Antigrain warhead

The antigrain warhead is a mortar shell that can be fired by using a mortar or used as material to make an IED antigrain warhead trap. It both does massive damage and has a large blast radius, making it exceptionally effective, although rare.

Acquisition

Antigrain warheads cannot be crafted nor bought from traders. Instead they can only be acquired as a reward for performing quests. Note that quest rewards are selected with a weighted random generator, so there is no way to guarantee access to antigrain warheads in a given play-through. Anecdotally, it is often reported that the increased number of reward options added by the DLC dilute the reward pool with more options.

They can also rarely be found inside an ancient shrine.

Summary

When fired from a mortar, antigrain warheads deal BombSuper damage in a 14.9 tile radius, dealing 550 at the center and 110 damage at the extreme edge of the radius and linearly interpolated in between. It will also set fire to roughly 22% of the affected tiles.

When damaged beyond 70% of its health, it will explode after between 30 ticks (0.5 secs) and 60 ticks (1 sec), dealing BombSuper damage in a radius around itself. The radius depends on the quantity in the stack, with a single shell covering a 14.9 tile radius, and expanding this radius proportional to the square root of the stack size times 0.4 up to a maximum radius of 18 tiles at a full stack of 25. As above, it will deal 550 at the center of the explosion, 110 damage at the extreme edge of the radius and be linearly interpolated in between. It will also set fire to roughly 22% of the affected tiles.

Deterioration damage, however, will not cause said explosion, and the warhead will "deteriorate to nothing" instead.

They are also used in the construction of IED antigrain warhead traps.

Analysis

Antigrain warheads deal more than enough damage to one-shot most enemies in the game. This makes them utterly unmatched in siege defense, as they are capable of wiping out entire groups of raiders in a single blast. Additionally, their blast radius is sufficient to always hit the targeted tile in the blast, giving them reliability in hitting point targets far exceeding that of normally inaccurate mortars.

Tougher, armored enemies such as the centipede are a bit more than likely to survive a blast, but will be severely weakened such that finishing them off becomes much easier. Also take note that a direct hit, rare as it is, will likely kill it outright.

Installed as a trap, it can be extremely useful against crashed ship parts as doing so helps overcome the inaccuracy of mortars.

Storage

As with all mortar shells, it is heavily advised that you keep it in a safe place where it cannot deteriorate, come under fire, or be targeted by a tantrum. In addition to the loss of the antigrain warhead itself, its detonation is likely to cause massive damage to your base, anything inside it, and its occupants. If a tantruming pawn does decide to punch an antigrain warhead, try arresting them. If your pawns are too far, shooting them may be the better option than the alternative - the injuries, mood and social penalties, and even risk of death are still better than the almost-guaranteed death of the tantruming pawn, let alone the collateral damage. For maximum safety, consider sealing it behind a quickly-deconstructable wall, ideally under thick mountain roof on the small chance that a mortar hits that single tile.

Trivia

Despite explicitly being ultra-tech according to its description, it is actually defined as having an industrial tech level like all the other shell types. This is likely just an oversight due to inheriting its class from the same parent as all the other mortar shells.

Gallery

One antigrain warhead
Partial stack
Full stack

Version history

0.18.1722 - Added.
? - Description changed from "A tiny ultra-tech warhead usually used by spacecraft or glitterworld war machines. Powered by a grain of antimatter, it creates a huge explosion and starts fires around the target. Can be fired from mortars or installed as a trap. Explodes when damaged." -> "An ultra-tech warhead powered by a grain of antimatter. Usually used by spacecraft or glitterworld war machines, it creates a huge explosion and starts fires around the target. Can be fired from mortars or installed as a trap. Explodes when damaged." The difference being the words "A tiny"
Somewhere between 1.0.2096 - 1.3.3159 - Texture changed.