Difference between revisions of "Nociosphere"

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m (Added info that the early onslaught stop for nociosphere has a minimum of 1 pawn, also slightly reworded the sentence there.)
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{{Infobox main<!-- Add infobox category here -->
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{{Rewrite|reason=Cleanup, formatting, subheadings etc, and then once that is done, verify that all content is suitably covered}}
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{{Infobox main|entity
 
| name = Nociosphere
 
| name = Nociosphere
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| description = A dark metallic sphere covered with curved and jagged grooves. The sphere emanates sensations of pain. It hurts to be near it.<br/><br/>The sphere thrums with a mysterious energy. It appears to be increasing in activity. It's not clear what will happen when it reaches its full capacity. However, if you capture it, you can decrease its activity by suppressing it.
 
 
| image = Nociosphere.png
 
| image = Nociosphere.png
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| type = Entity  
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| description = A dark metallic sphere covered with curved and jagged grooves. The sphere emanates sensations of pain. It hurts to be near it.<br/>The sphere thrums with a mysterious energy. It appears to be increasing in activity. It's not clear what will happen when it reaches its full capacity. However, if you capture it, you can decrease its activity by suppressing it.
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<!-- Base Stats -->
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| type = Entity
 +
| type2 = Advanced
 +
| mass base = 500
 +
| flammability = 0
 +
<!-- Containment -->
 +
| anomaly knowledge = 2.5
 +
| knowledge category = Advanced
 +
| study interval = 120000
 +
| bioferrite density = 2
 +
| min monolith level for study = 1
 +
| requires holding platform = true
 +
| base escape interval MTB days = -1
 +
<!-- Building -->
 +
| size = 2 * 2
 +
<!-- Apparel -->
 +
| armorsharp = 100
 +
| armorblunt = 100
 +
| armorheat = 200
 +
<!-- Pawn Stats -->
 +
| combatPower = 800
 +
| movespeed = 0
 +
| healthscale = 10
 +
| bodysize = 3.6
 +
| diet = none
 +
| lifespan = 5000
 +
| trainable = none
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| psychic sensitivity = 1
 +
| toxic resistance = 1.00
 +
| EMP resistance = 0.50
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| minimum comfortable temperature = -100
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| maximum comfortable temperature = 250
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| injury healing factor = 0
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<!-- Production -->
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| meatyield = 0
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| gestation = 10
 
| destroyyield = {{Icon small|Shard||2}} + {{Icon small|Steel||200}} + {{Icon small|Plasteel||100}} + {{Icon small|Steel slag chunk||4}} + {{Icon small|Bioferrite||35}}
 
| destroyyield = {{Icon small|Shard||2}} + {{Icon small|Steel||200}} + {{Icon small|Plasteel||100}} + {{Icon small|Steel slag chunk||4}} + {{Icon small|Bioferrite||35}}
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<!-- Technical -->
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| defName = Nociosphere
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| label = nociosphere
 
}}
 
}}
  
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The '''Nociosphere''' is an initially-dormant mechanical [[entity]] with devastating combat capabilities.
+
The '''Nociosphere''' is an initially-dormant mechanical [[entity]] with one singular purpose - to inflict pain on those around it.
  
 
== Acquisition ==
 
== Acquisition ==
−
The nociosphere will randomly appear on the map, playing a soundbyte, spawning in a docile state. Here it can be easily captured. Having a holding requirement of 0 makes this even easier, as it will never randomly escape or attack.
+
The nociosphere will randomly appear on the map, playing a sound indicating its arrival. The location at which the sphere arrives is typically where [[traders]] will congregate. It will spawn in a docile state where it can be easily captured. Having a holding requirement of 0 makes this even easier, as it will never randomly escape or attack. However,  it will require a warden to suppress it.
  
