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11 The Protectorate Build Drone is the faction's automated builder, a Tier 0 flyer that raises every Protectorate structure and, unusually for a builder, the Strider walker as well. It has 25 health, no weapon, and the highest move speed of any unit on the roster at 2000. Figures below describe build ZS.c36778 of 11 September 2026 and move with the patch cadence.
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33 Stat Block
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55 StatValueCostNot published in the entity data (both cost fields read zero)Health25ShieldsNoneArmor0Armor typeMediumStatus resistNone listedMove speed2000Vision16Supply0Build time15 secondsTier0DomainFlyerInfuse / Reanimate / ReplicateNot eligibleBuilt byOperating Tower
66 One field is a real gap: the entity data publishes no build cost for the Build Drone. Both the hexite and flux fields read zero, which is not the same as a confirmed free unit, so the cost is recorded here as unpublished rather than as 0 hexite. Supply 0 and the absence of a status resist value are genuine, not missing.
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88 Role
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1010 The Build Drone is infrastructure rather than army. It places production buildings, supply platforms, turrets and outposts, and because it is a flyer it crosses terrain that would block a ground builder. Move speed 2000 is roughly three times a Commando, so a single drone can service a forward expansion and a home base without a second one idling.
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1212 It also builds the Strider, which is the one place a Protectorate player has to plan around drone positioning. The Strider is produced by the drone rather than by a production building, so committing to one means committing a builder to that spot for 60 seconds.
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1414 With 25 health and no weapon, the drone dies to anything that notices it. The counterplay is entirely about where it stands, not about how it fights.
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1616 Faction Context
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1818 Protectorate structures are raised by drones rather than by a worker pulled off the line, which is why the Prospector never stops harvesting to build. That split is a faction trait: the Prospector handles flux income and field healing, the Build Drone handles construction, and the Operating Tower produces both.
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2020 Structures the drone raises include the Barracks, the Research Lab, the Assembly Plant, the Skydock, the Mechanical Research Lab, the War Foundry, supply platforms, turrets and the Airstrip that calls in Sol Invictus. The full production chain is described on the Protectorate page.
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2222 Tier and Armour Interactions
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2424 The drone carries Medium armour with a flat armour value of 0, so nothing is blunted before it lands. At 25 health that is academic; any single shot on the roster removes it.
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2626 It also carries the Flyer tag. Flyer is a tag rather than an armour type, and it matters because weapons that cannot target air simply ignore the drone while anti air weapons treat it as a free kill.
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2828 Counters
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3030 The Build Drone has no attack and therefore no favourable matchups.
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3232 Weak to:
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3434 UnitWhyDreadnought+200 percent against flyers, the largest anti air bonus in the gameWeaver+100 percent against airAny unit that targets air25 health means a single volley from almost anything removes the drone before it finishes a structure
3535 Balance History
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3737 No dated balance change to the Build Drone appears in the first party patch notes covering Early Access, and the entity data for it is unchanged across the 15 days to 11 September 2026.
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3939 Notes
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4141 The engine name is Troop_Prot_BuilderDrone_C. The Legion fields its own separate builder, the Legion Build Drone, and the two are different entities despite the shared role.
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4343 For the rest of the roster and how to read a stat block, see Units. For hexite, flux, supply and the power pool behind unit conversions, see Resources and Economy. For the commanders that lead a Protectorate army, see Heroes and Commanders.
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4545 The stats above describe build ZS.c36778 of 11 September 2026. Versus balance moves on a weekly cadence during Early Access, so a figure that is right today may be adjusted in the next pass.