Portal Storm

Pest teleporting in

Portal Storm is a type of Assault Event that happens on some nights in Abiotic Factor. During the event, Entities will spawn through portals around a nearby Crafting Bench.

The day before a Portal Storm, the message "The air feels strange. Be on guard tonight..." will appear on all player screens. After some time, portals will appear. When the event starts, each portal will spawn entities. The type of entity spawned will depend on the Portal Storm type, as described below. Once all entities have spawned in, the message "The air feels normal again" will appear on the screen.

Portal Spawning

Up to three portals will appear at or near the location of players at random starting 4 PM the day before the event, after the warning message has appeared. They can spawn at any time between then and when the event starts. At some time during the night, the portals will activate, spawning in entities that attempt to attack the nearest Crafting Bench or any other player-built deployable. Any players sleeping close to a portal will be woken up due to an entity being nearby.

If no portals are in the area when the event starts and all players sleep through the night, the event will be postponed until the morning. A portal will appear at a random time if a player is within the radius of a Crafting Bench and all entities will spawn from that one portal.

Types

• Pest Storm: Spawns 7 Pests
• Pest with Peccary Storm: Spawns 6 Pests and a Peccary at the end
  • Occurs after completing Flathill
• Electro-Pest Storm: Spawns 4 Electro-Pests and a Sow Peccary at the end
  • Occurs after exploring the Labs Sector to some degree (specifics unknown)

Portal Suppression Field

The Portal Suppression Field upgrade for the Crafting Bench will suppress Portal Storms around the affected bench, closing portals soon after they appear. This is the only way to skip a Portal Storm entirely.

Strategy

• Barricades and traps are useful for defending against attackers.
  • Batteries are required to use powered traps at night, so non-powered traps (such as Shock Traps and Tripwire Mines) are preferable, especially in the early game.
• Boom Bait is highly effective at dealing with the multiple Pests that spawn. However, since they are only attracted to the bait when they are unaware of a player, you will need to be able to sneak up on them and stay hidden until it explodes.
• A Vacuum makes short work of Pests, as one Pest can be used to kill another.
• Since portals spawn at player locations, it is possible to have a degree of control over where the attacking entities will spawn. Use this to place traps and confine entities to advantageous positions.
  • Pests cannot open doors, so simply having a Crafting Bench safely behind a door is a sufficient defense against them. Additionally, Pests can be fully trapped if they spawn somewhere confined by doors, such as the Office Sector cafeteria security office.
• Portal Storms only occur if at least one portal has spawned in the area, so they can be postponed if no one enters the radius of a Crafting Bench after 4 PM the day before.
  • Dealing with the event during the day provides much better visibility.
  • If no portals were spawned in the area earlier, only one portal will spawn, making it easier to control.
• Package and store any undefended deployables in the area to prevent attackers from destroying them.
  • Some attackers will attack the Crafting Bench, while others will target other deployables in the vicinity.

Notes

• Despite not being solid to players or entities, portals close to doors may prevent them from opening fully unless kicked open.