Android Mage



While they may call to mind the cloaked Mages from the previous Catacomb games, these metallic menaces are, in fact, entirely robotic, and do not have any magic whatsoever, being armed with three powerful beam cannons in each arm and levitating above the ground at high speeds. They resemble stubby, chrome versions of men in robes with glowing green eyes. They appear only in Catacomb Apocalypse.

In Catacomb Apocalypse
Very fast and very annoying, the Android Mage is a nasty foe. Its guns are reasonably fast, fairly strong (7 damage), and have a very large hitbox due to the multiple shots, which makes up for their relatively bad accuracy. They are easier to hit than they initially appear to be, due to the fact that their sprite flails its arms around during its animation, which makes it comparatively easy to hit up close. Android Mages have 12 hit points.

Alone, Android Mages are annoying, but not much of a threat. Single Android Mages like to approach, and pepper you at close range. When paired with other enemies, however - such as the Robot Ants they are often paired with - they can become much nastier, since they have a tendency to sit at long range, and snipe at you from behind their minions, which do not block their line of fire. The combination of their minions' low-damage shots and their own more-damaging ones can make engaging Android Mage groups annoying. Thankfully they're barely tougher than their minions and comparatively easy to bring down. They first show up in The Future Node of Time.

The best tactic for dealing with Android Mages is to exploit the fact that they aren't very aggressive, often lazily drifting off if the player breaks line of sight, the complete opposite of the plodding advance of the Robot Ants. Bait their escorts away, and Mages become much less threatening. If they appear in numbers, an Xterminator at close range can one-shot one or deal good damage to a large group of them.

When killed, they crackle with electrical energy and melt into a pool of liquid metal.

Android Mages require the Blue Jewel to see on the Crystal Sphere. When destroyed, they collapse and overheat as their reactors melt them into slag.

Trivia

 * The Android Mage is a futuristic counterpart to the Mages from the other Catacomb Games.