Name: Eradicator Hexapod
Cost: $5000
Side: Scrin
Tier: 4
ERA: Kane's Wrath
Base Asset: EA (with Denato code)
Gameplay
The Scrin epic unit is here!
Some would say that this now means that the Scrin have 3 epic units in Tiberian history (Mothership, Scrin Ship, Hexapod), but I feel that the designation of 'Epic unit' should be reserved for large units that can be customised by the user, so for me that excludes the other 2 large units.
The basic system of using Scrin infantry to adapt the abilities of the Hexapod is intact, but there are difference that need to be discussed, starting with the basic Hexapod with no garrisoned infantry.
First off the Warp Chasm requires both the tech centre and the Signal transmitter, which means that the Hexapod is available slightly later in the game.
The actual Hexapod also requires that a Tech centre and Signal transmitter are up in order for it to be built.
This is significant, because it means that you have 3 choices if you want to stop a Hexapod from being built instead of 2, with the Signal Transmitter having the least health and thereby being the softest target of the 3.
The next big piece of information is that the lifeforms recycler (the bounty that you get for killing enemy units within a certain radius of the Hexapod) is no more. I just did not like it, so I did not even attempt to code it in.
There is no replacement for this ability, so by default the Hexapod is not has good as the Kane's Wrath version!
Another big change is that the Hexapod death explosion does damage in a large radius around it. This is neutral, as it can damage either friendly or enemy units.
The final massive change is that the Prodigy can no longer teleport the Hexapod!
Next I will discuss what the infantry do for the Hexapod, and also give basic comments on the effectiveness of said infantries upgrade to the Hexapod.
I will start with things that have not changed at all first.
Disintigrator
This is completely unchanged, and is still very effective for its cost.
I would go as far as saying that this should be your 'empty' Hexapod, never actually use an empty Hexapod, when for $900 you can a full set of Disintigrator slots (which is less then the cost of a single Ravager!), which will greatly increase your damage output, and in turn, speed up your experience increase.
The bare minimum, I am sure the Corrupters are on their way!
Shock Trooper
This is still the same, and is arguably, still the all round best infantry to use if you are going for an 'single-infantry-type' Hexapod build.
The ability to take out Orca class aircraft in a single burst, with a triple shock build, is a big deal!
Very good against ground units and structures, the fierce anti-air ability (which includes the speed the projectiles travel) means that this build of Hexapod truly has nothing to worry about.
Ravager
Now for the first change, and it is more of a reversal of EALA's decision to remove the anti-air ability of the Ravager Hexapod weapon.
While the fact that the Ravager squad is not able to target aerial units, but that the Ravager added a weapon with anti-air capabilities, was indeed strange, it meant that the most expensive non-unique infantry (because the Mastermind could only fill one slot), was also the best, which makes sense.
What does not make sense, is to remove the anti-air of the most expensive mass infantry option, and to do nothing to make up for it, thereby handing the Shock trooper the role of the 'no-brain' fill option, and rendering the Ravagers completely unusable (has discussed earlier, a full Disintigrator Hexapod cost less than one Ravager squad!).
With the anti-air back, there is at least a reason to consider the Ravager Hexapod now.
"Fly away!"
In addition to re-adding the anti-air, I also increased the range of the weapon to match the Shock troopers garrisoned weapon.
Expensive, but really good!
The Ravager Hexapod is good against all targets, especially infantry. It is up to you to decide whether it is more cost effective then the Shock trooper garrisons, or not.
Assimilator
And now for the larger changes.
The Assimilator Hexapod was hardly ever used due the ability of the Corrupter to heal the Hexapod. With the Corrupter still being able to heal the Hexapod, I wanted a solution that would at least make some people consider using the Assimilator to garrison the Hexapod.
So now each Assimilator added to the Hexapod will give you 2 repair drones, for a maximum of 6 drones for a full Assimilator Hexapod.