 
== Summary ==  
 
== Summary ==  
−
The nociosphere is a black sphere with red highlights. It can be suppressed, and should it reach 100% instability, it will become hostile & attack. Study will reveal it can be used as a weapon on your local map. Extended study will reveal that it is unstable and suppression will soon become impossible (10 days). Even if not studied, it will become unstable with time.  
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The nociosphere is a black sphere with red highlights. The red highlights glow brighter the higher its activity level. Once it is captured it can be suppressed, and should it reach 100% instability, it will become hostile & attack. Study will reveal it can be used as a weapon on your local map. Extended study will reveal that it is becoming unstable; Suppression will eventually become ineffective. Even if not studied, it will become unstable with time. A warning [[letter]] will notify the player 10 days before suppression will no longer lower the nociosphere's activity, and an additional one once that happens - the letter content will vary depending if the player can manually activate the nociosphere or not. There will be additional warning [[message]] 5 and 2 days before it becomes unstable.
 +
 
 +
The sphere emits a ''Pain field'' in a 6 tile radius around itself which induces pain on any pawn within it{{Check Tag|Verify|Does this affect animals or other non-humanoid pawns?}}. This pain effect scales with both [[psychic sensitivity]] and the nociosphere's current activity. Upon entering the radius, the pain experienced by a pawn will quickly increase up to the current maximum based on the previous factors. Leaving the radius will have the pain dissipate at a similar rate. [[Psychically deaf]] pawns are immune to the pain field{{Check Tag|Verify}}.
 +
 
 +
If it becomes active due being sent out to an attack or its activity reaching 100%, it will be active for anywhere between 90 and 120 seconds (chosen at random when activated). Once this timer expires, the entity will reappear in a dormant state wherever the origin of the attack was initiated. If it became active on its own it will end its onslaught early after at least {{Ticks|1800}} have passed if at least 40-60% colonists (minimum of 1, chosen at random when it becomes active) are dead or downed. If the nociosphere has less than 10 days before it becomes unstable, and is not destroyed during an attack, it will depart and cannot be looted. The sphere cannot be sent to a ''Pocket Map'' [[site]], even if that site originated within the same home tile the nociosphere occupies.
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 +
After being sent on an attack, the nociosphere has a cooldown of {{Ticks/gametime|180000}} ticks before being able to manually activate again. It is possible to activate its onslaught mode during cooldown by attacking it. Once the onslaught mode ends the sphere's activity is reset to 0%.
 +
 
 +
The nociosphere has a '''massive''' health scale{{Check Tag|Add Details}}, with some parts reaching 12,500 total HP. However, the sphere tends to be destroyed after receiving a total of 1,500 damage regardless of where it is attacked{{Check Tag|Verify}}. This, in practice, causes the sphere to be destroyed much sooner than its health pool may suggest. This also prevents the entity from dying due to lucky hits where one part is targeted consecutively, a common weakness for most creatures. The sphere will not regain health after being attacked; Only a new nociosphere will arrive with full health, a sphere which was already sent to attack will retain its injuries until it departs.
 +
 
 +
The nociosphere has several attacks which it can use while in onslaught mode:
  
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If sent out it will be active from 90-115 seconds depending on what stage of study, starting from 115 down to 90
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* Agony Pulse - An area of effect blast centered on the nociosphere or a distant target{{Check Tag|Add Details|Verify range}} with a radius of X{{Check Tag|Verify}} tiles. Causes +100% pain in affected pawns with a duration of X{{Check Tag|Verify}} seconds (acute), and +25% pain with a duration of 3 days (dissipating){{Check Tag|Add Details}}.
 +
* Heatspikes - A burst of high tech laser fire with 9 shots dealing 18 damage{{Check Tag|Add Details}}.
 +
* Fleshmelter bolt - Similar to a [[Diabolus]]' [[hellsphere cannon]]{{BiotechIcon}} with a shorter aiming time and lower base damage of 100 points.{{Check Tag|Add Details}}. Deals reduced damage to mechanoids{{Check Tag|Verify}}.
  
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Even if you don't study it, it will become unstable with time so you cannot leave it be to keep as a weapon so be careful. Depending on how long you have it, study deepens on at what stage it is, how long it's active, all from 115 from the start down to 90 seconds.
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If a roof collapses on top of a nociosphere it will attempt to teleport away to a nearby location. When that happens its activity will raise by 40%. If there are no valid cells on the map it will disappear completely.
  
