Foundry fields four mini tanks instead of a drone swarm. They're tougher than drones, you steer them the same way, and they shoot anything near them on their own.
| Tier | 4 |
| Unlock level | 45 |
| Upgrades from | Shepherd |
| Barrels | 1 launcher; no guns on your tank |
| Mini tanks | up to 4 |
| Respawn (0 points) | one mini tank every 0.9 s until you have 4 |
| Mini tank body | 45 HP, 8 contact damage, 230 px/s, penetration 4, size 14.85 |
| Mini tank gun | one shot every 0.85 s at the nearest target within 460 px |
| Mini tank bullets | 7 damage, 360 px/s, reach 460 px, penetration = your Drone Penetration |
| Stat labels | Drone Speed / Drone Penetration / Drone Damage replace the bullet stats |
| Health / movement | ×1 / ×1 |
| Body damage | 20 (×1) |
Every number here is at 0 stat points, before the per-level health bonus and the per-level speed penalty that every tank gets. The automatic balancer can nudge a class's damage and health over time, so treat these as the roster's base values.
You steer the mini tanks like drones. Hold fire and they fly to your cursor; let go and they hunt within 400 px or orbit you; right-click repels them outward. The difference is that each one carries a gun. Every 0.85 seconds, each mini tank fires at the nearest target within 460 px of itself, whether you're steering it or not. The target can be an enemy tank, a bot or a shape.
That changes how you use them. A drone has to touch its target; a mini tank only has to get within 460 px. So you can park your four mini tanks near a fight and let them shoot, instead of flying them into danger. Their bullets reach 460 px, which is further than most gun classes' 331 px, so a mini tank can outrange the tank it's shooting at.
Four is not many, but they're durable. Each has 45 HP, almost twice a normal drone's 25, and starts with 4 penetration, so it survives a couple of contacts even before you spend points. They come back quickly too, one every 0.9 seconds at 0 Reload, as quick as Hivelord's refill.
Foundry is good against rammers and melee drones, because it doesn't need to touch them. It's good against slow snipers who can't pick off four moving shooters at once. The mini tanks farm shapes well while you're idle, since they fire at shapes within range.
Its damage is low. Four mini tanks firing 7 damage every 0.85 seconds is about 33 damage per second at 0 points, if they all have a target in range. High-volume guns (Octant, Cascade, Fanblade) still kill mini tanks, since bullets do double damage to them like any drone. And your tank has no gun, so anything that ignores the mini tanks and dives you directly is dangerous: Afterburner and Caltrop can get to you fast.
A 33-point build: Drone Damage 7, Drone Penetration 6, Drone Speed 5, Reload 3, Max Health 6, Movement Speed 6.
Shepherd has six endings. Foundry is the one where your drones shoot.
Compared with Hivelord and Steward, you trade eight melee drones for four ranged ones. Your swarm is harder to kill and doesn't have to fly into danger, but you have fewer units and less total damage. Revenant and Dreadnought field many more drones. Snarelord mixes traps and two drones.
Take Foundry if your drones keep dying on contact with rammers or getting shredded while they chase, or if you like fighting at a distance. Take Hivelord if you want the classic swarm.