Best Buildings to Bite

A comprehensive list of the time/value for each (kharra) lifeform to destroy each (frontiersman) building.

Very useful for knowing which building to kill in a suicide run (fastest to destroy), or which building to bite if you think their commander is about to recycle, and you have a choice between a few buildings (most value per bite).

Introduction

Often skulks may find themselves with a choice of what to chew on, or curious as to if their nibbling could be invested in a better target, more suited to their current situation.

Will marines soon be encroaching on your position, and you want to quickly take out a building? You should be aiming for the weakest one, since they'll soon be here.

Do you have plenty of time? Perhaps your team has taken out the power in a secondary marine base - the marine commander will probably start recycling soon, so it's best to aim for the building that has a high cost/hitpoints ratio, so they get less TRes back from the recycle.

Or do you just want to yell at people on your team about how bad it is to bite power in empty rooms, far away from the action? Remember - power only ever takes 15 seconds to repair (half the time to build), and much, much longer to chew.

This guide covers all aspects of what to bite, and why.

Overview

Note that all the effective HP mentioned here assumes 'normal' damage type, which deals 1/2 damage to armor.

Gorge Spit and Fade Swipe are both 'light' damage, which deals 1/4 damage to armor.
Onos Stomp is 'heavy' damage, which deals 1 damage to armor.

Name	TRes	Health/Armor	Effective HP	TRes/1000 EHP
Prototype Lab	40	3000/500	4000	10.00
Sentry Battery	10	600/200	1000	10.00
MAC	5	300/150	600	8.33
Advanced Armory	30	3000/300	3600	8.33
Infantry Portal	20	1525/500	2525	7.92
Arms Lab	20	1650/500	2650	7.55
Sentry	5	500/100	700	7.14
Observatory	10	700/500	1700	5.88
ARC (Deployed)	10	2000/0	2000	5.00
Phase Gate	15	1500/800	3100	4.84
Armory	10	1800/300	2400	4.17
ARC Robotics Factory	15	2800/600	4000	3.75
ARC	10	2000/500	3000	3.33
Command Station	15	3000/1500	6000	2.50
Robotics Factory	10	2800/600	4000	2.50
Extractor	10	2400/1050	4500	2.22
Power Node	0	2000/1000	4000	0.00

What this table means, in essence, is that it is very unwise to attack something such as a command chair, which has a huge amount of health, but costs the marines very little res.

The formula for recyling is:
75% recycle * Building Cost * Building Percent HP = Reclaimed Resource

To damage a prototype lab to 1/2 EHP (2000 damage) before it is recycled, will result in:
0.75 * 40 * 1/2 = 15 TRes recycled, as opposed to 30 if it was at full HP.
By atacking a prototype lab, 2000 damage = 15 TRes

To damage a command chair to 2/3 EHP (2000 damage), before it is recycled, will result in:
0.75 * 15 * 2/3 = 7.5 TRes recycled, as opposed to 11.25 if it was at full HP.
By attacking a command chair, 2000 damage = 3.75 TRes

So in short, if you have no other influencing factors, such as taking down a command chair to win the game, attacking a phase gate to stop reinforcements, or rushing the observatory to prevent a beacon, then it's a good idea to consider attacking what's at the top of this list first, and leave the other buildings for last.

Note: I'm not sure if armor value is calculated in the recycle equation (does a building with no armor count as full hp in the equation?). If it does, the values will be slightly different, but the ordering of the information will hold true regardless.

Skulks

Skulk bite deals 75 damage, 2.22 attacks a second (0.45 sec per bite)

Name	Bites	Time
MAC	8	3.15 sec
Sentry*	10	4.05 sec
Sentry Battery*	14	5.85 sec
Observatory	23	9.90 sec
ARC (Deployed)	27	11.70 sec
Armory	32	13.95 sec
Infantry Portal	34	14.85 sec
Arms Lab*	36	15.75 sec
ARC (Undeployed)	40	17.55 sec
Phase Gate*	42	18.45 sec
Advanced Armory	48	21.15 sec
ARC Robotics Factory*	54	23.85 sec
Power Node*	54	23.85 sec
Prototype Lab*	54	23.85 sec
Robotics Factory*	54	23.85 sec
Extractor	60	26.55 sec
Command Station	80	35.55 sec

*Can be destroyed with 1 less bite, if hit with 3 parasites.

Note: The times here count from first bite at 0 seconds.
(e.g: Something that takes 2 bites to destroy can be destroyed in 0.45 seconds - first bite at 0.0, second bite at 0.45)

Gorges

Gorges are unique in that they have a splash damage attack, and are a support unit, and will thus probably not encounter many situations in which they will be harassing the enemy's buildings, as opposed to trying to destroy an entire base.

However, I will put down how many bile bombs it takes to destroy each stucture, as soon as I can test and see exactly how much damage a direct hit from a bile bomb does, and if the damage tapers from non-direct hits.

Lerks

Lerk bite deals 60 damage, 3.33 attacks a second (0.3 sec per bite)

Name	Bites	Time
MAC	10	2.7 sec
Sentry	12	3.3 sec
Sentry Battery	17	4.8 sec
Observatory	29	8.4 sec
ARC (Deployed)	34	9.9 sec
Armory	40	11.7 sec
Infantry Portal	43	12.6 sec
Arms Lab	45	13.2 sec
ARC	50	14.7 sec
Phase Gate	52	15.3 sec
Advanced Armory	60	17.7 sec
ARC Robotics Factory	67	19.8 sec
Power Node	67	19.8 sec
Prototype Lab	67	19.8 sec
Robotics Factory	67	19.8 sec
Extractor	75	22.2 sec
Command Station	100	29.7 sec

Note: The times here count from first bite at 0 seconds.
(e.g: Something that takes 2 bites to destroy can be destroyed in 0.3 seconds - first bite at 0.0, second bite at 0.3)

Fades

Fades will generally never attack a building. But, just in case, I'll put down the most important few that fades might encounter, and be tempted to attack.

