Apocriton

An apocriton (pronounced apoc-crit-on)^[1] is a mechanoid added by the Biotech DLC. It drops the nano structuring chip.

Occurrence

One or more apocritons can spawn in mechanoid raids when sufficient raid points are available for them, however they are also involved in the mechanitor progression and can be specifically summoned by the player.

Summoning a hostile Apocriton requires a mechanitor and a mechband dish, destroying the dish in the process. Constructing a mechband dish requires the High mechtech research.

When summoned, it will be accompanied by other mechanoids. The amount of other mechanoids depends on how many times you have summoned an apocriton before, and is independent of wealth, time, or colony progress. Eventually, you'll have to face multiple mechanoid commanders at the same time. They will crash down in a ship after a random amount of time ranging from a few in game hours to days. They will not attack immediately, but will instead act like a raid and "prepare" before launching their assault. The maximum size is reached after summoning the apocriton 8 times.

Summoning:

1x Apocriton with heavy shield unit, 6x militor, 5x scyther
1x Apocriton with heavy shield unit, 6x militor, 4x scyther, 4x tesseron
1x Apocriton with heavy shield unit, 10x militor, 6x scyther, 1x diabolus
1x Apocriton with heavy shield unit, 10x militor, 2x tunneler, 2x diabolus
1x Apocriton with heavy shield unit, 10x militor, 1x tunneler, 2x centipede (blaster), 2x diabolus, 1x centurion
1x Apocriton with heavy shield unit, 10x militor, 5x scyther, 2x centipede (blaster), 3x diabolus, 1x centurion
1x Apocriton with heavy shield unit, 12x militor, 10x lancer, 5x tunneler, 4x centipede (blaster), 1x war queen
1x Apocriton with heavy shield unit, 15x militor, 10x scyther, 8x centipede (blaster), 2x diabolus, 1x war queen

Like the other mechanoid bosses, after being summoned 8 times, the next summon will be the same as wave 6. The wave count is per playthrough, not per colony or map. If the apocriton is summoned for the first time on one map, summoning another on a second map will bring the second wave. However, resetting your colony through the archonexus chain of quests will reset the wave count.

Summary

As mechanoids, every apocriton 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). It has 80% EMP resistance, so EMP attacks stun it for 80% less time.

The aprocriton is immune to psychic lances. In addition, the skip and both chaos skip psycasts do not function against the apocriton due to "Psychic Resistance". However, berserk, berserk pulse, and any other psycast will work as normal. Like most other mechanoids, the apocriton has 50% Psychic Sensitivity.

Along with termites, apocritons are the only mechanoids that can't be gestated by your colony.

Combat

The apocriton carries a long-range toxic needle gun and is accompanied by other mechanoids. It has the ability to resurrect fallen mechanoids, induce negative moods in humans on the map, and jump long distances.

When summoned, apocritons will spawn with a heavy shield unit, which has a strength of 400 HP - equal to 133 HP of actual damage. Note that it recharges x10 slower than a normal shield belt.

Resurrection

Apocritons can resurrect any hostile mechanoid within a 9.9 tile radius, that has been dead for less than 3,600 ticks (1 min), even if it was resurrected before. This ability will affect a targeted mechanoid, along with other mechs in a 5-tile radius. When resurrected, the mechanoid will come back to life. Some, but not all of the mech's injuries will be repaired.^[Detail]

An apocriton starts with 30 "charges" to use this ability when spawned. Resurrecting a Light class mech costs 1 charge, resurrecting a Medium class mech costs 3 charge, and resurrecting a Heavy class mech costs 5 charge. Ultra-heavy class mechs and other apocritons cannot be resurrected.

There is a short 240 ticks (4 secs) warmup before the mech arises. There is a 480 ticks (8 secs) cooldown after each resurrection before the ability can be used again. This ability does not require line of sight, meaning it can resurrect mechs behind walls.

Jump

Apocritons are also capable of leaping to any tile within a 9.9 tile radius, outside a 5.9 tile radius, and within line of sight. Therefore, it can jump over rock chunks and fences, but not walls. There is a short 30 ticks (0.5 secs) warm-up before jumping. It cannot be hurt mid-jump, even by explosions directly under it, but can still get hit during a short warm-up before jumping. There is a 480 ticks (8 secs) cooldown after each jump.^[Verify]

Apocritons will jump when confronted by a melee enemy.

Psychic drone

Apocritons inflict a negative thought on all pawns on the whole map, regardless of faction. The strength of this effect depends on distance and psychic sensitivity.

If the distance is 5 tiles or shorter, the pawn receives a −16 mood debuff, if between 5 and 12 tiles, the pawn receives a −10 mood debuff, and further than 12 tiles, the pawn receives a −4 mood debuff. This is then scaled by Psychic Sensitivity, much like the psychic drone event. This debuff does not stack if there are multiple apocritons on the map.

Defeat

When an apocriton is defeated, it will emit a stun pulse on death. This stuns all mechanoids and turrets for 1,200 ticks (20 secs), regardless of EMP resistance. Unlike regular EMP attacks, this will not impact pawns with Royalty's brain implants or stomach implants.

Defeating a hostile apocriton will drop a nano structuring chip. This chip can be studied in order to research Ultra Mechtech and Wastepack Atomizer, and can be used in a variety of crafting recipes.

