IRON NESTGuides

Shell mechanic

How to move friendly units with Smoke Shells

Smoke is a positioning tool for movable friendly units, not just a visual effect.

Quick answer

Fire Smoke at a safe gathering point. Nearby movable friendly units move toward the Smoke location, so use it to create separation from the enemy target before firing a lethal shell. Fortifications and other immobile units are outside this confirmed movement behavior.

Move friendlies before the lethal shot

  1. Choose a safe gathering point

    Pick a Smoke location that creates useful separation between nearby movable friendlies and the enemy target you intend to strike.

  2. Fire Smoke at that location

    Nearby movable friendly units are reported to move toward the Smoke impact or cloud center. Wait for useful separation before using a lethal shell.

  3. Do not expect fortifications to move

    The developer-described behavior excludes fortifications. Current players also report that blue units with black corner markers are immobile structures, but treat that marker pattern as a community UI clue rather than a universal official rule.

  4. If Smoke is not available yet

    Do not assume it should already be unlocked. Use the in-game blast-radius or ranging tool to judge a danger-close shot, and prefer a lower-blast-radius option when appropriate without relying on unsourced exact radii.

Current-version note: the repositioning mechanic is corroborated, but the exact attraction radius remains unresolved. This page does not claim any visibility, accuracy, or Counter-Battery effect that current evidence does not establish. If Smoke is unavailable, use the in-game blast-radius/ranging tool and a suitably lower-blast option when appropriate; no exact radius or penalty is claimed.

Avoid these Smoke mistakes

  • Assuming Smoke has no practical repositioning use.
  • Expecting every friendly marker, fortification, or immobile structure to respond.
  • Assuming Smoke is available in every early friendly-fire situation.
What Smoke is confirmed to do

A current structured Fire on Call mission-data extract explicitly instructs the player to use SMK Shells to reposition allied units at risk and states that allied units move to the SMK impact point. A Demo-era developer explanation and independent current version 1.0 community reports corroborate the same practical behavior. This three-source agreement supports repositioning, while exact radius, every UI marker, mission availability, visibility effects, accuracy effects, and counter-battery interactions remain outside this page's claims.

Friendly repositioning corroboratedCorroborated scopeChecked Aug 14, 2026

Current structured mission data directly documents Smoke repositioning, corroborated by developer and community evidence. Exact range and unrelated secondary effects are not established.

Version context: Current structured Fire on Call instruction corroborated by Demo-era developer explanation and current version 1.0 community use

Still uncertain

  • Exact Smoke attraction radius
  • Universal current meaning of every friendly-unit UI marker
  • Mission-specific Smoke availability
  • Any visibility, accuracy, debuff, or counter-battery interaction

Evidence and verification context

  • Current Fire on Call mission instruction: The independent mission-data extract explicitly instructs the player to use SMK Shells to reposition allied units at risk and states that allied units move to the SMK impact point.
  • Steam Discussion — developer Nick — Jun 15, 2026: Demo-era explanation says Smoke repositions allied units that are not fortifications toward the smoke center and can move them away from an intended target. Developer discussion: Smoke shells and allied repositioning
  • Current version 1.0 community reports: Independently corroborate using Smoke to gather or reposition movable friendlies and separate them from enemy targets.