Overview
this is a work in progress guide to the spiky plant faction based on my in game observations and experiments, if you have more info please message me.
overview
the spike plant are an unplayable faction that spawns naturally and can grow on asteroids much like normal plants. they are passive but are easy to provoke and can cause problems if not contained (similar to a infection)
ships and buildings
spiky plant has both ships and buildings along with a sort of station.
spiky plants all spawn from a “seed” and can change their types
buildings:
thorn: small building (also has a ship variant)
thistle: similar to thorn but larger
bramble: same as thorn
cactus: building with weapons
sunflower: similar to cactus but with more missiles
shrub: hemisphere shaped plant without weapons
stamens: lightly armed but can produce seeds that make more buildings (has one variant)
pineapple: similar to cactus
ships:
spike: medium ship with a plant lazer on the front
thorn: small ship grows into a thistle
thistle: grows from a thorn (might grow into a spike)
bramble: almost identical to the thorn
thistle thorn: similar to thistle
stations:
tubule: round asteroid like station (unsure if these grow larger over time or if new ones can be made)
life cycle
the life cycles that I am aware of:
thorn/bramble > thistle
all stamens produce seeds which become either buildings or ships
some variants of the thistle, cactus, and sunflower also produce seeds.
it appears that a seed will become a ship if it cannot find an asteroid to anchor to.
fighting the spiky plant
because the spiky plant can spread rapidly if left unchecked it is essential to completely destroy all plants in an area.
because spiky plant ships are unshielded and have not turrets or guided munitions they are not much of a threat.
the plants can fire torpedoes that can be dangerous in large numbers but can be countered with good point defence. it also works to stay at long range and use your own torpedoes.