 
=== Yield ===
 
=== Yield ===
Line 27: Line 76:
  
 
== Analysis ==
 
== Analysis ==
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It is ''incredibly'' strong, and should be treated with '''extreme''' care when being deployed as an offensive or defensive weapon. When deployed it goes into an "onslaught mode" which lasts 90-115 seconds during which it will attack everything and teleport to get closer to its targets. This means also, if deployed carelessly, that it can easily wipe out an even midgame colony due to its extremely powerful attacks. The nociosphere IS affected by EMP weapons and can be brought down with ease.
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Before becoming unstable, there are no downsides to farming bioferrite from a nociosphere as it will not destabilize faster and cannot escape unless its activity reaches 100%. Use of an [[electroharvester]] will cause its activity to increase at an extra 15% per day. Be sure to always have a pawn available for suppression to avoid an early escape, especially if farming electricity.
 +
 
 +
Moving the nociosphere to a holding platform or otherwise keeping it contained in a high traffic area may cause issues for pawns with the [[wimp]] trait or [[extra pain]] [[gene]]{{BiotechIcon}}, as if these humanoids enter the sphere's vicinity they are likely to collapse from pain shock at high activity levels. Even if not incapacitated, this may cause mood penalties among the colony. Pawns that are psychically deaf are immune to this downside{{Check Tag|Verify}}.
 +
 
 +
The nociosphere is ''incredibly'' strong. Extreme care should be taken when being deployed as an offensive or defensive weapon to avoid friendly casualties. If possible, it should be released against a threat that can keep it busy for most of its 90-115 seconds of onslaught mode.
 +
 
 +
Once it has reached the point where it can no longer be stabilized, it is imperative to get rid of it as soon as possible. If possible it should be released against a threat that can keep it busy for most or all of onslaught mode. If it is fully unstable and activates, it will enter its onslaught mode and go after everything living (not entities{{Check Tag|Verify}}) until onslaught mode is over. The ideal enemies to send the nociosphere against would be mechanoids, as they are highly resistant to its flame based attacks and do not feel any pain, negating its psychic abilities. This will allow the mechanoids to stall it until it disappears or even destroy it, especially if the mechanoid group is full of heavy weight mechanoids such as Centipedes.
 +
 
 +
After being released while unstable, it will disappear regardless of whether or not it is destroyed. Once the point is reached where it can no longer be stabilized, it is imperative to get rid of the sphere before it can attack the entire colony that houses it. There are multiple strategies for doing so:
 +
 
