Raven
The Raven is a precision bomber from the Airplane Plant.
| Raven (bomberprec) | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Precision Bomber (Anti-Sub) | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Stats | |||||||||||||||||||
| Cost | 300 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hit Points | 1000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mass | 189 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Movement Speed (elmo/s) | 234 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Vision Radius (elmo) | 780 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Altitude (elmo) | 270 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Weapons | |||||||||||||||||||
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Description
The Raven drops a single high damage, low AoE bomb. Cost for cost, nothing quite matches it for taking out that Antinuke, Minotaur or sensitive pieces of economy, but a Phoenix is more effective against smaller mobiles.
Dropping the Bomb
Raven's bomb is guided by controlling its horizontal motion as it falls to the ground, like a simple glider or parachute. This gives Raven a 3D cone-shaped range aligned to the vertical axis. A Raven fires at static targets as soon as they enter this cone, leaving it up to the bomb to fly at its maximum angle to hit the target. When targeting mobile units, Raven avoids firing until they are closer to the centre of the cone. This provides some leeway for the bomb to use its guidance to take movement of the target into account. The amount of leeway required depends on the maximum speed of the target, and is calculated automatically.
Raiders can dodge Raven by moving at full speed in a straight line. This is simply because units with a top speed of 90 elmos/s or above are too fast for the bomb to track. In other words, 90 elmos/s is the threshold at which a unit can move from the centre of the cone to the outside in less time than it takes for the bomb to reach the ground. The bomb will still make the attempt, so factors such as hills, shallow water, or slow damage can let it connect. Other units may also attempt to dodge Raven, but will probably need assistance from favourable terrain, or Lobster.
Tactics and Strategy
Ravens are the workhorse of the Airplane Plant. They're the cheapest bombers, they deal a lot of damage, and have the most hitpoints for their cost.
- Sometimes it's worth it to channel your inner World War 2 British bomber command officer and sacrifice some of your Ravens to take out an important enemy target. With five ravens you can bomb a Razor anti air turret to pave the way for more bombers to follow them. Or you can strike at a Singularity Reactor deep within enemy territory. If five of your bombers make it through, you will cripple your enemy's economy and perhaps take out a large portion of their base. Or if your allies are facing a particularly deadly unit, like a Dante, you could turn the tide in favour of your allies with a well-timed bomb run.
- If your enemy pushes out from under their AA cover, a quick wing of Ravens using the spread attack command (Default 'Ctrl+A') can quickly soften the enemy units up for a follow-up by ground forces, or take care of the units on their own if used in sufficient numbers.
- Raven bombs will pass through water surfaces, allowing you to bomb submerged units.
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