heavy Mine

T2
T3
Amphibious
Heavy Mine
cloak, stealth
Metal
21
Energy
1350
Health
11
Speed
0
Damage
1390
Buildpower
0
Weapons

Heavy Mines don't hurt much worse than medium ones, but have a much larger AoE of 150. Use them to blunt massed unit pushes, especially through tight chokepoints.

Try using Dragon's Teeth to create tight gaps with these mines in the middle.

Heavy mines tend to chain explode other mines and inflict friendly fire due to their AoE, and cost 1.5 E/sec to keep cloaked, so use them sparingly.

How to use this unit

Heavy Mine

T2
T3
Amphibious
Heavy Mine, Naval Series
cloak, stealth, sonar-stealth
Metal
25
Energy
1600
Health
11
Speed
0
Damage
1940
Buildpower
0
Weapons

The Heavy Naval Mine is a land mine designed to damage or destroy armored naval units.

Use them to take out unsuspecting ships.

Naval mines will explode if a unit hits them, and can be cloaked automatically or manually. They will also damage other units in range.

How to use this unit

Thistle

T2
T3
Amphibious
Light Anti-air Tower
Metal
80
Energy
850
Health
335
Speed
0
Damage
68
Buildpower
0
Weapons
MissileLauncher

The Thistle is a light anti-air missile tower that can shoot down light aircraft.

Build some early on to protect your base from early air raids.

Its low rate of fire makes it vulnerable to swarms when unassisted.

How to use this unit

Slingshot

T2
T3
Amphibious
Floating Anti-air Tower
Metal
90
Energy
1000
Health
395
Speed
0
Damage
96
Buildpower
0
Weapons
MissileLauncher

The Slingshot is a light anti-air missile tower that can shoot down light aircraft, and can be built on water.

Build some early on to protect your naval base from early air raids.

Its low rate of fire makes it vulnerable to swarms when unassisted.

How to use this unit

Guard

T2
T3
Amphibious
Light Laser Tower
Metal
90
Energy
700
Health
650
Speed
0
Damage
161
Buildpower
0
Weapons
BeamLaser

The Guard is a light laser tower that can take out light vehicles and bots. When expanding, use them to protect your metal extractors and stop enemy commanders from pushing.

Build a few in your base to protect against early scout raids.

Each shot consumes 20 energy. Be mindful of your stores!

How to use this unit

Gun Platform

T2
T3
Amphibious
Light Plasma Defense
Metal
120
Energy
950
Health
810
Speed
0
Damage
113
Buildpower
0
Weapons
Cannon

The Gun Platform is a floating plasma tower that can be built on the water.

Useful for defending naval bases against light to medium naval units.

Its quite a formidable defensive structure.

How to use this unit

Urchin

T2
T3
Amphibious
Offshore Torpedo Launcher
Metal
170
Energy
1800
Health
1440
Speed
0
Damage
187
Buildpower
0
Weapons
TorpedoLauncher

The Urchin is a torpedo launcher that targets ships and submarines within its range.

Build them to defend against naval attacks.

It cannot attack land and air units, however, it is equipped with its own sonar.

How to use this unit

Twin Guard

T2
T3
Amphibious
Anti-Swarm Double Guard
Metal
195
Energy
1750
Health
1670
Speed
0
Damage
321
Buildpower
0
Weapons
2x BeamLaser

The Twin Guard is a dual laser turret that can take out light vehicles and bots.

Use them to out-range rocket bots and light laser turrets.

It is an excellent choice to combat unit swarms and its high DPS and range makes it a formidable threat to enemy commanders.

How to use this unit

Jellyfish

T2
T3
Amphibious
Coastal Torpedo Launcher
Metal
250
Energy
2200
Health
2350
Speed
0
Damage
150
Buildpower
0
Weapons
TorpedoLauncher

The Jellyfish is a torpedo launcher that targets ships and submarines within its range from the shore.

Build them to defend your land structures against naval attacks.

It cannot attack land and air units, however, it is equipped with its own sonar.

How to use this unit

Dragon's Maw

T2
T3
Amphibious
Pop-up Flamethrower Turret
stealth, jammer
Metal
290
Energy
1550
Health
1610
Speed
0
Damage
320
Buildpower
0
Weapons
Flame

Disguised as a block of DT (Dragon's Teeth), this turret pops up to attack when enemies get close. Extremely effective at guarding chokepoints due to its AoE weaponry, and nigh-impossible to dislodge with artillery when popped down. Its fiery streams decimate weaker units and quickly wear down even medium tanks.

