recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Tantalum Ray

Tantalum Ray

 **unit** (see more) (Fragile: does not heal)
At the start of your turn, gain
, and lose 3: construct a Gauss Charge

 Cost:

[data page]

**Tantalum Ray** is a Green unit.

## Strategy

Tantalum Ray is a reasonably efficient permanent attacker with a convenient cost and no hard counters, making it a solid choice of key unit in a large number of sets. Although it isn't as efficient as most other random set attackers (Essentially 5 for an attacker, 2 for a 3 Tarsier), many of those units have some sort of drawback, like an awkward tech cost (Shadowfang), being dangerous to mass produce (Tesla Coil), being extremely big and clunky (Asteri Cannon), etc. Tantalum Ray has none of these issues, though it has costs for Pressure which is less efficient for early attack.

One of Tantalum Ray's biggest advantages over red attackers is that it costs green, which, unlike red, can be easily spent on defense late in the game via Forcefields or, if they are available, Plexo Cells. Thus, even if a red attacker is stronger in a vacuum than Tantalum Ray, Tantalum might still be the better choice of strategy.

If Tantalum Ray is clicked as much as possible, it will be left at 2, which can help against a large pile of Frostbites by allowing you to safely gambit for more than you could if you had 1 attackers like Tarsiers or Hellhounds. In the context of a breachproof strategy, Tantalum Ray can participate effectively by clicking one less time, leaving it at 5 like a Gauss Cannon.

## Openings

Player 2 Thorium Dynamo (1) and Wild Drone (0)

1. 01
2. 00
3. C1
4. Tantalum Ray +0
5. Tantalum Ray x2

Player 1 Gauss Fabricator

1. DD
2. CC
3. DD
4. Gauss Fabricator
5. Tantalum Ray +D
6. Tantalum Ray +EE

## Change log

* April 6th, 2018
	+ Health increased from 9 to 11.
	+ Ability now costs 3 instead of 2 per click.
* September 18th, 2015
	+ Health decreased from 10 to 9.
* June 30th, 2015
	+ Added to the game.
Steelsplitter

Steelsplitter

 **unit** (see more): gain

 Cost:

[data page]

**Steelsplitter** is a Base Set Blue unit that can attack or defend, but not both at the same time.

## Strategy

**Steelsplitter** is a versatile unit that can build pressure against the opponent or defend. However, Steelsplitter is less efficient than other Base Set units at both of those tasks: it costs 1 more than a Wall and isn't Prompt, and 2 more than a Tarsier for the same attack. As a consequence it is usually incorrect to plan on having Steelsplitters as your main attackers.

The first player to build a Blastforge in the early game will often have the opportunity build a Steelsplitter for early pressure, forcing the opponent to respond with a prompt defender to avoid losing an Engineer. Here is a typical opening play illustrating this:

1. DD, DD
2. DD, DDC
3. DDB, DDB
4. DDS, DDW

Buying Steelsplitter in this context is justified due to its versatility: it puts attack, and it may defend if your opponent suddenly threatens damage, or if you buy a big blue unit after it such as Omega Splitter and don't need a Wall yet. Again, later in the game, buying Steelsplitter simply for additional pressure is not the most efficient, but if the choice is between that and wasting blue, it is probably best.

With 3 Health, Steelsplitter is not as breach-proof as Gauss Cannon, but still much better than Tarsier and and most red attackers, making it a decent buy if a breach is imminent.
Lifespan

Some units have a limited **lifespan**, shown by a skull icon . At the start of the owner's turn, the unit's lifespan is reduced by one, and it's destroyed when it reaches zero.

Blockers with lifespan are vulnerable to chill, since freezing a blocker that's about to die anyway is equivalent to dealing damage. Similarly, absorb denial units like Bloodrager and flexible attackers like Scorchilla can reduce a lifespan unit's value as a blocker. For these reasons, it's sometimes better to attack with a lifespan blocker on its last turn even if the defensive value would be greater.
Husk

Husk

 **unit** (see more) (Prompt: blocks immediately)

 Cost:

[data page]

**Husk** is a cheap defensive Red unit with low Health and Prompt.

## Strategy

**Husk** is a flexible defender that costs the same amount of gold as Engineer for the same amount of defense but has Prompt.

While being strictly inferior to an Engineer when considering cost for Health, it is useful in random sets containing high cost  red units such as Lucina Spinos or Tatsu Nullifier: these units often require having 2 Animus in play for a total of 4 produced every turn, most of which would usually get wasted as soon as you enter the mid/late game where your gold has to go towards buying defense. Husk provides a sink for this otherwise wasted  and lets you improvise your defense more easily with its Prompt.

Husk is also great for improving your defensive granularity without delay if you realize your opponent might try to finesse your defense next turn.
Prismata Teaching Ladder

This page is intended as a list of Prismata players participating in a coaching initiative based on the KGS Teaching Ladder.
Basically, if you are interested in coaching a weaker players, add yourself to the list below. Remember that even a fairly new player can teach much to someone even newer, so don't hesitate to sign up!
If enough mentors are interested, we might arrange some sort of weekly sessions, but for now I am primary imagining one-on-one coaching sessions.

### Available coaches

**Ygfijj** (1800 Tier X) I'll happily teach any weaker players. I am usually on during European evenings, PM me on Reddit(same username) to arrange a time.

