Tesseron

A tesseron is a mechanoid added by the Biotech DLC.

Acquisition

Tesserons can be gestated by a mechanitor at a Large mech gestator once the Ultra mechtech research project has been completed. They require 110 Plasteel, 7 Components, 1 High subcore and 4 gestation cycles taking 1,800 ticks (30 secs) each to initiate. They take up bandwidth from their linked mechanitor.

Dead, friendly tesserons can also be resurrected at the large mech gestator using the "Resurrect medium mechanoid" bill. This requires the corpse of the friendly Tesseron, 50 steel, and 1 gestation cycle taking 1,800 ticks (30 secs) to initiate.

Summary

As mechanoids, every tesseron is immune to fire, Flame and Heat damage, and temperature extremes, despite having Comfortable Temperatures defined. They have 100% Toxic Resistance and Toxic Environment Resistance, making them immune to toxic buildup, rot stink and other toxic effects. They do not need to eat, rest, and have no mood. They will be stunned by EMP attacks for a time proportional to the EMP damage inflicted and will "adapt" and rendered immune to further EMP strikes for 2,200 ticks (36.67 secs).

Dead tesserons may be shredded at the machining table or crafting spot for 15 steel. However, these values are affected by mechanoid shredding efficiency, as well as missing parts on the tesseron.

As an enemy

Tesserons are similar to the lancer as a fast, ranged mechanoid. They move into range and continuously fire until interrupted, either by being engaged in melee or killed. They are most commonly found alongside later summons of the mechanoid commanders, but can also be found in ancient dangers and in high-wealth mechanoid raids.

Their weapon, the beam graser, fires a sweeping laser that damages pawns in a line, with a 50% chance on hit to set on fire. The main target of the tesseron is the only one that is immune to the sweeping laser; they are checked for hits separately and can be hit even if they move out of the physical path of the beam. The beam graser has a minimum range of 3.9 tiles, meaning that it cannot engage targets closer to them than this. The Tesseron will attempt to back up past the minimum distance if a colonist gets within this range.

As an ally

Mechs under player control require power: tesserons use 10% of their power per day while active. If set to dormant self-charging, they instead recharge for 1% power / day, without pollution. They recharge in a mech recharger (200W), for 50% power/day, creating 15 wastepacks whenever the recharger's waste is filled up.

Combat

Tesserons use the beam graser. This weapon fires a laser that attacks pawns as it travels through multiple different tiles, dealing beam-type damage and potentially lighting them on fire.

Tesserons have a base shooting accuracy of 96%, equivalent to a pawn with a Shooting skill of 8. They have a melee hit chance of 62%, equivalent to a pawn with a Melee skill of 4.

Analysis

With high damage and the ability to set pawns on fire, tesserons pose a very serious threat. Ignited pawns will ignore all commands until they are put out, making it very possible for them to flee into other mechanoids, or simply be re-ignited over and over until they die.

If possible, force them into melee, where they are very vulnerable. If not, spread pawns out vertically to avoid multiple pawns being hit at once. Firefoam pop packs can be handy to extinguish and prevent fires. They have a moderately long range that can be taken advantage of with longer-ranged weaponry such as assault rifles, and their low health scale makes them vulnerable to being picked off quickly.

As with all other mechanoids, avoid using fire-based weaponry against them, as they are completely immune to fire damage. In the tesseron's case, this can be taken advantage of, as all allied mechs are immune to the tesseron's ability to light them on fire. This does not, however, mean they are immune to the Beam-type damage of the Beam Graser, which counts as both a separate effect and damage type from igniting pawns in the beam's path.

Health

Body parts

Body Part Name	Health	Quantity	Coverage^[1]	Target Chance^[2]	Subpart of	Capacity^[3]	Effect if Destroyed/Removed
Thorax	28.8	1	100%	2%	N/A^[4]	-	Death Will never take permanent injury
Neck	21.6	1	10%	2%	Thorax	Communication	Death Will never take permanent injury
Head	21.6	1	80%	2.7%	Neck	-	Death Will never take permanent injury
Artificial Brain	7.2	1	10%	0.8%	Head	Data Processing	Death Will never take permanent injury
Sight Sensor	7.2	2	13%	1%	Head	Sight	−25% Sight. −100% if both lost. Will never take permanent injury
Hearing Sensor	7.2	2	10%	0.8%	Head	Hearing	−25% Hearing. −100% if both lost. Will never take permanent injury
Chemical Analyzer	7.2	1	10%	0.8%	Head	-	Will never take permanent injury
Mechanical Shoulder	18	2	17%	2.5%	Thorax	Manipulation	−50% Manipulation. Will never take permanent injury
Arm	21.6	2	85%	12%	Mechanical Shoulder	Manipulation	−50% Manipulation. Will never take permanent injury
Hand	14.4	2	20%	1.2%	Arm	Manipulation	−50% Manipulation. Will never take permanent injury
Finger	5.04	8	15%	0.43%	Hand	Manipulation	−10% Manipulation. Will never take permanent injury
Leg	21.6	2	20%	20%	Thorax	Moving	−50% Moving. Will never take permanent injury
Foot	14.4	2	20%	4%	Leg	Moving	−50% Moving. Will never take permanent injury
Reactor	14.4	1	6%	6%	Thorax	Power Generation	Death Will never take permanent injury
Fluid Reprocessor	10.8	2	4%	4%	Thorax	Fluid Reprocessing	Death if both lost −50% Fluid reprocessing Will never take permanent injury

↑ Coverage determines the chance to hit this body part. It refers to the percentage of the super-part that this part covers, before its own sub-parts claim their own percentage. For example, if the base coverage of the super-part is 100%, and the coverage of the part is 20%, 20% of hits would hit the part, and 80% the super-part. If the part had its own sub-part with 50% coverage, the chances would be 10% sub-part, 10% part, 80% super part.
↑ Target Chance is the actual chance for each part to be be selected as the target when each part's coverage has been taken into account(I.E. Neck covers 7.5% of Torso but Head covers 80% of Neck so it actually has only a 1.5% chance to be selected). This is not pure hit chance, as different damage types propagate damage in different ways. See that page for details.
↑ Note that capacities can affect other capacities in turn. Only the primary effect is listed. See specific pages for details.
↑ This is the part that everything else connects to to be considered 'connected'.