- HP
- 1,370
- Block
- 0
- Lance
- 1,144 / 3.3 s
- Squad
- 3
- Range
- 100 m
- Layer
- ground
On the battlefield. The Needle is a burst squad: 3 light hover gunships for 100 coin, free to unlock, each charging one lance and firing a single 1,144-damage bolt every 3.3 s at a ground target 100 m away. One slow, heavy hit is wasted on chaff and lands best on a single big body: a full squad needs 8 volleys (22 bolts, about 24.3 s) to bring down an Aurochs at its 24,041 HP. In the launch matrix it beats the Courser, Heron, Cutter, Aurochs, Weaver, Salvo, Bombard, Aegis and Sunspire; it is light and few, so the chaff, splash, air and walls that reach it first win: the Skitter, Hexguard, Ridgeback, Rotor, Torch, Mirage, Seraph, Anvil, Templar, Rampart, Tempest, Citadel, Landship, Dreadnought and Archangel. Field it behind the front line with chaff in front, facing the enemy's armor, and spread from other light squads so one splash shot can't take all three. Lift Fans change the matchup: the fans run out and level, the squad climbs to 3 m and only anti-air can answer it; Siphon heals each Needle for 30% of what it deals; Long Barrels reach 140 m; Heavy Plating adds 40% HP and 60 block.
The Needle as it moves in the game: it floats about 1 m up on its four ducted fans and glides at 8 m/s, banking round at 120°/s. For each shot the hull settles, the coils light back to front, the tip flares and the bolt leaves 1.2 s into the 3.3 s cycle, crossing the true 100 m in 0.17 s; the lance and hull kick back and the coils vent. On the bench the target stands closer than the true range. Numbers come from the game's catalog and its animation data; the drawing is an isometric figure, not the game mesh.