Flare

The **Flare** is a Tier 1 Air Unit on Serpulo, constructed in the Air Factory using 15 Silicon. It flies very quickly and attacks by firing alternating projectiles, much like an airborne Dagger. In addition to being produced by an Air Factory, the Omura passively spawns groups of two Flares at a time for no cost. AI-controlled Flares typically head towards factory blocks, Batteries, and Launch Pads.

Flares can be upgraded into the Horizon through the Additive Reconstructor, either by directly inputting it in or transporting it using Payload Conveyors. It can also be automatically upgraded into a Horizon if the Air factory is next to the Additive Reconstructor and is feeding into it.

## Strategies

### **Against**

Flares serve more as a warning than an outright threat with exceptions in PvP - the air path for enemies is vastly different than the well-defined ground and a weak anti-air may spell certain doom once bigger aircraft appear. Luckily, the Flare can easily be dueled with your own player ship or with a single Scatter. Even massive swarms are not an issue as the small area damage and fragment property of Metaglass ammunition can handle groups. If you truly do not have the time to set up a line of Lead ammo, then the Parallax will work against lone Flares that harass your infrastructure - especially power generation (e.g. Thorium Reactors) - at a high power cost. Take note of what blocks they prefer to head toward; a single Combustion Generator (doesn't even need to be active) is sufficient to lure the Flares, like bait, towards your turrets to keep them away from your precious power generation.

### **For**

Flares are built for harassment, and for occasionally ending a game / capturing a sector quickly. They are by far the most agile and inexpensive unit (except core ships), which is perfect for temporarily disabling power lines, anti-ground turrets, or even snipe critical blocks like the flammable Graphite Press or the important Silicon Smelters/Crucibles. However, their efforts will be shut down as soon as a Scatter detects them unless it runs out of ammo. If they are to be used for actual offensive purposes, they should be loaded with Blast Compound, Pyratite, or Spore Pods using a Micro Processor in mass quantities, then sent towards the enemy core or heavily fortified areas. This guarantees that their death will cause massive damage to the nearby blocks or set infrastructure on fire (especially oil fires) as the actual projectiles lack the damage to contribute. The strategy works for bases up to high in threat level, as the cores on higher threat levels have turrets with so much range and damage that the falling explosive-loaded wrecks would be destroyed mid-air.

Defensively, a flare has no more strength than a Duo being supplied with Copper. While their trait of being a flying unit gives you space for more turrets on the ground, they will need to be managed properly; even if assigned to take cover behind a wall, weather on the sector can cause them to passively drift into enemy fire and get destroyed. Instead, their high speed makes them good at wireless transport, circumventing the need for nearby production facilities in difficult blocks like the Overdrive Dome. This can be done with a Micro Processor, with the executed code achieving the following goals:

1. Bind a Flare.
2. Check if it has anything in its item capacity.
3. If there is something in its item capacity, move to the target block and place the items inside.
4. If there is not, move to the Core (or a Container/Vault) and retrieve the maximum possible quantity of a target item.

Keep in mind that the main advantage of wireless transport is space. The further the Flare has to travel, the less throughput you will get in the system and so should be used sparingly, especially if you do not know how to code a system that chooses a limited number of units.

## Changes

 Version 6.0, unknown builds
* Description changed:
	+ Old description: "A fast, hit-and-run interceptor unit. Targets power generators."
	+ New description: "Fires standard bullets at nearby ground targets."
 Version 7.0, Build 127
 Version 7.0, Build 128
 Version 7.0, Build 130
 Version 7.0, Build 136
* Command limit of 4 removed.
* Item Capacity decreased (20 items → 10).
* Size increased (0.87x0.87 blocks → 1.12x1.12).
* Speed decreased (22.5 tiles/second → 20.25).
* Range decreased (17 blocks → 13).
* Fire rate decreased (2x 2.3 shots per second → 2x 1.5).
* AI changed:
	+ Maintains a set distance from targets like the Zenith.
	+ Targets air units.
 Version 7.0, Build 138.1
	+ Old description: "Fires standard bullets at nearby ground targets."
	+ New description: "Fires standard bullets at enemy ground targets."

## Trivia

* Flares are currently the only non-projectile unit that can be produced by other units. Missile projectiles from units on Erekir behave like units, with properties such as unique pathing, the ability to reveal fog in fog of war, and a health pool.
* The Flare is named after the Solar Flare, which is when the sun experiences a flash of increased brightness, followed typically by an ejection of its mass. All units produced from the Flare are named after events related to celestial bodies.
* While the Flare projectiles were always able to damage air units, the unit itself only actively attacked ground targets prior to Version 7.0 which the updated description does not mention.
* There's an achievement dedicated to the Flare called "Vengeance." In order to obtain it, a Flare has to destroy an enemy Scatter.