Note, that as of Build 268[unknownworlds.com]: Fade damage type to ‘light structure’ (75 damage base, ¼ damage to armor). Thus, a fade should never attack a building, unless it happens to have no armour (e.g: extractor on infestation), or it is with other lifeforms.

Fade swipe deals 75 damage, 1.54 attacks a second (0.65 sec per swipe)

Name	Swipes	Time
Extractor	88	56.55 sec
Observatory	36	22.75 sec
Phase Gate	34	21.45 sec
ARC	34	21.45 sec
Infantry Portal	27	16.9 sec
Sentry Battery	19	11.7 sec
Sentry	12	7.15 sec
MAC	12	7.15 sec

Note: The times here count from first swipe at 0 seconds.
(e.g: Something that takes 2 swipes to destroy can be destroyed in 0.65 seconds - first swipe at 0.0, second swipe at 0.65)

Onos

I searched through the past 50+ changelogs for any info on the attack rate of an onos, but could not find it. The attack rate is slower when attacking buildings (Smash), rather than attacking marines (Gore). I estimated it's rate at around 0.8 seconds, but it's probably a bit longer (0.9-1.0)

I need to check up on the actual damage smash does to armor, since I'm not sure its the same as everything else. Pretty sure it is though. The stats below assume it deals 200 normal damage.

Name	Smashes	Time
MAC	3	1.6
Sentry	4	2.4
Sentry Battery	5	3.2
Observatory	9	6.4
ARC (Deployed)	10	7.2
Armory	12	8.8
Infantry Portal	13	9.6
Arms Lab	14	10.4
ARC	15	11.2
Phase Gate	16	12
Advanced Armory	18	13.6
ARC Robotics Factory	20	15.2
Power Node	20	15.2
Prototype Lab	20	15.2
Robotics Factory	20	15.2
Extractor	23	17.6
Command Station	30	23.2

Note: The times here count from first smash at 0 seconds.
(e.g: Something that takes 2 smashes to destroy can be destroyed in 0.8 seconds - first smash at 0.0, second smash at 0.45)

Conclusion

From the data above, we can see that there are a few structures that are great for hit-and-run attacks, with the best being:
Observatory (1700 EHP, 5.88 ratio) and;
Infantry Portal (2525 EHP, 7.92 ratio).

When destroying active bases (where there is fighting), targetting the Infantry Portal's is a good idea, since it is both relatively weak, and relatively valueable, and allows marines to respawn, thus it should be the highest priority. The arms lab is also a good choice, as it possesses almost identical EHP, and provides the marine team with armor and weapon upgrades.

When destorying inactive bases (fighting is over), remember to target the Command Chair dead last, as it is incredibly tanky, and cost their team a measly 15 TRes. Other than that, simply follow the priority list (in the overview section) down, remembering to target the Prototype lab first. After that, you can ask your commander to tell you if there is an Advanced Armory, and in the meantime chew on Infantry Portals, the Arms Lab, and the Observatory (in that order).

Lastly, consider the possibility of the marine commander using 'Power Surge' to power up a phase gate in an unpowered base, and adjust it's priority accordingly (Whole team here? Ignore it. Only a few of you? Destroy it.)

Of course, Sentries, their batteries, and MAC's are usually both the fastest, most valueable kills, so be sure to secure them quick.

[GoaGrabben]

very well made, i always thought observatory was good to bite but looks like prototype is better after all

once again well done

[Jackson]

Yes. Considering the time of building, the time to get there, to reclaim the spot etc ... the RT is a vital and top priority building IMO as it costs the other team A LOT. Any unclaimed resnode must be considered a priority for the commander, as well as one of the primary targets for your team.

I guess you just get to know what to attack and when with experience, somehow. You always need to quickly analyze the situation you're in to be the most efficient possible.

[CORR0S1VE]

Great points Jackson. I did consider this, but figured I'd exclude it (not sure why).

I believe res ticks every 6 seconds, which is 1 res for the commander, and 0.1 for each player.

Therefore, if you have the choice between harmless buildings (robotics factory, observatory [without chair], armory, ARCs[that arent shooting stuff]), you should probably bite the extractor first.

[Jackson]

Extractors are more important than you guys think, because you inflict actual res loss (10), but also collateral res loss (an unexploited resnode is 1 res less per tick). So in reality destroying an extractor can cost up to 15 or 20 Tres.

So when you clean a room and there is no "dangerous" building in there (sentry / PG / observatory + CC) always go for the extractor first.

Same goes when you're marines, destroying harvesters is a top priority. If you can choose between an upgrade and a harvester and you're sure to kill it, go for the harvester (it also delays lifeforms).
Doing "hit'n'run" on aliens harvesters is a great idea, even attacking swiftly the harvesters in alien bases with two or three marines is valuable, because these often aren't defended.

[CЯaZyCAT]

want the same guide for the alien structures (LMG and SG, With Crag/Without Crag)
:)

[CORR0S1VE]

Thanks for the offer, though I'm not sure how much there is left to cover in NS2. If you have any ideas, or want to test something that requires 2 players, we can probably work it out together.

[remi.D]

Great information. If you need help finding numbers for future stuff like this, add me and I can help you out.

[#Haha!]

Ty

[CORR0S1VE]

No problem buddy. I was doing the research anyway, and figured I'd make it public.

Gotta make sure my fellow alien is making the best possible use of his time. ^.-

[Mark]

Thank you for this informative guide :)