Helllo i will write some suggestions in case you like any of the ideea, please feel free to use them.

1. create the bitters you add as a separate force. Reasons: look at rampant, it has tons of enemies, yet, we can still add even more enemies and different forces even. But, that is also because of the compability elements. So to have an easier time with your mod, it might be better if you add an option to make them a separat force so that "it avoids overlapseing" with other enemy mods. Since there are many of them.

2. add larger flat. Rampant and some other mods add 100% (if not more) when all they needed to do is add large flat resistance. Meaning that a fire bitter still can be burned, but only if the raw damage of the flamethrougher is high enough due to research.

3. Check you the mods that merge the enemy groupes and then "splits" them just before attack since this will further help with pc related issues.

4. Add option to turn water and deep water into something like swallow water (but this must be an option that can be turned off since massive issues with other tile related mods), the ideea is that like that water is still water (as in it's the same tile that has water) but enemies can walk on it, meaning there is no "barrier".... something that might be important since you mentioned about scouts and more.

5. to same UPS/FPS you might want to make enemies have faster attack and AoE. Ideea is the flat resistance i mentioned a moment ago. Walls will have a certain flat resistance. And most enemy mods add enemies that have large RAW damage. So if 10 small bitters attack the wall, all 10 will be affected by the flat damage reduction. so an advance enemy having a raw damage that combines all 10 small bitters will only be subject to the flat damage reduction just once. But if that advance units atacks so fast that it's like 10 small bitters attacked at the same time, then this advance enemy will also do 10 attack in the same time frame, each of them being subject to the flat damage reduction, meaning it mimics mutiple enemies attacking. And if this enemy has AoE large, then that meas it actually only needs to do, let's say, 2 attacks, since, due to the AoE it actually attack 5 walls at the same time. And like this 1 unit mimics 5 units <- ideea is to reduce FPS/UPS issues, without creating "boss" enemies.

6. When you do the scouting and similar, use nest or similar as a "point of reference".... look, imagen vulcanus, where the demolishers have territories. this is exactly what i mean. Why? the same fps/ups reasons. Insted of scanning every map tiles, it only scanes a selected area. On top this means you can further "control" what they are to do. Like if in this "territory" there are to many turrents, the "nest or whatever" will remain, but there will be 0 activity since, even if it would swan enemies, they would not be able to even damage us due to the turrents or whatever it was, like maybe no access since water?
   Still on the ideea of teritory: this means enemy attacks can happen independently of pollution. I do not know if you know but pollution is checked in every chuncks, each tree, fish, water, tiles, everything is calculated how much pollution is absorbing and this is why, pollution off = you can add more stuff for your you own insted. And reverse, the territory like ideea prevents your mod to create a situation where everything get's scanned (did you take in account what if people use mods that also check the area? well usually just crash). And the reverse, if such nest or whatever it will be, is destroyed, your mod will not cause any "checking". Something that is very important if you will expand to the other mods and space age where some do not have enemies.

6: create your own copy insted of affecting the in game ones, since again, mod overlapsings. Plus you will have more control like this what they do and what they don't.

1. The more advance they are the smaller their collision box is (since they are more advance they know how to pass through trees and simillar narrow areas.

2. Worms and similar to not even attack when we are to close to them just to ensure we get more closer so that all of them can attack at the same time, as in trap, since they can reach.

3. instant "avoid" if fire is used since the most classiv is them chassing a tank that burns them.

4. Using the flat damage i mentioned, create worms that are randomly generated on the map (aka none will happen if simple enemis expand), that have a very large flat damage resistance, with large range, and very fast. Result is essentially a big demolisher but it's just a worn standin in place.

5. on the ideea of smart enemies, they to create barriers to prevent you from passive though.

6. nest hidden in trees. As in randomly replace a tree with an dummy tree, when that trees is destroyed the destructions will actually revel the bitter nest and all the butters. As in they really are hidding.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll keep these in mind while developing the mod. I'm not completly sure what you mean about using nests as a point of reference for scouting tho. Can you explain what you mean?