**thatfrenchkid96** (elo 1000-1100) is willing to coach beginners, and lives in the Eastern Time Zone.

**eX\_ploit** (Tier 9 and climbing) Slightly different name in-game - eXploit (without underscore, it's not allowed in Prismata). I like to analyze replays. Add me to friends and I'll help you anytime I'm available.
Ability

A unit's **ability**, signified by the icon , is the effect triggered when it is clicked. Use of an ability can be canceled by clicking the unit again, which is useful as using abilities often involves a tradeoff, commonly between defense and inflicting attack.

Many units, especially purely defensive or economic units, do not have abilities. In general, the effects of these units is triggered simply by their presence on the field when a turn begins.

When the ability of a unit with Blocker is used, that unit stops blocking until the start of their controller's next turn.
Valkyrion

Valkyrion

 **unit** (see more), gain , and construct 2 Barriers with 1 for your opponent

 Cost:

[data page]

**Valkyrion** is a Green-blue-red unit.

## Strategy

Valkyrion is a unit that adds a large amount of  when clicked at the cost of giving your opponent two Barriers for their next turn. If clicked constantly, it produces net 2 per turn, over the 2 extra at first since when you buy it threatens 4 before the Barriers. Still, this seems pretty mediocre when you consider that Mahar Rectifier is more convenient for the same constant attack, and is rarely bought only for its attack. However, the true point of Valkyrion is not raw efficiency but the potential to exploit the Barriers that you give to your opponent (by not dealing enough damage for the opponent to get value out of them).

Without combos, you can usually get about one good exploit out of Valkyrion by opening with one, attacking with it, then next turn holding it back and dealing 0 into their Wall + double Barrier defense, even absorbing on it. This is good value, but ussually not enough to make it a better strategy than other strong random set attackers. When Valkyrion gets really good is when the set contains combos that help you continuously exploit the Barriers. See the combos section below.

Valkyrion's blocking ability is also occasionally useful. It is similar to a Lancetooth in that it provides 2 constant  and is a 4 blocker. Therefore it should follow that like Lancetooth, a Valkyrion can be used as an absorber in a pinch, such as for denying Absorb, or late game when damage is high every turn and defending is difficult. It gives slightly worse value though, since the soak comes 1 defense later, thus Attacking is better.

Valkyrion is also a strong counter to  Frontline units and rushes. The 1 Lifespan Barriers you're giving your opponent are of no use if you're able to simply target units that can't be defended, sending little or no remaining into their defense.

Finally, Valkyrion can be used effectively in combination with synced  Exhaust attackers such as Iso Kronus or Scorchilla. The barriers will expire during the off turns of your assault.

## Combos

Many Chill units, such as Cryo Ray and Shiver Yeti, allow you to deny the Barriers value by freezing them. This makes Valkyrion extremely efficient.

Units that allow you to spend your attack without dealing it into the enemy defense, such as Thermite Core, Bloodrager, Lancetooth, Mega Drone and Arka Sodara are also very effective with Valkyrion.

## Openings

Player 1 (Infusion Grid)

1. DD
2. DDE
3. DDD
4. DDDC
5. DDBA
6. Valkyrion +R (T loses value)
7. TTWB
8. Valkyrion +Infusion Grid +E

Player 2 Cryo Ray (1).

1. DD
2. DDC
3. DDC
4. BAD
5. Valkyrion +11

Player 1 Chrono Filter (1) rush.

1. DD
2. DC
3. D1 (Float 3, Drone skip cost)
4. Valkyrion

Player 2 Chrono Filter (1) and Auric Impulse (0) rush.

1. DC
2. 01
3. Valkyrion
4. DD
5. Valkyrion

Very efficient Rush with burst finesse and defense. Can support Cryo Ray by extra Auric Impulse use.

## Change Log

* April 7th, 2018
	+ Added to the game
Blocker

**Blockers**, represented by the icon , are units that can add their current health to a player's defense for each turn. Note that blockers cannot do this when they use their ability during a turn. This often requires making tradeoffs between inflicting attack and maintaining adequate defense.

Blockers that are prompt can add defense value during the same turn they are purchased due to their zero build time.
Blockers with Lifespan are vulnerable in certain situations.
Chill

**Chill** is an effect that can be used to bypass enemy blocking units. Certain units can add chill to enemy blocking units by using their ability. A unit with chill equal to or greater than its health is referred to as frozen and does not block.

All chill is removed from all units at the start of each turn.

## Chill Strategy

There are several main situations in which chill is powerful. Freezing small defenders can lower the other player's defensive granularity. For example, with 3 Tarsiers and 2 Cryo Rays, players can use the Cryo Rays to freeze any Engineers the other player might control, forcing them to throw all  on one of their Walls, thereby killing it. Without the Cryo Rays, they could instead could block  with an Engineer and absorb  with a Wall. Units that can chill for small amounts repeatedly, such as Cryo Ray or Shiver Yeti, are particularly effective at this technique.

On the other hand, freezing your opponent's large defenders can minimize the amount of absorb obtainable by the opponent. With 3 Cryo Rays and 2 Tarsiers against an opponent's Wall and two Engineers, freezing the Wall with the Cryo Rays kills the two Engineers, denying the 2 absorb that the Wall would have provided.

Chill is also a very effective means of ensuring a breach. Although many units with chilling abilities deal little or no damage, the amount of health they are able to nullify on defense tends to be very high for their cost. Units like Frostbite (and the related Frost Brooder and Endotherm Kit) deliver a large amount of chill for a very low cost. It is very difficult to prevent a breach if the other player amasses enough of these units. These units are therefore very powerful against breach vulnerable units, such as Vivid Drone or Lucina Spinos.

In addition, Chill is effective vs. Blockers with Lifespan. If a currently active Blocker has 1 Lifespan, Freezing it effectively kills it. For example, if a Plexo Cell with Lifespan 1 is chilled by 2 Shiver Yetis, it will not be able to block and then die due to running out of Lifespan.

