Swarm
|
Time to earn your paycheck, team. We got a doozy of a swarm on the way. |
| — Mission Control |
A Swarm is an event which occurs in some missions. It involves a period where enemy spawn rates are massively increased.
Swarm Phases
A Swarm is broken up into three phases. In the first phase Mission Control will issue a warning to the Dwarves that a Swarm is currently imminent. This phase lasts approximately 20 seconds to give players a chance to prepare by forming a position and establishing defences.
The second phase is the Swarm proper; enemies will burrow out of the ground and proceed to attack the dwarves. In a Swarm, enemies will spawn in significantly increased numbers and often in tighter groups. The majority of a Swarm will be comprised of a variety of enemies (check Enemies Pool for more details). A Swarm's second phase will persist until the vast majority of enemies have been killed, or enough time passes naturally.
The third phase is the ending of the Swarm, which will be announced by Mission Control. When this happens no further enemies will spawn from it except for those who were already present before the announcement of the end of the Swarm. Once these last few stragglers are dealt with, enemy spawn rates are reduced back to normal. Often times no further enemies will spawn for a brief moment, giving players a chance to recuperate.
The halt period's duration (used for Mining expedition and On-site Refining) depends on the previous Swarm (if there is not a previous Swarm, it will use the Start Delay value after some time) and the Hazard level (being any value within the interval), being a sum of both:
Mining Expedition Values
Start Delay:
- Hazard 1: 150s (2m30s)
- Hazard 2: 150s (2m30s)
- Hazard 3 and 3.5: 112.5s (1m52.5s)
- Hazard 4 and 4.5: 75s (1m15s)
- Hazard 5 and 5.5: 0s
Swarm Type:
- Generic: 103s (1m43s)
- Mactera: 100s (1m40s)
- Grunt: 100s (1m40s)
- Praetorian: 45s
- Swarmer: 35s
- Dreadnought: 0s
Hazard Level:
| Swarm delay (Hazards) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Difficulty | Chance | Range |
| Hazard 1 | 100% | 350-500s (5m50s-8m20s) |
| Hazard 2 | 100% | 300-450s (5m-7m30s) |
| Hazard 3 | 16.66% | 180-200s (3m-3m20s) |
| 83.33% | 250-350s (4m10s-5m50s) | |
| Hazard 4 | 21.05% | 180-200s (3m-3m20s) |
| 78.94% | 250-300s (4m10s-5m) | |
| Hazard 5 | 20% | 160-180s (2m 40s-3m) |
| 75% | 230-280s (3m50s-4m40s) | |
| 5% | 299s (4m59s) | |
| Hazard 3.5 | 15.78% | 180-200s (3m-3m20s) |
| 78.94% | 250-350s (4m10s-5m50s) | |
| 5.26% | 600s (10m) | |
| Hazard 4.5 | 20% | 180-200s (3m-3m20s) |
| 75% | 250-300s (4m10s-5m) | |
| 5% | 400-500s (6m40s-8m20s) | |
| Hazard 5.5 | 20% | 160-180s (2m40s-3m) |
| 75% | 230-280s (3m50s-4m40s) | |
| 5% | 350-450s (5m50s-7m30s) | |
Mining Expedition, 
On-site Refining, and 
Deep Scan's Unique Swarm Types
Swarms are usually generic, but some Swarms on Mining Expedition, On-site Refining, and Deep Scan can have unique properties, spawning in general certain kinds of enemies. These special Swarms will be identified by Mission Control.
- Glyphid Grunt Swarm: This swarm will consist almost entirely of Glyphid Grunts. Grunt Slashers and Grunt Guards are also common sightings.
- Glyphid Swarmer Swarm: This Swarm will feature many Glyphid Swarmers. Spawn numbers are significantly increased during this swarm to compensate for the easy-to-kill nature of the Swarmers.
- Glyphid Praetorian Swarm: In this Swarm, you will face off against many Glyphid Praetorians. Spawn numbers are slightly lower than the average swarm, as Praetorians are tougher than the average enemy. Often, they are accompanied by a Glyphid Oppressor, as well. This swarm type does not occur in solo missions.
- Mactera Swarm: This Swarm summons Mactera enemies almost exclusively. This includes Mactera Spawn and Mactera Tri-Jaw. Mactera Brundle, Mactera Grabbers and Mactera Goo Bombers, are also summoned but not as common. Glyphids and other enemies can still spawn, but they are less common.
- Dreadnought Attack: Though not technically a Swarm, this event is conducted in the same way. Mission Control will announce the incoming threat of a Glyphid Dreadnought. These Dreadnoughts behave exactly the same way as the ones found in Elimination missions.
