Factorio Forums

Posted: **Sun Dec 29, 2024 2:17 pm**

I've played a lot of Factorio over the years, so I was surprised to find that I (the engineer) had to flee Gleba and abandon my base there to the natives. I apparently had taken too long to figure out how things work on Gleba, so the Big Monsters showed up before I had researched coal synthesis, which I was going to use to make flamethrower turrets. My only alternative was to load an earlier save and lose days of playing time, which I wasn't willing to do.
Has this happened to anybody else? Has anybody else had to leave Gleba to return to fight another day?

Posted: **Sun Dec 29, 2024 2:38 pm**

I've played a lot of Factorio over the years... to make flamethrower turrets

"Why, Mr. Anderson?, Why, why?. Why do you do it?"

Has this happened to anybody else? Has anybody else had to leave Gleba to return to fight another day?

Yeah, this has happened to other experienced players. Experience without flexibility may become disadvantage.

Posted: **Sun Dec 29, 2024 2:42 pm**

angramania wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2024 2:38 pm
Has this happened to anybody else? Has anybody else had to leave Gleba to return to fight another day?
Yeah, this has happened to other experienced players. Experience without flexibility may become disadvantage.

Is there some other way of defending against big pentapods that's all available on Gleba (without any additional research) that I missed? I know that this is a whole new situation, but I couldn't figure out any better options.

Posted: **Sun Dec 29, 2024 3:20 pm**

Enemies are segmented.
This means that unless the dev's have changed something, an HE rocket will bring a special kind of pain to a pendapod's multi-segmented body.

Video for if you want to see a demo:
https://youtu.be/ijoNl6hphE0

I elected to put a uranium tank shell through my lab and go play with space platforms. But if you have any carbon fiber, if you evacuate that you can come back with a spidertron platoon or a lot of rocket turrets.

Posted: **Sun Dec 29, 2024 3:21 pm**

Pentapods have 50% resistance against laser damage. They have some physical damage resistance, but red ammo (or green ammo if imported) is reasonably effective.

They have no resistance against lightning damage, so Tesla weaponry imported from Fulgora is very effective and is likely the best option.

They also don't have resistance against explosives, and Gleba is where you get the rocket turret tech. It does require coal synthesis to manufacture on Gleba, though.

Artillery is also very effective at keeping them away from your base, although as usual, you have to defend your artillery. This is probably an import item.

Posted: **Sun Dec 29, 2024 3:33 pm**

J-H wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2024 3:21 pm Pentapods have 50% resistance against laser damage. They have some physical damage resistance, but red ammo (or green ammo if imported) is reasonably effective.

The big stompers have 80% against lasers and 50% against physical. Otherwise, my laser defense would have worked!

Posted: **Sun Dec 29, 2024 3:36 pm**

J-H wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2024 3:21 pm They have no resistance against lightning damage, so Tesla weaponry imported from Fulgora is very effective and is likely the best option.

If I can expand on this slightly: this is very correct. Lightning visibly arcs across segments (also in videya). The only disadvantage of a lightning turret is it has range 30 v range 36. But uncommon turrets have a slightly longer range and do some things to increase their potential damage values. On Gleba a heat tower can probably bench press a nuclear reactor because of all the spoilage you can feed it.

Also, the resulting horde of small pentapods that spawn on unit death will try and rush a rocket launcher and can get into minimum range, now that I think about it? So you have to have a more complicated gunline if you use that as a basis for your defense. A lightning turret strategy might only fair slightly better due to slow rate of fire but it with damage upgrades that might be where you end up for the sake of ease of deployment.

Posted: **Sun Dec 29, 2024 3:48 pm**

When I come back, I'm coming back with one of my favorite weapons: landmines! Then, I'll hold them off with landmines (hopefully) while I research coal synthesis so I can make flame turrets... and maybe more landmines.

Posted: **Sun Dec 29, 2024 3:50 pm**

NineNine wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2024 3:33 pm The big stompers have 80% against lasers and 50% against physical. Otherwise, my laser defense would have worked!

