What is the tactical value of Leafcutter Media, Trapjaw Ants, and Melee Wood ants? (Extremis)

[Kosher Pork ✞ Jesus Saves ✞]

Been playing and loving Extremis, I especially like how we can unlock ants not normally available to us. I'm curious though as to their optimal use/purpose, especially considering they have no upgrades. Are they mostly just present for taste?

Trapjaws seem to be good glass cannons and their escape seems handy paired with tanky Leafcutter Majors, but that's all I got.

[Upsettacokitten]

The Leafcutter Media can stand above your normal ants but below the Majors so that gives you a extra line of attack/defence and I never use Wood ants outside 2.X and Baby Sitter but with their tanky health and cheap price they can be put in the nest group to give you time to move your army to the defence or stall until your army respawns.

[Buffy]

The two ants you need for to beat this level (for any difficulty) are stun majors and wood ant mortars. I think melee wood ants and leaf cutter media are just there for fun. Obviously black ants are there to be a starting unit, and trap jaws I would recommend getting second so that you can get enough royal jelly to unlock majors without playing the level many times.

[Upsettacokitten]

Originally posted by Buff:

The two ants you need for to beat this level (for any difficulty) are stun majors and wood ant mortars. I think melee wood ants and leaf cutter media are just there for fun. Obviously black ants are there to be a starting unit, and trap jaws I would recommend getting second so that you can get enough royal jelly to unlock majors without playing the level many times.

Interesting, I Always go Black ants first, Rapid fire ants second, Media 3rd, trapjaws 4th, then finally Taunt Majors. I always need to be careful because I always lose because my army is too far away from the queen collecting food.

[Buffy]

To be honest I don't think stun vs taunt majors matter that much, since overall both are very good and useful. Majors are the most effective ant for their cost, and an example of this is a single stun major (150 food) can kill 3 army ant majors (170 food each). Just make sure you get the shock proof jelly upgrade for them. It prevents an enemy dealing more than 20 damage to them, and a major has 400 health, which means that any enemy (even an adult mantis or wolf spider) will take 20 bites to kill the major. They'll be really good with this upgrade and you won't lose a ton of food to majors being one shotted by wolf spiders. Personally I think stun is better for this level, though, but it is just a preference.

I can imagine how it might be possible to beat the level with rapid fires on easy or possibly medium, but have you managed to win higher than that with them? In my experience mortars are a must, since without their splash damage, you won't be able to take down the giant armies of level 3 trap jaws, leaf cutters, and army ants, as well the many dozens of big insects that will run straight at your queen (I think one wave includes 20+ jumping spiders and 20+ small bush crickets at once). Poison upgrades seem to work best on this level, since you need to beat certain waves (like the hermit crab waves) really quickly. Enemy ants won't really be a big problem in this level compared to the waves of big insects, and poison is generally better than physical damage against bit insects.

[Kosher Pork ✞ Jesus Saves ✞]

Interesting posts here. I've watched a video of someone beating Insane and it appears Resilient + Shockproof Stun Majors and Physical + Crippling Mortar Wood ants are the ideal bread and butter of the stage, since the ranged combatants will generally avoid taking aggro in the first place. Poison does seem like the best DPS for artillery on paper but I'm not sure what ants use poison damage in their attacks to compliment that, seems like it's more beneficial in the long run to use physical. I beat the Easy difficulty myself with rapid fire + venom woodies, but it's just not cutting it on wave 30 on medium. Could just be me playing wrong though.

Also do Trapjaw ants go under Majors like Media to anyone's knowledge? Seems like stun majors + trapjaws could pair very well together combined with physical wood ants due to their high physical(I assume) damage and escape mechanic letting you trade in taunting for stunning.

[Buffy]

Originally posted by Kosher Pork:

Interesting posts here. I've watched a video of someone beating Insane and it appears Resilient + Shockproof Stun Majors and Physical + Crippling Mortar Wood ants are the ideal bread and butter of the stage, since the ranged combatants will generally avoid taking aggro in the first place. Poison does seem like the best DPS for artillery on paper but I'm not sure what ants use poison damage in their attacks to compliment that, seems like it's more beneficial in the long run to use physical. I beat the Easy difficulty myself with rapid fire + venom woodies, but it's just not cutting it on wave 30 on medium. Could just be me playing wrong though.

Also do Trapjaw ants go under Majors like Media to anyone's knowledge? Seems like stun majors + trapjaws could pair very well together combined with physical wood ants due to their high physical(I assume) damage and escape mechanic letting you trade in taunting for stunning.

The beginning of that video is a bit misleading.... I actually hovered over the wrong abilities that weren't selected If you read the desc. tho, its mortars with corrosive + weakening. Going with a physical damage build with mortars is certainly good and can work, and it is probably best for killing armies of enemy ants very quickly. A venom damage build won't do all of its damage at once, but will do more overall damage over time, which makes it better against large insects. I'm not 100% if this is completely accurate, but I think it is from testing both out. Because there are massive armies of huge insects (especially in the last 10 waves) in extremis, I would suggest a venom build to deal with them more effectively.

Yes, majors can walk over trap jaws (and every other ant in the game, including army ant majors).

[Kosher Pork ✞ Jesus Saves ✞]

lol, I just noticed you were the one who made that video! Great job with it, certainly going to try out your strategy and guide. Thanks for the tips!