Introduction
The Welder is an important Marine tool used to build and repair Marine structures and repair Marine Armor. The Welder has a weight of 0.0 (like Switch-Axe, Pistol, Mines, and Grenades) and therefore does not slow down movement speed for Marines.
Tactical Summary - Welder vs. Build Tool
- A Welder is the most important survival tool because 1 armor point usually absorbs 2 damage points!
- A Welder does not build faster or slower than the Build Tool
- A Welder builds more silently than a Build Tool
- Building with a Build Tool reduces your movement speed by 50%, building with a Welder does not
Welding
Welder gives 2 points per 600 armor welded
Welding gives 5 armor per second back to the welder
The welder has a range of 2.4 units
Welder welds at:
- 20 armor per second for players and exos
- 90 hp per second for buildings
- 150 hp per second for sentries (not the battery)
- 220 hp per second for power nodes (same rate as builder)
- 30 hp per second for anything else (which there isn't anything else as far as I can tell)
The welder deals 30 DPS of flame damage (2x for flammable and an additional 2.5x for buildings)
Build Tool
Marines are by default equipped with the Build Tool that is basically a Welder without the front attachment. The Build Tool inherits its skin from the Welder
- It can only be used to build structures or repair fully destroyed Power Node.
- It does create more noise and makes it harder to hear nearby aliens.
Building in the Presence of Infestation
| If a Blueprint is on infestation when you start building it, the speed with which you build is reduced by 25%, so the time to build increases by 33%. Furthermore, if you build with a Build Tool, the Building will be stripped of Armor once completed, whereas with a Welder, it will be at full health, as is demonstrated in this video: |
 |
Variants
There are currently 5 variations of the Welder skin available for use by TSF Marines.
|
Info: • Not all variants are available for purchase.
• Skins are purely cosmetic and offer no augmented or additional stats in-game. |
| Camouflage variants & availability | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Variant | Description | Acquisition | Notes |
| Normal | Default Armor. | Provided with game. | Comes with the base game. |
| Forge | Black and red with orange highlights. | Can be bought in the Customization Screen in-game. | Released with the Forge Pack DLC as part of the NS2 5 year anniversary update (Build 319), and completed with the Merry Gorgemas! update (Build 336). |
| Kodiak | Green jungle camouflage. | Can be bought in the Customization Screen in-game. | Released with the Kodiak update, and completed with the Merry Gorgemas! update (Build 336). |
| Sandstorm | Black and gold with red highlights | Can be bought in the Customization Screen in-game. | Released with the Catalyst update (Build 324). |
| Tundra | White and blue design. | Can be bought in the Customization Screen in-game. | Released with the Tundra update (Build 285), and completed with the Merry Gorgemas! update (Build 336). |
Player - Marine (Assault Rifle • Pistol • Switch-Axe)
Mechanics - Marine Commander • Power Nodes • Resource Model
Build - Command Station • Extractor • Infantry Portal • Armory • Robotics Factory (ARC • MAC) • Arms Lab
Game Information - Options • Maps • Console Commands • Patches
In Game - Damage Types • Status Icons • Ranking System • Badges