Analysis

Apocritons are the most durable mechanoid in the game. They have armor second only to the tunneler and share the highest health scale with the war queen, but they couple this with a body size of 1, making them up to 50% less likely to be hit by ranged attacks than those mechs. In addition, all summoned apocritons come with a heavy shield unit. Unlike the war queen, the apocriton prefers long range combat, and will jump out of melee range. With a range of 44.9 tiles, the apocriton's toxic needle gun outranges all weapons except the needle gun, the sniper rifle, and the uranium slug turret.

In combat, the apocriton prefers to fight at long range. Apocritons will use their mechanoid revival ability as frequently as possible, so long as they have charges remaining. The apocriton will often attempt to jump behind nearby walls or retreat to longer range before activating its revival ability. If no dead mechanoids are nearby, or if the apocriton is out of charges, it will behave very similarly to a pikeman, staying at long range to snipe at pawns. If you are unable to take it down quickly, prioritize on killing weaker mechanoids such as the militors so the apocriton wastes its ability.

Given its high health and armor, weapons with high armor penetration such as the charge rifle are preferred. EMP will instantly destroy the apocriton's shield if hit, and stun the mechanoid for a very brief period. Hitting the apocriton with an EMP will disrupt its ability to resurrect other mechanoids. Apocritons rarely enter the range of EMP grenades unless forced to by terrain or structures, but an EMP launcher, with its superior range, can more easily be used to stun the mechanoid.

Using melee to engage apocritons is difficult, as the apocriton will simply jump away if enemies get too close. Using the skip psycast, a jump pack, or longjump legs to close the distance can be effective to catch the apocriton. Apocritons are extremely poor melee adversaries, with attacks that deal very low damage. However, their high health and strong armor gives them a significant advantage in being able to simply outlast their opponent. You can take advantage of the apocriton's willingness to jump - if it's jumping, it isn't shooting or reviving.

Apocriton 's resurrection ability has two features: 1) it can resurrect mechanoids even if they are behind a wall, 2) after resurrection, the immunity of mechanoids to EMP disappears. If you manage to separate a group of 2-3 scythers or militors, then you can throw EMP grenades and kill them until apocriton runs out of resurrection charges. After that, it is more profitable to destroy the accompanying mechanoids, because apocriton itself is not capable of causing significant damage

When killed, apocritons release a large area-of-effect stun with a range of approximately 25-30 tiles. Colonists will be unaffected, however all turrets and mechanoids - player or enemy - will be stunned. This effect is less useful if the player relies on mechanoids or turrets for defense.

Health

Specify body type when known.

Body part	Health
Head	130
Skull	130
Brain	52
Nose	52
Neck	130
Jaw	104
Eye ^[2] (left, right)	52
Ear (left, right)	52
Body	208
Kidney^[3] (left, right)	78
Lung^[3] (left, right)	78
Liver^[3]	104
Heart^[3]	78
Spine^[3]	130
Stomach^[3]	104
Limbs (left, right, fore, hind)	156
Appendage (left, right, fore, hind)	104

↑ Tynan Sylvester Interview, Hot Potato 2022
↑ Located inside of Head.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 ^3.4 ^3.5 Located inside of Body.

Trivia

Although the apocriton cannot be gestated, the game's files do contain "clean" variants of its textures, as well as faction color overlays.

Gallery

Age 0-99 Apocriton facing east
Age 0-99 Apocriton facing north
Age 0-99 Apocriton facing south

Age 100+ Apocriton facing east
Age 100+ Apocriton facing north
Age 100+ Apocriton facing south

Version history

Biotech DLC Release - Added.
1.4.3531 - EMP resistance increased from 40% to 80%. Added alert for incoming bossgroup. Fix: Bossgroup mechs do not attack if mechanoid faction is disabled.
1.4.3541 - Fix: When the mechanoid faction is disabled, mech bosses will not attack pawns.
1.4.3555 - Super-mechanoids cannot be called when there is already another super-mechanoid on the way. Significant combat overhaul. Toxic needle gun damage increased from 15 to 25. Sharp armor 40% -> 75%, Blunt armor 20% -> 40%. Health 3.3 -> 5.2. Apocritons can now cast resurrect without line of sight. Became immune to psychic lances. Fix: Apocriton appears in mech clusters.

Mechanoids

Mechanoids | Core: Centipede (Blaster, Burner, Gunner) • Lancer • Pikeman • Scyther • Termite
Combat: Centurion • Legionary • Militor • Scorcher • Tesseron
Command: Apocriton • Diabolus • War queen (War urchin )
Labor: Agrihand • Cleansweeper • Constructoid • Fabricor • Lifter • Paramedic • Tunneler
Cluster | Buildings: Condition causer • Count-down activator • Mech assembler • Mech capsule • Mech drop beacon • Mech high-shield • Mech low-shield • Mech node • Proximity activator • Unstable power cell
Turrets: Auto charge turret • Auto inferno turret • Auto mortar • Mini-slugger turret
Creation | Pawn: Mechanitor
Buildings: Mech gestator • Large mech gestator • Mechband antenna • Mechband dish

References

[1] Tynan Sylvester Interview, Hot Potato 2022

[Head-2] Located inside of Head.

[Body-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 ^3.4 ^3.5 Located inside of Body.

[1]

[2]

[3]