Scyther
Scyther
Fast, spindly, human-sized combat mechanoids specializing in rapid approach and close-range combat. Their bodies are covered in points and blades, but they mostly use their two arm blades to lop off limbs or gut their victims alive.
Base Stats
- Type
- Mechanoid
Armor
- Armor - Sharp
- 40%
- Armor - Blunt
- 20%
- Armor - Heat
- 200%
Pawn Stats
- Combat Power
- 150
- Move Speed
- 4.7 c/s
- Health Scale
- 132% HP
- Body Size
- 1
- Mass
- 60 kg
- Pack Capacity
- 35 kg
- Carrying Capacity
- 75 kg
- Filth Rate
- 1
- Life Expectancy
- 2500 years
- Comfortable Temp Range
- -100 °C – 250 °C (-148 °F – 482 °F)
Melee Combat
- Attack 1
- Left blade
20 dmg (Cut)
30 % AP
2 second cooldown - Attack 2
- Left blade
20 dmg (Stab)
30 % AP
2 second cooldown - Attack 3
- Right blade
20 dmg (Cut)
30 % AP
2 second cooldown - Attack 4
- Right blade
20 dmg (Stab)
30 % AP
2 second cooldown - Attack 5
- Head
9 dmg (Blunt)
13 % AP
2 second cooldown
0.2 chance factor - Average DPS
- 5.52
Creation
- Required Research
- Standard mechtech
- Gestation Cycles
- 2
Scythers are a fast-moving mechanoid that are powerful in melee.
Acquisition
This section relates to content added by Biotech (DLC). Please note that it will not be present without the DLC enabled. |
Scythers can be gestated by a mechanitor at a large mech gestator once the standard mechtech research project has been completed. Note that this research requires a signal chip to unlock. Each requires 75 Steel, 75 Plasteel, 4 Components, 1 Standard subcore and 2 gestation cycles taking 1,800 ticks (30 secs) each to initiate. They take up 2 bandwidth from their linked mechanitor.
Dead, friendly scythers can also be resurrected at the large mech gestator using the "Resurrect medium mechanoid" bill. This requires the corpse of the friendly Scyther, 50 steel, and 1 gestation cycle taking 1,800 ticks (30 secs) to initiate.
Summary
As mechanoids, every scyther 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 scythers may be shredded at the machining table or crafting spot for 15 steel, though these values are affected by mechanoid shredding efficiency as well as missing parts on the scyther.
As an enemy
Scythers have no fear for their life, and will charge directly at colonists without regard to cover. As part of a raid, scythers will go ahead. But mechanoids part of a stationary threat, like a psychic ship, will only chase if a colonist continues to be within a certain radius.
Mechanoids can raid the player's base through events, and are found in most poison ships, psychic ships, and mech clusters. Scythers are often supported by heavier mechanoids like centipedes, but will charge ahead without letting them catch up.
Combat
Scythers attack with a blade attached to each arm, dealing a massive 20 damage per blade. Even for brawlers with high melee skill, scythers are extremely dangerous.
Melee Attacks | Damage Amount | Cooldown |
---|---|---|
Cut | 20 | 2.0 sec |
Scythers have a 62% melee hit chance, equivalent to a pawn with a Melee skill of 4. Their damage output is roughly equivalent to a pawn with 10 melee skill wielding a normal quality steel longsword.
Armor
Armor |
---|
As an ally
This section relates to content added by Biotech (DLC). Please note that it will not be present without the DLC enabled. |
Mechs under player control require power: scythers 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 large mech recharger (400W), for 50% power/day, creating 10 wastepacks whenever the recharger's waste is filled up.
Analysis
As an enemy
Scythers are dangerous melee fighters; they deal significant melee damage while forcing your gunners into melee combat. Usually, a 1v1 fight with a scyther and a gunner will result in the scyther emerging victorious. Melee fighters are essential in guarding against scythers, being able to 'peel' them off from more vulnerable allies. Even then, a scyther's blades can often result in permanent scars and even cut off limbs.
Scythers are vulnerable to spike traps, being more readily lured into them due to their melee nature.
