SERAPH
On the battlefield. The Seraph is an air sniper: two fliers whose 2,814-damage rounds reach 12 tiles (120 m) and hit air and ground alike, over the heads of a ground army that mostly cannot shoot back. In the launch balance runs (pure lineups at 400, 800 and 1,600 coin, no techs) it beats the ground heavies and the artillery (the Aurochs, Anvil, Weaver, Breaker, Salvo, Cutter, Torch and Ridgeback, and the Landship from 800 coin up) and loses to anti-air: Hexguard and Courser squads, the Rotor swarm, the Heron and the Dreadnought, and mostly the Mirage; Skitters can never reach it. Bring it out when the enemy shows heavies and little anti-air, keep it behind your front line, and pull it back from Hexguard and Courser fire. Rebuild Protocol gives it a second life (it reassembles 12 s after it falls, at full hp), Shield Cell doubles its hp against the first burst, Long Barrels let it shoot from 16 tiles. The Seraph as it flies in the game today: six blade-wings, three a side, beating once every 1.5 s in flight (26°), 24° nose-down with its legs trailing. A squad is 2 Seraphs, each 2,236 hp at 1.6 tiles/s, firing one round every 3.4 s. What moves is what moves in the game: the body flies its own heading (turning at 80°/s, banking up to 20°) while the rifle arm swings onto the target at 135°/s within 70° of the body; each shot is the charge, the snap back on target and the release at 1.1 s with a 12° kick. It is shown on a flight mount (a graduated mast, a telescoping rod and a gimbal on its lower back) with the target on a mast at its own height, so the rifle is seen tracking level; in battle it flies 10 m up. The small tank at its feet stands for the eleven launch units whose guns only hit ground (Skitter, Ridgeback, Cutter, Torch, Aurochs, Anvil, Weaver, Salvo, Breaker, Landship, Siren): none of them can shoot it. Techs: Rebuild Protocol (250): back once, at full hp, 12 s after it falls (press Shoot down). Shield Cell: a 2,236-point shield. Long Barrels: +4 range. Heavy Plating: 3,130 hp and 60 flat block. Numbers come from the game's catalog and animation plan.