Best abilities and species choice for each ant type in Empires of the Undergrowth (2024)

Empires of the Undergrowth has a range of ants, each with their own abilities and some with subspecies for you to choose from. It’s important to choose the right ones for the success of your colony.

Best abilities and subclasses for each ant species in Empires of the Undergrowth

There is a lot of choice in Empires of the Undergrowth when fashioning your ants in your formicarium. Although it’s important to choose correctly the first time around, as you can’t change the subspecies of your ants once they’re picked!

I’ll be going over the best “build” for each ant in the game so you can fend off against those experiments with ease.

Best Gene Thief Ant build in Empires of the Undergrowth

The Gene Thief Ants (formica ereptor) don’t have a subclass to spec into as they’re the ant species exclusive to the formicarium that you start with.

Considering the nature of this fictional ant species, you will get to choose the abilities for the Queen and the Worker ants.

Here is the best build for the Gene Thief Queen in Empires of the Undergrowth:

With this build, your Queen will have a significantly longer lifespan to outlast her aggressors, whilst your colony creates itself many times over to destroy the invaders. If you’ve planned accordingly, there is no force in the game that could withstand the full might of the colony on end for that long.

Although the Workers are less important than other ant species, they should not be overlooked. Here is the best build for the Gene Thief Workers in Empires of the Undergrowth:

With this build, your workers will become so much more efficient that you won’t have to have as many of them around, freeing up space for other ants for your defences. Also, in NG+, they’ll be a reliable way of grabbing food during combat and bringing it back quickly and without interruption – potentially saving your run on many occasions.

Best Black Ant build in Empires of the undergrowth

The Black Ants (formica fusca) also don’t have a subspecies, but they are a dependable species that will carry through the early game and into the end game.

Here is the best build for the Black Ants in Empires of the Undergrowth:

These upgrades allow the Black Ants to last significantly longer in combat – outlasting your foes. Meat Wall is better than Dangerous as the small boost of attack speed will scarcely increase your DPS, whilst taking 50% less damage will double their duration in combat – allowing them to deal much more damage that Dangerous ever could.

Also, Self Preservation will mean that your foes start attacking another fully-healthed ant instead of your damage ones, meaning they can stay in the fight and keep chipping away at your enemies, keeping your whole horde in the fight much longer than they should.

Best Wood Ant build in Empires of the Undergrowth

The Wood Ants (formica rufa) shoot formic acid at their foes. This is the only ranged ant in the game, and is the first one to receive a subclass that you must choose.

The best subclass for the Wood Ants is Rapid Fire. This has a much higher DPS than the Mortar subclass, allowing for more damage delivered much quicker. Also, their accuracy is higher for fast-moving targets.

Here is the best build for the Wood Ants in Empires of the Undergrowth:

Choosing the venom abilities over the physical ones is the superior choice for the Rapid Fire Wood Ants. With the rate that they’ll be firing at, the enhanced venom damage will melt through foes very swiftly. Also, Corrosive does more damage than High Pressure.

Although if you plan to scarcely use the Wood Ants, then choosing Crippling to make enemies more vulnerable to physical attacks will be the way to go considering all of your other ants will be inflicting physical damage.

Best Leafcutter Major build in Empires of the Undergrowth

The Leafcutter Major is the tank of the roster, so will be primarily used to absorb hits.

The best subclass for the Leafcutter Major is Taunt. Having all of your enemies focus on your tanks will allow your powerful yet squishy units to eviscerate your foes before they take down the Leafcutter Majors. The very periodic relief that Stun will bring pales in comparison to the constant relief that Taunt brings – at least until the Leafcutter Major is dead.

Here is the best build for the Leafcutter Major ants in Empires of the Undergrowth:

Shockproof could literally shave off huge amounts of damage when facing tougher creatures, which is where the game really gets serious. And having your army last longer with Resilient will inflict more damage than Sharp would reflect, proving it superior.

Best Fire Ant build in Empires of the Undergrowth

The Fire Ants are extremely aggressive creatures that will form the main DPS of your army.

The best subclass for the Fire Ants is Vigorous. The choice between Pervasive and Vigorous is a very close call, but in a critical situation, the speed, damage, and resistance buff right after hatching will push out those encroaching creatures. Pervasive will likely take too long to kick in, dooming your colony.

Here is the best build for the Fire Ants in Empires of the Undergrowth:

Again, it’s a very tough choice between both ability sets for the Fire Ants, as they are all rather situational. However, considering the high DPS of the Fire Ants, having them melt through larger enemies will save you lots of ants and resources, and Last Laugh will produce more damage overall than Last Stand.

Best Matabele Ant build in Empires of the Undergrowth

The Matabele Ants have a unique healing ability that make them combat medics of sorts.

The best subclass for the Matabele Ants is Fast Responder. Being able to heal other ants quicker is more health effective than slowing down the attack speed of your foes, especially when it comes to larger creatures. The increase of movement speed and the high chance of evading attacks them out of combat will allow dedicated squads to keep your troubled ants alive much faster and more consistently.

Here is the best build for the Matabele Ants in Empires of the Undergrowth:

These abilities allow for your Matabele Medics to revive fallen ants on the battlefield and heal them back to full health through attacking. This means that a decent Matabele force will allow you to keep your fighting forces on the field for a ridiculous amount of time in combat.

Now that you know all about the best builds for your ants in Empires of the Undergrowth, you’ll be able to build the perfect army – as long as you plan around the population max.

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