Alpha

Alpha is a light, fast flying combat unit in Mindustry that traces its lineage to the Dart from earlier versions. It serves as one of the Core Units on Serpulo (the core units on that sector are named after the Greek alphabet) and was reintroduced as the core unit of the Shard. Visually and mechanically it resembles the Dart from V4/V5, but its weapon and interactions are tuned so Alpha deals virtually no damage to buildings; it is primarily an anti-unit, scouting, and harassment platform rather than a base-buster. Alpha also appears in Animdustry as a playable character; that implementation includes a special ability that leaves a temporary Copper Wall on the tile it vacates every ten moves which blocks and destroys obstacles or projectiles.

Alpha’s primary armament fires two small basic shots with a combined firing cadence of two streams at about 1.76 shots per second. Each bullet deals 11 damage to units but has a -99% building damage modifier, reducing building damage to 0.11 per hit, and bullets despawn after traveling 18 tiles. The weapon gained homing properties in later builds, and its bullet velocity interactions with the unit’s own velocity have been adjusted across updates (bullet velocity was at one point unaffected by unit velocity, later affected again). Alpha’s movement speed was standardized to 22.5 tiles/second in Version 7 builds. Its weapon bullets have a fixed travel distance (18 tiles), a trait it shares with Beta and Gamma.

Important historical and mechanical changes include:

• Reintroduced in Version 6.0 as the Shard core unit with a Dart-like appearance.
• Range was reduced from 19 to 18 tiles in Version 7.0.
• Movement speed converted and fixed to 22.5 tiles/second (Version 7.0 builds).
• Command limit cap removed (Version 7.0, Build 136).
• Weapon mechanics tweaked across Version 8 builds: bullet velocity interactions and homing were added, and bullets now despawn by traveling 18 tiles rather than by a fixed lifetime; shooting backwards no longer extended bullet lifetime.

Practical usage and tactics:

• Use Alpha for scouting, hit-and-run skirmishes, and anti-unit harassment rather than attempting to damage or destroy buildings; its building damage is effectively negligible.
• The homing bullets and fixed maximum range make Alpha effective against lightly armored or errant enemy units at moderate distances; avoid close assaults on hardened structures.
• Alpha’s high speed and low building damage make it useful for rapid map tasks such as scouting resource nodes or clearing mobile threats without risking friendly structures.
• When player-controlled with the “Double-tap/click to mine” option enabled, Alpha can mine sand tiles, adding utility in specific player-controlled scenarios.
• Because bullets despawn after a set travel distance, positioning matters: engage targets within the 18-tile effective range to ensure full damage and homing efficacy.
• Treat Alpha primarily as a support skirmisher in combined arms: pair it with heavier units when objective destruction is required.