Remember that the breach indicator only adds up your opponent's damage and chill values and compares them to your defense value to determine whether a breach will occur. It may not accurately reflect your opponent's potential pressure. For instance, if your opponent has 2 Cryo Rays and 2 Tarsiers (4 pressure total) against your Wall (3 defense), the game will warn you that you are about to be breached, even though a breach is impossible in this scenario.

## Units that can chill

### Unit panels

Given page name is not for a unit page or the unit is missing a panel.
Exostructor

Exostructor

**Colorless unit** (see more)0(takes 0 turns to construct)

 Build time:

**Exostructor** is a colorless unit which is not available to players. It is used by Vel'kar to produce offensive units. Exostructor are present only in boss mission: Vel'kar.

Exostructor creates unit each turn from turn 4 (or 2 in hard mode). The construct order is first a Gunbot, then a Tough Gunbot and finally a Gunbot Forge then looping back to a Gunbot.
Incendiary Biorobotics

Incendiary Biorobotics is the bonus mission and last (9th) mission of the first episode in the Campaign. This mission is an endurance test, where the player must juggle defending against an ever-increasing amount of damage with destroying attackers before they overwhelm you.

**Victory window message**
*Bonus missions like this one have Expert Challenges as well, but be warned: they are extra challenging!*

## **Hints and solution**

### General hints and tips

 Because of the nature of this puzzle, you will most likely reach a stable position several turns before you actually kill the Tough Fab.

### Solution

"Optimal" block (hit 'Q') should be used every turn. When selecting targets, you should prioritize destroying as many attackers as possible while minimizing "wasted" damage unless otherwise instructed. 1=Flame Animus, 2=Shadowfang

 19. VICTORY
Nitrocybe

Nitrocybe

 **unit** (see more)2 (takes 2 turns to construct)
, and sacrifice Nitrocybe: gain

 Cost:

[data page]

**Nitrocybe** is a Red unit.

## Strategy

Nitrocybe's high tech-to-gold ratio makes it useful as a red sink, and is thus strong in combination with units like Lucina Spinos, Shadowfang, and Tatsu Nullifier (as they can often leave you overteched after buying them).

Generally the best way to use Nitrocybes is to keep them on defense instead of clicking them. The reason is that by not attacking this turn you threaten to attack next turn instead, so you aren't actually reducing the pressure on your opponent by not clicking them. You've effectively already dealt the one damage by forcing the opponent to defend against it. However, by holding the Nitrocybes back you retain the option to convert that one attack into one defense if needed. They also provide Defensive granularity if held back. However, it can be correct to click them if the extra damage kills something important, even if it's not a breach (such as a Rhino, or the last Engineer so that you can exploit them next turn).

## Change log

* May 1st, 2015
	+ Added to the game.
Photonic Countdown (Expert Challenge)

Photonic Countdown is the 3rd mission of the second episode in the Campaign. This mission is a series of offense puzzles using different red unit compositions.

**Victory window message**
*Phase 4 of this mission is one of the toughest attack puzzles we've ever designed. Well done.*

## **Hints and solution**

### General hints and tips

 In phases 3 and 4, it is important to plan resource usage in addition to damage values.
Base Set

The B**ase Set** is a collection of eleven basic units that are always available in most Prismata game modes.

The other units are randomly selected from the Random Set.

## Strategy in base set

Prismata is unlike chess in the way that every game of Prismata features different units and thus different strategies are available. Most random sets add one or more of the following:

* Large absorbers (Energy Matrix, Centurion), which justify large economies since they can easily defeat rushes
* Efficient attackers (Shadowfang, Cynestra), which generally lower the optimal economy size since Drones will be worse compared to attack, and also shorten the length of the game since it will take less time to get enough constant attack to win
* Efficient soak units (Plexo Cell, Polywall), which slightly raise the optimal economy size since they make attackers worse and increase the length of the game
* Powerful legendaries (Zemora Voidbringer, Tia Thurnax), which can enable unusual strategies or swing the game heavily in a single turn if one player doesn't anticipate them

However, sometimes you will get a set full of inconsequential units like Gauss Charge, Thermite Core and Blood Pact. In these sets you will be relying on the basic units and thus it is useful to know how to play base set.

In base set, Wall is the best defender (and the biggest absorber) and Tarsier is the best attacker, so the strategy revolves around those two units (although there are times to buy all the units). It is widely agreed that Player 2 wins in base set with optimal play from both sides, as after the following beginning:

1. DD DD
2. DD DA

Player 2 will be first to the Tarsiers without cutting so much econ that they will not be able to support a Blastforge for Walls when the time comes. Player 1 can answer it with an Animus of their own, which leads to a fairly close mirror, or can try a green-blue strategy (DDB or DDC and then next turn getting whichever attacker you can and the other tech building). The reason the green-blue strategy is viable even though it doesn't use the best attacker in the set is because getting an Animus leaves you slightly overteched in base set, as 13 Drones is enough for a Wall and two Tarsiers but once the time comes for Rhinos you will likely be wasting a red every turn. Additionally, having access to Forcefields instead of Rhinos helps with defense.

## External Links

The Prismata Base Set, a blog post by Elyot Grant. *(August 19th, 2014)*
Doomed Mech

Doomed Mech

 **unit** (see more)5 (Lifespan 5: dies after 5 turns)
: gain

 Cost:

[data page]

**Doomed Mech** is a Blue unit providing good absorb and attack, but with a limited Lifespan. It is part of Antares.

## Strategy

Doomed Mech is efficient at both defending and attacking, but has to be timed right to make maximum use of its Lifespan. It has good cost ratios in both damage and Health, making it very versatile; it can be used to counter early rushes thanks to its high absorb and attack threat, but can also participate in late game damage output and defense.