- Rockpox Swarm: This swarm will consist of rockpox infected enemies.
| Swarm Type | Weight | Default | Lithophage Outbreak Warning |
15% chance when starting a mission in Season 4 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1P (Solo) | 2P/3P/4P | 1P (Solo) | 2P/3P/4P | 1P (Solo) | 2P/3P/4P | ||
| Generic | 12 | 80% | 73.84% | 52.17% | 49.48% | 63.15% | 59.25% |
| Grunt | 1 | 6.66% | 6.15% | 4.34% | 4.12% | 5.26% | 4.93% |
| Swarmer | 1 | 6.66% | 6.15% | 4.34% | 4.12% | 5.26% | 4.93% |
| Praetorian | 1 | N/A | 6.15% | N/A | 4.12% | N/A | 4.93% |
| Mactera | 1 | 6.66% | 6.15% | 4.34% | 4.12% | 5.26% | 4.93% |
| Dreadnought | 0.25 | N/A | 1.53% | N/A | 1.03% | N/A | 1.23% |
| Rockpox | 8 (Season 4) 4 (Lithopage Warning) |
N/A | N/A | 34.78% | 32.98% | 21.05% | 19.75% |
Point Extraction
Pressure Waves
Terms used:
- Point Extraction Scaler: a variable that determines the Pressure Wave frequency. Changes based on hazard level, with higher hazard levels equating to more frequent pressure waves.
- Enemy Count: a variable that modifies the amount of enemies spawned in a wave. It is set for each player count and hazard level, with higher player counts and/or hazard levels equating to bigger waves.
- Difficulty: a variable that determines the number of enemies spawned in a wave. With higher difficulty equating to bigger waves.
- Difficulty rating: how much each enemy costs to spawn.
- Pressure Waves: the constant waves present in point extraction.
- Spawned Waves: the number of Pressure Waves that have spawned at a given point during a mission.
In Point Extraction enemies will constantly spawn in Pressure Waves. Waves spawn one after the other, with a short delay between. The first wave spawns after a 55s delay, and each each subsequent wave decreases this delay by 1s until it reaches the minimum delay. Making the delay between waves equal to . The minimum delay is the highest value between or , up to a maximum of 55s.
| Hazard level | Hazard 1 | Hazard 2 | Hazard 3 | Hazard 4 | Hazard 5 |
| Minimum Delay | 55s | 50s | 44s | 40s | 40s |
The number of enemies spawned in each Pressure Wave is determined by the Difficulty. Difficulty is determined by 2 variable, the Base Difficulty and the Enemy Count. The Base Difficulty is determined by the number of waves spawned, being the the highest value between or . This means that for each wave after the 9th the number of enemies spawned in a wave will increase. The base Difficulty is then multiplied by the Enemy Count, meaning the Difficulty of a given wave is equal to .
Each enemy has a Difficulty Rating, effectively being their cost to spawn. Pressure Waves will, when possible spawn enemies so the sum of their Difficulty Rating is the same as the Difficulty. Pressure Waves will exclusively consist of Glyphid Grunts (and their variants), Glyphid Swarmers, and Glyphid Web Spitter. Swarmers and Web Spitters will only spawn in Pressure Waves if present in the spawn pool.
- Glyphid Grunts have a rating of 10.
- Grunts may be replaced by Glyphid Grunt Slashers or Glyphid Grunt Guards when spawning.
- Glyphid Swarmers have a rating of 6.
- Pressure Waves will always spawn a minimum of if at least 1 Swarmer is considered
- Glyphid Web Spitter have a rating of 25.
- Web Spitters are replaced with Glyphid Frost Grunts in Glacial Strata.
Swarm
On Point Extraction, Swarms will not have randomness to its delay, with the only difference between Hazards being the delay for the first Swarm.
Check the table below for the times where a swarm will happen:
| Swarm | Hazards 1 to 4 (and 3.5) | Hazards 4.5, 5 and 5.5 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time since previous swarm |
Total elapsed time | Time since previous swarm |
Total elapsed time | |
| 1 | N/A | 4m29s | N/A | 3m59s |
| 2 | 5m40s | 10m9s | 5m40s | 9m39s |
| 3 | 5m30s | 15m39s | 5m30s | 15m9s |
| 4+ | 5m20s (lowest delay) |
20m59s | 5m20s (lowest delay) |
20m29s |
Dreadnought Spawn
If certain conditions are met, a regular Glyphid Dreadnought is scheduled to be spawned during mission. The mission needs a Point Extraction Scaler of 0.9 or lower (Hazard 3 or less) and a 30% chance (checked at the loading screen). The spawn announcement time is between 6min40s and 50min (which starts counting before the mission starts), then 8s after the announcement game proceeds with the spawn.
Unique Swarm Triggers
Asides from happening at random during some mission types, Swarms can also be triggered through unique events or player action.
