Tornado generator

The tornado generator is a powerful single-use utility item that forms a tornado at the targeted location upon activation, wreaking havoc around it.

Acquisition[edit]

Tornado generators cannot be crafted. Instead they can only be acquired through trade, found in ancient shrines, and as a reward for performing quests. Note that quest rewards are selected with a weighted random generator, so there is no way to guarantee access to a tornado generator in a given play-through.

Summary[edit]

When equipped, a tornado generator is worn in the waist utility slot. Pawns that are incapable of violence can equip, but not use, the generator. Once the wearer is drafted, it can be manually activated by the player to target a tile within 45 tiles and within line of sight. It can be targeted under roofs of all types but the tornado will deal no damage to targets under overhead mountain.

After a 3s warm-up, a tornado will be created which will move about the map randomly before dissipating between 2,700 ticks (45 secs) and 10,080 ticks (2.8 mins) later. The warmup time before firing is affected by the Aiming Time stat of the wearer. Tornadoes will hurt units ^{[Investigation Needed]} in its proximity over time.

The tornado generator cannot be recharged or refueled - once its single charge is expended, the item is completely destroyed.

The tornado generator is unusable in orbit.

Like all utility items, a tornado generator is treated largely like any piece of apparel, however some exceptions exist. Utility items are worn on the waist and are mutually exclusive only with each other, regardless of the layer or coverage of other apparel worn. Additionally, utility items never become tainted, deteriorate from being worn, or inflict a worn-out or tattered mood debuff when damaged.

Analysis[edit]

The tornado generator is unwieldy, but powerful. The tornado itself is slow, moves randomly, and cannot be directed once it generates, meaning it is a lot less effective against a moving raid. Even against stationary targets, such as sieges and mechanoid clusters , it will only reliably destroy things it generates on top of. This makes it significantly worse than comparable rarity superweapons like the orbital bombardment targeter and orbital power beam targeter. The tornado generator cannot reliably end raids in the same vein as them or even the more common doomsday rocket launcher.

Finally, if used at the home tile, it comes at the risk of damaging your own base unless it is over a mountain. The tornado can last a long time and move long distances, so even if it is used at the edge of the map, the tornado can hit important buildings and items.

Still, the tornado generator is very effective at destroying whatever tile or pawn it is targeted on.

Its best use is against enemy bases, sieges, crashed ship parts, and especially mechanoid clusters . For mech clusters, aiming at a problem causer or shield will most likely destroy that building along with at least some of the mechs and turrets.
It can also be used to deal with threatening single targets, akin to a psychic insanity lance. Target a pawn that is especially threatening, such as a pawn wielding a doomsday rocket launcher, and the tornado will most likely kill it. The psychic lances are much more common, and doesn't come at the risk of harming your own pawns, so are better suited for this role than the tornado generator, but the tornado will deal with surrounding pawns.

Wearing the tornado generator at all times could be done in case one of the aforementioned use cases suddenly comes up, but the risk of collateral damage to your pawns and base is too great for it to be suddenly used if a raid proves overwhelming. If generating a tornado near your pawns is necessary, the skip psycast is particularly helpful to rescue damaged and downed pawns from the tornado. It is best worn on trigger happy pawns and/or shooting specialists due to their shorter warmup times. Use for protecting small caravans is not advised as psychic lances are better and cheaper for the task.

Doomsday rocket launchers and triple rocket launchers are typically better at solving problems, but they must be wielded, meaning they aren't as flexible against unexpected threats as the tornado generator. The other utility items like the orbital bombardment targeter are stronger, although the tornado can harm mechs whilst the power beam targeter can't.

Version history[edit]

0.19.2009 - Added, replacing the tornado event of Beta 18.
1.2.2753 - new artwork for orbital targeters. Changed from a weapon to a Utility item. Prior to this, like all ranged weapons it couldn't be used when the pawn was wearing a shield belt.
1.3.3067 - escaping prisoners are now capable of picking up and using these.

Utility