BioMech Stage 1

The BioMech is a strange combination of enemy ship and monster. Although it appears as an enemy ship and must be scanned to identify it, it will only appear if "Monsters" is set to a value other than "None" in the Configuration of the mission. Higher values of the "Monsters" setting will result in more BioMechs. Difficulty level does not effect the number of BioMechs, although it will effect how powerful they are.

BioMechs are "born" in the Stage 1 configuration. At this stage in its development,, it looks almost completely organic. The infant BioMech is hungry for certain minerals, and so it flies around the sector searching for asteroids and eating them. Once it has consumed enough food, it will evolve to Stage 2.

The BioMech is a fast and agile creature, moving much faster than any TSN ship and turning with great speed as well. (Only an Arvonian Fighter can match its speed, and even at that the BioMech is faster) It has only a single weak beam, firing at very short range in its forward arc. The BioMech is not normally a hostile creature, and will seek to avoid combat unless attacked. However, if any BioMech is attacked by the player ship all BioMechs in the sector will become enraged and hostile. This will be indicated by them turning red on the various console displays. Normally, BioMechs will appear in brown once identified.

The Intel scan for all BioMechs includes a value for "Anti-Proton" levels. This value indicates how close the BioMech is to evolving to the next stage. As of Artemis 2.5, this value starts at 1.1. It increases to 2.4 after eating an asteroid, to 3.7 after eating a second asteroid, and after the third asteroid the BioMech will evolve to the next stage.

Version 2.5 of Artemis introduced the "Infestation" scenario, in which the BioMech population has exploded out of control. The "Monsters" setting in this game mode does not determine the number of BioMechs present, instead around 20 BioMechs of all stages will be roaming the sector, along with enough asteroids and anomalies to allow them to continue to reproduce for some time. Note that the enraged behavior and reproduction ability of BioMechs are present in all game modes, but the sheer number of BioMechs in the Infestation scenario turns them from a protected lifeform which is managed carefully by the TSN into a serious threat to safety and shipping that must be exterminated at all costs.

Quick Stats

Forward Shields:	50
Back Shields:	50
Hull:	70
Beam damage:	0.3 - 4.5 depending on difficulty level
Beam DPS:	0.05 - 0.75 depending on difficulty level
Max beam DPS:	0.75 at difficulty 11
Beam Range:	700 (1400 at difficulty 11)
Top Speed:	1.8 - Warp 1 depending on difficulty level
Maneuverability:	0.008 - 0.027 depending on difficulty level

Beam Arc (compared to TSN Battleship)

(Prior to Artemis 2.5, BioMechs did not display the "enraged" behavior and always appeared in red. They would become hostile if ANY ship attacked them and could be calmed down by "taunting" a Stage 4. Presumably, BioMechs did not evolve prior to version 2.5, and the "Anti-Proton" value was meaningless.)

(In version 2.3 and earlier, Beam damage for the Stage 1 BioMech was 0.3-1.5, with damage capped at difficulty 5. Max DPS was therefore 0.25 at all difficulties from 5 to 11. BioMechs were introduced in Artemis 2.0.)