Vela

Vela is a flying support combat unit that fires a massive continuous laser beam which damages enemies, starts fires, and repairs allied structures and units. Introduced in early builds and heavily rebalanced across updates, Vela combines offensive piercing lasers with two dedicated repair-point weapons, making it the only ground unit capable of healing other units via repair points. It is immune to Burning and functions as a maneuverable wallbreaker and mobile repair platform in both offensive and defensive roles.

Vela’s primary beam is a continuous laser with 420 damage per second, pierce mechanics, and incendiary properties; the beam reaches about 22.5 tiles and fires with a cycle of roughly 2.66 s on and 2.58 s reload (firing rate 0.38/sec). While charging or firing the beam, Vela is slowed by the weapon. In addition to the beam, Vela has two repair-point weapons, each healing 84 HP/s at a range of 15 tiles, giving a total repair throughput of 168 HP/s for allied units. Core stats that evolved through updates include a high health pool (recent builds listed around 8200 HP), substantial armor (around 9), a 3×3 size, item capacity near 90, and a fast movement speed (about 3.3 tiles/s). Vela also gained a 300% build speed in later updates, allowing very rapid construction and restoration of structures.

Use Vela as a mobile healer and wallbreaker: its beam can cut through large swathes of fortifications, so pair it with Plastanium Walls when assaulting bases that lack Plastanium coverage to maximize damage to inner defenses. Be prepared to counteract fires the beam starts—use Waves (Cryofluid Waves provide freezing synergy) to extinguish flames and mend Plastanium Walls while Velas keep pressure. When operating in command mode, alternating two move positions causes the beam to sweep between them and helps angle damage; boosting while firing offsets the movement penalty and aids survivability.

Defensively and in mixed attacks, Velas support heavy wallbreakers such as the Reign by outhealing incoming damage: for example, three Velas (504 HP/s) are sufficient to outheal a Foreshadow hitting a single target at base speed, and four Velas (672 HP/s) can outheal a Spectre on thorium when the healed unit has some armor. Velas also synergize with meatshields like the Oct and with static defenses, providing mutual repairs and quickly restoring critical buildings (their high build speed is particularly useful for reconstructing large blocks like the Tetrative Reconstructor). They are effective against small swarms without relying on surge-alloy tech.

Vela has counters and vulnerabilities: piercing high-damage turrets can destroy it quickly if allowed to focus, and small but dangerous spawns like Arkyids and Toxopids can dent or kill a Vela in one-on-one encounters due to their status effects. When facing mixed enemy groups, place more durable non-Plastanium walls in front to soak hits and let Plastanium Walls take the laser’s focused damage inside the base. Velas cannot be set on fire (immune to Burning), and they received command-mode additions such as Rebuild and Assist Player in later updates; the previous command limit of eight was removed as well.

The unit’s name comes from the Vela constellation (Latin for “sails”); the Spanish word vela (“candle”) may have influenced the thematic connection to its melting/incendiary laser.