Attack, nest combat and defence
Combat depends on reach, timing and the decision to stay or flee.
An attacker must actually reach its target. Blows follow a rhythm and deal the species' base damage before the situation modifies it. Health recovers only outside immediate combat and according to available energy.
Explicit orders
A player attack and a led escort ignore strategic warning zones because they follow deliberate orders. Physical reachability still matters. At critical health, the controlled slime ends an automatic attack rather than choosing a long retreat on its own.
Queens and nests
Defenders respond to valid entrances of a threatened nest. Only a successful descent makes an underground target practical. If a queen falls, births cease in her nest; other nests of the same species remain separate places to defend.