The drones are similar to the improved drones in the 'Reconstruction Drones' support power.
If you select a Hexapod that has an Assimilator, you will get a radius decal that will let you know the range that units can get healed in.
As you can see, it has a good radius!
A vital piece of information to consider: the drones will heal allied units, so not only can your Hexapod support your own troops, but it will also heal allied vehicles, something the Corrupter cannot do unless the allied side is also Scrin.
Allied healing in action, it will heal the infantry as well, indeed it can also heal human infantry!
You also get a targeted repair ability, although it can only assign a maximum of 3 drones to a vehicle (including the owning Hexapod).
I feel that this at least gives you the player something to consider, even if you only add a single Assimilator garrison.
Prodigy
And now for the massive change.
First off you still get the teleport if you add a Prodigy to the Hexapod, however there are changes to usage of the teleport.
The teleport now has an arrival crush weapon, that roughly matches the radius of the Hexapod. It will crush any unit that the Hexapod can crush while moving normally. This is very powerful, indeed it is so powerful, that the reload time of the teleport ability has been doubled, to reflect its increased usefulness as a weapon.
I want to teleport in and crush some of these harvesters
Notice that the structure is unaffected
Something got squashed!
The other big change is that the Prodigy now adds a limited mind control ability to the Hexapod, 2 mind control weapons per Prodigy, for a maximum of 6 mind control slots! (you can now fill a Hexapod with only Prodigies!).
These work like standard weapons, in that by default the Hexapod will attempt to automatically control any unit that is within range, you do not have to manually pick a target (similar to the Yuri Mastermind).
"Nice collection!"
This has both positive and negative effects.
For example if your opponent sends buzzers at your Hexapod, by default, it will attempt to gain control of them. If it is successful, your enemy can then send more expensive units to attack your Hexapod, knowing that you have used your mind control weapon, and you must wait for it to reload before reuse.
And on the subject of the abilities reload (which is about 30 seconds), once it has reloaded, it will attempt to gain control of another unit, regardless of whether it has a unit under control or not.
So for example, there might be an occasion were you have control over an enemy Mammoth tank, and then a Minigunner squad comes into range, and the Hexapod takes control of the Minigunner squad, and loses control of the Mammoth tank!
Needless to say there will be occasions were you have control over really good units, and do not want them replaced with lesser units.
The recommended thing to do is to put the Hexapod into 'HOLD FIRE' stance (alt+F). This will prevent the automatic use of the mind control ability. You can then manually target structures, or if a unit that you want to control comes close, manually target it to gain control.
2 Devastators and a PAC? I think I'll stick with this, time to use HOLD_FIRE stance!
The above information also pretty much tells you how to attempt to counter the mind control Hexapod, throw cheap units at it, and then hit it hard once it has used the mind control on them. Retreat before the ability recharges.
General information on the mind control ability:
It can control ground or aerial units, but it has the expected limitations.
You cannot control structures or hero units, or unique units (like the Hexapod or mothership). Also you cannot control special power aircraft, sensible stuff basically.
As you can see the potential of this very expensive solution ($7500 for a full Prodigy Hexapod!) is extremely high, provided you maintain control of the ability, and use stances to your benefit.
Countering
For the Scrin the old trick of trying to get a Tripod close enough so it can use its EMP and render the Hexapod useless. This typically involves using the Prodigy to teleport the Tripod close enough, so that the Hexpod does not get an opportunity to use its weapon\s on the Tripod.
Failing that, Tiberium weapon enhanced Tripods will do a ton of damage if used in high numbers (even better if you have the Conversion reserve upgrade). Disintigrators can be built in huge numbers, and provided they surround the Hexapod, and do not bunch up (allowing the Hexapod the opportunity to kill them in mass), they will do a lot of very cost effective damage, and the Hexapod will struggle to kill them quickly enough (that is typically when the Corruters will step up to kill the Disintigrators!)