 +
=== Colony Defense ===
 +
Whenever the colony might be raided, or otherwise have hostile creatures within the home tile, the nociosphere can be sent to dispatch them. The sphere is much more efficient at clearing out grouped up enemies, as 2 of its 3 powerful attacks have an area of effect able to incapacitate or outright kill a majority of enemies. For groups of enemies dispersed throughout the map tile the sphere is much less consistent. This is especially true if the tile is also home to many wild animals, as the nociosphere will not prioritize attacking hostiles over neutral pawns. This will often cause the nociosphere to end its onslaught before all primary targets are defeated.
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 +
Even low threat raids should be considered a target for the sphere, as each fight will weaken the sphere for subsequent raid; This may allow the sphere's loot to be obtained before it is able to disappear permanently. Be aware that the fewer targets given to attack, the more likely the rampage can find its way back to the colony.
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 +
If desperate for a hostile force to distract the nociosphere, [[toxic wastepack]]s{{BiotechIcon}} can be used via [[transport pod]] dumping to initiate a hostile raid. Note that only low tech factions are guaranteed to send retaliatory raids, as higher tech factions might instead send toxic waste back to the colony. Raids initiated this way are also not guaranteed to happen right away, sometimes taking several days to arrive, so this must be done in advance.
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 +
Use of a mechanitor can also provide further raids on command by summoning mech commanders via the [[comms console]], [[mechband antenna]]{{BiotechIcon}}, and [[mechband dish]]{{BiotechIcon}}. Similar to wastepack raids, these must be called in much earlier than the nociosphere reaching 100% activity, as they might show up several days later. Of these 3 options, the mechband dish is the most likely to distract and outlast the sphere's onslaught; The [[apocriton]]'s ability to revive mechanoids and return them to the fight grants many targets for the sphere's weaponry. Furthermore, the sphere is less likely to leave the combat area due to the abundance of robot targets.
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=== Distractions ===
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The entity is hostile to most creatures, including mechanoids, insects, all mobile [[entities]], and wildlife. Nociospheres will not target pawns within [[cryptosleep casket]]s, buildings such as powered, unpowered turrets, or fleshmass spitters spawned by [[Fleshmass heart]]s, children under the age of 3, or other nociospheres (active or not). Nociospheres will ignore targets that are downed.
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In the event there are no enemies, the sphere can be sent near [[animals]] to distract it until the end of its onslaught. Faster animals can sometimes kite the nociosphere until its onslaught mode deactivates. Be careful that these animals do not bring the sphere back towards the colony.
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Active or inactive [[mechanoid cluster]]s{{RoyaltyIcon}} can also be a prime target for the sphere, sometimes allowing the entire cluster to be wiped out. Note that this method will likely destroy any valuable resources from the cluster, such as the [[mech node]] and [[unstable power cell]].
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A skilled animal handler or a [[mechanitor]]{{BiotechIcon}} can use disposable animals or [[mechanoids]] to either kite or distract the sphere. The use of allowed [[zones]] can be helpful in keeping the trainer or mechanitor at a distance while the bait keeps the sphere away from the colony.
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 +
The use of [[psychic rituals]] can also serve as a nice distraction, provided the colony has the [[Bioferrite]] and manpower to conduct one. [[Psychic_rituals#Draw_Shamblers|Summoning]] [[Shambler|Shamblers]] is the best option as they always enter from a map edge which usually will not be right on top of your colony, tend to wander less than Fleshbeasts, and at higher ritual percentages the summoned horde will usually survive the Nociosphere onslaught with at least some surviving members.
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In cases of urgency where suppression is no longer possible, a pawn with sufficient movement speed can be used to kite around the nociosphere around the map until the duration ends. Note that any creatures closest to it will change it's target and possibly bring it to your colony.
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=== Direct Combat ===
 +
Rarely, or within certain biomes, a large amount of disposable pawns may not be readily available on the home tile. Attacking the sphere and obtaining the loot stashed within should be considered secondary to protecting the colony and the structures within.
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 +
EMP weaponry does affect the nociosphere and the acquisition of such weapons should considered a priority if direct combat with the sphere is warranted. Directly attacking the nociosphere without EMP weaponry is ill-advised without end-game gear and/or highly skilled colonists. and/or a large amount of disposable creatures.
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Melee attacks are generally ineffective against the sphere outside of a [[zeushammer]] due to the sphere's tendency to teleport away from enemies before attacking, as well as its agony pulse attack which affects a radius around itself. Any melee colonists should be equipped with [[longjump legs]], a [[jump pack]], or similar ability to both be able to do consistent damage and avoid damage themselves.
 +
 
 +
Deploying the sphere at the farthest possible point can delay the attack by a precious few seconds, although the sphere's teleportation ability will quickly make up this distance if no targets are available nearby.
  
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Once it reached the point where it can no longer be stabilised it is imperative to get rid of it as fast as possible. If possible it should be released against a threat that can keep it busy for most of its 90-115 seconds of onslaught mode. If it destabilises it will enter its onslaught mode and go after everything living (not entities) until the onslaught mode is over. Once it has been released for one last time it will disappear. In the event there are no enemies, you can set it down near animals for it to target, faster animals can sometimes kite the Nociosphere until its onslaught mode deactivates.
+
===Caravans===
 +
Sending away all colonists from a map as part of a caravan just before the Nociosphere goes active can entirely avoid the risk of colonist death. Active Nociospheres will still target prisoners and tamed animals, which may make this approach harder for [[Sanguophages|Sanguophage]] colonies that may keep keep large numbers of prisoners for hemogen farming, or colonies that have large herds of tamed animals.
  
−
There are NO DOWNSIDES to farming from a Nociosphere as it will not destabilise faster, even when farmed. It yields 7.2 bioferrite and 720W of electricity per day when harvested. This makes it great for farming, as long as the player is aware of the risks.
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===Teleportation===
 +
The Nociosphere can teleport within about a 20 cell radius. The Nociosphere can only teleport to an "unfilled" cell. Cells are considered "filled" if they contain a Colonist, animal, barricade, sandbags, column, fence tree, steel chunk or stone chunk. Furniture such as beds and tables do not stop the Nociosphere's teleportation.
  
