Droids at the Gates 3D

Droids at the Gates 3D is a tactical defense game set on an orbital bridge. Choose weapons, place turrets, catapults, barricades and mines, then face the approaching droids. Enemies advance toward the gate and fire at your base. Keep its energy above zero and survive every wave of the selected gate.

How to play Droids at the Gates 3D

Start with the first gate on Normal difficulty. Before launching a wave, examine the bridge and the highlighted weapon area beside the base. Select an available item in the arsenal, then choose an empty position. Turrets and catapults need a 2×2 space. Barricades and mines occupy one tile farther along the bridge.

Spend your starting credits on a useful combination of defenses. Filling every available tile is less important than placing weapons where they can reach enemies and support one another. Press Start wave when you are ready. Destroyed droids provide credits for additional structures and upgrades, including purchases made during the battle.

Survive all the waves to unlock the next gate on the same difficulty. If the defense fails, try again with another layout. An unfinished personal battle can be continued with its saved structures and simulation state.

Turrets, catapults and target priorities

The arsenal contains four turrets and four catapults, each with different prices and characteristics. Turrets select individual targets, while catapults help damage enemy groups. Some catapult projectiles bounce, making their direction and throw range an important part of the setup.

Select a built weapon to inspect its properties. Improve the available attributes, such as damage, fire rate, range, blast radius or spread. Each weapon has its own upgrade choices. Catapult throw range and spread can also be reduced to concentrate their fire on a different part of the bridge.

Weapons offer four target priorities: closest to the gate, strongest, weakest or random. Change the priority when too many weapons concentrate on the same unsuitable target. Unneeded structures can be sold; the structure panel shows the refund.

Barricades, mines and base upgrades

Four types of barricades provide different levels of durability. They hold up droids and give your weapons more time to fire. Four types of mines trigger near enemies and can help against packed formations. Place them on a route the droids actually use rather than leaving them on an empty side of the bridge.

The Base tab has five upgrade branches: shield, weapon area, droid recycling, auto repair and energy pool. These upgrades apply to the current defense. Increasing the weapon area creates room for additional installations, while defensive and economic upgrades help support longer battles.

The campaign and its special rules

There are 15 gates, 18 droid types and two difficulties: Normal and Hard. Gate unlocks and best scores are tracked separately for each difficulty. Later defenses introduce tougher opponents and large droids.

Some gates restrict your equipment. Gate eight disables base upgrades, gate eleven uses barricades and mines, and gate fourteen excludes those items. Read the briefing and check the arsenal during each wave. A layout that succeeds in one battle may need a complete rethink in the next.

Tips

• Check weapon range before spending heavily. A powerful turret cannot help while enemies remain outside its reach.
• Combine weapons near the gate with barricades farther along the bridge when the current rules allow them.
• Compare a new structure's cost with the benefit of upgrading a weapon that is already firing.
• Use catapults and mines against groups, and focused fire against individual durable droids.
• Return to normal speed when a battle becomes difficult. Acceleration is more useful once a defense is handling its wave.

Saving and playing with friends

Registered players keep personal progress in their account. Guest progress stays separately on the current device. The game saves unlocked gates, scores, achievements and the player's unfinished defense. Use the shared invitation button to join a friend's field, with up to eight real players in total. Visiting another player's defense does not replace your own campaign.

Similar games

• Penguins Attack 3D offers another defense campaign built around choosing installations and surviving waves.
• Kingdom Defense 3D brings the same interest in preparing positions and developing defenses to a kingdom setting.
• Tower Turmoil 3D is another tactical battle involving defensive installations and incoming enemies.