Artillery (Rivals)

"Death from above!"

- Artillery when ordered to attack

The mobile artillery is a Nod tech vehicle in Command & Conquer: Rivals. It can fire at ground targets from a long range, but has to deploy and to do so. It also has a limited firing arc.

Background
The Nod Artillery is a self-propelled artillery vehicle that fires high-explosive shells at extreme range. Relatively low-tech by Nod standards, the Nod Artillery is still extremely effective at shelling all manner of ground targets.

Abilities

 * Can attack up to 3 tiles away in a cone, but it must set up first.
 * Can attack up to 3 tiles away in a cone, but it must set up first.

Game unit
A dominant long range vehicle, the Artillery will make short work of any infantry and all but the toughest armored vehicles. Its long range ensures that the pounding can begin long before any ground unit can fight back. It is especially powerful on maps where the pads are clumped together or where there is a single point where action takes place. The splash damage makes squad units very vulnerable to it.

It takes a while to set up, but it's long attack range allows it to keep a safe distance from the front line. So long as there are ground units shielding it, Artillery can set up in safety. Oxanna's boost can help the Artillery move and deploy faster.

It can shoot farther than it can see, therefore having units in front of it is required for its full potential.

The main threat that Artillery faces is aerial attack, especially from burst damage units, like Orca. Therefore Artillery is best accompanied by a powerful anti-air unit, like Stealth tank or Phantom. Even lighter ground units can deal with artillery, if they come in great enough numbers, since the attack rate of four seconds is not enough to single-handedly deal with a rush, especially if they come from various angles and the turn speed becomes an issue. The most difficult unit to deal with might be the Titan, since it can shoot through the defending units.

To get the Artillery out in the field sooner without deploying two harvesters, a pack or Scavengers can help to get that extra Tiberium income.

The damage to structures is immense and it would take 10 shots to completely level the base.

Changelog

 * 2018-07-19:
 * Damage reduced to 1250 (was 1500)
 * Damage vs Infantry reduced to 120 (was 200)
 * Attack duration increased to 5 seconds (was 4)
 * Health reduced to 1500 (was 1800)
 * Speed reduced to 3.9 (was 5.5)
 * 2018-10-04: Damage vs. Infantry increased to 250 (was 120)
 * 2019-02-27: Artillery slowly rotates while still deployed
 * 2019-04-03:
 * Set-up reduced to 4 seconds (was 5 seconds)
 * Turn speed reduction while deployed reduced to 50% (was 90%)
 * HP increased to 1650 (was 1500)
 * 2019-05-01:
 * Attacks per second increased to 3.2 (was 4.25)
 * Projectile speed increased to 80 (was 50)
 * 2019-06-05: Attack per second reduced to 3.6 (was 3.2)
 * 2019-06-27: Cost increased to 110 (was 90)
 * 2019-07-31:
 * Time between attacks reduced to 3.9 (was 3.6)
 * Damage to vehicles reduced to 1000 (was 1250)

When created

 * Barrage ready!
 * Artillery shells loaded!

When selected

 * Ready to rain judgement!
 * Something needs shelling?

When moving

 * Artillery on the move
 * Taking position
 * Artillery relocating

When moving to attack favorably

 * Death from above!
 * We'll pound them!

When unable to attack target

 * Can't target that
 * Shells ineffective

When attacking

 * Shower them with shells
 * Pound them to dust

When under attack

 * Artillery needs cover!
 * Artillery under attack!

Trivia

 * Early in the game the Artillery had to pack and redeploy to change the targeting cone.
 * Slavic accent. Male.