It literally appears as Dragon's Teeth to enemies when popped down, so mixing it in with DT can help surprise enemies.

It's low enough to hide behind DT while the teeth block direct fire, enhancing survivability. Bunker them into clusters of teeth and use chokepoints to kill even massed tank assaults.

How to use this unit

SAM

T2
T3
Amphibious
Hardened Anti-Air Missile Battery
Metal
315
Energy
6100
Health
2800
Speed
0
Damage
190
Buildpower
0
Weapons
MissileLauncher

The SAM is a medium-range anti-air missile battery that can shoot down most Tech 1 aircraft. It's stronger and tougher than an equivalent cost in Thistles, while also boasting a bit more range.

Useful even against Tech 2 units thanks to its reasonable costs and quick build time.

SAMs excel at rapidly killing bombers, and represent a serious threat to gunships. Whereas Thistles are more for denying scout planes and picking off a bomber or two, these are reliable general-purpose AA for defending vs. moderate to heavy air attack.

They lack the range of Eradicators or Screamers, and the AoE of flak.
How to use this unit

Coral

T2
T3
Amphibious
Floating Heavy Laser Tower
Metal
480
Energy
6200
Health
4350
Speed
0
Damage
231
Buildpower
0
Weapons
BeamLaser

The Coral is a floating heavy laser tower that can be built on water.

Build it to defend your naval base against hovercraft and light naval units.

Despite its long-range and heavy damage, it is hopeless when built alone. So remember to pair it with other defensive structures.

How to use this unit

Janitor

T2
T3
Amphibious
Floating Anti-Air Missile Battery
Metal
480
Energy
2400
Health
1420
Speed
0
Damage
288
Buildpower
0
Weapons
MissileLauncher

The Janitor is a floating anti-air missile battery that can shoot down most Tech 1 aircraft.

Useful even against Tech 2 units thanks to its reasonable costs and quick build time.

It has more health than the Slingshot and it's great for protecting your naval base from early air raids.

How to use this unit

Warden

T2
T3
Amphibious
Area Control Laser Tower
Metal
480
Energy
4700
Health
2750
Speed
0
Damage
218
Buildpower
0
Weapons
BeamLaser

The Warden comfortably outranges almost every Tier 1 land unit, except for artillery. It especially counters skirmisher units like Rocket Bots and Missile Trucks, while easily sniping support units like Resurrection Bots.

Build it on your front line to out-range and take out enemy laser towers.

Despite its long range and heavy damage, it is hopeless when built alone. Remember to support it with other defensive structures and units.

How to use this unit

Juno

T2
T3
Amphibious
Anti Radar / Jammer / Minefield / ScoutSpam Weapon
stealth
Metal
660
Energy
16000
Health
2500
Speed
0
Damage
1
Buildpower
0
Weapons
StarburstLauncher

The Juno can build and stockpile anti-micro-electronics missiles. These will overload the most sensitive electronics and cause them to explode. Ticks, most radar- and jammer-units and mines have these sensitive electronics.

The missiles have to be launched manually, and the area of effect lasts around 25 seconds.

Use them to destroy minefields, scout spam, radar units, and jammer units.

Beware that friendly units within range can also be destroyed by these missiles. Some units with radar/jammer abilities have special Juno protected electronics, such as Spy-bots.

How to use this unit

Eradicator

T2
T3
Amphibious
Bomb-Resistant Medium-Range Anti-Air Missile Battery
Metal
800
Energy
7900
Health
4450
Speed
0
Damage
625
Buildpower
0
Weapons
MissileLauncher

The Eradicator is a bomb-resistant anti-air missile battery that can take down most aircraft.

Build them around your base to defend it from enemy aircraft.

It’s more expensive than the Thistle and SAM, but also has the most health, range, and damage.

How to use this unit

Agitator

T2
T3
Amphibious
Area Control Plasma Artillery
Metal
1300
Energy
13500
Health
3250
Speed
0
Damage
197
Buildpower
0
Weapons
2x Cannon

The Agitator is a medium-range plasma artillery battery with a large AoE. It can switch between low and high trajectory mode, allowing it to directly target units or bombard those behind obstacles.

Build it once you have your front line established to push back your enemy.

Being quite expensive in T1, it's less useful as a defensive weapon than it is an offensive sniping tool. Position it to destroy frontline Metal Extractors, Radar Towers, Jammers, and Construction Turrets to deny support to your enemy.

Use scouts, frontline radar towers and Beholders to spot targets.

T1 artillery batteries are powerful, but will tie your resources down considerably. Consider Reclaiming them once no more easy targets are in reach.