Yeah, you're right on that count. There's still a place for lasers against the smallest pentapods, but they are outranged by the larger variants and the big stompers have a health pool that make lasers ineffective. Not to mention DR values

And stompers are not slow. So I'd recommend setting a filter on surviving lasers so they engage small pentapods and the stalkers if they come in range, once you reset defensive lines.

Oh, by the way. No matter what you do.

Edit: I checked this, the below no longer applies.
Don't use landmines.

At some point I made a pass through the map editor, I noticed that pentapods can see them. And the stalkers projectile spawns a pentapod on hit. A stomper can outright see them too, and it's offense is of course AOE acid damage on the entire landmine patch. Even if it couldn't see them, if it responded with an attack the landmine patch would just go away. I don't have video of that, so someone might want to confirm that knowledge.

Posted: **Sun Dec 29, 2024 4:22 pm**

coffee-factorio wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2024 3:50 pm
Oh, by the way. No matter what you do.

Don't use landmines.

At some point I made a pass through the map editor, I noticed that pentapods can see them. And the stalkers projectile spawns a pentapod on hit. A stomper can outright see them too, and it's offense is of course AOE acid damage on the entire landmine patch. Even if it couldn't see them, if it responded with an attack the landmine patch would just go away. I don't have video of that, so someone might want to confirm that knowledge.

I think I read somewhere or saw a video of somebody using landmines successfully against the big stompers. I don't remember where I saw it....

Posted: **Sun Dec 29, 2024 7:06 pm**

Early on i just spammed a wall of dense turrets and didnt even bother with ap ammo. Stompers would take out a whole section of it, but the turrets, belts, and ammo were cheap enough to be replaced quickly with bots.

I kept that setup even until after I left Gleba and went to Vulcanus.

I was exporting rocket turrets before finally setting up a proper coal synthesis line and proper rocket turret defense on Gleba. After that stompers werent doing much dmg. But Im still at medium stompers and havent done artillery yet. We'll see if they become a threat again as I inevitably increase production.

Posted: **Sun Dec 29, 2024 10:05 pm**

The easy answer: The best defense on Gleba is a good offense. Go out periodically and kill everything nearby with whatever you have. It will help if you already have the mech suit. Rockets are the best, but red or green ammo will work plenty well early on.

You need to do this anyway to get eggs for biochambers.

In the later stages of the game, artillery imported from Vulcanus will reduce the number of attacks on Gleba to basically zero.

Posted: **Mon Dec 30, 2024 2:37 am**

NineNine wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2024 4:22 pm
coffee-factorio wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2024 3:50 pm
Oh, by the way. No matter what you do.

Don't use landmines.

At some point I made a pass through the map editor, I noticed that pentapods can see them. And the stalkers projectile spawns a pentapod on hit. A stomper can outright see them too, and it's offense is of course AOE acid damage on the entire landmine patch. Even if it couldn't see them, if it responded with an attack the landmine patch would just go away. I don't have video of that, so someone might want to confirm that knowledge.
I think I read somewhere or saw a video of somebody using landmines successfully against the big stompers. I don't remember where I saw it....

Was enough to get me to check, setup a test demo. Pentapods set up a nest right next to the landmine patch. Had damage upgrades set up to 7 or so on explosive. They can't see 'em anymore (and I checked by direct spawning max level stompers). Bouncing betty's do segment damage too, so a deep setup will rip them apart. Good hunting!

Posted: **Mon Dec 30, 2024 7:36 am**

With all the "Gleba sucks" posts, I begin to wonder what's the problem.
Especially the pentapod problems.

Is it just me always setting starting area to 600%?

I run a continuous base, everything not used in production is burned. 2 harvesters per fruit.
Besides 2 hickups where too many seeds clogged up my belts, I never had the spore cloud grow beyond the 2 radars at the plantations the ~80 hours it was producing.

I'd need to look at my map seed again, but I don't think I fiddled with anything beside the starting area, cos I wanted to make sure to get as much achievements as possible.

