Diabolus

Diabolus

An ultra-heavy mechanoid with an ultra-powerful hellsphere cannon. Made for siegebreaking, its hellsphere cannon takes time to charge up a shot, but can melt concrete and vaporize bone. The diabolus dissipates the hellsphere cannon's waste power in a heat column mounted on its back, which can pulse to ignite flammable objects nearby.
This mech's name comes from a thousand-year-old poem written by a Haspian monk who survived the erasure of his monastery. His religiously-tinged work describes a razor-bodied fiend pulsing with flesh-searing heat as it crushed scorched bodies under massive claws. The few who have faced a diabolus and survived tend to agree with this depiction.

Base Stats

Type

Mechanoid

Market Value

1600 

Flammability

0%

Apparel

Armor - Sharp

75%

Armor - Blunt

25%

Armor - Heat

200%

Pawn Stats

Bandwidth

5

Move Speed

2.4 c/s

Health Scale

4.5

Body Size

4

Mass

240 kg

Pack Capacity

140 kg

Carrying Capacity

300 kg

Filth Rate

1

Comfortable Temp Range

-100 °C – 250 °C (-148 °F – 482 °F)

Melee Combat

Attack

Head
18 dmg (Blunt)
27 % AP
2.6 second cooldown

Average DPS

4.29

Creation

Crafted At

Required Research

High mechtech

Resources to make

300 + 300 + 2 + 1

Technical

weaponTags

HellsphereCannonGun

A Diabolus is a mechanoid added by the Biotech DLC.

Summary

As mechanoids, every diabolus is immune to fire, Flame and Heat damage, and temperature extremes, despite having Comfortable Temperatures defined. They have 100% Toxic Resistance and Toxic Environment Resistance, making them immune to toxic buildup, rot stink and other toxic effects. They do not need to eat, rest, and have no mood. They will be stunned by EMP attacks for a time proportional to the EMP damage inflicted and will "adapt" and rendered immune to further EMP strikes for 2,200 ticks (36.67 secs).

Diaboluses have a 60% EMP resistance, meaning they are stunned for 60% less time.

As an enemy

You can summon a hostile Diabolus with a mechanitor and a powered comms console. Therefore, summoning one requires the Microelectronics research. However, they are not exclusive to summoning, as strong enough mechanoid raids may feature one or even multiple.

When summoned, it will be accompanied by other mechanoids. The amount of other mechanoids depends on how many times you have summoned a Diabolus before, but is independent of wealth, time, or colony progress. Eventually, you'll have to face multiple Diaboluses at the same time. They will crash down in a ship after a random amount of time ranging from a few in game hours to days. They will not attack immediately, but will instead act like a raid and "prepare" before launching their assault. At the moment, it seems that the maximum size is reached after summoning Diabolus 8 times.

Defeating a hostile Diabolus rewards the player with a signal chip. Studying one is required to research Standard Mechtech, and they can also be used to create various mechanitor gear or even your own Diabolus.

Combat

An enemy Diabolus alternates between two long range attacks:

1. Hellsphere cannon. When using this attack, Diabolus will create a red circle around a target. After several seconds, the circle explodes, leaving a large circle of fire. The radius of the blast is a bit larger than the circle, so you may want to err on the side of caution. Thankfully, it only has a range of 19 tiles, and can't be used too close. However, it can be fired at distant targets even when engaged in melee.

• It deals 800 bomb damage, which is multiplied against walls and impassible structures. Humans are scaled around 100 health, so the blast is easily enough to outright kill a pawn caught near its center. It is also certain to obliterate any structures in the blast.

2. A single pulse bullet. This is long range and relatively low damage, but it has almost no startup time. It can be fired while moving. Cover is useful, assuming the hellsphere cannon isn't aimed at it.

When engaged in melee, the Diabolus will trigger a special ability. It surrounds itself in explosive fluids and then ignites them creating a massive fireball around it. This attack deals heavy damage, and there is almost no time to disengage and run to safety.

An enemy Diabolus won't actively try to breach walls, though it will destroy buildings and objects if no pawns are accessible.

Summoning:

1. 1x Diabolus, 3x militor
2. 1x Diabolus, 4x militor, 2x pikeman
3. 1x Diabolus with heavy shield unit, 7x militor, 2x pikeman, 1x tesseron
4. 2x Diabolus with heavy shield unit, 10x militor, 3x legionary, 1x centurion
5. 2x Diabolus with heavy shield unit, 10x militor, 5x scyther, 3x centipede (gunner)
6. 2x Diabolus with heavy shield unit, 15x militor, 8x pikeman, 4x centipede (gunner), 1x centurion
7. 2x Diabolus with heavy shield unit, 15x militor, 10x lancer, 5x centipede (gunner)
8. 3x Diabolus with heavy shield unit, 15x militor, 10x tesseron, 6x centipede (gunner), 1x centurion

Like the other mechanoid bosses, after being summoned 8 times, the next summon will be the same as wave 3.