How to use this unit

Fortification Wall

T2
T3
Amphibious
Advanced Fortification
Metal
40
Energy
500
Health
8900
Speed
0
Damage
0
Buildpower
0
Weapons

The Fortification Wall is an advanced defensive wall that blocks most Tech 1/Tech 2 units and low-altitude projectiles.

Use them to funnel enemies into a choke point or to block a path.

They can also be used to help protect your laser towers and will take quite a beating before they break. Advanced walls have almost four times the health of a basic Dragon’s Teeth, and are great when used against Alien Raptors and Scavengers.

How to use this unit

Scorpion

T2
T3
Amphibious
Pop-up Sabot Battery
Metal
730
Energy
14000
Health
3000
Speed
0
Damage
413
Buildpower
0
Weapons
MissileLauncher

The Scorpion is a pop-up sabot battery that has high damage and range for a relatively low cost.

Switch it off when targeted to soak up huge amonts of damage.

Its ability to hide makes it a great for taking enemy fire while your other units take out the attacking forces.

How to use this unit

Nemesis

T2
T3
Amphibious
Intrusion Countermeasure System
stealth-detector
Metal
750
Energy
6700
Health
2800
Speed
0
Damage
0
Buildpower
0
Weapons

The Nemesis is an Intrusion Countermeasure System or "ICS" for short.

It's a motion detector that tracks hostile units in its range that have stealth and are cloaked.

_‍_The ICS does NOT reveal stealth units on your radar. Instead, visual red circles constantly ping their location, and an audio alert will notify you. Your forces won't automatically fire on these pings—you must manually attack ground, or move units to find the hidden enemies.

The ICS only pings when cloaked and stealth units are moving. Those who hold still will remain hidden.

It’s great for protecting your vulnerable buildings against stealthy attacks from Gremlins or stunning EMPs from spy bots, but be mindful of its high energy operating cost (-125/s).

Unlike radar, the ICS uses 'seismic' vibrations, which means it's range is NOT blocked by terrain. You can safely build it behind natural barriers for protection.

Also great for protecting your Prevailer against stealthy EMP attacks.

How to use this unit

Birdshot

T2
T3
Amphibious
Anti-Air Flak Gun
Metal
850
Energy
14000
Health
1840
Speed
0
Damage
469
Buildpower
0
Weapons
Cannon

The Birdshot is a short-range anti-air flak gun that deals high damage with a large area of effect (AoE).

Build them around strategic points and on your front line.

It can shatter most aircraft within its range.

How to use this unit

Naval Birdshot

T2
T3
Amphibious
Anti-Air Flak Gun - Naval Series
Metal
890
Energy
25000
Health
2000
Speed
0
Damage
469
Buildpower
0
Weapons
Cannon

The Naval Birdshot is a short-range anti-air gun that deals high damage with a large area of effect (AoE) and can be built on water.

Build them around strategic points and to protect your naval base from air raids.

It can shatter most aircraft within its range.

How to use this unit

Lamprey

T2
T3
Amphibious
Advanced Torpedo Launcher
Metal
1050
Energy
8500
Health
2800
Speed
0
Damage
363
Buildpower
0
Weapons
TorpedoLauncher

The Lamprey is an advanced torpedo launcher that targets ships and submarines within its range.

Build them to defend against naval attacks.

It cannot attack land and air units, however, it is equipped with its own sonar.

How to use this unit

Catalyst

T2
T3
Amphibious
Tactical Missile Launcher
Metal
1200
Energy
14000
Health
3550
Speed
0
Damage
2000
Buildpower
0
Weapons
StarburstLauncher

The Catalyst is a tactical missile launcher that obliterates most units within its blast radius.

If you self-destruct it as a last resort, the explosion is almost as powerful as a nuclear missile.

They’re great for rendering enemy defenses useless before an assault, and for destroying advancing units while you build a quick reaction force to combat them.

How to use this unit

Devastator

T2
T3
Amphibious
Floating Multi-Weapon Platform
Metal
1200
Energy
15000
Health
6700
Speed
0
Damage
731
Buildpower
0
Weapons
Cannon, 2x BeamLaser

The Devastator is a floating plasma and beam laser turret platform that can be built on the water.

Useful for defending naval bases against light to medium naval units.

Its extended weaponry makes it a formidable defensive structure.

How to use this unit

Prevailer

T2
T3
Amphibious
Anti-Nuke System
Metal
1500
Energy
40000
Health
3650
Speed
0
Damage
750
Buildpower
0
Weapons
StarburstLauncher

The Prevailer is a nuclear missile defense system that will shoot down incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Build a Nemesis nearby to detect cloaked EMP units before they can disable it.

