Armourdillo

Armourdillo is one of 3 Commanders belonging to the Iron Bear Alliance faction. His theme revolves around heavy defense.

## Abilities - Passive

Shields reflect projectiles perfectly.

Armour and Doors cost 20% less metal to build and repair.

Door speed increased by 200%.

Armour and Door mass decreased by 50%.

Miniguns can be upgraded to fire armour piercing projectiles.

Repair Station build cost reduced by 25%.

Repair field radius increased by 50%.

## Abilities - Active

All structure repair costs decreased by 50%.

Repair speed is increased by 300%.

AP Sniper projectiles penetrate two layers of armour.

See hidden Armour, Doors and Shields.

See hidden portals.

## Damage received or dealt required to charge the active ability

### Overview

Armourdillo's entire ability kit incentivizes a defensive playstyle centered on tanking any and all incoming damage from a wide array of offensive weaponry. His most preferable combat environment, however, is a war of attrition.

Two defensive materials - Armour and Armoured Doors - have a reduced cost to build, and on top of that, the former two have significantly decreased mass. All of this encourages their intensive use during battle.

Doors themselves are made more effective by one of the many passive abilities, which makes them open and close rapidly. A property which reduces the threat of a potentially devastating doorsnipe, as well as allow Armourdillo to open fire on a much shorter notice, allowing the opponent less time to react to the rapid attack.

His main tool, however, is his active ability, which dramatically increases repair speed, and cuts all repair costs in half. Additionally, the active ability also allows the AP Sniper to temporarily punch through 2 layers of Armour, Armoured Door, or an Energy Shield. Lastly, it also reveals concealed heavy materials (Armour, Doors, Shields), as well as Phantom's hidden Portals - the former aiding in planning (or defending from) a doorsnipe, or assisting in potentially finding a weak spot to strike with an AP Sniper, if available.

Repair Stations are bolstered with a reduced build cost and a significantly expanded repair field radius, further aiding him with utilizing his active ability; however, with an increased repair radius the cost of repairs will also increase, potentially economy starving players.

Another one of his special abilities, Armourdillo receives access to a unique weapon - AP Minigun, which is acquired by upgrading a regular Minigun with the upgrade centre, and unlike the regular minigun, the AP minigun has the ability to pierce through a single sheet of Armour, Door, or an Energy Shield, similarly to the AP Sniper.

### Playstyle

Armourdillo is mainly a defensive commander, therefore it is beneficial to go for an eco-heavy late-game build. The Munitions Plant technology is preferred, as the costly damage dealt by the Cannon, 20mm Cannon, and especially the Howitzer, helps capitalize on Armourdillo's repair cost advantage. Expensive to repair spots in the opponent's base should be targeted as much as possible - shields covering the Wind Turbines, weapon Doors, or anything else that might heavily damage the economy of the opponent.

The active ability should engaged whenever repairing after receiving damage. Hoarding the ability is ill-advised. Repairing the sustained damage each time at a lower cost gradually builds up to a major eco advantage over the opponent as the battle drags on. The ability can also be used to prepare a doorsnipe, as it reveals the opponent's doors.

Another strategy may involve the use of the Factory technology and using Plasma Lasers for doorsnipes, taking advantage of the active ability to reveal the opponent's doors and shields. With this approach, an EMP and/or Swarm Missiles may be required at some point with an opponent who may begin countering the lasers with the use of Energy Shields or something similar.

The AP Minigun offers an option for extended early harassment, as it maintains its ability to destroy Wind Turbines even when they're protected by an Energy Shield. It can also make short work of AA-like Machinegunners protected by doors, helping Armourdillo with connecting an attack interceptable by anti-air. Caution must be taken, however, as overreliance on AP Miniguns is ill-advised. They lose their utility once the valuable targets are protected by double-doors (AP Miniguns do not enjoy the same penetration boost during the active as the AP Sniper does) and by themselves are not overly damaging, by the virtue of dispersing their damage over multiple braces, as well as having a slower reload than their regular Minigun counterparts.

Regardless of tactic choices, at all times an absolute priority should be given to protecting your economy (mines and turbines). Should the Wind Turbines or Mines go down, it will put Armourdillo in a very difficult position as he's unable to properly use his many abilities.

Going for early aggression weapons - such as Rockets, Mortars, or Swarm Missiles, is less than ideal, as these require significant resource investment *before* a solid economy can be established. Use of Swarm Missiles in particular is not recommended as in most cases a silo will occupy a Mine slot, lowering the player's economy.