Critters

Not to be confused with Critter Swarm, Cpt. Everspark's Hero Ability.

"Launch these robot troops to distract and destroy enemy buildings!"

Summary

• The Critters ability is currently the seventh and last Gunboat Weapon unlocked for the Gunboat at Headquarters level 19.
• The Critters ability releases many small drones that can distract and attack buildings.
• Critters cannot be healed by the Medkit or the Medic. They also will not follow Flares.
• Magma statues will not increase the health and DPS of the Critters.

Offensive Strategy

• Critters, if deployed while troops are also deployed, serve as a distraction to the defensive buildings. Those buildings would then fire upon and destroy the Critters instead of your troops.
• Critters can be used as an alternative to the Shock Bomb. Deploy them on a vital defense that is targeting your troops to distract it. Be sure that not too many defenses are guarding said area.
• Flamethrowers and other fast-firing defenses will destroy the Critters fairly easily and quickly, so Critters are best used to distract slow-firing defenses like Boom Cannons.
• Critters can also be used to clear Mines and/or Boom Mines as an alternative to using Barrage or Artillery.
  • They can also be used as a substitute against a building that has low health and if the energy cost of the next Critter shot is cheaper than either Artillery or Barrage.
  • However, when using Smokey Warriors or Smokey Zookas, it is recommended to save the Critters to distract the defenses rather than use them to clear Mines, and use Artillery and Barrage in their place.
• Be careful when attempting to distract Mortars, Machine Guns, Rocket Launchers and Shock Launchers, as firing Critters directly at them will not work due to their blind spot. Instead, fire the Critters close enough to the defense as to attract the attention of the defense, but far enough as such that they will not enter the defenses' blind spot. To prevent them from entering their blind spots when they land, it is best to deploy them on another building outside the blind spot.
• Do not worry about your Critters after you deploy them, as they will not follow Flares or be healed by Medkits, so it can be hard to help them. Also, it does not matter if some die, as you will not waste time and gold on training new ones.
• Critters can trigger Hot Pots leaving those open for a Shock Bomb and troops to destroy it.
• Critters can attack a Machine Gun without retaliation from the Machine Gun due to its blind spot. This also makes Machine Guns a good area to deploy Critters for distractions.

Defensive Strategy

• Do not leave your Economy and Support Buildings unprotected. Critters can be used to gain lots of free energy while remaining away from defenses.
• Place Machine Guns and Flamethrowers near defenses that are likely to be targeted by Critters. Machine Guns and Flamethrowers will kill the Critters quickly, reducing their effectiveness.

Upgrade Differences

• There are no visual differences between levels. Critters always appear as small blue robots with two gun barrels that look like eyes at the front, and four legs. It also has a searchlight at the front.
• Each upgrade increases the number of Critters deployed per shot by one.

Trivia

• Defenses seem to prioritize Critters. If a defense is firing at troops, and Critter(s) enter its range, it will typically switch targets to the Critter(s) after its next shot.
  • This is because the Critter(s) attack every building at point blank range.

• Critters also wander around your home base in the same way as the wildlife.
  • During an upgrade, they appear to walk around the building that is under construction/being upgraded unless it is an aquatic building.
• Critters do not count towards casualties if they die.
• Even with the searchlight, they cannot fire through Smoke Screens.
• Critters will still continue to distract any Defensive Buildings in range even while the player is retreating.

Statistics

Critter Movement Speed	Critter HP	Critter DPS	Critter Attack Range	Critter Attack Speed
400	400	135	90	0.5s

Level	Critters Deployed	Research Cost	Armory	Research Time	Instant	XP Gain
1	6	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2	7	5,300,000	19	2d 2h	1,751	70
3	8	6,600,000	19	2d 8h	2,018	74
4	9	7,000,000	19	2d 12h	2,113	77
5	10	7,400,000	20	2d 18h	2,220	81
6	11	7,800,000	20	3d	2,324	84
7	12	8,000,000	20	3d 6h	2,396	88

Number of Shots	Energy Cost	Cumulative Energy Cost
1	8	8
2	13	21
3	18	39
4	23	62
5	28	90
6	33	123
7	38	161
8	43	204