If necessary a few PACs or mass Stromriders, can do the job, especially if the Hexapod does not have an anti-air garrison or support.
For Nod, again it is all about the Banshees. An air tower full worth of Banshees will kill a Hexapod in a single clip, provided the Hexpaod is not being healed (Corrupter, or Assimilator garrison), or one or more of the Banshees destroyed before they use all their ammo.
The improved Vertigo is even more useful now against the Hexapod. While it does not do as much overall damage as the Banshee, it does delivers its damage much quicker than the Banshee, which means that the Hexapod (and any support) has less time to react.
From distance the 'CANNON' damage of the artillery will wear down the Hexapod without an ability to respond (except if the Hexapod has a Prodigy garrison and uses the teleport), and it is even more effective if they are upgrade with the blue mix upgrade.
Mass rocket squads are always a good idea (again, you can expect buzzer storm and Corrupter retaliation).
The most important force multiplier, and why Nod has the easiest time dealing with the Hexapod, is the effect of Nod's chemical weapons.
Use either the Chemical warrior, the chemical warhead SSM, or the chemical missile support power, on the Hexapod, and you drastically reduce its effectiveness, and more importantly, its amour. In turn this means that you will need half the amount of shots to destroy the Hexapod.
EMP and Chemical warrior, this Hexapod is in trouble!
"Hit it hard!"
Rounding off Nod, you can still use the Buggies EMP ability to stall the Hexapod of course (I just think that the chemical weapon is less fussy).
And has a fun final note: the 'Rage rocket' (the heroic ability that the Nod Rocket soldier gets) works on the Hexapod!
Please note that the Nod Command cannot destroy the Hexapod using C4 (and she can be crushed by the Hexapod, so look out!).
For GDI, obviously GDI have a lot of high health, high damage units.
A good number of Sonic upgraded Mammoths will do the job, especially if backed up by Juggernauts.
Old fashioned brute force!
The Orca bomber can do a decent chunk of damage (recommend at least 4) to the Hexapod, because it does the damage type 'CANNON', and the Hexapod is a big target.
Orca bomber pounding away at a Hexapod
Hardpoints upgraded Orcas are certainly a good idea, and you might consider upgrading them with the Zocom upgrade. This will allow you to deal your damage a lot faster, and gives you increased survivability, with the negative being that you can miss the target.
However if you use a Disrupter to slow the already slow Hexapod down to a crawl, it will assist Zocom upgraded Orcas, or the Orca bomber, in doing more damage to the Hexapod, due to hem getting cleaner hits.
A lone Disruptor slows a Hexapod down...
...so Orcas, including Zocom upgraded Orcas, can deal huge damage!
Naturally the Jackhammer defence can engage the Hexapod at a massive range, and wear it down considerably.
In all cases, you will almost certainly have to deal with a large number of Corrupters healing the Hexapod.
Nod can deal with them easily by using the large splash damage of the Vertigo to kill a bunch of them. Also if the number of Corrupters is high enough, consider using the Catalyst missile to destroy them in mass.
Crystal crush upgraded Disruptors will kill them very quickly, but failing that the improved splash damage of the Juggernaut helps greatly, and if possible the massive damage radius of the Jackhammer.
The enemies of the Scrin will be eradicated!
Release 8 Update:
- Death explosion damage 3500 (was 5000). This was supposed to kill all the Corrupters that would often be healing a Hexapod, but ended up more often doing more for the Scrin player, because the Hexapod would kill additional enemy units on its death due to the death explosion. The explosion is still enough to kill the Corrupters, but should now have less impact on the enemy player.
- Teleport recharge time 30s (was 60s). Shorter reload time due to the next item.
- Teleport now requires 3 Prodigy garrisons. Was always supposed to require 3 Prodigy's, but I had code issues, so I went with the longer cool down on the teleport ability.
Edited by Madin, 13 May 2017 - 06:02 PM.