Like all units with both Lifespan and Block, Doomed Mechs are at their most valuable when sacrificed blocking on the turn they would die due to their Lifespan. Doomed Mech derives enough of its value from this that it is probably a poor purchase if there won't be enough incoming damage on its last turn to get full value.

Even when not on its last turn, in a Wall absorb game, it is generally good to block with one of your Doomed Mechs each turn and use it as an absorber instead of Wall. Doomed Mech's 5 grants an additional 2 points of absorb when compared to Wall at the price of 2, but the defensive tempo gained arrives sooner than the defensive tempo taken from the opponent. Of course, if clicking all your Doomed Mechs allows you to breach or something, it is likely still worth doing.

Doomed Mech is vulnerable to being countered by chill units such as Shiver Yeti or Cryo Ray, or especially Nivo Charge, as Doomed Mech's 5 hp helps the Nivo get full value when normally it would waste part of it by freezing a Wall.

Doomed Mech is excellent at dealing with non-flexible synced attackers with Exhaust, as you know precisely when you will need to have it die on defense and can time it accordingly. For instance against an opponent syncing their Iso Kronuses, buying a Doomed Mech on the turn you take damage ensures it will be on its last Lifespan charge in two Iso attacks.

## Change log

* December 9th, 2015
	+ Cost increased from 8 to 9.
Tutorial 3 (Building Attackers/Defenders)

**Tutorial 3 (Building Attackers/Defenders)** is the third level in the Prismata campaign.

## Setup

The player begins with 2 Husks, 2 Walls, 12 Drones, a Blastforge, and an Animus. The opponent begins with 2 Tarsiers and 3 Gauss Cannons.

## Solution

A sample solution looks like:

1. 12 Drones, build Tarsier and Wall
2. with 2 Walls,  12 Drones, build Tarsier and Wall
3. with 2 Walls,  12 Drones, build Tarsier and Wall
4. with 2 Walls,  12 Drones, build Tarsier and Wall
5. with 2 Walls,  12 Drones, build Tarsier and Wall
6. with 2 Walls,  12 Drones, build Tarsier and Wall
7. with 2 Walls,  12 Drones, build Tarsier and Wall
8. with 2 Walls
9. with 2 Walls
Animus

Animus

**Colorless unit** (see more)At the start of your turn, gain

 Cost:

[data page]

**Animus** is a Colorless unit and part of the base set. It produces two Red resources per turn.

## Strategy

The Animus synthesizes a resource called Replicase, more commonly referred to as red. If the red produced by the Animus is not used by the end of turn, it decays and is not stored.

Because an Animus produces  each turn, an Animus requires the most Gold income to properly spend all of the tech resources it produces. As a rule of thumb, it costs about 8 Gold per turn to spend the Red an animus makes.

Generally speaking, red is good for making attackers, and bad at making defense. Therefore an Animus is often your best choice if you want to punish an opponent for going for a high economy build, since you know that you don't have to worry about making defense for quite some time. An Animus and Blastforge complement each other well, since the Blue from the Blastforge can handle defense, and the two Red from the Animus lets you make two attackers per turn.

## Common Openings

Because the Animus costs 6 Gold, it's quite difficult to fit into builds. There are no efficient, animus-first high-economy builds using the base set. If you go for a low economy Animus first build, you often have to worry about being overteched - it's common to waste one Red in the opening after going for a low economy animus build, so that you can get a Blastforge out.

##### Player 1 openings:

Natural Animus

1. DD
2. DD
3. DDA

Elyot Animus

1. DD
2. A

Do note that Elyot Animus is a fringe opening that should only be used in the case of an extremely aggressive random set.

##### Player 2 openings:

Fastimus

1. DD
2. DA

## External Links

* Balancing Prismata Openings Through Unit Design – part 3: Variable Rush Timings, a blog post by Elyot Grant. *(June 10, 2015)*
Defense Tactics 1

**Defense Tactics 1** is the sixth level in the Prismata campaign.

## Setup

The player begins with a Wall, a Forcefield, an Engineer, and a Tarsier. The opponent begins with 5 Tarsiers.

## Solution

The unique solution looks like:

1. Tarsier
2. with Forcefield and Wall,  Tarsier
3. with Engineer and Wall,  Tarsier
4. with Wall,  Tarsier
5. with Wall,  Tarsier
Infusion Grid

Infusion Grid

 **unit** (see more), pay , and sacrifice Infusion Grid: construct 4 prompt Husks

 Cost:

[data page]

**Infusion Grid** is a defensive Blue unit. It's a very cost-efficient blocker (without Prompt) that can be broken down to provide more defensive granularity.

## Strategy

**Infusion Grid** is a very efficient blocker, costing only 5(gold and blue) for a 4 Health blocker (able to absorb 3 attack). It would be strictly better than the base set Wall, if not for the fact that it doesn't have Prompt. As a result you have to buy it preventively one turn earlier, which is not always feasible (for instance against the burst from Gaussite Symbiote or Cluster Bolt).

Infusion Grid's extra 1 over a Wall means that it can also absorb one more point of damage each turn. This makes it very important to get at least one Infusion Grid provided the set contains no even bigger absorbers. In fact, in the early game, against an opponent with attack at1 or 2, buying an Infusion Grid instead of a Wall is usually better, since this allows you to get to 3 absorb right away at the cost of an Engineer (which is easy to replace if you even need the Energy). If you buy the Wall you will probably just need an Infusion Grid next turn anyway, and you'd overdefend.

