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The Field Bureau is a Soviet building which grants access to key parts of the Soviet arsenal (most notably the Battle Bunker and Shock/Tesla Troopers). In addition to the units and defenses, it enables the Instant Shelter power, allowing the commander to instantly place a Battle Bunker anywhere on the battlefield; in conjunction with the Radar Dish it also grants access to the Drakuv Prison Vehicle.
Infantry sent to the Field Bureau is held captive in the building, allowing the Soviet commander to train these units at their Barracks as long as it is not infiltrated.
Official description[]
The Field Bureau is an important Soviet intelligence building on the battlefield. Construction of this structure marks the first step of a local technology advancement for basic weapon branches. But the most important feature of these is the capability to imprison and research the weapons of the enemies.
Using the Drakuv Prison Vehicle, which can be deployed from a Field Bureau once a Radar Dish is constructed for additional intel gathering, it is possible to capture enemy soldiers and move them into this building in order to analyze the weapons and equipment they are using. Afterwards, these soldiers can be trained by the owner of the Field Bureau which has taken the prisoner in. Keep in mind, that if an enemy infiltrator enters this building, all data regarding the captured technology will be lost.[1]
Overview[]
The Field Bureau is the Soviet support tech building, providing access to some of the staples of the Soviet war machine - it grants access to the flamethrower-wielding Pyro and more importantly the Battle Bunker, allowing the Soviet commander to fortify their positions effectively with sturdy, garrisonable structures. It also grants access to the formidable Tesla Trooper, the Soviet anti-tank infantry (or, in the case of Russia, the even more powerful Shock Trooper). It also enables the production of the Dustdevil aircraft once an Airbase is up.
As with support tech buildings of other factions, the Field Bureau is not a necessary part of unlocking advanced tech access. Therefore, the commander can decide when to build the Field Bureau to develop the small-scale branch line technology provided by it according to the different battlefield conditions.
What makes the Field Bureau truly stand out, however, is its ability to hold captured enemy units, enabling the Soviet commander to produce them at their Barracks. This is usually accomplished via the Drakuv Prison Vehicle, a sturdy prison transport summoned from the Field Bureau via a support power. Among other things, the Drakuv can sedate and abduct enemy infantry, which will then be under the control of the commander once they leave the vehicle. They can be promptly sent to the Field Bureau to enable their production, potentially granting the commander new opportunities and options on the battlefield.
Although the infiltration of the Field Bureau by espionage units will not reset the countdown of the support powers provided by it, the tech provided by the imprisoned infantry will be lost, taking away the capability to produce these units until abducted again. Therefore, the more unit types are acquired, the more important it is for the commander to protect the Field Bureau from infiltration. Building several Field Bureaus in different locations can also facilitate the deployment of Drakuv Prison Vehicles in more locations.
The Field Bureau grants access to the following support powers:
| Support power | Description |
|---|---|
 |
Type: Defensive Power Cost: $800 Recharge Time: 5:30 Deploy a Battle Bunker anywhere on the battlefield |
 |
Type: Reinforcement Power Cost: $1800 Recharge Time: 6:00 Requires Radar Dish Deploy a Drakuv Prison Vehicle near a Field Bureau |
In order for the player to exploit the full utility of the Field Bureau, they must first deploy the Drakuv once it is ready. Then, they must capture the desired infantry via the Drakuv by attacking the unit with the vehicle - the infantry will not be captured instantly unless damaged beforehand, however. Once the infantry unit is successfully abducted, they will stay inside the Drakuv until ordered to leave - this time under the player's control. Such unit can then be used to either bolster the existing ranks of the player's army or sent to the Field Bureau, allowing the player to build said unit from that point.
Good candidates for abduction and/or imprisonment include Field Medics (powerful support to the bulkier Soviet infantry), Snipers/Viruses (Soviets lack 'native' long-range anti-infantry options, excluding the Latin Confederation-exclusive Morales) and Knightframes (sturdy unit with a lot of firepower and anti-air capability). By doing so, half of the infantry's cost will also be acquired by the general, which can be useful if they lack funds but have plenty of infantry.
