Noctolith
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Noctolith
A twisted pillar of jagged blade-like structures made of dark, oily metal. It pulses with energy, powered by dark archotechnology at its core..
If you destroy the pillar, you can recover a shard of dark archotech.
Base Stats
Building
- Size
- 2 × 2
- Placeable
- False
- Passability
- impassable
- Cover Effectiveness
- 75%
- Blocks Wind
- True
- Destroy yield
1 + 
32
The Noctolith is a structure Entity added by the Anomaly DLC that is the center point of the Unnatural Darkness event.
Summary
Noctoliths will only spawn as part of the Unnatural Darkness anomaly event.
During the event, the entire map will be covered in darkness, making everything in dark area invisible, effectively working as a type of fog of war. Furthermore, colonists in darkness will be constantly damaged by a claw attack, inflicting sharp damage and bleeding. To note, there is no actual enemy associated with the attack, as the pawns are apparently being damaged by darkness itself.
Note: unlike fog of war, your pawns does not expel darkness, only light sources can, so it's important to light every corner of your base. Being caught off guard with no lighted area can quickly end your colony.
In the meantime, multiple Noctoliths will spawn in the map, all of which must be destroyed to end the Unnatural Darkness event. You can use flares or torches to light your way to each one and simple destroy them. However, one must keep in mind that during the duration of the event, raids of Noctols will spawn periodically spawn in the darkness to protect the Noctoliths. They are very difficult to fight in darkness and can only be feasibly damaged in the light, so have your pawns armed and ready for battle.
The Unnatural Darkness will end in a few days, even if no action is taken.
Analysis
The Unnatural Darkness event can be an enormous pain if encountered in early game. Pawns will be rapidly damaged if they step outside a lit area, and Noctols will periodically raid the players. It is important to note that other events may still occur during that time, for example, there is nothing stopping a Pit Gate from spawning during a Noctol raid. However, given Noctols become slower and less accurate when exposed to light, the event can be eventually waited out, if the player has a large amount of stockpiled food, and ways to generate electricity without the use of solar generators - as the Darkness prevents the players from growing any food without the use of sun lamps and hydroponics basins. It is heavily recommended to restrict everyone to an area that only covers fully lit parts of the map.
In addition or in place of flares, solar pinhole
is a useful tool for approaching the noctoliths safely. Since fire also lights up the area, Molotov cocktails and incendiary weapons can also light the way by ground targeting toward the noctoliths.
Trivia
- The Noctolith name is likely a combination of the Latin word "noctis", meaning night, and the word monolith.
Version history
- Anomaly DLC Release - Added.