In the mid-game, when you have spare , it is probably better to buy an Infusion Grid to cover next turn's defense than to buy a Steelsplitter. Buying an Infusion Grid will enable you to buy another Infusion Grid next turn instead of a Wall, thus getting you on a "train" of Grids. Being on an Infusion Grid train instead of defending purely with Walls allows you to block one more damage each turn without paying any additional resources, so it's like your opponent having one less constant attacker. Steelsplitter gives you one more constant attacker, which is a similar value, but it costs more than Infusion Grid. Compared to Wall, it gives 4/3 of HP for a 1 turn delay, which is similar to Drone or Auric Impulse, not very strong. It extends the Supply of defense available though, which is useful.

Infusion Grid's ability let you convert it into 4 Husks for the cost of 1 red. While that denies one Grid's absorb, it instantly gives you a lot of defensive granularity. If Infusion Grid is your biggest absorber you want to keep at least one intact to be your final blocker, but if you have excess  converting some into Husks is generally a good choice.

## Replays

Here is a good example of Infusion Grid's click ability being used to great effect: Z82l6-n4Kki. In this game, Tatsu Nullifiers were played on both sides, and so both players wanted to click their Infusion Grids to prevent the opposing Nullifiers from being able to chill anything big.

## Change Log

* January 8th, 2015
	+ Added.
Tyranno Smorcus

Tyranno Smorcus

 **unit** (see more)Start of turn: gain . Click: pay  to gain an additional

 Cost:

[data page]

**Tyranno Smorcus** is a Red unit.

## Strategy

Tyranno Smorcus is a mediocre purchase for just 1, but the click ability threatens to deal a second , forcing your opponent to defend for more even if you don't actually click it. This makes your first Tyranno Smorcus essentially equivalent to paying 5 for a 1-Tarsier and a Pixie, or half a Drake, which is incredibly efficient. However, remember that, assuming you have only one Animus it is only the first Tyranno Smorcus that will threaten to deal additional damage, as you can't click them all without a separate  for each one. This means your other three Tyranno Smorcuses will be just 5 1-Tarsiers, which is not particularly efficient.

You may buy 4 Animuses so that each of your Tyranno Smorcuses can be clicked. Unfortunately, this is not the same as getting the full threat value out of all four of them, since you won't realistically be able to spend all that red unless you click them, which means the defense they force out will actually be useful to your opponent instead of just sitting there waiting for damage that never comes. A purchase of Tyranno Smorcus + Animus is essential2ly 11 for a Shadowfang. This is good, but not amazing. Getting an Animus then a Smorcus next turn is similar to paying 9.5 in  upfront for 2 Tarsiers, if the click is forced, at Tarsier price rate.

## Openings

Player 2 Tyranno Smorcus

1. A
2. Tyranno Smorcus +D
3. TT
4. TT or RD

Player 1 can undercut by Turn 1 Animus:

1. A
2. Tyranno Smorcus
3. DD
4. TT or RD

Player 2 must go Turn 2: DDEE (With no other relevant units) to defeat this.

Player 2 Electrovore (1) rush

1. DD
2. DA
3. D11
4. Tyranno Smorcus +A
5. Tyranno Smorcus +A (Or tech)

## Change Log

* April 7th, 2018
	+ Added to the game
Xeno Guardian

Xeno Guardian

 **unit** (see more)At the start of your turn, gain

 Cost:

[data page]

**Xeno Guardian** is a Green-blue unit. It is a strong defensive unit which provides constant attack while it blocks.

## Strategy

Xeno Guardian is mainly a defensive unit, as it only produces 1  each turn while costing 5, making it inefficient for attack. Its merit is instead found in having 4 at a fairly low cost, making it better suited to being the backbone of one's defense compared to both Walls and Steelsplitters since it both absorbs an additional damage each turn and attacks for 1 at the same time.

Xeno Guardian is very apt at dealing with opponents using chill in general, and Frostbites in particular, thanks to its ability to both Attack and Block at the same time (see **Vigilant** in the Glossary). Since Frostbite only freezes for 3, if the set doesn't contain more granular chill (typically Cryo Ray), it takes two Frostbites to freeze a Xeno Guardian's 4, which is very inefficient. An opponent massing chill is one of the cases where going for Xeno Guardian mass production is justified.

Assuming there are no blocking, non-Fragile units with higher Health in the set, Xeno Guardian is a powerful unit and players should generally try to get at least one during the game. Buying Xeno Guardian as preventive defense to be used simply to soak damage is rather inefficient but acceptable sometimes, especially if the alternative is to waste . Then it works like an Infusion Grid and a Gauss Charge for  instead of 1.

## Synergy

Units that spend Energy, such as Electrovore, since rushing Xeno Guardian leaves the Engineers little defensive relevance on early turns.

Cheap or double Blue units, such as Oxide Mixer or Deadeye Operative.

## Change Log

* February 17th, 2016
	+ Buildtime decreased from 2 to 1.
	+ Cost increased from 5 to 5.
* September 18th, 2015
	+ Cost decreased from 7 to 5.
	+ Buildtime increased from 1 to 2.
Xaetron

Xaetron

 **unit** (see more) (Prompt: blocks immediately)
 (Fragile: does not heal)
This unit has 12 maximum health.
At the start of the turn, restore 4.
, and lose 7: construct 5 Gauss Charges

 Cost:

[data page]

**Xaetron** is a Green unit.

## Strategy

Xaetron is an efficient and extremely flexible unit, especially if it's convenient to get the  necessary to buy it. You should buy it in almost any set where getting even one Conduit seems otherwise desirable. Sometimes it's even good to get in sets with no other green units.