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A possible way of dealing with the Nociosphere is to use Summon Shamblers and/or Summon Fleshbeasts, this will create a large number of high HP/Regenerating foes for the Nociosphere to defeat, in an ideal world the Nociosphere will be distracted for the entire 110 seconds, and the enemies left can be cleared out by your Pawns.
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Each colonist can be drafted and placed in their own individual 1x1 room, or colonists can all be drafted and crammed into a room of size equal to colonist count. For example, if you have 10 colonists, make a room that has 10 interior cells, draft the colonists, and have them stand in the room so every cell in the room is taken up by a colonist. The Nociosphere will be unable to find an "unfilled" cell to teleport inside.
  
 +
== Safe disposal ==
  
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The author of this note conducted several real-world tests in order to assess the combat effectiveness of the nociosphere.
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Since the sphere can only teleport 20 cells, digging a tunnel into a mountain to create a 1x1 space by filling up the tunnel again with wall, will allow one to teleport the sphere into the 1x1 enclosed space and safely wait until the onslaught timer ticks down without anything happening.
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Although the health parameters indicate that each part of the sphere withstands 12,500 damage, in fact it is destroyed much earlier. According to tests in developer mode, she can withstand 1,500 damage, which is 10 times more than a human. It also has protection no worse than that of marine armor.
 
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Extremely effective against melee opponents due to constant teleportation and the inability to be surrounded by more than eight opponents. It can be continuously stunned by EMP grenades, which are often found among pirates. Due to its large size, it takes x200% damage from machine guns.
 
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Uses attacks:
 
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1)Agony pulse- adds +100% pain. The effect is weakened against pain-resistant Neanderthals and piggies. useless against mentally deaf creatures and mechanoids.
 
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2)Heatspikes- machine gun fire with 18 damage.
 
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3)Fleshmelter bolt- it looks like a Diabolus weapon, but it shoots instantly. Reduced damage to the mechanoids.
 
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The nociosphere was able to repel the attack of the impids with a number of 60 people, for 5,000 raid points, but failed to repel a Gorehulk attack of similar size. It may have been able to defeat 60 Gorehulks grouped tightly together, but if its opponents are distributed over the map, the nociosphere's attacks become way less efficient and its onslaught timer will run out before it was able to kill all its opponents. So beware if you are sending the nociosphere to defeat a single group of enemies, like a siege raid: it may be able to cause the raiders to flee with just a few attacks and then it has plenty of time left to teleport back to your base and end your run.
 
  
 
== Trivia ==
 
== Trivia ==
 
* The Nociosphere's name likely comes from the words "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nociception nocioception]", which refers to the body's ability to feel pain, or "nocere" which is the latin word for harm/hurt.
 
* The Nociosphere's name likely comes from the words "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nociception nocioception]", which refers to the body's ability to feel pain, or "nocere" which is the latin word for harm/hurt.
 +
* The Nociosphere has a bounding box that is 2x2 tiles in size, making it the only pawn with a box larger than 1x1.
  
 
== Version history ==  
 
== Version history ==  
 
* [[Anomaly DLC]] Release - Added.
 
* [[Anomaly DLC]] Release - Added.
  
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CATEGORIES GO HERE
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{{Nav|entity|wide}}
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[[Category: Entities]]

Revision as of 18:18, 15 November 2024

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Nociosphere

Nociosphere

A dark metallic sphere covered with curved and jagged grooves. The sphere emanates sensations of pain. It hurts to be near it.
The sphere thrums with a mysterious energy. It appears to be increasing in activity. It's not clear what will happen when it reaches its full capacity. However, if you capture it, you can decrease its activity by suppressing it.

