Lancer

Lancers are a type of fast-moving mechanoid, with strong mid-long range firepower.

Acquisition[edit]

Lancers can be gestated by a mechanitor at a large mech gestator once the high mechtech research project has been completed. Note that this research requires a powerfocus 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 3 bandwidth from their linked mechanitor.

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

Summary[edit]

As mechanoids, every lancer 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 lancers may be shredded at a machining table or crafting spot for 15 steel, though these values are affected by mechanoid shredding efficiency as well as any missing parts on the lancer.

Mechs under player control require power: lancers 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 15 wastepacks whenever the recharger's waste is filled up.

As an enemy[edit]

Mechanoids can raid the player's base through events, and are found in most poison ships, psychic ships, and mech clusters.

Lancers are fast-moving attackers. They will seek out colonists until they can fire, in which they will stay at maximum range to fire. While defending stationary threat (like a psychic ship), mechanoids will only continue to chase if a colonist is a close enough. They will not move around to seek cover, or avoid incoming fighters. They tend to run ahead of slower mechanoids like centipedes, and won't stop to let them catch up. Their armor is not especially good, so lancers aren't difficult to take out.

Combat[edit]

Lancers come equipped with the charge lance of Normal quality, which can deal 30 damage per hit from a range of over 29.9 tiles.

Lancers have a 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.

Effect of its armor on melee damage

Analysis[edit]

As an enemy[edit]

Main article: Defense tactics#Lancers

The DPS of a lancer might be weak compared to a centipede or scyther, but their slow-firing charge lance deals tremendous one-shot damage, enough to take out exposed limbs and organs in 1 hit. They don't fire very often, but when they do, it hurts.

Lancers are vulnerable to spike traps, with only a few required to kill them. They should be priority targets during the early game, as your pawns will likely lack armor to prevent dismemberment.

As the description says, charging lancers can be a viable way to take them down, once you have taken care of any scythers.

As an ally[edit]

Lancers are analagous to human colonists. They move at similar speeds (and are slightly faster), have a similar health, and even use a human weapon. While they don't have quite the same firepower as a centipede (let alone bulk), lancers move much faster, allowing them to be used in strategies alongside ordinary colonists. As a lancer feels no pain and is easily repaired, they should be on the frontlines, and can be used in generally riskier positions than their organic counterparts.

Tesserons are another ranged, fast, medium-size mechanoid. Lancers are better against high armored targets, like other mechanoids, or when targets arrive in low numbers: whenever separated, killed quickly in a killbox, or when their actual quantity is low. Meanwhile, a tesseron's beam graser excels at hitting clumped up groups, such as tribals. The legionary is another fast mechanoid, but is clearly meant for shield utility rather than raw combat.

Health[edit]

Biology[edit]

Lancers, 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.

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[edit]

Player lancers can be recharged with regular power. However, enemy mechanoids don't require power at all, and even gestated variants can get "free" power when entering dormancy. It is unknown where their power comes from.

Body parts[edit]

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'.

Trivia[edit]

A real life “Lancer” is a soldier who is armed with a Lance, and while the Lancer isn’t armed with a traditional lance, the charge lance variant they wield gives them their “Lancer” status.

Gallery[edit]

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

Age 100+ Lancer facing east
Age 100+ Lancer facing north
Age 100+ Lancer facing south

Version history[edit]

Beta 19 - Introduced. Previously, scythers could wield charge lances.
Beta 19/1.0 - Now dies when downed.
1.1 - Now have 200% heat armor, rendering them immune to regular fire damage. Charge lances were nerfed, reducing the range and accuracy of lancers in the process.
Biotech DLC - Introduced ability to create and control mechanoids.
1.4.3555 - Bandwidth cost increased from 2 to 3.
1.4.3641 - Fix: Lancer shoulder parts labels inconsistent.

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

[1] 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.

[2] 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.

[3] Note that capacities can affect other capacities in turn. Only the primary effect is listed. See specific pages for details.

[4] This is the part that everything else connects to to be considered 'connected'.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Lancer

Contents

Acquisition[edit]

Summary[edit]

As an enemy[edit]

Combat[edit]

Analysis[edit]

As an enemy[edit]

As an ally[edit]

Health[edit]

Biology[edit]

Diet[edit]

Body parts[edit]

Trivia[edit]

Gallery[edit]

Version history[edit]

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