Noctolith

The noctolith is a structure entity added by the Anomaly DLC. Three will spawn as the focal point of the unnatural darkness major threat.

Occurance[edit]

Main article: Unnatural darkness

Noctoliths will only spawn as part of the unnatural darkness event, which requires a level 2 void monolith. Note that they will not appear as part of the unnatural darkness caused by monolith awakening, as void structures will appear instead.

Summary[edit]

Noctoliths do not take any direct action unless they are damaged. When damaged, they will trigger a wave of noctols to attack the colony - this happens once per noctolith. The amount of damage needed to trigger the wave is anywhere from 0 to 99% HP of the noctolith's health. Dealing enough damage to instantly kill a noctolith, e.g., with an ancient mining charge, will still trigger the first two waves of noctols, but the final wave can be skipped by instant destruction. Destroying all three noctoliths together instantly will still trigger the first two waves.

The first two waves triggered this way spawn at 35% raid points and the final noctol wave spawns at 50% raid points. The "base" raid point value is snapshotted when the unnatural darkness event is first started.

Destroying all three noctoliths will immediately end the unnatural darkness game condition. In addition, noctoliths drop a shard and 32 bioferrite when destroyed.

Noctoliths themselves generate a small amount of light.

Analysis[edit]

Main article: Unnatural darkness#Analysis

Destroying the noctoliths is not essential to surviving the unnatural darkness event. Waiting the 6-8 days for the event to end is sufficient if the base is well-lit, can survive noctol raids, and has a decent food stockpile. Alternatviely, a sun lamp setup can enable crop growth during the unnatural darkness.

Still, each noctolith rewards a shard when destroyed, and destroying all three ends the event early, so it is worth it if the extra danger can be handled. Sending out teams of builders to create a path of torches is sufficient to reach a noctolith safely. Managing haulers to bring wood to the front line as it creeps forward can speed up the process significantly. Even faster is to use disruptor flares or the solar pinhole power to quickly create a path, or putting pawns in transport pods or passenger shuttles to launch them to the safety of the small amount of light given off by the noctolith itself. A riskier but admittedly quick option is to command a pawn armed with molotov cocktails or other incendiary weapons to start fires by targeting the noctolith from a distance. Noctol raids will almost certainly occur during the travel, but a crew of well-armed pawns can easily shoot down single noctols before they can enter melee range, even in darkness. Noctol raids announce the direction they will come from as soon as they spawn, allowing you to retreat to a well-lit part of the map and give yourself even more of an advantage.

Also remember that you don't need to travel all the way to a noctolith to destroy it. Pawns with long range guns like the bolt-action rifle or sniper rifle can pick away at them from a distance in relative safety. Alternatively, mortars can very effectively destroy a Noctolith without leaving a base with about 5 hits from high-explosive shells, though the cost of doing so should be evaluated: the ammunition cost and mortar deterioration will likely be much higher than 5 shots per noctolith due to missed shots. Even so, the relative safety of this option makes it worth considering for late-game colonies which can afford to spend the resources.

A ghoul can walk through a small stretch of darkness, regenerate any damage, and melee a noctolith in relative safety. Alternately, a melee pawn with fast movement speed, the skip psycast, or a means of jumping can sprint through the darkness and rapidly tear down a noctolith, especially if they're wielding a breach axe for the extra building damage. Consider sending them immediately after finishing a wave of enemies to reduce the chances of them getting isolated and surrounded by a fresh wave of noctols. Friendly mechanoids are immune to darkness damage entirely, although they are leashed to their mechanitor which won't be.