The simplest way to use Xaetron is simply using it as a back line absorber every turn. Since Xaetron heals four health per turn, using it like this is like having an Energy Matrix, which absorbs for four every turn.

A more efficient way to use Xaetron defensively is to combine it with other absorbers. If you absorb on another unit, Xaetron still gets full value via healing. So if you absorb with Xaetron every other turn and absorb with a Doomed Mech every other turn, then it's as if you're getting 4 + 8 = 12 total absorb over the two turns -- the same as if you had a Defense Grid. However, this does force you to overdefend quite a bit every other turn, so it may not always be worth it.

Xaetron excels even more when your opponent has abilities which typically abuse inflexible defenders. For example:

* If you're using Xaetron as your back line absorber, your granularity is less relevant, since doing one more or less damage doesn't affect its defensive value.
* If your opponent chills Xaetron, it still heals, so it can use the lost defensive value on a later turn.
* Likewise if your opponent holds threatened damage back against Xaetron.
* Likewise if your opponent uses units like Bloodrager or Thermite Core to do less damage on a given turn.

The main situation where you would not want to get Xaetron is in a set with Defense Grid or Centurion. Because these absorbers must be kept alive at all costs, you can't really alternate between them and Xaetron, because you can't sacrifice them on the turn you want to absorb on Xaetron. This forces you to overdefend every turn instead of every other turn.

The click ability is used less often than simply using the health for defense, but it's not bad. It's almost certainly a good idea to use the click ability in any situation where your Xaetron would otherwise lose healing value due to being at the health cap. It's also a significant enough chunk of damage that you should try to line up your Xaetron clicks to sync with other sources of pressure like Scorchilla or Cluster Bolt. (Note that if you build up Xaetron to 11+ health, you can click it two turns in a row.)

Xaetron has good synergy with double-Animus units such as Lucina Spinos and Tatsu Nullifier. Compared to a blue absorber, the green can be floated on the turn you buy a double Animus unit as opposed to wasted like you might have to do with blue, and also the low gold cost of Forcefield helps alleviate the tendency of these units to lead to wasting red.

## Change log

* May 23rd, 2015
	+ ability now converts 7 to 5 Gauss Charges instead of 7 Gauss Charges.
* May 1st, 2015
	+ Added to the game.
Beginner Set

The **Beginner Set** was a set consisting of 11 units, geared towards newer players. The Beginner Set contained no green units and had no matchmaking queue. It was removed when the ability to create custom sets was added.

## Beginner Panels

Given page name is not for a unit page or the unit is missing a panel.

Given page name is not for a unit page or the unit is missing a panel.
Gold

**Gold** is the primary resource used to purchase units each turn. Nearly every unit in the game has a gold cost.

*Any Gold not spent is stored at the end of a turn.*

## Gold generating units

The primary means of generating gold is through various types of units - primarily drones.

### The basic drone

Part of the basic set, this drone is the primary means of generating gold. Each turn, it generates 1 by using its click ability.
Conduit

Conduit

**Colorless unit** (see more) (Fragile: does not heal)
At the start of your turn, gain

 Cost:

[data page]

**Conduit** is a Colorless unit and part of the base set. It produces one Green resource per turn.

## Strategy

The **Conduit** grows a crystalline Resource called Gaussite, more commonly referred to as green. Green is similar to Gold, as it can be stored between turns.

Due to its low cost, a Conduit is easy to fit into builds, especially for player 2. The Conduit is also the least committal tech building, because Green can be stored up and costs the least Gold to spend. Because it is cheap and noncommittal, a Conduit is often the first tech building players will purchase. That said, remember that storing up lots of Green that you are unable to spend can be just as bad as letting Red or Blue decay, so even Conduits should be built sparingly.

In games featuring high cost green units, it can be good to purchase a Conduit early so that you can buy the high cost unit without having to make too many Conduits. For example, players often buy Xaetron with only two Conduits.

## Common Openings

##### Player 1 Openings

Player 1's two basic lower-econ Conduit openings are both slightly weak, and should be avoided unless there's no good alternative based on the random set. The 3rd engineer conduit opening is good however. The turn 2-3 line and turn 3 double are also efficient.

Fast Conduit

1. DD
2. DC
3. (DDC or DA, etc)

Slow Conduit/Double

1. DD
2. DD
3. DDC/DCC

3rd Engi Conduit

1. DD
2. DDE
3. DDD
4. DDDC

##### Player 2 Openings

Player 2's two main Conduit openings are both good, and are used a lot of the time even when Green isn't particularly strong, because the Conduit fits into player 2's builds so well. The higher Econ (DDDE) opening allows a natural Animus or more Tech with smaller Drones.

Natural Conduit

1. DD
2. DDC

3rd Engi Natural Conduit

1. DD
2. DDE
3. DDDC

4th Engi

1. DD
2. DDE
3. DDDE
4. DDDDC
Weak Barrier

Weak Barrier

**Colorless unit** (see more) (Prompt: blocks immediately)

 Build time:

**Weak Barrier** is a defensive colorless unit which is not available to players. Weak barriers are created by Endostructor and Barrier Forge. They are only present in the boss mission: Vel'kar.