However, not all infantry can be produced after being put into the Field Bureau, the most notable example being civilian units. In addition, should an enemy infiltrator enter the structure, all captured infantry data will be lost, stressing the importance of defending the Field Bureau from such units.
List of non-civilian and non-campaign infantry that cannot be reverse-engineered:
- Engineers
- All espionage infantry units
- All Tier 2 and Tier 3 Soviet infantry
- All heroes
- Rocketeers
- Gyrocopters
- Scout Ravens
- Libra Clones
- Bomb Pilots
- Hijackers
- Technicians
- Foehn infantry transformed by Nanofiber Sync
AI behavior[]
By default, the AI will not use the Field Bureau's reverse engineering ability.
However, if the AI happens to own a mind control unit, they will treat the Field Bureau the same way as a Grinder - they will only send mind-controlled units there. They will not train any reverse engineered infantry, however.
In normal circumstances, this has a 5% chance of happening after a unit is mind controlled (for reference, the other AI decisions in case of mind-controlling a unit are as follows: 75% chance of the unit being added to AI squads, 5% of it being sent to a Bio Reactor, and 15% of it being sent to mindlessly attack the enemy, usually the former owner).
This changes when the mind controlled unit in question is at red health (25% health or less). The probability of it being sent to the Grinder/Field Bureau increases from 5% to 40% (with the other percentages standing at 5% for being added to AI squads, 40% for being sent to a Bio Reactor, and 5% for being sent to mindlessly attack the enemy).
Curiously, because of the AI treating the Field Bureau as a Grinder, it can also send vehicles inside a Field Bureau, something not possible in normal gameplay. A video demonstration of this bug can be found here.
Appearances[]
Act One[]
- Field Bureau first appears as a buildable structure in Bleed Red.
Act Two[]
- In Earthrise, the Field Bureau is notably unavailable for construction - the only unit it would provide after taking the mission's lunar restrictions into account would be Shock Troopers, which are already available as the basic Soviet infantry for the purposes of the mission.
Special Ops[]
- In Blood Rage, one of the initial objectives is to infiltrate the Chinese Field Bureau to prepare a sedative for Libra. It will fall under control of the player (alongside the two Sentry Guns nearby, if they have not been previously destroyed), having to be defended for 8 minutes from Chinese attacks. Sending Epsilon units into the Field Bureau will not grant the player the production capabilities of the sent units in this mission, even if they own a Barracks.
Cooperative[]
- In Cyberanatomy, the players need to let the Saboteur enter the enemy's Field Bureau to temporarily shut down all of their defenses, so the players' teams can enter their base.
Behind the scenes[]
- From version 3.3.0 to 3.3.4, the Field Bureau was Soviet's tier 2 access building, until the Radar Dish was re-added. It was done due to complications with radar availability caused by the radar-providing Airfield not being available in certain missions.
- Sometime during development of 3.3, the Field Bureau was going to be named as "Prison Facility" and was exclusive to the Latin Confederation.[2]
- In version 3.3.5, it became impossible to abduct Soviet tier 2 and tier 3 infantry, as an exploit was discovered that allowed Soviet players to abduct their own units and thus be able to train infantry without having their prerequisite buildings. For example, a Soviet player could train a Tesla Trooper (an action that requires a Field Bureau), abduct it, then sell the Field Bureau - retaining the ability to train Tesla Troopers even without their prerequisite building.
- This exploit is still possible as of version 3.3.6, but only applies to Tesla/Shock Troopers and Pyros, as they only require the Field Bureau itself.
Trivia[]
- Through a waypoint exploit, it is possible to order vehicles to enter a Field Bureau, as it is technically has the Grinder's functionality. A video demonstration of this can be found here.