As an ally

The Diabolus is an ultra-heavy mechanoid, and require High Mechtech to be researched.

They can be created from a large mech gestator with  300 Steel,  300 Plasteel,  2 Signal chips,  1 High subcore, taking up 5 bandwidth from a mechanitor. After taking a small amonut of work to craft, it must gestate for 12 cycles to form. They recharge in a large mech recharger, creating 25 wastepacks whenever the recharger's waste is filled up.

In combat, the Diabolus will automatically use their pulse turret, unless disabled. They will automatically aim the hellsphere cannon, though it has a limited range, can't be used too close, and still takes a long time to charge up. However, it can be used even if attacked in melee range. The cannon will still light the terrain on fire and will destroy structures. They may also initiate a flame burst, which takes 3 seconds to warm up and cannot be used for 1 hour afterwards.

Analysis

As an enemy

Kiting is key to taking out the Diabolus. With fire vulnerable pawns, it is highly advised to NOT use melee attacks to avoid the close-ranged burst. Sufficient fire protection (devilstrand clothing, phoenix armor , impids) can help tank the flames, and your own mechanoids are completely immune to fire.

If melee isn't an option, you should instead manually move pawns away from the blast radius, always allowing yourself the option to move. Splitting your pawns up will allow more of them to focus on shooting instead of running. You can even use your own militors to lure the cannon or flame burst; their range is short enough to justify staying close, anyway.

Be extra careful about fire; if not from the diabolus' blast, then from the wildfires or a tesseron. Pawns lit on fire can't be controlled, so you can't order them out of the blast range, which is nearly certain to be fatal. Also be wary of the Fleeing Fire mental break, caused by being a child or the pyrophobia gene; while short, it is still just as dangerous with a diabolus. A firefoam pop pack is very helpful.

Despite their resistance, diaboluses are still vulnerable to EMP. However because of the EMPs reduced uptime, you may want to use EMP damage tactically. Stunning the diabolus interrupts the hellsphere cannon, so EMPs can be timed to prevent the cannon from firing and potentially save a pawn's life. If the diabolus is still adapted while firing, and therefore temporarily immune to further EMP stuns, then this strategy cannot be used. EMP should thus be used sparingly, rather than fired at will. The exception to this is the shields later diaboluses spawn with. EMPs will instantly break them. Against these it is best to throw the first EMP right away, as killing the diabolus faster will prevent more hellsphere shots than saving the first shot for later will.

As an ally

Slow and with a little more health & armor than a centipede, diaboluses are best used against stationary threats like sieges, mech clusters, and other mech commanders.

Watch out for the hellsphere cannon accidentally destroying items, including the chips dropped by all 3 mechanoid commanders.

Health

Specify body type when known.

Body part	Health
Head	113
Skull	113
Brain	45
Nose	45
Neck	113
Jaw	90
Eye (left, right)	45
Ear (left, right)	45
Body	180
Kidney (left, right)	68
Lung (left, right)	68
Liver	90
Heart	68
Spine	113
Stomach	90
Limbs (left, right, fore, hind)	135
Appendage (left, right, fore, hind)	90

Version history

• Biotech DLC Release - Added.
• 1.4.3531 - Increased EMP resistance from 30% to 60%.
• 1.4.3555 - Now immune to psychic lances.

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Mechanoids

Mechanoids | Core

Centipede (Blaster, Burner, Gunner) • Lancer • Pikeman • Scyther • Termite

Combat

Centurion • Legionary • Militor • Scorcher • Tesseron

Command

Apocriton • Diabolus • War queen (War urchin )

Labor

Agrihand • Cleansweeper • Constructoid • Fabricor • Lifter • Paramedic • Tunneler

Cluster | Buildings

Condition causer • Count-down activator • Mech assembler • Mech capsule • Mech drop beacon • Mech high-shield • Mech low-shield • Mech node • Proximity activator • Unstable power cell

Turrets

Auto charge turret • Auto inferno turret • Auto mortar • Mini-slugger turret

Creation | Pawn

Mechanitor

Buildings

Mech gestator • Large mech gestator • Mechband antenna • Mechband dish