Factorio Forums

Not sure if this is a bug/feature or just how biters work. I've seen quite a bit of artillery ammo wasted on firing on new biter expansions going up.

Example: This biter expansion is outside my turret range, but inside my artillery range. The biters slowly convert to biter bases/worms. When they do, the artillery fires on the base.

Two worms and a base were generated by the biters. All three had to be individually targeted by the artillery over about a 30-45 second period. The other biters just sit there as they get hit by the splash damage and their bases get attacked. All told this expansion of 7 used up 7 artillery shells.

Is that normal? When a non-expanding base gets attacked, all nearby biters form up and attack towards the artillery.

I think they are just set on expanding so it doesn't trigger an attack. I'm not entirely sure how the mechanics work but that's my guess.

Having said that, it's worth upping your artillery shell production and logistics. 7 shots is a very small amount if you intend to use artillery seriously, and automating the entire resupply loop is highly desirable as well. Yes it is a bit inefficient, I would agree, but it's still a very worthwhile weapon.

Once an expansion pack has found a spot they want to establish a new base at, the sit there and take a little bit of time to change into the spawners.

During that time, they are not yet targets of opportunity for the autonomous mode artillery. But, when you target them manually, they are no longer mobile and cannot rush to attack. They also, because they are not yet spawners, have no mobile units to send in retaliation. Basically, its a short window where you can kill them with impunity.