Posted: **Mon Dec 30, 2024 12:44 pm**

GrumpyJoe wrote: Mon Dec 30, 2024 7:36 am Is it just me always setting starting area to 600%?

That'll make a huge difference in your experience. Pentapods are relatively docile even though they can still expand. But as soon as they get a scent of spores they have expansion characteristics that are as bad as or worse than biters.

Posted: **Mon Dec 30, 2024 1:39 pm**

NineNine wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2024 4:22 pm
coffee-factorio wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2024 3:50 pm
Oh, by the way. No matter what you do.

Don't use landmines.

At some point I made a pass through the map editor, I noticed that pentapods can see them. And the stalkers projectile spawns a pentapod on hit. A stomper can outright see them too, and it's offense is of course AOE acid damage on the entire landmine patch. Even if it couldn't see them, if it responded with an attack the landmine patch would just go away. I don't have video of that, so someone might want to confirm that knowledge.
I think I read somewhere or saw a video of somebody using landmines successfully against the big stompers. I don't remember where I saw it....

One of the videos that plays in the background of the Factorio splash screen shows stompers walking on land mines.

Posted: **Mon Dec 30, 2024 3:33 pm**

coffee-factorio wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2024 3:20 pm an HE rocket will bring a special kind of pain to a pendapod's multi-segmented body.

I would advise to only use HE Rockets (i.e. Explosive Rockets, the one with the red tip) in offense, not with rocket turrets.

I had a defensive fortification with 4+ lines laser turrets and 3 lines rocket turrets and with every attack I kept loosing about 10-20 turrets. I made ONE change only to drop that to loose merely 1 laser with every attack: I switched from loading rocket turrets with Explosive Rockets to loading them with normal Rockets (i.e. yellow tip).

Posted: **Mon Dec 30, 2024 11:44 pm**

waterBear wrote: Mon Dec 30, 2024 1:39 pm One of the videos that plays in the background of the Factorio splash screen shows stompers walking on land mines.

It's a tricky thing. Because I said what I said, but I also went back and edited the post because I went in and tested what happened now. You're right to say I'm not right, but the menu simulations are for entertainment. If you move the menu around on the demolisher worm duel, you'll notice the red engineer fires rockets after he dies.

Also, the red engineer is using rockets. To fight a demolisher. That aren't nuclear.

Lighthouse wrote: Mon Dec 30, 2024 3:33 pm
coffee-factorio wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2024 3:20 pm an HE rocket will bring a special kind of pain to a pendapod's multi-segmented body.

I would advise to only use HE Rockets (i.e. Explosive Rockets, the one with the red tip) in offense, not with rocket turrets.

I had a defensive fortification with 4+ lines laser turrets and 3 lines rocket turrets and with every attack I kept loosing about 10-20 turrets. I made ONE change only to drop that to loose merely 1 laser with every attack: I switched from loading rocket turrets with Explosive Rockets to loading them with normal Rockets (i.e. yellow tip).

That's really good info. Thank you!

There's a lot different from messing around in the editor and actual operations. The rockets have a minimum distance, so my theory for a defense would be setting filters to hit stompers and stalkers and leaving the little ones to other turrets. But with what you're saying, if I ever try this theory out I ought to put the lasers or guns behind the rockets. Or overlap with regular rockets if something tries to close. And if something goes wrong, then I'm probably going to lose a lot :\

You probably saved me from shredding my own line. And if HE isn't viable I'm more likely to drop it early; at this point it's gone from interesting to suspicious. Just because I'm entertaining other ideas doesn't mean I don't appreciate what experience is making plain.

Posted: **Tue Dec 31, 2024 1:40 pm**

coffee-factorio wrote: Mon Dec 30, 2024 11:44 pm
waterBear wrote: Mon Dec 30, 2024 1:39 pm One of the videos that plays in the background of the Factorio splash screen shows stompers walking on land mines.
It's a tricky thing. Because I said what I said, but I also went back and edited the post because I went in and tested what happened now. You're right to say I'm not right, but the menu simulations are for entertainment. If you move the menu around on the demolisher worm duel, you'll notice the red engineer fires rockets after he dies.

