Universal Remote

"Hacks the nearest defensive building and turns it against other defenses for a duration. Once the hacking effect expires, the building is stunned for a time. Cannot capture prototype weapons."

Summary

• Universal Remote is a Hero Ability that can be used by Cpt. Everspark in attacks.
• When the ability is used, the hero will approach a nearby defensive building (not a Prototype Defense, MMG 9000, or Super Mortar) and take control of it.
  • The defense glows green when under the Universal Remote's control. It will begin firing at enemy buildings, and enemy defensive buildings (including Prototype Defenses, MMG 9000 and Super Mortar 3000) will begin targeting it
  • While a defensive building is controlled by the Universal Remote, a damage bonus will be applied to the defensive building, meaning that it will do more damage under the influence of the Universal Remote than it would normally do. Certain defenses gain an attack range bonus, such as the Flamethrower.
    • This seems to stack with statue bonuses. This can be a threat if the defending player is never aware of their statue usage.
  • After the hero loses control of it again, the defense will be stunned for a short time before it begins firing at your troops again.
  • The ability ignores all types of defense blind spots.
  • The ability is unusable if no targetable defensive buildings are still active.
• Each use costs 7 more Energy than the previous one, with a starting cost of 8 Energy.
• Hacked defenses can be affected by Artillery, Barrages and Shock Bombs, just like any other Troop. However, a Smoke Screen will not hide them, and a Flare will not cause them to re-target a defense within it's range.
  • They can also be stunned by Shock Mines if a troop triggers them.

Offensive Strategy

• You can use the ability on a high-damage defense like the Boom Cannon so that it destroys other buildings quickly, and for the duration of the hack, your troops will be safe from that defense.
• A defense that is hacked by the ability can serve as an additional distraction for enemy defenses, and are similar to Critters in this respect. While the hacked defense numbers only one, it is likely that the defense has much higher health than the Critters do and can last much longer against area defenses like the Machine Gun or Flamethrower.
• The ability can also be used to take out dangerous defenses before the start of an attack, particularly in Operations. Use Smoke Screens to get Everspark near the desired defense and then use the ability, followed by a Flare if necessary to make her retarget. Once the smoke clears Everspark will hack the targeted defense immediately before any defenses can attack her. If the ability is used quickly, she can hack more defenses before being taken down.
• This ability can be especially useful on long-range defenses like the Rocket Launcher that are not near other key defenses since it will be able to target and destroy them without being taken out too quickly.
• Try to use this ability on Shock Launchers. They can potentially be used to disable many enemy defenses and protect your troops. They also have pretty high health and can tank damage from other defenses.
• The ability can be very useful on higher-level Operations. As the building health is normally much higher than the defensive building damage, this means that a hacked defense will last decently long even if targeted by high-damage defenses like the Boom Cannon for a prolonged period of time.
• Grenadiers work well with this ability since the controlled defense can be destroyed even while it is under your control. This can be beneficiary if the defense would still be standing after the remote's effect is over.
  • Be cautious however, because if your Grenadiers are moving past the defense (close to it) while it is under your control, if the building is still standing when the effect wears off, the Grenadiers will start attacking it, which may result in many casualties.
• Try to avoid using the ability when near a defense that is being upgraded. Upgrading defenses can't attack other defenses, and can only serve as a distraction.
• Care should be taken that targeted defenses will be destroyed or that troops will move out of its range after the stun wears off. Troops do not target defenses affected by this ability and having it fire on them from behind when they are deep inside the base can prove troublesome. One can lead the troops back with flares, however.
  • When using Grenadiers, if the controlled defense is near other buildings, it may be destroyed prematurely or potentially at a beneficial time, e.g. when your troops would be moving up past it. Try to strategize so that the Grenadiers take the defense out at the right time.

Statistics

Capture Duration	Stun Duration
15.0s	4.0s

Level	Damage Bonus	Upgrade Cost	Upgrade Time	Instant (Time Only)	Hero Level Required
1	100%	N/A	N/A	N/A	3
2	125%	8	8h	119	6
3	150%	16	16h	202	9
4	175%	32	1d 8h	339	11
5	200%	64	2d 16h	572	13
6	225%	128	5d 8h	964	14

Number of Shots	Energy Cost	Cumulative Energy Cost
1	8	8
2	15	23
3	22	45
4	29	74
5	36	110