Base Stats

Type
Entity – Advanced
Mass
500 kg
Flammability
0%

Building

Size
2 × 2

Mechanoid

EMP Resistance
50%

Armor

Armor - Sharp
100%
Armor - Blunt
100%
Armor - Heat
200%

Pawn Stats

Combat Power
800
Move Speed
0 c/s
Health Scale
1000% HP
Body Size
3.6
Mass
216 kg
Filth Rate
1
Diet
none
Life Expectancy
5000 years
Trainable Intelligence
None
Psychic Sensitivity
100%
Toxic Resistance
100%

Production

Gestation Period
10 days
Destroy yield
Shard 2 + Steel 200 + Plasteel 100 + Steel slag chunk 4 + Bioferrite 35

Containment

Knowledge Gain
2.5 Advanced
Study Interval
120,000 ticks (2 in-game days)
Bioferrite Generation
Bioferrite 7.2/day
Min Monolith Level For Study
1
Held on Platform
true
Escape Interval
MTB -1 days
Technical
defName
Nociosphere


The Nociosphere is an initially-dormant mechanical entity with one singular purpose - to inflict pain on those around it.

Acquisition

The nociosphere will randomly appear on the map, playing a sound indicating its arrival. The location at which the sphere arrives is typically where traders will congregate. It will spawn in a docile state where it can be easily captured. Having a holding requirement of 0 makes this even easier, as it will never randomly escape or attack. However, it will require a warden to suppress it.

Summary

The nociosphere is a black sphere with red highlights. The red highlights glow brighter the higher its activity level. Once it is captured it can be suppressed, and should it reach 100% instability, it will become hostile & attack. Study will reveal it can be used as a weapon on your local map. Extended study will reveal that it is becoming unstable; Suppression will eventually become ineffective. Even if not studied, it will become unstable with time. A warning letter will notify the player 10 days before suppression will no longer lower the nociosphere's activity, and an additional one once that happens - the letter content will vary depending if the player can manually activate the nociosphere or not. There will be additional warning message 5 and 2 days before it becomes unstable.

The sphere emits a Pain field in a 6 tile radius around itself which induces pain on any pawn within it[Verify]. This pain effect scales with both psychic sensitivity and the nociosphere's current activity. Upon entering the radius, the pain experienced by a pawn will quickly increase up to the current maximum based on the previous factors. Leaving the radius will have the pain dissipate at a similar rate. Psychically deaf pawns are immune to the pain field[Verify].

If it becomes active due being sent out to an attack or its activity reaching 100%, it will be active for anywhere between 90 and 120 seconds (chosen at random when activated). Once this timer expires, the entity will reappear in a dormant state wherever the origin of the attack was initiated. If it became active on its own it will end its onslaught early after at least 1,800 ticks (30 secs) have passed if at least 40-60% colonists (minimum of 1, chosen at random when it becomes active) are dead or downed. If the nociosphere has less than 10 days before it becomes unstable, and is not destroyed during an attack, it will depart and cannot be looted. The sphere cannot be sent to a Pocket Map site, even if that site originated within the same home tile the nociosphere occupies.

After being sent on an attack, the nociosphere has a cooldown of 180,000 ticks (3 in-game days) ticks before being able to manually activate again. It is possible to activate its onslaught mode during cooldown by attacking it. Once the onslaught mode ends the sphere's activity is reset to 0%.

The nociosphere has a massive health scale[Add Details], with some parts reaching 12,500 total HP. However, the sphere tends to be destroyed after receiving a total of 1,500 damage regardless of where it is attacked[Verify]. This, in practice, causes the sphere to be destroyed much sooner than its health pool may suggest. This also prevents the entity from dying due to lucky hits where one part is targeted consecutively, a common weakness for most creatures. The sphere will not regain health after being attacked; Only a new nociosphere will arrive with full health, a sphere which was already sent to attack will retain its injuries until it departs.

The nociosphere has several attacks which it can use while in onslaught mode:

  • Agony Pulse - An area of effect blast centered on the nociosphere or a distant target[Add Details] with a radius of X[Verify] tiles. Causes +100% pain in affected pawns with a duration of X[Verify] seconds (acute), and +25% pain with a duration of 3 days (dissipating)[Add Details].
  • Heatspikes - A burst of high tech laser fire with 9 shots dealing 18 damage[Add Details].
  • Fleshmelter bolt - Similar to a Diabolus' hellsphere cannonContent added by the Biotech DLC with a shorter aiming time and lower base damage of 100 points.[Add Details]. Deals reduced damage to mechanoids[Verify].

If a roof collapses on top of a nociosphere it will attempt to teleport away to a nearby location. When that happens its activity will raise by 40%. If there are no valid cells on the map it will disappear completely.