It has a large radar range to protect your base and nearby surroundings from nuclear attacks. Each defensive missile takes around 90 seconds to build.

How to use this unit

Screamer

T2
T3
Amphibious
Long Range Anti-Air Tower
Metal
1650
Energy
32000
Health
1670
Speed
0
Damage
417
Buildpower
0
Weapons
MissileLauncher

The Screamer's extremely long-range missiles easily destroys most aircraft before they even get close to your base. Unlike other AA, it builds its missiles over time for a cost in resources.

Build these formidable launchers later in a match to defend your base from strategic bombers.

It can also be build on an extended front line to slowly dismantle the enemy's ''fighter wall''.

Its missile deals 750 damage in a huge radius, almost TRIPLE that of flak cannons, easily taking out multiple aircraft at once. It can build 1 missile every 13 seconds if you have the energy needed, and stocks up to 5 missiles in total. Each missile costs 1800 energy to be build—notably less than most aircraft.

Its missiles can be baited out by cheap air units like scouts.

You may want to set them to Return Fire or Hold Fire to preserve their shots.

How to use this unit

Persecutor

T2
T3
Amphibious
Pop-up Plasma Artillery
Metal
2500
Energy
17000
Health
4250
Speed
0
Damage
320
Buildpower
0
Weapons
2x Cannon

The Persecutor is pop-up plasma artillery battery.

Build on a hill to take advantage of extended range.

It can protect your front line from enemy artillery units and when set to a high-trajectory it shoots slower, but also deals more area of effect (AoE) damage.

How to use this unit

Bulwark

T2
T3
Amphibious
Energy Weapon
radar
Metal
3000
Energy
37000
Health
9400
Speed
0
Damage
1513
Buildpower
0
Weapons
3x BeamLaser

The Bulwark is a sturdy multi-weapon tower with three laser cannons of short to long range, allowing it to attack almost any target but truly long-range artillery. The Bulwark's generous damage and thick armor makes it an effective focal point against enemy pushes, but make sure to keep it well supported.

Excels at dealing with swarms, but can also outrange even Mausers and Sharpshooters.

When threatened, the Bulwark can be turned to the OFF state, causing it to retract its weapons and bunker down into its armored shell, nearly quadrupling its effective HP. This helps it survive concentrated fire until it can be repaired.

Consider using Dragon's Teeth or Fortification Walls to funnel enemies near the Bulwark so it can use its full damage output.

How to use this unit

Overseer

T2
T3
Amphibious
Plasma Deflector
shield
Metal
3200
Energy
55000
Health
3550
Speed
0
Damage
100
Buildpower
0
Weapons
Shield

The Overseer is a shield generator that deflects plasma artillery and can take a lot of damage before going down. However, it drains over half a fusion reactor's worth of output to constantly recharge the shield.

Build a few around your base to protect it from early artillery barrages.

Beware that shields do not deflect other units weaponry such as bombs, lasers, or missiles.

How to use this unit

Basilisk

T2
T3
Amphibious
Long Range Plasma Cannon
Metal
4600
Energy
67000
Health
4700
Speed
0
Damage
125
Buildpower
0
Weapons
Cannon

The Basilica is a long-range plasma cannon that can shoot targets across the map.

Build them to take out enemy structures from far away.

It becomes a priority target when built, so make sure you keep it safe. It can also be countered by Overseers, but at a high energy cost to your enemy.

How to use this unit

Apocalypse

T2
T3
Amphibious
Nuclear ICBM Launcher
Metal
7700
Energy
82000
Health
6200
Speed
0
Damage
383
Buildpower
0
Weapons
StarburstLauncher, Cannon

The Apocalypse is a nuclear missile launcher and is useful for turning enemy bases and whole armies into ashes.

Use Catalysts or Spectres to temporarily disable anti-nukes and strike uncovered areas.

Nukes can be countered by anti-nukes, but can still overwhelm them in large numbers.

How to use this unit

Calamity

T2
T3
Amphibious
Rapid-Fire Long-Range Plasma Cannon
Metal
61000
Energy
718000
Health
33500
Speed
0
Damage
2660
Buildpower
0
Weapons
Cannon

The Calamity is a rapid-fire long-range plasma cannon and is the ultimate weapon of mass-destruction.

It’s a primary target once built, so be ready to defend it.

It takes a lot of resources to build, but when it’s ready you’re almost guaranteed to win the match.

How to use this unit