Editing Reef

The '''{{PAGENAME}}''' is an aircraft carrier from the [[Strider Hub]].{{ Infobox zkunit
| name = Reef
| defname = shipcarrier
| description = Aircraft Carrier (Bombardment), stockpiles disarm missiles at 5 m/s
| image = http://manual.zero-k.info/unitpics/shipcarrier.png
| icontype = shipcarrier
| cost = 3000
| hitpoints = 7500
| movespeed = 83
| turnrate = 61
| sight = 660
| sonar = 660
| weapons = 
	{{ Infobox zkweapon
	| name = Disarm Missile
	| type = StarburstLauncher
	| damage = 0
	| reloadtime = 5
	| disarmdamage = 15000
	| disarmdps = 3000
	| stuntime = 10
	| range = 3000
	| aoe = 140
	| homing = 165
	| manualfire = Yes
	| customlabel1 = Stockpile time (s)
	| customdata1 = 30
	| customlabel2 = Stockpile cost (M)
	| customdata2 = 150
	| projectilespeed = 1200
	}}
| abilities = 
	{{ Infobox zkability drone
	| drone = [[Gull]]
	| maxdrones = 8
	| range = 1000
	| interval = 5
	| spawnsize = 1
	| buildtime = 25
	| maxbuilding = 4
	}}
}}==Description==
The most versatile ship on the high seas, the carrier serves several functions. It is equipped with a manual-fire disarming Tactical Missile launcher for disabling enemy capital ships from outside of their fire range. The reef serves as a mobile [[Repair#Airpad_repair|repair]] base for friendly aircraft. Perhaps most notably, the carrier provides its own complement of [[Gull|surface attack drones]] to engage targets.

== Tactics and Strategy ==

The Reef's drones can travel a fairly long distance away from it, so it can be used in a similar role as a Skirmisher (as opposed to the amphibious [[Detriment]], which is like a riot/assault unit compared to the Reef). Moreover, when you've built up enough drones (each Reef can have up to 8 [[Gull]] drones, with a combined dps of 640), they can easily overwhelm enemies through sheer numbers (especially when you have many Reefs). However, anti-swarm units and structures, including anti-air weapons, can and will give the Reef's drones problems (in which case, if you're noticing that your Reefs are not breaking through the enemy's defenses in a reasonable amount of time, then it might be time to send them back to recover).

- Still, even when the Reef's drones are being shot down, at least they can distract the enemy from your other units, including other heavy units like the [[Grizzly]]. Besides, the drones are totally expendable, while the Reef is sitting at a safe distance away.

- Amusingly enough, since anti-air units will target the Reef's drones, a single Reef can cause an enemy's [[Artemis]] to waste its supply of insanely-powerful anti-air missiles on constantly-respawning drones, potentially allowing allied aircraft to take advantage of the situation.



As for the Reef's disarm missiles, keep in mind that, while they're being stockpiled, you'll be draining 5 metal-per-second-per-Reef. Therefore, if you're building many Reefs, and you want to conserve where your metal is being spent, you may want to limit how many disarm missiles they're allowed to stockpile. (The Reef's stockpile size is set to a whopping 100 by default.) Generally, a stockpile size of just 1 or 2 missiles per Reef should be sufficient if your Reefs are seeing constant battle. (For the record, 2 or 3 missiles should be adequate to keep a [[Shogun]] disarmed, while 16 should be sufficient to keep a [[Detriment]] disarmed, though you'll still need to follow it up by destroying said units.)

{{Navbox units}}