Yield

The nociosphere yields 7.2 bioferrite and 720W per day.

Analysis

Before becoming unstable, there are no downsides to farming bioferrite from a nociosphere as it will not destabilize faster and cannot escape unless its activity reaches 100%. Use of an electroharvester will cause its activity to increase at an extra 15% per day. Be sure to always have a pawn available for suppression to avoid an early escape, especially if farming electricity.

Moving the nociosphere to a holding platform or otherwise keeping it contained in a high traffic area may cause issues for pawns with the wimp trait or extra pain geneContent added by the Biotech DLC, as if these humanoids enter the sphere's vicinity they are likely to collapse from pain shock at high activity levels. Even if not incapacitated, this may cause mood penalties among the colony. Pawns that are psychically deaf are immune to this downside[Verify].

The nociosphere is incredibly strong. Extreme care should be taken when being deployed as an offensive or defensive weapon to avoid friendly casualties. If possible, it should be released against a threat that can keep it busy for most of its 90-115 seconds of onslaught mode.

Once it has reached the point where it can no longer be stabilized, it is imperative to get rid of it as soon as possible. If possible it should be released against a threat that can keep it busy for most or all of onslaught mode. If it is fully unstable and activates, it will enter its onslaught mode and go after everything living (not entities[Verify]) until onslaught mode is over. The ideal enemies to send the nociosphere against would be mechanoids, as they are highly resistant to its flame based attacks and do not feel any pain, negating its psychic abilities. This will allow the mechanoids to stall it until it disappears or even destroy it, especially if the mechanoid group is full of heavy weight mechanoids such as Centipedes.

After being released while unstable, it will disappear regardless of whether or not it is destroyed. Once the point is reached where it can no longer be stabilized, it is imperative to get rid of the sphere before it can attack the entire colony that houses it. There are multiple strategies for doing so:

Colony Defense

Whenever the colony might be raided, or otherwise have hostile creatures within the home tile, the nociosphere can be sent to dispatch them. The sphere is much more efficient at clearing out grouped up enemies, as 2 of its 3 powerful attacks have an area of effect able to incapacitate or outright kill a majority of enemies. For groups of enemies dispersed throughout the map tile the sphere is much less consistent. This is especially true if the tile is also home to many wild animals, as the nociosphere will not prioritize attacking hostiles over neutral pawns. This will often cause the nociosphere to end its onslaught before all primary targets are defeated.

Even low threat raids should be considered a target for the sphere, as each fight will weaken the sphere for subsequent raid; This may allow the sphere's loot to be obtained before it is able to disappear permanently. Be aware that the fewer targets given to attack, the more likely the rampage can find its way back to the colony.

If desperate for a hostile force to distract the nociosphere, toxic wastepacksContent added by the Biotech DLC can be used via transport pod dumping to initiate a hostile raid. Note that only low tech factions are guaranteed to send retaliatory raids, as higher tech factions might instead send toxic waste back to the colony. Raids initiated this way are also not guaranteed to happen right away, sometimes taking several days to arrive, so this must be done in advance.

Use of a mechanitor can also provide further raids on command by summoning mech commanders via the comms console, mechband antennaContent added by the Biotech DLC, and mechband dishContent added by the Biotech DLC. Similar to wastepack raids, these must be called in much earlier than the nociosphere reaching 100% activity, as they might show up several days later. Of these 3 options, the mechband dish is the most likely to distract and outlast the sphere's onslaught; The apocriton's ability to revive mechanoids and return them to the fight grants many targets for the sphere's weaponry. Furthermore, the sphere is less likely to leave the combat area due to the abundance of robot targets.

Distractions

The entity is hostile to most creatures, including mechanoids, insects, all mobile entities, and wildlife. Nociospheres will not target pawns within cryptosleep caskets, buildings such as powered, unpowered turrets, or fleshmass spitters spawned by Fleshmass hearts, children under the age of 3, or other nociospheres (active or not). Nociospheres will ignore targets that are downed.

In the event there are no enemies, the sphere can be sent near animals to distract it until the end of its onslaught. Faster animals can sometimes kite the nociosphere until its onslaught mode deactivates. Be careful that these animals do not bring the sphere back towards the colony.