Also, the red engineer is using rockets. To fight a demolisher. That aren't nuclear.

Lighthouse wrote: Mon Dec 30, 2024 3:33 pm
coffee-factorio wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2024 3:20 pm an HE rocket will bring a special kind of pain to a pendapod's multi-segmented body.

I would advise to only use HE Rockets (i.e. Explosive Rockets, the one with the red tip) in offense, not with rocket turrets.

I had a defensive fortification with 4+ lines laser turrets and 3 lines rocket turrets and with every attack I kept loosing about 10-20 turrets. I made ONE change only to drop that to loose merely 1 laser with every attack: I switched from loading rocket turrets with Explosive Rockets to loading them with normal Rockets (i.e. yellow tip).
That's really good info. Thank you!

There's a lot different from messing around in the editor and actual operations. The rockets have a minimum distance, so my theory for a defense would be setting filters to hit stompers and stalkers and leaving the little ones to other turrets. But with what you're saying, if I ever try this theory out I ought to put the lasers or guns behind the rockets. Or overlap with regular rockets if something tries to close. And if something goes wrong, then I'm probably going to lose a lot :\

You probably saved me from shredding my own line. And if HE isn't viable I'm more likely to drop it early; at this point it's gone from interesting to suspicious. Just because I'm entertaining other ideas doesn't mean I don't appreciate what experience is making plain.

I was really responding to the other guy wondering where he saw the video. You're right, the splash screen videos are often trying to show players what not to do by providing glimpses of what's to come. For example the engineers stranded on Aquilo, the spoiling eggs, or the guy getting hit by lightning on Fulgora. I was just trying to answer his implied question. I don't even use land mines.

ETA: I just realized the other guy was probably being sarcastic.

I'm dumb.

Posted: **Tue Dec 31, 2024 10:39 pm**

Lighthouse wrote: Mon Dec 30, 2024 3:33 pm
coffee-factorio wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2024 3:20 pm an HE rocket will bring a special kind of pain to a pendapod's multi-segmented body.
I would advise to only use HE Rockets (i.e. Explosive Rockets, the one with the red tip) in offense, not with rocket turrets.

I had a defensive fortification with 4+ lines laser turrets and 3 lines rocket turrets and with every attack I kept loosing about 10-20 turrets. I made ONE change only to drop that to loose merely 1 laser with every attack: I switched from loading rocket turrets with Explosive Rockets to loading them with normal Rockets (i.e. yellow tip).

Regular rockets and lasers are probably the worst defense to use against stompers, since their immunities are to laser, impact, and physical damage. So yes, explosives should work against them, as well as electricity, or even fire (https://wiki.factorio.com/Enemies#Stompers).

Landmines will probably work great on Gleba, but you'd have to import them in in significant numbers and it would take many, many rocket trips until you can survive on Gleba long enough to research coal synthesis. After that, you can make unlimited landmines on Gleba. Flamethrowers are in the same boat: they should work great against the big stompers, and you have unlimited ammo, but again, you have to survive long enough to research coal synthesis (which I did not).

When I return to Gleba, I think I'm going back with tesla turrets from Fulgora. They're a lot more bang for your buck (or damage per rocket trip) than landmines or fuel for flamethrower turrets.

Factorio Forums

I had to flee Gleba!

I had to flee Gleba!

Re: I had to flee Gleba!

Re: I had to flee Gleba!

Re: I had to flee Gleba!

Re: I had to flee Gleba!

Re: I had to flee Gleba!

Re: I had to flee Gleba!

Re: I had to flee Gleba!

Re: I had to flee Gleba!

Re: I had to flee Gleba!

Re: I had to flee Gleba!

Re: I had to flee Gleba!

Re: I had to flee Gleba!

Re: I had to flee Gleba!

Re: I had to flee Gleba!

Re: I had to flee Gleba!

Re: I had to flee Gleba!

Re: I had to flee Gleba!

Re: I had to flee Gleba!

Re: I had to flee Gleba!