### Change log

* Unknown date.
	+ Now called Weak Barrier (instead of Barrier).
Steelforge

Steelforge

**Colorless unit** (see more)As an additional cost to buy Steelforge, consume a Blastforge.
At the start of your turn, gain
, pay 1, and consume a Drone: construct a Steelsplitter

 Cost:

[data page]

**Steelforge** is a Colorless unit that produces two blue. It also has the Ability to convert Drones into Steelsplitters.

## Strategy

The **Steelforge** is a colorless unit that requires the player to sacrifice a Blastforge to be built. Its Ability allows you to efficiently convert your Drones into Steelsplitters for 1 (gold and blue). As Steelforge has 4 health it can not be targeted by the Apollo's Ability (or Kinetic Driver's for that matter), so building Steelforge can save your blue production from being sniped at a critical moment.

Buying Steelforge instead of a second Blastforge is virtually always correct unless there are Blastforge-synergy units such as Drake or Grenade Mech as it's essentially just a 1-gold cheaper Blastforge even without its ability.

Steelforge's click ability is significantly more efficient than buying Steelsplitters directly, but still less efficient than most random set attackers, so buying multiple Steelforges just to mass produce Steelsplitters is not recommended. The ability mostly acts as a blue sink.

When you use the Steelforge's Ability you should not buy new Drones to replace the converted ones as they won't have time to pay for themselves, so you should rather invest your Resources to buy more attack.

Note that if the Random set contains more Drone consuming units like Plasmafier, you should be careful about combining them as they may reduce your Drone count down fast.

## Change log

* June 30th, 2015
	+ Cost increased from 2 + sacrifice a Blastforge to 4 + sacrifice a Blastforge.
	+ Blue production increased from  to .
	+ ability cost changed from 2 to 1.
* February 15th, 2015
	+ Cost decreased from 3 + sacrifice a Blastforge to 2 + sacrifice a Blastforge.
* October 2nd, 2014
	+ Cost decreased from 4 + sacrifice a Blastforge to 3 + sacrifice a Blastforge.
* September 13th, 2014
	+ Renamed to Steelforge, from Conscriptor.
	+ Produces .
Ventilation (Research)

This article has not been revised for the current version (***U50-587362***). It was last updated for *FA-471883*. It may contain inaccuracies.
This article has not been revised for the current version (***U50-587362***). It was last updated for *FA-471883*. It may contain inaccuracies.

## Ventilation

Rudimentary technologies for installing Gas infrastructure.

### Needed For

Pressure Management
Portable Gases

**Ventilation** Research unlocks the basic Ventilation Buildings.

## Unlocks

* Gas Bridge
* Gas Pipe
* Gas Pump
* Gas Vent
Grenade Mech

Grenade Mech

 **unit** (see more)When Grenade Mech is bought, construct 3 Pixies.
At the start of your turn, gain
, pay 1, and consume a Blastforge: construct 3 Pixies

 Cost:

[data page]

**Grenade Mech** is a Blue unit. It's a high health attacker that comes with 3 Pixies. It also has an Ability allowing him to build 3 Pixies by consuming one Blastforge.

## Strategy

**Grenade Mech** is a rather situational unit. It is most useful against opponents with no access to good blockers and relying on breach-vulnerable attackers.

Grenade Mech is not very efficient damage for its cost (though stronger than Base attackers when over Absorb), but it provides a large amount of pressure, with 4 attack on the first turn and the ability to sacrifice Blastforges for 3 more. 3 Pixies for 6 gold is a good enough deal that it often makes sense to continue clicking Grenade Mechs and re-buying Blastforges.

Buying Grenade Mech is mostly effective when you already have a large amount of persistent attack (e.g. from Tarsiers) to back it up, the spike in damage pressure can be overwhelming for an unprepared opponent. Starting with Grenade Mechs will usually be ineffective since it costs 10 just to get a single constant attacker (The starting Engineers defend earlier as well), however, it can be a strong counter to rushes such as a fast Savior (Only to be tried with good soak) or low econ red rushes as the opponent will not be able to defend adequately. The Pixies can also be saved to gain offensive finesse, making defending against Grenade Mechs more annoying.

While Grenade Mech has 4 Health, keep in mind it is not a blocker. Its high health, however, allows it to be breach-resistant though. It is also worth remembering that Apollo cannot kill Grenade Mech.

## Openings

Both player 1 and player 2 have fairly quick Grenade Mech rushes available. Just keep in mind that Grenade Mech rushes are not a go-to strategy; instead they are useful mostly as a counter to an opponent playing right into it, for example with a turn 2 Animus.

### Player 1

1. DD
2. DD
3. DDB
4. SB (WDB if opponent is attacking)

Econ opening for rush

1. DD
2. DDE
3. DDD
4. DDDB
5. SBB

This allows getting a Grenade Mech and S for some turns. The click is available when getting a Wall.

### Player 2

1. DD
2. DB
3. DDS (DDW if opponent is attacking)
4. SB (or WB)

### Rush Openings

Player 2 Auric Impulse (0)

1. 00
2. BB00
3. Grenade Mech +0
4. Grenade Mech +click or 0

Lancetooth (1) makes this strongly viable. Doomed Drone fits very well. Drake. As the 2nd Attacker. Click the Mech.

Player 1 Attack Econ rush

1. 00
2. BB0
3. Grenade Mech
4. Lancetooth +click Grenade Mech

Pressures while denying Absorb.

