| Novus | |
 | |
| Governing Body: | N/A |
| Known Leaders: | The Founder, Mirabel, Vertigo |
| Military Strength: | Unknown |
| Empire Size: | At least one world |
| Goal: | Defeat the Hierarchy |
| Tactical Dynamic | Patches/Flow Network |
"We are Novus. We're enemies of your oppressors, the Hierarchy." - Mirabel to the Humans
Novus (Those who follow in their own language) is one of the 3 main factions in Universe at War.
Background[]
Viktor and a small army of Ohm Robots emerging from a portal.
Many years prior to Earth Assualt, Novus's creators were wiped out by the Hierarchy during one of their harvesting operations, leaving only a few machines scattered across the galaxy.
One of these machines was the Founder. Upon his return from a deep space scouting mission, he found his home destroyed and the species that once inhabited the planet all but wiped out. In his rage and agony, he vowed to avenge his race and gathered up what machines were left and produced what is now known as the Novus. The Founder, perhaps out of sentiment, also cloned a member of his destroyed race from salvaged DNA material, creating Mirabel.
Novus would then follow the Hierarchy about and try to cause as much damage as possible to their harvesting operations and then construct tombs on the destroyed worlds. [1].
The Novus Homeworld, Lieta Novus, after being rebuilt.
Upon reaching Earth, Mirabel and the Founder are surprised to find humans still alive and much of the planet intact, rather than a completely destroyed world. Nevertheless, they proceed to set up a base in the Middle East.
A rift soon formed between the Founder and Mirabel, with the former wishing to follow normal programming while the latter wishing to help the humans wherever possible. Eventually, through the course of the campaign, it becomes apparent that the Hierarchy had set a trap for Novus, culminating in the destruction of a Command Ship in an attempt to destroy Mirabel and a massive assault on Novus HQ. During the battle, the Home Portal is damaged and the Founder sacrifices himself to prevent the destruction of both Earth and the Novus homeworld.
The remains of Novus, now under Mirabel's command, joined forces with the small band of Human military survivors and assisted them in launching nuclear attacks against the Hierarchy command ships, prompting Kamal Re'x to send Orlok the Eternal to crush the resistance.
The Novus eventually joined with the Masari for a final attack against the Hierarchy's Purifier and assists Masari forces in defeating Kamal and stopping the Hierarchy attack once and for all.
Heroes[]
Play style[]
Novus takes the role of the hit and run faction in Earth Assault. Their basic tactic is to blitz and swarm their enemies with their many, inexpensive units, such as Ohm Robots. Their units are unable to outgun the forces of the Hierarchy or Masari in direct one-on-one confrontations, but can outmaneuver and outproduce them. Novus employs antimatter as a unique weapon on several units (Dervish Jets, Redirection Turrets, & Antimatter Tanks): the more of it that becomes attached to an enemy, the larger and more damaging the resulting explosion will be. This allows their units to increase their damage output dramatically when in groups. Novus also uses digital viruses on the battlefield to both slow their enemy down and to provide a catalyst for various abilities.
The Novus also have air superiority almost 90% of the time, unless they are against many Inquisitors in Light Mode. This is because their Dervish Jets are incredibly powerful, whereas the Hierarchy Air Force is more of a support weapon than a force by itself. The Masari can possibly win an air battle, but since their only air to air unit is the Inquisitor this is very rare.
Novus buildings are connected through an energy flow network, enabling ground units to travel from one place to another at extreme speeds as long as the end points are connected to the flow network. To do this, a player should click twice at an area near a Flow Conduit and selected units will break down and flow to their destination. (Note: only infantry can flow by default, vehicles require Flow 3 researched in order to use the flow network)
Tech trees[]
- Computing - increases the effect of viruses and Hackers, as well as providing various patches that modify viruses.
- Nanotech - adds various unit upgrades, enhances structures, and provides resource/production patches.
- Signal - increases the effectiveness of the Flow Network, adds cloaking to units, and provides various support patches.
Patches[]
Every race in Universe at War is able to quickly adapt to new situations via a Tactical Dynamic. The Novus Tactical Dynamic is to be able to "patch" in upgrades to their units and structures as the battlefield requirements need. There is twelve available patches with different bonuses, some enhancing Novus's economy, others providing unit bonuses, while others purge bad effects. The maximum number of patches that can be running simultaneously is two, but this requires a science center. If Novus has no Command Core or Science Center, they lose the ability to patch.
Strengths[]
- Most Novus units are fast and inexpensive, with the added bonus of taking up little popcap.
- Use of the flow network allows fast travel around the map and traveling through other enemy Novus networks.
- Novus Collectors are free and self-replace.
- Constructors can repair any Novus unit or building without disabling it (unlike the Architect).
- Novus patches offer various bonuses to all units at once.
- Anti-matter weaponry increases its explosive power the more pellets are attached to a victim.
- The only faction with an early-game "tank" unit.
- Novus can out-produce both Masari and Hierarchy in unit construction.
- Fastest early game economy of the 3 factions.
Weaknesses[]
- Units are less durable then Hierarchy or Masari equivalents and tend to require being en-mass to deal heavy damage.
- Structures must be placed near either a Flow Conduit or a Flow Generator in order to function.
- If a Flow Generator is destroyed, all buildings it powered are useless until a new one is built to replace it or a back-up exists somewhere else on the map and is connected via the flow network.
- Constructor repairs cost resources, though the amount depends on how damaged whatever it's repairing is.
- Some patches have negative side effects (for example, Reboot removes all negative effects from every Novus unit or structure on the map, but shuts them down for a short time).
- Patches are usually more specific functions than hardpoints or light/dark mode.
- Unlike the Masari or Hierarchy, Novus's resource collection is not on a per second basis but rather when a Collector Drone returns to its Recycling Center, meaning the further away resources are, the longer it takes.
- Collector Drones can be destroyed on their way back resulting in loss of those resources.
- Unlike Hierarchy Reaper Drones, Collector Drones can't harvest organic matter, intact enemy units/structures, or tanker trucks.
Trivia[]
- The word "Novus" means 'a new' in Latin. This may be a pun on the fact that Novus is the youngest of all 3 races.
- Novus is the only faction whose homeworld has an official map (the Masari having a city ship and the Heirarchy having a massive saucer, both are only seen in the campaign). It can be seen in the Xbox 360 version of the game's tutorial. Props from it can be used in the Universe at War map editor.
References[]
| Universe at War: Earth Assault | |
|---|---|
| Hierarchy | Units Buildings Heroes Story |
| Novus | Units Buildings Heroes Story |
| Masari | Units Buildings Heroes Story |
| Other Topics: | Storyline Previews Humans External Links |