Active or inactive mechanoid clustersContent added by the Royalty DLC can also be a prime target for the sphere, sometimes allowing the entire cluster to be wiped out. Note that this method will likely destroy any valuable resources from the cluster, such as the mech node and unstable power cell.

A skilled animal handler or a mechanitorContent added by the Biotech DLC can use disposable animals or mechanoids to either kite or distract the sphere. The use of allowed zones can be helpful in keeping the trainer or mechanitor at a distance while the bait keeps the sphere away from the colony.

The use of psychic rituals can also serve as a nice distraction, provided the colony has the Bioferrite and manpower to conduct one. Summoning Shamblers is the best option as they always enter from a map edge which usually will not be right on top of your colony, tend to wander less than Fleshbeasts, and at higher ritual percentages the summoned horde will usually survive the Nociosphere onslaught with at least some surviving members.

In cases of urgency where suppression is no longer possible, a pawn with sufficient movement speed can be used to kite around the nociosphere around the map until the duration ends. Note that any creatures closest to it will change it's target and possibly bring it to your colony.

Direct Combat

Rarely, or within certain biomes, a large amount of disposable pawns may not be readily available on the home tile. Attacking the sphere and obtaining the loot stashed within should be considered secondary to protecting the colony and the structures within.

EMP weaponry does affect the nociosphere and the acquisition of such weapons should considered a priority if direct combat with the sphere is warranted. Directly attacking the nociosphere without EMP weaponry is ill-advised without end-game gear and/or highly skilled colonists. and/or a large amount of disposable creatures.

Melee attacks are generally ineffective against the sphere outside of a zeushammer due to the sphere's tendency to teleport away from enemies before attacking, as well as its agony pulse attack which affects a radius around itself. Any melee colonists should be equipped with longjump legs, a jump pack, or similar ability to both be able to do consistent damage and avoid damage themselves.

Deploying the sphere at the farthest possible point can delay the attack by a precious few seconds, although the sphere's teleportation ability will quickly make up this distance if no targets are available nearby.

Caravans

Sending away all colonists from a map as part of a caravan just before the Nociosphere goes active can entirely avoid the risk of colonist death. Active Nociospheres will still target prisoners and tamed animals, which may make this approach harder for Sanguophage colonies that may keep keep large numbers of prisoners for hemogen farming, or colonies that have large herds of tamed animals.

Teleportation

The Nociosphere can teleport within about a 20 cell radius. The Nociosphere can only teleport to an "unfilled" cell. Cells are considered "filled" if they contain a Colonist, animal, barricade, sandbags, column, fence tree, steel chunk or stone chunk. Furniture such as beds and tables do not stop the Nociosphere's teleportation.

Each colonist can be drafted and placed in their own individual 1x1 room, or colonists can all be drafted and crammed into a room of size equal to colonist count. For example, if you have 10 colonists, make a room that has 10 interior cells, draft the colonists, and have them stand in the room so every cell in the room is taken up by a colonist. The Nociosphere will be unable to find an "unfilled" cell to teleport inside.

Safe disposal

Since the sphere can only teleport 20 cells, digging a tunnel into a mountain to create a 1x1 space by filling up the tunnel again with wall, will allow one to teleport the sphere into the 1x1 enclosed space and safely wait until the onslaught timer ticks down without anything happening.

Trivia

  • The Nociosphere's name likely comes from the words "nocioception", which refers to the body's ability to feel pain, or "nocere" which is the latin word for harm/hurt.
  • The Nociosphere has a bounding box that is 2x2 tiles in size, making it the only pawn with a box larger than 1x1.

Version history

Entities
Basic
Void monolith • Harbinger tree • Fleshbeast (Fingerspike, Trispike, Toughspike, Bulbfreak) • Sightstealer • Shambler • Ghoul • Gorehulk • Death pall
Advanced
Pit gate • Dreadmeld • Fleshmass heart • Fleshmass nucleus • Chimera • Devourer • Noctolith • Noctol • Revenant • Metalhorror • Nociosphere • Blood rain • Twisted obelisk • Corrupted obelisk • Warped obelisk • Golden cube • Unnatural corpse
Ultimate
Void structure • Void node

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