## Change Log

* December 9th, 2015
	+ Ability cost increased from consume a Blastforge to pay 1 and consume a Blastforge.
* September 18th, 2015
	+ ability now consumes a Blastforge and constructs 3 Pixies instead of 2.
* February 15th, 2015
	+ Now has a  ability: consume a Blastforge to construct 2 Pixies.
VILE (Expert Challenge)

VILE is the seventh mission of the first episode in Prismata. Complete all the missions of the episode to unlock the expert mission challenges. This mission is a basic aggressive survival puzzle, where the enemy will overwhelm with numbers after several turns, if you do not succeed to do it first. You have to optimise the order of building early Tarsiers, the most cost-efficient unit available in this challenge, to succeed. Below are hints and one opening that you can win easily from.

**Victory window message**
*If you like facing off against the toughest Prismata bots in imbalanced situations, try the Totally Unfair challenges in Combat Training.*

## **Hints and solution**

The starting position corresponds to you being player 2 in a regular game, with Giselle being player 1, having bought two Drones on first turn with a bonus Engineer: You'll need to overcome that advantage by being that much more efficient.

There is a branch of solutions that build more economy than the one below. Described here is likely the fastest win.

 Turn 11 until the end: alternate between EWW and TWW to win

 DD / DDE / DDD / ADDD
Urban Sentry

Urban Sentry

 **unit** (see more)Start of turn: gain

 Cost:

[data page]

**Urban Sentry** is a Green-blue unit.

## Strategy

Urban Sentry functions a lot like a miniature Xeno Guardian - it's a green-blue non-prompt attacking absorber that has 10 supply, so it has almost all of the same strategic interactions. Urban Sentry has less health and is therefore the worse absorber, but it requires less commitment to blue.

When an Urban Sentry would be spent as Soak, there's the option to build a Wall to spare it instead, or another Urban Sentry to keep the unit state the same for next turn as well. This second option spends an extra Green, but it's stronger when the opponent has some expense in using its threat. It may be also good to soak if there's very cheap Attack somehow, since the replacement (for the Attack value) is more efficient than saving it with Wall.

## Openings

Urban Sentry can be a great unit to open with since it will also function as your absorber for the beginning (and often entirety) of the game and, when bought as your first attacker, tends to come into play around the time your opponent's initial attackers do. A common opening for P2 is thus DD/DDC/DDB/Urban Sentry (8 Gold).

P1 has access to DD/DD/DCB/Urban Sentry (6 Gold), getting out the Urban Sentry half a turn before P2 and forcing them to either lose an Engineer or buy Wall instead of Urban Sentry.

There's also the option of chaining the Sentry from a Rhino, P1 by DD/DD/DDA/TTD/RCB/Urban Sentry +RD (or TT). Wastes some Red, but the Sentry does not lose attack or defense value.

## Change Log

* April 7th, 2018
	+ Added to the game
Squarewave (Expert Challenge)

Squarewave is the second mission of the Episode 1: Outbreak in Prismata. The expert challenge is unlocked by clearing all missions in Episode 1. This mission has two parts. In the first part, all enemy units must be destroyed by turn 11. The enemy can't attack, but the time limit means only an efficient attack will win. In the second part, the enemy quickly builds Steelsplitters to attack the player.

**Victory window message**

 *If you deal damage to a pile of Scappers and Dumpster Bots, you‘ll be forced to waste some attack. 17 is the largest such number.*

## **Part 1**

 Turn 3: SD

1 = Drake

 Turn 11: Win

## **Part 2**

 Until the last few turns of the puzzle, you'll need to hold at least one Steelsplitter each turn and as many Drones as necessary to ensure it absorbs damage.

1 = Drake

 Turn 14: 1 (Hold DS)

 Turn 21-26: Kill remaining enemies
Fragile

**Fragile** units, represented by a heart icon , do not heal from attack they have survived. Instead, damage permanently reduces their health, while other units recover full health by the next turn as long as they survive.

All Fragile Units cost Green except Conduit and Thorium Dynamo, which are colorless.
Synthesizer

Synthesizer

 **unit** (see more)At the start of your turn, gain
, and pay : gain

 Cost:

[data page]

**Synthesizer** is a technological Blue unit. It produces green and can transform  into blue.

## Strategy

A Synthesizer can transform green into  if you use its Ability. It allows you to construct blue units that cost  with a single Blastforge.

It is often a good purchase in random sets with strong green units as Zemora or Cluster bolt, or large blue unit such as Odin or Defense Grid, as buying them normally off triple Blastforge would result in wasting . An exception to this is the Drake as it needs a Blastforge to use its Ability in order to maximize its threat.

Note that Synthesizer is slightly more efficient for producing green than Conduits, but slightly less efficient at producing blue than Blastforges.

## Change Log

* October 4th, 2014
	+ Added.
The Mines (Expert Challenge)

The Mines is the 3rd mission of the third episode in the Campaign. The mission forces the player to manage offense, defense with low absorb, and energy supply while faced with a foe with infinite reinforcements.

**Victory window message**
*Surprisingly, it is better to go for attackers first rather than to build the Sector Scanner as soon as possible.*

## **Hints and solution**

### General hints and tips

 As the victory window suggests, it is better to try to reach a stable position before constructing the Scanner than it is to get in an early scan or two.

### Solution

Once the Sector Scanner has been constructed, it should be clicked every turn.
The Road to Tauren Prime (Expert Challenge)

The Road to Tauren Prime is the 1st mission of the second episode in the Campaign. The mission occurs in three phases during which the player must overcome substantial defenses before the AI builds an overwhelming force.

**Victory window message**
*Phase 3 of this challenge admits a solution in which only 2 Grenade Mech clicks are used. Can you find it?*

## **Hints and solution**

### General hints and tips

 Timing Grenade Mech clicks in Phase 3 is key.

### Solution

In the solution tables below, assume all Drones and all attackers are clicked every turn unless they appear in the "Hold Back" column.