- Egg Hunts: Some Eggs will trigger a Swarm, with no limit to how many can be triggered at the same time. the number of Eggs that will cause a swarm depends on the total required ammount (with 2/4/6/8 Eggs required, then 1/1/2/3 swarms will occur, respectively).
- Point Extraction: Swarms in this mission type do not have a warning from Mission Control before they occur, only when it starts.
- Escort Duty: A swarm will always spawn once the first wall is drilled into every time the Drilldozer is started up, and will usually continue until the Drilldozer runs out of fuel, and will not have an end of swarm alert from Mission Control. Regular swarm behavior takes over once the Drilldozer has stopped for fuel. Once the final room with the Ommoran Heartstone is reached, no swarms will spawn until the final fight is started. Once the final fight is over, no swarms will spawn until the drop pod is called.
Enemies Pool
The types of enemies that can spawn in each mission is limited by the enemies pool, which will determine which enemies can normally spawn (Special types of swarms or conditions will still allow enemies outside the main pool to spawn). the available slots will vary for each hazard, and then the game will pick different enemies to fill each of the groups (Common, Disruptive and Special). Some biomes will always add their own enemy to the Special group. Some enemies will only spawn as variants of enemies in those groups.
| Difficulty | Enemy Slots | Common Enemies | Disruptive Enemies | Special/Biome Enemies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazard 1 | 5 | 2 | 0-1 | 2-3 |
| Hazard 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Hazard 3 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Hazard 4 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Hazard 5 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
Groups
Common
Grunts and Praetorians are Common enemies. They will always be part of the enemy pool. (Grunts have a chance to transform into Guards or Slashers; Praetorians into Oppressors).
Disruptive
Menaces, Wardens, Bulk Detonators, Stingtails, Stalkers, Shellbacks, Grabbers and Goo Bombers are Disruptive enemies.
Special
Swarmers, Exploders, Web Spitters, Acid Spitters, Septic Spreaders, Mactera Spawns and Tri-jaws are Special enemies. (Mactera Spawns have a chance to transform into Brundles or Tri-jaws).
Biome
Nayaka Trawlers for Sandblasted Corridors, Q'ronar Younglings for Salt Pits and Naedocyte Shockers for Glacial Strata and Dense Biozone, are Biome enemies.
Veterans
There are two different systems for veterans, Normal and Large. it gives certain enemies a chance to become another enemy.
Grunts can turn into Slashers or Guards (uses Normal veteran system)
Praetorians can turn into Oppressors (uses Large veteran system)
Mactera spawns can turn into Brundles or Tri-jaws (uses Normal veteran system)
| Normal Veteran | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Difficulty | Weight | Chance | Range |
| Hazard 1 | 1 | 100% | 0% |
| Hazard 2 | 2 | 66.66% | 0% |
| 1 | 33.33% | 5-15% | |
| Hazard 3 | 6 | 66.66% | 0% |
| 3 | 33.33% | 15-30% | |
| Hazard 4 | 4 | 34.78% | 0% |
| 6 | 52.17% | 15-30% | |
| 1 | 8.69% | 40-60% | |
| 0.5 | 4.34% | 75% | |
| Hazard 5 | 3 | 20.68% | 0% |
| 9 | 62.06% | 15-30% | |
| 2 | 13.79% | 40-60% | |
| 0.5 | 3.44% | 100% | |
| Large Veteran | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | Chance |
| Hazard 1 | 0% |
| Hazard 2 | 10% |
| Hazard 3 | 12.5% |
| Hazard 4 | 15% |
| Hazard 5 | 17.5% |
Enemy Caps
There are maximum limits on the number of enemies that can exist simultaneously. Different types of enemies have different limits. If enough enemies spawn to exceed the enemy cap for creatures of that type, some enemies will be instantly deleted from the world to keep the total number below the limit. However, bosses and Bulk Detonators will never be removed in this way. There is also a similar limit for non-hostile Creatures.
The limit values are constant regardless of Hazard Level or number of players, except when selecting the 
More Enemies modifier with Hazard 5+.
| Enemy Caps | ||
|---|---|---|
| Type | Normal Value | Explanation |
| Max Active Swarmers | 60 | Low health enemies such as Swarmers and Naedocytes |
| Max Active Enemies | 60 | Other enemies |
| Max Active Critters | 40 | Non-hostile creatures |
Additionally, the number of enemies simultaneously aggroed (that is, actively attempting to attack) is limited to 32 ground enemies plus 32 flying enemies per player. These limits are constant regardless of any other difficulty setting. Additional enemies beyond the aggro limit will wander randomly without attacking, even if near a player, until they are able to gain aggro. Bosses and Bulk Detonators are always able to aggro. Other targets such as the Drilldozer also have aggro limits, but not all of these values have been collected.
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