As an ally
This article relates to content added by Biotech (DLC). Please note that it will not be present without the DLC enabled. |
Scythers are one of the few melee-focused mechanoids that a mechanitor can control, and much faster than a tunneler. Mechanoids are much more disposable than other pawns engaging in melee: they are immune to pain, are slightly faster than an ordinary pawn, tend to remain fast after damage due to said pain immunity, and can repair "permanent" injuries or be resurrected for a fairly cheap cost.
Most pawns with a ranged weapon are unable to fire once engaged with melee combat. This makes scythers great at targeting specific, deadly threats in the back, like frag grenades and sniper rifles. This also makes them helpful against enemy centipedes, assuming your other colonists can dish out firepower. Against the diabolus or war queen, a mere scyther won't stop their ranged attacks, but the former's flame burst has no effect against machines. Against other mechanoids, watch out when using EMP. However, it's generally worth stunning your scyther in order to stun a centipede in the process.
Health
Biology
Scythers, although mechanical and not very human-looking, are actually almost the same in structure as a typical human (minus the organs). However, they're more durable than humans, don't feel pain and do not fear for their life - they don't even use cover. This can make them very dangerous to fight against when under-armed.
Like Lancers they have two arms, run on two legs, and (surprisingly) have a neck and make vocal communication. Why a machine would use standard human-like air-based vocalization is unknown at this time - especially when Centipedes are completely unable to manually communicate.
Diet
Scythers are machines, and machines don't need to eat - but they do need some source of power.
In the Biotech DLC, Scythers use standard electric power from a large mech recharger, creating toxic wastepacks in the process. However, enemy mechs get their power from a unknown source, and even player mechs can enter dormant self-charging from an independent power source.
Body Parts (Summary)
Scythers, again, are practically humans in biology, although they lack many of the human organs and bones.
Body Part Name | Health (×1.5 Health Scale) | Base Health | Quantity | Coverage (per part)[1] | Group | Function / Required for following System | Effect if Destroyed/Removed |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mechanical Thorax | 40 | 40 | 1 | ? | Core part | Functioning in general | Machine failure |
Mechanical Neck | 30 | 30 | 1 | 8.0% | Top of Thorax | Communication (vocal), connector of thorax and head |
Machine failure |
Mechanical Head | 30 | 30 | 1 | 75% | Neck | Houses Artificial Brain, Sensors | Machine failure |
Artificial Brain | 30 | 30 | 1 | 15% | Head | Dataprocessing | Machine failure |
Sight Sensor | 10 | 10 | 2 | 15% | Head | Sight | Loss of sight/Blindness |
Hearing Sensor | 10 | 10 | 2 | 5.0% | Head | Hearing | Loss of hearing/Deafness |
Smell Sensor | 10 | 10 | 1 | 10% | Head | - | - |
Arm | 30 | 30 | 2 | 10% | Thorax | Manipulation | Loss of manipulation ability/Unable to work (if both lost) |
Hand | 20 | 20 | 2 | 20% | Arm | Manipulation | Loss of manipulation ability |
Fingers | 7 | 7 | 10 | 5.0% | Hand | Manipulation | Loss of manipulation ability (minor) |
Leg | 30 | 30 | 2 | 10% | Thorax | Moving | Unable to move |
Foot | 20 | 20 | 2 | 20% | Leg | Moving | Loss of moving ability |
Toes | 10 | 10 | 10 | 5.0% | Foot | Moving | Loss of moving ability (minor) |
- ↑ Coverage determines the chance to hit this body part. It is dependent on which group the body part is part of, so, for example, you can't shoot someone in the toe and hit them in the brain.
Trivia
Scythers have a unique slashing sound when they use their melee attacks.
Gallery
Version history
- 0.5.492 - Added.
- Beta 19 - Scythers, who could previously use melee or wield charge lances, were split into scythers and lancers. Downed scythers can no longer be be salvaged through a medical operation to obtain their blades if they are intact after the battle.
- Beta 19/1.0 - Now dies when downed.
- ? - Fix typo in description. Description changed from "[...] but their mostly use two arm blades [...]" changed to "[...] but they mostly use their two arm blades [...]".
- Biotech DLC Release - Introduced ability to create and control scythers.