Fortress

The Fortress is a long-range, heavy ground siege unit designed to blast enemy structures and clusters of ground units from beyond most base defenses. It is slow but very bulky, with high armor and large-area artillery that cannot hit air targets; its strength comes from range and splash damage rather than single-target DPS. Fortresses appear as a mid-to-late game siege option and are commonly used in waves or as the core of an assault force to punch through walls and turrets that are not built to counter long-range area weapons.

Fortress combat parameters (current builds): it has 900 health, armor 9, a movement speed of 3.22 tiles/sec, and an effective weapon range of about 29 tiles. The weapon fires two projectiles at a rate of 0.5 shots per second each, dealing 20 direct impact damage and 80 area damage (area radius about 4.3 tiles) per hit, with 0.8 knockback. Its projectiles cannot target air units and cannot pass over walls; when a projectile strikes a wall it applies both the impact and area damage to that wall block but will not arc above it.

Practical usage and interactions:

• Fortresses outrange many common mid-tier turrets and can siege undefended or lightly defended areas effectively. A small group (1–3) can force players to respond with long-range defenses, Ripples, or air units.
• They are vulnerable to turrets that naturally outrange them or focus down ground targets, notably the Ripple and Hail; Ripples are inexpensive counters and are commonly placed near enemy Cores. Hail turrets outrange Fortresses and concentrate fire easily because they fire single shots rather than spreads.
• Because Fortresses cannot target air, pairing them with strong air support (fast attack flyers) greatly increases survivability. Conversely, enemy air like Zeniths or mobile flyers can dismantle Fortress groups if unchecked.
• Campaign AI can cause Fortresses to drift into close range of defensive turrets (Fuse, Lancer, Scorch), where their damage advantage is negated; Lancers, Scorches and Cyclones perform well against them when they close. Wall spam and repaired walls can stall a Fortress assault long enough to build counters.
• Fortresses excel at destroying clustered ground forces and large wall sections when used in numbers. Their boosted damage against multi-tile walls means that groups of Fortresses can rapidly collapse base walls, though the inability of projectiles to fly over obstacles slows their progress on heavily compartmentalized defenses.
• On defense, a single Fortress can outdo a Hail turret against groups of ground units due to its larger area and higher damage output; place them where their range can cover likely approach paths.

Tactical tips:

• Keep Fortresses supported by Repair Turrets or healer units and micromanage damaged units by pulling them behind healthier ones to maximize lifespan during sieges.
• Combine Fortresses with air or anti-air deterrents to prevent Zenith and other flyers from cleaning them up.
• Use Fortresses in concentrated volleys against 2x2 or larger walls and clustered turrets for maximum structural damage.
• Avoid relying on Fortresses as a standalone fast harasser; their low speed makes them best suited for deliberate sieges rather than rapid raids.

Historically, the Fortress replaced an older heavy artillery mech role and has received several balance updates: health and speed increases, a larger area radius, higher area damage, and conversion of speed units to tiles/sec. The command limit that once applied was removed in later builds, making mass deployment easier.