Hammerhead (Rivals)

"Circling my pray!"

- Hammerhead when attacking

The Hammerhead is a common GDI's premier air superiority aircraft in Command & Conquer: Rivals.

Background
"I'll hammer them!"

- Hammerhead

The AH-68 Hammerhead is a dedicated air superiority fighter. Designed to clear the sky of enemy aircraft, the Hammerhead has powerful air-to-air missile systems and heavy composite armors that allow it to take even the most dangerous airborne threats.

Abilities

 * Can also attack the enemy base.
 * Flying.
 * Can fire directly ahead even when moving.
 * Can fire directly ahead even when moving.

Game unit
The most powerful GDI anti-air aircraft, Hammerhead has the raw speed and firepower to dominate the sky. The sturdy hull lets it withstand attacks for considerable time, allowing it to hold pads even against light anti-aircraft ground units.

When considering cost effectiveness, Talon is a more affordable flying anti-air option. In the late game, when population cap is more scarce than Tiberium, Hammerhead serves well by protecting heavy units like Mammoth tanks and Orca bombers.

Ability to fly and shoot while moving (raider) allows the Hammerhead to knock down enemy aircraft even as it retreats through friendly units. When attacking stationary targets, the raider ability allows to negate the defenders advantage. For the raider ability to work, the target has to be directly ahead of the Hammerhead.

Since Hammerhead can only shoot air targets, any ground-to-earth unit will eventually take it out of the sky. Other air-to-air units can be an issue in numbers. If two Banshees manage to surround a Hammerhead, it will go down fast. A single Phantom volley can do a substantial damage to the Hammerhead, but if Hammerhead can maintain the engagement, it will take out the Phantom before it reloads.

Changelog

 * 2018-09-05: Damage vs Structures reduced to 400 (was 700)
 * 2018-10-26:
 * Health decreased to 2250 (was 2500)
 * Damage vs Structure increased to 500 (was 400)
 * 2018-12-06: [DPS unchanged]
 * Health decreased to 1950 (was 2250)
 * Damage vs Aircraft decreased to 595 (was 700)
 * Damage to the base decreased to 300 (was 500)
 * Attack delay decreased to 1.7 seconds (was 2)
 * 2018-12-13: Damage vs Structures increased to 425 (was 300)
 * 2019-04-23: Damage reduced to 585 (was 595)
 * 2019-06-05:
 * Turn speed increased to 300 (was 150)
 * Cost lowered to 90 (was 100)
 * 2019-07-02: Attack speed increased to 1.6 (was 1.7)

When created

 * Hammerhead saving the day
 * Hammerhead in the green

When selected

 * Reporting
 * Lock and load
 * Both blades spinning
 * I hear ya
 * Hammerhead circling

When moving

 * Easy flying
 * Course locked in
 * Moving out
 * Clear skies

When moving to attack favorably

 * Missiles primed
 * I'll hammer them

When unable to attack target

 * Can't lock on
 * Can't do that

When attacking

 * Lighting them up!
 * Missiles locked on!
 * Circling my pray!

When under attack

 * Blades have been hit
 * We're under fire!
 * Getting hammered!

When crashing

 * Pull up!
 * Going down!

Trivia

 * The design is somewhat similar to Hammerhead in Kane's Wrath, but the roles and abilities are unrelated.
 * Early in the game development the Hammerhead was often used to assault the base, but subsequent damage and health decreases made it a less viable strategy.
 * The game model seems to have air-to-ground cannons that are not functional.
 * Confident in it's air superiority. Male.